After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"Your Majesty, the essays of the top ten candidates in this year's imperial examination have been placed before Your Majesty for Your Majesty's careful consideration and judgment."

Gong Yuan, a eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, greeted the guests in a loud and clear voice.

by his side.

Vice Minister of Rites Zhao Silang and Assistant Minister of Rites Zhou Jili were seated on the left.

Chen Zhengheng, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and Qi Zhanghou, the Assistant Director of the Ceremonial Office of the Court of State Ceremonial, were seated on the right.

After Zhu Cuiwei hummed in agreement and nodded, he stepped back and, along with the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial, held their breath and waited for His Majesty to finish reading all the scrolls and name the top three scholars—the Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua—before they would take over and arrange the subsequent matters.

The grand ceremony for announcing the winners is all ready; all that remains is to determine the top-ranked candidates.

Standing beside the imperial desk, the chief eunuch Zhang Qi respectfully opened the brocade box and took out ten scrolls of policy essays filled with the fragrance of ink, presenting them to the Empress.

Zhu Cuiwei pursed her lips and picked up the top essay, the one that had been rated first by the eight senior officials, with her fair hand and looked at it.

"...The laws of the Spring and Autumn Annals included the Chinese and excluded the barbarians, thus establishing strict rules for clothing and distinguishing between Han and non-Han peoples..."

Her lips moved, and she silently uttered a word.

This essay discusses the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians. Although it may seem like a cliché, it is both orthodox and innovative. One sentence, "It does not follow the form of ancient clothing and etiquette, but follows the spirit of ancient clothing and etiquette, namely: to repel the barbarians, to defend the land, and to prolong the ancestral sacrifices," is quite novel.

The entire piece is written in a neat and orderly manner, displaying the skillful use of elegant strokes.

After reviewing the list, Zhu Cuiwei nodded, quite satisfied with the first-place candidate chosen by the eight senior officials.

He placed this piece aside on his desk and picked up the second one.

Zhu Cui narrowed her eyes slightly.

"On the Abuses of Officials... When government orders are promulgated but not implemented, when they are implemented but no one is held accountable, when there is blame but the blame is tolerated, the old ways are eventually reinstated, punishment is as if no punishment is given, and no reward is as if a reward is given. This cannot be fully described without the four words 'unclear rewards and punishments'... Once a punishment is imposed, the compensation is taken from the people... The punishment is for the officials, not for the people. Therefore, the old laws, which punish officials, are actually punishing the people. The so-called 'powerful punishment' ultimately shifts the burden to others..."

She took a soft breath, a hint of admiration in her eyes.

This article on the methods of governing officials does indeed point out some of the ills of officialdom.

After the government order is issued, it seems to be conveyed from level to level, but very few people actually take action.

Pressure was applied, and things actually started moving, but when officials made mistakes, there was no punishment.

Even when punishments were imposed, when it came to actual implementation, officials protected each other, and each level of government indulged the wrongdoing. In the end, this decree, which was intended to bring about reform, came to nothing, and all levels of government returned to their old ways.

Zhu Cuiwei carefully read this policy essay on the problems of official corruption twice.

This person proposed that "to govern officials, one must first clarify the law. If the law is unclear, ten people will make ten different judgments, and the law will not be the law. Only when ten people make one judgment can the law truly be the law... This is to silence the officials and appease them with words..."

"That's quite right," she nodded in agreement.

Zhang Qi, standing beside her, narrowed his eyes slightly but dared not reply, waiting for the Empress to make the final decision.

Zhu Cuiwei pondered for a moment, a look of regret in her eyes.

Although this strategy has merit, if it were ranked first, it might be too prominent and inevitably attract jealousy. Therefore, this argument is placed below the previous debate on the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.

After gathering her thoughts, she breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the third article.

"...The clothing and customs of the Han dynasty differed from those of the Spring and Autumn period; they were among the various Xia states...They lost territory to their neighbors, lost their ancestral temples, and lost virtue to their descendants; their nation ended, and they became barbarians..."

Her temples throbbed slightly, and her eyes unconsciously turned cold.

"What a fine article advocating for the Northern Dynasties!"

Her fair cheeks twitched slightly as she bit her cheek and glanced at the red seal at the end of the article.

Seeing one "A on top", one "A in the middle", and one "B on top", I sighed slightly.

This article was likely written by the Northern Dynasty prince.

The red seal in "乙上" belongs to Jia Shi'an.

This reminded her that it was not advisable to get angry on the eve of an important event.

She suppressed her displeasure and placed the article at the very end.

The following essays, including three on the "Debate between Chinese and Barbarians," are indeed the easiest to write and the least prone to errors in policy essays.

There was an article about the "maritime ban," but it was quite conservative, suggesting that the "maritime ban" policy was not particularly outstanding.

The top ten couldn't be completely devoid of articles discussing the "maritime ban" policy, otherwise it would inevitably be seen as biased. So, choosing the best from the worst, only eight important officials included this one article.

There are also two essays on "agriculture and sericulture," which are somewhat scholarly in nature, but they each have some merit.

The top three articles all received at least one "A-level" and one "A-level" grade, and the following articles all received at least one "A-level" or higher grade.

After seeing it this way, she was somewhat satisfied with the talent of this year's candidates.

Immediately, she picked up the last article, and her eyes paused slightly the moment she saw it.

Two breaths later, his eyes returned to normal.

"The Agricultural and Sericultural Strategies..."

She softly read out the title of the essay, slightly raised her chin, and a strange light suddenly shone in her eyes.

"...Your subject respectfully notes: Agriculture is the foundation of the world, and the lifeblood of the people..."

"...To ensure the well-being of farmers, taxes and laws are essential..."

"...Taxes should be levied leniently on the people, and laws should be stricter than those imposed on plundered land..."

"...Those who manage agriculture are wise men who plan for it, through taxes and laws. The common people suffer, their problems lie in the heavens, the earth, and the tools they use."

"...Nothing is more important than governing the people of a province..."

"...the tools are oxen, farming implements, and waterwheels..."

"..."

When she first read the article, the corners of her lips curved slightly, as if she found it quite interesting.

After reading the "argument," the corners of his lips involuntarily tightened, his gaze became more serious, and his hand unconsciously moved the essay closer to his face.

When the article detailed "...Qin used heavy laws...Han used light taxes and levies...Tang used the system of military households and the two-tax system...Until the founding emperor of our dynasty, the system of military households was established..." her eyes narrowed and she held her breath.

Then, when the other person wrote from "Great men plan for taxes and laws" to "Common people suffer for heaven, earth, and tools," her gaze lingered for a long time. It took her a while to finish reading the entire article.

"Hoo..." Her mind was racing with thoughts, and she let out a soft breath.

After a while, he looked at Zhu Qian behind him.

The first two "A-level" and one "C-level" are too different; it's time to ask others to evaluate them together.

She glanced at it and, sure enough, there were a bunch of other important officials' assessments behind it.

Grand Secretary Liu rated it "Superior Grade A", Grand Secretary Gao rated it "Average Grade A", Minister Xiao rated it "Average Grade B", and another person rated it "Average Grade C", so the opinions were extremely mixed.

half an hour.

Her gaze softened, and she raised the "Agriculture and Sericulture Policy" in her hand, glancing at the Vice Minister of Rites standing at the head of the table, and said:

"Minister Zhao, this tenth-ranked essay is full of brilliant arguments and vigorous rhetoric. It traces the origins and development of the Three Dynasties and compares the Qin and Han dynasties to determine their merits and demerits. Hmm, it is top-notch, but it's a pity..."

She sighed.

"Your handwriting is rather ugly."

Zhao Silang's eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Although this article is magnificent, when selecting talents for the country, appearance and physique are also of paramount importance."

"The name of this person is listed at the end of the list of students. In my humble opinion, this person only managed to pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations because he was required to make copies of the texts. I believe that it is already a great favor from the Emperor that this person can be ranked in the second class. If he were to be ranked in the first class, he would truly be a laughing stock among experts."

Zhu Cuiwei frowned slightly and said:

"Why did three officials rate it as 'top-tier' and include it in the top ten?"

Zhao Silang smiled wryly:

"Minister Luan, Grand Academician Liu, and Vice Minister Jia all said that this article is not only a good guide to governing the country, but also has the literary sentiment of Zhao Ru and the fine spirit of the Han and Tang dynasties. They highly praised it and requested that it be included in the top ten."

"At its core, it is probably because both Minister Luan and Vice Minister Jia came from farming backgrounds, and upon seeing this person's high praise for the old farmer, they couldn't help but feel moved by his sentiments."

He originally wanted to say "inevitably misled by others", but felt that this would make him seem somewhat arbitrary, so he simply said "I am grateful for this sentiment".

Zhu Cuiwei said, "The other officials who did not rate this person as a first-class official..."

She squinted, as if deep in thought, and said:

"It seems they are all talking about things that are offensive and offensive."

Zhao Silang nodded and said:

"His Majesty's judgment is wise. Minister Xiao then said, 'If this person's calligraphy were even slightly better, he would surely be the top scholar!'"

"Oh? Lord Xiao also said so..." Zhu Cuiwei frowned, and after a while, said, "Then what does Lord Zhao think?"

Zhao Silang, with his graceful demeanor and imposing presence, smiled and said:

"Your Majesty, I have read the examination paper on your behalf, and my opinion is quite similar to that of Minister Xiao. I also feel that if this person's handwriting were not so bad, he would have been the top scholar! It's just a pity... Alas... What a pity! ... I beg Your Majesty not to think that I am just repeating what others have said." He spoke with a sigh and bowed slightly.

At this moment, Zhu Cuiwei sighed, nodded, and placed this article at the beginning of all the volumes, saying:

"Since even Lord Zhao has said so, I cannot go against your wishes, so..."

She put down the case file, her expression seemingly troubled, and gritted her teeth, saying:

"Click on this person to become the top scorer!"