Chapter 437 The Second Provincial Examination Officially Begins
The Yexianglangs happily carried away a pile of grains. Wherever they passed, the candidates couldn't help covering their noses, and some even retched.
After waiting for a while, the stench in the air finally dissipated, and the candidates looked at the Chaozhou man and Sun Shan with sympathy.
Especially Sun Shan, if you had been a little more cautious, you would have known that this unlucky guy had drawn a bad number.
Sun Shan completely ignored everyone's gaze. He was not much better, and the other candidates were not much better either.
Their appearance is so shabby. Compared with them, I am just even more miserable.
Sun Shan rested for a while and smelled his clothes.
"Ugh~~~~"
This time I'm really going to vomit yellow bile.
I didn't notice it after sitting in the stinky toilet for a long time, but once I came out and breathed fresh air, my clothes became even stinkier, as if they had been soaked in the toilet.
Sun Shan returned to the Stinky Room, and even after it had been cleaned up, it still smelled bad.
This stench won't dissipate for at least ten days.
He washed his face, found some new clothes to change into, packed up his things, and came out with the stove and medicine bag. He planned to boil some medicine to drink.
Although I can still hold on now, my head is still swollen and I need to drink some herbal medicine to clear away heat and detoxify.
Sun Shan stayed alone beside the water tank, picking out the herbs that Sun Dagu had sorted out but had been messed up by the officials according to a certain ratio. Sun Shan smelled the herbs, and why did he feel that the herbs also smelled like feces and urine?
Forget it, even if there is shit and urine in it, I have to drink it.
Just imagine that you are surviving in the wild, something happens, you have nothing to eat or drink, and you have to drink your own urine.
Sun Shan put the herbs into the clay pot and then lit a charcoal fire.
This charcoal is specially supplied to the Imperial Examination Hall and requires money to buy.
A small sack costs 1 tael, which is no different from robbery. But you can't not pay, it seems voluntary, but it's actually forced consumption.
It wasn't just Sun Shan who came to cook, there were other candidates as well.
Everyone squatted beside the water tank to cook.
There are reasons for doing this. First, it is close to the water source and convenient for getting water. Second, if you cook in the cell, if you accidentally knock over the stove and burn the cell, it will be terrible.
Not only will he miss the provincial examination, but more importantly, he may be questioned at any time.
If you fail to take the provincial examination, you will be questioned next time and will be banned from taking the examination for the rest of your life.
What if the government says that you set the fire on purpose? That would be even more unfair than Dou E's crime.
Sun Shan sniffed and a variety of smells came to his nose.
Sun Shan took a look and said, wow!
Some people make dried shrimp, crab and seafood porridge, some put various ingredients into the pot to make a delicious soup, and some even steamed buns, even if their buns were torn into pieces.
Sun Shan took a look at the heat-clearing and detoxifying soup he had prepared, and it was not on the same level as theirs.
After waiting for half an hour, the medicinal soup finally tasted good and Sun Shan scooped a bowl of it.
Ugh! It's so unpalatable!
I don’t know which clinic Sun Dagu went to to get the medicine, but they prescribed such a terrible-tasting medicine.
Aunt Sun also said that this medicine had been tested in many aspects and was a must-have medicine for the provincial examination, and it could cure all kinds of poisons.
My eldest cousin also brought this medicine into the examination room. After boiling it and drinking it, he felt full of energy and vigor.
Sun Shan expressed his disbelief, as his eldest cousin once said that the days leading up to the provincial examination were the most painful days in one's life, and that after coming out of the examination one would feel completely devastated.
The cousin also encouraged Sun Shan to pass the test in one try, instead of having to take the test three times like he did. The pain of one try can be overcome if you endure it.
Entering the market three times is exponentially increasing pain.
Sun Shan pinched his nose and gulped down the drink, and then his entire back was wet.
At this time, the Chaoshan guy next door hung his head, looked at Sun Shan, and asked, "Classmate, what is the medicine?"
Sun Shan looked at his fellow sufferers and said in a low voice, "Clear away heat and detoxify."
The Chaoshan guy pleaded, "Can I have a bowl?"
Sun Shan waved his hand and said, "Whatever. But it tastes terrible."
The Chaoshan guy nodded and said, "I know. I saw you drinking it just now, and your expression was so painful, so I knew it was hard to drink."
Sun Shan looked at him speechlessly and said helplessly: "You have to drink it even if it tastes bad. If you don't, your head will explode."
The stench is so severe that I need to take some medicine to relieve the pain.
The Chaoshan man agreed and said, "You are right. So when I see you drinking, I want to drink. Drinking is better than not drinking."
Sun Shan didn't want to waste time talking to him because he was exhausted.
Pointing to the earthenware jar, he said, "Drink it. You are right. It is better to drink it than not to drink it. It is also good to sweat a lot after drinking it."
His back was covered with sweat, and his face was covered with not only sweat but also oil. Sun Shan felt very uncomfortable.
The Chaoshan guy unceremoniously scooped a bowl of herbs, gulped it down, and said with a bitter face: "Classmate, you didn't lie to me. It's really hard to drink."
After saying that, he quickly drank a few sips of cold water and felt much better.
Sun Shan found his appearance funny.
Seeing him was like seeing myself, really very embarrassed.
Later, the officials came to deliver food again. Sun Shan and the Chaoshan man squatted at the farthest place away from the toilet to eat. In fact, not only the two of them, but many candidates also came out and sat together to eat.
This is a rare leisure time in three days, and no one wants to sit in the dormitory.
Whether we know each other or not, we are all brothers in distress at this moment.
Sun Shan saw that many of the people knew each other. They would gather together, eat together, share their own cooking, and drink together.
Of course, if you are thick-skinned enough, you can also ask others for it.
The Chaoshan guy thought the herbal medicine boiled by Sun Shan was good after drinking it, so he asked his good friend to come over to drink it.
Aunt Sun prepared a lot, and Sun Shan picked up some to save for next time, and boiled the rest.
Whoever wants to drink can drink, and he will not be responsible if anything happens to them.
No one cared. Since Sun Shan drank, they drank too. If something went wrong, they could only accept the bad luck.
In the West District dormitory, Sun Shan did not find any acquaintances, nor did he know which area Li Xinyun and the others were in.
Instead, the Chaozhou guy next door became the most familiar person. The Chaozhou guy also introduced his good friend to Sun Shan, so Sun Shan made a lot of new friends in the examination room.
Sun Shan never thought that he could find good friends in the Imperial Examination Hall.
This was a path he had never imagined taking.
At night, Sun Shan slept by the water tank with a quilt in his hand, and the Chaozhou man did the same. It was a rare night without any bad smell.
The next morning, after washing up, I had breakfast.
The second round of the provincial examination officially began.
The test consisted of one "essay", five "judgments", one each of an imperial edict, an imperial decree, and a memorial, as well as mathematics.
This exam mainly tests whether the candidates have the basic requirements to become an official. As for mathematics, it is a new subject added in recent years.
Sun Shan looked at the questions. Although he had never done them before, they were not difficult and this one was arguably his best.
The math problems were quickly and perfectly solved.
As for writing "judgment", it is actually a case judgment question. To be able to answer these five questions, you need to be familiar with the "Daqian Law Code".
This is no problem at all for Sun Shan.
I think he had just started school and he knew the importance of being familiar with the law.
He is more familiar with Daqian laws than the Four Books and Five Classics.
If Daqian had a "lawyer's license" exam, Sun Shan believed that he would definitely be able to obtain it.