Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 50 Fraud
Three days later, the first Spring Examination came to an end.

The students walked out of the Ministry of Rites with heavy hearts. Some were talking and laughing, some were absent-minded, and all kinds of emotions were mixed.

After a short rest for one night, the second poetry test of the Spring Examination will begin.

The gate of the Imperial Examination Hall was closed, and the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy who remained behind immediately began to mark the test papers.

From the beginning of the Spring Examination until the announcement of the results half a month after its end, no one, including the chief judge of the Spring Examination, was allowed to leave the Imperial Academy for one month. This was commonly known as the lock-up system, which was intended to prevent collusion and cheating between examiners and students.

But real cheating is often much more advanced than revealing test information.

The lobby of the Ministry of Rites Imperial Academy was in an extremely busy period at this time.

The officials collected the test papers, covered the basic information such as name and place of origin with paper, and then stacked them up according to the rules.

Another group of officials from the Ministry of Rites quickly began transcribing the test papers to prevent cheating behaviors such as making marks and recognizing handwriting.

"How dare you put it on the table with such ugly handwriting?" The official from the Ministry of Rites who was transcribing was annoyed and complained hurriedly.

The papers do not need to be copied and can be thrown into the trash. Writing is the first hurdle in the imperial examination. Those with sloppy handwriting do not need to be graded.

Afterwards, just give a low score as an explanation.

The officials were used to it and went about their work in an orderly manner.

"This concerns the bright future of students, so please be cautious."

Lin Ruofu used unoriginal wording to explain to the officials.

Wei An, the Minister of Rites, as the deputy judge, naturally also joined in.

The officials forced themselves to comply and continued with their work. Officials in groups of two or three glanced at each other and pasted the slightly shorter pieces of paper on the selected test papers.

Apart from this, all other test papers are made of pasted paper of the same length.

Whenever the transcribing officials saw test papers with slightly shorter paper, they would pay special attention and leave special marks of the number of strokes on the copied test papers.

The final step depends on the skills of the examiners, who will identify the test papers and give high scores.

Lin Ruofu turned a blind eye, sipped his tea and ignored all the responses.

Upon seeing this, the Minister of Rites Wei An's kind face became even more smiling.

Silent cheating has spread layer by layer in the examination hall and cannot be eradicated.

"That's bullshit, and the answer is a mess."

"The priorities are reversed, and the meaning of the sutra is tangled here and there, without any coherence at all."

"Who is this student? How could he even answer the words of a sage incorrectly?"

The complaints of the examiners rose one after another, resounding in the hall. The officials took it as amusement and came closer to take a look from time to time.

When encountering a marked paper, the examiner will calm down and examine it carefully. If the answers are satisfactory, he will give a high score.

If the answers are average, leave another layer of mark and exchange them with other examination papers with no background when archiving.

An examiner was concentrating on a test paper. His brows knitted at first, then he began to sweat profusely. Finally, he took a deep breath, picked up the test paper, clapped his hands in admiration, and stood up and said, "Look, whose test paper is this? The answers are so flawless and vivid."

When the examiners around heard this, they all rushed forward to surround him. After a closer look, their gazes seemed to be fixed, and they were immersed in the paper and unable to extricate themselves.

"Good answer, it's really pleasing to the eye."

"This year's spring examination will indeed produce a genius. Your Majesty will be very pleased." "Oh, show it up." Wei An, the Minister of Rites, who was sitting in a dull seat, coughed twice, became curious, and looked around slowly.

The examiner carefully presented the paper to Wei An, who squinted his eyes and observed the marks on the paper. Seeing the marks, he felt very happy and read it carefully. Then he nodded while reading it, showing the same look as the other examiners, stroking his beard and praising: "I haven't seen such a good paper in a long time."

"Lord Lin, please take a look at this wonderful paper. It would be a shame not to read it." Wei An handed it aside respectfully.

Lin Ruofu held the paper in his hand and glanced at it briefly. His deep eyes suddenly lit up and he commented, "Not bad, but I don't know the level of the poetry and policy questions."

What Lin Ruofu said was very conservative, but in fact the meaning of the classics is the most important part of the Spring Examination. If one can answer this question perfectly, there will probably be no problem with the poems and policy questions that follow.

With a smile, Lin Ruofu handed the paper back. Except for the officials who were still marking the papers, people in the hall passed it around, admiring this excellent work that was sure to make the list.

"Mr. Shu, you have arrived just in time. Come and taste the wine." An official was very considerate and hurriedly shared the wine with the visitor when he saw him.

Shu Wu took it calmly, examined it for a moment, and put the paper back on the table: "Grade it quickly, don't waste time."

Everyone in the hall was tired, and Wei An, being too old to sit still, went out to relax, and the officials who had been in charge of the anonymous affairs served him on his left and right.

Wei An smiled happily and asked, "Which prince or wealthy businessman does the paper belong to?"

What he had in mind was to know the candidate and establish good relationships as soon as possible.

But the words had just been spoken, but there was no response.

The official with a confused name had a good memory, but at this moment he kept thinking about it and couldn't find the answer for a long time.

Wei An's face fell.

The unknown official racked his brains and finally found the answer. Just as he was about to blurt it out, he suddenly stopped for some reason and said hesitantly, "Sir, it was not inserted through the Ministry of Rites."

Wei An's face suddenly changed, and he pondered, "Could it be from Lord Lin's side? But I remember he didn't put a name on it."

"It's not from Lord Lin's side either."

The anonymous official was sweating from the bottom of his heart, and finally said, "It's from Shu Daxueshi's side, the student who came late and didn't bring any bedding."

"Master Shu was so concerned that we were afraid that we would make a mistake when marking the papers, so we also made a mark."

The official's actions were correct, but Wei An was annoyed by what he heard. He waved his hand angrily and said, "Shu Wu will not appreciate it. It's a waste of time to make wedding clothes for others."

……

It was late at night when the officials from the Ministry of Rites collected the test papers and, after repeated confirmation, filed them and stored them in the inner room of the Imperial Examination Hall under heavy guard.

The first round of Spring Examination paper grading is coming to an end.

The officials relaxed their tired bodies and returned to the guest rooms of the Imperial Examination Hall to rest for a while, taking a nap and waiting for the second round of poetry and prose.

"Why, Master Shu is in a bad mood?"

Lin Ruofu and Shu Wu were passing by, and seeing his solemn expression, he smiled.

Shu Wu looked back, slowed down his pace, and said, "Lord Lin should have told me this earlier. I, Shu Wu, would never come even if I were beaten to death."

"What a passionate and emotional person, dying to show his determination." Lin Ruofu smiled faintly and explained, "In the officialdom, there is always a need to choose and flatter. Shu Daxueshi has never participated in it. It is natural that he was a little surprised when he saw it for the first time."

Shu Wu suppressed his anger and said, "Master Lin, don't forget how you got here. How were you different from these students back then?"

"I am no different from these students, and when they climb up, they will be no different from me." Lin Ruofu said calmly, "Officialdom is like this, whether it is good or bad depends entirely on one's heart."

(End of this chapter)