The township test is related to the country's talent ceremony. Not only the participating candidates gathered in Guangzhou, but officials from all over the world also gathered here to contribute to the triennial township test.

Lin Haoran saw the old department of Leizhou, such as Liu Jiyu, the same governor of Leizhou, was appointed as one of the officials of the seal, Yuan Bosong of Xu Wenzhi County, Leizhou Prefecture, was appointed as one of the reading officials, and Lei Changjiang, the county governor of Lianzhou, was appointed as one of the officials who received the papers.

This township test can be said to have alarmed most of the officialdom in Guangdong, and the political envoy Wang Bai was the promotion officer of the township test, Xiao Xu was appointed as the temporary examination officer, and the inspector was appointed as the supervisor of the imperial Shi Fan Ji Tao.

As the prefect of Guangzhou, Lin Haoran also could not escape the fate of "service", and he led Gu Yan, the prefect of Huizhou, Xu He, the prefect of Zhaoqing, and Xia Yan, the prefect of Chaozhou, as the officials who received the examination papers.

In addition to the chief examiners who came down from the capital and the same examiners who were transferred from various provinces, the outer curtain officials were all filled by local officials in Guangdong, and among them, the soldiers of the four guards in Guangzhou were responsible for the work of martial law and search.

On July 18, the Guangdong Township Trial was held as scheduled.

More than 2,000 candidates from the 10 provinces of Guangdong gathered in Guangzhou City, chasing the 75 quota and competing for the ticket to the officialdom, which was undoubtedly a highly competitive examination.

No one wants to study hard for ten years, and in the end they only end up with one accompanying exam, and they all want to stand out from more than 2,000 candidates and become known to the world for the title of the gold list in one fell swoop.

The sky was still dark, and all the candidates had already crowded to the square in front of the Gongyuan with lanterns, waiting for admission.

There is a magnificent memorial arch on the left and right sides of the square, the memorial arch on the right is "Tengjiao", the left side is written "Qifeng", and there is a memorial arch in front of the gate of the Gongyuan that says "Tiankai Wenyun".

The dark crowd crowded the Gongyuan Square, and the messengers were maintaining order.

The east has just been polished, and the auspicious time has arrived.

The first three cannons of the Gongyuan rang out, and the soldiers of the Guangzhou Wei opened the gate; Then three more cannons rang out, and the door opened; Then the gantry opened, and three more cannons were fired, for a total of nine cannons before and after.

The gates, the dragon gate and the gate of the Gongyuan are open, and the entire passage for the entrance of the township trial has been opened, and you can see the black inside the Gongyuan.

"Grace ghosts enter, there is grace to repay kindness; Resentful ghosts enter, and there is revenge. ”

But I saw two groups of soldiers, one holding a red flag and the other holding a black flag, shouting loudly outside the gate.

The candidates who were so nervous in front of the gate couldn't help but look at each other, not understanding which one they were singing and why they were dancing here.

An enthusiastic veteran explains, "It's a ghost summoning!" The engenious ghost will hide in the red flag and follow in, and the resentful ghost will hide in the black flag and follow in, so people still need to do good, don't do evil! ”

When the candidates heard this, a morning breeze happened to blow in the Tribute Courtyard, and they immediately felt that this Tribute Courtyard was very eerie and terrifying.

Fortunately, at this time, the candidates were attracted by an elderly figure, who was the one who might become their mentor. This time, the chief examiner is Hanlin Xiu Jinda, a late bloomer.

Although he has gained the reputation of a poet idiot through "Talking about the Past and the Present", it is impossible for everyone to be Yan Song, with his current age of nearly sixty, I am afraid that he will be retired in Nanjing in a few years.

This time it is a wise move to come to Guangdong to try the main poetry. With his age, it is difficult to make achievements in his career, so it is better to take the opportunity to accept a few more protégés, so that he can "rely on the value of students" in the future.

Jinda is wearing a six-grade official character, and among this group of officials, he is undoubtedly a "low-level" official. It's just that he is a minister, and he follows the seventh grade of Fan Ji tame, but his status cannot be measured by the level of the grade.

But I don't know if it's because of the long-distance travel, or because my body is not used to the hot and humid weather in Lingnan, the whole person's face is not very good, and sometimes there are a few coughs.

Jinda and Lin Haoran worked together in the repair and inspection hall of the Hanlin Academy, and Lin Haoran was still kind to him, but now is a special period, and the two are not good to be close.

He arched his hand towards Lin Haoran from afar, coughed a few more times in his throat, and walked into the tribute courtyard from the right side of the courtyard road.

Wang Bai led a group of officials from the outer curtain to the left side of the courtyard road and walked into the dusty tribute courtyard for three years.

Lin Haoran is the official in charge of the examination papers, but the candidates have not yet entered the Tribute Academy, and this is the place under his jurisdiction after all, so he was worried that something unexpected would happen, but he did not rush inside.

Lei Changjiang is the official who received the case, and he did not have a specific work content at the moment, and he was also not in a hurry to enter. But he was consulting Lin Haoran about the construction of the new Hepu Wharf, and he was in a late posture.

With the completion of the dredging work at the mouth of the Nanliu River, Guangxi's timber, medicinal materials and handicrafts have flowed into the sea from the Nanliu River, which has also invisibly driven the economy of Hepu.

Next year will be the year of Jingcha, and Lei Changjiang will inevitably want to go further, and even aim at the position of the prefect of Guangzhou that Lin Haoran is very likely to vacate.

The two were talking at the door, and the search was proceeding in an orderly manner.

"Stop!"

Xu Siwei, the right guard of Guangzhou, was promoted in last year's battle of Guangzhou, and he was now the search officer of this township test, and he looked majestic in his armor.

The candidate was drunk by him like this, but he didn't know whether he was weak or just scared, and his whole face was as frightened as earth.

"Open your mouth!"

Xu Siwei seemed to have fiery eyes, and ordered lightly.

The examinee's eyes flashed with panic, and his body trembled like chaff.

When the soldiers of Guangzhou Wei encountered these candidates outside, they all probably had to look like grandsons, but at the moment, they regarded the candidates as pigs and sheep, and a patrol soldier stepped forward and forcibly pinched the candidates' mouths open.

Those who can be selected to serve as search inspectors are all deaf and clear-sighted, but they let out a "huh". Instead of continuing to force his mouth open, he slapped him hard and slapped him hard.

The force was not small, and the candidate's mouth immediately bled out, and at the same time, a round object flew out of his mouth.

A bolt searcher stepped forward to pick up the wax ball, and with a slight squeeze, a ball of paper was revealed, and his face immediately showed joy. Although he was illiterate, it didn't matter, and handed the paper ball to Xu Siwei.

These paper balls are not too much, and they are densely written with fly's heads.

The candidate immediately collapsed to the ground, his crotch was wet, and there was a smell of urine.

Xu Siwei snorted coldly, and commanded selflessly: "Put shackles on him and pull him outside to show the public!" Your eyes are also bright, you can't give this kind of crumb thief chicken, and it will harm our Ming in the future! ”

"Yes!" The inspector responded loudly, looking more combative, after all, finding a cheater can be exchanged for two taels of silver.

More than 2,000 candidates competed for 75 places, and the probability of winning the examination was too low, but it was inevitable that some people would choose to take risks. If you don't fight, you may not have a chance at all, and if you succeed, you will be "glorifying your ancestors".

Lin Haoran stood by the gate and talked to Lei Changjiang, looking at Xu Siwei really had a pair of fiery eyes, he arched his hand towards him and said: "Xu Tongzhi, when I see it today, I really admire this official!" ”

"Lord Lin has won the prize!" Xu Siwei lost the majesty he had just now, and scratched his head embarrassedly.

Mingyuan Building, a drum sound.

"Brother Ruo, the hour has come, let's go in!" When Lei Changjiang heard the sound of the drum, he made a proposal.

Lin Haoran nodded slightly, and was about to enter the Tribute Courtyard. was suddenly stunned, but saw a candidate running from not far away, and one of his shoes had already run away.