Xuande

Chapter 869 He is still number one
Xu Fu looked at Zhuge Liang in surprise as Zhuge Liang was completely unaware of this situation.

"Zhuge Jun, you don't think that we students don't know you, do you? You are the leader of Xuzhou, and you are the only one with perfect scores."

Shi Tao also had a look of admiration on his face.

"With reference to 31 students across the country, you are the only one with a perfect score. Forget about us, I'm afraid even the emperor knows your name."

Zhuge Liang touched his chin.

"I see……"

There is only one person in 31 people, which shows that his current state of fame is normal.

But you still can't be too arrogant, and you can't be too high-profile. What my brother said makes sense. Luoyang City is the most beautiful place under the emperor's feet. Crouching tigers, hidden dragons, no matter who follows the emperor to conquer the world, or who follows later, will undoubtedly be He is a dragon and a phoenix among people. Compared with them, he is far behind.

"It's just an exam, nothing."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "We still have a long way to go in the future, please support me together."

Seeing that Zhuge Liang was so humble and polite, everyone, including Xu Fu, Shi Tao, and the three or four students around him, all had their eyes lit up. Their favorable impressions of Zhuge Liang greatly increased, and even more so, their favorable impressions directly exceeded the threshold, reaching the level of To the point of adoration.

A group of people were talking around Zhuge Liang. It was very late and they didn't want Zhuge Liang to leave. Shi Tao took the initiative to pay for Zhuge Liang to go to a stir-fry restaurant and ordered five or six dishes. He insisted on letting Zhuge Liang eat a lot of fish and meat. After he was full, he was allowed back to the dormitory.

So the friendship between them was initially established.

As for Lu Yi, it was also because of the food he ate.

That time when Zhuge Liang went to buy fried chicken legs, he thought about bringing some for Zhuge Jun and his three other roommates. He also wanted to eat a few more, so he bought more. When it was his turn, he was the last batch. Everyone behind him was gone.

Everyone complained, making Zhuge Liang a little embarrassed.

The key point is that a child standing in line behind him burst into tears and clamored for fried chicken legs. This made the young man with the child very embarrassed and could only step forward with an embarrassed look on his face and ask Zhuge Liang if he could give it to him evenly. A chicken leg.

Zhuge Liang happened to feel that he had bought a little too much, so he gave one to the young man, which made the boy burst into tears and laugh, hugging the chicken legs and chewing his mouth full of grease.

Afterwards, the young man expressed his gratitude to Zhuge Liang and said that his name was Lu Yi and his cousin was Boyan. Following him was his younger brother. Just as he finished the exam, he took his younger brother to wander on the street and saw the explosion. The younger brother was clamoring for chicken legs. If Zhuge Liang hadn't been easy to talk to, Lu Yi would have been hard-pressed to appease his younger brother.

"It's still too long to wait in line. This kid is usually reasonable, but this time it's really rude... Or should I thank you enough, but don't know your name?"

"Lu Yi? At this step, you are the leader of Yangzhou, Lu Boyan?"

After Zhuge Liang met Pang Tong, he felt that he was lacking in social skills, so he went back to find out the origins of the names of the fourteen leaders of the state examination, and Lu Yi's name was among them.

Lu Yi was stunned when he heard this.

"What's next?"

"Zhuge Liang, a native of Langya, Xuzhou, whose pseudonym is Kong Ming."

Zhuge Liang bowed his hands.

Lu Yi's eyes immediately lit up after hearing this.

"Is Zhuge Kongming at his feet? The leader of Xuzhou, the best in the world?"

"The best in the world? This...this is a bit exaggerated."

Zhuge Liang said with shame: "But I am indeed No. 1 in the Xuzhou Prefectural Examination."

"This is such a coincidence. I heard about Steps earlier and yearned for him. I never expected that I would meet Steps here!"

Lu Yi became obviously excited, so he took Zhuge Liang to a noodle shop that specialized in selling noodles. He treated Zhuge Liang to a bowl of noodles, and then the two of them talked about the topic of the exam.

Lu Yi was not very sure about a few questions and didn't know if his answers were correct, so he asked Zhuge Liang if he still remembered the questions and answers.

Of course, Zhuge Liang remembered it clearly, and he could recite everything in the topic completely. When he saw that Lu Yi was going to discuss academic topics, he became interested. He called the store and asked for paper and pen, and began to review the topics with Lu Yi. .

The two discussed the problem for a long time. They ate a bowl of noodles for more than an hour, causing Lu Yi's younger brother next to him to doze off. The sun set in the west and ended.

"It's a pity. I thought I could win all three questions, but unfortunately I made a mistake!"

Lu Yi said with a look of reluctance: "The examinee sitting next to me cheated and was taken away by the officers and soldiers, which disturbed my mind... I still lacked cultivation and was actually disturbed by such a trivial matter. If there are elders in the family Now, if you know that I am like this, you will definitely teach me a lesson."

Zhuge Liang smiled.

"No one could have predicted that something like that would happen. Why should Boyan blame himself? It's just an exam. This is just the beginning. From now on, we still have a long way to go."

Lu Yi burst into laughter.

"It's always an inexplicable feeling to hear someone who has never been affected say something like this, but when Brother Kong Ming said this, I felt a little better... It's just that I may lose to Brother Kong Ming again in this election. , will Brother Kong Ming get perfect marks again?”

Zhuge Liang smiled.

"Whether I know it or not, I have to wait for the final result. As long as I can pass the selection test and be able to face you for the test, I can do it. It doesn't matter whether I get full marks or not."

Lu Yi also nodded.

"What Brother Kong Ming said is true. If I can pass the selection test and face the exam this time, my hard work over the past few years will not be in vain."

"I just don't know if the exam selection this time will be affected by cheating. If so, we people will have to take the exam again..."

"With Brother Kong Ming's ability, is it difficult to take the exam again?"

"It's not difficult."

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The two smiled at each other and formed a preliminary friendship.

In the days that followed, Zhuge Liang met many new friends, and he did not forget to meet Pang Tong, Xu Fu, Shi Tao, and Lu Yi again. A group of students with a better mentality met from time to time, and they did not stick to their place of origin. It was a great pleasure to communicate in Luoyang Mandarin, which I learned in Zhouxue.

At the same time, everyone is constantly learning about some cheating incidents, some recent actions taken by the court, and the news that some academic department officials and state academic personnel have been severely punished.Finally, on March 23, the dust settled.

Hundreds of candidates lost their qualifications for the examination and violated the law because of cheating. As a result, their families were severely punished. Most of them were moved to Liaozhou with their families and were not allowed to return to the Central Plains or take the imperial examination again. , has lost this qualification forever.

The officials and state teachers who led these events were all arrested, the masterminds were executed, and the accomplices were sent to the border areas of Liaozhou to perform hard labor without pardon.

For most students, this is something worth sighing about. Everyone has their own opinions and considerations, but for them, what is really important is whether the result of this selection examination is judged by the imperial court. Admitted.

On the day when the announcement was announced, the results of the selection examination were also officially announced. The majority of students first breathed a sigh of relief and felt lucky that they did not have to take the examination again, and then they began to be anxious.

When the results of the selection test were announced, everyone also knew that more than 1 candidates had taken the test. 3000 people could pass it and then take the Jun test. The others would become losers and would not be able to take the Jun test and could only return. Hometown, waiting for the next imperial examination in three years.

The imperial examination is held once every three years. Unless special circumstances occur, an additional imperial examination will be held, which is called [Enke].

To be honest, the fact that 3000 people passed the assessment made many students cheer. Originally, it was generally believed that only 1000 people could pass the assessment, or even less. They went directly for one-thirtieth of the scale, but the result was unexpected It actually increased tenfold.

Many people were secretly dumbfounded. The imperial court was so generous this time.

In principle, the Junkao does not revoke the qualifications of the candidates, it is just for one final ranking. As long as the candidates' answers are not too outrageous, or they have done something too outrageous, they are generally guaranteed to pass.

This also means that after passing the selection examination, you will be qualified to become a ninth-grade official in the Han Empire, and at the same time join the ruling group. From then on, your life will be completely different from the past.

Therefore, when everyone learned that they had passed the examination, there was no one who was not excited and jumped up on the spot. Their whole body became excited, their faces turned red and their necks thickened.

Lu Yi brought his younger brother to watch the results of the results early. His younger brother said that Lu Yi would definitely pass the selection test and even get the first place. Lu Yi himself felt that there would be no problem in passing the examination, but it would be difficult to get the first place.

Because Zhuge Liang got the questions right and he got them wrong. In this way, it was obvious that he had fallen into a disadvantage.

That was a fifteen-point math question, and the score difference between the two suddenly widened by fifteen points, which was not easy to catch up with.

Zhuge Liang's score in the state examination was perfect, and the subjects he chose were the same as those in the state examination, except that the questions were more difficult and the amount of questions was larger. It is difficult to say that Zhuge Liang will not explode again.

On the other hand, it was difficult for Lu Yi to get full marks for the [-]-point argumentative essay. Lu Yi felt that it was difficult to grasp the essence of the discussion and understanding of the new guiding ideology of the Han Empire.

So in addition to his own name, Lu Yi paid attention to Zhuge Liang's ranking and score.

After that, with the sound of a gong, the list of candidates who passed the examination on a big red paper was officially posted on the big square at the entrance of the imperial city. The border list and the inland list were posted separately, and they were posted in a full circle around the big square. Their respective rankings and scores are also listed on it.

Candidates are excitedly and nervously searching for their names. If there are too many names and they are dazzled, they can also choose to ask someone at the government staff counter next to them. There are fourteen counters there, specifically corresponding to fourteen state schools. For those who pass the exam, it is considered a quick check.

But Lu Yi didn't have that need.

Because the first thing he saw at the top of the list was the name that he felt was extremely familiar - a special name written in gold powder.

Zhuge Liang.

The score is...

Full score, [-] points.

At that moment, Lu Yi loosened his tightly clenched fists and breathed a sigh of relief. It was as if some obsession suddenly turned into ashes and disappeared. Even he himself didn't know how complicated this was. emotion.

Originally, he wanted to have a real sword fight with Zhuge Liang; he really had the idea of ​​​​confronting Zhuge Liang.

But now he realized that he might have been thinking too much.

His younger brother stood next to him with a look of surprise on his face and tugged on his sleeves, shouting words such as "Brother passed the exam", "No. 3", "Brother is so awesome", and the examinees next to him gave him complicated expressions. He didn't notice any of the envious, jealous looks.

He just remembered what Zhuge Liang said calmly when he and Zhuge Liang were eating noodles at the same table that day when they first met.

Full marks...

In other words, did he get full marks for even that politically significant argumentative essay?

Lu Yi, who was born in a noble family, knew very well that the argumentative essay might be the real dividing line between the outstanding and the mediocre in this examination.

The most obvious fact is that other questions have standard answers, but only the argumentative essay has no standard answer. How an argumentative essay can be written and how many points it can get are not only related to the individual level of the examinee, but also Pay attention to the standards of the marking officials, that is, the imperial court.

How the marking officials view test questions without standard answers is crucial.

In the circle he lives in, there are actually a lot of children from official families, but a relatively small number of children from civilian farmers, so everyone is actually a bit politically sensitive. After the selection test, many people suggested that argumentative composition is the key point. the opinion of.

For example, his friend Sima Yi was the first to put forward this point of view, and he also thought so.

As for Zhuge Liang, although his grades are very good, he is a student of Xuzhou Prefecture School. Xuzhou Prefecture School was established much later than Sili Academy. The teachers are better, the distance from Luoyang is better, and the political sensitivity is better. They are far inferior to Sili Academy, which is second only to Taixue.

So logically speaking, Zhuge Liang should not have such a keen political awareness.

The imperial examination selects officials, not students who can solve questions. If the state examination can still use a pure test to distinguish the merits of the candidates, this decisive assessment must introduce certain political elements. Assess a candidate's political literacy.

After discussing with Sima Yi, Lu Yi came to a very cautious conclusion.

They believed that the imperial court was deliberate when issuing the examination papers, deliberately using a large number of questions with standard answers to numb the nerves of the candidates, and then suddenly asked a political question to determine whether the candidates had basic political literacy.

If you continue to look at this question with a student's thinking, you will definitely not be able to get high scores, but a fifty-point essay question can obviously open up a huge gap.

It has to be admitted that because a large number of children with official backgrounds participated in the first imperial examination, there must be many people who passed it, but there should not be many people who can really understand the meaning of this level.

About the background of the Zhuge family, Lu Yi inquired with many people after returning to the candidates' dormitory. He learned that Zhuge's ancestors had produced two thousand stone officials, but it was only limited to the ancestors. After that, it was a purely local family with no connection with the central government. , lacks influence beyond the county.

In other words, Zhuge Liang does not have a deep political background. His family has political energy, but not much.

Even now that the old aristocrats of the Second Empire have been wiped out in large numbers by Liu Bei, the Zhuge family's family background is still not deep.

In the eyes of Lu Yi and Sima Yi, such a family background can really only be described as ordinary.

But this mediocre guy stands at the pinnacle that no one can look up to.

he……

What is the character?
(End of this chapter)