Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 289 was written with great enthusiasm again.
Lu Beigu's gaze was fixed on the seven characters in ink at the beginning of the scroll: "On the Utmost Importance of Kindness in Punishment and Reward."

He was very familiar with this topic. It was originally supposed to be the essay topic for the Ministry of Rites' provincial examination in the second year of the Jiayou era. It became extremely famous in history because Su Shi had created the story of "three killings and three pardons".

But now, it has appeared here ahead of time, in an unofficial battle of egos, and has been put forward by Han Jiang as a "discarded question"!
The butterfly's wings eventually stirred up a storm!

The trajectory of history was irrevocably altered by his disturbance as a time traveler.

Lu Beigu truly didn't know what had caused this situation, and in that instant, a tremendous sense of bewilderment gripped his heart.

But a moment later, Lu Beigu closed his eyes and used the method Zhou Dunyi had taught him to calm himself down.

When he opened his eyes, his gaze had quickly returned to clarity.

Lu Beigu’s abilities come entirely from his diligent study before and after his transmigration, which is a true skill that he can never lose!

With real skills, he has nothing to fear.

To put it extremely, even if another time traveler appeared now, and that time traveler was from this timeline, and plagiarized all of Lu Beigu's future works, he wouldn't care.

Because as long as his knowledge and creative ability remain, he will always be able to write newer and better works!

The confidence that comes from genuine talent and learning is something that plagiarists can never have in their entire lives.

So what if the "Sky Eye" fails? I'll prove myself through sheer ability!

With his mind at ease, Lu Beigu's gaze returned to the question.

The core idea of ​​Su Shi's original text is to take the three sage kings Yao, Shun and Yu as models, to explain that those who govern a country should be based on benevolence and embody the spirit of benevolent governance of "loyalty and kindness". His writing is magnificent and comprehensive, using history as a mirror and directly touching people's hearts.

Lu Beigu, on the other hand, had long planned to take a different approach. He wanted to write an equally brilliant, and even more insightful, policy essay to vindicate the Shu region and to speak out for his consistent beliefs.

The brush tip is fully dipped in thick ink and hangs on the paper.

Lu Beigu calmed his mind and went through his thoughts one last time in a flash. Then he put pen to paper, and lines of vigorous and powerful regular script spread out on the plain paper.

Because he had prepared in advance, Lu Beigu was the first to finish writing.

After finishing his writing and handing in his paper, he looked up and glanced across the other side of the paper.

Zhang Heng frowned slightly, his brushstrokes flowing smoothly and steadily, though his speed was noticeably slower. Zhang Dun, on the other hand, wrote with lightning speed, his sharpness almost bursting through the paper.

Lin Xi's expression was solemn, and he paused from time to time, as if he was carefully considering his words, striving to make every word precious and every sentence sharp.

Looking at his own side, Su Shi's eyes were bright, completely immersed in his creation, writing furiously, clearly his thoughts flowing freely, having entered a state of forgetting himself and the world.

Su Zhe, on the other hand, appeared more focused and cautious, striving for perfection in every stroke.

Time passed silently, and as the last wisp of smoke in the incense burner dissipated, Han Jiang's voice rang out.

"Time's up, collect the scrolls."

All six of them had finished writing and handed in their papers. The room was filled with a sense of exhaustion from intense mental exertion, as well as a tension before the dust settled.

All eyes were on Han Jiang.

Han Jiang remained expressionless as he gathered the six policy essays into a stack. Holding the stack of exam papers, he strolled to the window overlooking the water and, facing the slightly chilly spring breeze, began to examine them one by one, extremely slowly and carefully.

The scholars from Sichuan and Fujian provinces standing under the eaves outside the pavilion held their breath, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Cheng Jianyong whispered to Yang Yaozi beside him, "The outcome hinges on this."

"Yes."

Yang Yaozi nodded.

In the first three matches, Shu had one draw, one loss, and one win.

This final debate will determine whether these people from Shu can finally hold their heads high in the capital city of Tokyo!
Time passed slowly, as if frozen in time.

Han Jiang would sometimes concentrate on reading, sometimes nod slightly, and sometimes frown in deep thought. Her subtle changes in expression captivated everyone's attention.

Finally, after a long wait, Han Jiang slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the six people in the pavilion, finally settling on Lu Beigu for a moment, before passing over Su Shi, Zhang Heng, and others.

He cleared his throat and, following the order of the stack of papers, announced the rankings. "The rankings for the fourth debate are as follows—"

Everyone's hearts were in their throats.

"Lin Xi, B-level."

"Zhang Dun, B, enters."

"Su Zhe, Yi Shang."

"Su Shi"

Looking at the article in his hand, which was like a flawless gem, Han Jiang frowned, somewhat reluctant to demote it to Grade A, but in the end he still said, "Grade B."

"Zhang Heng, Class A, below."

Upon reading this, the Fujian scholars, including Lü Huiqing, almost all breathed a sigh of relief. Among so many second-class scholars, only Zhang Heng was a third-class scholar, which must have been exceptionally well-written. This practically meant that the outcome was already decided.

But there's only one person left—Lu Beigu!

Han Jiang's gaze fell once again on the last exam paper in his hand, pausing for a few moments as if savoring it.

Finally, he raised his head, looked around at everyone, and announced clearly, word by word.

"Lu Beigu—"

The brief pause felt like the air being sucked out.

"Top-tier!"

"Wow——!"

An uncontrollable gasp erupted from the crowd of scholars from Sichuan outside the pavilion!
Cheng Jianyong and the others were so excited that their faces turned red, and they almost jumped up!
A top-ranking score! This is the only top-ranking score Han Jiang gave today! It surpasses the evaluations of Zhang Heng and Su Shi!

Han Jiang pressed his hands together lightly to suppress the commotion and continued to announce the final result.

"The Shu side wins this competition!"

Upon hearing this unacceptable result, the Fujian scholars were in an uproar, and many of them had expressions of astonishment on their faces.

"We win! We win!"

"Brother Lu is truly talented! How magnificent is the literary tradition of Sichuan!"

The cheers of the candidates from Sichuan were like a flood bursting its banks, instantly engulfing the entire Ma Jiliang Garden. The gloom of being looked down upon for days was swept away, replaced by a sense of pride and triumph.

Lin Xi's face instantly turned extremely ugly, and he pursed his lips tightly.

The young Zhang Dun also suddenly looked up, his sharp gaze shooting towards Lu Beigu like lightning, clearly showing his dissatisfaction.

Zhang Dun called out loudly to Han Jiang, "Please allow us to take a look at the policy essay, Scholar Han!"

Han Jiang readily agreed and ordered his servants to post the six articles on the attic one by one.

When posting the first piece, he specifically said to Su Shi: "I originally intended to rate your article as the lowest grade, but the story of 'three killings and three pardons' is unheard of and certainly not recorded in historical records. Therefore, it was downgraded from the highest grade and only received a grade of the second-highest."

Hearing this, everyone became even more curious.

So, Su Shi's policy essays were actually quite outstanding? Was he only demoted from the top rank because he included allusions?

So everyone looked over.

Lu Beigu also leaned over to take a closer look, and found that Su Shi's "On the Utmost Importance of Kindness in Punishment and Reward" was exactly the same as the historical version.

He couldn't help but put his hand to his forehead.

"It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature. I'm really getting carried away with writing again!"

(End of this chapter)