The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 309 Palace Examination
Early in the morning, Yue Wenxuan got up, washed up, and went to the sand table.

Just as I was about to possess my lifelike figurine and play with it, my phone suddenly beeped with a notification sound.

This is the notification sound from the phone's backup recorder. It seems something important was recorded today.
I picked up my phone's notepad and saw that it was the day of the "Palace Examination" in the imperial examinations.

Because the Northern Song Dynasty had recently expanded its territory rapidly, the newly occupied prefectures and more than a dozen counties all needed officials, and the existing reserve of officials was completely insufficient. Therefore, not long after the beginning of spring in 1131, Qi Chongli began to preside over the "Spring Examination," which was held simultaneously in all areas currently under the control of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Each region first holds a regional examination. Those who emerge victorious from the regional examinations gather in Jiaoshui County for a second examination. Those who pass this second examination become "Jinshi" (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). These "Jinshi" are then brought before Emperor Zhao Shi, who personally sets the questions for the examination, which is called the Palace Examination.

The date for the palace examination had been set well in advance, and Yue Wenxuan, afraid of forgetting, sent a reminder on his mobile phone.

"Luckily I set a reminder on my phone, otherwise I would have really forgotten."

Yue Wenxuan had no choice but to temporarily abandon his plan to visit Siyang City, and with a swift movement of his consciousness, he jumped toward Zhao Shi.

Jiaoshui County is very lively today...

Most of the scholars and students from the various prefectures under the actual control of the Northern Song Dynasty have arrived.

Needless to say, people from Dengzhou and Laizhou came from afar to take the exams, as did a large number of scholars from Yizhou and Huaiyang, which had just been captured.

As soon as Yue Wenxuan switched over, he saw the people from the Yan family of Yizhou.

The reason Yue Wenxuan remembered this person was quite simple: as soon as the Northern Song army captured Yizhou, the Yan family sent a large amount of iron, sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal to Gong Erniangzi, saying that they were grateful to the Grand Councilor for "liberating" Yizhou and allowing the Yan family to return to the Song Dynasty, and that these things were sent "as military supplies".

Yue Wenxuan naturally remembered such a sensible person.

The head of the family who gave the gift was obviously not the one taking the exam; the one taking the exam must have been his son, a young scholar with a good temperament, who looked to be in his early twenties and had the composure of a scion of a great family.

Among the crowd, you could also see members of the Ma, Ji, and Qi families...

They were involved in every imperial examination. Their family seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of young men. No matter what the exam was, they could always find a son from the main family or a branch family to take the exam. Whether he passed or not was one thing, but whether he participated or not was another.

Yue Wenxuan's gaze had just swept over the group of people when he heard a joyful voice beside him: "Your Majesty, you're awake?"

Yue Wenxuan turned his head and saw that it was the thirty-second eunuch.

After delivering the letter several times, this eunuch stayed by Zhao Shi's side, serving as the "Imperial Eunuch." This man had one good quality: when Zhao Shi was in a daze, he would keep a low profile and never ask a single question. Questions like "Why is the Emperor in a daze?" were something everyone wanted to know, but the thirty-second eunuch seemed to have never considered them, didn't want to know at all, and wouldn't ask a single question.

He would only come forward to listen to orders the moment Zhao Shi "woke up," showing remarkable insight.

Yue Wenxuan chuckled: "Are all these people in front of me Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations)?"

The thirty-second eunuch quickly lowered his head and said obsequiously, "Yes, they all passed the imperial examination. Prime Minister Qi said that the country is in need of talented people, so the difficulty of this examination was very low, and anyone with a little knowledge passed..."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Yes! That makes sense!"

The thirty-second eunuch whispered again, "Prime Minister Qi and Minister Ji just came by, but seeing that His Majesty was contemplating life, they went out to prepare. They will be back soon."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Well, now that I'm here, let Prime Minister Qi and Minister Ji make preparations, and let the palace examination officially begin."

The thirty-second eunuch immediately flicked his whisk and prepared to go out to deliver the imperial decree... Yue Wenxuan suddenly said, "Wait! This time, I allow people to attend the palace examination. Let the families of the successful candidates attend, as well as those scholars who did not pass the examination but participated in the imperial examination, they are also allowed to attend."

"what?"

The thirty-second eunuch was taken aback: "How many people would that be? There's not enough room in the hall."

Yue Wenxuan: "Let's hold the palace examination at Caishikou! It's spacious, and there can be more people watching. Anyway, if there are too many people standing on the outside and no seats, they can find their own way to squeeze in."

Held in Caishikou, without even a proper hall, can it still be called a palace examination?
However, only rigid old scholars would ponder such questions. Clever eunuchs would never disobey the emperor's orders. Without a second thought, the thirty-second eunuch replied, "Yes, sir!"

The imperial decree was quickly issued, and as expected, the old scholar Qi Chongli immediately objected. However, his objection was ineffective, and Yue Wenxuan insisted on holding the palace examination at Caishikou, ignoring the Prime Minister's opinion.

This kept the servants who were preparing the venue extremely busy. They quickly moved all the tables and chairs that had already been set up in the hall to the execution ground, and the guards also had to quickly redeploy their defenses...

After a frantic half-hour of work, the Caishikou area was finally set up.

Only then could the palace examination begin!
Yue Wenxuan sat on the wooden platform at Caishikou. Not far from where he sat was the spot where "Caishikou Execution" took place, and some brown stains could still be seen on the ground.

Before him stood hundreds of successful candidates in the imperial examinations. They had already been ranked according to their scores, but this ranking did not determine who would receive the three honors of Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua. They had to pass the palace examination and gain the emperor's approval to obtain these three titles.

The scholars were all eager and ready to fight.

No matter what the emperor tests today, they all desperately vie for the title of top scholar, and no one is willing to give way to the other.

The family members who were allowed to come and watch cheered for their children desperately from outside the human wall formed by the guards.

There were also many scholars who had failed the exam, watching from the sidelines with melancholy... their eyes filled with jealousy, envy, and hatred.

The ceremony officially begins...

I'll skip the hundred million words of nonsense and elaborate displays that precede this.

Let's get straight to the point...

Qi Chongli said loudly, "Now, Your Majesty, please give us the question."

Yue Wenxuan chuckled: "Alright, I'll just pose a question... Listen carefully... One day, I wanted to take a bath in a pool, so I asked Eunuch Thirty-Two to fill it with water... The pool has one inlet pipe and one outlet pipe. Opening the inlet pipe alone takes twenty incense sticks' worth of time to fill the pool, while opening the outlet pipe alone takes forty incense sticks' worth of time to empty it. Eunuch Thirty-Two only realized the outlet pipe wasn't closed after filling it for two incense sticks' worth of time, so he quickly closed it and continued filling. How many more incense sticks' worth of time will it take to fill the pool?"

This question was posed.

The entire audience was astonished; all the scholars were dumbfounded.

The families of the successful candidates and the unsuccessful scholars who were watching from the outside were all dumbfounded.

Even the ordinary people who rushed over to see what was going on were completely bewildered.

(End of this chapter)