Chapter 165 Chapter 164 The Exam Is Coming

When Wei Guangde woke up, it was already the first day of the Chinese New Year.

After eating the glutinous rice balls sent by the guild hall, Wei Guangde was thinking about whether to go out with his classmates to see how the first day of the Chinese New Year is celebrated in the north.

When they went out, Wei Guangde took Zhang Ji to the front. When they arrived at the lobby, they saw many Jiujiang candidates discussing which temple fair to go to later.

Wei Guangde naturally joined them, but he certainly had no say in which temple fair in Beijing was the best, so he could only watch them argue.

Not long after, the Beijing City God Temple Fair was decided.

"Zhang Ji, ask Li San to get a carriage, and we will go to the City God Temple to have a look."

Some time ago, Li San took time to wander around Beijing, and basically knew Beijing well.

Zhang Ji heard the young master's order, and immediately agreed and walked to the back.

There were many candidates in the guild hall, and they all chose not to read books today, but to go to the temple fair. Wei Guangde's carriage was definitely not enough for more than 20 people.

Fortunately, the waiter of the guild hall quickly went outside to find a few carriages, and the group set off in a mighty manner.

Along the way, Wei Guangde asked how Beijing celebrated the Spring Festival.

"Aoshan Lantern Festival, I'll take you there to open your eyes when the Lantern Festival comes."

Zhu Shilong laughed.

"Aoshan Lantern Festival is indeed beautiful, and there are fireworks, which can't be seen in other places."

Xia Kefan, who was in the same car, also said, "Also, I don't know if Guangde likes to watch plays. There are all kinds of dramas in Beijing, which is also a good pastime."

"Forget about watching plays. I don't understand them and I can't take things."

Wei Guangde shook his head, "You can go to the Lantern Festival."

In fact, there are many things to see in Beijing, but there is a Ming Dynasty song and dance performance that Wei Guangde likes to watch very much. Wei Guangde will never go before the imperial examination.

No other reason, he is afraid, afraid of bumping into the future chief examiner of the imperial examination.

Wei Guangde doesn't believe that those officials don't go to brothels. Low-ranking officials don't have money to go to brothels, but it's hard to say for high-ranking officials.

At this time, the number of candidates wearing round-collar student uniforms rushing to take the exam on the streets of Beijing was increasing explosively. Wei Guangde looked at the many scholars outside the car and felt the severity of this joint examination.

When he arrived at the place, Wei Guangde was stunned by the lively scene of the huge crowds of people.

The temple fair was crowded with vendors, and there was everything people used in daily life.

A large group of people got off the car and walked forward along the flow of people. Both sides of the street were filled with famous and special products from all over the country, such as Su embroidery, Shu brocade, silk and satin, pens, ink, rice paper and other goods.

Some better shops even put out things such as Shang and Zhou Dynasty Yi Ding, Zou Han Dynasty Yi mirror, Tang and Song Dynasty calligraphy and painting, famous kiln porcelain, jewelry, ivory, jade, coral trees, etc., full of shelves and hangings, dazzling.

Wei Guangde did not plan to buy anything in the capital. Although these goods were very eye-catching, he did not plan to buy anything, just to join in the fun.

In the car, I heard Zhu Shilong talking about the Aoshan Lantern Festival. To be honest, Wei Guangde was more interested in that.

In later generations, Wei Guangde also saw the Lantern Festival, and more than once.

On the fifteenth day, Wei Guangde planned to go and see how different the Lantern Festival in the Ming Dynasty was from that in later generations.

And to their north, in the towering imperial city, the first court meeting in the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing had already begun.

The first day of the first lunar month was the grand court meeting. At this moment, the morning court drum sounded on the palace wall. The civil and military officials who had already stood outside the left and right side gates in order, when they heard the drums and bells, entered from the left and right side gates, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, entered the Fengtian Gate, and stood on the east and west sides under the Danchi.

On the Danchi, the Imperial Road, the Jinshui Bridge, both sides of the square outside the Fengtian Gate, the side gates, etc., there were 129 Han generals, two thousand households, four hundred households, and 500 lieutenants stationed inside and outside the Meridian Gate, one guard, the other whip, and the ceremonial guard.

Because it was the first day of the lunar year, not only did the civil and military officials in Beijing gather, but the imperial guards also lined up on both sides with brand new ceremonial guards.

The generals of the Han Dynasty wore bright armor of various colors, and the lieutenants of the Jinyiwei wore goose hats and bright blue cotton armor, with embroidered spring swords on their waists.

The officials of the fourth rank and above continued to move forward and entered the Fengtian Hall.

In the Fengtian Hall, the Jinyiwei closest to Emperor Jiajing, who were located under the throne, all wore flying fish uniforms to serve on the left and right, waiting for dispatch.

After entering the hall, the ministers still stood on the left and right sides of the hall, waiting for the arrival of Emperor Jiajing.

As the "Song of Sheng'an" sounded, Emperor Jiajing slowly walked into the Fengtian Hall, stepped onto the stage and sat on the throne.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites followed the procedures of the first day of the lunar year, step by step. After singing "Hundreds of Officials Congratulate", the civil and military ministers on the stage all knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to Emperor Jiajing, and at this time the musicians also began to play the "Song of Long Live the Emperor".

Emperor Jiajing sat on the throne, looking down at his ministers. Perhaps at this moment, he still felt bored.

Such activities are held every year. He has gone from anticipation to excitement at the beginning to feeling commonplace now. Even, perhaps in his heart, he feels that it is more meaningful to go back to the West Garden to hold a ceremony than to sit here.

In the next few days, Wei Guangde and many other candidates had no intention of reading books. The streets were too lively.

As time came to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, after having dinner early in the afternoon, everyone got on the carriage and rushed to the Meridian Gate to watch the Aoshan Lantern Festival.

Since the Lantern Festival in the seventh year of Yongle, this grand lantern festival has been opened in a high-profile manner - "listen to the subjects to go to the Meridian Gate to watch Aoshan for three days". The significance of the emperor and his subjects enjoying the festival together is very important. When the subjects watch the lantern festival, a large number of fireworks will be set off around them.

When the fireworks were set off, the palace maids danced to the beautiful music of the bell and drum department. It was a wonderful audio-visual enjoyment, which could be called the "Spring Festival Gala" of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time in the capital, Wei Guangde would definitely not miss such an audio-visual feast.

Well, the ancient song and dance performances, from the costumes to the dancing postures of the dancers, were a strong attraction to Wei Guangde, completely different from what he had seen in later generations.

In the past, I watched the ones in Jiangxi, and now I watch the ones in Beijing, and compare them to see which one is the best.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di organized the Aoshan Lantern Festival, which cost tens of thousands of taels each time. In the Jiajing period, the cost of a lantern festival soared to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Although he was addicted to fasting and holding a ceremony, it is said that Emperor Jiajing still liked to watch lanterns and set off fireworks, so the number of fires in the palace during the Jiajing period was far more than before.

The emperor liked it, so both the eunuchs and the outer court were naturally very concerned about it. Usually, they started preparing from December of the previous year, stacking up various uniquely designed "strange flowers" and "cannons" layer by layer, usually stacking thirteen layers several feet high, which looked grand and magnificent.

When it got dark, Wei Guangde and his men also arrived nearby, got off the carriage, and followed the crowded crowd to the outside of the Meridian Gate. At this time, the place was already brightly lit and extremely lively.

Countless people crowded here, looking at the various lanterns on Aoshan Mountain, the fireworks and drums that were constantly set off on it, and many palace maids on the palace walls and Aoshan Mountain were dancing to the music.

This place will be open to the subjects for three consecutive days. How could ordinary people come here on weekdays?

However, in addition to watching the lights and fireworks, a group of candidates actually looked more at the tower illuminated by lights at this time, Chengtian Gate, which was Tiananmen in later generations.

Wei Guangde looked around and kept searching for memories of later generations in his mind.

Wei Guangde was from a well-off family and liked to travel around, so he had naturally been to Beijing.

But at this time, the only memory he could find seemed to be this city gate tower.

Although the Tiananmen Gate at that time had been baptized by the years and was obviously different from now, the shadow of that time could still be found, and Wei Guangde even felt that it seemed to be more colorful and dazzling in later generations.

Perhaps it was properly maintained and protected, and the Tiananmen Gate at that time seemed to be regularly maintained and repaired, so it always looked like new.

Although there are people taking care of and repairing the current Chengtian Gate, in Wei Guangde's opinion, it seems to be just like the Ming Empire. No matter how glorious it was, it will eventually fade away, which is reflected in this building, that is, the mottled traces.

When he returned to Jiujiang Guild Hall, it was already very late, and the store owner in the guild hall still arranged for people to prepare midnight snacks and hot water for them, and the charcoal basin was also burning vigorously.

When Wei Guangde came here, he saw something close to later generations for the first time.

Wei Guangde used to be active in Jiangxi, but he himself had never been to Jiangxi, so naturally he could not find any feeling of the future.

But today, when watching the Aoshan Lantern Festival, he saw Tiananmen, no, it should be Chengtianmen, Chengtianqiyun, and was appointed by heaven. Now it is not a symbol of the people, but a symbol of the emperor, a symbol of the emperor.

The present and the future are connected for the first time in Wei Guangde's world.

In the past, Wei Guangde actually felt that he was living in a dream, just like playing a game, but he could not die and restart.

But today, after Wei Guangde saw the tower, he seemed to feel that he was really a person of this era. He was closely connected with this era and was no longer a tourist player.

Zhang Ji served him to scald his feet, then went to bed, turned off the lights and left.

Wei Guangde lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He thought of what would happen in the future. The last emperor of the Ming Dynasty was Chongzhen. After Li Zicheng's army broke through Beijing, he killed his daughter and concubines, let his son flee, and chose to hang himself because he had no face to see his ancestors.

Then, the Manchus entered the pass and unified the country. Kangxi, who was very famous and was praised as a saintly emperor throughout history, fought a war with Russia and gave away a lot of land after winning. The same was true for Qianlong, who won the war and gave away a large piece of land.

Did they win or lose?

After that, it was a dark period of history, the Opium War, the burning of the Old Summer Palace

Wei Guangde had been to the Old Summer Palace and seen the ruins. These were not the braids, but the sweat and wisdom of the ancient people.

Comparing the late Qing Dynasty in his impression with the Ming Dynasty he saw now, Wei Guangde felt that if the Ming Dynasty had dealt with the Opium War, the result might have been very different.

Although the Ming army is still weak in combat power, it is not exaggerated or slandered. The Weisuo army really has no face to compare with the Qing army. They are the same. Wei Guangde was born in the Weisuo and knew it very well.

Although he did not mix in the Qing Dynasty, he could still roughly estimate it from what he saw in the future.

However, there is still one advantage of the Han people being emperors, that is, they are willing to learn, which is much better than the Tungus people in this regard.

Two months ago, when Wei Guangde arrived in Wuhu from Zhongxi Town, he saw the most advanced artillery of the Ming Dynasty at that time - the Portuguese cannon, which was equipped for Jiujiang Guard.

The Portuguese cannon, during the battle between the Ming army and the Western barbarians, was discovered and understood that this thing was easy to use and powerful, so they immediately learned to imitate it and used it in large quantities.

Jiujiang Guard received few Portuguese cannons, only two, which were said to be small Portuguese cannons, convenient for field battles. Large Portuguese cannons were mostly installed in large cities and fortresses, which were not convenient to carry, and many of them were modified from the general cannons made in the past.

The newly made small Portuguese cannons were issued to turn Jiujiang Guard into a rapid response force in Jiangnan, ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any time.

There were also bird guns, which were Western firearms discovered during the suppression of the Japanese, and they were immediately imitated if they were good.

To extend the life of the Ming Dynasty, the current natural disasters must be solved.

If there is no way to solve the natural disasters, then the only solution is the problem of money and food. Only by solving these two points can the Ming Dynasty survive the most difficult period.

It seems that there is only sea trade.

Wei Guangde thought a lot, and finally didn't know where he was thinking, and fell asleep unknowingly.

After the fifteenth, the court began to operate again, and the previously squeezed official business began to be handled in an orderly manner.

During the vacation, only very important military and national affairs would be handled urgently.

Wei Guangde and others also began to work on their names for the imperial examination.

"Wait two days."

As for the imperial examination, there were many students in Beijing who were crowded in the Ministry of Rites to register. This was definitely not a good time to go.

A few days later, as the servants learned, the number of students who registered at the Ministry of Rites had decreased by more than half, so the candidates from Jiujiang Prefecture went there together.

The imperial examination was the central examination in the ancient Chinese imperial examination system. Because the examination was held in spring, it was also called the spring examination or the spring examination.

The imperial examination was hosted by the Ministry of Rites and held in the Gongyuan in the southeast of the inner city of the capital. The two chief examiners of the imperial examination were called presidents. They were officials from the rank of Grand Secretary, Shangshu and above, who were Jinshi graduates. They were appointed by the Ministry to the emperor.

On the sixth day of February, Emperor Jiajing approved the memorial of the Ministry of Rites requesting the imperial examination in the Western Garden, and appointed the cabinet Grand Secretary Lu Ben and the Junior Secretary Yin Tai as the presidents to examine the imperial examination this year.

The examination will be held on February 9th as usual, and there will be an examination on the 12th and 15th, each lasting three days, for a total of nine days. Just like the rules of the provincial examination, candidates must stay in the examination room for three days and two nights. After the examination, they can go home to rest for one night and continue to take the examination the next day.

However, Wei Guangde was gloomy at this time.

Damn, going to the Imperial Academy to take the examination in such a cold day, isn't it a matter of life and death?

Although the Ministry of Rites will prepare braziers for candidates, this thing is also a time bomb. Who knows if someone will accidentally cause a fire.

Forget it, it has come to this point, Wei Guangde can only endure it and can only prepare more clothes to keep warm.

Then, thinking of the inspections that he had to go through before entering the examination room, Wei Guangde couldn't help but shudder.