Zhao Zhen was not surprised that Ouyang Xiuhui recommended Wang Anshi, because the former once gave a poem to praise him: "Three thousand poems about the romance of the Imperial Academy, two hundred years of articles for the official department. When I grow old, my self-pity is still there, who will compete with my son in the future."
In the eyes of the officials, Wang Anshi is indeed a good candidate. This man is a man of arrogance and has a hard time with his eyes. This can be seen from his performance in the Qun Mu Division. In addition, he has a reputation as a saint, so there is no need to worry about not being famous enough.
.And two of the four deputy examiners, Wang Gui and Han Jiang, are in the same year as him, so it is easier for them to be recognized.
After weighing it, Zhao Zhen asked someone to pass it on to him.
Wang Anshi was almost captured from the Qunmu Division. Soldiers from the Imperial City Division rushed in and without any explanation, stuffed him into a sedan. What kind of law did he think he had violated?
He was carried into the palace in a daze and met Zhao Zhen, an official of the Song Dynasty, and Ouyang Xiu beside him.
Wang Anshi, who still hadn't figured out the situation, hurriedly saluted the officials.
"Let's settle down." Zhao Zhen's opinion of Wang Anshi is actually uncertain. At that time, the imperial examination officials were very unhappy because of the phrase "a boy has his friends" in his poems. In addition, he did not like Wang Anshi's cold and steep writing style.
So he was pushed to fourth.
But this is only an official statement. In fact, there is another reason why Wang Anshi was defeated by outsiders - Yang Guo, who originally ranked fourth in the exam, was valued by Empress Cao and wanted to call him her niece's son-in-law, so Wang Anshi fell out with him.
Everyone. But Wang Anshi never made an issue about it afterwards, which saved a lot of face for the royal family. On the contrary, it made Zhao Zhen a little embarrassed.
Later, the ministers praised Wang Anshi, which greatly changed Zhao Zhen's impression of Wang Anshi, who had always been soft-eared. That's why he was asked to come to Beijing for interviews several times.
Later, Wang Anshi finally came, and Zhao Zhen was very disappointed... The ministers that the officials came into contact with on a daily basis were all well-dressed and elegant scholar-bureaucrats. He had never seen such a slovenly and unkempt official. So Zhao Zhen did not press the button.
The plan was for him to be a literary aide, but instead he was asked to work as the second-in-command of the Group Animal Husbandry Department.
But all in all, Zhao Zhen still trusts him. This person's character can only be learned. Now that the situation is urgent and there is no better candidate, we can only use him by pinching our noses.
This is the advantage of the official system of the Song Dynasty. Officials and positions are separated, and the position is just a dispatch. Even if Wang Anshi is not senior enough, Zhao Zhen can make an exception.
After telling him the temporary decision, Zhao Zhen saw that Wang Anshi was only surprised for a moment, then calmed down and said: "I obey the decree..."
On the other hand, the officials suppressed all the prepared remarks and almost suffered internal injuries... Zhao Zhen originally thought that this guy would push back and obstruct him like before.
"Jiefu, the reason why I used you in an unusual way is because no one is willing to take on this difficult job." Ouyang Xiu said again: "We must take discipline seriously, make the imperial examination go smoothly, and select good talents for the country. The burden is beyond our reach.
It’s a matter of imagination, you’d better think about it before you take it!”
"If the official family and Academician Ouyang think that the lower official should take over, the lower official will take over the job." Wang Anshi said calmly.
"Haha..." Zhao Zhen laughed and said, "Of course I will use you."
"Jiefu, please." Ouyang Xiu couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, looking at Wang Anshi with expectations in his eyes: "We must protect the imperial court's talent promotion ceremony!"
"We will live up to our trust!" Wang Anshi said sternly, cupping his fists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The examiners and the examiners waited and waited in Taixue... They only waited for less than an hour before the new chief examiner Wang Anshi arrived.
After receiving the imperial edict appointing him as the new chief examiner, the deputy chief examiners had no objections. This was because Wang Gui and Han Jiang were originally from the same year as him. Originally, the three of them were the top scholar in the third year of Qingli, Wang Anshi.
Wang Gui came second, Han Jiang came third, and later Wang Anshi fell to fourth. Both of them felt embarrassed. They kept telling people that Wang Jiefu was actually better than us in talent.
In fact, Wang Anshi's fame was inseparable from the praise of these two brothers. Now that he has finally returned to his level, Wang and Han feel as if their long-standing problems have been solved, and they are not unhappy at all.
Mei Zhi and Fan Zhen are also kind-hearted gentlemen. Although they are far more senior than Wang Anshi, they have no ideas to express... What's more, this is not a throne, but a crater. If they were asked to sit, they wouldn't sit down.
.
After the eunuch delivering the imperial edict handed over the imperial edict to Wang Anshi, he went out with his entourage, and the Imperial College locked the door again. In addition to Wang Anshi, there were a thousand more Imperial City soldiers in the examination room. They will replace the original imperial army and serve as the prison.
Soldier, this is an unprecedented first time.
"Everyone." Wang Anshi raised his fist and said to everyone: "It's already late, it's not early, let's talk about it later, let's get down to business first."
"It all depends on the examiner." The examiners clasped their fists and returned the greeting.
"When I came, the official asked me to ensure that the examination was fair and just, so I put other things aside for now." Wang Anshi looked at the candidates who had been waiting impatiently and said, "For a while, I have to leave the official.
I can’t think of a better way, so I have to search them one by one!”
"Isn't this... afraid of being polite?" Wang Gui disagreed.
"Yu Yu has a better way?"
"It's better to take a shower again."
"That would be too troublesome. Besides taking bath twice a day, the candidates will also get sick." Wang Anshi said flatly: "Let me make it clear to everyone that the body search is to give them fairness, and most people will agree." Seeing the insistence of the examiner, everyone did not agree.
What did you say?
Wang Anshi announced three decisions to the candidates: first, to re-search the candidates; second, to extend the examination time by half a day; and third, if there are any threats, throw them away now and pass the examination without any further investigation.
Although the candidates had a lot of slander, the conditions given by Wang Anshi left people speechless, so they started queuing up and prepared to take the examination again.
Wang Anshi also arranged the search requirements to the commander of the Royal City Imperial Army: "When the candidates enter the venue, your soldiers will line up in two lines and conduct a strict search on the candidates. The candidates must not only take off their shoes and socks, but also untie their hair.
, you also need to untie all clothes, including underwear and panties, and wait for inspection."
"During the search, two soldiers will conduct a strict and careful inspection of the candidates' clothes and examination-related supplies. In order to strengthen their sense of responsibility, these soldiers supervise each other. If the second search soldier finds that there are candidates
If someone carries fraud, the first soldier to check will be punished."
"In order to improve the enthusiasm of the soldiers in the search // the fastest text update - < Shuhai Pavilion > - no advertising // any cheater found in the search will receive a reward of 5,000 yuan. If after entering, he will be punished by the court
If the personnel who invigilate the exam find out the entrained materials, in addition to punishing the candidates, the soldiers and officials responsible for the inspection will also be punished accordingly..."
Such harsh conditions caused an uproar as soon as they were announced. The candidates who had agreed to be searched started making noises because they did not agree to be treated like beggars and prisoners.
"Stop the search once it gets dark and wait until tomorrow to continue." Wang Anshi was unmoved and said: "It is your own time to waste."
Seeing that the candidates were still motionless, he ordered again: "Anyone who refuses to obey the inspection will be disqualified from taking the exam. How many people are admitted will be tested." After a pause, he said: "The number of admissions remains unchanged..."
This sentence made the candidates unsteady. Besides, without the people from the Jiayou Academy taking the lead, they became distraught. When they saw someone starting to line up, they followed suit quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Wang Anshi's attention, this search was extremely strict. Just after verifying the identity, more than 20 gunmen were found... One of the more outrageous ones, the test card said that he was forty-seven years old, but the gunman was under 10 years old.
A weak man, in order to hide his age, he bought a fake beard and put it on his mouth, which looked very funny. Just like this, he was still allowed to muddle through, which shows that the previous searches were all fake and strict.
But to be honest, he was a bit too strict. Under his requirements, candidates must loosen their tangled hair, untie all their clothes, and have their ears and noses cleaned to prevent candidates from stuffing notes in their ears and noses.
And so on. Many candidates found this inspection method unacceptable, and they protested one after another. But in Wang Anshi's case, the protests were all ineffective.
However, the effect of this is also very impressive. More than a hundred candidates were found to have been entrained... This is just arrogant. Look at the cheat sheets and notebooks that were thrown all over the square. It can be seen that before
To what extent is the examination system useless?
When you know there will be no punishment for committing a foul, more people will commit it, which is why cheating in exams is so rampant today.
Facts speak louder than words, and the mood of the candidates changed quietly. Although they felt uncomfortable being touched here and there, they suddenly felt that it was not so unacceptable after they thought that they could rely on their strength to speak.
Before dark, all the candidates entered the venue. Before they entered, the soldiers of the Imperial City Department had searched the examination room inch by inch and found many cheat sheets hidden inside.
This imperial examination can be called "the cleanest examination" by later generations, which is entirely due to the persistent character of the examiner.
After arranging the night shift and route, Wang Anshi turned his attention to the last problem. He looked at Chen Ke and said, "Have you finished writing silently?"
In order to prove his innocence, Chen Ke was asked to silently write out the entire "Complete Commentary on the Five Classics" in the Zigong Hall under the supervision of two examiners.
From afternoon to now, he has written more than 20,000 words. But he is still far, far away from the goal of 100,000 words.
Taking what he had written, a thick pile of words, the examiner couldn't help but plead for Chen Ke: "With so many words, it's like running water, without any mistakes. The lower official can vouch for him, he must be
It’s unjust.”
"How could I not know that he was unjustly accused?" Wang Anshi looked at the darkening sky and said calmly: "But he must be punished for causing such a big trouble." After a pause, he said: "When will the silent writing be completed, and when will we let him go?
Go take the exam..."
"At least give him a few candles." The examiners begged.
For the sake of good health, the next update will be posted tomorrow morning. Don’t worry if I don’t work hard, I won’t, I will just make some adjustments and try my best. I guarantee that you can see the new chapter before 10 o’clock in the morning. (To be continued)