Eight days later, on April 13, the Dao test began. Three days earlier, Inspector Li Yuantai had been in Kaifeng Mansion. The so-called press Lin, is in accordance with the regulations of the imperial court, the school officer to pass the annual examination and the scientific examination to test the school students, inevitably many scholars to run around the suffering, the cost is huge, the school officer will be in his three-year term of office (one term for three years, one place can only be one term), twice to the province and Zhili Prefecture to hold the examination, called "press Lin", here "press" is the meaning of the test.

But the annual and scientific examinations are not the same as the Taoist examinations, which are examinations for students who have become students, similar to the final exams of later students, but they are a qualification examination to ensure that students do not waste their studies - the exams are only for relegation.

On the other hand, before or after the examination, the last examination is held for children who have been admitted to each prefecture and sent to take the provincial examination, which is called the provincial examination.

Gao Pragmatic has passed the Xinzheng County Examination and the Kaifeng Prefecture Examination, and now he finally has the status of a junior scholar: Tongsheng.

Now he is going to hit the last exam of the year, and after passing the Taoist exam, he has a serious reputation: Shengren, which is commonly known as Xiucai.

The inspector is called out of the shed according to the examination in stages. At the level of the road test, it is much stricter and more formal than the county test and the government test. According to the local prefectures and counties that temporarily pass along the way, the official goods and accompanying documents and documents are allowed to be reimbursed at public expense for the use of post men, horses, boats, and examination sheds for the use of official equipment and the food and service of the scribes established in accordance with the regulations.

After the inspector pressed, he lived in the examination shed, which was used as a temporary official office, so it was sometimes called the examination shed as the school yamen. The attendant scribes brought by the inspector in accordance with the regulations should also live in the examination room and are not allowed to go out, so as to avoid swagger, bribery, red envelopes, and admission quotas for buying and selling students.

There are also more severe regulations, such as that after the examination, the inspector is not allowed to visit relatives and friends, visit the local gentry, and so on.

Of course, the situation in Kaifeng Mansion is different, this is Henan Province, and the inspector usually stays in Kaifeng, so the situation should be reversed: the candidates from Kaifeng Mansion and Guide Mansion who participated in the examination in Kaifeng Mansion and Guide Mansion were candidates from these two prefectures, and the candidates from these two prefectures were to immediately rush to Weihui Mansion after the examination, and the inspector should immediately rush to Weihui Mansion to hold another batch of Taoist examinations in Weihui Mansion, and the candidates came from Weihui Mansion, Zhangde Mansion and Huaiqing Mansion; then went to Henan Prefecture (Luoyang County), where candidates came from Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou; Finally, there is Nam Duong Province, where candidates are from Nanyang Province and Runing Province.

In a word: the rules are strict.

The date of the road examination has arrived, and Gao Pragmatic and Liao Bao, escorted by their entourage, rushed to the entrance of the examination shed on the fifth watch, commonly known as the Dragon Gate.

This place is really full of people at the moment, rushing to take exams, sending exams, selling all kinds of food, and even watching the excitement, everything is supposed to be. If there are candidates who don't have time to eat breakfast, they have to hurry up and eat breakfast in front of the food stall.

Gao Pragmatic didn't have time to eat breakfast, but after all, he was different from ordinary candidates, because he was rich, and he was very rich, so he already had the exquisite food brought by Gao Jue and others from the inn, no matter the amount or the pattern, he could eat it as he pleased.

However, Gao Shishi has always eaten on time, and now he has not yet arrived at breakfast, his appetite is relatively average, and it is okay to eat some at will.

Not long after, the first cannon was released in the examination booth, and everyone went to the gate roll call to wait for the roll call to enter. When the candidates in a certain county are pointed, a large papier-mâché card will be erected in the courtyard, the card is rectangular, empty around it, and a candle is lit in the middle, and the name of the candidate is written on the top of the head, and the candidate's name is written with a red pen on the side. The names of ten people are written on each card, which are held by people, and in the dark night, they can be seen from afar. Candidates follow the signboard with their name on it and follow the bearer out of the examination room.

There are dozens of zhang away from the dragon gate to the place where the gate is named, a bamboo and wood shed has been built here, and the two sides are protected by railings, and two or three people can be accommodated in the middle, similar to the entrance of the railway station during the peak period of the Spring Festival in later generations.

The difference is that there are nine twists and turns in the shed of the examination room, which is called "Kowloon Factory". The candidates carried long-eared bamboo baskets and walked slowly on the winding passages, and the factory was called by name, which was much stronger than the order during the Spring Festival.

The Dao test was personally named by the superintendent, and Li Yuantai, the superintendent of Henan Xuezheng, sat in the west room of the north hall. As soon as the door opened, the prefect served as the prefect and the first county, the instructors of each school, and the Bao Bao all entered the room.

The master of ceremonies shouted "Promote the official to enter", the prefect was exempted from courtesy, and the superintendent stood up to answer, and then called the first county and the school instructor to enter, and his etiquette was the same as that of the prefect. In the end, the inspector sat still this time and let him see.

At this time, he began to point the names of candidates, Xinzheng County ranked relatively low, Gao pragmatic was not in a hurry, and waited with peace of mind. After a long time, he heard his name in front of him, and Gao Pragmatic hurriedly replied loudly: "Yes!" ”

On the school inspector's case, there is a roster declared by the instructors of each school, and each person on the roster is detailed with his or her place of origin, age, face, beard or not, black and white face, whether there are pockmarked scars, and the resume of three generations, and it is handwritten by Liao Bao.

These practices are much stricter than the county and government examinations, and their purpose is to strictly prevent impostors from taking the test as a sought-after substitute. The purpose of summoning Liao Bao to the inspector is the same, if the candidates who are named have the above shortcomings, they must immediately point them out.

If it is indeed the person who is correct, then sing: "A certain person is guaranteed", and Liao Bao responds: "A certain person is guaranteed", and the candidate will hand in the "Tao test paper final ticket" for verification, and go to the paper office to receive the test paper and draft paper.

If it is an impostor, and the Liao Bao does not find out or deliberately conceals it, once it is discovered, the Liao Bao will be deposed and punished, and the sought-after person will kneel in front of the gate to show the public, and then the crime will be punished.

Gao pragmatic went through this process, and after receiving the papers, he went to the search office to listen to the search. Candidates are only allowed to bring long-eared bamboo baskets, also known as examination baskets, in which pen and ink food are placed, and even ink inkstones are not allowed to be brought in in some places in the south of the Yangtze River. As for the pieces of paper, they are not allowed to be brought in to prevent cheating.

In this way, the search is strict, and it is relatively slow, even if multiple search openings are arranged, the speed is not fast - not only the things in the examination basket must be checked one by one, but even the steamed buns, steamed buns and other foods must be broken to see, so as to prevent the copied eight-strand articles from being carried in.

This is not the end, after checking the object, the person must be checked, and the candidates will have to undress and undress, take off their shoes and socks, and wear only a pair of shorts shirtless for people to search. The clothes taken off are also checked by someone to prevent words from being copied on them, and even the ear holes have to be entrained with lanterns, which is really stricter than searching for thieves, and it is simply swept away.

Gao Pragmatic looked at this situation, and couldn't help muttering in his heart: In some novels, the goddesses and immortals who played women dressed as men in the Ming Dynasty to take the imperial examination, how did they go through this search? It's all taken off like this, you're an airport and you can't hide it, right?