The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The square in front of the examination hall was teeming with people, like a pot of dumplings boiling.

Although the list had been released half an hour ago, the crowd had not dispersed. On the contrary, as the news spread, more and more people flocked here, just to confirm whether the unbelievable rumor was true.

"This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

At the front of the crowd, a talented scholar from Hangzhou, his face flushed, pointed at the yellow list with a trembling finger. "My eight most talented poets from the West Lake Poetry Society of Hangzhou didn't even make it into the top three? Has the Runzhou Examination Hall gone blind?"

A middle-aged man from Runzhou next to him rolled his eyes while eating sunflower seeds: "What's all the fuss about? Didn't you see that the top three names all have 'Jingshi Academy' written after them? Those are people who have been enlightened by the gods. What are you mortals doing getting involved?"

The list hangs high, its golden lettering gleaming brightly in the sunlight:

First place: Su Shi (Jingshi Academy)

Second place: Zeng Gong (Jingshi Academy)

Third place: Su Zhe (Jingshi Academy)

This is not just a ranking; it is a resounding slap in the face to all those self-proclaimed "famous figures of Jiangnan."

……

"I refuse to accept this!"

Zhao Yuanji from Canglang Academy in Suzhou squeezed through the crowd, his hair ornament askew, looking utterly disheveled. He searched the list for a long time before finally finding his name at number ten.

Tenth place?

For the proud and arrogant Zhao Yuanji, this was even more painful than failing the exam.

"I want to see the exam paper!" Zhao Yuanji shouted at the constables maintaining order. "I want to see what Su Shi actually wrote! If he doesn't have real talent, I'll definitely go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor!"

"Yes! We want to see the test paper!"

"The top three spots were all taken by one academy; there must be something fishy going on!"

The emotions of those who failed the exam were easily stirred up, and for a time, the crowd at the entrance of the examination hall was filled with indignation.

Just then, the gate of the examination hall creaked open.

The chief examiner, Lord Han, dressed in a scarlet official robe, emerged surrounded by a group of yamen runners. He carried not a flaming rod, but three large posters with ink still wet on them.

"What's all the noise about?"

Lord Han's gaze swept across the noisy crowd with lightning speed. The imposing aura of a high-ranking official was released, and the scene instantly quieted down considerably.

"I know you are not convinced."

Lord Han sneered, "To put your hopes to rest, I specially had the core passages of the top three essays copied, as well as the poem that was chosen as the champion of the second round."

"Put it on!"

The constables quickly and efficiently pasted the three big-character posters next to the yellow notice.

The entire room fell silent.

Everyone stared wide-eyed and craned their necks, trying to find a flaw in the words.

Zhao Yuanji was at the forefront, his eyes fixed on Su Shi's summary of his policy essay.

"When wealth stagnates, blood dries up; when soldiers are overworked, vitality weakens... The way to enrich a nation lies not in accumulating grain, but in circulating it; the way to strengthen an army lies not in its size, but in its elite forces..."

Just moments ago, Zhao Yuanji was full of resentment, but as he watched, the color drained from his face, and he became as pale as paper.

What is this?

What did he write in his own examination paper? It was "educating all people," "encouraging agriculture and sericulture," and those sage sayings that had been chewed over by predecessors.

Su Shi's scroll described how to make money, how to spend money, and how to revitalize the Song Dynasty's economy. Every word exuded a stark sense of reality, and the logic was as rigorous as an unshakeable city wall.

"How...how could this have been written by a scholar?"

Zhao Yuanji muttered to himself, feeling his worldview crumbling, "This is clearly... the mindset of a prime minister."

Then look at the poem "Looking South of the Yangtze River" next to it.

"Let's use the newly kindled fire to brew new tea, and enjoy poetry and wine while we're young."

That unrestrained, clear, and even ethereal artistic conception instantly made his poem "Ode to Jiangnan," which only piled up words, look like trash.

If you lose in a policy debate, you can say it's due to differing political views; but if you lose in poetry, it's a pure crushing defeat of talent.

"I lost..."

Zhao Yuanji swayed, and the folding fan in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter." His prized talent was like trying to challenge a special forces soldier wielding a Gatling gun with a wooden sword in front of the prodigies of Jingshi Academy.

Not only him, but all the talented people around him who had been clamoring for "cheating" also shut their mouths at this moment.

A true expert's skill is immediately apparent.

The gap was so vast that it left one with no energy left for envy, only despair.

……

On the other side of the crowd, the scene was completely different.

Qian Duoduo was directing several of his men to collect money in front of a makeshift gambling den.

"Come on! A bet's a bet!"

Qian Duoduo grinned from ear to ear, her hands overflowing with sacks of burlap. "I told you guys long ago, bet on Jingshi Academy to take the top three spots, payout 50/10! Nobody believed me! Now look what happened, the bookmaker wins everything!"

Those gamblers who had previously bet on "Canglang Academy" or "West Lake Poetry Society" were all dejected, throwing their coins into sacks.

"Just what exactly is the background of this Jingshi Academy?"

A gambler who had lost everything couldn't help but ask, "How come all the students I teach are like monsters?"

Qian Duoduo smiled mysteriously as he counted the money:

"A monster? You haven't seen our headmaster yet."

"We students are monsters at best, but that guy... he's a demon king who creates monsters."

……

Sunset.

The crowd at the entrance of the examination hall finally dispersed, but the shock of that day spread like wildfire to every corner of Jiangnan.

The major bookstores in Runzhou City started work overnight.

Su Shi's policy essays, Su Shi's poems, and even the articles by Zeng Gong and Su Zhe were all engraved into woodblocks.

This time, Qian Duoduo doesn't need to resort to any more "hunger marketing".

The "Selected Works of the Third-Rank Candidates in the Jiangnan Prefecture Examination of the First Year of Jiayou" has not yet been printed, but pre-orders are already booked until next month.

Meanwhile, the "culprits" were hiding in the academy celebrating.

Jiang Lin specially sent someone to buy a jar of twenty-year-old Nu'er Hong wine, and also asked Qian Duoduo to order a table of fine food from the restaurant.

"Sir! I salute you!"

Su Shi, his face flushed, raised his wine cup, tears glistening in his eyes. "Without your guidance, sir, I fear I would still be stuck in that dead end of 'benevolence and morality,' how could I have written such a brilliant piece!"

Stop with the sentimentality.

Jiang Lin tapped Su Shi on the head with his chopsticks. "This is nothing! You're satisfied with just getting first place in the prefectural exam?"

He picked up his wine glass, took a small sip, and glanced at the three spirited students.

"Remember this feeling of trampling others underfoot today."

Jiang Lin put down his wine glass, a playful smile playing on his lips. "Because once you get to the capital, you'll find... that feeling is even more exhilarating."

"But before that, we have to deal with a wave of 'trouble'."

Su Zhe was taken aback: "Trouble? What trouble?"

Jiang Lin pointed outside the door.

"With the commotion you've caused, the Transport Commissioner is definitely going to be in a bind. And..."

Jiang Lin's gaze deepened. "That old man in history who loved talent the most and also loved meddling in other people's business—Ouyang Xiu—is probably coming to our door soon."