Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 195 Clashes During the Grading Process
When the exam ended on the ninth day, even Haiyue, who had finished answering the questions early, felt a great sense of relief. She quickly packed up her writing materials, pots and pans, and carried her large exam basket out the door.

Along the way, everyone quietly merged into the crowd and walked outwards.

After all, he was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. Apart from treating everyone equally when it came to smuggling and smuggling, he still had basic manners. He wasn't insane, but he couldn't help but have empty eyes, a blank expression, and an unpleasant odor.

Boiling water and starting a fire are permitted, but taking a bath and changing clothes is absolutely out of the question.

Thankfully it's early spring; if it were summer, I don't know how awful it would smell.

Haiyue was looking forward to going back to take a bath, but after leaving the examination hall, he waited for the other members of the Yixin Society to come out.

The second person to appear was Su Zhigao. He walked briskly and excitedly over to Haiyue. Judging from the joy in his eyes, he had clearly performed quite well in the imperial examination.

Haiyue was happy for him too. They had just exchanged a few words about their insights on the topic when they saw Lin Daqin and Hai Rui together. The former was a little unsteady on his feet and had to be supported by Hai Rui to walk out.

"Respect husband!"

Haiyue quickly stepped forward to take it, reached out to touch his forehead, and frowned, saying, "Oh no! He has a high fever. We must take him back to see a doctor and get him medicine! The carriage is over there!"

To be honest, this person's health is a bit weak. It would be difficult for them to withstand nine consecutive days of exams. It would be better if they developed a fever after the exams, but if they felt unwell in the middle, it would definitely affect their ranking, which is quite a pity.

Based on Haiyue's assessment of this enhanced version of Lin Daqin, it's entirely possible for him to achieve a triple crown under normal circumstances, but now it seems a bit uncertain...

In comparison, Hai Rui's academic performance was far from top-notch, but he remained calm and composed. At this moment, he showed neither the excitement of Su Zhigao nor the weakness of Lin Daqin; his complexion was perfectly normal.

Seeing this, Haiyue knew her younger brother was safe, so she peeked into the examination hall again.

What about Yan Shifan?

According to the location of the examination room, he should have come out first, right?

"Cough cough! Cough cough!"

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, the number of people coming out decreased significantly, and finally, a few scattered people walked out. Accompanied by coughing, Yan Shifan's figure finally appeared.

"Ahei! Ahei! Ahei!"

Upon reaching them, he sneezed three times in a row, unsurprisingly drawing concern from the others: "Donglou, are you alright?"

Haiyue noticed his rosy complexion and the way his eyes were darting around, and knew what was going on: "Donglou has also caught a cold. Get in the car quickly and go to the doctor with Jingfu!"

"oops!"

Yan Shifan raised his voice: "Jingfu is sick too! This imperial examination is really tough, it's all because of illness, I feel like I didn't perform well..."

"Qing'er! Qing'er!"

As they were talking, Madam Ouyang walked over, and her expression changed immediately upon hearing her son's words: "Are you sick?"

Yan Shifan hurriedly said, "Mother, I have a headache, I didn't do well on the exam..."

"It's alright, it's alright. Come back with me quickly to see a doctor. Your health is the most important thing!"

Madam Ouyang quickly took his hand, said a few words of concern to Haiyue and her group, and left with her son.

Not to mention that the candidates outside the examination hall dispersed to go back and recuperate, inside the examination hall, the guards collected the answer sheets from each examination cell, quickly packed the ink-stained scrolls into sealed paper bags, and sent them to the copying office.

The scribes used red ink to copy the answers onto the red scrolls. After a specialist checked them against the scrolls to ensure they were correct, the red scrolls were sealed and sent to the collection office. The candidates' answers on the ink scrolls were kept by the outer curtain official, while the copied red scrolls were sent to the inner curtain official for formal review.

The grading process does not begin now. The imperial examination is divided into three sessions, one every three days. The answer sheets from the first two sessions have already been processed in this way and sent to the examiners behind the inner curtain.

The first batch of papers had been reviewed, and a small portion of the second batch had also been reviewed.

After all, the number of examiners for the imperial examination was indeed quite large.

The chief examiners for the imperial examination usually consist of two to four people, referred to as the "chief examiners." Two examiners would be one chief examiner and one deputy examiner, with a maximum of one chief examiner and three deputy examiners.

All of them were Grand Secretaries who had passed the imperial examinations, ranging from Ministers to Vice Censors-in-Chief, nominated by the Ministry of Rites and specially appointed by the Emperor.

There are also eight to sixteen co-examiners. The chief examiner and three co-examiners must be Hanlin officials, while the remaining co-examiners can be hired from among the instructors.

There were also eighteen eunuchs who, to some extent, served as examiners, and there were also deputies in the room, etc.

Therefore, with more than 3,000 answer sheets submitted in three batches, the workload for grading was relatively light compared to other imperial examinations.

Some of the quickest ones could even secure a preliminary ranking by the time the exam was over on the same day.

The chief examiner for this year's imperial examination is Grand Secretary Zhang Yuyang, and the deputy chief examiner is Huang Wan, the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

The two first looked at their respective answer sheets, revealing their full admiration: "The ink flows like waves, directly capturing the grandeur of the Su family. The research is meticulous and the writing is vigorous and strong. When reading it, one can see dragons leaping and soaring, full of vitality, and the whole page comes alive! It is truly a fine piece of writing! Among all the scholars, this one has the most outstanding talent!"

The two examiners were looking at the same person's paper, one from the first session and the other from the second. To receive such praise showed their high regard for the student. When the last batch of copied papers were delivered to their rooms, the two examiners eagerly rushed forward: "Quick! Bring me this red-marked paper from the third session!"

The servant picked out the exam papers and presented them to the two presidents.

The two huddled together, reading the document. As they looked, they frowned slightly, exchanged a glance, and shook their heads in unison: "What a pity! What a real pity!"

For some unknown reason, perhaps due to lack of energy or other unforeseen circumstances, the quality of this person's essay in the third round was noticeably lower, far inferior to their performance in the first two rounds.

This situation is actually quite common.

In the three consecutive exams, I generally performed best in the first one, followed by the second, and made the most mistakes in the last one.

Just as one's energy declines with each attempt, a candidate's mental, physical, and intellectual capacity inevitably diminishes.

Those who can maintain the same level are among the best.

The two examiners appreciated the paper's high level of performance in the first two rounds, which showed no signs of decline. Therefore, they were looking forward to the third round of answers. If the paper maintained the same level as the second round, the top scholar in this imperial examination could be decided immediately.

Unfortunately, the result was not as expected.

Of course, it doesn't mean that this person has no hope of being at the top. Because he performed extremely well in the first two rounds, even though he was dragged down in the end, his overall evaluation is still very high. At this point, we need to look at other people's papers to see if there is anyone who can steadily surpass him!
The normal marking process has begun.

The examiners untied the papers and began to review them. When they found a paper that they liked, they marked it with a blue ink pen, gave their evaluation, and handed it over to the deputy chief examiner, Huang Wan.

If Huang Wan also liked the paper, he would write "take" on it and then send it to the chief examiner Zhang Yuyang.

Once the chief examiner, Zhang Yuyang, is satisfied, he will write the character "中" (meaning "good" or "medium") on the paper.

Congratulations! You've achieved the prestigious Jinshi degree that will bring glory to your ancestors and a promising future!

Candles were lit, and whispers filled the courtyard as exam papers were handed in from time to time.

"Please take a look at this piece, Master Zhang. The writing is exquisite and the style is mature. Every sentence is like the sound of gold and jade. Opening the book is like drinking sweet dew, and the whole thing is pleasant."

After being recommended, Zhang Yuyang took a look at it and nodded in praise: "The words are pure and the writing is powerful and vigorous. The rules are strict and the words are well-founded. What is even more rare is its elegant style and comprehensive reasoning. Reading it is like standing by autumn water, and one's mind is clear. It is indeed a good article!"

Although there were many examiners grading the exam papers, it was still tiring to do so every day. Especially for the chief examiner, any paper that had any doubts or needed to be reviewed had to be shown to him.

Seeing such natural joy now, even Zhang Yuyang felt an urge to choose this person as the top candidate.

"This one is also good; it has a peaceful tone and is full of intellectual interest. Reading it is like a gentle breeze!"

"And this one, upright and elegant, with clear reasoning and eloquent expression..."

"what!"

Those who can serve as examiners are all discerning, and someone whispered, "Although these articles each have their own merits, they seem to have something in common in terms of style. Could they be from the same school?"

Upon hearing this, the examiners compared the articles again and found them increasingly similar: "It seems so, these articles clearly influence each other..."

Zhang Yuyang was even more excited to discover that the scholar he had previously favored was among them. He then reread the essays of the other scholars and nodded repeatedly in approval.

While the discussion was taking place, Huang Wan quietly began to act.

He was a disciple of Wang Yangming and one of the rising stars who firmly supported the Great Rites Controversy. He had a close relationship with Zhang Cong and Gui E. However, he had a very bad relationship with Yang Yiqing, the former Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. The two attacked each other. Jiajing Emperor did not want to see him and did not transfer him to the capital. Instead, he served as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing.

Not long ago, Gui'e retired to his hometown, and Yan Song was promoted to Minister of Personnel and officially entered the cabinet. Huang Wan was then transferred to the capital and is now one of the chief examiners of the imperial examination. Her future looks very promising.

In a sense, he filled the void left by Gui E and became Zhang Congxin's right-hand man.

He also had a secret mission to undertake in this imperial examination.

At this moment, a servant brought over a scroll, made a secret gesture, and even gently tugged at Huang Wan's sleeve, fearing that Huang Wan might have made a mistake.

Logically speaking, the outer and inner curtains of the examination hall were completely separated, and the examiners should never know who wrote the answer sheet. However, loopholes can always be found. At this moment, the servant's actions of passing the answer sheet back and forth confirmed to Huang Wan that the answer sheet in her hand was the target.

He had already paid attention to this person's answers in the first two rounds, and his evaluation was that the writing was unrestrained and lacked a solid foundation. Although the writing was sharp, the style was frivolous and ultimately not of high quality.

Such an article would normally be rejected and never accepted.

But Zhang Ge Lao's intention was that if someone was barely qualified, they should be included on the list!
"Is Yan Song really that powerful? Is he worth such a capable minister as Brother Luo Feng resorting to such methods?"

Although Huang Wan had only recently been transferred from Nanjing to Beijing, he was well aware of the power struggles in the court and knew exactly who was behind him. After a moment's hesitation, he finally picked up his brush and wrote the character "取" (take).

Taking a deep breath, he handed the piece over while Zhang Yuyang was focused on the masterpiece in his hands: "Master Zhang, take a look at this one..."

(End of this chapter)