All three exam questions are handed out, and candidates can answer them according to their own time. Of course, most people choose to take one exam every three days.
This time distribution is the most reasonable and is also proven by countless historical experiences.
Even Zhou Bai would not plan to finish writing it in advance, because the Dragon Gate of Gongyuan will not be reopened until August 14th, without exception.
What's more, he wants to be ranked first in the exam and must go all out. However, his own luck is only enough to win the exam. To win the exam, he must be far ahead in literary talent.
Literary talent and luck are both important basis for ranking, and literary talent is the first screening threshold. If you write nonsense articles, the examiner will not even give you a chance to check your luck.
In the first session, there was a test on one poem and five questions on interpretation of the meaning of the scripture.
You can choose poems or words by yourself. This time the provincial examination only gave the theme, Tao.
After years of studying, I would like to ask the candidates whether you have your own way now, and what insights you can express through poetry.
This made Zhou Bai stunned for a moment. The provincial examination he took in his previous life was not this one, but he had done the real questions in the past dozens of years and had no impression that this was the question.
He thought of a certain possibility, and his heartbeat slowed down for half a beat. Could it be that there was a change in the subsequent historical development?
But this question is not something Zhou Bai can examine in depth now. Whether it is yes or no, he will continue to move forward in this life.
Tao, the Tao that he himself comprehended? Zhou Bai gently raised his head and looked at the roof.
Outside is the vast blue sky and the supreme Nine Heavens. They govern the world according to the will of heaven.
So Zhou Bai wrote the title of the poem in two big characters with a stroke of his pen.
The way of heaven.
The poor and the rich all depend on their fate, why bother to sigh.
After writing the first sentence, there was no change on the rice paper. From Zhou Bai's perspective, the red literary spirit rolled out by the pen and ink was firmly suppressed by the words in the examination room.
But know and do good deeds, and don’t ask about your future.
In the second sentence, Dan Jin Wenqi was born, but the rice paper only shook slightly, and there was still no abnormality.
The ice is gone in winter, and the grass grows on its own in spring.
In the third sentence, the golden literary spirit suddenly becomes stronger, staining each word on the rice paper with gold, and the majestic literary spirit seems to be about to spurt out.
The shadowy golden light flashed on the rice paper. Of course, this scene could not be hidden from the proctors. They could clearly observe all the dormitories from the high platform, not to mention that they themselves were also Jinshi and were extremely sensitive to literary ethos.
At this time, the exam time had only passed half a quarter of an hour, and already some candidates had completed the Jinqi poems. This was a tribute to their Dingzhou education.
The inspector of Dingzhou was overjoyed, and he quickly turned his head to ask the governor and examiner whether they should go down and check the situation.
However, the Hanlin bachelor, who was the chief examiner, just glanced at Zhou Bai's dormitory and shook his head slightly.
Literary culture in Dingzhou was not prosperous. Although the Qingwen that was born has not been discontinued, the Qingshi has not appeared in the world for half a century.
Even if this student's poetic talent is extraordinary, he cannot break the strict layout of the examination room. There is no need to worry that the golden poem just now will produce strange phenomena and disturb the order of the examination room.
Sure enough, in addition to the gold medal for town luck and the seal of the governor, there are other means of suppressing cultural anomalies.
In the main hall, the invisible magic circle that had been arranged by the Taoist officials took effect. Within a moment, the golden light that appeared in the three lines of poetry was immediately extinguished in the void.
Zhou Bai didn't care about the outside world, but took a deep breath and was about to write the last sentence.
Suddenly the majestic luck around him was twisted into a ball and poured into the brush he held. Every stroke and every word made by the tip of the brush was extremely difficult.
Now, Zhou Bai felt that what he held in his hand was not a pen, but a heavy burden. Drops of hot sweat gradually condensed on his back.
What he wants to write is a green poem, which contains Tao Yun and can be handed down from generation to generation. It is naturally difficult to write it in one stroke.
However, Zhou Bai's accumulation is worthy of any other Jinshi, and his luck can only be obtained by serious candidates. His burst of literary thoughts finally allowed him to write the last sentence.
Please observe this principle, the way of heaven is very clear.
As for this sentence, Zhou Bai spent a full hour writing it. Most of his energy was consumed, and the green shirt behind his back was soaked with sweat.
But it was all worth it. Zhou Bai wrote a famous poem in Dingzhou Gongyuan!
In an instant, the Dan Qing Wen Qi visible to the naked eye leaked out of the rice paper, rushed out of the dormitory, and pointed directly at the higher roof of the palace, where there were layers of French nets.
However, Hanlin's gold medal and the governor's seal were not in vain. How could the green energy really attack the magic circle and cause the town's transportation layout to waver.
When most of the candidates didn't react, the examiner, Hanlin, directly picked up the gold medal and took a photo of Zhou Bai's dormitory No. 7.
Just looking at the shape of his mouth, he was probably silently reciting: "The imperial law is supreme and all laws are forbidden!"
The overbearing and huge power of suppressing luck instantly cut off the green energy that rushed out of the dormitory. Then Zhou Bai saw a gold medal dragon shadow above the poem, bit by bit giving away the green energy. Press back into the thin rice paper.
The examiners in the high hall reacted and left their seats to patrol to prevent any commotion.
Fortunately, the examiner responded quickly, and not many candidates saw the green energy phenomenon, and it was only limited to some dormitories in the Suzi area.
When Lei Haomiao, the governor of Dingzhou, went to inspect these residences in person, the last slight commotion disappeared.
"Which family is this? Does the state pay attention to it?" Lei Haomiao asked the attendant deputy examiner next to him as he walked.
As the governor, he should not have personally invigilated the examination, because this meant that he had to be locked up in Gongyuan for nine days and six nights. If there was a major incident outside, it would be difficult to deal with it in time.
However, this time the imperial court randomly inspected the key areas of Qiu Wei, and one of them was selected in Dingzhou. At this time, there was a minister-level elder from the imperial court in charge of the prefecture.
In addition, Longting must have sent superior gods to monitor it. Dingzhou is as stable as Mount Tai at this time, and there must be no flaws.
It's just that Lei Haomiao never expected that he would be so lucky. As soon as he proctored the exam, some candidates would write green poems. This really made him proud.
"Going back to the Governor, I may not know the others, but I still know a few young people from each county. The current number seven should be Zhou Bai, the leader of Bei'an County, who is from the Pingcangxiang tribe." Superintendent He has excellent professional skills and quickly replied without thinking.
Lei Haomiao was also familiar with this name and said, "Huh? Is it that Captain Yunqi? I remember that an angel in Shenjing reported this situation a few days ago."
As they talked, they found Su Zi No. 7. After receiving the signal, one of the clerks stepped forward and gently opened the door curtain.
However, a group of elders who were curious about Zhou Bai were stunned when they saw the scene inside. The talented Zhou Bai, who had just written a poem, was already lying on the small bed and fell asleep.
If there hadn't been a sound-barring array arranged in each cell, his snoring might have spread throughout the nearby cells.
Several sub-examiners were a little confused, but Xue Qing, a Hanlin bachelor who was the chief examiner, smiled knowingly.
"It's not that easy to write green poetry. He must have exhausted his mental, literary and physical strength, so he used sleep to recover." As the governor, Lei Haomiao proctored exams less often, but he had a lot of knowledge.
"That's right, but this kid's mind is really unusual. If he can fall asleep in such a condition, it's no wonder he can write green poems."
"Let's take a look." Xue Qing suppressed the excitement in his heart to read good poems and walked to the examination table slowly. Everyone also followed and came forward to take a look.
The four lines of poetry with flying dragons and phoenixes above were neatly arranged on the rice paper. Without even looking at the content, the inspector couldn't help but admire it.
"Good calligraphy, strong bones and muscles. I didn't expect Zhou Bai's calligraphy to be so grand."
However, after seeing the content of the poem next, no one said anything for a long time. Until a long time later, the few people who walked out of the dormitory were still thinking about it.
"This child's future is unpredictable!"
…
When Zhou Bai woke up again, it was already dusk. The setting sun outside shed a little bit of light through the window grilles, but it was unable to support the light inside the dormitory at all.
Zhou Bai stretched longly, then slowly lit the whale oil on the table, then opened the door curtain and brought in the lunch box he had just handed out.
The food for the rural examination is much better than that for the county examination and the county examination. The specially hired chef from Shangxuanxuan prepares a full box of snacks, plus water.
Although this kind of food is mainly light, it is better than a few fried cakes with water. Otherwise, who can survive the exam after eating fried cakes for nine days?
After dinner, most candidates will stay up all night to study because the questions in the three exams are very large and they are not particularly confident. Generally, no one will take a break so early.
The same goes for Zhou Bai. He has just finished writing a poem and the biggest topic of the first session has not been touched yet.
Next comes the interpretation of the scriptures. There are five major questions, each of which has quite a few sub-questions that require detailed and rational interpretation.
However, the classics and meaning questions are not very difficult and only depend on whether the candidates have a solid literary foundation.
There will be quite a lot of difficult words and passages in various Taoist scriptures in the future. This is also a test of whether you, as a future practitioner, can interpret unfamiliar texts and whether you are ready to practice Taoism.
"Instead of being charming to Ao, I would rather be charming to Zao. What is that?"
"Otherwise, I will be punished by God and have nothing to pray for."
"Instead of fawning over the Ao Shen, it's better to fawn over the Kitchen God. What does this mean?"
"That's not the case. If you have offended God, it is useless to pray for mercy anywhere."
…
In this way, Zhou Bai kept answering at an even speed, passing each question one by one without encountering any difficult obstacles.
After all, all these things have been turned over by scholars. The only way to stump the people is to ask questions.
Two days later, Zhou Bai started the second session of answering questions as scheduled, trying one policy argument, one imperial edict, one judgment, one table, and one imperial edict.
The number of questions is not large, but it is complex and diverse. The imperial court is testing common affairs in this session, and it is necessary to screen out talents who can manage the world.
As the threshold for becoming an official, people often serve as minor officials of the ninth and eighth grades. These minor officials are related to grassroots operations and are the foundation of the entire court system.
When it comes to official documents such as imperial edicts, judgments, reports, and imperial edicts, Zhou Bai naturally does not hesitate, and his writing is smooth and his writing is smooth.
For two whole days, he polished these official documents so that they were flawless. Even if old officials came to review them, they could not find any faults.
It's just that although these official documents are mixed with the literary styles of various people and appear to be complete, they still lack some spirituality after all.
Puffs of golden energy were accumulated under the paper. Even if each word shone with golden light, it would not cause any abnormality. He was now the key supervisor of the magic circle.
Just look at the examiners sitting high up and glance sideways, and you will know that Su Zi No. 7 is not going to make a big difference here.
Of course, screening for worldly talents not only depends on whether you can write official documents, but also whether you have corresponding potential.
After all, the imperial court does not really just want to recruit a few "lay people". It also hopes that you can have your own thoughts on political issues and contribute your own strategies to the imperial court.
In order to express his attention to the topic of policy discussion, Zhou Bai specially set aside a whole day to write.
The theme of this rural examination policy discussion was very sensitive and novel, and had never appeared in his memory. At this time, Zhou Bai had already vaguely understood that the subsequent history might not go according to his memory.
"On the long-term stability of the dynasty."
This is a direct question to the candidates of this year, how the imperial court can continue to maintain a stable rule. Apparently some far-sighted people at the top seem to have foreseen the undercurrents under forty-six years of peace.
Zhou Bai closed his eyes and thought about the direction to answer the question. After a long time, he looked at his Qi to explore the surrounding luck.
The entire Gongyuan examination room is like a big steamer. The candidates are steaming here, and their luck is constantly rising, stimulating their literary talents all the time.
In the literary style, there is actually not much white air at this time, most of them are light red or even deep red. These literary styles do not attract any attention.
Only a trace of golden energy could be detected from time to time, which would trigger the timely suppression of the Zhenyun seal and the magic circle. An invisible force would pass through, and the examination room would turn into a world dominated by red.
At first glance, Zhou Bai seemed to have found no talent that threatened him, so he turned his head and immersed himself in policy discussions and answers.
How to maintain long-term stability in the dynasty? He smiled and wrote his own title.
On military affairs.
No matter in troubled times or peaceful times, if the court has enough force, it can calm all turmoil.
"The ordinary force of an earthly dynasty is ultimately about the soldiers in the army, not the extraordinary way... Every time I see a man with a strong stomach, Huan Huan holds his palm, and he fights in peace and contentment. Once he is used to control his troops, he will be silent and ignorant of his merits. Keep it general. Sigh! There must be laws in everything in heaven and earth. There are no fine or rough rules in civil and military affairs.
The country's various systems are well-prepared, and all the laws and regulations for punishment, prison, money and grain are constantly updated and updated. However, there are very few military rules, and Jiazi has not seen any training. Is it true that if there is peace for thousands of years, there will be nothing to do with martial arts..."
After writing an eloquent and heroic article, the rich golden aura under the rice paper was close to a qualitative change, but the green aura still failed to form.
This scene made Governor Lei Haomiao feel very regretful, and he wished he could go up and ask Zhou Bai to add two more strokes to improve it. It was impossible to say that another Qingwen article would be published this time.
Only the examiner Xue Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about something. This guy couldn't have done it on purpose.
If you are to take the next Chunwei examination, you can no longer arbitrarily overextend your literary skills, because most of the candidates on the gold list will be safe if they write Qingwen.
"No, someone seems to be targeting that boy Zhou Bai. His luck has been suppressed somehow?" Lei Haomiao suddenly looked serious and whispered in Xue Qing's ear.
Xue Qing nodded slightly, calmly picked up the gold medal and shined it at Su Zi No. 7 again, this time for a little longer.
Sure enough, in addition to the literary style of Zhou Bai's article being completely suppressed, the "tricks" in his body were also revealed.
A small picture is revealed on the gold medal, which is Zhou Bai's outer luck.
A poisonous dragon with its fangs and claws splayed quietly on the outside. The invisible poisonous gas emitted from its body forced Zhou Bai's Sinotrans to divide its forces for defense.
"Dragon Waixie? Has this little guy offended the royal family?" Lei Haomiao asked in confusion.
Before Xue Qing could open his mouth, the elusive Yin Shen Dao suddenly appeared. He smiled muffledly, seemingly with a hint of ridicule.
"I didn't expect that such a genius would be targeted and abandoned by the court. He is too narrow-minded. It is better to follow me and pursue immortality."
"If nothing else, I will give it to my only close disciple!"
Xue Qing couldn't help it, and he didn't care about respect. He snorted coldly and said: "A real person may not have too good ideas. If you dare to snatch the talents selected by the national talent promotion ceremony, then you can just wait."
"That's right, old man, there is a minister in Zhouya, so what does it mean to be targeted by some unscrupulous descendants of the royal family." Lei Haomiao also choked.
"According to the Holy Order, external evil is forbidden!" Xue Qing stopped talking, but raised the gold medal and shouted in a low voice.
A small golden dragon suddenly manifested in the gold medal, and rushed straight towards the poisonous dragon. Under the pure power of the real dragon, the poisonous dragon could not resist, and disappeared without a trace in a moment.
Seeing this, the old Taoist Yin Shen knew that there would be no chance again. He touched his beard, said "Hey" and disappeared again.
August 12th is the start time of the third session. This session only tests Taoist interpretation questions. Anyone who answers according to the time schedule should have finished the first two sessions by this time.
It's just that there are only a few who are as successful as Zhou Bai. Not to mention the candidates who have not finished the first two questions, there are already a group of weak scholars who can't support it at this time.
While Zhou Bai was answering, several candidates would write that they vomited blood from time to time, and then they would be carried out by the soldiers guarding outside. Specialized doctors would treat them outside.
A few candidates will come back with strong will, but most will never come back. They don't have the energy or enough luck to support them in this big steamer.
After all, the last test is about Taoist interpretation. Answering these Taoist questions requires a strong spirit.
"The Tao is a thing, but it is vague and sudden. It is vague and vague, and there is an image in it; it is vague and sudden, and there is something in it. It is slim and dark, but there is essence in it; its essence is very true, and there is faith in it."
"All things carry yin and embrace yang, and inject qi into harmony."
"...It is the way to have deep roots and long-term vision."
To be honest, every Taoist question is very mysterious. Different people may come up with different answers, and this is the charm of the third exam.
There is no standard answer, it just depends on your understanding of the Five Emperors General Principle. Those with better understanding and better expression will be given high marks.
After three days of careful answering, there was no fluctuation in literary style. Zhou Bai had already expected it, and there was no surprise. The interpretation of the Taoist scripture questions did not depend on literary style.
On August 14, just after Shen Shi in the afternoon, the clear sound of the gong resounded throughout the venue, and the sound of the gantry creaking open was also particularly clear.
"The exam is over, students should stop writing and go out in an orderly manner from Longmen!"
