Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 24: First Place in Case and Top Ten in County
The county examination is the most basic of the six imperial examinations. Don't think that it is necessarily the easiest.

The reason is very simple. The person who sets the questions is the local county magistrate, and many county magistrates like to set small questions in order to highlight their own abilities.

Eight-part essays are divided into major questions and minor questions. Major questions are in the form of complete chapters and sections, while minor questions are mostly fragmented and spliced, combining two originally unrelated sentences in the text together, and asking students to break down the questions and answer them.

This is very difficult. Scholars in the Ming and Qing dynasties generally believed that writing small-topic essays was "difficult". Writing large-topic essays is like walking on a broad road, where you can sit back and look around at ease, but writing small-topic essays is like walking on a steep ravine, where you have to be nervous and cautious to avoid the risk of falling.

Of course, there are also many writers who think they are talented and like to use small topics to show off and highlight their talents.

Haiyue never pretends to be cool.

He is afraid of trivial matters.

As a question-solving expert, he is naturally accustomed to small questions.

Fortunately, when I got the questions at this time, I took a quick look and found that the titles of the three questions were very complete in terms of sentences and meaning. They were serious questions, and I felt relieved immediately.

This is not surprising.

Firstly, in history, the Longqing and Wanli dynasties were the heyday of small-titled essays, and many famous writers of small-titled essays emerged;
Secondly, if you set a difficult question of insufficient level in a cultural place like Jiangnan, you will be laughed at by scholars, because it will be impossible to effectively distinguish the level of the answerers, which makes the question setter appear incompetent.

But in a place like Qionshan, Hainan, if the questions are too difficult and stump the students taking the test, it will also be the fault of the person who set the questions.

Haiyue also learned recently that Wu Keshuang, the magistrate of Qionshan who had just taken office, was a very low-key person. In the previous murder case of Prince Annan, he actually had the power to investigate the case, but the Qionshan County Government seemed to be non-existent. He obeyed the orders of the government office in everything and never showed up.

People like this will indeed play it safe when setting questions.

Haiyue likes such examiners and such test papers, and she writes as if inspired by God.

The county examination is not a single test, but is divided into five sessions. The first session is the main session, which requires two essays and one test poem. There is a format for the title, poem, and essay, and the whole paper generally should not exceed 700 words.

If it is the Qing Dynasty, theoretically after answering the first main test, there is a second review test, which tests one article from the Four Books and one article on sex theory or the Book of Filial Piety. In the middle stage, you have to recite about a hundred words of "The Sacred Edicts" by Kangxi and Yongzheng, and then the third review test, and the fourth and fifth review tests in succession. The content of the test is similar, but it takes a total of four or five days to test, and the ranking is determined comprehensively, so the workload is not easy.

But in the Ming Dynasty, after the first formal examination, as long as you passed, you did not have to take the subsequent ones. If you failed, there would be a chance to retake the exam later.

It was not until the last round of interviews that the examiners personally checked and eliminated some candidates who were "like a group of swallows flying south and two roast ducks going north", and the county examination process was completely completed.

In view of the importance of the final examination, Haiyue wrote very quickly and fluently, finishing it in one go.

The plain paper for drafting was blank, but he had already finished writing two essays on the Four Books and one test poem.

Haiyue didn't look around, but from the movements around her, she basically judged that she was the first one to finish answering. She immediately straightened her chest and head, sat upright, and began to wait.

"Oh?"

County Magistrate Wu Kexhuang was inspecting the examination hall. Although he was a county magistrate with a low presence, he was still attentive to this county examination for selecting talents for the country. He immediately noticed this student with excellent appearance who stood out from the crowd.

Hai Yue looked straight ahead, not meeting his gaze, but just waited for the clappers to ring outside.

"Boom!"

It was time to deal the cards. Haiyue stood up slowly and was the first to hand in the answer sheet. She bowed again and walked out.

This is how the county examination is. Every once in a while, the gate will open to let out a group of candidates who submitted their papers early, which also creates invisible pressure.

As the examiner, County Magistrate Wu Kexhuang naturally picked up the first paper submitted and read it carefully.

The imperial examinations were all subjective, without standard answers like those in later physics and chemistry exams. Excluding mistakes such as violating taboos or straying too far from the topic, whether one passed or failed actually depended entirely on the examiner's decision.

Marking papers is hard work. When the examiners are marking the previous papers, they are full of energy and will carefully ponder them. But when they mark the later papers, they start to be perfunctory and want to finish the work quickly.

Therefore, the ways to cheat in the imperial examinations are not limited to leaking questions, bringing in smuggled materials, altering the materials, etc.

Bribing the relevant clerks, changing the order of submission of papers, and having one's own papers delivered to the examiner first can sometimes determine the fate of students.

Submitting the paper early is also a way, and it is a very normal way of competition. It allows the examiner to notice the candidate instantly and there is a high probability that he will read the paper carefully.

This is exactly what Wu Keshuang is like now. "Haiyue? It was this girl who solved the mission's important case and even exposed the assassin's true identity... Hmm, what a good name!"

Haiyue was not the only one who came forward to hand in his paper. However, the magistrate held Haiyue's paper and looked at it for a full quarter of an hour before putting it down.

Wu Keshuang's evaluation is impeccable.

This does not mean that the article is written perfectly, but that there is absolutely no mistake to be found in the eight-part essay.

First of all, the font is square and smooth, and the size is uniform. It is the most standard Taige style for examinations. It is written neatly and coherently, and there is a sense of confidence between the strokes, which gives a good first impression.

Secondly, the Four Books focus on the introduction and connection of the topic, the content is in line with the rhyme, the examination poems are in rhyme, the format is correct, and the whole article does not violate any taboos.

Finally, this article is well written, but it seems a little familiar...where have I seen it before?
Fortunately, there was no such thing as plagiarism in the imperial examinations. After all, to put it bluntly, everyone copied Zhu Xi's annotations and just expanded on them. If you took them as they were, it would at most appear that your level was low, but it would not be a mistake.

Moreover, this is not taken literally, but used in a very sophisticated way. Could it be that some effort has been put into this aspect?
Wu Keshuang had a good impression of him, so he put the thought aside for a moment. Considering that he was the first one to hand in the paper outside the venue, he immediately gave him a thumbs up.

Quick thinking and great mentality!
At the age of only seventeen, he was able to finish the exam as quickly as possible and hand in such an answer sheet. Many old students who took exams every year could not achieve such a mentality.

"rare!"

Wu Keshuang became excited. She put down Haiyue's paper, picked up the papers that had been submitted earlier, and started marking them one by one.

Soon, his brow furrowed.

With such excellent answers before him, he was very dissatisfied with the contents of these answer sheets. Some of them were submitted early just for the sake of submitting them early, and he even dismissed them without any hesitation.

However, this is not considered as being eliminated. These students still have a chance and can come back to participate in the second round of recruitment tomorrow.

However, students who do not have a good mentality will often perform worse and worse in subsequent exams if they fail the first exam, and finally collapse completely.

Wu Keshuang was not surprised and her marking speed became faster and faster. Just as she was about to enter the finishing mode, she suddenly stopped.

"Huh? This kid has a very deep understanding of Mr. Qiongtai's Neo-Confucian lectures!"

Mr. Qiongtai refers to Qiu Jun, who was also from Qionshan County, Qiongzhou Prefecture. He lost his father at the age of six and was raised by his grandfather and mother. His family was poor, and he borrowed books to study hard. In the ninth year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty, he won the first place in the provincial examination. In the fifth year of Jingtai, he won the first place in the second class of the palace examination and was awarded the title of Hanlin Academy Scholar. Afterwards, he compiled many historical works, defended Yu Qian when he was falsely accused, and later opened the door for the Shangshu to enter the cabinet. He served as an official for more than 40 years, was honest and upright, and was known as the "commoner minister".

Qiu Jun's ideas have taught many people. Wu Khuang was also influenced by his Neo-Confucianism when he was young. He could see at a glance that this answer sheet had the foundation of "The Great Learning Expanded and Supplemented".

This book systematically discusses Qiu Jun's economic thoughts, such as land, finance, taxation, currency, interest, national budget, foreign trade, keeping wealth among the people, grain transportation, etc., all of which are practical and commendable.

This student obviously has a deep understanding of Qiu Jun's theories. What is most rare is that he did not learn the superficial aspects of Qiu Jun's theories. The style reflected between the lines is exactly the same pragmatic style as that of the honest and upright scholar.

Of course, due to my young age and limited experience, the article inevitably appears a bit immature.

Wu Keshuang finished reading the exam paper and was quite impressed. She flipped to the cover and read, "Hai Rui... great-grandfather Fu, grandfather Kuan, father Han... are they brothers with Hai Yue? The Hai family of Qiongzhou is indeed a family that produced the Imperial Censor!"

"Boom-thump-thump-"

The sound of bangzi rang out one after another, and the first show finally ended. Wu Keshuang had already preliminarily compiled ten relatively satisfactory answer sheets.

Unless someone performs exceptionally well in the last four games, the top ten in the county will basically be these ten papers.

However, there is no article that stands out particularly, surpasses all others, and is unquestionable.

So how to rank them depends entirely on the likes and dislikes of the county magistrate.

Wu Keshuang thought for a moment, made a decision, took out a copy, put it in the front, and smiled.

The government office solved a strange case and became famous far and wide. The key was that it prevented the foreign thieves from succeeding, and the government finally got rid of its anger.

The first case in Qionshan!

You are the one!

(End of this chapter)