CH 103
In the back of the Yamen courtyard, he performed a "battle of wits" with Jia Yucun. Sun Shaozong came out of the door, but he always felt something was wrong. After thinking about it, he couldn't figure out where the feeling came from.
Seeing that Cheng Rixing and others had been waiting outside the gate for a long time, he had no choice but to put this uneasiness in his heart, get on his horse, and set off for the place where the local Imperial Examinations were held near Chongwen Gate.
A group of people were riding horses and carriages on the road.
When they arrived near the place where local imperial examinations were held, they saw colorful flags fluttering in the streets, one with the words "the graduates of three government examinations" and the other with the terms "obtain a degree in civil examinations.”
The gentler ones stick to couplets related to the Imperial Examination.
For example, "Living in a side gate, it is difficult to take the exam in the County, the exam in the Government, and the Academy Entrance Examination. Only be admitted into a government school over 50 years old; Living here, it's easy to have a Provincial Examination, a Metropolitan Examination, and the final Imperial Examination. It only requires 25 days to be registered,” which belittles others and elevates one's own sour words.
The most direct couplets simply wrote in gold letters on a red background, writing down how many candidates in the Imperial Examinations at the Provincial level and successful candidates in the highest Imperial Examinations have been there.
Seeing Sun Shaozong pull up his horse to watch, Cheng Rixing poked his head out of the carriage and explained, "Master, the restaurants and inns here won’t be open at any time, but once they are open, they will make the money worth three years. They usually barely make ends meet. When they arrive at the autumn and spring examinations, they make a lot of money immediately."
Sun Shaozong asked thoughtfully, "Are there so many candidates living here?"
Cheng Rixing replied, "That's natural. The news here is the most well-informed. Not to mention those candidates who come from afar, even those who live in the city, many people will come to book a superior room to get a touch of the culture of their predecessors."
Hearing Cheng Rixing's words, Sun Shaozong stopped and pondered for a while. He then hurried his horse to the gate of the place where the Imperial Examination was being held.
Although this place was not normally open to the public, in the capacity of Sun Shaozong's Central Judicial Office, no one would stop him if he wanted to go in and have a look.
After entering the place where the Imperial Examination would be held, the first thing he saw was a 100-meter-long lane.
"My Lord."
Cheng Rixing further explained, "This is where the body search happens. After all, it's not elegant to strip off all the clothes in the street. Besides, it's still cold in the spring. If there's no place to keep out the wind, a bunch of people will fall sick before the exam starts."
Sun Shaozong nodded noncommittally and went in first.
When he got to the middle of the road, he saw no one from left to right. He then ordered Cheng Rixing, "After you go back, Mr. Cheng, you can choose some reliable minor official who draws up indictments, pretend to be scholars who take the exam and live in the inn across the street. You don't have to ask anything, just pretend to be rich when staying and eating well."
"Is Master trying to lure those ”literary dealers” into taking the bait?"
Hearing this, Cheng Rixing immediately understood Sun Shaozong's meaning, but his face showed embarrassment. He mumbled, "It's not so easy to pretend to be a rich man here, Master. If you fail to spend four or five taels of silver in a day..."
Before he could finish speaking, Sun Shaozong said with great wealth, "Let's make it a daily expenditure of five silver taels for each person. I'll pay for it first. If I catch a big fish, it isn't an issue getting the spending back. If I can't catch a single fish, just treat it as if I'm paying them to enjoy it!"
Hearing what Sun Shaozong said, Cheng Rixing naturally has no more opinions. In fact, if he wasn't afraid of being recognized, he would want to go undercover in the inn himself!
When the bunch of people passed through the sidewalk, what they saw was not the examination hall but the hall dedicated to the Supreme Masters.
According to Cheng Rixing and Zhou Da, every time before the official examination, the examiners would pay tribute to Confucius the Sage here, beg for the protection of the Supreme Master, and prove to others that they have a clear conscience.
If it was changed to ”a profound commanding officer or civil administrative chief of a large region," he would have to go in and pay respects.
But Sun Shaozong had nothing to do with Confucius in his past life or his present life, and naturally did not bother to look at his appearance.
Under the guidance of Cheng Rixing, after walking around the hall, they came to a courtyard on the east side that covered a large area.
This time, Sun Shaozong finally saw what the "exam room" looked like!
They were not more than 1.8 meters high, less than 1.5 meters deep, and less than 1.2 meters wide. They were all made of thin wooden boards. There were no people normally here, and they were almost covered by weeds.
Sun Shaozong looked at the pigeon cage-like room and said speechlessly, "Is this where scholars and examiners can get fame?"
In the past, when watching ancient costume dramas, the examination room inside was shabby enough. Unexpectedly, the reality was much worse.
"Where else can it be?"
Cheng Rixing said with a wry smile, "To tell you the truth, Master, after more than ten years of examination, my legs and stomach turn wobbly when I see the room. Enduring for nine days and seven nights, having no appetite, unable to sleep well, even drinking two mouthfuls of cold water resulted in a stomach ache..."
Sun Shaozong tried to resist the musty smell, looked in a few times, and frowned, "How do they sleep at night?"
This time, however, Zhou Da rushed to explain, "My Lord, usually after August 15th, our Central Judicial Office will send someone to clean up and repair. At that time, there will be two more wooden boards in each cell. Look, aren't there two crossbars nailed to the wall?"
He went into a cell and gestured at the wall, "When the time comes, one board will serve as a desk on the top and one board will serve as a chair on the bottom. If the candidate is tired from reading, they can put both boards down and squint against the wall for a while."
As Zhou Da spoke, he leaned against the wooden wall. The wall shook slightly, and he heard a "buzzing" next door, and then hundreds of hornets rushed out!
The fck!*
Suddenly, everyone was a little foolish.
"Run!"
Fortunately, Sun Shaozong's reaction was relatively quick. He gave a loud shout, turned around, and ran away.
Later, Cheng Rixing, Zhao Wuwei, Zhou Da, and others suddenly realized they were all running away.
Speaking of this, this was the first time Sun Shaozong "ran away in a panic" since he crossed the border. This time, he escaped for more than three miles and finally avoided being chased by the Hornets.
The other people were still fine, they were at most stung once or twice, and Sun Shaozong was unharmed.
However, because Zhou Da was showing in the room, his reaction was half a beat slower than that of others. As a result, he was stung more than ten times, at least. Soon, his face was swollen like a pig's head, and even his tongue was a size bigger!
Sun Shaozong fear that he was allergic to bee venom and might be near death’s door, so he rushed him to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Thus, the trip to the place where the Imperial Examination would be held had to be announced as over.
—Dividing Line—
In the evening, Sun Shaozong came home and watched Xiangling greet him. It was only then that he remembered that he had been so busy that he had forgotten his business. Xiangling had been waiting for him to go to the Ministry of Punishment to check the files.
It’s just that…
Sun Shaozong originally wanted to entrust Zhou Da with this task, but now he has been stung into an ugly appearance. How dare he go to the Ministry of Punishment to show off his face?
It seems that he has to find another suitable candidate.
Seeing that Cheng Rixing and others had been waiting outside the gate for a long time, he had no choice but to put this uneasiness in his heart, get on his horse, and set off for the place where the local Imperial Examinations were held near Chongwen Gate.
A group of people were riding horses and carriages on the road.
When they arrived near the place where local imperial examinations were held, they saw colorful flags fluttering in the streets, one with the words "the graduates of three government examinations" and the other with the terms "obtain a degree in civil examinations.”
The gentler ones stick to couplets related to the Imperial Examination.
For example, "Living in a side gate, it is difficult to take the exam in the County, the exam in the Government, and the Academy Entrance Examination. Only be admitted into a government school over 50 years old; Living here, it's easy to have a Provincial Examination, a Metropolitan Examination, and the final Imperial Examination. It only requires 25 days to be registered,” which belittles others and elevates one's own sour words.
The most direct couplets simply wrote in gold letters on a red background, writing down how many candidates in the Imperial Examinations at the Provincial level and successful candidates in the highest Imperial Examinations have been there.
Seeing Sun Shaozong pull up his horse to watch, Cheng Rixing poked his head out of the carriage and explained, "Master, the restaurants and inns here won’t be open at any time, but once they are open, they will make the money worth three years. They usually barely make ends meet. When they arrive at the autumn and spring examinations, they make a lot of money immediately."
Sun Shaozong asked thoughtfully, "Are there so many candidates living here?"
Cheng Rixing replied, "That's natural. The news here is the most well-informed. Not to mention those candidates who come from afar, even those who live in the city, many people will come to book a superior room to get a touch of the culture of their predecessors."
Hearing Cheng Rixing's words, Sun Shaozong stopped and pondered for a while. He then hurried his horse to the gate of the place where the Imperial Examination was being held.
Although this place was not normally open to the public, in the capacity of Sun Shaozong's Central Judicial Office, no one would stop him if he wanted to go in and have a look.
After entering the place where the Imperial Examination would be held, the first thing he saw was a 100-meter-long lane.
"My Lord."
Cheng Rixing further explained, "This is where the body search happens. After all, it's not elegant to strip off all the clothes in the street. Besides, it's still cold in the spring. If there's no place to keep out the wind, a bunch of people will fall sick before the exam starts."
Sun Shaozong nodded noncommittally and went in first.
When he got to the middle of the road, he saw no one from left to right. He then ordered Cheng Rixing, "After you go back, Mr. Cheng, you can choose some reliable minor official who draws up indictments, pretend to be scholars who take the exam and live in the inn across the street. You don't have to ask anything, just pretend to be rich when staying and eating well."
"Is Master trying to lure those ”literary dealers” into taking the bait?"
Hearing this, Cheng Rixing immediately understood Sun Shaozong's meaning, but his face showed embarrassment. He mumbled, "It's not so easy to pretend to be a rich man here, Master. If you fail to spend four or five taels of silver in a day..."
Before he could finish speaking, Sun Shaozong said with great wealth, "Let's make it a daily expenditure of five silver taels for each person. I'll pay for it first. If I catch a big fish, it isn't an issue getting the spending back. If I can't catch a single fish, just treat it as if I'm paying them to enjoy it!"
Hearing what Sun Shaozong said, Cheng Rixing naturally has no more opinions. In fact, if he wasn't afraid of being recognized, he would want to go undercover in the inn himself!
When the bunch of people passed through the sidewalk, what they saw was not the examination hall but the hall dedicated to the Supreme Masters.
According to Cheng Rixing and Zhou Da, every time before the official examination, the examiners would pay tribute to Confucius the Sage here, beg for the protection of the Supreme Master, and prove to others that they have a clear conscience.
If it was changed to ”a profound commanding officer or civil administrative chief of a large region," he would have to go in and pay respects.
But Sun Shaozong had nothing to do with Confucius in his past life or his present life, and naturally did not bother to look at his appearance.
Under the guidance of Cheng Rixing, after walking around the hall, they came to a courtyard on the east side that covered a large area.
This time, Sun Shaozong finally saw what the "exam room" looked like!
They were not more than 1.8 meters high, less than 1.5 meters deep, and less than 1.2 meters wide. They were all made of thin wooden boards. There were no people normally here, and they were almost covered by weeds.
Sun Shaozong looked at the pigeon cage-like room and said speechlessly, "Is this where scholars and examiners can get fame?"
In the past, when watching ancient costume dramas, the examination room inside was shabby enough. Unexpectedly, the reality was much worse.
"Where else can it be?"
Cheng Rixing said with a wry smile, "To tell you the truth, Master, after more than ten years of examination, my legs and stomach turn wobbly when I see the room. Enduring for nine days and seven nights, having no appetite, unable to sleep well, even drinking two mouthfuls of cold water resulted in a stomach ache..."
Sun Shaozong tried to resist the musty smell, looked in a few times, and frowned, "How do they sleep at night?"
This time, however, Zhou Da rushed to explain, "My Lord, usually after August 15th, our Central Judicial Office will send someone to clean up and repair. At that time, there will be two more wooden boards in each cell. Look, aren't there two crossbars nailed to the wall?"
He went into a cell and gestured at the wall, "When the time comes, one board will serve as a desk on the top and one board will serve as a chair on the bottom. If the candidate is tired from reading, they can put both boards down and squint against the wall for a while."
As Zhou Da spoke, he leaned against the wooden wall. The wall shook slightly, and he heard a "buzzing" next door, and then hundreds of hornets rushed out!
The fck!*
Suddenly, everyone was a little foolish.
"Run!"
Fortunately, Sun Shaozong's reaction was relatively quick. He gave a loud shout, turned around, and ran away.
Later, Cheng Rixing, Zhao Wuwei, Zhou Da, and others suddenly realized they were all running away.
Speaking of this, this was the first time Sun Shaozong "ran away in a panic" since he crossed the border. This time, he escaped for more than three miles and finally avoided being chased by the Hornets.
The other people were still fine, they were at most stung once or twice, and Sun Shaozong was unharmed.
However, because Zhou Da was showing in the room, his reaction was half a beat slower than that of others. As a result, he was stung more than ten times, at least. Soon, his face was swollen like a pig's head, and even his tongue was a size bigger!
Sun Shaozong fear that he was allergic to bee venom and might be near death’s door, so he rushed him to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Thus, the trip to the place where the Imperial Examination would be held had to be announced as over.
—Dividing Line—
In the evening, Sun Shaozong came home and watched Xiangling greet him. It was only then that he remembered that he had been so busy that he had forgotten his business. Xiangling had been waiting for him to go to the Ministry of Punishment to check the files.
It’s just that…
Sun Shaozong originally wanted to entrust Zhou Da with this task, but now he has been stung into an ugly appearance. How dare he go to the Ministry of Punishment to show off his face?
It seems that he has to find another suitable candidate.
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