Quick Wear: Men Farming and Women Weaving

Register for the Tongsheng examination at the county government gate and enter the examination hall three days later.

After registering, Li Changgui went to Suzhou City to visit bookstores to see if there were any new books.

The owner of Lu's Bookstore warmly welcomed scholars, scholars and other young men who came to buy books.

Li Changgui walked in and the shopkeeper introduced the Four Books and Five Classics on the bookshelf, as well as various astronomy and geography collections by scholars.

"I have some calligraphy and paintings that the son of the county magistrate wants to buy. If you are interested, you can take a look," the shopkeeper said in a low voice.

"Shopkeeper, do you have any collections of poetry by the various masters, as well as annotations of the imperial examinations in previous years?"

When the shopkeeper heard what books the young man wanted, he knew that he was a serious scholar who wanted to take the imperial examination. His attitude also became more serious, and he took him to another bookshelf full of samples of the Four Books and Five Classics, various annotations of imperial examination questions in previous years, and poems and songs.

"Boss, get me these books and five pieces of rice paper." Li Changgui looked at the books in Suzhou. There were exam questions from various examiners in previous years, as well as essays by various scholars. There was also a collection of poems written by Master Zhang from Suzhou Hexuan Academy, which was brilliant and full of artistic conception.

He paid twenty taels of silver and headed for the house in the north city with the books. He was afraid that he would be late and Sanbao would come out to look for him.

Three days later, soldiers were guarding the gates on both sides of the county government's examination hall.

The entrance was crowded with people who wanted to take the Tongshi exam, including young people, middle-aged people, and old people with white hair.

A gong was struck at the door.

Everyone lined up excitedly to check their clothes and enter the Imperial Examination Hall with their number badges.

Li Changgui was in the middle of the line. It was his turn soon. He found his seat with the number plate given to him. The seat was very small and he could only turn around slightly. There was only one piece of space that could be put down to serve as a table and a stool.

Not far away, a candidate's wailing voice was heard. He was not far from the toilet, and an indescribable smell was wafting around him.

Li Changgui's position was relatively far back, so he didn't smell anything. He was secretly glad that he was not assigned to the stinky number.

Place the pens and ink neatly. The Imperial Examination Hall will distribute paper and no notes are allowed. Violators will be expelled from the Imperial Examination Hall.

After a while, the county magistrate came to the examination room with the chief clerk, said a few words of encouragement to the candidates present, and then began the examination.

The Imperial Examination Hall officially closed its doors and no one was allowed to approach. Family members stood outside the door, staring nervously at people walking around, and kept praying to the Bodhisattva and Buddha in their hearts, hoping that their sons or grandsons would pass the exam.

Sanbao was driving the carriage and worrying nervously. A small stove had been prepared in the carriage to warm the rice porridge.

At this time, Li Changgui, who was looking at the papers with answers in the Imperial Examination Hall, found that the questions were not difficult. As long as he was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics and wrote out the articles and sentences in full, it would test his proficiency in reading the Four Books and Five Classics.

I wrote the correct answers to all the fill-in-the-blank questions. It was still early and the candidates in other rooms were scratching their heads and thinking about the answers.

No one will come to take the test before the time comes.

Li Changgui had no choice but to lean against the wall, support himself on the table with his hands and close his eyes to rest.

After a few gong sounds, the guards not far away said that the questions were collected one by one. The candidates who had not finished writing their answers had sad faces and sat there quietly.

In the afternoon, the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall was opened and candidates came out. Some candidates showed that they were puzzled by the test questions, while others were lost and dejected.

The candidates who are completely confident about the test questions are in high spirits, which shows that the candidates next to them are not in good condition.

Li Changgui followed the crowd out of the gate and was spotted by Sanbao, who stepped forward to greet him so he could return to the carriage to rest.

In the next two days of examinations, on the last day, the examiner asked the question "The way of the university is to manifest the bright virtue, to be close to the people, and to stop at the highest good."

Ask the candidates to write an essay on their understanding of this passage.

Many candidates were in a state of collapse in their test room, not understanding what this meant at all. Some of them had a weak foundation and had never read this article.

In the master bedroom in the front yard, Old Man Jia had already asked his son to pour hot water so that the young man could wash away his fatigue and have a good rest.

He asked Sanbao and the others to leave the room, and he soaked in the bathtub alone, making sounds of comfort all over.

I didn't get out of the tub until the water temperature cooled down after being reminded by Sanbao. I put on my pajamas and lay on the bed with my eyes closed to rest. The exams over the past three days had taken a lot of my concentration, and I had to recall the notes to the questions.

Three days later, when the results were announced, Li Changgui was on the list and took first place.

Everyone in Li's residence was overjoyed to learn that the young master had become a scholar. If he passed the next exam, he would be a scholar. Their servants would also be looked up to by others and would not be inferior to the servants of the wealthy families nearby.

As he will take part in the provincial examination in Songjiang Prefecture, Suzhou in June, Li Changgui decided to go to Songjiang Prefecture three months in advance and find an inn to settle down.

During these three months, Li Changgui often went to Hexuan Academy to listen to the teacher's lectures and observe the calligraphy and articles left by the court ministers.

It deepened his understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics, and his regular script also improved significantly.

The beginning of summer was approaching, and the weather was still cool. Li Changgui drove a carriage with Sanbao to Songjiang City.

At this moment, Songjiang City was bustling with people and was very popular. The provincial examination was about to begin, and scholars from all over Suzhou were heading to Songjiang City. Nearby residents began to rent out their houses, and even the inns were starting to become full.

The carriage took nearly three hours to enter Songjiang Prefecture. We had already made arrangements in advance and rented a room in an inn not far from the examination site.

Sanbao moved into the bedroom with his luggage. After all, he would be staying here for more than ten days and could not disturb the young master's rest. He brought all the young master's usual bedding and tea sets, as well as a lot of pills for treating headaches, colds and fevers.

At this time, many people were coming and going in the inn, and many scholars were packing their clothes in their rooms with their servants.

The innkeeper kept receiving candidates who came to stay at the inn, and kept explaining that the rooms were full. He watched helplessly as the candidates left in dissatisfaction, as the inn's woodshed was occupied and no guests could be accommodated.

Sanbao asked for three dishes and a soup from the kitchen and had them delivered to his bedroom.

"Sir, it's already afternoon, you must be starving, come and eat quickly."

When Li Changgui heard Jinbao's words, he got up from the desk and sat down at the dining table.

"Sanbao, please sit down and eat with us."

"Young Master, you eat first. If you can't finish it, I'll eat the rest." Sanbao was afraid of disturbing the Young Master's meal.

Sanbao insisted on not sitting down, so he prepared some rice and brought it to him.

I just ate a bowl of rice and no vegetables.

Sanbao saw that the young master had finished eating and didn't eat much, so he didn't force him to eat more. He planned to ask the kitchen to prepare some midnight snack for the young master to fill his stomach.

Jinbao finished the remaining food in a few bites, took the bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen waiter, stuffed a few coins into his pocket, and asked someone to bring a bucket of hot water.

After washing up and changing into comfortable clothes, Li Changgui started flipping through a book at the desk and read slowly.

The light gradually dimmed and Sanbao lit the oil lamp.

Seeing that it was getting late, I let Sanbao rest on the couch and get enough rest.