Chapter 281 Being fair and honest
While Zhu Pingan and the others were taking the second exam, the examiners also started to get busy. ⊙,
In fact, after the first exam, at five or six o'clock in the afternoon the next day, the first batch of one hundred sealed examination papers had been delivered to the examiners. Then more than 5,000 examination papers were sent immediately afterwards. On the seal of the red scroll, there are also different words "South", "North" and "Middle".
South, North, and Middle, these three different words indicate the source of the test paper. To put it simply, it is the place of origin of the candidates. The quality of candidates in the Ming Dynasty was different. Approximately, candidates from the south had the strongest imperial examination ability, while candidates from the north had poorer ability. If the origins of middle school students in the north and the south were not distinguished, it is very likely that all the tribute scholars admitted this year were from the south. In order to be fair and take care of students from the north, the Ming Dynasty specially created the system of origin of high school students in the north and south. The admission ratio was roughly 55% from the south, 35% from the north, and 10% from the middle school.
While Zhu Pingan and the others were taking the second exam, the examiners had already started marking the papers.
The place where the examiners mark papers is in the "Zhigong Hall" of Shuntian Gongyuan. The Zhigong Hall is behind Mingyuan Building, with outer curtains on the east and west sides. This is where the inspection and inspection officials of the examination room work. Behind the court hall is the inner curtain, where the examiners live, and the examiners' offices are also here, so naturally the papers are graded here.
In order to remind the examiners of the Zhigong Hall to be fair and responsible, a couplet was hung outside the Zigong Hall, highlighting the difficulties of the candidates and warning the examiners to make good use of their grading rights and truly select for the country. To develop talents, do not bend the law for personal gain.
“I have worked hard to come here for three years, and I have the heart to sell it. If I am not impartial, I will be happy if I do it. If I make a mistake, I can’t be without resentment, and the resentment will slander me;”
“ I hope to sit in this hall all my life and be good at the knowledge of empty groups, but if I stay extremely cautious, I will gain it quickly, and I will not be ashamed if I lose it."
In the Zigong Hall, after the Zhujuan for the first session arrived, the chief examiner Xu Jie and the deputy examiner Yan Maoqing led eight fellow examiners. Arriving under the portrait of Confucius in the inner curtained hall of Zhigong Hall, Xu Jie and Yan Maoqing each burned three sticks of incense and inserted them into the incense burner under the portrait of Confucius. Then they led the examiners to kneel three times and kowtow nine times under the portrait of Confucius. A big gift, this has been a tradition for many years before marking.
Xu Jie was at the front, followed closely by Yan Maoqing, and the other examiners arranged themselves in order according to their positions.
"Select scholars impartially for the country, the country, and the country, without favoritism, without being asked to do so, and without accepting bribes - if you fail to do so, the gods will die together."
Xu Jie and other examiners are here Under the portrait of Confucius, facing the portrait of Confucius, swear an oath to the sage Confucius. These words are all fixed and recorded in the Ming Dynasty ceremony, and they are just carried out step by step. After the oath was completed, Xu Jie led the examiners to the inner curtain, and left the remaining procedures to others to complete, such as burning incense, paying tribute, etc. Others performed them one by one according to the usual practice.
After the pre-marking procedures are completed, the lottery begins. First, the chief examiner Xu Jie and the deputy examiner Yan Maoqing draw lots. Which room will the test papers be assigned to for marking?
The examiners drew lots and distributed red papers. Each examiner divided about 500 red papers, all of which contained test papers for different areas of "South", "North" and "Central". The three types of test papers were all based on the admission criteria. When recommending papers, you should also recommend papers according to the proportion, 55% for south, 35% for north, and 10% for middle.
"Everyone, even if I don't say it, everyone should know the importance of this examination. Everyone must also see the importance the Holy Emperor attaches to this examination. The Qing Ci in the second scene is the Holy Emperor's will. So, I just vowed to be careful."
Xu Jie said as he glanced at the examiners one by one. Xu Jie, a good old man who always had a smile, was rarely serious at this moment.
"Otherwise, be careful about your wealth and life! The Holy Emperor cannot tolerate sand in his eyes! Don't blame me for not reminding you then! Okay, I believe that you are all fair people, so I will start recommending papers. ”
Xu Jie finished. He waved his hand, indicating that the examination papers for this meeting had officially begun.
The examination papers are the same as the provincial examination papers. They are both recommended by the same examiner. The examiner decides whether to stay or not. The co-examiners first circle the papers that they think are good, and recommend the papers to the deputy examiner. After receiving the recommended papers, the papers will go to the deputy examiner, and the deputy examiner will mark the papers, and then the chief examiner will mark the papers. If the test paper is not recommended, the examiner needs to write a comment on the test paper and explain the reason why he did not get the recommended paper. Similarly, if a paper is recommended, the examiner should also write down the reasons for recommending the paper. In addition to recommended papers, there is another type called high recommendation, which means that the examiner is so surprised after reading the paper that he thinks the paper is very good, so he will recommend it to the deputy examiner.
After the test paper is recommended, it does not mean that you are admitted. There are still two tests that the deputy examiner and the chief examiner have not passed. After recommending the paper, the test paper reaches the deputy examiner. If the deputy examiner feels that the test paper is well written, he will write the word "take" on the test paper, and then hand in the test paper with the word "take". Give it to the examiner. If the examiner is also satisfied, he will write the word "中" on the test paper. The two examiners combined together will be the word "中". When a test paper reaches this time, you can congratulate the high school student. .
The examination time is only about twelve days. In these short twelve days, each examiner has to read more than 500 papers. The cumulative number of papers in the three sessions is nearly 1,500. share. In such a rushed time, it is almost impossible to read all the papers for each session. Therefore, it gradually came to be that only the first test paper, that is, the "four books" that every candidate must write, was focused on, and the answer papers of other tests were not paid too much attention.
Of course, with the exception of this examination, they must also pay special attention to the second test paper, because this test paper contains Qingci questions written by Emperor Jiajing.
While the examiner was busy marking the first test paper, the second test was already over. This is the last exam left in this conference.
The test questions for this last exam were handed out under the expectant eyes of all the candidates. The candidates’ prayers throughout the night were not in vain. This last exam was finally not as complicated as the second exam. Yao Mozi, the test this time is the same as before, it is also a test of five classics, history and strategy.
The five questions in this exam were also quite satisfactory, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. After working hard to conceive Qingci, the candidates can finally breathe a sigh of relief and start answering the questions step by step.
The same goes for Zhu Pingan. The only difference is that he has one more mask than other candidates. Of course, he also has a historical understanding that surpasses them for hundreds of years, which is very helpful for the economics and history questions. If you stand high, you can naturally see far; if you can see far, you naturally have an advantage.
While Zhu Ping'an was working hard on his last exam, three large ships came to Tianjin Port along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, which is mainly used for water transportation and commerce.
"Miss, where are we? Why are there so many boats? Wow, that boat is so big!"
A little maid with buns appeared on the high pavilion of the big boat pavilion. Seeing the boats that were several miles away lined up in front of Tianjin Port, they pouted in surprise.
"It's rare and strange. That's a sea ship. This is the Tianjin Guard. Ships from all over the country carrying water to the capital all pass through here." Another beautiful girl appeared on the high pavilion of the ship pavilion, holding a book in her hand. The little maid tapped her forehead lightly and said coquettishly.
"Tianjin, aren't we about to go to the capital? Miss, I wonder if my uncle has finished the exam." The little maid of Baozi covered her forehead with her hands, her big round eyes shining.
"Who has time to care about that toad?"
The beautiful girl flattened her lips and said angrily, then closed the book with her slender hands and walked to the pavilion.
Inside the scroll, a small corner of a carefully collected Wen Si Quan Yong Talisman was exposed. (End of chapter)