Chapter 57: The exam begins, thousands of candidates
Hearing this, Changle's red lips curled up slightly.
In today's Tang Dynasty, scholars have a particularly high status.
When she was in the palace before, Changle had also seen some Jinshi.
Those people were so arrogant. Even when facing the powerful and wealthy, or princes and princesses, although they spoke respectfully, their attitude was still superior.
From this we can see how precious the status of a Jinshi is.
If you can win one of the three prizes, you will become famous overnight.
Now Qin Wenyuan is planning to take the imperial examination. If he succeeds, won’t he be able to do whatever he wants?
The more she thought about it, the happier it became. She then stepped forward and took a stack of books, smiling and saying, "Husband, is this true or false?"
"The imperial examination is different from other exams. Some people have studied hard for decades but still failed to pass. Now you suddenly want to work hard and you only have seven days. Is this okay?"
Qin Wenyuan smiled and replied, "Just give it a try and you'll know. There's nothing to lose anyway."
"In fact, I was not allowed to participate because the imperial examination is held once a year and the number of participants was determined long ago."
"As a last resort, I asked someone to use their connections to sign me up for a small class."
"Now that I've moved into my new home, I can put my mind at ease and start studying hard. Uncle Hu will take care of the store."
Hearing this, Changle nodded and said, "Since you are going to participate, then you should be attentive in the next few days, my husband! I will definitely do my best in terms of food and daily life!"
"I promise that it will not affect our great talent's performance in the imperial examination that day!"
In the end, there were not many obstacles, and Changle agreed to let Qin Wenyuan participate.
During the Tang Dynasty, scholars' favorite subjects were the Mingjing and Jinshi examinations.
The Mingjing examination mainly focused on Confucian classics. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", ancient rulers focused on using Confucianism to unify people's thoughts. This is one of the important reasons why the Mingjing examination was so popular.
As important as the Mingjing examination is the Jinshi examination. In the early Tang Dynasty, the Jinshi examination mainly consisted of five policy questions on current affairs, and the quality of the essays was used as the mark of the examination.
In this era that emphasized literature, many Jinshi who had not yet been selected as officials by the Ministry of Personnel were regarded as future ministers just because they wore common people's clothes.
The Jinshi examination attracted many scholars to take the exam, resulting in fierce competition and great difficulty in passing.
There is even a saying that goes "At thirty, one is old enough to become a Mingjing, and at fifty, one is not old enough to become a Jinshi."
This means that if you pass the Mingjing exam at the age of thirty, you are already old, but if you pass the Jinshi exam at the age of fifty, it is still a very young age.
It can be seen that the difficulty of the Jinshi examination is much greater than that of the Mingjing examination.
For this reason, the Jinshi examination was crazily sought after by society in the Tang Dynasty.
The imperial examination seven days later will be the Jinshi examination!
This is also Qin Wenyuan’s goal.
The content of the Jinshi section of the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty continued from that of the Sui Dynasty in the early Tang Dynasty, and the main test was on "current affairs policy," that is, views on current affairs and politics.
As a modern person from the later generations, Qin Wenyuan knows that it is impossible to read books.
It is difficult for me to read such simple books in modern times, let alone such difficult books in ancient times.
The reason why he bought so many books was just to cover up his tracks. Of course, the main purpose was for his wife to see.
Otherwise, if you really want to study seriously, you wouldn't buy books just before the imperial examination.
As for whether he could make the list, Qin Wenyuan was not very confident.
Having been in the Tang Dynasty for more than ten years, he deeply understands how many smart people there are in this era.
People of this era simply lack some vision.
Therefore, even though he possessed a knowledge reserve far beyond this era, Qin Wenyuan had no confidence.
Time passed slowly, and every day Qin Wenyuan, apart from pretending to study, would arrange what the servants in the mansion should do.
Sometimes, when his wife Changle caught him arranging servants, she would blame herself, wondering why she had not arranged everything and let her husband, who should have been studying hard, to arrange everything.
Finally, seven days passed and the day of the imperial examination arrived. The whole city of Chang'an was bustling with activity.
Tribute students from all over the country gathered in Chang'an . They were all people who stood out in the provincial and state examinations.
It can be said to be a battle between two strong forces.
Today in Chang'an City, there are probably thousands of tribute students taking the final examination, and the final result is very cruel. At most, only about ten Jinshi will be selected.
And these tribute students were talented people selected from all over the country and all continents of the Tang Dynasty, but in the end there were only about ten Jinshi.
This shows how difficult the imperial examination is.
It really lived up to that saying, once nominated, the world will know the name!!
In front of the Jinshi examination office, Changle looked flustered, and behind her stood her maid Xiaolin.
Changle was so beautiful that she immediately attracted the attention of many tribute students.
However, her mind was not here at all at the moment, and she was busy tidying up her husband's clothes.
She smoothed Qin Wenyuan's sleeves with her right hand and said nervously, "My husband, I've seen so many talented people here."
"If... I mean, if we are not nominated, don't be discouraged, my husband. Anyway, our family is now considered to be a little wealthy and we don't have to worry about food and drink. If you still plan to participate, we can continue to take the imperial examination next year."
Changle said leisurely.
Her hands were trembling slightly and her forehead was sweating. She was obviously more nervous than Qin Wenyuan who was preparing for an exam.
She used to be a princess, and all the tribute students, even those who passed the imperial examinations, had to be respectful to her. Changle didn't care about it.
But now that it’s my husband’s turn to take the exam, I’m still extremely nervous.
Qin Wenyuan smiled and gently tapped Changle's head. "Madam, look at you. You are sweating in the windy weather. I will go in later. Don't wait for me to come back like you did the last time I went to Ruyi Tea Shop."
"Just go home and wait for me. Even if you are not nominated in the end, your husband will not be discouraged by such a small setback."
After comforting Changle for a while, Qin Wenyuan walked directly into the Jinshi Academy's government office alone.
To be honest, Qin Wenyuan was also very nervous when taking the imperial examination this time.
If nominated, he could expand his territory in Chang'an without restraint like he did when dealing with Ruyi Tea House.
In recent days, Ruyi Tea Shop also sent people to discuss business, saying that they wanted to buy the tea formula he had.
However, Qin had evaded all of these with vague answers and was just waiting for the results of this imperial examination.
Of course, even if he didn’t win, Qin Wenyuan felt that he probably wouldn’t agree to sell the tea recipe.
At this moment, Changle, who was behind him, was still so nervous as he looked at Qin Wenyuan's back.
"Oh! Damn it!"
Suddenly, Changle's expression changed slightly.
Xiaolin also became nervous, "Miss, what's wrong?"
Changle had a worried look on her face and said weakly, "In the morning... I shouldn't have made cakes in the morning. On such an important day as the imperial examination, I should have made beef noodles for my husband, his favorite."
"Xiao Lin, this is over. My husband is not in the best condition. I made a mistake."
Xiaolin: ???
Miss, I thought it was a big deal, but it turned out to be just like this?
Xiao Lin suppressed her smile and said, "Don't worry, young lady. The young master is so smart, he will definitely pass the exam and gain some honors."
"Miss, I think you should listen to the young master and come back to the manor with me to wait. If you go back first, you can also prepare his favorite beef noodles for him."
Just like that, Xiaolin half-heartedly pushed Changle, who had a worried look on his face, away.
