Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 176 The Rank of the Top Scholar
Deep inside the examination hall, in a hall with its doors and windows tightly shut and guarded by yamen runners day and night.

A dozen or so academic officials sat around an extremely long table, with many small tables on either side. On these small tables were piled up the subject-specific grading sheets, all stamped with the bright red seals of the examiners. These thin sheets of paper bore the weight of the successes and failures, even the honors and disgraces, of nearly two hundred state students after years of hard study.

Chief examiner Li Pan and chief examiner Jiang Zicheng sat at the head of the table, their faces solemn, watching the clerks at their small desks continuously handing over the summary evaluation sheets they were responsible for registering to the academic officials on the other side of the table.

The clerks' workflow was simple: they would compile and register the subject-specific scoring sheets filled out by the examiners according to the examinees' numbers, then confirm the final overall score. Once the overall score was determined, the papers could be sorted on the desk.

Yes, the method is rather primitive; it involves placing the taller items on top and the shorter ones on the bottom.

Once each person's overall evaluation form is presented, the examiner inserts it into the corresponding position based on their total score. After all the overall evaluation forms are presented, the rankings for this state examination are naturally determined.

Jiang Zicheng urged, "Has Lu Beigu's overall evaluation been released yet?"

"Right away."

The clerk checked it one last time and then handed Lu Beigu's overall evaluation form to Jiang Zicheng.

Many academic officers were very curious about the results of this renowned new student's state exam. As a result, almost everyone's eyes were involuntarily focused on him, and even Li Pan leaned slightly to look over.

Because the Song Dynasty valued literature, and the imperial examination was the most important way to select civil officials and scholars, the rules of the imperial examination were very strict. The person who set the questions was not responsible for grading the papers, and the person who graded the papers did not know whose paper they were grading. Only when the scores were tallied and ranked at the end could the candidates' overall evaluation be known when everyone gathered together.

Jiang Zicheng composed himself and began to read aloud the list of grades on the overall evaluation form.

"Tiexue: All ten questions answered correctly, Grade A!"

This year's state exam still included many challenging questions, but for top state students, answering ten to ten or ten to nine questions was not difficult. Lu Beigu's high score in the post-exam was not particularly surprising to everyone.

"Mo Yi: Of the ten questions, eight were graded as A, and two were graded as B. Overall, A is graded as A!"

This is quite surprising, after all, the difficulty of understanding the meaning of calligraphy is even greater than that of calligraphy classics, especially the question of distinguishing between the principles of learning from the Book of Rites and the theory of calamities caused by the myna bird in the Spring and Autumn Annals, which can be described as a death trap!

This is almost the pinnacle of Mo Yi's rating!
The subjects of calligraphy and painting are the most challenging to test a candidate's foundation. Lu Beigu, a freshman who has only been enrolled for a few months this year, has such basic skills, which still impresses the academic officers.

"Could it be that he's going to pass the imperial examination?" someone whispered to their colleague.

"Let's listen to what comes next; poetry and prose will be difficult this year."

Jiang Zicheng continued, "The poem's title is 'Ode to the Clear Light of an Autumn Sun.' Its theme is lofty, its meter is precise, and its imagery is clear and pure. It is a first-class poem!"

It's Jia again!

"Although I haven't seen the original poem, the fact that it has this score means that it is already at the top level of the examination poems. If it can maintain such a good performance in the later stages, it will most likely pass the imperial examination."

Before the conversation below had even ended, Jiang Zicheng continued reading.

"The title of the poem is 'Ode to the Sage's Rule over the People with Virtue,' which closely follows the eight rhymes of 'the sage's virtue shines brightly, and the people's customs are greatly transformed.' The poem is expansive in scope, elegant in style, and thorough in reasoning. It is rated as the lowest grade!"

"hiss--"

This time, the distinct gasps in the hall could no longer be suppressed.

That regulated fu poem, limited to eight rhymes and with a dauntingly grand title, actually won the second-highest grade?! This means that within such a demanding framework, he not only perfectly adhered to the rhymes but also wrote flawlessly. "Topic: 'On the Currency of Yelang,' with obscure citations, a unique and original theme, using history to satirize the present, hitting the nail on the head regarding current problems, sharp and incisive writing, thought-provoking, first-class grade!"

With a deafening roar, it was as if a silent thunderclap had exploded in everyone's minds!

"Wait, that historical essay in Class A was written by Lu Beigu?!"

"It seems there's only one history essay paper in the first-tier middle school this year."

"The gap is too big. It's not just about passing the imperial examination, but about definitely getting a provincial degree."

The essay "On the Currency of Yelang," which caused countless candidates to collapse on the spot and even made the examiners exclaim that it was tricky, can be said to be the most difficult question to score this year. Now that it has been confirmed that Lu Beigu received the highest score, it means that this question has become his winning weapon to leave all his competitors behind!

"The five policy proposals on current affairs are all pertinent and insightful. In particular, the three proposals on 'tea houses discussing price protection,' 'salt wells gathering and dispersing,' and 'the urgency of canal transport' are incisive, practical, and feasible, and are in line with the court's intention to promote trade and benefit the people. The five proposals are evaluated as 'top-ranked'!"

The hall fell into complete silence; even the sound of breathing seemed to have disappeared.

The five policy proposals, all of which were submitted to the highest level, indicate that Lu Beigu's understanding and problem-solving approaches to practical matters such as tea law, canal transport, salt administration, Shu brocade, and military system far exceeded the scope of a typical state student. This is the real cornerstone, the core competence most valued by candidates after the "Qingli Education Reform"!

"Is this the chance to become the top scholar in the provincial examination?"

An incredulous gasp escaped from one of the instructors.

Immediately afterwards, the atmosphere in the hall became heated, and the previously suppressed discussions could no longer be contained.

"I was shocked when I graded the paper on 'The Currency of Yelang'. To answer that question like that is truly extraordinary!"

"Top five in current affairs?! Is this...is this even human?! We haven't seen such a high score in years, have we?"

"How old is he? How long has he been in the state academy? How could he have soared to such heights and surpassed Cui Wenjing and the others?!"

To be honest, Lu Beigu's grades in each subject are all outstanding, and now they are all in one person, which is really terrifying.

All eyes were fixed on the overall evaluation form, filled with shock, disbelief, and a touch of excitement as if witnessing history.

Even Li Pan, the chief examiner who had watched Lu Beigu rise from the top scholar in Hejiang County to where he was today, was deeply moved.

He had long known that this young man was extraordinary and had expectations for Lu Beigu's performance in this year's state examination, but he did not expect that, just as Jiang Zicheng said, this hidden sword, once drawn, would be so dazzling and sharp, its edge pointing directly at the position of the top scholar!
"He's currently in first place overall. Let's see if anyone surpasses him next."

Jiang Zicheng solemnly placed Lu Beigu's overall evaluation form at the very top of the long table he had pieced together.

Outside the examination hall, the autumn sun gradually sets in the west, casting dappled light and shadow on the floor of the hall through the high windows.

As dusk fell, the rankings of the Luzhou prefectural examination results for the first year of the Jiayou era were finally officially confirmed after three reviews.

"The selection of the top scholar has been decided."

Looking at the final rankings, Li Pan felt quite gratified. He couldn't even imagine how earth-shattering it would be when these rankings and results were announced tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)