The county examination was to be held on the eighth day of the first lunar month. It was a local, county-level examination, presided over by the county magistrate, who also served as chief examiner. Held once every year in the second lunar month, it consisted of five consecutive sessions: one session a day for the first three, followed by the last two held back-to-back on a single day. The content included eight-legged essays, poetry and rhapsodies, policy essays, and more. It was the first stage of the apprentice scholar examination.
In this dynasty, the apprentice scholar examination had three stages: the county examination, the prefectural examination, and the academy examination. Candidates had to pass the county examination before they could sit the prefectural examination, which was essentially an advanced version of the county examination. Only after passing the prefectural examination were they qualified to be called apprentice scholars.
Compared with modern examinations, the county examination was equivalent to the high school entrance examination, while the prefectural examination was like the college entrance examination. Those who passed the prefectural examination, however, were essentially on par with undergraduates at Project 211 and Project 985 universities.
It seemed becoming an apprentice scholar was no easy feat. One had to pass eight examination sessions: five at the county level and three at the prefectural level.
And apprentice scholar was merely the first status a scholar could attain.
Only after passing the apprentice scholar examination could one qualify to sit the formal imperial examinations.
In other words, Rong Zheng had yet to even reach the doorway to the formal imperial examinations...
The road of the imperial examinations was a long one, with heavy responsibilities ahead~
Early on the morning of the seventh day of the new year, Ye Yun carefully placed the Four Treasures of the Study needed for the examination into the book basket. After checking everything three times to make sure nothing was missing, she packed Rong Zheng's changes of clothes, then added flatbreads for him to eat on the journey.
Rong Zheng was leaving that day for the county town with the four candidates in his mutual guarantee group.
Ye Yun hugged her husband and said softly, "I'll be waiting at home for you to return."
The town was not far from the county town; the journey took about an hour.
Huang Yi's family owned a large covered carriage, and all five of them rode together. His family was wealthy from trade, and the carriage was luxurious, with soft cushions inside, making the journey fairly comfortable.
Once they reached the county town, they went straight to the inn they had booked. It was very close to the examination venue, less than a quarter of an hour away on foot. Huang Yi's family had arranged this through their contacts well in advance, and the costs were split among them.
The inn was in an excellent location, but it was expensive: two hundred copper coins a day. Their six-day stay would cost over a tael of silver.
To be honest, Rong Zheng felt the pinch, but there was nothing he could do. After all, this was the county town's annual county examination. Scholars from more than a dozen surrounding towns gathered here to take it, so naturally the merchants would seize the opportunity to raise prices and make money.
As long as they did not go too far, the county magistrate was happy to see it too. After all, it stimulated the county town's economic growth to some extent.
After eating, the five of them returned to their respective rooms to rest.
The inn's accommodations were quite good. The bedding was soft, and hot water could even be delivered to their rooms.
Rong Zheng asked an inn attendant to bring hot water and enjoyed a comfortable bath. He sat by the window and read for a while, briefly reviewed the examination material in his mind, then lay down to sleep.
Early the next morning, after the five of them ate breakfast and attended to their personal needs, they packed their examination supplies and headed to the examination venue together.
The examination venue was inside the county government office, with a large canopy erected outside its gates. They had arrived early, and candidates were not yet being admitted, but quite a few had already gathered nearby. They formed a long, orderly queue outside, talking in low voices. It was quite lively.
After about a quarter of an hour, the examination venue opened, and the conversations ceased.
A county official stood at the entrance and began calling names loudly. Rong Zheng stood quietly in line and waited.
"Rong Zheng, Azure Cloud Academy, Anhe Village."
Upon hearing his name, Rong Zheng stepped out of line and approached the entrance.
Two tall bailiffs served as the examination's "searchers." One searched Rong Zheng's entire body to prevent candidates from bringing in concealed papers bearing copied material, while the other took his examination basket and inspected the stationery and food inside. Since the examination lasted all day, candidates were permitted to bring simple food.
Once they confirmed that everything was in order, the "searchers" let Rong Zheng enter. Inside, another examiner continued calling names, and the candidates went to the central hall in turn to collect their papers, then took their seats according to the seat numbers written on them.
Rong Zheng saw that his seat number was eighty and found his place. Each candidate had a separate desk. He set down his examination basket and laid out his supplies.
Once everyone was seated, the county official announced the examination rules in a loud voice. Quite some time later, a bailiff struck a bronze gong to announce the official start of the examination, while another held the question board high and walked around to display it.
Rong Zheng began filling in his name, native place, seat number, and other examination information. When he finished, he first gave the answer booklet a quick scan. Its pages were ruled with red horizontal and vertical lines, with twelve lines per page and twenty characters per line. The examination venue provided two sheets of plain paper for the candidates to use as drafts.
The first session, known as the "main session," primarily tested two essays on the Four Books and one examination poem with five characters per line and six rhymes. There were clear rules for the writing format, and the entire paper could not exceed seven hundred characters. The academy's teachers had taught them all these composition requirements.
Rong Zheng took a deep breath. After reading the questions three times, he began planning his answers. Some time later, he put his rough ideas down on the draft paper. Once he had listed the key points, he mentally reviewed their structure and flow, then began transcribing his answers into the answer booklet.
At noon, a bailiff struck the bronze gong to remind the candidates that they could take a break and eat something.
The morning had consumed a great deal of mental energy, and Rong Zheng was already ravenous. As he ate his flatbread, he continued planning how to write the examination poem for the next question. He had finished the Four Books essays that morning, leaving the second question still to complete.
By the end of the break, Rong Zheng had an idea in mind, and his answers flowed smoothly that afternoon. He finished early and, after checking everything carefully, set down his brush and waited for the papers to be collected.
After a while, a bailiff struck the bronze gong, signaling that time was up and everyone must stop writing.
Rong Zheng noticed several people in the examination venue had gone pale, their brush-holding hands trembling uncontrollably as they complained:
"Oh no, I misunderstood the question!"
"My poem is still two lines short. Ah, I can't think of anything, I can't! Why is it so difficult?"
"I'm done for, done for!"
After leaving the examination venue, the five of them gathered and returned to the inn together. To avoid affecting their performance in the next session, they did not discuss the examination content much.
The second session, called the "first repeat," tested one essay on the Four Books, one essay on either Neo-Confucian principles or the Classic of Filial Piety, and the writing from memory of roughly a hundred characters from the Amplified Instructions on the Sacred Edict. No corrections were permitted in the memorized passage, and the formatting requirements were extremely strict. This was also intended to test the candidates' meticulousness.
Rong Zheng noticed that there were fewer candidates in this session, because those who had failed the first session had been eliminated.
After the first session, the examiners would give the papers a preliminary review and eliminate candidates who had clearly failed. They checked for problems such as poor handwriting and improper composition format. When an examiner spotted such immediately obvious issues, the paper was pulled and its candidate eliminated.
Only those who passed the previous session were eligible to continue to the next, so the number of candidates would dwindle with each subsequent session.
The content of this session was not difficult for Rong Zheng. He had practiced it many times already, and his brush flew as though divinely guided!
The third session, called the "second repeat," covered roughly the same material as the first and second sessions, but increased the difficulty further. It also tested one essay on the Four Books or the classics, one regulated rhapsody, one examination poem with five characters per line and eight rhymes, and the first two sentences of the Amplified Instructions on the Sacred Edict.
Rong Zheng remained confident. His thoughts flowed smoothly as he answered, and he completed his compositions in one sustained effort.
The fourth and fifth sessions were held back-to-back on the same day and called the "consecutive repeats." Their content covered almost everything from the previous three sessions, including eight-legged essays, essays on the classics, poetry and rhapsodies, and parallel prose. This was the most difficult examination.
Rong Zheng racked his brains and ultimately spent quite a lot of time finishing his answers, though he still finished before the papers were collected.
As he walked out of the examination venue, Rong Zheng let out a breath of relief. Four consecutive days of examinations were truly exhausting and had used up quite a few brain cells.
The moment Huang Yi saw Rong Zheng, he complained, "That was pretty hard. I only finished right before the deadline in every session. What about you? How did you do?"
Rong Zheng smiled. "Not bad."
"I'm jealous. I can tell you're confident." After whining for a while, he added, "We can't get back to town today. Let's leave tomorrow morning."
"Mm, all right."
Just then, Chen Yujie came out as well, smiling. It seemed he had done well. "Come on, let's have a good meal together. My treat. I haven't dared eat anything carelessly these past few days. Everything I ate was so bland, all because I was worried about getting diarrhea during the examinations."
After waiting for the other two to come out, they returned to the inn together, where Chen Yujie generously ordered a tableful of signature dishes.
The examinations over the past few days had exhausted them both mentally and physically. Now that they were all over, everyone felt as though a weight had been lifted, and they tucked into the food while chatting about the examinations.
As for their worries about the results, those could be set aside for now. The examinations were over, and the outcome was already decided. All they could do was wait patiently for the results to be posted!