After Hou Yao returned to the inn to take a shower and change clothes, he had a good sleep.
The next step is to wait patiently for the results to be released in three days.
Although Yao Yingzhe was not as happy as Hou Yao after finishing the exam, he was still very relaxed and could at least talk and laugh.
The test questions this time were much more difficult than expected. First there was the extremely difficult sixteenth square calculation, and then there were strategy questions.
They are all far beyond the level of questions in the ordinary provincial examinations. Even if they are able to take the examination, the palace examination is just like this.
He shouldn't have been able to figure out the sixteenth-square grid originally, but when he was doing the questions, he had a sudden inspiration and he had to figure it out for him.
This question gave him great confidence. He believed that the number of candidates who could solve this question would never exceed two hands.
As for the subsequent policy questions, we can only leave it to fate. It is indeed beyond the scope of our capabilities.
After Hou Chengyun finished the exam, he looked defeated. He didn't even finish answering the paper.
The entire three days passed in a state of confusion, until I was kicked out by the collector at the last moment.
The three of them were waiting for the results to be released with their own thoughts. At the same time, Hou Yao's test paper caused a huge commotion in Hengjiantang.
…
Heng Jian Tang
The reason why the imperial examination questions in Guangdong this time are difficult has to do with the new Sihaidu Commander Lin Lihui.
Lin Lihui, as the crown prince's Shaobao and the commander of the Four Seas Command, was supposed to be stationed in Mingzhou Donghaiwei, but at this time he appeared in Guangzhou.
He also participated in the provincial examination of Guangdong Province, and he personally formulated the policy questions this time.
The original examiner of this rural examination, the editor of the Hanlin Academy assigned by the capital, was demoted to deputy examiner.
At this time, Lin Lihui was reading a copy of the "Red Paper" sent by the examiners, shaking his head slightly from time to time. Opposite him was the Deputy Examiner Chen, Editor-in-Chief of the Hanlin Academy,
In addition to the two of them, there was a woman wearing a Confucian shirt in the room, who was also reading the papers carefully.
As a woman, being able to enter the Hengjian Hall to take papers shows that her status must be extraordinary.
There were no red scrolls in the room, but none of them caught the eye. Suddenly, the woman made a surprised sound:
"Uncle, this policy question is quite good."
Lin Lihui took the red scroll handed over by the woman and looked at it:
"It's fair. This person should have a deeper understanding of the situation in the world, and a better understanding of the current situation of our Daxia Navy.
Although his intelligence is a little immature, with a little training he can still become a man of his own.
It’s a pity that with the current situation, I’m afraid I won’t be able to wait for this person to grow up.”
The woman said disappointedly:
"Then what should we do? There are not many red scrolls sent, and this is the best we have seen."
Then he asked the deputy examiner opposite:
"Editor Chen, have you found any good papers over there?"
Editor Chen stood up in a hurry and said:
"Returning to Your Highness Princess, I haven't found any good files. The questions asked by Master Lin are probably too difficult, and most of the candidates have chosen not to answer them.
All the red papers that have been answered have been sent, and there is no one that is eye-catching."
Lin Lihui waved his hand gently and said:
"Wenjun, don't make things difficult for Editor Chen. Originally, I just wanted to give it a try.
I am lucky to be able to select three passable candidates.
As for qualified staff, I can only let it happen."
Princess Wenjun is the daughter of Concubine Lin who was born when she was forty years old. She is also the youngest daughter of the current emperor.
Because she is Ji Honghe's son in his later years, and she is well-behaved and clever, she is deeply favored by him.
Ji Honghe once lamented countless times:
It's a pity that my Wenjun is not a man, otherwise he would have become a wise prince.
Ji Wenjun has studied with her uncle Lin Lihui since she was a child.
This time when Lin Lihui went south, she secretly hid in the cabin and followed him all the way.
By the time it was discovered, the ship had already reached the Yellow Sea.
Lin Lihui wanted to send her back, but he didn't know what happened to Ji Honghe.
He even said it out loud, so let her play along.
Just like that, he followed Lin Lihui.
After Lin Lihui inspected a circle of defense in the East China Sea, the results were shocking.
He discovered that the East China Sea was unknowingly penetrated by the four sea kings, making it look like a sieve.
All major aristocratic families have more or less interactions with pirates from the Sea King or other forces.
Local officials even have unclear connections.
When he arrived in the East China Sea, he recruited several batches of people into his staff.
In the end, I found out that there was no one I could trust.
In desperation, he came to Guangzhou in the name of inspecting the defense of the South China Sea, just in time to take the provincial examination.
Only then did I get the idea to recruit a group of potential staff from Guangzhou.
Let alone ability, at least there must be absolutely no problem with trust.
Ji Wenjun said helplessly after hearing Lin Lihui's words:
"Okay, then bring over the 'ink rolls' of the three papers. I want to see who they are."
Editor Chen took the order and left. Not long after, he came back with three copies of the 'ink scroll'.
Ji Wenjun opened the first copy and took a look at it. It was the same copy she gave to Lin Lihui last, with a name written on it: Yao Yingzhe.
Lin Lihui took a look, and in his opinion, among these volumes, this is the best, and Jie Yuan deserves the title.
Ji Wenjun opened the second volume, Ming Hongyuan, and then opened the third volume, Li Mingzhe.
After looking at the two ink scrolls, her little face wrinkled into a Sichuan shape, and Lin Lihui asked curiously:
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with these two ink rolls?"
Ji Wenjun shook his head:
“Recently, aren’t the outside world thinking that Hou Yao, who wrote ‘Today’s Song’ and ‘Tomorrow’s Song’, is the number one talent in Guangdong?
I thought there should be his test paper in it, but I didn’t expect that there was no test paper for him at all. Is he the number one genius? That’s bullshit.”
Lin Lihui was dumbfounded:
"That's just a rumor. How can it be accurate? Besides, being a poet doesn't necessarily mean you can manage politics, and being able to manage politics doesn't necessarily mean you can run an army.
How can a person be proficient in everything? Maybe he just writes poetry well."
Ji Wenjun said angrily:
"I don't care what kind of talent he is. He is so famous, but he can't even answer my uncle's policy questions. He is just a fool in name only.
How can I let such a person win the election? Editor Chen, go and get Hou Yao’s ‘ink scroll’. I want to destroy it.
Lest any of you fools let him get elected, he will inevitably harm the people if he becomes a political party."
Editor Chen broke into a cold sweat when he heard this. He hurriedly said yes and then ran outside to look for Hou Yao's exam papers.
You wouldn't know the result if you didn't look for it. But when you looked for it, you were shocked to find that Hou Yao's exam paper was gone.
Editor Chen was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. How could he explain this to the princess?
After searching for more than an hour, he still couldn't find it. Editor Chen thought, the princess was going to be destroyed anyway, isn't it not in line with the princess's wishes now?
So I bit the bullet and went back to report.
Lin Lihui and Ji Wenjun were shocked when they heard that Hou Yao's test paper was missing.
Ji Wenjun even got angry on the spot and said:
"You are so bold. The imperial examination is the most important thing for national selection. You actually threw away all the candidates' papers.
If you can’t find it back, you’ll all be beheaded, get out——.”
Editor Chen crawled out of Hengjiantang, went to the front yard, and told his fellow examiners about the princess's outburst.
When they heard that the princess wanted to kill their heads, everyone panicked and hurried out to investigate.
The transcriber who copied Hou Yao's examination papers became the main target of suspicion.
Under questioning, he admitted that he had illegally peeked at the name on the ink scroll and talked about it with other transcribers. He also lamented that Xie Yuan was probably none other than Hou Yao.
As for the crime of stealing files, he refused to admit it even to death.
At this time, the entire group of transcribers became a target of suspicion, and Ming Hongbo, a civil servant, was one of the transcribers.
When he heard that Hou Yao would become Jieyuan, his lungs were about to explode. How could he watch helplessly as he succeeded?
Moreover, Hou Yao handed in the paper too early, which gave him enough time to steal it.
As long as the examiners finish marking the papers and secretly put Hou Yao's papers into the pile of exam papers, they will be unaware of it.
It's just that God's calculations are not as good as those of humans. No one expected that Ji Wenjun would suddenly reveal Hou Yao's papers and expose all of his conspiracy.
With all the officials working hard to investigate, he was caught without any suspense.
At that moment, he could only honestly confess his crime and hand over Hou Yao's 'Mojuan' and 'Zhujuan'.
At this point, all the truth was revealed, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Editor Chen returned to Hengjiantang with Hou Yao’s two files:
"Go back to your Royal Highness, Lord Lin, Hou Yao's file was stolen by a copy officer named Ming Hongbo.
The two had a personal grudge before, and they risked their lives for revenge.
There was also a transcriber who illegally peeked at Hou Yao's name on the ink scroll, and both of them have been jailed.
These two copies are Hou Yao’s ‘ink scroll’ and ‘zhu scroll’.”
Ji Wenjun took the file and gave a copy to Lin Lihui:
"Uncle, let's take a look at this person's policy level first."
Lin Lihui picked up the red scroll and glanced at it. His eyes suddenly lit up, and then he read it carefully.
Hou Yao's plan is actually not complicated. The coast of Guangdong does not have the strength to resist the Sea King's army on its own anyway.
The only way is to clear the country in a remote area and use the navy's inability to attack cities to shrink the people into a fortified city for defense.
Since sea ships have large artillery, all cities that can be bombarded by sea ship artillery are abandoned. These cities cannot be defended at all.
Organize a mobile infantry force to fight the pirates. When the enemy advances, we retreat, when the enemy is stationed, we harass, when the enemy is tired, we attack, and when the enemy retreats, we pursue.
Finally, wait for reinforcements to arrive before launching the final counterattack.
Ji Wenjun looked at it and shook his head and said:
"What? Hou Yao and Yao Yingzhe have similar answers."
Lin Lihui showed a happy smile on his face and couldn't help laughing loudly:
"When the enemy advances, I retreat; when the enemy is stationed, I harass; when the enemy is tired, I attack; when the enemy retreats, I pursue them. This is not simple, not simple..."
Ji Wenjun was a little dissatisfied when he heard his uncle praising Hou Yao like this:
"Uncle, are you that exaggerated? You have said before that I am a once-in-a-century military wizard. Could he be stronger than me?
I don't see how clever his answer is. It's no different from Yao Yingzhe's."
Lin Lihui waved his hands and said with a smile:
"The most difficult part of this question is how to support the arrival of reinforcements. Yao Yingzhe and the other two are also aware of this.
But none of them have a clear defense method, but Hou Yao is different.
‘When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy is stationed, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue.’ These sixteen words indeed make it possible to defend the city.
Although the battlefield is changing rapidly, it may not be possible to really hold the position, but this is already the best way to minimize the losses of our army.
With this person in mind, this trip to Guangzhou is worth it, and Jieyuan is well-deserved."