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

Outside Donghua Gate, a fine drizzle, like silk threads, wove a hazy and sticky net, shrouding the bustling capital of the Song Dynasty in a misty rain.

Although the weather was not cooperating, the continuous spring rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the people of Bianjing to watch the excitement.

Tens of thousands of onlookers, holding oil-paper umbrellas, packed the Imperial Street to the point of being impassable.

This was the final stop of the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty, and a watershed moment in the fate of countless scholars.

One step in, and you're adorned in purple robes and gold belts; one misstep, and half a lifetime is wasted.

"Have you heard? This time, the Emperor himself set a strange question for the palace examination! It's said that many candidates came out with their legs trembling and had to be carried out by the Imperial Guards!" A pancake vendor, while protecting his stove from the rain, gossiped to the scholar next to him who was craning his neck, spitting as he spoke.

"I don't care what the question is, I just want to know if Su Shi from Jingshi Academy can still get first place!" The scholar didn't even bother eating his pancake. He stood on tiptoe and stared intently at the palace gate, his eyes burning with fervor. "If he gets the top score in all three rounds, it'll be like the God of Literature has descended to earth! I've bet all the five strings of cash I'd saved for my wedding on him becoming the top scholar. If he loses, I'll have no choice but to jump into the Bian River!"

The sounds of discussion, hawking, and rain mingled together, creating a buzzing noise.

Just then, the heavy palace doors creaked open with a teeth-grinding sound, slowly opening to both sides.

"He's out! The announcer is out!"

With a sharp scream, the once bustling crowd, as noisy as a vegetable market, instantly fell silent.

A Ministry of Rites official, dressed in a bright red robe and wearing a black gauze hat, stood atop the high steps. Guarded by two rows of armored and solemn Imperial Guards, he slowly unfurled the yellow edict symbolizing supreme honor.

The raindrops hitting the yellow paper did not blur the dark ink; instead, they made the names on it appear even more solemn and awe-inspiring.

The entire room fell silent.

Tens of thousands of eyes were fixed on the rolled-up yellow paper, as if they could burn a hole in it. The "patter" of raindrops falling on the oil-paper umbrellas struck the hearts of everyone present.

The announcer, his voice booming from his deepest breath, pierced through the thick rain, like a resounding bell, carrying the majesty of royalty, echoing in everyone's ears:

"In the second year of the Jiayou reign (1847), the Dingyou year, he ranked first in the first class of the imperial examination."

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

The candidates standing at the front of the crowd held their breath, and some even trembled slightly due to excessive tension.

Su Shi stood in the most conspicuous position, raindrops dripping from the brim of his hat and sliding into his collar, bringing a cool touch.

Although he carried his teacher's "golden brocade pouch" and had complete confidence in his own policy essay, his heart still pounded uncontrollably at the moment of his fate.

His palms were covered in cold sweat, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed his younger brother Su Zhe's arm tightly.

Su Zhe was gripped painfully, but he dared not move, his face pale as he stared at the high platform, his lips tightly pressed together.

The announcer took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall, and finally uttered the name that was destined to resound throughout the Song Dynasty and be recorded in history:

"Meizhou, Su Shi!"

A brief silence.

In that instant, only the sound of rain echoed between heaven and earth.

Immediately afterwards, as if a thousand-year-old volcano had finally found its vent, a cheer like a landslide and a tsunami suddenly erupted from outside Donghua Gate, soaring into the sky and even scattering the rain!

"Su Shi! It's Su Shi!"

"The top scorer! It's him again!"

"Winning the top three ranks in a row! First in the provincial examination, first in the metropolitan examination, and first in the imperial examination! This is a miracle! This is a miracle since the founding of the Song Dynasty!"

Su Shi felt a buzzing in his head. The congratulations, screams, and even the gasps of those who fainted from excessive excitement around him seemed to be muffled by a thick film of water. He felt a wave of dizziness, a suffocating feeling brought on by the overwhelming happiness.

He won.

He looked up at the gray sky, and his eyes suddenly became a little moist.

He not only won the exam and outmaneuvered the powerful and influential people in the capital who looked down on Runzhou, but more importantly—he did not disgrace his teacher in Runzhou! His groundbreaking policy essay and his bold, almost insane, reform plan were approved by the emperor!

However, the impact of Jingshi Academy has only just begun.

Before everyone could recover from the shock of Su Shi's victory, the announcer's voice rang out again, this time with a barely perceptible tremor and disbelief:

"Third place in the top division—"

"Jianchang, Zeng Gong!"

boom--!

The crowd erupted in cheers again, the noise even louder than before, almost enough to overturn the paving stones of the Imperial Street.

"The third-ranked scholar! He's also from Jingshi Academy!"

"Two of them are in the top three! Is this academy cheating? Are they going to monopolize the literary tradition of the Song Dynasty?"

"Just who is this Jiang Lin? I want to go to Runzhou! I want to become his disciple!"

Then, the chanting continued.

Although Su Zhe was relegated to seventh place in the second class due to Emperor Renzong's "balancing act," the people and scholars present were already numb when his name was announced.

Jingshi Academy occupies three of the top ten spots.

Especially Su Shi, who started from the county examination in Runzhou and fought his way up to the palace examination in Bianjing, ranking first every time.

This isn't an exam; this is clearly a shopping spree! And what they're really buying is the most precious "official rank" in the Song Dynasty!

On the outskirts of the crowd, a luxuriously decorated carriage sat forlornly in a corner.

The young master Liu, who once mocked Su Shi as a "country bumpkin" at the inn, was now slumped in the carriage.

His meticulously styled hair was now somewhat disheveled, and the expensive folding fan in his hand fell to the ground. He stepped on it and broke the fan ribs without even noticing.

His eyes were glazed over as he looked through the crack in the car window at Su Shi, who was being tossed high into the air by the crowd like a star being surrounded by admirers. His lips trembled, and his face was more ashen than that of a dead man.

"They've gone mad...they've all gone mad..."

"If anyone ever tells me again that Runzhou is a rural area, I'll fight them! How can that be a rural area? It's the abode of a celestial being descended from the God of Literature! And Jiang Lin... is he perhaps the reincarnation of the God of Literature?" He recalled his previous boastful words and felt a burning pain on his face, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

And at the entrance of Gaosheng Inn.

The shopkeeper had already received the news, and his chubby face beamed with joy. He immediately directed seven or eight employees to hurriedly hang up a giant red banner, ten feet long, which had been prepared for three days.

The banner, a dazzling red, stretched across the entire street, standing out starkly in the gloomy, rainy weather. It bore large, gold-embossed characters:

[Congratulations to our distinguished guests, Master Su, Master Zeng, and Master Su the Second, on their success in the imperial examinations! Jingshi Academy is truly awe-inspiring!]

"Crackling and popping—"

The deafening sound of firecrackers filled the air, and red paper scraps danced in the rain, covering the entire street like a red carpet for Bianjing.

The once muddy road now seemed to have become a smooth path leading to the clouds.

On this day, even the peonies in Bianjing City paled in comparison.

There is only one main character in the entire capital city, and that is Runzhou Jingshi Academy.