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

The main street in front of the Hangzhou Imperial Examination Hall was packed with people, making it impossible to move.

Today is the big day for the results of the provincial examination in Jiangnan Road to be released.

The head of the Lin family, dressed in a dark gold silk robe, stood imposingly at the front of the crowd, holding two walnuts in his hands.

Behind him followed several heads of prominent families from Jiangnan, each with their chins slightly raised and faces radiating confidence.

"Brother Lin, this time it should be no surprise that our family's children will sweep the top ten spots, right?" The Wang family head leaned over and flattered in a low voice.

The Lin family head sneered, spinning the walnut rapidly: "Of course. We have the real answers in our hands. Did that pedantic scholar Su Shi really think that some kind of practical imperial examination could reshuffle the ranks of our aristocratic families? What a fool! My son Yaozu will definitely be the top scholar this time."

Several other family heads chimed in, showering him with flattery.

They were completely unaware of the drama unfolding inside the examination hall. After all, the scandal of Lin Yaozu's arrest had long been kept under wraps by Su Shi and Jiang Lin. These old foxes were still dreaming of their sons passing the imperial examinations and continuing to monopolize the officialdom in Jiangnan.

"Squeak—"

The heavy gates of the examination hall opened wide, and two rows of yamen runners filed out, carrying paste and red notices in their hands.

The crowd erupted in chaos, pushing and shoving forward. The Lin family head, relying on his strong and burly servants to clear a path, forcefully secured the best viewing spot.

"It's posted! It's been posted!"

As soon as the list of winners was posted, the Lin family head's eyes widened, staring intently at the first place on the far right.

The top scholar in the provincial examination was Li Gefei from Licheng, Qizhou.

The Lin family head was stunned.

He rubbed his eyes hard, pressed his face almost against the list, and looked at it again.

Every stroke of the pen is still Li Gefei's.

"Who is this Li Gefei? Which family's young master is he?" The Lin family head suddenly turned to look at the Wang family head.

The head of the Wang family also looked as if he had seen a ghost: "Never heard of that! There's absolutely no one with the surname Li among the prominent families of Jiangnan. And Licheng in Qizhou? That's in the north! How come some peasants from the north come to our Jiangnan region to claim the title of Jieyuan?"

The Lin family head's heart skipped a beat, sensing something was wrong, and he quickly scanned downwards.

Second place: Zhang San from Hangzhou.

Third place: Suzhou, Li Si.

Fourth place: Runzhou, Wang Wu.

The head of the Lin family read line by line, and the more he read, the colder his back became.

He scrutinized every single one hundred places available for the imperial examinations, his eyes nearly bleeding from staring, but he couldn't find a single name belonging to a scion of a prominent family!

Not to mention his eldest son Lin Yaozu, on whom he had placed high hopes, even distant relatives from the collateral branches were shaved bald!

"What the hell! What's going on?!" The Lin family head was so anxious that he kept slapping his thigh, and the top-quality walnut in his hand fell to the ground and rolled far away without him even bothering to pick it up.

The Wang family patriarch completely lost his composure, pointing at the list and cursing, "This is a conspiracy! This is absolutely a conspiracy against us! Our aristocratic scions have been well-versed in literature since childhood, how could we all be wiped out? These names on the list are all those poor, uneducated, and reclusive cultivators!"

The students from impoverished families in the crowd were already immersed in immense joy, and upon hearing this, they immediately protested.

A scholar in a faded long gown stepped forward and retorted loudly, "Master Wang, if you can't handle losing, don't make a scene. This exam tested agriculture, water conservancy, and practical financial management! You pampered young masters, who can't distinguish between grains and are lazy, can't even calculate how many kilograms of wheat can be harvested from an acre of land, so what's so surprising about your failure?"

"Nonsense!" The Lin family head roared furiously, pointing at the scholar. "The imperial examinations have always tested poetry, prose, and classical texts—the way of the sages! Su Shi has dared to alter ancestral rules and indulge in these lowly and miscellaneous studies; it's an insult to scholarship! I'm going to Bianjing to lodge a complaint with the emperor!"

Just then, a chilling laugh with a penetrating force rang out from inside the examination hall.

Su Shi, dressed in a bright red official robe, strode confidently across the threshold. He held a stack of examination papers in his hand and, without saying a word, went straight to the head of the Lin family.

Snapped!

Su Shi threw the exam paper in his hand directly at the face of the Lin family head.

"Complain to the Emperor? Very well!" Su Shi's voice was booming and full of energy. "I happen to have your son Lin Yaozu's exam paper here. Come, take a look at what kind of utterly nonsensical masterpiece your precious son wrote in the examination hall!"

The head of the Lin family hurriedly caught the scattered exam papers, glanced at them, and felt his vision go black.

The exam question was clearly "On the allocation of funds and grain during the floods in Zhejiang and Jiangsu", but Lin Yaozu's answer sheet was full of long passages of nonsense about "the supply of horses and fodder for the Northwest Border Army", and even a few complaints about the examiner setting an obscure question!

"This...this is impossible..." The Lin family head trembled, unable to speak.

Su Shi, his face cold, turned to the onlookers and declared sternly: "These scions of noble families spent exorbitant sums to buy so-called leaked exam questions, only to find they'd bought fake ones! When they arrived at the examination hall, they discovered the questions didn't match the description and couldn't even utter a single word. Even worse, some dared to smuggle cheat sheets into their shoes, only to be caught red-handed by me!"

"I have already reported this to the imperial court. Anyone suspected of cheating will be stripped of their academic titles and banned from taking the imperial examinations for life!"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

The people suddenly realized what was happening, and they pointed at the Lin family head and others, spitting and cursing.

The head of the Lin family's legs went weak, and he almost knelt on the bluestone slab. He knew in his heart that the Lin family had not only failed this time, but had also lost everything, both materially and in terms of reputation.

……

At the same time, at Jingshi Academy on the shore of West Lake.

Despite the uproar outside, Jiang Lin remained as slouched as ever. He nestled in his favorite rattan chair, holding a cup of pre-Qingming Longjing tea, slowly blowing on the tea froth.

Qian Duoduo rushed into the courtyard, her face flushed, rubbing her hands excitedly: "Headmaster! We've won so much! We've completely won! The results were posted outside, and none of the aristocratic families passed! That old man from the Lin family almost vomited blood at the entrance of the examination hall!"

Jiang Lin didn't even lift his eyelids, taking a small sip of tea: "As expected. Those idiots can't even distinguish between real and fake exam questions, yet they dare to play tricks on my turf?"

Zhao Lingjun sat on the stone bench beside him, his slender fingers toying with a gleaming dagger. He sneered, "These old bastards really got off easy. According to the laws of the Great Song Dynasty, cheating in the imperial examinations is punishable by death in the autumn. If you hadn't been holding me back, I would have had the Imperial City Guard raid the Lin family's house yesterday."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lin put down his teacup and slowly sat up straight.

"Fighting and killing is too narrow-minded." Jiang Lin looked at Zhao Lingjun, his tone carrying a touch of modern rationality and ruthlessness. "Physical elimination only provides a fleeting moment of pleasure. What I want is to strip them bare."

Upon hearing the word "money," Qian Duoduo's eyes lit up like searchlights, and she immediately leaned closer: "Headmaster, have you come up with another ruthless way to get rich?"

Jiang Lin stretched out his finger and tapped on the examination paper belonging to Li Gefei on the table.

"See this name? This kid is a born money-making machine." Jiang Lin instructed, "Duoduo, take the carriage to the inn and bring our newly appointed top scholar here safely. Remember, be polite, don't scare away the god of wealth I just unearthed."

Qian Duoduo nodded repeatedly, rushing out as if she had received a royal decree: "Understood! I'll go get someone right away!"

Jiang Lin leaned back in his chair, looked at the sky outside, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

For centuries, powerful clans had been deeply entrenched in Jiangnan, controlling countless plots of land and granaries. A simple reform of the imperial examination system would only cut off their path to officialdom; it was far from sufficient.

To completely eradicate these cancerous growths, we must drain their economic lifeline.

The "pre-sale Mitchell" theory developed by Li Gefei is simply a perfect, unparalleled scythe.

Next, Jiang Lin will personally take charge, letting all the wealthy landowners in Jiangnan open their eyes and experience firsthand what it means to be outdone by modern finance!