Chapter 95

Let's see how many of Wang Ju's guesses were right... Read the latest and most complete novels.

Zhao Shu did not speak for a long time, and when he did, he spoke ill of himself. This matter did not require much thought; it was clear that someone was playing tricks behind the scenes. Who else could it be?

At his age of over seventy, he was still guarding the northwest border. Can't you see that?

After the Emperor spoke, only Fu Bi subtly defended him a little. Was he not full of resentment?

Of course, this rash person did not refer to Ouyang Xiu, but to Sima Guang.

Wang Ju was more familiar with major events, but he did not know about these specific situations, nor did he know about the grudge between Sima Guang and Cheng Kan.

The key was how to write this essay?

Wang Ju thought for a while but still could not figure out the true intention behind Cheng Kan's question. However, he knew that to write this essay, he had to bypass this background. Otherwise, if Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu saw it, he would be preparing to go home, with no hope of doing well in the provincial or palace exams.

Therefore, the essay should focus on these eight characters.

In fact, what Zhao Zhen said was not wrong; the country needed officials who could handle practical matters, not those who were restless.

Do you really think the prosperity of Emperor Renzong's reign came easily? Do you really think Zhao Zhen was a good-natured emperor? At least in politics, Zhao Zhen was much more mature than Old Fan.

With his thoughts clear, it was easier to think.

Moreover, an essay was different from a policy proposal. An essay mainly focused on right and wrong, without the need to find a solution. Therefore, it would not involve too many aspects.

Wang Ju began to think about the words and the appropriate allusions to use.

There should not be too many allusions, but there must be a few. This would make the argument more persuasive. People of this era did not like looking backward but preferred looking forward, and the more ancient the allusion, the better. The more ancient, the more well-governed, and the primitive society was the dream of the literati...

After thinking for a long time, he finally put pen to paper.

While he was writing, news was spreading outside.

Li Yuanwai invited Zhu Huan, Zhao Yuanwai, Meng Yuanwai, Yang Yuanwai, You Yuanwai, Rong Yuanwai, Xi Yuanwai, Ba Yuanwai, and Duanmu Yuanwai as guests.

They had always had a good relationship with the Zhu and Li families and were also major shareholders in the bamboo paper business. Due to intermarriage, they were all related to some extent.

First, they discussed the bamboo paper, then they talked about the autumn exams.

You Yuanwai said, "I heard that this time Cheng Gong personally served as the chief examiner, and the questions were extremely tricky."

Logically, they should not have known the exam situation, but in Yan Prefecture, it was a different story. Although they did not know the specific details, could they not ask the soldiers guarding the exam site?

"I also heard about it. I wonder how my son-in-law did," Li Yuanwai said.

He did not have high hopes for his son but was worried about Wang Ju.

"I have also inquired. Wang Xiaolang should have done well yesterday."

Li Fei'er, who happened to hear this, hurriedly ran to the Wang family to report the good news.

Erniu said disdainfully, "No matter how difficult, could it stump my big brother?"

But it got harder as it went on.

Not only was it difficult, but the questions also covered a wide range of knowledge, were tricky, and obscure.

As a result, after three days of the autumn exams, most of the students looked vacant and wooden, and some were severely discouraged, crying out loud at the entrance of the prefectural school.

You Tao hugged Wang Ju, "I want to cry too."

"Go away, don't hug me. If you want to hug someone, hug Zhu Jialang."

You Tao's wife came up concerned, "How did you do, my lord?"

"Don't mention it. I only answered five out of ten questions in the 'Tiejing' and three out of ten in the 'Moyi.'"

In fact, he only answered two out of ten in the 'Moyi,' and one of them was wrong.

"Wang Xiaolang, how many did you answer?"

"Are you referring to the 'Moyi' and 'Tiejing'?"

"Yes."

"I answered all the 'Tiejing' questions." This was important, but since the first book Wang Ju read when he came to the Song Dynasty was the 'Analects of Confucius,' and the 'Tiejing' questions were all fill-in-the-blank questions from the 'Analects,' he had been working hard to memorize this book for the past few years, almost to the point of being able to recite it backward.

"But I wasn't sure about two of the 'Moyi' questions, and I had to guess the answers."

"That's not easy," You Tao said dejectedly. "Anyway, as long as this Prefect is in Yan Prefecture, I won't participate in the autumn exams."

What kind of questions were they?

Wang Ju was speechless. Although there were only three policy questions, the difficulty level of this autumn exam was high enough to rank in the provincial exams.

Li Fei'er also came over, looking at Wang Ju with concern.

"Fei'er, I should be able to pass, but I can't say how high I will rank."

He couldn't be too arrogant. Although most of the students were severely affected by Cheng Kan's questions, some were almost driven to madness, Wang Ju still saw a dozen or so students who were eager to try, indicating that they did well, otherwise they wouldn't have that expression.

Outside, there were those who cried and those who laughed, but inside the prefectural school, the clerks were busy. First, they had to seal the exam papers. The candidates had to write their names, birth dates, places of origin, and the names and backgrounds of their three generations on the exam papers. This information had to be copied, then sealed, and a three-character code was written behind the copied names. This code was also written on the sealed exam papers.

The copied information was then placed in an iron cabinet and locked with a large lock. The cabinet would not be opened until the chief examiner decided the rankings, and then the names would be translated back according to the codes, and the names, places of origin, and rankings would be listed on the announcement board.

This was just the first step.

If there was any forgery, the handwriting could still be identified, so the sealed exam papers were sent to other clerks for transcription.

The sealing process was fast, but the transcription process was slow, and the examiners' review process was even slower.

There were not many people, so the chief examiners had to review the papers one by one.

However, this time, the review process in Yan Prefecture was very fast. Cheng Kan opened the transcribed exam papers one by one.

After reviewing the 'Tiejing' and 'Moyi' questions, he was left with only a dozen exam papers.

Hu Qianpan, the assistant prefect of Yan Prefecture, was delighted.

Although this was the fastest review process in Yan Prefecture's history, it was also the fairest.

Eight candidates would be selected from these dozen exam papers.

Hu Qianpan said, "Cheng Gong, whose paper is that?"

Cheng Kan smiled.

The papers were sealed and transcribed, but there was a horse policy, could it not be identified? He immediately found Wang Ju's paper.

First, he reviewed the 'Tiejing' and 'Moyi' questions.

One of the 'Moyi' questions had a slight error, and actually, there was another one, but Wang Ju guessed it right.

This was normal. This time, Cheng Kan deliberately made the questions difficult, and Wang Ju's performance was the best. The second-place candidate got three 'Moyi' questions wrong, and the third and fourth-place candidates got four wrong.

Of course, this was not the final ranking. Next, he reviewed the poetry and prose. Cheng Kan slightly frowned; Wang Ju's poetry and prose were not bad.

This was Wang Ju's weakness, but after studying for more than four years, he had written over a thousand poems and hundreds of prose pieces to improve his skills. Although it was his weakness, he had gradually caught up.

However, Cheng Kan was slightly disappointed. In his heart, he thought that at fourteen, Wang Ju had written a poem about a red apricot branch extending over a wall, and at seventeen, after studying with Zhang Zai for two years, what kind of poetry would Wang Ju write...

This... Wang Ju would cry.

Continuing, the essay and the horse policy were not particularly novel, but they were steady and common among the students. However, the writing was strong, and the arguments were clear, much better than his poetry and prose.

Then, he reviewed the horse policy and the response to the Western Xia invasion. Just the horse policy alone made Cheng Kan beat his chest in frustration.