Top Scholar

Chapter 362 Who is the Top Scholar?
Inside the Hengjian Hall, the examiners each expressed their opinions.

"The literary and scientific aspects of the gift room are even better!"

"The poet's talent surpasses even that of the poet!"

"The writings in the Lifang collection already possess the elegance of sages!"

"The examiner praised Shi Fang's writing, saying it was as if Su Dongpo had been reincarnated..."

As a result, out of the twelve examiners, six supported the candidate who topped the list in the Book of Rites, and six supported the candidate who topped the list in the Book of Poetry.

It's a tie.

"Haha, it seems the top scholar will have to come from these two," Liu Bing said to Zhang Yan with a smile. "Otherwise, it won't be enough to convince the public."

“Indeed.” Zhang Yan nodded and said, “The top scorers in the Classic of Rites and the Classic of Poetry are far superior to the other candidates. In my opinion, they should be designated as the two top scorers in the provincial examination!”

“That’s right. If we could get a double yolk, we wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Liu Bing agreed wholeheartedly and sighed, “Unfortunately, there can only be one top scholar, so we still have to choose one.”

“Painful.” Zhang Yan said, picking up two exam papers. The one that topped the list of the Book of Poetry was the one he had studied before, and the one that topped the list of the Book of Rites was the one that he had almost been eliminated by the other examiners.

After comparing the options, he smiled wryly and pushed the decision to Liu Bing, saying, "It's really hard to decide. Please let the chief examiner make the final decision."

Liu Bing glanced at Zhang Yan, thinking, "What a cunning old fox, he doesn't want to offend anyone."

He didn't want to offend anyone, but as the chief examiner, he had no choice but to take responsibility.

He pointed to one of the papers and said in a deep voice, "Then I will appoint him as the top scholar!"

Seeing this, Zhang Yan's brow twitched, and he asked softly, "Chief Examiner, have you thought it through? Would you like to reconsider?"

"Hmm." Liu Bing nodded, feeling annoyed. "You won't give me your opinion when I ask, and now you're nagging and complaining. What kind of person is this?"

"My mind is made up, the rankings are settled!" he declared decisively. "Fill out the draft list!"

"Yes." Given Liu Bing's status and position, Zhang Yan dared not say more and quickly responded along with the other examiners.

So the examiners copied down the admission exam papers by their rankings, which became known as the "fill-in list".

The draft notice was made in triplicate, each sealed and stamped with the official seal, with one copy kept for personal use.

After preparations were complete, Liu Bing and the examiner Wu Kun, carrying the other two drafts, led the examiners and the red scrolls out from behind the inner curtain, across the Feihong Bridge, to the Zhigong Hall to meet with the supervising official and the supervising official.

Then both sides jointly checked the candidates' red and black examination papers. After confirming that the contents matched, the sealed papers were removed, and the candidates' names were publicly announced and filled in on the red list according to the previously assigned numbers.

The "red list" is the official admission list, which includes the candidate's ranking, name, and place of origin.

When filling in the blanks, leave the five classics champions blank first, starting from the sixth place and going up to the last place.

Then write down the list from the top five back to the first place.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the second-place ranking, but when they saw the first-place ranking, they felt it was understandable...

Upon seeing this, Yang Zhang, the supervising official and the Sichuan Provincial Inspector, couldn't help but praise Liu Bing, saying, "The chief examiner truly has a discerning eye; these two are indeed the most outstanding students in Sichuan."

“Actually, it’s not just those two,” Liu Bing laughed. “The other three, who were all top scholars in the Five Classics, could have all passed the provincial examination in the past. With the flourishing of literature in Sichuan, they will surely make a name for themselves in next year’s spring examination!”

"We are honored by the examiner's auspicious words." The group of Sichuan officials clasped their hands in a gesture of respect, knowing that such a thing would benefit each of them.

Once the list of seventy candidates for the main examination and the list of twenty candidates for the supplementary examination have been completed, the marking of this year's provincial examination will be officially finished!

"You've all worked hard, you can go back and rest now. The rest of the work is up to the Provincial Administration Commission." The supervising official, Liu Fantai, said with a smile to the examiners and officials, "See you at the Deer Cry Banquet the day after tomorrow."

"I'll leave the rest to you, Your Excellency," Liu Bing said, bowing to Governor Liu in thanks.

"Haha, the men below complain about all the hard work, but they can't do the job of delivering good news!" Liu Fantai waved his hand and laughed, "Quickly send Liu Juetai back to his office to rest."

"Thank you." Liu Bing did not refuse. After twenty days of intensive grading, he was indeed exhausted.

~~
For the past two weeks, the restaurants, pleasure boats, and brothels of Chengdu have been filled with the flamboyant figures of scholars.

After nine days of hard work taking the exams, the gentlemen naturally need to relax a bit, otherwise, once the results are released, most of them won't be in the mood to play anymore...

With only 70 openings for 2,500 candidates, the number of openings is far too small.

The men from Luzhou were nowhere to be seen, because they had only rested for two days before being conscripted by Su Lu.

Looking at the mountain of books and boxes of high-quality white cotton paper in front of them, Bai Yunshan and the others were dumbfounded: "Big, Senior Brother, is this something even more fun than drinking with courtesans?"

"That's right. Wine is poison that burns through the intestines, lust is a steel knife that scrapes the bones, wealth is a tiger descending the mountain, and anger is the root of all trouble." Su Lu nodded and blinked.
"Drinking and carousing are all four things you do, which is expensive, harmful to your health, and prone to jealousy and trouble. It's much better for us to quietly copy books. Not only can it cultivate our character, but it can also make us rich." "No, Senior Brother, I can understand cultivating our character, but how can it make us rich?" Deng Dengying asked.

"Haven't you heard the saying, 'There are houses of gold in books'?" Su Lu said with a smile. "If we copy down these books from the Shu Prince's collection, which are priceless, they will become our precious classics. Isn't that making a fortune?"

"Hehe..." The classmates laughed perfunctorily, "Go ahead and copy, what can you do when you're the senior student?"

"Alright, let me tell you why we need to copy books." Su Lu knew that if he didn't motivate them and forced them to copy, not only would it be slow, but they might also make mistakes.

He needs these books for research purposes; even a single miswritten word could lead to a completely different conclusion...

He coughed, signaling his second brother to close the door, and then asked the crowd, "I ask you, is it more enjoyable to drink and gamble, or to have your words become law and change the world according to your own will?"

“Of course, it’s drinking with courtesans…” Li Qiyu whispered.

"Drinking with prostitutes is only fun for a short time, you can't keep doing it forever, can you?" Su Lu rolled her eyes at him.

"The more you drink, the happier you'll be," Li Qiyu said with a smile.

"Get lost!" Su Lu immediately didn't want to talk to him anymore, and looked at the other classmates.

"Of course, it's all about keeping your word; drinking and carousing can't compare." Fortunately, this was the only oddball; the other classmates were fairly normal.

“But it is the emperor whose words are law,” Lei Jun said again. “In fact, even the emperor cannot do that. In our dynasty, only the founding emperor truly had the power to make his words law.”

“You’re right. Even the Emperor can’t make his word law.” Su Lu nodded and said, “Because there are ancestral laws pressing down on him, and etiquette and regulations binding him on all sides. These are things that the Emperor cannot touch or change.”

He changed the subject and said in a deep voice, "But these 'laws' are either ancient or obscure, and ultimately they need people to interpret them. If we can hold the power to interpret the laws and rites, wouldn't we be holding the power of 'the law follows the word' in a roundabout way?"

“That makes sense!” The classmates lowered their heads and pondered for a moment, then gradually realized what was going on. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Just like when Zhu Xi wrote the 'Collected Annotations on the Four Books,' he established the rules of etiquette and morality for the whole world, which were regarded as the standard by emperors and generals of later generations!"

"That's exactly what I meant!" Su Lu clapped his hands and laughed, his voice full of excitement.
"However, there is currently no authoritative commentary on such an important classic as the Book of Rites! The currently officially designated textbook for the imperial examinations, the Collected Explanations of the Book of Rites, is completely unworthy of its status and can only be used as an examination book. It has no ability to summarize the rites and laws in the slightest!"

“Indeed…” The classmates nodded in agreement. Influenced by Su Lu, most of them had also studied the Book of Rites, so they naturally knew that what their senior brother said was true.

Currently, the official designated commentary on the Book of Rites is Chen Hao's "Collected Explanations of the Book of Rites" by Zhu Xi's fourth-generation disciple. However, this book has been criticized for its superficial research and numerous errors and omissions since it was designated as a textbook for the imperial examinations during the Yongle period.

For nearly a century, scholars studying ritual have tirelessly uncovered thousands of errors throughout the book. The problems fall into three main categories—

First, there is a problem of "collecting various opinions without proper discernment." When quoting previous commentaries, there are often omissions, misplacements, or even misattributions.

Secondly, the exegesis is not precise enough. The explanations of difficult words and phrases, as well as ancient names and objects, are too brief, or even based on a superficial understanding of the characters.

Third, the historical research is weak. When it comes to pre-Qin institutions and historical anecdotes, the old interpretations of Song Dynasty Confucian scholars are often followed, resulting in some interpretations that do not conform to historical facts.

Therefore, compared to the rigor of Zheng Xuan's commentary and the detail of Kong Yingda's commentary, Chen's commentary appears superficial, empty talk about principles, and lacks factual evidence, making it difficult to bear the important role of the Book of Rites as a blueprint for social operation.

In fact, no one ever used this book to regulate the existing systems and institutions. Apart from the imperial examinations, it was completely rudimentary.

Even in the imperial examinations, scholars in recent decades have increasingly focused on textual research of Han and Tang commentaries, completely abandoning Chen Hao's commentary as the standard. However, to date, there is still no perfect collection of chapters and sentences to replace Chen Hao's "Collected Explanations of the Book of Rites".

In Su Lu's view, this was a golden opportunity...

"What we need to do is emulate Zhu Xi and create a more rigorous and in-depth collection of annotations, sweeping the old annotations into the dustbin of history!" He said, his eyes gleaming as he looked intently at his classmates, his words highly persuasive.

"Chen's commentary is already a broken drum that everyone is beating; it's just one step away from being finished! We can completely seize this position and become the authority on the Book of Rites!"

"At that time, all the laws and regulations of the world, the operating procedures of the court, and even which foot you step out with first will have to follow our rules! Then, we can shape an ideal new world according to our own will. Wouldn't that be considered a matter of words becoming law?!"

"Got it! That makes perfect sense!" The classmates suddenly understood, and they were all deeply impressed by the grand vision described by Su Lu. They rubbed their hands together and said, "Brother, don't say anything more, let's start copying the book!"

"Don't worry, there won't be a single mistake!"

"Copy as much as you can, as long as you don't die from it!"

From that day on, the Luzhou government office became a book-copying center. The scholars worked day and night, so engrossed in copying books that they forgot why they had come to Chengdu in the first place.

Until that day, firecrackers suddenly went off outside the government office, startling them.

"Oh dear, is someone getting married?" Cheng Wanzhou asked blankly, "It makes them have to rewrite this page."

"What wedding? It's good news!" Steward Tian rushed in, beaming with joy, and shouted, "Husbands, stop copying! Come out and receive the good news!"

P.S. Please don't scold me, the result will be in the next chapter, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for the next chapter...

(End of this chapter)