Chapter 727 Examination (4)
Sun Shan continued to work on the next task.
The roof of the examination room was built, but the surrounding areas were not completed.
Sun Shan once again suspected that the contractor who undertook the construction of the Gongyuan quarters was cutting corners and doing shoddy work.
It is obvious that the wooden boards can be nailed together tightly.
As a result, three wooden boards were needed, but they were reduced to two. The remaining board (money) was definitely pocketed as a kickback.
Sun Shan used oilcloth to wrap a circle in the cell.
By the time I finished my work, I was sweating all over.
He hurriedly fetched a bucket of water from outside in case of emergency.
The candidates in the East District were all like Sun Shan, busy getting their numbers in the dormitories. I heard a lot of complaints along the way.
But after complaining, he continued to do what he had to do. When he walked into the examination room, he was a candidate and no longer a juren. He had no servants to help him with the work, and everything depended on himself.
If you just give up and do nothing, you will be the one who suffers in the end.
Whether it is the first time for the candidates or the candidates who have taken the exam several times, they will be clear about the rules in the examination room.
Sun Shan did not go out to meet friends to reminisce about the past as he had done before the provincial examination.
Firstly, I was not in the mood, secondly, the weather was cold, and thirdly, I was busy enough in the cellar.
By the time I was done, I was exhausted.
I took out the charcoal fire and started it up. I put the small iron pot with water in the charcoal stove to boil the water. I was thirsty, but I didn't want to drink cold water.
Fortunately, I can boil water to drink.
Sun Shan covered himself with the quilt, but he still felt cold and not warm at all.
I quickly moved the stove closer and felt a little more comfortable.
Sun Shan didn't dare to sleep with a fire lit, especially since the cells were made of wooden boards. What if the fire in the stove flew out and caused a fire?
Not only was Sun Shan worried about his own fire accident, he was also worried about other candidates causing fire accidents.
In February of the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty's Shun reign (1463), a fire broke out in the Imperial Examination Hall in the capital, killing more than 90 candidates at one time, causing the largest accident in the history of the imperial examination.
Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty felt pity for the scholars who died in the disaster, so he granted the title of Jinshi to more than 90 people who were burned to death. He gave each of the dead a coffin and buried them in the open space outside Chaoyang Gate. He erected a monument with the words "Tomb of the World's Talents" and people called it the "Tomb of Juren".
But people are dead after death. What use is the title of Jinshi to ghosts? You can’t bring it with you when you are born, and you can’t take it with you when you die.
Sun Shan didn't want to be burned to death and become a roasted pig.
Of course Sun Shan could remember this incident. It was about a candidate named Peng Jiao who missed the imperial examination because he returned a gold hairpin to its original owner. He escaped and became the luckiest candidate of that year.
At this moment, Sun Shan was already in the examination room and did not miss the examination for various reasons. If he really had a fire accident, he might not have been as lucky as Teacher Peng.
Especially for people like him, he is really unlucky when he is unlucky, and really lucky when he is lucky.
It's a 50-50 chance of success, and Sun Shan doesn't want to rely on luck.
After thinking for a while in a daze, Sun Shan suddenly woke up from his doze and was startled.
I saw the charcoal fire burning brightly and the water in the small pot bubbling.
Sun Shan patted his chest. He was just thinking, "Fire prevention in the examination hall is everyone's responsibility."
How did you fall asleep in the blink of an eye?
Sun Shan drank a sip of water, then put out the charcoal fire, and then ran out to go to the toilet.
Oops, someone has already been in here.
It seems that the cold weather really has its benefits. Sun Shan's nose is not very sensitive and he couldn't smell anything.
After solving the physiological problem, I quickly ran back to the cell, covered myself with the quilt, curled up into a ball, didn't think about anything, and went to sleep first.
I set out in the early morning and waited outside the Imperial Examination Hall at Chou time. After a lot of busy work, I was completely exhausted. I had to get a good sleep to prepare for the answer sheet at dawn.
Sun Shan listened to the noise outside and heard constant noise. It seemed that there were energetic candidates taking both the provincial and metropolitan examinations.
Sun Shan leaned against the wooden board and secretly listened to what the indifferent candidate next door was doing.
In the end, I just listened in vain and heard nothing.
Sun Shan was cautious, as he always felt that the candidate next to him was not a good person. At least among the people he knew, there was no one who was so cold and indifferent.
He is not even willing to lend a hand, which shows that he is definitely not a kind person at heart.
Sun Shan did not want to speculate about others with the greatest malice, but he had to be on guard against others.
I’m afraid that some people simply want to harm others.
When asked why they harm others, some people with bad intentions cannot give an answer.
You can't say that you are a bad person and like to hurt others for no reason.
Sun Shan looked at the gap between the room and the next door again, which was already covered tightly with oilcloth.
The candidate next to him couldn't see what Sun Shan was doing inside, and Sun Shan couldn't see what the candidate next to him was doing.
Yeah, that’s good. It’s best not to disturb each other.
After making sure that everything was safe and sound, Sun Shan covered himself with the quilt, curled up like a shrimp, and soon fell asleep.
I slept very restlessly. Not only was the quilt not warm enough, but there were also occasional startling noises. It was easy for me to fall asleep, but I woke up quickly when I was woken up. After sleeping on and off, I finally slept a little better in the darkness before dawn.
The bell rang.
Sun Shan rubbed his eyes in a daze, and a lot of eye mucus came out. He seemed to be feeling a little hot, so he made some cold tea to drink during lunch.
This time, Sun Shan not only brought various kinds of powdered pills, but also a lot of powdered medicine bags and a pot of medicinal wine to drive away the cold.
When it comes to medicinal wine, the Gongyuan specifically requires the use of their bottles, and personal bottles are not allowed to be brought in.
The examinee had no choice but to pay a high price of one penny of silver to buy the clay jar or bottle that normally could be bought for five cents.
Under the supervision of the soldiers, the medicinal wine was poured into the jars in the tribute hall.
Sun Shan did some calculations and excluded the biggest expenses of travel and accommodation, as well as the miscellaneous examination fees, such as registration fees, examination paper fees, meals, charcoal, clothing fees, etc.
I have already used more than ten taels.
Although "there are only poor scholars but no poor juren", ten taels is not a small amount.
Especially for Sun Shan, a candidate who came from a remote mountainous area to take the exam in Beijing, the burden was heavy beyond words.
If a wealthy scholar had to go to Beijing to take the imperial examinations three years after another, it would be difficult for him to afford the expense.
Rumor has it that many candidates stopped taking the exam after taking it three times. It seems that it is not just an age issue, but also a money issue.
Unless you live near the capital, you will be able to take exams endlessly.
Sun Shan shook his head, stretched himself, and stopped thinking about it.
The first ray of sunlight in the early morning shone through, and after I finished washing up, the servants of the Imperial Examination Hall brought me breakfast.
Sun Shan took a look at the first meal of the imperial examination: a steamed bun, a meat bun, and a bowl of pork soup.
Fortunately, there is no Beijing bean juice. If I had a bowl of it, I don’t know whether it would be good to eat or not.
Sun Shan really couldn't stand the taste.
The first meal of Huishi was pretty good.
Especially the bowl of pork stew, which has a delicious taste, rich soup, tender meat filling, and refreshing tofu skin. A sip of the hot stew can not only satisfy your taste buds, but also warm your body and refresh you.
It is said that the late emperor loved this soup the most, so he added it to the first meal of the imperial examination.