Chapter 215 Registration for the County Examination

Chapter 215 Registration for the County Examination

Sun Shan had no idea of ​​what Hong Xiucai was thinking, and he was particularly grateful to Hong Xiucai for his matchmaking.

Otherwise, how could Xiaoman find a small landlord to marry into?

At this time, he is reading a book very hard, racing against time to fill his little head with the knowledge in the book.

Wait until Sun Boming and Su come back in the afternoon.

Su looked at her son with satisfaction and said happily, "Mother, head of the family, Master Hong said that our Shanzi can take the imperial examination, so he can definitely do it. Oh, I didn't expect my son to be so smart and be able to take the exam at such a young age."

The corners of his mouth lifted up involuntarily, as he thought to himself that Shanzi was even better than Jing'er, the son of his eldest sister-in-law. He was only thirteen years old and he was already on the field, hehe.

She looked at Sun Shan affectionately, becoming more and more satisfied. If he passed the exam, wouldn't he be more impressive than her elder sister-in-law?

Su wished that Sun Shan could enter the examination room immediately and the government would release the results immediately so that she could be proud of herself.

Sun Bomin nodded in agreement: "Master Hong said so, our Shanzi will take the exam. Oh, I didn't expect Shanzi to be so outstanding, hey, like Jing'er."

Su glanced at Sun Boming with dissatisfaction.

What do you mean by like Jing'er? It's obvious that he is better than Jing'er.

Of course, I couldn't say such things. What if Shanzi failed the exam? Wouldn't that be embarrassing? I was afraid of offending my elder sister-in-law and Jing'er. This was absolutely unacceptable. The He family was the backer of the Sun family.

Huang had no objection. She was an old country lady and she did whatever the teacher said.

He said to Sun Bomin and Su: "Don't tell anyone about Shanzi's attendance at the examination hall, or else people will gossip about him."

In fact, I wanted to say that if I failed the test, I would be laughed at. I don’t want my grandson to be laughed at.

He turned to Xiaoman and Hanlu and said, "You two should not let anything slip."

Xiaoman and Hanlu nodded hurriedly: "Grandma, we won't tell anyone."

Sun Bomin and Su also thought that such things should be kept low-key and not publicized. It would be best to keep it under wraps and wait for Shanzi to spread his wings and dazzle the villagers of Sunjia Village.

Sun Bomin said cautiously, "Mother, I'll ask the village chief to come over tonight. Shanzi needs to go through the procedures for the scientific examination and needs the village chief's signature."

Huang nodded and said, "Tell the village chief to keep this a secret. The fewer people who know about Shanzi's imperial examination, the better."

The reason Sun Shan came back this time was to inform Sun Boming that he was going to take the imperial examination and to inform the village chief in advance.

The imperial examination was a very serious and difficult matter. It required status first, and knowledge second.

The next morning, Zheng Hongyuan rushed to Sunjia Village and took Sun Shan back to school.

Sun Boming and Su repeatedly reminded him to be careful on the road.

After returning to the school, Mr. Hong and Mr. Huang took Sun Shan and five others to the ceremony room to register, so as to avoid any further complications.

Sun Shan had always heard his senior brothers talk about how to take part in the imperial examination. Only after experiencing it personally did he understand the procedures.

If one wants to take part in the county examination, he or she must go to the ritual room of the county government office where his or her household registration is located in person to express his or her intention to take the examination.

At this time, the Lifang will give the candidate an "application form", which is also called the "Report on Mutual Marriage and Condolence Form".

You need to fill in the information according to the above requirements, which is equivalent to an "exam" application form.

This "application form" includes the following contents.

First: the candidate’s name, age, physical and facial features, and whether he has a beard.

The clerk in the etiquette room took a few glances at Sun Shan and wrote on it: yellow face, no beard, short, thin, age 13. He also drew a self-portrait of Sun Shan next to it.

When Sun Shan saw it, he had a blank expression on his face: You paint abstract paintings, why do you paint me so ugly!

Second: the names of great-grandfather, grandfather, father and mentor.

This is what is called "political review".

Check what Sun Shan’s three generations did.

The three generations below the great-grandfather are not allowed to engage in menial occupations such as singing, acting, or working as jailers. They must have a clean family background, no crimes, and no parental deaths.

The qualifications for the imperial examinations in Daqian were relatively loose, and businessmen could also apply, but this kind of background was criticized.

Sun Shan remembered that the Qing Dynasty's imperial examination regulations stipulated that "people from unpopular backgrounds were not allowed to take the exam."

What is Lengji?

That is, no one in the past three generations of ancestors has ever achieved any honor or fame.

This regulation is the harshest and directly excludes many farmers.

If there was such a rule, why would Sun Shan need to study books for the imperial examinations? He would not even be qualified to take the exam.

Fortunately, there is no such rule now.

Sun Shan’s family has been farming for generations, and apart from the scholars, they are the most honest family.

The so-called "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans", although the rural people were miserable and suffered, they were the broadest foundation of the imperial court.

As for the master, it was of course Hong Xiucai. So if you want to take the imperial examination or become a self-taught person, you also need to find a teacher to guarantee you.

Third: the name of the stipendant.

That is to say, ask the student to act as a guarantor.

Huangyang County actually has a naturalized population.

He is the teacher of the county school.

They were not native scholars, but students who came from other counties to make a living.

Mr. Hong and Mr. Huang knew each other, so he asked one of them to act as a guarantor.

The imperial court prohibited candidates from asking for it on their own, but privately, candidates had to buy a thank-you gift of about 2 taels to send.

It is human nature to ask for compensation when someone acts as a guarantor for you.

Fourth: The names of the five candidates who are tied to each other.

In addition to the stipend guardian, the five students taking the exam at the same time acted as witnesses for each other and swore an oath not to violate the exam rules, which was called "mutual bond."

If one of them commits a crime, the other four will be punished. The lighter one will have their exam results cancelled, and the more serious one will be sent to jail.

The students of Hong's School and Huang's School knew each other, so they naturally formed teams and interacted with each other as soon as possible to avoid being implicated by interacting with people they were not familiar with.

Fifth: Place of origin and address.

To take the county exam, students must be registered as local residents. At this time, the village head or the head of the village need to issue a certificate to prove that the person is from the county.

The magistrate of Huangyang County was from another place, and it was said that all his descendants would return to his hometown to take the imperial examinations.

I also heard from people in the county government that the county magistrate's son was not very good at studying, but his grandson was a good one and had returned to his hometown to study and prepare for the imperial examination.

This so-called "application form" for the exam also has text printed on it such as clean personal background, no guilt or punishment, not being a prostitute or a slave, not using a substitute to take the exam, and not falsifying one's place of origin to take the exam.

I tell you clearly that you must recognize your identity and those who are unqualified should not take the imperial examination.

After Sun Shan got the "Guarantee and Mutual Relationship Statement", he asked the relevant person to sign and issue a certificate.

When everything is ready, show it to the clerk in the etiquette room and obtain the Confucian seal of approval.

At this time, you need to pay the money and let the clerk do the work for you.

Fortunately, Mr. Hong and Mr. Huang had a certain status and were experienced.

Sun Shan followed behind them, filling out information and paying money. He just followed his teacher.

After registering the information, you will wait for the government to arrange the exam. Before the exam, go to the county school to read the notice, find your location, and get the exam card, so as to avoid confusion on the day of the exam.

The so-called "Report on Mutual Guarantee and Relationship" filled out by Sun Shan did not need to be submitted to the Lifang Office.

You must keep this information safe by yourself and hand it to the county magistrate in exchange for the answer sheet when you enter the venue.

Mr. Hong and Mr. Huang were afraid that the students would lose them, so they would put away the papers after completing them that day and give them to the students on the day of the exam.

This practice is like the college entrance examination. Some schools gather the students together, charter a bus to the examination site, and then issue the college entrance examination certificates to the students to prevent them from losing their certificates carelessly.