Chapter 142 The First Round
"How can I enter Sanjing Academy? It's just that we were classmates for several years before Senior Brother Kang entered the palace." Zhu Hui said.
"That's it!" All the children nodded.
They were brought to the front and saw many people in white clothes directing the crowd. These people were all disciples of Sanjing Academy.
They divided the people who came into the team into teams, and those who participated in the competition stood in front, while those who just watched the excitement stood in the back.
Gradually, the chaotic crowd became orderly and uniform.
"Actually, no matter how patient you are, you can still get in through the front door." Kang Fuzi said, "You have to fight me at the back door."
"Old Master, this is your fault. If you had said this earlier, why would we bother you?" Feng Tianzhu couldn't help but retort.
Kang Fuzi ignored him and turned around and went in.
"Everyone, please be patient. The first question is about to begin." After the scene calmed down for a while, a tall middle-aged man with a handsome face walked out of the room.
The clothes on his body are gray, between the disciples in white and the master in black.
"Isn't this Mr. Huaying? He entered Sanjing Academy twenty years ago and has never left the academy." Someone who knew the details whispered quietly.
"People are obsessed with learning, so of course they refuse to become teachers. Is there any place in the world where people can concentrate more on their studies than Sanjing Academy? And where are the masters better than those at Sanjin Academy?" Erudite?" someone immediately echoed.
"But I wonder what this year's first question is?" People are more curious.
"Yes! In previous years, the first question would have eliminated most of the people."
"Stop talking, the incense burner has been set up."
Gong Changan saw two disciples sitting on a desk with a three-generation bronze furnace on it.
"This year's first question is: memorize an article of nearly a thousand words in a quarter of an hour, and then write it out silently in the time it takes to burn an incense stick." Mr. Hua Ying stood in front of the steps and said loudly.
"Oh, this is a test of photographic memory. It's hard, hard, hard."
"What's so difficult about this? If you memorize it in advance, it won't take more than a quarter of an hour."
"What do you think this is? Is there anyone who missed the question in advance? Let me tell you, this must have been written by a certain master on the spot."
"Yes, these masters are highly respected. How could they do such cheating?"
"Besides, even if you can get through the test, you still won't be able to pass the subsequent questions."
In the midst of everyone's discussion, two more disciples came out carrying a large piece of cloth measuring one foot square with a bamboo pole. They came to the crowd and opened the bamboo pole. The ink on it was like a poem that had just been written.
"Hey, what kind of article is this? I don't even recognize the words on it?" Everyone panicked when they saw the title.
I saw that this was an article called "Ode of Xu Jian Yi Yi Yu". Not only was the title word difficult to read, but there were nearly a thousand words in the entire article, and there were many uncommon words, which was a headache.
"Isn't this too difficult? If you can write proficiently, you might be able to memorize it. Who can remember it if it's so clumsy, jerky and obscure?"
"I have long said that Sanjing Academy is notoriously tricky in selecting disciples. Otherwise, how could we select the best among the best?"
The scene was noisy, but the people from Sanjing Academy did not stop it.
The disciples they want to choose must first have an excellent memory and a photographic memory, and the more chaotic the scene, the more their true abilities will be tested.
At this time, the incense was already burning, and it was planned that it would take exactly a quarter of an hour to burn the incense stick.
Many of those who stood at the front to participate in the selection had become discouraged and no longer looked as confident as before.
"Chang'an, can you make it?" Feng Tianzhu asked with concern.
"I'll try." Gong Changan looked as usual.
"Don't disturb him." Qiao Ziyu pulled Feng Tianzhu behind. Since they were children, no one regarded them as contestants at all, only as people who came to join in the fun.
In the blink of an eye, the stick of incense was gone, a drum sounded, and the two disciples put away the white cloth with the inscriptions on it.
"Anyone who wants to try, please come forward." A row of tables had already been set up in the open space in front of the house, with paper and pens on them.
Some people came forward one after another, and some shook their heads, obviously they didn't even have the courage to give it a try.
Finally, Gong Changan also walked up and occupied the table at the far side.
"Hey, did you see that? There's a little baby here." Someone immediately stared at him.
"In my opinion, he was just joining in the fun. Such a young child can't recognize all the words, so how can he write it down?" More people believed that he was just a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers and deliberately wanted to attract attention.
Another stick of incense was lit, another drum sounded, and everyone began to write furiously.
Some people write as fast as they can, as if they would forget their previous memories if they wrote slower.
Others think while writing and stop writing.
Of course, there are inevitably some people who look around and want to copy others. People like this were invited to go down by the people from Sanjing Academy.
Gong Changan was unhurried from beginning to end. The table was a little high for him. A disciple from Sanjing Academy came over and put a small stool under his feet.
The incense burned shorter and shorter, and the scene became more and more tense. Everyone in the audience held their breath and no one spoke anymore.
"Oh! Forget it!" Seeing that most of the incense had been burned, a few of them who had not finished half of the article silently chose to give up.
Less than thirty people persisted to the end.
And this is just the first test question.
With the last drum sound, everyone stopped writing.
Someone collected the silently written papers and sent them in.
Everyone was waiting for the results to be announced.
“I don’t know how many of these people will eventually pass the primary election.”
“This question is a bit too difficult, so it’s reasonable to fail.”
"I have long said that Sanjing Academy is very strict in selecting disciples. Otherwise, where would the reputation of these hundreds of years come from?"
After waiting for another cup of tea, Mr. Huaying came out with a piece of paper in his hand, with the names of those who passed the preliminary examination written on it.
The scene suddenly became silent again, and everyone wanted to know who had passed.
"Those who entered the second round of selection are: Yu Hanying, Lu Hong, Xiao Manlang, Lu Song..."
These people who are talking about it have already attracted quite a lot of attention on weekdays, and many of them are outstanding students.
"...Ye Guanghan, Gong Changan." Mr. Huaying finally finished reading the list.
"Chang'an! Well done!" Feng Tianzhu was the first to jump up.
"Well done, Chang'an! You really make us look good!" Several other children also jumped up and down.
"What? The youngest child was also selected?!" Everyone was in disbelief.
"Oh, that's amazing. Such a young man has such abilities!" Gong Changan suddenly became the most noticed person.
"It's young, but it's not necessarily better to be older." Someone immediately started pouring cold water on him.
"That is, once the first choice is over, the subsequent problems will only be more difficult."