Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

By now, the papers have been graded, and the results, including the grade level of each paper, the ranking, and the examiners' annotations, have been released.

Therefore, the names of the sealed entities can now be opened for final comprehensive sorting.

In theory, if one person takes three exams, then 1,200 papers would correspond to 400 people.

However, this is only an idealized consideration. In reality, due to the students' specialization in certain subjects, some students may only rank in the top 400 in one of the three exams, while others may rank in the top 400 in two of them. Only a few students will rank in the top 400 in all three exams.

One thousand two hundred exam papers typically correspond to six or seven hundred test takers.

Those who make it into the top 400 in all three rounds are destined to be ranked, and will at least be in the second tier when sorted.

Candidates who rank in the top 400 in both exams will not fail the exam; if their policy essays are outstanding, they may even be ranked among the top two.

Only those who only managed to rank in the top 400 in a single exam were in a relatively dangerous situation.

Because the government places great importance on policy essays, it is unlikely that candidates who rank in the top 400 in the second policy essay will fail the exam.

Therefore, those candidates who only made it into the top 400 in one exam, and that exam was either the first or third one, were destined for a tragic fate.

There were quite a few candidates like this, often numbering four or five hundred, and which lucky ones would ultimately pass depended entirely on the examiners' preferences and mood.

So-called insider trading often occurs at this time.

For the children of the powerful and wealthy to succeed in the imperial examinations through insider trading, they actually need to rely on their own abilities to reach this level, achieving the generally accepted minimum of "at least one subject ranking in the top 400".

This comprehensive ranking process will eliminate over 300 people.

After going through three rounds of selection—recommendation, single-round ranking and elimination, and comprehensive ranking and elimination—those who survived became the tribute scholars.

Furthermore, because a scholar named Zhang Yuan had failed the imperial examination in the past and angrily defected to the Western Xia, eventually rising to the position of prime minister, the emperor was deeply saddened and announced that the imperial examination would no longer dismiss anyone, but would only rank them.

In other words, once you reach the level of a tribute student, you can start celebrating if you don't ask for anything more.

Of course, some people have a carefree and leisurely attitude, while others are ambitious and eagerly await the examination for the position of probationary scholar.

Imperial Examination Hall.

The chief examiner, Ouyang Xiu, and the deputy chief examiner, Wang Yaochen, sat side by side at a wooden desk. On the desk were several stacks of papers, all recommended papers submitted by the examiners below.

These are the recommended papers for the "Policy Inquiry on Current Affairs" session, totaling 450. All the submitted papers were to be initially screened and ranked by the two chief examiners.

After three preliminary screenings and rankings, if the examiners have no objections, the sealed names can be removed, and the seventeen examiners will witness the final comprehensive ranking.

The overall ranking is what is released as the yellow list.

At a glance, these policy recommendations are marked with words such as "recommended" and "accepted".

The four evaluation criteria of the examiners are: recommended, passable, rough, and no.

An article that qualifies to be presented to the main and associate examiners will receive at least one "recommendation" and at most two or three "recommendations".

At this moment, the chief and deputy examiners are meticulously grading the papers, striving to ensure that this spring imperial examination is as fair as possible.

"what?"

Deputy Chief Examiner Wang Yaochen had just put down one exam paper when he casually picked up another, glanced at it, and couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

The chief examiner, Ouyang Xiu, paid no attention to the sound.

The gasps of surprise during the grading of the imperial examinations in spring were so commonplace that they were hardly surprising.

If Wang Yaochen felt that the exam paper in his hand was excellent enough, he would discuss with me and work together to give the paper a fair ranking.

"Your Majesty," the minister replied, "I have heard that the people are the foundation of the state, and when the foundation is firm, the state is at peace; weapons are the instruments of the state, and when the weapons are sharp, the state is powerful. Now, the Jianghuai region is flooded, and the roads are blocked with starving corpses."

Wang Yaochen read the article carefully, took a sip of tea, pondered for a while, and then smiled.

It has a rigorous structure, a systematic approach to countermeasures, and good operability. It also draws on historical examples to illustrate current issues, taking into account both the authority of the emperor and the demands of the scholar-officials.

interesting!

Jiang Zichuan, not bad!

The process of recommending and sorting papers does not allow for the removal of candidates' names from the paper list.

However, even before the name was removed, Wang Yaochen vaguely recognized the owner of the paper.

Such a grand, upright, and practical policy question could not be posed without genuine insight.

Especially when it comes to the frontier, let alone the candidates for the imperial examinations, even some court officials might not be able to offer solutions as effective as those in this essay.

The person who wrote this article must have been to the frontier and received extensive guidance from a high-ranking official.

This policy essay is almost in a class of its own.

Highly qualified candidates study in the border regions.

It's not hard to guess!

As Han Zhang's only disciple and a renowned figure, Jiang Zhao may not even know that he receives a great deal of attention from Han's faction.

Not to mention that he once wrote a letter to comfort Wang Yaochen, who was in mourning, which attracted even more attention from the Han faction.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Yaochen placed this paper at the very top of the recommended list.

If this exam paper was indeed written by Jiang Zhao, that would be for the best, as it would also help to promote the future core of the Korean faction.

Even if this paper wasn't written by Jiang Zhao, it wouldn't matter, as it was already of the highest quality in policy essays.

"Ok?"

Ouyang Xiu looked up in surprise and reached out to take the paper.

Directly ranked first?

Wang Yaochen didn't say anything, he just nodded.

time flies.

After fifteen days of grading and preliminary ranking, the top scorers from several exams have been determined.

Some things, you don't know until you compare them, and once you do, it's easy to tell which is better and which is worse.

In the third round of examinations, which included essays, judgments, edicts, proclamations, and memorials, Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan, came in first place with his essay "On the Utmost Importance of Kindness in Punishment and Reward," which was highly praised by Ouyang Xiu.

The initial ranking has been completed, and the quality of the articles has been determined. From now on, the sealed names can be removed, and a comprehensive ranking can be conducted.

The dozen or so examiners, who were usually so refined and cultured, all had their own connections, yet they argued fiercely over some controversial top three spots.

Chapter 21 Huiyuan!

February 21st, cloudy.

The sky was still dark when the examination hall was already filled with candidates craning their necks to look ahead.

The crowds were enormous and incredibly dense.

Surprisingly, the scene of tens of thousands of people gathered was unusually quiet, with all the candidates remaining silent as they waited for the yellow notice to be posted.

Some people even stayed up all night outside the examination hall just to see their results as soon as possible, waiting patiently for the moment the results were announced.

Scholars from Huaizuo also rushed to see the list, jostling and pushing.

Even Jiang Zhi, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief who was supposed to attend court, specially claimed illness and asked for leave so that he could know his grandson's grades as soon as possible.

Besides Jiang Zhi, there were many other richly decorated carriages outside the examination hall, clearly belonging to powerful and wealthy people who had asked for leave to check the results.

"So, are you confident?" Jiang Zhi felt a little nervous even before the notice was posted.

"I'm not quite sure." Jiang Zhao shook his head thoughtfully. "Let's wait for the official announcement to be posted!"

Whether one can pass the imperial examination in spring depends not only on one's talent and learning, but also on a certain amount of luck.

Jiang Zhao felt confident that securing a place in the top 50 shouldn't be a problem, but the top 50 was clearly not his goal. Whether he could go further was anyone's guess.

At this moment, Jiang Zhao also felt a sense of urgency and involuntarily held his breath.

Jiang Zhi nodded, the old man in his sixties looking up and around.

Similar scenes are everywhere.

During this time, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zeng Gong, Zeng Bu, Zhang Heng, and Zhang Dun all came over to greet him, and Jiang Zhao politely returned their greetings.

During their ten-plus days of rest, the group got together to travel and became friends.

Su Shi, Zeng Gong, and Zhang Dun were anxious and squeezed into the crowd, while the remaining three stood with Jiang Zhao.

However, none of them were in the mood to speak, and they just stood there quietly.

"The yellow notice has arrived!"

"I'm coming!"

A gasp of surprise caused a huge stir.

The Imperial Guards escorted several examiners as they posted the yellow notices. The candidates were anxious, but dared not overstep their bounds.

Before long, the notices were posted, and some good news began to spread.

"Fifty-seventh!"

An elderly man in his forties, wearing a gray robe, saw his name and shouted it out loud.

"Ninety-seventh place!"

"I won! I won!"

A man with slightly graying temples looked up at the sky and laughed heartily, then wept with joy.

"Impossible, how come I didn't win?"

"I took the exam myself; with my talent and learning, how could I possibly fail?"

One candidate, his eyes blazing with fury, questioned the fairness of the imperial examinations. When he was stopped by the imperial guards, his spirited demeanor vanished, and he resembled a frail old man.

"Ahhh!"

"I have let down the expectations of my fellow villagers, and I have let down my wife, children, and elderly parents!"

One scholar attempted suicide by banging his head on the ground, bleeding profusely, but was stopped by the imperial guards.

"oops!"

Dozens of wealthy merchants swarmed around a middle-aged scholar who claimed to be ranked "370th" among the successful candidates, hoping to find a son-in-law among the successful candidates.

"Is the young master married?"

"Never."

"My daughter is sixteen years old, her dowry is seven thousand taels, and she is gentle and virtuous."

"Young master, my daughter is twenty-seven years old, her dowry is eight thousand taels, and she has a reputation for being virtuous and gentle."

"Ten thousand taels of silver, plus one hundred mu of paddy fields!"

Before long, the results were in: the wealthy merchant who had paid 10,000 taels of silver had captured the scholar's son-in-law and immediately sent people to protect him, carefully escorting him away.

Because the palace examination only ranked candidates by their first-place ranking and did not dismiss anyone, the tribute candidates were the future Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). Therefore, the process of catching a son-in-law after the list of successful candidates was no longer about catching Jinshi who had passed the palace examination, but about catching tribute candidates who had passed the metropolitan examination.

If you have a quick hand, you will have it, but if you have a slow hand, you will not have it.

Some are happy, some are sad. The yellow notice has been posted, and the hope in their hearts has been dispelled. It is destined that there will be both celebration and sorrow.

Ecstasy, bewilderment, fear, longing, struggle, and a sense of relief filled the world in an instant.

Su Zhe, Zeng Bu, and Zhang Heng, who were originally standing next to Jiang Zhao, couldn't wait any longer and squeezed into the crowd.

Even Jiang Zhao couldn't help but feel a little restless and looked towards the yellow list.

However, he didn't need to squeeze in. His grandfather, Jiang Zhi, had sent several literate servants to check the list in advance, and his page, Hesheng, had already squeezed into the crowd.

Even the old man Jiang Zhi, who had long resided in the halls of power, couldn't help but pace back and forth with his hands behind his back.

No one, from the powerful and wealthy to the poor, can escape this kind of thing.

"I hit it, I hit it!"

"Young master has won!"

"Young master is the top scholar!"

The moment the words "Huiyuan" were uttered, it was like a stone thrown into a pool, attracting the attention of many.

"Whose young master is this?"

Before the servants who were shouting could even leave the crowd, someone asked them a question.