Qing Yao

Chapter 134 Robbing the Escort Vehicle Isn't a Good Idea

Um.
Teacher Lou's expression was, well, it was like she'd seen an alien.

Are you fucking brain-dead? How could you even think of something like this!
In theory, if the Suzhou prefecture holds the exam first and the Yangzhou prefecture holds the exam later, it would be possible to take advantage of the time difference to "copy" the exam papers from Suzhou.

In this way, it's like an open-book exam for Yangzhou candidates, so how could the admission rate not skyrocket?

It's impossible in reality.

Why?

Because the order of the lottery in each prefecture was known only to the professor representing the lottery and the provincial education commissioner, and no one else knew it, and the results were not made public.

The order in which they drew the papers wasn't one, two, three, or four; it was the exam date they drew.

In other words, even the professor who draws the lots doesn't know whether the date he draws is the first or the last exam.

Moreover, the number of students who ultimately passed the preliminary examination was linked to the "political achievements" of the local prefectural school professors. In other words, who the hell would be so foolish as to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Yangzhou?

Finally, the exam papers were printed by the provincial education commissioner and escorted by the army to the prefectural schools in various places. The papers were only retrieved from the "safe" on the day of the exam. After the exam, all the papers were quickly collected. Provincial personnel would also be present to supervise the marking and grading of the papers to prevent anyone from copying them.

After everything is completed, the students from National Taiwan University will personally check the exam papers. Every single copy sent out must be returned; not a single copy can be missing.

In that case, where would Professor Zhao find the space to "copy"?

"So complicated?"

Zhao An was confused and asked curiously, "Were the exam papers escorted by soldiers sent by the province, or by soldiers sent by Yangzhou?"

This question made Teacher Lou roll her eyes: "If you're so capable, why don't you go and rob someone?"

You can steal it.

The armed guards were few in number, only about three hundred men, but they were the most elite Green Standard Army soldiers in Jiangsu, belonging to the Central Battalion of the Governor's Standard Army.

"Lord Lou, why are you looking at me like that? Even if I had the guts of a bear and the gall of a leopard, I wouldn't dare to steal the exam paper."

Zhao An chuckled awkwardly, realizing that there wasn't much room for maneuver in this matter, because he didn't have enough manpower to seize the transport vehicle.

The reason why college entrance exam papers could be leaked after the exam in later generations was because of high-tech information transmission tools. These days, there's no such thing.

To successfully photocopy an exam paper, two conditions must be met.

First, he needs to draw the worst possible lot, ideally the last exam in Yangzhou, to ensure he has enough time to carry out his plan.

If someone draws the best possible lot and is the first to take the exam, then this whole thing is over.

Secondly, it was necessary to bribe at least one professor from the prefectural school, as well as two or three examiners, and also bribe the provincial education officials who were supervising the examinations on-site.

The former is random, and success is difficult to guarantee.

The latter, because there are too many officials to bribe, would probably require tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Who would do a business that could cost them their life for such a paltry sum?

Unless you can directly bribe the old master of the academy, it might be much cheaper to get it done in one step.

So, who is the senior master of Jiangsu Xuetai this year?
Hu Gaowang was the second-place finisher in the first class of the imperial examination in the nineteenth year of the Qianlong reign. He served as a Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet, a co-examiner for the metropolitan examination, and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites.

According to Professor Lou, this old master was someone who cherished talent as much as his own life.

It's talent, not wealth.

Master Hu highly values ​​any talent he deems worthy, and even goes so far as to use his special privileges to cultivate and support those he considers talented.

However, Mr. Hu has a problem: he is particularly fond of nitpicking over words and is very old-fashioned.

The old-fashioned type doesn't care, as long as he also loves money.

Zhao An, in the name of the prefectural school, handed over seven thousand taels to the provincial education commissioner. As long as Master Hu didn't return these seven thousand taels, perhaps this prefectural examination could truly become a rehearsal for the provincial examination. In order to do his homework thoroughly so as not to embarrass himself in front of the old master in the provincial capital, Zhao An asked Teacher Lou about the things to pay attention to when going to the provincial education commissioner's office and some corresponding rules. He then insisted on leaving Teacher Lou a thousand taels as a "farewell gift" and said that he would come to see Teacher Lou off the next day. In the end, Teacher Lou accepted the money but refused to let Professor Zhao see him off.

The reason is to avoid suspicion.

With the provincial examinations approaching, it was inconvenient for Teacher Lou, as an official of the provincial education office, to be too friendly with local education officials in public.

"It should, it should."

Zhao An nodded repeatedly and then took his leave.

The reason why the Jiangsu Provincial Education Office was located in Jiangyin instead of Jiangning or Suzhou was not because the Qing government deliberately set up an education office in the place where the resistance was most intense at the beginning of the dynasty, or to carry out some kind of cultural emasculation. It was simply a continuation of the old system of the Ming Dynasty.

As early as the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Jiangsu Provincial Education Office was moved to Jiangyin because of its rich cultural heritage and geographical advantage of being located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the sea.

In addition, it also highlighted the independent status of the education administration and prevented the government office from being disturbed by high-ranking officials when located in a place with too many provincial government offices.

The provincial government notified Zhao An to report to the Jiangyin government office in seven days, which means he has to set off for Jiangyin tomorrow.

After leaving Teacher Lou's place, Zhao An arrived at an inn called Sihai, which was also the temporary place he had arranged for his two friends from his hometown to stay.

After paying the counter a month's rent, Zhao An took out a one-hundred-tael silver note and instructed the shopkeeper and others to exchange it for smaller pieces of silver and give them to Bao and Yang when they arrived.

He borrowed paper and pen and left a letter for his two friends, telling them to stay at the inn after they arrived, to eat and spend as they pleased, as he had to go out on business and would come to find them when he returned.

After leaving the inn, he didn't go back to the prefectural school, but went to the county government office to find Old Ding and tell him about his business trip, meaning that Old Ding's eldest granddaughter would have to wait until he returned before he could send her over.

Old Ding, being the understanding and polite man, pulled his prospective grandson-in-law to sit down and said he had his eye on a villa in the east of the city. The price wasn't high; the owner, out of respect for him as the county magistrate, would only sell it for 1,600 taels of silver.

It's fully equipped; you can move in right away with just your luggage.

Zhao An didn't like to worry about these trivial matters, so he let Lao Ding make all the decisions, and he would reimburse all expenses afterwards.

Old Ding nodded in satisfaction: "Let's hire someone to set the wedding date. The 26th of next month is an auspicious day. What do you think?"

"can."

Zhao An didn't hesitate. He would be away on business for at most half a month, and there was absolutely no problem for him to come back on the 26th to be the groom.

Old Ding is busy with the water conservancy project and has already sent people from the household registration office and the work office to Sanyang River to inform the villagers about the demolition. He wants Zhao An to quickly get Zhao Youlu's parents moved away.

Zhao An then explained his plan: to settle the two elders in Jiangnan, which would be the safest option.

Old Ding readily agreed, gathered up the pile of engineering documents on the table, and prepared to go to the front hall county office to arrange for people to do the work. However, seeing that Zhao An was not moving, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Is there something else?"

Zhao Anzhen has something to do; he wants to get 30,000 taels from Lao Ding.

Old Ding is rich; he and Old Song each borrowed 50,000 taels from the money exchange. Since it was within Manager Shi's approval authority, it was approved directly.

"What do you need so much money for? Don't you have money on you?"

Old Ding was reluctant to take it because he also needed to go through a formality, which meant he had to put out tens of thousands of taels as start-up capital for the project so that the gentry and wealthy households would have no objections.

Zhao An spoke frankly: "It's my first business trip, and I'm not sure if I'm safe without some money on me. You can give me the money first, and I'll pay you back when I get the funds."

It refers to the 100,000 taels of illegal loan obtained in Teacher Lou's name.

The county magistrate knew about this matter. After thinking for a moment, he counted out 30,000 taels of silver notes that he had just borrowed from the bank the day before yesterday and gave them to his prospective grandson-in-law.

Zhao An simply put it in his pocket without any politeness, which made Old Ding very uncomfortable. He snorted and said, "You'd better pay me back that sum of money as soon as it comes through."

"What else?"

Zhao An was puzzled, "Your eldest granddaughter is getting married, aren't you, as her grandfather, going to give her a dowry?"

(End of this chapter)