First of all, the ancient imperial examination system was divided into four stages, namely, children's examination, rural examination, general examination and palace examination. You can become a scholar after passing the children's exam, and then you can take the next three exams. Although we heard that after taking the provincial examination, it was not held in the village, but in a larger state capital. After passing the provincial examination, you can take the examination in Beijing. You should know that China is so big, and candidates like Hainan want to take the exam in Beijing, so private fund-raising is a good way.
If you can take the exam in Beijing, that is, if you can take the exam in Beijing, it means you have passed. Once he became famous in Beijing, he entered the court and became an official in the court. So some people want to make friends with people like them and provide them with money. This is a way of private fund-raising.
Another source of travel expenses is going to Beijing, which is the government subsidy for examiners at that time. According to the distance from Beijing, there will be travel expenses subsidies. Besides, you can apply to the government for a special kind of carriage, which is called a bus. There will be a small flag on the bus that says "I will try". Therefore, in Beijing, such a carriage will not be stopped anyway.
Candidates who can take the exam in Beijing have long been targeted by these dignitaries as future investments. If the investment is successful, they will have a backer, which is an official in Beijing or an official from other places, not to mention funding these candidates. It is not difficult for them to have a big family.
Therefore, no matter from a personal point of view or from the perspective of the imperial court at that time, students who came to Beijing to take the exam did not worry about the travel expenses.