Chapter 395 Songping Dingxin: Whose test paper is this? [6000 words]
The door of each compartment is open, so that the officers patrolling outside the door can watch the movements and scenes in the room and check whether anyone is cheating.
After taking several deep breaths and talking to himself in his heart to cheer himself up, Takigawa's heart, which had become a little flustered by the sudden accident, gradually returned to calm.
The return to calm emotions also made Takigawa's thinking become more agile again.
The thoughts that were originally like a messy ball of wool were sorted out one by one.
After his thoughts were sorted out, the experience of studying under his master, Xiangsheng Chunshui, a sinologist, turned into a series of images that flashed through his mind one by one.
Later, Takigawa was surprised to find that his master Xiangsheng Shunsui once emphasized the sentence "Know that you can't do something, but do it."
Takigawa remembered that it must have been a year ago. Aioi Shunsui spent nearly half an hour in a certain class explaining this sentence to all the disciples, including Takigawa.
He also cited many allusions to help everyone understand this sentence.
His master, Xiangsheng Chunshui, admired Confucius the most, and therefore he also admired the Analects of Confucius, which is a collection of the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples.
Because he admired the Analects of Confucius the most, Xiang Sheng Chun Shui studied the Analects the most deeply.
When explaining the contents of The Analects of Confucius, Xiangsheng Chunshui will also be extra attentive.
And Takigawa still remembers nearly 90% of what Aioi Shunsui said at that time.
Takichuan couldn't help but chuckle.
I am glad that I am a disciple of Shunsui Sagara.
Fortunately, I still remember the main content of what Sagara Shunsui said when explaining this sentence.
Takigawa carefully recalled how Sagara Shunsui explained this sentence at that time, and organized the language at the same time.
After finishing typing the draft, Takigawa picked up the pen again, filled the pen tip with ink, bent down, and began to write word by word on the test paper.
After holding the tube and writing, Takichuan felt as if he had been helped by gods and ghosts, and his thoughts were flowing.
The whole person entered a state of selflessness, and even the footsteps of the patrolling officers who were constantly pacing back and forth in the corridor could not be heard.
Takigawa's whole body and mind were focused on answering.
After writing the last word, Takigawa's body and mind slowly came out of the exam paper.
After quickly putting down the pen in his hand, Takigawa immediately read the article he had just written eagerly.
The more I read, the more surprised I am.
Takigawa thinks this is the best article he has ever written in his life.
After reading it once, Takigawa even couldn't help but have the illusion of "Is this really written by me?"
After reading it carefully several times, Takigawa finally put down the examination paper in his hand with satisfaction.
Takigawa now felt that his self-confidence was almost overflowing from his chest.
This article of his will surely make the reviewers praise it - Takigawa is fully confident in this.
Takigawa felt that after seeing him, he won the first place in the literary test, and then successfully let the old Naka Matsudaira Sadanobu know about his status.
When he thought that he was very likely to fall into the eyes of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Takigawa couldn't help but imagine how he would display his talents under the promotion and training of Matsudaira Sadanobu once he gained the appreciation of Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Takigawa had already begun to imagine how he would revitalize the shogunate and govern the country after he was recognized and promoted by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
He wanted to first put forward to Matsudaira Sadanobu the various propositions he had painstakingly formulated before, such as "vigorously revitalizing the samurai clan discipline" and "capture Ogata Ittosai at all costs and behead him in public".
Through the method of "revitalizing the samurai family discipline", we will clean up the corrupt and degenerate lifestyle of the samurai.
Takigawa firmly believed that as long as he adhered to his set of political ideas of "vigorously revitalizing samurai clan discipline" and "severely punishing bandits who violate bushido", the country's situation would be righted in one fell swoop within a few years.
This country, which was devastated by the great famine of Tenmei three years ago, will regain its strength under his governance, allowing the shogunate to regain the unparalleled strength it had when Lord Ieyasu was alive.
And he will be remembered as a generation of famous ministers like Niwa Nagahide and Maeda Genyō, and will be admired by hundreds of millions of people in future generations.
Takigawa was just immersed in his ambitious fantasy.
Because he was too immersed in fantasy, a disgusting smile appeared on Takigawa's face...
——Hurry up and it’s time to hand in the paper!
Takigawa couldn't wait to hand in the paper now.
Takigawa, who was quite confident in his answer sheet, felt that he could vaguely see the examiner being shocked after seeing his examination paper, and then hurriedly seeing whose examination paper it was.
…
…
Ogata held the pen with the ink almost dry and stared at the examination paper on the desk in front of him.
The scene of sacrificing his life to assassinate Gennai Matsudaira a year ago, and the scene of conquering the shogunate alone three months ago, played back and forth in Ogata's mind.
This forced Ogata to repeatedly relive the two craziest things he had done so far.
"Knowing that you can't do something but doing it" - this sentence can be regarded as one of the most famous sentences in "The Analects of Confucius".
There have always been different interpretations.
One of the most widely circulated and accepted interpretations is that it does not mean that you know you can't do it but you have to do it, but you don't ask whether you can do it, but you ask whether you should do it. No matter what the result is, you ask for a clear conscience.
——My decision to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai, the elder of the Kurunaga family, and Ichiro... should be regarded as "doing something knowing that it is impossible to do"...
While Ogata expressed this brief emotion in his heart, he unconsciously showed a faint smile on his face.
Ogata is not an idiot.
As a person involved, he knew better than anyone at that time how difficult it was to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai.
If the assassination fails, you will die.
Even if the assassination is successful, he will be charged with "killing the lord" and live a life of being wanted and hunted by the shogunate.
Whether the assassination is successful or the assassination fails, it is not a good result.
However, knowing that the assassination was extremely difficult and that no matter whether he succeeded or failed, there would be no good results, Ogata still decided to abandon everything, including his life, and wield his sword against Matsudaira Gennai.
Ogata believed that the elders of the Kurunaga family, Ichiro and the others must have been in the same state of mind as him at that time: facing the known tragedy, they still moved forward unfailingly.
Ogata's mood when he attacked Nijo Castle three months ago was very similar to his mood when he decided to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai a year ago.
Even though he knew that this move would completely offend the shogunate and Shiranui, he still had no hesitation.
While Ogata carefully recalled his state of mind when he made up his mind to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai and attack Nijo Castle, he dipped his pen in ink and slowly started writing on the examination paper...
Ogata integrated his feelings and determination at that time into the ink at the tip of his pen, turning them into words...
…
…
When the sun rose to its highest point, the government officials sounded the gong on time to inform everyone that the time was up.
Ogata also played an extreme operation - when the gong used to inform everyone that time was ringing, Ogata just finished writing the last word.
After handing the examination paper to the officer who entered the room to collect the papers, Ogata let out a sigh of relief.
"It's more tiring than imagined..."
Then he smiled bitterly and sighed in a low voice.
It had been a long time since Ogata had concentrated his whole body and mind like this and bent over to do the paper. Ogata was not used to it. After answering the paper, he felt a little dizzy.
After kneading his right hand, which was a little sore from writing for a long time, Ogata took back the knife placed at his side, quickly left the teahouse where he was, and returned to the place where he, Omachi, and the Calabashya group lived.
Inside the hotel.
As soon as he returned to the hotel room, Oubon was immediately surrounded by Atachi and others, asking how he did in the literary test.
"It's not bad." Ogata replied, "I can answer most of the questions. There are only a few questions where I don't know whether they are right or wrong."
"What's more difficult is that there were some surprises in this essay test..."
Ogata informed everyone in a concise and concise manner about the unexpected incident that there was an extra question on the examination paper.
After leaving the teahouse, Ogata paid attention to the conversations of people around him.
So Ogata discovered that everyone was very surprised that there was an extra question on the exam paper.
After most people left the teahouse, they were discussing with their friends why the number and types of questions on the test paper were different from what the government had said before, or sharing with their friends how they answered the "essay question."
of.
"I basically just acted casually on that question." Ogata, who was sitting cross-legged on the tatami, said in a half-joking tone, "I don't know if my answer like that is considered a pass. I don't know if that question is important...
…”
"If only those who answer that question well can pass the literary test, then we will be in big trouble..."
"Well, be more confident, Ogata-kun." Genichi, who was sitting in the corner of the room like a loser as always, laughed while drinking, "This kind of thing has to do with writing articles.
The question depends entirely on whether the examiner agrees with what you have written."
"Perhaps the guy who graded the paper particularly liked your answer and decided to give you the top spot in the essay test."
"I don't dare to think about getting first place in the literary test or something like that." Ogata said angrily, "I never thought about getting first place in the literary test from the beginning. My goal from the beginning was just '
Just passed the literary test successfully."
"Hehehe." Genichi let out a weird chuckle, "Ogata-kun, do you know what is the most profound truth I have learned after living for so many years?"
"That is - the things that happen in life are always more exaggerated and unreasonable than the stories told by storytellers."
"So it's not impossible that your article happens to suit the reviewer's taste, and then the reviewer decides to award you the top spot in the essay test."
After saying that, Yuan Yi poured a large sip of wine into his mouth again, and then let out a big wine burp.
Looking at Genichi who was drinking wine leisurely, Ogata couldn't help but complain in his heart:
——Speaking of which... I always feel like Mr. Gendai has done nothing since he came to Edo. He just sits in the corner of the room drinking wine every day...
…
…
That night——
Edo, Matsudaira Sadanobu's residence, Matsudaira Sadanobu's room——
"Lord, this is the final exam paper."
Tachibana, the nickname of Matsudaira Sadanobu, placed a large stack of examination papers on the tatami in front of him.
"Yes." Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting not far in front of Tachibana, nodded gently, "Tachibana, thank you for your hard work."
There were stacks of examination papers placed on the tatami between Matsudaira Sadanobu and Tachibana.
These test papers are all test papers for the participants who participated in the "Imperial Examination" this morning.
After all the examination papers were collected, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately sent people to start grading the papers.
Matsudaira Sadanobu sent a total of 10 people to mark these papers.
The scope of corrections by these 10 people is limited to the first 100 fill-in-the-blank questions, and the following "composition questions" are not graded by them.
Because these "fill-in-the-blank questions" are very easy to correct, and the 10 correctors carefully selected by Matsudaira Sadanobu are all people who are proficient in Sinology.
So it only took one afternoon for these 10 examiners to digest all the test papers.
And these examination papers, which had been corrected with fill-in-the-blank questions, were all sent to Matsudaira Sadanobu's residence tonight.
The reason why those 10 examiners only evaluated the fill-in-the-blank question and not the subsequent "composition question" was because Matsudaira Sadanobu specifically requested that he should correct the last question in the examination paper himself.
Matsudaira Sadanobu crossed his arms over his chest, glanced over the pile of examination papers in front of him, and with a look of obvious disappointment on his face, said softly:
"The number of people participating in the 'Imperial Trial' is much less than expected..."
According to official statistics, the total number of people who participated in the "Imperial Trial" was only 538.
There were only 508 people present for the literary test this morning, and 30 people were absent.
In other words, the total number of people who actually came to participate in the "Imperial Trial Match" was only a little over 500.
Much less than Matsudaira Sadanobu expected.
When he heard that a large number of people from all over the world were pouring into Edo, Matsudaira Sadanobu was very excited, thinking that many people would come to participate in this "imperial trial".
But who would have known - until the registration deadline, the total number of people who signed up to participate in the "Imperial Trial Match" was only a little over 500 people...
After seeing the disappointment on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face, Tachibana hurriedly explained:
"The reason why many people go to Edo is simply to see the excitement of the 'Gozen Trial Match', not to participate in the 'Gozen Trial Match'."
“There are also some people who originally wanted to participate in the ‘Imperial Trials’, but found that in addition to martial arts competitions, the ‘Imperial Trials’ also required literary competitions, so they gave up.”
"There are also some people who give up participating in the 'Imperial Trial' for other reasons."
As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu let out a sigh of relief.
"Anyway, although the quantity is much less than expected, it is not unacceptable."
"I hope more people can successfully pass the literary test."
After saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu placed the table beside him in front of him, and then laid out the pens, ink, and inkstones he had prepared early in the morning on the table.
Tachibana, who was kneeling on one knee in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu who was fiddling with the desk, smiled bitterly, and asked softly:
"Sir, Lao Zhong... do you really want to go through these examination papers one by one?"
Having said that, Tachibana couldn't help but glance at the pile of examination papers in front of him.
There are 508 people participating in the "Imperial Examination", which means there are 508 examination papers in total.
Matsudaira Sadanobu planned to personally correct the last question of these 508 examination papers... Tachibana felt his scalp numb just by imagining the workload.
Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled slightly until he found out what Tachibana was worried about:
"For me, who has directed countless political affairs, this is just a trivial matter."
"And I can read very quickly."
"It only takes me a day or more to read and correct this amount."
When he finished saying this, Matsudaira Sadanobu had just arranged the table and all the objects on the table.
"Laozhong-sama, you may not know that many people who participated in the 'Gozen Examination' today complained about why the questions in the literary test paper are different from what the government said before." Tachibana then put on a wry smile and said
said.
As for Matsudaira Sadanobu - after hearing Tachibana's words, he chuckled a few times:
"It seems that we have done a good job in keeping secrets. No one knows that there is such a question at the end of the exam paper."
"...Sir Lao Zhong, I still don't understand."
Tachibana's voice suddenly became much deeper.
"Why did you suddenly add this extra question to the exam paper? Why did you keep it strictly confidential, not letting everyone know about the existence of such a question before the literary test started, and why did you have to personally correct this question?"
Tachibana is the nickname of Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Generally speaking, everyone will only choose their close relatives as their nickname.
Matsudaira Sadanobu was no exception, and Tachibana was one of his cronies.
As a close confidant of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tachibana naturally knew a lot of inside information.
For example - the literary test paper did only have 100 fill-in-the-blank questions at the beginning, and there was no "composition question".
Korematsudaira Sadanobu suddenly ordered that more questions be added and required strict confidentiality. No outsiders were allowed to know that there were other questions in the exam paper besides fill-in-the-blank questions.
After silently listening to the series of questions raised by Tachibana, Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a calm tone:
"If everyone knows in advance that there are questions of this type, then everyone will prepare in advance."
"This way, I won't be able to achieve what I want."
"As for why we need to add more questions and answer them personally..."
After Matsudaira Sadanobu was silent for a short while, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted up, revealing a faint smile.
"There are many reasons."
"The main reason... is probably just to see if there are any like-minded people."
After saying something that made Tachibana feel confused, Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand at him.
"Okay, please step back first. I'm going to start grading papers, so don't disturb me."
Tachibana also wanted to ask Matsudaira Sadanobu what he meant by what he said just now.
But seeing that Matsudaira Sadanobu had already begun to evict people tactfully, it was not convenient for Tachibana to say anything. He could only quickly say "yes" loudly and quickly exited Matsudaira Sadanobu's room.
After Tachibana exited the room, Matsudaira Sadanobu moved the pile of examination papers closest to him to his side, and then spread the examination papers above one by one on the desk in front of him.
What Matsudaira Sadanobu said to Tachibana just now, "I can read words very quickly" was not bragging.
Since he was a child, he has never let go of the scroll, so he has unknowingly developed the ability to accurately read the main content of an article even if he glances ten lines at a time.
Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly looked at them one after another.
The movements of his hands were fast, but the expression on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face never changed much.
Just looking at the exam papers one after another with an expressionless expression.
The moon outside the window keeps changing its position as time goes by.
The oil lamps in the room were also replaced once.
The expression on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face finally showed some changes.
But - it's a bad change.
His originally expressionless face now frowned slightly.
There was also a faint look of displeasure on his face.
"One or two...they are all just following the script..."
After reading another exam paper and placing it on top of the "hill" of already-read exam papers, Matsudaira Sadaira said this in an impatient tone.
Matsudaira Sadanobu rubbed his already sore eyes.
Because he was focused on grading, Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know how much time had passed since Jirachika left.
I just instinctively felt that it should be late at night now, and it was already getting late.
Matsudaira Sadanobu opened his eyes that were still a little sore, glanced at the "hill" piled up with the exam papers he had read next to him, and thought to himself:
——Have you read more than 50 exam papers...
In terms of results, tonight's results were quite fruitful.
After hesitating for a while between the two options of "go to bed" and "correct the papers for a while", Matsudaira Sadanobu chose the latter.
After rubbing his eyes for a while, Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that his sore eyes felt better after tears started to form in them.
After regaining his energy, Matsudaira Sadanobu took another exam paper from the side that he had not read yet.
Compared with all the previous exam papers, this exam paper does not have much that is noteworthy.
The handwriting can only be considered neat, not pretty, and you can tell at a glance that he is the kind of person who has never practiced calligraphy.
Judging from the choice of words and sentences, the person who wrote this examination paper is not very talented.
Matsudaira Nobunobu originally had the mentality of "It should be another boring test paper."
However... after his eyes quickly passed through the lines of words in this picture, Matsudaira Sadanobu's originally calm expression gradually began to change.
More and more emotions began to appear on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.
After reading at the speed of ten lines at a glance, Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly redirected his gaze back to the beginning of the article and started reading again.
This time, Matsudaira Sadanobu read it very carefully.
It's almost like reading it word by word.
After spending many times more time than the first time to read the articles on this examination paper, Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly turned back to the first page of the examination paper to see who the owner of this examination paper was.
In order to make it easier to identify who each exam paper belongs to, the name of the owner is written on the first page of each exam paper.
After quickly returning to the first page of the examination paper, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately impatiently looked at the name written on the examination paper.
"Mashima...Goro..."
Then he whispered the name in a low voice.
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It’s a new month again.
The author hereby wishes everyone good luck in the new month~~