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

The day before the provincial examination began, the entire city of Hangzhou was in an uproar.

The inn was packed with examinees who had come from all over Jiangnan. The corridors were filled with students cramming poems and essays, while in the corners, there was a group of students doing last-minute cramming, studying the "Collection of Past Exam Questions" from Jingshi Academy.

Of course, there was also a group that gathered together to criticize Jiang Lin and Su Shi, feeling that testing them on this damn practical policy essay was simply leaving no way out for them.

Meanwhile, the scions of prominent families remained as steady as old dogs.

Lin Yaozu leaned back casually in the private room of the restaurant he had booked, sipping his wine and looking down at the distraught poor students on the street, his eyes full of mockery.

"Look at these poor bastards, they think they can turn things around?" Lin Yaozu sneered. "We have the real exam questions in our hands. Tomorrow, when the exam starts, we'll just recite that question about horses from the Northwest, and the top scholar title will be a piece of cake."

Young Master Zhang leaned closer, still somewhat hesitant: "Brother Lin, are Grand Tutor Cai's men reliable? What if the Censorate really comes to arrest them?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Lin Yaozu waved his hand, looking completely confident. "My father has already told us, this is all an act for the emperor. As long as we pull Su Shi off his horse, we'll all be heroes. When the Grand Tutor gives the order, we'll still be wearing our official robes!"

Upon hearing this, the young men from prominent families immediately dispelled their concerns and raised their glasses in a toast.

At the same time, Jingshi Academy is also making its final mobilization.

Shen Kuo stood on the podium, adjusting the crystal lens on his nose. Below him were over a hundred students dressed in coarse linen clothes, lacking the arrogance of scions of noble families, their eyes filled with a fierce determination to change their fate.

"Students," Shen Kuo said in a low voice, each word ringing out, "tomorrow is the day we go to the battlefield. These past few months, you've followed me in mathematics, followed the headmaster in mud-working, and followed Master Su in measuring river channels. The sweat you've shed and the dirt you've eaten will all come back to hone your skills tomorrow."

The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and pairs of eyes shone with an alarming intensity.

"Remember what the headmaster said." Shen Kuo suddenly raised his voice, "We graduates of Jingshi Academy don't play games! We must be doers who can ensure the people have food in their bowls and build bridges and roads for the Song Dynasty. Tomorrow, no matter what the problem is, solve it with your true abilities!"

"Yes!" The hundred or so men roared in unison, nearly blowing the roof off.

Jiang Lin leaned against a pillar outside the classroom, listening to the commotion, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

"These kids are starting to look promising," Jiang Lin said to Zhao Lingjun with a smile.

Zhao Lingjun rolled his eyes: "You brainwash them every day, telling them they're the pillars of the nation. How can they not be incredibly enthusiastic?"

"Alright." Jiang Lin stretched lazily. "Go back and catch up on your sleep. There's a big show to watch in the exam hall tomorrow."

The next morning, crowds thronged outside the gates of the Imperial Examination Hall.

Su Shi changed into a brand-new official robe and stood at the main gate, watching the candidates file in. It was his first time presiding over such a major examination, and his palms were sweaty; he couldn't afford to make the slightest mistake.

"Search me!" the constable at the door shouted at the top of his lungs.

The rules against smuggling are extremely strict; everyone entering the venue has to be patted from head to toe.

Lin Yaozu was sandwiched in the line, his toes curled up, his feet firmly planted on the paper with the answers to the "Northwest Horse Question" written on the sole of his shoe, his palms slightly cold.

The constable paused noticeably when his hand touched the sole of his shoe.

Lin Yaozu's heart skipped a beat, and his Adam's apple bobbed violently. But the constable merely withdrew his hand indifferently and waved it away: "Go in."

Lin Yaozu felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and immediately put on an arrogant face, swaggering into the gate. Little did he know that the constable had long been fed by Wang Biao, who was specifically giving them, a group of young masters carrying "life-threatening evidence," the green light.

After everyone had entered, the heavy gates of the examination hall slammed shut.

Su Shi sat steadily in the chief examiner's armchair, his gaze sweeping over the sea of ​​heads below.

"Curl your hair!" Su Shi ordered in a deep voice. The bailiffs carried the exam papers, sealed with sealing wax, and distributed them in a continuous stream.

Lin Yaozu snatched the exam paper, even tearing off the seal. He didn't even glance at the earlier questions on classical texts, and went straight to the final essay section, which carried the most weight in the marks.

He took a deep breath, preparing to write down the answer to the nauseatingly difficult question about hay consumption.

Then, the smug look on his face froze completely.

A line of large characters was printed on the pristine white exam paper:

"The Liangzhe Circuit has suffered from floods for years, submerging fertile fields. If you were to govern this region, you would need to raise 100,000 strings of cash to build dikes. Please provide a fundraising strategy, a detailed breakdown of the cash allocation, and a calculation of the labor and time required for the work-for-relief program. The data must be detailed and accurate; empty talk is not acceptable."

Lin Yaozu rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he hadn't slept well last night and his eyes were playing tricks on him.

I looked at it again, and it was exactly the same word for word.

There was no Northwest. No border troops. Not even a single horsehair!

The whole book is about water conservancy, accounting, and civil engineering!

Lin Yaozu felt all the blood rush to his head. He stiffly turned his neck and saw that the young masters of the Zhang and Wang families next door also had expressions of disbelief, their faces as pale as paper.

"What the hell is this thing?" Lin Yaozu's lips trembled, and cold sweat dripped down his temples.

A top-secret internal document bought for a thousand strings of cash! God-level answers memorized after several sleepless nights! All turned into a pile of waste paper!

This question is clearly something those peasants at Jingshi Academy spend their days calculating in class. Asking them to calculate the details of 100,000 strings of cash? Kill them and get it done quickly!

At this moment, the area where the scions of noble families lived seemed to have been drained of air, becoming deathly silent.

On the other hand, the students from impoverished backgrounds at Jingshi Academy practically lit up with excitement when they saw the question. Wasn't this just an upgraded version of the in-class quiz the headmaster had given them?

They barely paused, picked up their pens, dipped them in ink, and began to write equations and strategies with swift, rapid strokes, the sound of pens scratching against paper filling the air.

Lin Yaozu looked at the poor scholar in front of him, whose writing was so thick it seemed to fly, and his mental defenses completely collapsed.

This is a huge, massive pitfall!

Jiang Lin has been playing them for fools from the very beginning!

Just as Lin Yaozu was on the verge of losing his mind, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the tightly closed gates of the examination hall.

"The Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate is on inspection duty by imperial decree! All bystanders, please disperse!"

With a muffled bang, the door was forcibly pushed open. Censor Liu An, clad in purple robes, led a troop of heavily armored imperial guards, charging into the examination hall like wolves and tigers.

Liu An was a close confidant of Grand Tutor Cai. He coldly surveyed the entire room, finally fixing his smug gaze on Su Shi.

"Lord Su," Liu An snorted coldly, his voice rising sharply, "I have received a secret report that someone has been leaking exam questions for the Jiangnan provincial examination, suspected of cheating! I am here on imperial orders to investigate, please forgive me!"

Su Shi abruptly stood up, his expression unchanged: "Lord Liu, the imperial examination is the foundation of the nation. How dare you slander me with mere words? You claim there was a leak of the exam questions, where is your evidence?"

"You want evidence? I'll show it to you right now!" Liu An laughed wildly, waving his hand sharply. "Imperial Guards, listen to my command! Search them one by one! Focus on checking the scions of noble families, don't miss a single piece of cloth!"

Sitting in his seat, Lin Yaozu watched the Imperial Guards pounce on him like wolves and tigers, and all his strength was instantly drained away.

He suddenly realized that the note was still under his shoes.

That cheat sheet was filled with notes about horse feed in the Northwest, and had absolutely nothing to do with today's exam questions.

It's over. It's all over.