Poverty Alleviation in Qin: A Sky-High Review of "I Am the Female Prime Minister of All Time&qu

The grading began immediately on the night the scientific expedition ended.

Five examiners—Wang Wan, Li Si, Feng Quji, Meng Yi, and Song Ye—gathered in the back hall of the official school to review the papers.

The table was piled high with the candidates' answer sheets, stacked like small mountains.

The candlelight was bright, and the five people each occupied a corner, engrossed in reviewing their work.

Wang Wan's commentary was on the section on the interpretation of the classics.

He examined them very carefully, reading each document two or three times over, his brows sometimes relaxing and sometimes furrowing.

When he encountered well-written work, he would nod slightly and draw a circle on the paper.

When he encountered something outrageous, he would just shake his head.

Li Si was criticizing policy essays.

Feng Quji's criticisms were based on practical matters.

Meng Yi was criticizing the law.

Finally, Song also graded the final question.

She flipped through the answer sheets, her expression gradually shifting from casual to focused.

Some candidates directly copied the scenes they saw from the sky, writing about the equal-field system and public ownership, completely ignoring the actual situation in the Qin Dynasty...

Some candidates took a more conventional approach, saying that "suppression and merger should start gently and not be rushed," but their statements were all empty words without any specific measures.

When Song turned to Lu Shaoqing's paper, he was stunned for a moment.

His answers to the questions on the scriptures were thorough, with every sentence having a source and every argument being grounded in reality.

The practical exam was precise, with no discrepancies in the accounts. The material accounting for road construction even offered a more cost-effective option than the standard answer.

What surprised Song the most was his final question.

Lu Shaoqing did not engage in empty talk about the ideal of a unified world, nor did he simply copy the answers from the sky.

What he wrote was: The root of the problems of mergers lies in the vast gap between the rich and the poor and the limited options available.

To suppress this, we should start from three aspects: First, education, by establishing schools in rural areas to give poor families a path to advancement, so that they will not be subservient to powerful families for generations. Second, commerce, by building roads and facilitating trade, so that the common people have livelihoods outside of farming, and do not have to rely on their meager land to be exploited.

The third law was to register households and measure land, so that powerful families would have nowhere to hide their land and evade taxes.

He even added a final paragraph: "However, reforms should not be rushed, for if they are rushed, the people will be at a loss, and powerful clans will surely retaliate."

If we proceed gradually and take a ten-year period, we will see results.

After reading it, Song Ye raised his eyebrows slightly.

Lu Shaoqing usually keeps a low profile and doesn't attract much attention, so it's really unexpected...

After that, Song also turned to Shao Jingyu's answer sheet.

She answered the final question quite well, approaching the issue step by step from government-run schools, cement roads, and work-for-relief programs. Her strength lay in her clear organization and strong operability.

......

The three-day marking process has concluded.

The five students sat together, spread out the high-scoring papers they had circled on the table, and began to determine their rankings.

There's not much controversy about who came in second and third place.

The second-place finisher was a scholar named Shen Zhibai.

This person has a solid foundation in classical studies, is precise in practical matters, and excels in all six arts. His answer to the final question was decent but comprehensive, making him a talent for whom there are no major flaws.

Both Wang Wan and Feng Quji were very fond of him.

The third-place winner was Shao Jingyu.

In the first imperial examination, women ranked among the top three, which would have been unprecedented in any dynasty.

But her answer sheet was indeed excellent, and none of the five examiners could find any major mistakes.

When it came to selecting the top scholar...

Song made the decision: "He's the one!"

"It's really good."

"He passed the examinations on policy essays and the Six Arts of a Gentleman."

"Who is this person? I've never heard of him before?"

Seeing their reaction, Li Si was very pleased with himself: "This was my grandson's former tutor, so he's certainly no ordinary person!"

After he finished speaking, Wang Wan and the others were not very surprised.

That old fellow Li Si is surrounded by top-notch talents.

"You've been hiding it well!"

"Such a talented person, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Li Si chuckled, but didn't mention that the people had actually already boarded Song Ye's pirate ship.

Song's heart stirred slightly.

If even a mere Lu Shaoqing could win first place, then what about his advisors...?

They must all be very capable, right?

It seems I'll have to "pay a visit" to Li Si's residence another day.

Ultimately, the rankings were determined.

Top scholar: Lu Shaoqing.

Second place: Shen Zhibai.

Third place: Shao Jingyu.

......

The results were released the following day.

The morning breeze in April still carried a hint of coolness, but it couldn't dampen the anxiety of the test-takers who had been on tenterhooks all night.

Some people rubbed their hands and paced back and forth, some muttered to themselves, and some simply squatted in the corner and closed their eyes to rest.

Anyway, the results are out, and there's no escaping them now that you've opened your eyes.

Shao Jingyu stood on the outskirts of the crowd, her hands, gripping her sleeves, turning slightly white.

At the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the gates of the official school opened.

Two officials carried out a long red paper and hung the list on the wall in full view of everyone.

"The results are out—!"

Before the words were even finished, the crowd surged forward with a roar.

Shao Jingyu was squeezed at the back, and even standing on tiptoe, she couldn't see anything.

She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and pushed her way forward. Finally reaching the front, her eyes eagerly searched the list: third place, second place, first place...

Her eyes scanned down line by line, her palms sweaty.

Third place: Shao Jingyu.

Three words: upright and proper.

Shao Jingyu stared at the name in front of her for a long time, her mind blank.

The third-place scholar? Her?

A woman? First scientific expedition?

She passed the exam with flying colors! She got in!

And they were in the top three!!

From this day forward, she is no longer someone's daughter or someone's ex-wife!

She is Shao Jingyu, the third-ranked scholar in the first imperial examination of the Qin Dynasty!

...

On the other side, Prefect Song.

As soon as Song stepped into the backyard, he heard the sound of reading aloud coming from inside.

Lu Shaoqing spoke with great enthusiasm, and Wei Chuyun and the two brothers, Xiao Lu and Xiao Yan, listened attentively.

Song listened quietly for a while.

It must be said that this person is indeed talented.

Moreover, it's already the results announcement day, and they can still be so calm and composed...

Song walked forward slowly and spoke at the opportune moment: "Congratulations."

Lu Shaoqing was taken aback, his expression blank: "What do you mean by that, sir?"

"The results were released today, didn't you know?"

"...Huh?" Lu Shaoqing blinked, his expression first blank, then turning to astonishment, before finally snapping out of it after a long while.

"Oh! So today is the day the results are released?!"

Upon seeing this, Song was speechless for a moment.

She thought this was the mindset of a genius, remaining calm and composed in the face of adversity.

So they completely forgot about it.

"..."

Seeing this, little Wei Chuyun couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Sir, your memory is too bad! I remember the results were released today!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Shaoqing feigned a stern face and looked at her: "You little brat, you knew this but didn't remind your teacher beforehand?"

Wei Chuyun raised her chin and replied, "This student thought that the teacher already knew, otherwise why would he still have the mind to teach us!"

Lu Shaoqing: "..."

Well, he couldn't refute it.