Guo Jin put away his mind and focused on the article. In just over an hour, he finished writing the first major question of the Four Books.
He just put down the pen and moved his slightly sore wrist. He wanted to check it carefully before re-typing the article.
At this moment, in the dormitory not far next door, there was a sudden bang, as if someone dropped the pen and ink on the ground.
Before Guo Jin could react, he heard someone wailing: "Yang Yuanzhen, you are also a scholar. You also suffered from the hardship of being a poor student. Now that you are an examiner, you actually come up with questions to make things difficult for me and other junior candidates. You are really worse than a beast!" I..., I won’t take the exam, I won’t take the exam..."
There was silence in the examination alley, and all that could be heard was the heart-rending curses of the examinee.
Not long after, several sergeants who were invigilating the examination rushed forward like wolves and tigers, subdued the examinee mercilessly and dragged him out quickly.
The examinee kept howling, "Yang Yuanzhen, you are raising me as a slave, you are inhuman, you are inhuman!" It was not until his mouth was stuffed with a cloth that he gradually stopped.
"Driving another one crazy..."
A few drops of cold sweat suddenly broke out on Guo Jin's forehead full of wrinkles, and he was secretly glad in his heart. If he hadn't been lucky enough to get the guidance of Master Zhizhou, he would not be much better than this person outside.
Inside Minglun Hall.
Yang Yuanzhen, the examiner of this provincial examination, was drinking tea and chatting with several examiners around him.
Hearing the commotion outside, Yang Yuanzhen frowned slightly, put down his tea cup, and called the clerk at the door to inquire about the situation.
When he heard what happened, Yang Yuanzhen's old face suddenly dropped.
"It's so audacious for such a candidate to dare to slander the president!" The fellow examiners sitting in the hall all had strange expressions on their faces and subconsciously cursed a few words.
Yang Yuanzhen did not show any anger, but said calmly: "When I was an examinee, I was young and frivolous, and I had many slanders against the examiner. Now that I am an examiner, I understand the difficulty. No matter what, no matter what, I Officials serve the country by promoting their talents, and they only want to have a clear conscience, so what does it matter if they receive some infamy?"
All the fellow examiners were slightly startled when they heard this, and then they couldn't help but admire secretly in their hearts.
The president is worthy of being a president!
Being scolded by a candidate for no reason was originally a shameful thing, but after his words, it actually became a good thing worth publicizing!
When Yang Yuanzhen's words came out today, who wouldn't praise him for being so open-minded and loyal to the country?
I think that after the emperor heard about this, he would also remember it in his heart and praise it!
At this time, a clever fellow examiner rolled his eyes and stepped forward to ask: "President, this person disrupted the examination room. Do you want to expel him from the exam as a punishment?"
Yang Yuanzhen glanced at the fellow examiner approvingly, then waved his hand and said, "No need. It's not easy to live in a cold window for ten years. Expelling him from the examination room, punishing him with both small and large punishments, and tempering his temper are all ”
All the examiners were impressed and took this opportunity to praise him: "The president is very magnanimous and extraordinary."
Seeing this scene, Yang Yuanzhen held his short beard under his chin reservedly, feeling quite proud of himself.
Hosting the provincial examination this time, I thought it would be great to accept a group of promising disciples, but I didn't expect such an unexpected surprise, which allowed me to take advantage of the situation to spread a reputation.
It’s really a worthwhile trip!
However, Yang Yuanzhen himself feels that the test questions this time are indeed a bit difficult. It is very difficult for ordinary candidates to write a qualified essay based on these. When it comes to marking, the standards can be slightly relaxed accordingly. .
…
After nine days and six nights of mental and physical suffering, the candidates finally experienced temporary liberation. They left the Gongyuan and prepared to go back and take a good nap to eliminate the fatigue.
The submitted papers were transcribed and sealed and sent to the Zigong Hall. The examiner Yang Yuanzhen led all the fellow examiners to start grading the papers.
Yang Yuanzhen was in a happy mood.
In his opinion, given the difficulty of the Henan Township Examination questions, not many candidates could write qualified articles.
After all, the competition in the provincial examinations in Henan has not been fierce. The degree of involution is far less than that of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, which are major scientific examination provinces in the south. The level of candidates is naturally much worse.
Therefore, Yang Yuanzhen had already told his fellow examiners to slightly relax the admission criteria. As long as the articles were acceptable, they could be sent to him for review.
However, as he read the paper, Yang Yuanzhen became more and more shocked.
The overall level of the following articles sent by the examiners is indeed as Yang Yuanzhen expected, but not satisfactory.
However, the number of eye-catching works was twice as many as Yang Yuanzhen expected.
There were even articles written by several candidates. They were profound in theory, powerful in style, pristine in words, elegant in style, and so wonderful that Yang Yuanzhen couldn't help but praise them.
Logically speaking, candidates who can write such articles should not be unknown, but Yang Yuanzhen thought hard and found it difficult to find a counterpart among the famous talents in the province.
It's just one or two dark horses. So many dark horses suddenly appeared, which made Yang Yuanzhen a little confused for a while.
However, after all, the provincial examination is held every three years, and a certain class of candidates experienced a big explosion. This kind of thing has happened in the past, so although Yang Yuanzhen was surprised, he did not take it too seriously.
However, when the 120 admission papers were selected, the seals were opened, and the roll call came to fill in the list, Yang Yuanzhen finally could no longer be calm.
The reason is very simple. The frequency of a certain place is too high, so high that it is abnormal, and people have to have some terrible associations.
"Mi County of Yuzhou, Xinzheng County of Yuzhou, Mi County of Yuzhou again... If I remember correctly, this is already the sixteenth Yuzhou candidate to pass the examination, right?"
"Kaifeng Prefecture is an important place in the capital, where the essence of the Great Zhou Dynasty is located. Not only does it have a population of more than one million, but there are also many celebrities and scholars gathered there. Even so, only twenty-one people were selected. Yuzhou is a small place, and culture and education have never been prosperous, and Where did so many talents come from?”
"And this Guo Jin, whom I have never heard of before, actually defeated thousands of talented people from nine prefectures and four states to win the title of Xie Yuan?"
"What a weird thing!"
"Could it be that... the questions were leaked before the exam?"
The examiners below became more and more frightened as they listened. They couldn't help but look at each other, and then they all looked at Yang Yuanzhen, the chief examiner of the provincial examination who was sitting at the top.
Yang Yuanzhen was already trembling with fear at this time, and the hairs all over his body stood on end. Yun Danfengqing, who had previously responded to the emergency in the examination room, had already left Jiuxiaoyunwai.
Imperial examination fraud!
In any dynasty or generation, it would be a shocking news that would attract worldwide attention, and it would have to be reviewed by the minister of Dali Temple, the Minister of Criminal Affairs, and the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
If he was found guilty of leaking questions during the scientific examination, even if there was no precedent for killing scholar-bureaucrats in this dynasty, Yang Yuanzhen's position would be over, and he would never have a chance to turn around again.
Boundless fear suddenly overwhelmed Yang Yuanzhen's heart. Suddenly, his vision went dark and he fainted on the spot.
