Chapter 606: Examination
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the examination hall, some were happy, and some were worried. When the examinees walked in one after another, they had 15 minutes to organize themselves. Some people would take the opportunity to whisper to others.
But this was actually not allowed.
Scholar Lu was also among this group of examinees. Previously, he had found trouble with Ah Yu and Qin Huai and compensated them with ten taels of silver. His body had yet to recover to its peak.
Originally, his family wanted him to take the next round of exams, but he was unwilling.
He had to get his name on the Golden List. At that time, he would look for that ignorant student and embarrass him!
As he was thinking, Scholar Lu suddenly felt that someone in the examination room beside him was very familiar. He took a look. Who else could it be but the arrogant student from before?
“It’s you!” Scholar Lu couldn’t help but raise his voice.
An invigilator with a saber walked past and pulled out his saber. In an instant, a cold light flashed.
“What are you doing?! No noise in the examination hall!” The invigilator looked at Scholar Lu sternly. He didn’t care about the other party’s family background and asked for his name. He only said, “If there’s a next time, you’ll be expelled from the examination hall!”
Scholar Lu was furious. He wanted to find trouble with Qin Huai, but in the end, he was still worried that the invigilator was watching him, so he could only leave angrily.
As expected of a bad student. He was directly marked by the invigilator right from the start.
The other students also looked over when they heard this and laughed in their hearts.
Those who could enter this examination hall were not idiots, but to do such a thing made people look down on them.
Still, it was good that his mentality had been affected, so they had one less competitor.
After the imperial provincial examination, the various prefectures still had to choose candidates to continue taking the imperial civil service examination.
There were only 200 spots in the entire Great Chang. Moreover, they were based on scores and were selected solely on merit.
The meaning was that if there were less than 200 people who’d achieved the specified points, they would simply continue with that number.
They would never let someone with low scores join the exam just to make up the numbers.
Therefore, they needn’t care about others’ performance. They could only focus on being outstanding themselves.
Still, it was naturally not a bad thing if someone fell down on their own.
Qin Huai turned a deaf ear to the commotion here. He only took out the partition and put it away before taking out the huge food box.
The Imperial Examination system of Great Chang had only been established in the previous dynasty. It was different from the style of the neighboring West Wind Nation.
For example, after the imperial provincial examination of the West Wind Nation, there would be an intermediate examination round. The imperial civil service examination would only take place a year after the intermediate examination. After achieving success in the imperial civil service examination, the candidates would proceed directly to the palace selection process.
The imperial provincial examination of the West Wind Nation lasted for three days. This included the time for eating, drinking, and defecating.
Previously, it was eight days in Great Chang. Later, it was changed to six days.
For six days, everyone, including the examiners and invigilators, was not allowed to go out, even if someone suddenly fell ill, or if the entire examination hall was surrounded by fire.
Because in the previous imperial provincial examinations, the phenomenon of fainting on the fifth day was frequent. Many examination candidates complained to the Imperial Court. Now, there was a new rule: The examination will go on for six days, but on the morning of the fourth day, the students can choose to give up the examination. Families can also prepare food for the examinees.
From the fourth to the sixth day of the examination, the format of the test was changed from purely literary to a combination of literary and martial skills. The Six Arts of the Gentlemen were incorporated into these tests.
All the invigilating generals would also be in the examination hall the entire time. The soldiers would be in charge of patrolling and guarding for the first three days. The next three days, they would be in charge of invigilating and would send someone else to guard.
This also greatly avoided the occurrence of fraud in the examination.
All the food items that are submitted must undergo three inspections, namely by the local government office, the invigilators, and the imperial inspectors appointed by the court. The invigilators are appointed from outside the local area, and the imperial inspectors are usually well-known and respected individuals who are not chosen from noble families. These three levels of inspection ensure that the food is thoroughly examined and meet the required standards of safety and quality before being accepted for the examination.
Qin Huai’s food box contained all kinds of things without much fragrance.
The most precious thing was the large gourd that Ah Yu had given him. The other examinees also had such gourds, and they were filled with clear water.
Water also had to be checked repeatedly.
For the first three days, this water also serves the function of cleaning.
Clang!
The gong sounded.
“Candidates, take your positions. The test questions will be distributed in five minutes!”
Qin Huai hugged the treasure gourd in his arms and waited for the invigilator to distribute the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone first..