The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Leaving the dormitory of Class 2, Zhongtian.

Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi arrived at Duxueyuan in the East District, randomly grabbed a senior student, and asked him to help pass the food to Zhang Hao.

It doesn't matter whether it tastes good or not, what matters is the sentiment.

After finishing these tasks, the two returned to their dormitory, and it was already quite late.

In autumn, it gets dark quickly.

Both of them had showered at home and simply washed up before starting their studies.

Wang Yi glanced at Zhuge Yunshu and, seeing that she was preparing to practice calligraphy, handed her an arithmetic booklet.

"Junior Sister Yun Shu, can you help me take a look at this question and this question? The result I got is different from yours later ones."

Zhuge Yunshu took a look at Wang Yi's arithmetic process and quickly discovered the problem.

She pondered for a while, thinking about what method she could use to help Senior Sister Yi understand better, since many of them involved modern calculation methods.

Zhuge Yunshu wrote it down on a piece of paper, and then carefully analyzed the example problem for Wang Yi.

Wang Yi truly deserves to be called a mathematical genius; his ability to apply knowledge to new situations is something I greatly admire.

In no time, she had completely mastered this type of question.

"Junior Sister Yun Shu, you are truly the most talented person in mathematics that I have ever seen. Even Fourth Uncle can't compare to you." Wang Yi's eyes were full of stars.

She likes people who are smarter than her.

Zhuge Yunshu was somewhat uneasy about praising the true genius of ancient mathematics.

Not knowing how to respond, she changed the subject: "Senior, don't get too hung up on this booklet. Just do a few questions every day. After all, we still have a lot of books to read."

"Don't you want to take the imperial examination for children next year?"

Zhuge Yunshu secretly wanted Wang Yi to take the imperial examination for the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) with her. She believed that with her senior sister Yi's talent and hard work, she might be able to get into the top five in the examinations.

Even if you don't get it, you can still have the title of a scholar.

Otherwise, even if you go to the county school, you'll still have to remain a commoner for six years.

“Junior Sister Yun Shu, there’s no need to worry. I know what I’m doing,” Wang Yi said.

My father and fourth uncle both suggested that I take the preliminary examination next year and try my best to pass the county-level examination.

That's exactly what she was thinking.

So, Wang Yi carefully wrapped the arithmetic booklet, put it in a small box, and continued reading the book.

Time flew by as the two studied diligently.

As expected, the next day, Master Wang gave them a small test to assess their abilities.

Upon hearing the news, Zhang Hao first breathed a sigh of relief, then felt somewhat guilty.

He always felt that he was acting dishonestly.

Having received news of the assessment, he kept it a secret from his junior female classmates.

In particular, Junior Sister Yun Shu brought him food last night.

Thinking about this, Zhang Hao felt even more disgusted with himself.

Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi had no idea what Zhang Hao was thinking. Excellent disciples like them were least afraid of a sudden attack from their teacher.

On the contrary, they wished they could have a test every day, so they could check how well they had mastered what they had learned the day before.

Master Wang didn't make things difficult for them; he only asked them questions based on knowledge points they had already learned.

As long as you've followed the instructions, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Sure enough, Zhang Hao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the questions.

It was worth the one or two taels of silver he spent last night reading by lamplight.

There was nothing I could do; the light was disturbing the other senior students' rest.

When faced with such situations, Zhang Hao usually takes a direct and straightforward approach: he solves it with money.

He believed that hard work would pay off, and that first place was beckoning him.

However, his dream was soon shattered.

In less than half an hour, Zhuge Yunshu handed in his paper.

There was nothing she could do; despite the large number of questions, she was a tentacle monster.

Before two incense sticks had burned, Wang Yi had also handed in her paper.

These points of knowledge were a piece of cake for Wang Yi, who reviewed them every day.

In the end, Zhang Hao looked dejected. Although he hadn't made any mistakes, he still came in third place because he took the longest time.

"What's there to be proud of? You're still number two all the time." Zhang Hao gritted his teeth as he looked at Wang Yi's disdainful gaze.

Wang Yi: "That's better than being third forever."

Zhang Hao: "......"

That's so heartbreaking, isn't it?

"Would you be willing to take the imperial examination for children next year?" Master Wang took a sip of tea and looked at Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao: "......"

He had only been daydreaming for a short while when the teacher caught him.

What could he do? He could only appear very happy and indicate that he was willing to give it a try.

Master Wang looked at his three disciples, nodded in satisfaction, and began to explain the preliminary examination for the young scholars:

"The preliminary examination, also known as the 'children's examination,' consisted of three stages: the county examination, the prefectural examination, and the provincial examination. Passing all three examinations granted one the qualification of a student, which is equivalent to the title of Xiucai..."

"The county examination is held every year in March, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Before participating in the county examination, each candidate must register with the rites office of the county government and submit a guarantee letter for five people and a guarantee letter from the guise of a student (the fee for a guise of a student is three to five taels of silver). After these documents are submitted, the yamen runners in charge of the county examination will verify them. Once they are confirmed to be correct, they will register this information and record the physical characteristics of the applicants. At the same time, a registration fee of 300 cash must be paid."

After saying this, Master Wang took another sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued:

"The county, prefectural, and provincial examinations each consist of three parts: 'writing the classics,' 'interpreting the classics,' and 'writing policy questions.' The second part of the provincial examination, a re-examination, will include poetry and prose. All three examinations are within the scope of the Four Books and Five Classics, and the question types are also the same: 'writing the classics,' 'interpreting the classics,' and 'writing policy questions.' However, the difficulty increases progressively from the county to the prefectural to the provincial examinations..."

"I've already discussed the 'Tie Jing' (帖经), 'Mo Yi' (墨义), and 'Ce Wen' (策问) before, so I won't go into detail. Now, I'll focus on poetry. It's also called 'Tie Shi' (帖诗). In exams, the questions are basically given a theme or a rhyme scheme, and the candidates are asked to compose a poem..."

"For the next month, in addition to submitting a policy question every day, we will focus on studying the Five Classics and poetry."

"I hope you finish those elective courses as soon as possible, do you understand?"

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Wang Yi: "......"

Zhang Hao: "......"

"Disciple understands."

Yeah, the pressure is so much, waaaaah!!!

"Oh, by the way, the town schools of Yunmu Town and Yuntu Town have invited our town school to conduct academic exchanges. I will reply to them tomorrow. We will depart in half a month. Please prepare in advance," said Master Wang.

In fact, he was also invited to the schools in Yuntian Town and Yunze Town, but after much deliberation, he chose the second and third place winners from the county school competition.

Since the strengths are evenly matched, it's still important to understand the opponent's strength better.

"Master, can we not go?" Zhang Hao asked nervously.

He felt that with his studies so demanding, running around everywhere would be a waste of time.

Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi also looked at Master Wang with anticipation. They really didn't want to participate in any of those academic exchanges. Wouldn't it be better to stay home and focus on studying?

"No."