There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 300 Examination Hall
February.

Jingzhou, the Imperial Examination Hall.

The imperial examination, which the scholars of the Han Dynasty had been looking forward to for three years, finally began.

The imperial examination was the first of its kind in the Han Dynasty, and thereafter it was held every three years, in parallel with the provincial examination.

The imperial examinations followed the usual practice of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and were held on the 9th, 12th and 15th of the second month of the year, in three sessions, each lasting three days, for a total of nine days.

Because the examinations were held in the spring, the metropolitan examination was conventionally called the "spring examination," while the provincial examinations were held in August, also consisting of three sessions over nine days, hence they were called the "autumn examinations."

The additional examination hall for the supplementary provincial examinations, which was set up in Wuchang last October, was a special favor granted by the Prince of Han to scholars from Anhui and Jiangxi. It will not be used again afterward.

February 9th, the day of the imperial examination.

Candidates from all over the Han Dynasty had gathered outside the gates of the Jingzhou Examination Hall. Most were from Hubei and Hunan provinces, with only a small number from Jiangxi. Three others stood out: candidates from Susong County, Anhui.

The predecessor of the Jingzhou Examination Hall was the private residence of a powerful Manchu nobleman in Jingzhou.

These Eight Banners soldiers have either been killed or are serving their sentences as slaves in the official fields and mines of the Han Dynasty, with virtually no chance of surviving.

Although the Han Dynasty had abolished slavery, this only applied to ordinary Han Chinese. Those belonging to the Manchu Eight Banners, Mongol Eight Banners, Han Eight Banners, or bondservant slaves were not included. Gentry and officials who committed serious crimes, such as corruption, dereliction of duty, or cruelty to the people, could also be punished with slavery.

The exam was scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM.

It was only four or five in the morning, and a large number of candidates were already queuing in front of the examination hall.

Upon receiving the news, the Jingzhou government office immediately consulted its superiors. Only after receiving permission did they arrange for the examination hall officials and soldiers to enter the examination hall in advance to maintain order. At the same time, they moved a self-ringing clock (alarm clock) to tell the time.

It was impossible to let the candidates enter the examination hall in advance. This was the first special imperial examination since the establishment of the Han Dynasty. All the examination rules were jointly formulated by the Cabinet, the Ministry of Rites, and the King of Han.

Once this first event is successfully held, this precedent will be followed in the future, and it will not be easily changed without authorization.

When the candidates saw the yamen runners and soldiers coming to the examination hall, the yamen runners were alright, just with a sour look on their faces, while the soldiers all had murderous expressions, which were frightening to look at.

The previously noisy candidates instantly fell silent and obediently retreated several feet away to wait.

When a scholar encounters a soldier, he cannot explain why.

Moreover, this is Jingzhou City, right under the feet of the King of Han. If we quarrel with these soldiers and brutes, and it accidentally reaches the ears of the King of Han, leaving a bad impression and affecting our future career in the officialdom, we will suffer a great loss.

After waiting for about two hours, the clock struck precisely on time.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

The candidates, who were sitting separately, immediately stood up upon hearing the sound.

The officials and soldiers of the examination hall quickly stepped forward to maintain order. All candidates lined up and entered the examination hall in an orderly manner, and a strict body search was conducted before entering.

Cheng Siju was at the very end of the line, but he was incredibly nervous.

Even after arriving at the examination hall with his ticket to participate in the metropolitan examination, Cheng Siju still couldn't quite believe it. He had only been trying his luck, but he had actually passed the supplementary provincial examination that had been added in Wuchang.

Of course, Cheng Siju could also understand why he was able to pass the provincial examination supplementary test.
The examination hall in Wuchang Prefecture had a total of 27 candidates from Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, including the candidates from Anhui and Jiangxi. There were 22 candidates from Jiangxi and 5 from Anhui.

To be precise, eleven people came from Jiujiang and Ji'an prefectures, while five people came from Susong County.

Thirteen students from Jiangxi were admitted, while three students from Anhui were admitted.

With such a high acceptance rate, it's no surprise that the King of Han must have made this arrangement on his own orders.

Cheng Siju didn't find anything wrong with this; on the contrary, he was secretly glad that he had failed the imperial examination in Jiangning, otherwise he wouldn't have had the opportunity to come to the Great Han to participate in the special imperial examination. The news that the puppet Qing's Governor-General of Liangjiang had died in battle in Jiujiang and that his 200,000-strong army had been wiped out had already spread throughout the Great Han through the official gazette.

As a candidate for the special imperial examination in Jingzhou, Cheng Siju naturally learned of this news firsthand.

The Qing dynasty was already on its deathbed, while the Han dynasty was rising like the sun.

If you wanted to take the imperial examination under the puppet Qing regime, even if you were lucky enough to pass and become a Jinshi, you would still have to wait until the Manchus had eaten their fill before it was your turn to fill a vacancy.

Many scholars who passed the imperial examinations under the puppet Qing dynasty could not even get a vacancy in their entire lives and could only die slowly with their official titles still intact.

"Brother Siju, Brother Siju, did you bring your exam ticket?"

Cheng Siju was still lost in thought when suddenly someone tugged at his sleeve from behind.

The other person's name was Wang Yang. He was a candidate from Susong County who was taking the exam with Cheng Siju. Since they were both from the same county, they teamed up together.

Cheng Siju patted his pocket and took out the examination ticket issued by the government: "I brought it. What, you didn't?"

Wang Yang also took out his exam ticket: "I brought mine too, just to ask Brother Siju."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Siju understood that the other party was nervous. This was a special imperial examination, and even if it was an examination organized by "rebels," it was still an imperial examination and was naturally extraordinary.

"It's alright, just treat this exam like the previous provincial examination, and keep a calm mindset," Cheng Siju reassured him gently.

As the two talked, the line got shorter and shorter, and soon it was their turn.

Wang Yang and Cheng Siju stopped whispering to each other and followed the eight people in front of them, entering the gate of the examination hall in groups of ten.

Upon entering, instead of being assigned an examination room immediately, two teams of yamen runners and soldiers arrived.

"Take it off!"

"Rustling, rustling~~"

At the order of the yamen runner, all ten candidates began to undress.

This was also an essential procedure in the ancient imperial examinations. The imperial examinations were for selecting talents for the country, so they naturally required strict scrutiny to prevent any candidates from cheating.

Don't think that people in ancient times didn't cheat. These ancestors really went to great lengths to cheat, such as secretly bringing cheat sheets, using squid ink to cheat, and stuffing wax pellets into their anuses... those were all things they had already done before.

The real cheaters have started using "miniature cheat sheets".

A miniature book exists in Luoyang, Henan Province. It has 342 pages and contains 30 words. The book is 6.5 cm long, 4.8 cm wide, and 1.5 cm thick. It is printed on Xuan paper and bound with fine silk thread. The book contains the Five Classics: the Book of Changes, the Book of Documents, the Book of Poetry, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals, and is accompanied by annotations and prefaces.

He's incredibly talented and amazing, but he just doesn't use his talent for the right things.

Therefore, those novels and dramas about women disguising themselves as men to take the imperial examinations and then passing with flying colors must be set in some parallel universe, where they don't even need to be stripped naked and searched.

Moreover, she disguised herself as a man and immediately became the top scholar in the imperial examination. With such talent, what can't she do?
Meanwhile, Cheng Siju and Wang Yang were searched together, even their buttocks were pried open by the yamen runners to check for any hidden wax pellets, before they were put into the assigned examination room.

Since the examination halls were all newly built, there was no distinction between good and bad examination numbers.

Moreover, the territory of the Han Dynasty is too small, and the number of candidates is not very large, so the examination hall is not even full.

(Just a quick update, I have to work overtime again tomorrow)

(End of this chapter)