Chapter 103: Casting a silver hook to catch a golden turtle, visiting the Imperial Court and fleeing in despair
After performing a battle of wits with Jia Yucun in the back court, Sun Shaozong came out of the door, but he always felt that something was wrong. But after thinking about it, he couldn't figure out where this feeling came from.
Seeing that Cheng Rixing and others had been waiting outside the gate for a long time, he had to suppress his uneasiness in his heart, got on his horse, and headed towards the Imperial Examination Hall near Chongwenmen.
The group of people were riding horses or taking cars, so needless to say, they were on the road.
When we got near the Imperial Examination Hall, we saw colorful flags fluttering in the streets and alleys. Some had "Sanyuan Jidi" written on them, and some had "Changgong Zhegui" written on them.
The more refined ones would post couplets related to the imperial examination.
For example, "Living in a side gate, the county examination is difficult, the prefectural examination is difficult, and the academy examination is even more difficult, and one has to be over fifty to enter the academy; living here, the provincial examination is easy, the metropolitan examination is easy, and the palace examination is even easier, and one can enter the imperial court on the 25th" and so on, which are sour words that belittle others and elevate oneself.
The more rude and direct ones would simply write in gold letters on a red background how many juren and jinshi had come from their school.
Seeing Sun Shaozong reining in his horse to look, Cheng Rixing stuck his head out of the car and explained, "Dongweng, the restaurants and inns here are those that don't open for three years, but only make ends meet for three years after opening. Normally, they can barely make ends meet, but when it comes to the autumn and spring imperial examinations, they immediately make a fortune."
Sun Shaozong asked thoughtfully: "So, there are quite a few examinees living here?"
Cheng Rixing replied, "Of course, the news here is very well-informed. Not to mention the candidates who came from far away, even those who live in the city will come to book a room in the upper room to get a taste of the literary atmosphere of the seniors."
After hearing what Cheng Rixing said, Sun Shaozong stopped and pondered for a while, then urged his horse to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall.
Although this place is not open on weekdays, as Sun Shaozong is the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, no one .
After entering the tribute hall, the first thing that catches your eye is an alley over a hundred meters long.
"grown ups."
Cheng Rixing explained, "This is where the body search takes place. It is not decent to be stripped naked in the street. Besides, the weather is still cold during the Spring Examination . If there is no place to shelter from the wind, many people may fall ill before the examination even starts."
Sun Shaozong nodded without comment and walked in first.
When they reached the center of the alley and saw that there was no one around, he told Zhou Da, "Mr. Cheng, when you go back, select a few reliable clerks, pretend to be the scholars taking the exam, and stay in the inn across the street. You don't have to ask for anything, just eat and drink well and act like rich gentlemen."
"Dong Weng wants to lure those 'literary peddlers' into the trap?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Rixing immediately understood what Sun Shaozong meant, but he showed an embarrassment on his face. He stammered, "Dong Weng, it's not easy to pretend to be a rich man here. If you don't have four or five taels of silver a day..."
Before he could finish, Sun Shaozong said with great generosity: "Then let's set the cost at five taels of silver per person per day. I'll pay for it first. If we really catch a big fish, we won't have to worry about getting our money back. If we don't catch any fish, just think of it as me treating them to a treat!"
After hearing what Sun Shaozong said, Cheng Rixing naturally had no objection. In fact, if he was not afraid of being recognized, he would have wanted to go undercover in the inn!
The group passed through the alley, and what they saw was still not the examination venue, but the hall where the Great Sage Teacher was enshrined.
According to Cheng Rixing and Zhou Da, before each formal examination, the examiners would first pay tribute to Confucius here, begging for the protection of the sage, and at the same time prove to others that they had a clear conscience.
If it was a proper "Inspector General", he would have to go in and pay his respects at this time.
But Sun Shaozong had nothing to do with Confucius, either in his past life or this life, so naturally he was too lazy to pay homage to the old man's appearance.
So, under the guidance of Cheng Rixing, they walked around the hall and arrived at a large courtyard on the east side.
This time, Sun Shaozong finally saw what the "examination room" looked like!
It is no more than 1.8 meters high, less than 1.5 meters deep, and less than 1.2 meters wide. It is built with thin wooden boards. No one lives there on weekdays, and it looks like it is almost covered by weeds.
Sun Shaozong looked at the pigeon-cage-like room and said speechlessly, "Is this where the scholars and candidates take the imperial examinations?"
When I watched costume dramas in the past, the examination rooms in them were shabby enough. I didn’t expect the real situation to be so much worse.
"Where else could it be if not here?"
Cheng Rixing smiled bitterly and said, "I am not satisfied with what you said, sir. After taking the exam for more than ten years, my calves cramp when I see the cell block. I have been enduring for nine days and seven nights, not eating enough, not sleeping well, and even having a stomachache after drinking a few sips of cold water..."
Sun Shaozong endured the musty smell, poked his head in and looked inside for a few times, frowning and saying, "How can I sleep tonight ?"
This time, it was Zhou Da who rushed to explain, "Sir, generally after August 15, our Shuntian Prefecture will send people to clean and repair the house. At that time, two more wooden boards will be placed in each room. Look, aren't there two horizontal wooden boards nailed to the wall?"
He went into a cell and gestured on the wall: "When the time comes, put one board on top as a desk and one board on the bottom as a chair. If you feel tired, put both boards down and take a nap against the wall."
As he spoke, Zhou Da leaned sideways against the wooden wall, which shook slightly. He then heard a "buzzing" sound from next door, and then hundreds of hornets rushed out!
I'm going to
This happened so suddenly that everyone was dumbfounded for a moment.
“Run!”
Fortunately, Sun Shaozong reacted quickly. He shouted loudly, turned around and ran away.
Cheng Rixing, Zhao Wuwei, Zhou Da and others behind him suddenly realized what was going on and immediately ran away.
Speaking of which, this was the first time that Sun Shaozong had "escaped in a panic" since he traveled through time - and this time, he ran for more than three miles before he finally avoided the pursuit of the swarm of hornets.
The others were fine, at most they were stung once or twice, but Sun Shaozong was not hurt at all.
However, because Zhou Da was posing in the cell, his reaction was half a beat slower than others. As a result, he was stung at least a dozen times. Soon, his face was swollen like a pig's head, and even his tongue had grown bigger!
Sun Shaozong was afraid that he would be allergic to bee venom and die without knowing why, so he rushed him to a nearby clinic for treatment.
However, in this way, this trip to the Imperial Examination Hall had to end in a whimper.
——Dividing line——
In the evening, Sun Shaozong returned home and saw Xiangling coming up to greet him. Then he remembered that he was so busy that he forgot about the important business - Xiangling had been waiting for him while he went to the Ministry of Justice to check the files.
only……
Sun Shaozong originally wanted to entrust this task to Zhou Da, but now that he was stung and looked so terrible, how could he still have the nerve to show off in the Ministry of Justice?
It seems that we have to find another suitable candidate.
