Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 175 Guess who wrote it?

Luzhou Imperial Examination Hall.

Having graded papers for many consecutive days, the candlelight illuminated the weary faces of the dozen or so graders, none of whom seemed to be in good spirits.

Fortunately, the pile of papers that was originally stacked up like low hills has been mostly graded.

Because each answer sheet needs to be reviewed independently by three examiners, each of whom assigns a grade, and the final score is the median. If any examiner feels that it is inappropriate, they can request that the chief examiner make a decision.

Therefore, depending on the subject, the examiners were in groups of three, some hunched over their desks grading papers, some frowning in thought, and some exchanging opinions in hushed tones.

This was the prefectural examination, and those who passed were to go to the capital for the imperial examinations. Therefore, the results of the grading not only affected the candidates' future but also the evaluation of the officials of the Luzhou Prefectural School. The grading officials had to be extremely careful.

When it was lunchtime, many people stopped grading papers and started chatting.

"This answer to the question about the myna bird in the Spring and Autumn Annals is utter nonsense! How dare someone write 'This bird signifies good fortune and is an auspicious omen for our dynasty'? They can't even distinguish between the omens and calamities mentioned in the Gongyang Commentary and the Zuo Commentary!" An old gentleman with white hair and beard was so angry that his beard trembled.

"Sigh, this year's calligraphy exam, especially the Spring and Autumn Annals, was really tricky." A middle-aged academic official next to him rubbed his temples. "It's already quite difficult to get a score of B. On the other hand, the calligraphy exam, although it had many challenging questions, was generally answered fairly well by most students."

At this moment, the examiner in charge of the initial assessment of the history and theory questions was still diligently reviewing the papers. Suddenly, he let out a soft "Eh," and almost pressed his face against the paper in his hands, reading it word by word, very slowly and carefully.

"what happened?"

His colleagues in the same group noticed that he was acting strangely. Since there weren't many history and theory papers left to be graded, they weren't too worried.

He did not answer immediately, but carefully handed the paper to the judge in charge of reviewing historical arguments: "Take a look at this paper, 'On the Currency of Yelang'!"

Seeing his expression, his colleagues dared not be negligent and took the paper to examine it intently.

At first, he was just scrutinizing her, but after reading only the first few sentences, his expression turned serious.

"Yelang, with its strategic advantage of the Zangke Pass and its abundant cinnabar resources, supplies all its copper to the Central Plains, leaving only iron coins to rot in the desolate borderlands. We would rather cross the miasma-ridden Lu River than touch Yelang's money. This is not due to the laziness of the common people, but rather the flaws in the monetary system!"

His colleague couldn't help but mutter a few lines aloud, his voice filled with amazement: "Such a difficult historical theory question, and you can answer it like this?!"

The judge in charge of the final verdict also came over. After carefully reading it, he exclaimed, "The records of cinnabar and lacquerware in the 'Chronicles of Huayang' provide evidence of the existence of currency in Yelang. Furthermore, the fabricated scene of the Han envoy inspecting the border and cutting coins with his sword is the finishing touch, directly pointing to the 'abuses of the monetary system'! The abuses of Yelang's iron coins are used to allude to the predicament of the currency shortage in my Shu region. What a fine article! I wonder who wrote it?"

In this state examination, the most difficult question was generally considered to be the historical essay "On the Currency of Yelang".

Even many state school teachers would hesitate before daring to write on this kind of question, and whether they would feel confident after finishing it is another matter.

Therefore, even these examiners had their doubts about setting such a difficult historical and theoretical question in the provincial examination.

However, they were only responsible for grading the papers; they weren't the same group of people who set the questions.

But now I never expected that someone could actually answer so perfectly!
After all, the purpose of these selective questions is to make things difficult for students, and only students with top-notch knowledge and writing skills can get high scores on them.

"Such talent is extremely rare, even considering the numerous provincial examinations held in Luzhou over the past ten years! Could it be Cui Wenjing? This is his fourth time taking the exam."

“It doesn’t seem like it.” His colleague immediately disagreed. “Cui Wenjing’s writing is mature and steady; his writing style doesn’t resemble this.”

The slightly louder discussion among the group immediately attracted the attention of the other examiners, and even Professor Jiang Zicheng of the State Academy, who was sitting in the main seat with his eyes closed, opened his eyes.

As the chief judge, he was supposed to make the final decision in the "three-stage judging" process and generally wouldn't interfere with the specific scoring, but at this moment he also cast an inquiring glance. "What is it? Have you discovered an excellent paper?"

The examiner in charge of judging the historical essays quickly stood up and respectfully presented the scroll of "On the Currency of Yelang" to Jiang Zicheng.

Jiang Zicheng took the exam paper, and after reading only the first paragraph, his expression turned serious.

He read the papers more slowly than the three examiners, sometimes nodding and sometimes frowning. When he finally read the metaphor of "like diverting the Yuan River to irrigate a dry field, the crops wither before the water arrives," he couldn't help but slam his hand on the table.

"What a fine analogy of 'the crops wither before the water arrives'! This young man has described the evils of monetary systems in such a shocking way! The entire essay is based on lofty arguments and sharp writing. Although there are some fabrications, given this year's historical essay topic, it is not a mistake. How would you grade it?"

"Jia Xia." "Jia Zhong?" "Jia Zhong, I guess."

"Then let's settle on Jia Zhong."

The reason for not giving a higher score wasn't that Lu Beigu's writing wasn't good enough, but rather that the highest possible grade for this historical essay question was set at Grade A before the papers were graded.
After reading the exam paper, Jiang Zicheng immediately strolled out and came to the courtyard of the examination hall, where he found the chief examiner, Li Pan, who was gazing at the sky.

Li Pan was currently thinking about Fan Xiang's matter.

Fan Xiang's arrival was so swift that it somewhat surprised him; he had originally intended to make the acquaintance of this high-ranking official.

Unfortunately, as the chief examiner of the state examination, he was destined to be locked in the examination hall during this period.

At this moment, Jiang Zicheng came over and briefly told Li Pan the contents of "On the Currency of Yelang".

"Guess who wrote it?"

"I guess it's Lu Beigu."

Li Pan smiled and said, "Young people are ambitious and quick-witted. They dare to make up answers to such difficult problems that have no solution. Older people, who prefer to play it safe and are afraid of losing points, would never dare to make up answers."

"I guess so."

Jiang Zicheng burst into laughter.

"I wonder if Lu Beigu will be able to pass the provincial examination and get the quota this year." Li Pan said, looking at the sky. "He is a good prospect. I discovered him at the Hejiang County School. But coincidentally, I was the chief examiner for both the county and state examinations, so I never publicized it to others, lest people accuse me of colluding with others."

"Actually, the judge is in the prefectural government office, which is probably quite far away. I am in the prefectural school, which is closer, so I feel it very deeply. This young man, Lu Beigu, may be progressing at a different pace than you think."

"what do you mean?"

"I think Lu Beigu might be able to get into the top three this year, or even be the top scholar."

Jiang Zicheng analyzed carefully: "This year's historical essay topic, 'On the Currency of Yelang,' is the most difficult. If Lu Beigu wrote this essay, his excellent performance would put him far ahead of others. In addition, Lu Beigu is good at current affairs strategies, which will further increase his score in this section with the highest weight. The difficulty of the previous essay questions has an upper limit. Even if they are all reverse-question questions, they are not difficult for top students. As for the ink interpretation, as long as there are no major mistakes, the score difference will not be significant. Therefore, it depends on how well Lu Beigu answers the poems and essays. As long as he performs normally and makes no mistakes, he will be in the top three. If his poems and essays are equally excellent, his total score will be enough to win first place."

Li Pan nodded. The state examinations involved "two transcriptions and three judgments." Even he, as the chief examiner, and Jiang Zicheng, as the chief judge, could not check the results privately now.

"Our duty is to judge the papers impartially and not let the gems be tarnished. Once the scores are tallied and calculated, we will naturally know who the top scholar is."

(End of this chapter)