The seventh day of February is the day when the examination will begin. When the sky is full of stars, the guild halls and hostels all over the capital are brightly lit and lively. After a while, the sleepless lifters, with the wine and food of the resignation, with great ambitions, sat on the carriage or on foot, accompanied by scholars or family members, gathered from all directions to the Gongyuan...... I saw the scholars or family members behind them, carrying bed papers, carrying large and small examination baskets and boxes, etc., and the posture looked like fleeing.

Because the lifters have to spend the night in the examination room, and the capital in February is still cold in the morning and evening, so in addition to the necessary examination items and food, it is indispensable to cover cotton clothes and stoves. Of course, this is also related to the identity of the candidates, there has always been only a sour show, there is no poor people, and those who are qualified to participate in the examination are all masters, even if the original family is poor, this time is also developed, and some are fellow villagers and gentry to supplement and help, icing on the cake, so they all take the scholars, take care of the porter, and the examination items are also prepared complete and thoughtful, and the township examination is not the same.

However, when they arrived at the square in front of the Gongyuan, many people regretted it, because no idlers were allowed to enter the examination room, and all the items could only be carried by one candidate. The lifters had no choice but to put their bedding coats on their shoulders, carry the test box on their backs, and carry the test basket and test stool in their hands...... The reason why I had to bring stools was because it was very time-consuming for thousands of candidates to enter the entrance for roll call and search, and the first day was used to do this from dawn to dusk. If the candidate is unlucky, waiting in the early morning and entering the venue at dusk, how can he hold up without a stool?

In addition to this, they have roll bags around their necks...... As the name suggests, a roll bag is a bag that is used to hold test papers. When the candidates enter the examination room by name, they can receive the answer sheet, but at that time, both hands are full, and they can't free up their hands to get the paper, and the answer sheet is the lifeblood of the candidates, and it can't tolerate any defacement, so the roll bag hanging on the neck came into being, and the roll bag can be stuffed directly into the roll bag when you get the roll, and there is a layer of oilcloth in the middle of the roll to prevent rain. The first thing I did when I arrived at the room was to hang the roll bag on the wall to feel at ease.

So there was such a situation in front of the Gongyuan, only to see a weak scholar, carrying a bedding, carrying an examination box, carrying an examination basket, an examination stool, and a roll bag around his neck. But it's nothing compared to the inhuman treatment they'll be subjected to next.

When the fifth watch is drummed up, I will listen to the three cannons on the ground, the Gongyuan Gate is opened, and two columns of forbidden soldiers wearing Tuxin uniforms and carrying long knives at their waists come out of the Yuanmen in order, and they are three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry on the square in front of the Gongyuan. When they stood solemnly with their hands on the hilt of their swords, there were three more cannon shots, and this time the gate of the Gongyuan was opened, and two columns of Jinyi guards wearing flying fish suits and carrying embroidered spring knives walked out, and lined up between the gate and the gate.

When the three cannons sounded again, the dragon gate slowly opened, the bell and drum tower of the capital also rang the bell and drum, and the temples and temples also responded together, singing and harmonizing with each other, indicating that the thirteen-year examination of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty officially began!

This is the moment