Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 615: Imperial Calligraphy

The Ministry of Rites in the capital, the examination hall.

The review of the spring examination in the fifteenth year of Jiazhao finally entered the final stage.

The first place winners of the room were selected by the eighteen examiners, a total of eighteen people. The three chief examiners reviewed the papers again and ranked them.

The best of these eighteen candidates can be said to have been included in the list in advance. Unless there are unexpected circumstances, the top eighteen places in this year's imperial examination list will have been occupied by these people.

The top 24 candidates in each remaining room will copy their papers, but they will not be as lucky as the first place winner, and they will enter the final round of selection competition.

The candidates who were selected into the top 25 by the examiners in this room were already outstanding among the 3,000 candidates in this spring examination due to their talent and luck.

Although they are favored by their fellow examiners, many of them still end up failing the exam.

According to the predetermined number of candidates for this year's spring exam, out of these 432 people, more than 100 people were eliminated in the final competition.

The three examiners seemed calm and composed as they re-evaluated and ranked the 18 top candidates from each room.

Although there were eighteen top candidates in each room, the number was very limited. With the three chief examiners' profound knowledge of books and scriptures, it was not too difficult to compare the papers and determine the rankings.

However, it was extremely difficult for the eighteen examiners to make the final selection of the top twenty-four candidates from each room.

Since 432 people are a considerable number, the examiners from each department have to conduct cross-evaluation to avoid unqualified candidates from each department. Therefore, the cross-evaluation is cumbersome and onerous.

Moreover, out of their own interests, the examiners in each room naturally want to have as many of the twenty-four people in their room on the list as possible, as this is related to the examiners' future career and reputation.

So, in the chief examiners' room, the three chief examiners reviewed the top 18 candidates from each room in an orderly manner.

What they came into contact with were the best essays of this spring's imperial examination. The essays were elegant in thought, gorgeous in language, and thorough in reasoning, which made people feel relaxed and happy. The three examiners often enjoyed the wonderful essays together.

However, the examiners from Room 18 were not so relaxed. They often argued endlessly, with red faces and fists, to compete for the quota for their room to be on the list.

The rooms of the three chief examiners were like the gentle breeze and bright moon overhead. Even if they each had their own thoughts, they were reluctant to act.

The eighteen examiners and examiners in the marking hall lacked much grace and elegance, and it was often noisy and chaotic, like a vulgar and noisy vegetable market.

There was even a dispute among several examiners over the number of candidates on the list, which became so heated and almost disrespectful that the three chief examiners had to step in to mediate the decision.

Otherwise, these seemingly gentle examiners would most likely resort to punching and kicking, and start a fight, just for the reputation of selecting candidates for the imperial examination.

At this time, the seemingly majestic examination hall of the Ministry of Rites was no longer just a place for discussing national affairs and talents, and a place for examining and discussing classics and articles, but it was mixed with too many inexplicable things.

The three chief examiners, eighteen co-examiners, and numerous examiners of the Spring Examination were all listed in that blue booklet.

Before the imperial examination began, they had all received varying degrees of worship and attention from other candidates, although now they were facing numbered papers without knowing the names of the candidates.

However, in this grading and ranking, they will definitely try their best to get more candidates they value on the list, so as to gain more fame and political capital.

Therefore, the competition for each place on the list is not only about the individual's future and honor, but also involves many other things...

……

Shenjing, west of the city, Chunhua Tower.

In the private room on the second floor, Jia Cong came to Chunhua Tower to attend a party at the invitation of Cai Xiaoyu, and sitting with him was Liu Xiaoping, his classmate from Qingshan Academy.

In this year's spring examination, Cai Xiaoyu and Liu Xiaoping were both successful candidates.

The day after the Spring Examination, Cai Xiaoyu invited Jia Cong to Chunhua Tower for a fine meal to relieve the fatigue of studying hard before the Spring Examination.

However, after the Spring Examination, Jia Cong was busy going back and forth to the workshop, devoting himself to the development of the breech-loading rifle, and postponed Cai Xiaoyu's invitation several times.

Jia Cong came out to keep the appointment only after the breech-loading rifle prototype was finalized, the test firing of the gun was successful, and the defective firing pin had begun to enter the improvement and smelting track.

After entering the private room of Chunhua Tower, Jia Cong punished himself with three cups of wine without Cai Xiaoyu's nagging. The three of them chatted and laughed, and the topic naturally revolved around the upcoming Spring Examination results.

Liu Xiaoping said: "The questions in the first two rounds of this examination were quite standard, and I think everyone's answers must have been methodical.

The only problem was the policy essay questions in the third round, which were too difficult and obscure. I tried my best to answer them, but I still felt that I was not up to the task. I am not very confident that I can answer them this time. "

Cai Xiaoyu picked up the wine glass and drank it all. Maybe he studied too hard before the imperial examination, so his originally chubby face became thinner and looked more energetic.

He said: "Who says it's not true? I heard from my father that the essay questions for this year's examination were written by Xu Liangxiong, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

I heard that although Lord Xu did not make it into the top class in the palace examination, he was still a man of outstanding talent. He was famous for his literary talent when he was young, and he was also proud of his talent and looked down on others.

Whenever he writes or does something, he likes to come up with something new and surprising, and he has a habit of saying something shocking. Only he would come up with such an obscure topic. "

Jia Cong joked, "Xiaoyu should be careful with your words. If you pass the exam this time, Lord Xu will become your tutor. It would be considered immoral to speak ill of him behind his back."

Cai Xiaoyu laughed and said, "The results haven't been announced yet. I haven't passed yet, so he's definitely not my teacher. Hurry up and stop being rude, or he'll say something terrible later."

He added: "After the examination, I asked my father about the essay questions, and he figured out the reason why Xu Liangxiong asked the questions.

My father said that the theme of Xu Liangxiong's essay was derived from an article by Liu Jichuan called "Retreat from Retreat".

Jia Cong also knew the reason behind this, and he was not surprised that Cai Xiang had read Liu Jichuan's articles.

Cai Xiang was able to enter the cabinet and reach the pinnacle of civil service. He was also a man of outstanding literary talent and well-read. It was natural that he had read Liu Jichuan's obscure works.

Liu Xiaoping showed envy on his face and said, "Since your father, Lord Cai, is familiar with this article "Retreat from Reflection", Xiaoyu has a profound family background and must also be familiar with the true meaning of this article.

Xiaoyu's answers to the essay questions will surely be brilliant. It seems that he is expected to pass the exam. I really envy him."

Cai Xiaoyu smiled bitterly: "Zhongwen, please don't laugh at me. My father has read too many articles, how can I know them all?

Liu Jichuan's articles have never been well-respected and have been circulated very narrowly. Although my father has read his "Retreat from Thoughts", he never mentioned it to me.

I had no idea what "Tuisi Ji" looked like, and I missed such a great opportunity in vain.

I racked my brains to answer the essay question, but the result was the same as Zhongwen's, and I was somewhat overwhelmed. "

Liu Xiaoping was a little surprised when he heard this, and he even said a few times that it was a pity, and then said to Jia Cong: "Yu Zhang has always been very knowledgeable, and he has a famous teacher to teach him. He will definitely answer the essay questions well this time, right?"

Jia Cong smiled slightly, thinking that he should be the luckiest of the three. Before the imperial examination, Liu Jing'an had given him a list of books for him to read to build his foundation and consolidate his vision and knowledge.

Among these books there happened to be the collected works of Liu Jichuan. He had just read the "Retreat from Retreat" and understood its meaning well, and was able to draw inferences from other cases. Therefore, he was quite satisfied with his answers to the essay this time.

This is probably the effect of a famous teacher, who is as knowledgeable as the ocean, has a broad vision, a unique insight, and rarely makes mistakes.

However, the two classmates in front of him did not seem to be as lucky as him, so he naturally would not mention this matter to avoid spoiling the mood.

He said: "The essay questions are indeed a bit difficult, and I answered them carelessly, but you don't have to worry too much.

You think the essay questions are difficult, and so must be the case for other students of the same year. We are all the same, and as long as the answers are not too bad, there is no hope of making the list. "

Cai Xiaoyu laughed and said, "Yu Zhang is indeed very insightful. Although we did not do well in the exam, others were not much better.

As long as there are people who do worse in the exam, there is hope for you and me to pass the exam. It’s wonderful. For this reason, it should be made clear…”

……

Just as Cai Xiaoyu was joking with the imperial examination essay, in the elegant room at the other end of the second floor, Wu Liangzheng and Lin Zhaohe were drinking together.

Lin Zhaohe smiled and said, "After I finished the exam, I wanted to have a few drinks with Xiwen, so I went to Hongxiang Inn to look for you, but the owner said you were away on a long trip."

Wu Liang smiled and said, "After leaving the border that day, I wanted to rest for two days, so I made an appointment with Yichun and Baokun to meet up. It just so happened that several of my peers who were staying at the same inn were going on a trip.

They said that Yunyan Mountain in Dezhou, not far from the capital, was very famous for its magnificent scenery, so they invited me to go there with them. I also wanted to go on a trip.

As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. It was also a good opportunity to relax after years of studying, so I went to Texas with them.

Unexpectedly, the scenery of Yunyan Mountain was so beautiful that we all lingered there and found an ancient temple in the mountains to stay the night.

We stayed here for more than half a month. We climbed the mountain to enjoy the scenery during the day and watched the stars in the mountains at night. It was really interesting. If the food and tea in the temple were not too light, we would probably not want to come back.

After returning to Shenjing the day before yesterday, I happened to meet Brother Baokun who came to my store to look for me. We agreed to look at the list on the 25th of this month. I thought we could take advantage of this opportunity to have a drink together."

Seeing Wu Liang's happy and proud look, Lin Zhaohe said with a smile: "You are so carefree. I see that you are in high spirits. I think you are confident in your answers in this examination."

Wu Liang smiled slightly and said, "Yichun still understands me. This examination was quite eventful. Fortunately, I had some luck and finally got through it safely. I hope to gain something."

When Lin Zhaohe heard Wu Liang's words, his heart moved slightly. He suddenly remembered that after entering the imperial examination, the students who entered the examination hall would pay a visit to the chief examiner, and he happened to meet Wu Liang.

At that time, the original chief examiner Huang Hongcang was suddenly absent and was replaced by Xu Liangxiong, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Almost all the candidates were surprised, but Wu Liang was the only one who looked happy?

At that time, Wu Liang looked strange and even wanted to say something, but I was concerned about the importance of the Imperial Examination Hall and was afraid that he might say something suspicious, so I changed the subject in time...

Wu Liang said, "Brother Yichun, remember when we first entered the Imperial Examination Hall to take the exam, we all went to pay our respects to the chief examiner and found that the chief examiner, Mr. Huang, had become Mr. Xu. We must have been caught off guard. But I was just lucky. The day before I entered the Imperial Examination Hall, I unexpectedly learned that Mr. Huang had been murdered and poisoned and could no longer serve as the chief examiner. Mr. Xu took over his position."

When Lin Zhaohe heard Wu Liang's words, his heart suddenly jumped and he felt that something was wrong.

He said: "When the students who entered the academy to pay homage to the chief examiner learned that the chief examiner had changed, everyone looked surprised. It can be seen that these fellow examinees did not know the background of this matter in advance.

After the imperial examination, the chief examiner was changed. I also heard some rumors that Mr. Huang was accidentally poisoned before entering the country, and the murderer has not been caught yet.

The imperial court was probably worried that the chief examiner might be killed suddenly before the Spring Examination, and that the news would cause unrest among the candidates and affect the important event of selecting talents for the Spring Examination, so they must have kept the matter secret.

So until many candidates entered the Imperial College, they did not know about the change of the chief examiner. How could Xiwen know about it in advance?"

Wu Liang smiled and said, "It's a coincidence. I wanted to invite you and Brother Baokun to have a gathering before entering the venue, but Yichun wanted to stay at home to study and didn't want to go out, so that's it.

Unexpectedly, Brother Baokun also broke his promise and did not show up, so I had to drink by myself. I happened to hear the two scholars sitting next to me talking about this matter.

Yichun, you are extremely talented, so you naturally don't care about this kind of news. But Brother Baokun has had a rough time in his studies, and not being able to know about this in advance would have missed out on an opportunity."

After hearing what Wu Liang said, Lin Zhaohe's expression changed slightly, but he remained silent...

Wu Liang continued, "After leaving the Imperial Examination Hall, I ran into Brother Baokun. He looked depressed and said that he did not answer the three essay questions properly. I think he will have a hard time in this exam."

Lin Zhaohe suddenly asked: "Have you informed Bao Kun or anyone else about the change of the examiner in advance?"

Wu Liang drank the wine in his cup and sighed, “On the day I left the country, I wanted to mention this to Bao Kun, but seeing that he did not do well in the exam and looked depressed, I did not dare to talk to him about it.

A few days ago, I went to Yunyan Mountain for a trip with several classmates. When they talked about the temporary replacement of the chief examiner, everyone was surprised and surprised.

I thought that people like me who could know this matter in advance must be very rare. I was afraid of causing trouble, so I naturally didn't say a word.

Apart from talking about this with Yichun today, I haven’t mentioned it to anyone else.”

Lin Zhaohe looked a little serious and said, "Xiwen, you and I have been classmates for many years. We have studied poetry and books for more than ten years just to pass the imperial examination.

The Spring Examination is the final stage of the imperial examination. It has always attracted much attention and involves many risks and disputes. The most taboo is to cause gossip and rumors. Listen to me, never mention this matter to anyone again.

Even Brother Baokun should not be mentioned. Now that the imperial examination results are about to be announced, whether anyone can pass the exam and be on the list is a foregone conclusion.

You said that Brother Baokun did not do well in the exam this time. If you bring this up with him again, it will only cause him more trouble and may hurt our friendship. So why bother? "

As soon as Lin Zhaohe finished speaking, he heard footsteps coming from outside the elegant room.

A man pushed the door open and walked in. He was a man in his thirties, wearing elegant clothes. He looked a little haggard and said with a smile, "I am late. I have kept you two waiting for a long time..."

……

The Ministry of Rites in the capital, the examination hall.

The final round of marking of the imperial examination in the 15th year of Jiazhao finally came to an end after several days of rigorous consideration and evaluation.

The 18 top candidates from each department were ranked on the list after discussion and proofreading by the chief examiner, Grand Secretary Wang Shilun, Minister of Personnel Chen Mo, and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Xu Liangxiong.

Compared with the calmness in the assessment of the top 18 places, the remaining 432 papers that were graded in the end were caught in a tug-of-war among the 18 examiners, and the situation was extremely intense.

Under the coordination and supervision of the three chief examiners, more than 100 of the 432 papers were omitted, and finally the number of papers that made the list was determined to be 300.

After preliminarily confirming the papers that would make the list, the three chief examiners selected more than one hundred papers from each room and conducted some random review to ensure that no one would be missed.

A similar situation had occurred in the previous dynasty, where the chief examiner selected talented people from the shabby copied papers, and even ranked them among the top, which became a good story in the imperial examination. Of course, such a situation was very rare.

However, when the chief examiner of this examination randomly checked the scribbled papers, no unexpected surprises were found, but this was also within common sense.

When all the selection procedures were completed, the list of candidates for the imperial examination in the 15th year of Jiazhao was finalized.

The formation of this list is not only a competition of candidates' academic writing, but also mixed with the personal preferences, selfish thoughts, and conflicts of interest of the chief examiner, co-examiner, and examiner...

Even though there are various complex factors that are hard to get rid of, the strict rules and regulations of the Great Zhou Imperial Examination still give the maximum fairness to the students who take the exam.

The imperial examination system for selecting talents has been passed down for thousands of years and has its own rationale and tenacity.

……

The capital, the Imperial Examination Hall, the documents warehouse and the official residence.

After the list of candidates for the imperial examination was finalized and the three chief examiners and eighteen co-examiners signed and sealed their names, the restrictions in the examination hall of the Ministry of Rites were lifted and officials from the Ministry of Rites began to intervene in subsequent matters.

The Minister of Rites Guo Youchang brought three officials from the Ministry of Rites, together with the three chief examiners and several co-examiners, to the Imperial Examination Hall's document library to extract the corresponding authentic papers according to the paper numbers on the list.

Under the supervision and testimony of multiple people on the scene, the officials from the Ministry of Rites confirmed the number of the copied papers according to the number of the papers on the list, sealed them, and officially recorded the names of the candidates on the list.

The not very spacious office was filled with officials from the imperial examination and the Ministry of Rites. Each of them wore an official uniform of different rank and color, and each had a solemn expression on his face.

As the officials from the Ministry of Rites opened the sealed papers one by one according to the rankings on the list, they loudly announced the numbers and names of the candidates on the list.

It seemed that every time the announcement was sung, ripples would be created in the hearts of every official present.

Although most of these names are unfamiliar to them, they will definitely have more or less contact with them in their future careers.

Of course, some of the names that were sung included people they were familiar with, and some were even well-known.

Whenever such a name was announced, the three chief examiners and other officials all had complicated expressions, some shocked, some surprised, some pleased, some confused, some thoughtful...

The clear voices of the officials from the Ministry of Rites chanting the names of the 300 successful candidates echoed in the office. The names were called out one after another, filling the air with solemnity and splendor.

The sound came from the office of the case library and spread to the entire empty Imperial Examination Hall. The spring breeze was gentle, the sky was clear, and the air seemed to be shaken into silent ripples...

Outside the Imperial Examination Hall, throughout the magnificent city of Shenjing, there were more than 3,000 candidates taking the imperial examinations. As the day for posting the results approached, everyone was eagerly waiting.

They also have their own complicated and tangled feelings, confirming the final result of their years of hard work in the sea of ​​books. Some will rise to the top, while others will continue to sink and waste their time...

……

The palace city of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qianyang Palace.

At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and the blood-red sunset was scattered over the towering palace.

On the wide and long corridor outside the palace gate, there was still a haze of smoke and fog.

Yuan Jing, the eunuch on duty at Qianyang Palace, was walking quickly along the long corridor with a scroll of memorial in his hand. His projection on the ground moved quickly towards the direction of Qianyang Palace.

He walked to the entrance of the hall, stood still, and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, the list of calligraphy for the imperial examination in the 15th year of Jiazhao has been selected and approved by the chief examiner and the Ministry of Rites. Please have a look!"

Emperor Jiazhao, who was reviewing memorials, couldn't help but brighten his eyes when he heard the report outside the palace. In fact, he had been waiting for this edict since this morning.

He said to Guo Lin beside him: "Show it up!"

Guo Lin took the scroll from Yuan Jing and carefully checked whether the wax seal and steel seal were intact. After a moment, he said, "Your Majesty, the seal is intact."

Emperor Jia Zhao nodded and said, "Open the seal!"

Guo Lin carefully opened the wax seal and slowly unfolded the scroll on the imperial desk. The names and hometowns of more than 300 candidates were neatly written, densely packed, solemnly and dignifiedly.

These three hundred newcomers in the official career were basically strangers to Emperor Jiazhao, but there were also people among them that he knew or was even familiar with.

His eyes unconsciously scanned the calligraphy quickly until he saw the familiar name. His eyes lit up and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

In the spring examination, the palace examination was nominally set by the emperor, and the emperor had the final say over the ranking of the palace examination.

In particular, the third place in the first class and the first place in the second class must have been personally evaluated and selected by the emperor, and the results were influenced by the emperor's subjective preferences.

However, in the spring examination, the candidates' names are kept anonymous and the examination is conducted through three rounds of evaluation by the examiners, co-examiners and the chief examiner, which ensures the most rigorous fairness and balance.

Even the emperor, who is at the highest level of the nation, cannot influence the ranking of candidates in the imperial examination.

Although the examination results had to be previewed by the emperor before they were posted, that was only literal meaning. In reality, it only required the emperor's seal of approval.

Guo Lin, who was standing by, saw Emperor Jia Zhao looking at the calligraphy on the table with an unreadable expression in his eyes, and he seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

Said: "Guo Lin, use the red pen to seal!"

Guo Lin hurriedly ground the vermilion and ink, and carefully opened the seal box.

Emperor Jiazhao picked up the red pen, wrote the numbers on the list, and then stamped it with his imperial seal.

He said: "Send an order to the Ministry of Rites to post the notice on time, and then summon the Minister of Rites Guo Youchang and the three chief examiners of this year's joint examination to the palace for an audience!"

(End of this chapter)