On the tenth day of the eighth day of the first year of Qingli, Du Zhongxiao had been studying in the Imperial College for more than a year, and it was about to come to the date of remission. In the past few days, I didn’t see the shadow students, but these days came every day, not to study, just to see what new policies there are this year.

Du Zhongxiao and Su Song took his newly written article to show him.

Su Song read it and smiled and said, "After a year, Brother Du's articles should be looked at with admiration. When I first met Brother Du, the articles were ill and weak. Today, I completed them in one go and had a lot of momentum. Why don't you worry about not being able to explain such articles?"

Du Zhongxiao sighed: "I have spent countless efforts this year, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I have to forget to eat and sleep. I have made a lot of progress. But now the autumn test is about to be imminent, but I feel nervous. Alas, I am still young and can't hold back."

At this moment, a student of the Imperial College ran in from outside and whispered loudly: "The imperial court's edict will be issued to stop all the public orders this year. Everyone, if you are still preparing, you can breathe a sigh of relief and don't have to worry about it!"

The person who shouted seemed very happy, obviously he was not ready and gloating.

After hearing this, the students had different expressions. Some were overjoyed, some were disappointed, and they were in chaos for a while.

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "I have no relatives and no reason to do so, and I feel that my literary talent is not outstanding. Where did I come from the public book? This time, it's just my wish. But Brother Su is going to suffer some losses and has less care."

Su Song smiled indifferently: "I am not ready to do such a thing, so why should I suffer a loss?"

Public papers were a habit inherited from the Tang Dynasty. Before the imperial examination, candidates chose their usual complimentary poems and essays and compiled into booklets to the examiners in the main examination. Even if they do not perform well during the examination and have the impression of public papers, they may not be able to issue them. However, with the implementation of the system of sealing and copying in the examination, the role of public papers is optional. However, those candidates who are particularly valued by examiners can still find clues from the idioms of the article, and some even set secret codes, which became a way to cheat. This year, Jia Changchao, who is the official official of Kaifeng Prefecture, submitted a full abolishment, which was a major reform of the imperial examination system. At this point, the imperial examination system familiar to later generations was officially formed.

The provincial army's examination was conducted according to the customary examination, and the Jinshi exam was the chief examiner, and the various subjects were the chief examiner, and the general judges were the chief examiner, and the judges did not understand the literature and lyrics, and the officials were selected. Only the Imperial College and Kaifeng Prefecture were exceptions, and the imperial court appointed special officials to take the exam. At this time, it was the time to determine the examiner, and candidates with a way were working hard to prepare the public papers. This edict made many people's efforts empty.

Du Zhongxiao came from a small family and knew Li Dui in Chaoli. He had nowhere to submit to the public papers. Moreover, the articles he did this year were all for coping with the imperial examinations, and he was well-behaved and had no good intentions. He gave them to others and revealed his shortcomings. Cancelling the public papers was a good thing for him.

There are hundreds of students in the Imperial College, but the management is loose. Although there are direct lectures, it is not mandatory. There are not many people who listen to the lectures here in normal times. For example, Du Zhongxiao and Su Song, they choose subjects and lecturers to suit their wishes, and come here to study intermittently. This class of students did not have the impression of Du Zhongxiao’s previous life, and they had fewer contacts with students.

At this time, the leader of the Imperial College student was Yang Qian. His brother Yang Cha was the second-tier of Zhang Tangqing's list in the first year of Jingyou. He had both good writing and vocabulary. The ministers and even the emperors in the court knew his name and were the most eye-catching person in this subject. He himself also believed that he was the unspoken candidate for the top scorer. As for other officials from the background, such as Wang Gui, Han Jiang, Han Zhen, etc., they already had official positions and were just named in the Imperial College. The biggest function of the Imperial College was to arrange some children of officials, which were inconvenient to return to their hometowns to study and have no household registration in Kaifeng Prefecture.

At this time, the imperial examination education was still mainly based on family education. The college had just begun to show its strength and did not form a climate. It can be seen that Yang Cha and Yang Zhi were not good at all. In addition to their brothers, there were many fathers and sons in each class, and there were many Jinshi.

Over the past year, Du Zhongxiao made great progress. He began by following the fugue and using the poetic style. Now he has become accustomed to the format and can write poetry and prose in the established format freely, or even write poetry improvisedly. There is no eye-catching work, but the regular poetry and prose can be made and will not be suffocated to death.

According to Du Zhongxiao's current level, he can be considered a qualified Jinshi. With this level, the imperial examination is enough, and the ranking of the imperial examination cannot be forced. If he is not an outstanding person, it requires luck.

After studying the poems and essays for a while, Du Zhongxiao said to Su Song: "I was so frustrated to study these days. Let's go and see the steam engine we made. This thing will be of great use in the future, and it is worth it to spend some time."

Su Song is open-minded and happy about fame, wealth and wealth, and is not angry about losing. He is not keen on imperial examinations. In the words of Du Zhongxiao's previous life, he lived a Buddhist life. Instead, he was very interested in astronomy, geography, and all technical things. Su Song of the steam engine has been with Du Zhongxiao for a year, and it is almost practical and is a good toy. When Du Zhongxiao mentioned it, he went to see it happily.

The steam engines of the two were placed in a small courtyard in the Imperial College. Here they were taught a small official from Fujian, teaching "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Book of Han". This person was very generous in character, did not understand official affairs, but had excellent knowledge. He was transferred to the Imperial College to teach, which was exactly what he wanted. Apart from teaching, this person ignored everything, and became a place for Du Zhongxiao and Su Song to study steam engines.

When I arrived at the courtyard, I saw a circle of people around me, talking about the steam engine shaking the fan.

When he saw Du Zhongxiao and Su Song coming in, someone said, "Okay, Brother Su and Brother Du are here! This thing is made by them. If you have anything to ask, just ask them."

A man in his blue shirt and about thirty years old came up and bowed, "Han Jiang is here, and he has only arrived at the Imperial College these days because he is about to release his clothes. Seeing that the steam engine you made is very exquisite, I wonder if you can give me some advice?"

Su Song and Du Zhongxiao hurriedly returned the gift, but said no, "I dared not."

Han Jiang was the son of Han Yi, a former chief political officer. He had already been in charge of the official position. However, he had no Jinshi and had no future, so he still came back to take the imperial examination. In fact, it was not only him, but also his younger brother Han Zhen, who also wanted to take the imperial examination. These people had official positions, and they asked for dismissal until the exam was approaching. There were many such people in the Imperial College. When Han Jiang knew that everyone was talking directly, he entered this courtyard and saw the steam engine. He was fascinated and stood here with a group of people to watch.

The current steam engine is less than three or two feet tall, with a fan behind it, which keeps blowing cool breeze. The weather was hot in the past few months, and the machine was placed here, attracting many students to come and cool down. Our college teaches classes directly, and is also around the machine. Even if the sound of the machine makes it impossible to hear the lectures clearly, it doesn't matter.
Chapter completed!