Chapter 591: New Changes in the Imperial Examinations (3)
Chapter 591 New changes in the imperial examination (3)
Author: Feng Xiaomu
4341 (AD 1644), October 10th.
The north wind is howling, a bit of chill is coming, and many people are wearing sweaters.
Today is the day when the Great China Empire holds its general examination.
A large number of people are waiting for the Gongyuan to open.
According to the past practice of the empire, Prime Minister Wei Shiming served as the examiner, and Han Cuibai, the Minister of Rites, served as the deputy examiner.
At eight o'clock in the morning, they opened the gate of Gongyuan and announced that the examination had officially begun.
Emperor Su He watched the gate of the Gongyuan open and the people lined up to enter the Gongyuan.
These people are all the top talents in the Great China Empire.
Among these people, there are likely to be talents who will go down in history and lead the Great China Empire further.
As long as the imperial court can ensure that the imperial examinations are relatively fair and ordinary people and children from poor families have channels for advancement, the country will not be in chaos.
Lu Yuanpeng and Li Zizhan walked into the Gongyuan side by side.
In order to relieve his nervousness, Li Zizhan was chatting with Lu Yuanpeng
"Brother Lu, I heard that the day before yesterday, some candidates demonstrated in front of the Rites Department and blocked the car of Lord Han Cuibai, Minister of Rites.
These candidates who were looking for trouble originally thought that the court would not do anything to them.
They did not expect that the court would react quickly this time.
Shuntian Mansion came immediately and took all these candidates into prison. The Ministry of Rites also reacted quickly and deprived these candidates of their honors.
They studied hard for ten years in a cold window, and it was all gone in one day."
When Lu Yuanpeng heard this information, he smiled and said: "These people are still too stupid, they think they are outnumbered.
In fact, they only represent a small number of people, and they cannot reach the level where the law does not punish everyone.
The country was very determined to carry out the reform of the imperial examination, so these people were just trying to get the government to use them to establish their authority.
These people are idiots. If they dare to do this, they are being used as a weapon without realizing it."
Lu Yuanpeng and Li Zizhan were chatting when they saw a post at five steps and a sentry at ten steps in the Gongyuan.
Young soldiers, carrying shiny rifles, stood in front of each compartment.
The partitions are all small wooden houses, and people next to you can't see what's going on next door.
The desk in front of me for answering questions is a glass table.
The entire table is completely transparent. The soldiers in front of the cubicle can clearly see what the candidates are doing?
Li Zizhan exclaimed: “The imperial examination was too strict and even used the method of man-to-man marking.
In the previous imperial examination, in order to prevent cheating, you had to take off your clothes and check carefully, which I think is shameful enough.
When I was a child, I was very happy when I heard that the imperial court abolished this practice.
Unexpectedly, the imperial court stared directly at us, which is really shameful."
When Lu Yuanpeng saw the scene in Gongyuan, his expression did not waver at all, and he said calmly: "These are soldiers of the Qinglong Guard. They are responsible for garrisoning the capital and have no chance to go out to fight.
Qinglongwei usually have few opportunities to make meritorious deeds, and they are extremely eager to make meritorious deeds.
If you catch a cheating examinee, you will get second-class merit.
Second-class merit is obtained on the battlefield and requires hard work.
When a soldier gets second-class merit, he gets the ticket to become an officer.
These people are randomly assigned, and no one knows which soldier is supervising their exam.
If you want to cheat now, it’s even harder than going to heaven.”
Li Zizhan nodded in agreement and said: "There is really someone who can cheat in the imperial examination. The power he holds has more channels and he can arrange his nephew to a better place.
It’s totally not worth it.”
In the imperial examinations of the Great China Empire, apart from leaking questions, it is extremely difficult to cheat in other processes. This is already the consensus of everyone.
The two of them quickly separated and headed to their own cubicle.
Lu Yuanpeng took the test card and found his location.
Here are the pens, brushes, pencils and related inks and manuscript papers issued by Gongyuan.
Of these three types of pens, candidates can use whichever pen they are used to answering the paper, but only one type of pen can be used from beginning to end to prevent candidates from making marks on the paper.
Lu Yuanpeng directly picked up the pen and tested the writing fluency of the pen on the manuscript paper.
Candidates generally do not answer questions with pencil.
Words written with pencil can be erased by eraser.
This has never happened in previous imperial examinations.
But as long as there is this possibility, no one will take risks on such a major matter related to the future of life.
Lu Yuanpeng sat on the stool. He was quite satisfied with both the stool and the desk.
He waited for a short time, and a clear bell rang throughout the Gongyuan.
This was the signal that the Gong Yuan officially closed its doors and the imperial examinations began.
Lu Yuanpeng soon saw an examiner holding a stack of black and white photos and comparing the appearance of the candidates one by one.
He had never heard of this process before and it should be a new one.
Lu Yuanpeng could guess it from the examiner's movements.
The examiner is holding a photo of the candidate in his hand and is comparing the candidates who come to take the exam to see if they are themselves and whether there is anyone else taking the exam.
"Zhang Shan, you have a Chinese character face, how come you have a round face?
Come here, capture him for me and take him to the interrogation room."
Lu Yuanpeng heard the examiner yelling and cursing from time to time, and someone who was taking the exam for him was caught.
The examiner quickly came to him and picked up a black and white photo.
The examiner looked at the black and white photo and Lu Yuanpeng from time to time, comparing Lu Yuanpeng's appearance with the photo.
The examiner quickly took out the seal and stamped a seal on Lu Yuanpeng's examination card.
"There are three subjects in this imperial examination. The examination time is from 10 am today to 10 am tomorrow, a total of twenty-four hours.
Candidates can submit their papers at any time and can leave Gongyuan after handing in their papers.
At ten o'clock tomorrow morning, the examiner will collect the papers forcibly."
Lu Yuanpeng said softly: "Thank you, examiner, for your guidance."
He didn't expect that the time of the imperial examination would also change a lot.
This imperial examination only lasts for one day, and candidates must complete three subjects in one day.
With this examination system, many candidates need to stay up late to answer questions.
Lu Yuanpeng feels that it is better to divide the examination process into two or three days.
But the imperial court set it as one day, and there must be reasons why it must be done.
He soon heard the bell ringing for the second time. It was already ten o'clock in the morning, and the examiner officially started handing out examination papers.
Lu Yuanpeng looked at the three examination papers. After looking through them carefully, he confirmed that there were no missing pages in the three examination papers, and he began to answer the questions seriously.
These topics are not difficult for Lu Yuanpeng, and he writes like a master.
He quickly copied the test paper in the evening and checked that the information was correct. He stood up and signaled the examiner to come and collect the test paper.
The examiner saw Lu Yuanpeng handing in his paper at this time. He was not a fool and could not do most of the questions.
That is a genius who can complete the questions faster than others.
Lu Yuanpeng handed in his papers, walked out of the gate of Gongyuan, and suddenly felt relaxed.
…………………………
Lu Yuanpeng and Li Zizhan came to Gongyuan again. They came to see the results released by Gongyuan.
In order to see the rankings as soon as possible, they came very early to occupy their seats.
Li Zizhan was restless and said with some worry: "I brought out most of the answers based on my memory.
All things considered, I am not even in the top five in our farm.
The imperial court only admits 300 Jinshi, so I probably won't be able to pass the exam this year.
Now it is said outside that this batch of Jinshi are the chosen ones and receive very good treatment."
Lu Yuanpeng advised: "Brother Li, don't belittle yourself.
Your level is already very good. If the examiner gives you high marks in the policy theory subject, Brother Li will have a high chance of passing the Jinshi examination."
Lu Yuanpeng comforted Li Zizhan, but he was not worried at all.
In the liberal arts classics test, as long as you dabble in most classic books, it will be difficult to get a high score, but it will not be easy to get a low score.
It is difficult to widen the gap between candidates in this subject.
The policy analysis questions are all subjective and the knowledge points tested are very complex.
The main difficulty is to guess what the examiner is thinking.
Policy theory is the subject that attracts the most points.
Not to mention mathematics, many candidates turned in blank papers and came out crying.
During this time, Lu Yuanpeng had already focused his energy on going to the Imperial College to study planning in the future.
"The results are released, the results are released."
When the candidates saw officials coming out of Gongyuan, they shouted excitedly.
Lu Yuanpeng and Li Zizhan both concentrated on staring at the officials who were releasing the results.
This time the officials were not appetizing.
They opened the scroll with the candidates' rankings directly on a large screen.
The candidates' rankings are written from left to right on the scroll.
The first name Lu Yuanpeng saw was his own.
He was a little unsure and was wondering whether he would be the top pick or the last one.
A clerk was beating the gong. He came to the main road of Gongyuan and shouted loudly: "Congratulations to Yili candidate Lu Yuanpeng for winning the top prize."
Li Zizhan called over the clerk who was about to report the news. At the same time, he looked at Lu Yuanpeng and said excitedly: "Brother Lu, you are the number one scholar. You are the number one scholar in this new subject this year."
Lu Yuanpeng finally reacted, with an excited look on his face.
Being the number one scholar does not mean that everything will go smoothly in the officialdom in the future. There were so many number one scholars in the previous dynasties, but only a few of them left their names in the history books.
But his ability surpassed that of many candidates and won the top spot in this class, which is also extremely gratifying.
Lu Yuanpeng comforted the dancing farm boy, and he continued to look at the scrolling list of Jinshi.
Immediately after him, the person who won the second place was the engineer Xiang Wenzhong. The person who won the third place was Zuo Wenya, a Confucian scholar of mind.
Lu Yuanpeng saw that Confucian Zhu Chengli and Liu Yunyi, who often provoked them, were only ranked thirteenth.
The names of the candidates on the list spread outward, and many candidates kept cheering.
They passed the Jinshi examination and were about to become an official and enter the officialdom.
This occasion deserves their celebration.
When Li Zizhan saw the peasant children, he heard exclamations of surprise one after another.
His mood is very complicated. The list is coming to an end. If he hasn't seen his name yet, the miracle will not happen.
As he expected, many members of the farm family passed the Jinshi examination.
Seeing others celebrating, he could only smile against his will.
Lu Yuanpeng saw Li Zizhan's frustrated face. He patted Li Zizhan on the shoulder and said in surprise: "Brother Li, look, there is your name at the end of the list. You are on the list."
Li Zizhan was so excited that he saw number 299 with his place of origin and name written on it.
He was on the list and finally passed the Jinshi exam.
Even if you are ranked at the bottom of the list, you are still a Jinshi, and you will never be the same from now on.
This year, the number of Jinshi places admitted by the imperial court was 299. Li Zizhan was only a little short of being able to obtain the Jinshi position.
Li Zizhan looked at his score, two hundred and forty-five.
He said with lingering fear: "This score is ten points lower than my estimated score.
If I hadn't been in Yili Province and our province's talent-raising ability hadn't been outstanding, I wouldn't have been able to obtain this Jinshi quota."
The quota of Jinshi in the Great China Empire is distributed according to regions.
Li Zizhan sincerely thanked his father for bringing him to Ili Province for the sake of his future.
Had it not been for the decline of talent in Ili Province and his trick of immigrating through the imperial examination, he would never have been able to obtain Jinshi status.
Many of the people who ranked before Li Zizhan were from overseas governor-general offices.
Only this group of people, who were dozens of points lower than the others, could still pass the Jinshi exam.
Li Zizhan saw a crazy-looking candidate rushing toward his location.
"Why did you, a piece of trash who got 245 points in the exam, get Jinshi status?
I will get at least 280 points in the exam. Just because I was born in Nanjing Prefecture, we have to be restricted.
I am a 280-year-old person, regardless of my talents in all aspects, I will crush you, a loser."
Li Zizhan was a little confused at first, but then he came to his senses.
There must be more considerations for the imperial court to limit the number of Jinshi in each province.
He stared at the candidate who looked like a madman and said loudly: "I am a Jinshi."
"You are trash."
"I am a Jinshi."
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
The candidate yelled three times, turned around and ran out of the crowd.
But his behavior caused a lot of discussion among the candidates.
"The last one is only 245 points, which is too low.
I feel like why I didn’t pass the Jinshi exam even though I’m still above 250 points.”
"Are all the regulations of the imperial court correct?
I think this policy is extremely unreasonable."
"Why? Why is this happening? Why does the court do this to us?"
"Han Chuang has been studying hard for decades, and this year is the best year for me to take the imperial examination.
The score reaches at least 260 points, but you can't get the Jinshi quota."
“The imperial court used this method to restrict candidates from wealthy areas like us.
This is very unfair. Even the imperial examinations cannot be guaranteed to be fair now, which is really chilling."
Candidates who thought they had high scores but did not pass the Jinshi examination united to surround the Gongyuan.
They want to check their scores to see if they exceed 245 points?
The officials of Gongyuan could not withstand the pressure. Seeing so many candidates, they wanted to rush into Gongyuan.
While sending people to request support from their superiors, the officials discussed and decided to allow candidates to check their scores.
"Hahahaha, I am really talented, I actually got 246 points in the exam.
Ah ah ah ah ah!
Why? Why? Why?
I’m one point higher than the last place, why shouldn’t I be given a spot as a Jinshi?”
"Sure enough, I didn't estimate the score wrong. It was only three points different from the estimated score, which is as high as 267 points. Why didn't I get the title of Jinshi?"
A large number of candidates checked their scores, and when they saw that the scores were significantly lower than 245, they left silently.
Candidates who scored higher than this, they united together, their tone was extremely dissatisfied, and they were ready to seek justice from the court.
When Lu Yuanpeng saw that something was wrong, he immediately called the farm boys and returned to Baijia Academy.
Li Zizhan asked doubtfully: "Brother Lu, this has not happened before? After this year's imperial examination, why did the candidates react so loudly?"
Lu Yuanpeng sighed and explained: "This year is the reform of the imperial examination, and the scoring system is used for the first time.
The previous papers were roughly graded as A or B.
For the first time, the hundred-point system was fully applied to the imperial examination, and the scores of the candidates were clear at a glance.
Before, I could convince myself that maybe my skills were inferior to others.
Now the scores are there, these people can't stand the stimulation and are likely to do extreme things."
After listening to Lu Yuanpeng's explanation, the farmers' children understood why this year's candidates had such a big reaction.