Chapter 050: The Battle for the First Place
What?
When the two examiners heard County Magistrate Zhou say the words "first place in the case", they could hardly believe their ears.
Even if you really like this boy's writing talent, this is the first test paper. Who can guarantee that there won't be better ones among the thousands of students who will hand in their papers later?
Is it unfair to other candidates to decide the first place now?
In addition, when selecting students in class, in addition to checking the papers, a few questions will be asked to test the students.
This on-the-spot interview is to prevent the test questions from being leaked in advance and the possibility of the test paper being ghostwritten. If you can't answer the examiner's questions and the test paper is so well written, there must be something wrong .
County Magistrate Zhou did not do any of these, which was indeed somewhat against the rules. In addition, the previous call of "Mr. Shen" made it possible that this candidate really had connections behind the scenes?
The question is so eloquent, so why do those behind-the-scenes tricks? Isn't that just looking for trouble?
"Mr. County Magistrate, this matter is a little inappropriate. Why don't we take the middle ground first and then make a long-term plan?"
The county magistrate then spoke up to remind him that it would be fine if you were selected without any test, but you must not be confirmed as the top candidate.
If any student really refuses to accept the report, the consequences will be serious.
The county magistrate's reminder made Zhou Shun realize that he could not just choose Zhong as the first in the case, as he was violating the rules.
"What the county magistrate said is very true. I am sorry for being rude."
After finishing speaking, Zhou Shun looked at Shen Yichen below and replied: "The writing is good, you can be selected."
But then Zhou Shun suddenly changed the subject, looked into the distance and said: "The rain falls into the heart of the flower, and it becomes sweet and bitter in its own way."
Faced with this sudden remark by County Magistrate Zhou, if someone didn't understand, they would probably wonder what the hell he was talking about.
But this is in the county examination hall, the examiner will definitely not talk nonsense to you, so there is only one possibility left, that this sentence is a test on the spot.
In ancient times, the examination for selecting candidates was not a long speech as you might imagine, asking candidates to show off their talents. After all, time was limited, and the first few candidates had to hand in their papers before they could make a statement. If you were asked to brag here, would the rest of you still hand in your papers?
County Magistrate Zhou's behavior was such that he had already exceeded the time limit. Fortunately, Shen Yichen handed in his paper early and won the first place. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had so much time to talk nonsense. He was just polite and let him go.
Therefore, the examinations basically consisted of only a few simple dialogues, the most common form of which was couplets, because the parallelism of the eight-part essay was neat and in a sense it was also a form of couplets.
"Water returns to the vessel, each showing its square and circle."
Shen Yichen answered fluently without any hesitation.
"Good answer, get out now."
Zhou Shun nodded with satisfaction. He was sure that his judgment was correct. Shen Yichen's talent was indeed enough to make him the top candidate.
"Thank you, parents. I'm leaving now."
Shen Yichen bowed and retreated. Even at this moment, he still didn't dare to believe it. Was County Magistrate Zhou targeting me?
But the problem is that if you pass the exam in class, you should inform yourself that you don't need to take the next few county exams and skip to the prefectural exams, instead of just giving yourself a compliment and letting yourself go.
But then again, this situation has exceeded Shen Yichen's expectations. He had imagined that the best outcome of handing in the paper early would be for him to find an opportunity to apologize and admit his mistake, and that County Magistrate Zhou would give him a chance to be treated fairly and not give him any trouble.
Now it seems that although County Magistrate Zhou has a stern face, he does not mean to target me. Could there be some misunderstanding?
Shen Yichen muttered to himself as he walked towards the main entrance of the examination room. If he wanted to know what exactly happened, he could only wait for the case to be discovered in the future.
As soon as Shen Yichen left, other students came out of their dormitories, also wanting to talk to the chief examiner, County Magistrate Zhou. Maybe he could solve the problem well and get a place in the exam, so he could relax in the next four county exams.
It’s just a pity that Zhou Shun’s attitude was obviously different when facing these students. The conversations were very formulaic and no one was chosen correctly.
However, there were also several test papers of students from large academies, which were put aside by Zhou Shun. These were all excellent essays that solved the problem, and the first place winner would be selected from them in the future.
The exam time kept passing, and with the three gong sounds of "clang clang clang", the first session of the county exam ended. The candidates who had not finished writing were stopped by the military service, and their papers were taken away.
The imperial examination was cruel. Before the marking of the papers even began, faint cries could be heard from several places in the examination hall in Xiajiang.
As for Shen Yichen, he returned to the inn early and took a nap.
You have to know that you have to get up in the middle of the night to prepare for the county exam, plus all the waiting time in line. The moment you actually enter the examination room, you are already physically and mentally exhausted, not to mention the state after the exam.
Just when Shen Yichen was half asleep and half awake, the door of the room was pushed open, and Zhao Hongjie, Li Da and others rushed in.
"Good fellow, we waited at the gate for a long time after leaving the examination room, but I didn't expect you to come back and sleep!"
Li Da and others also handed in their papers early, but their reason for doing so was different from Shen Yichen's. They simply finished most of their papers and couldn't think of anything else to write if they sat any longer, so they simply handed in their papers early and went out to stretch their bodies.
As a result, they waited at the door for a long time, and the exam was completely over, but they didn't see Shen Yichen coming out.
It was Zhao Hongjie who was smarter. He thought that Shen Yichen might have left early, so he and his group rushed back to the inn in a mighty manner. Sure enough, they found that he had already handed in his paper and returned!
"What else? Standing at the door and getting cold?"
Shen Yichen handed in his paper too early. There was still an hour or two before the end of the exam. He was not sure when Zhao Hongjie and others would be able to come out, so he simply went back first.
But I didn't expect that the other party would be waiting for me at the door.
"Then when did you hand in your paper? I was one of the first few to do so."
Li Da felt a little dissatisfied. There were only a handful of people who handed in their papers earlier than him. How could Shen Yichen be so fast?
“It should be the first one.”
The area of the dormitory is so large and is divided into different areas. Shen Yichen is not sure whether he will be the first one, so he added the word "should".
"The first one? You didn't hand in a blank paper, did you?"
Li Da was shocked. He realized that he had only answered one question from the Four Books and was among the first few to hand in his paper.
Shen Yichen is actually the first one, so doesn’t that mean it’s not written at all?
"Brother, do you think I am you?"
Shen Yichen replied angrily that leaving a blank paper would mean cutting off one's path to the imperial examination, and it would be impossible to hand in a blank paper even if one wrote something sloppy.
Only a son of a military general like Li Da, who is so lazy that he no longer cares about fame and honor in the imperial examination, would hand in the paper after finishing just one question.
"Awesome, you are worthy of being the big brother!"
Upon hearing that Shen Yichen did not hand in a blank paper, the fat white man Zhang Qi started to flatter him very appropriately.
"Brother, you are an unrivalled writer. You will definitely win first place this time."
"That's right, big brother is really the incarnation of the literary star!"
Maybe Li Da has developed a habit. Now that Shen Yichen has become the big brother, this group of younger brothers from the outer courtyard have begun to flatter him.
Faced with this kind of corny flattery, Shen Yichen couldn't help but shudder, and then replied: "Don't try to use this trick, just tell me, what do you want from me?"
"What's the matter? I didn't get to eat at Zuixianlou yesterday, so of course I have to make up for it today!"
Li Da waved his hand, pulled up Shen Yichen and prepared to charge towards Zuixianlou. Last night, he was ruined by that filthy bastard Zhu Qingyu, and he had to make it up to him today.
Given Li Da's size and strength, Shen Yichen had little room to resist and could only be dragged out of the room.
Shen Yichen and others went to Zuixianlou to have a good meal. Inside the Jiangning County government office, the chief examiner Zhou Shun and two co-examiners were having a headache facing the room full of test papers.
Thousands of test papers must be reviewed today, and this is only the first round of exams. There will be a second review tomorrow, a third review the day after tomorrow, and two consecutive review rounds on the fourth and fifth days!
If we add up the five-day test papers, excluding some that you don't plan to complete, there would probably be tens of thousands of them.
Therefore, in order to improve efficiency, most test papers will only read the beginning. If you deviate from the topic even a little bit, no matter how brilliantly you write the rest of the essay, there is no chance that they will read on.
Marking papers for several hours in a row, even if his movements were as fast as scanning the beginning in a few seconds, made Zhou Shun feel dizzy after a long time.
In comparison, Zhou Shun was still relatively young. The county teacher was already over fifty years old. His eyes were blurry and the candlelight smoked him so much that he burst into tears. Even Zhou Shun couldn't bear to see such a miserable sight.
But there was no other way. Even the most basic county examination papers could not be read by others at will. I could only grit my teeth and persevere with my two examiners.
After staying up until midnight, they finally finished reading the last few test papers. The three of them gathered in front of the desk and began to discuss which students were selected to go directly to the academy examination. There was also another important matter, which was who would be selected as the top candidate in the county examination!
The Jiangning County Tutor spoke first, pointing to the examination papers on the table and said, "Mr. County Magistrate, here are five examination papers, all of which are excellent works of today, and the first place can be selected from them."
"Teacher Lin, there are still four exams to go. Is it too early to decide the first place now?"
The magistrate of Jiangning County expressed his objection. The county examination consists of five parts. Although the first part accounts for the largest proportion, it does not mean that the next four parts are unimportant.
Now that the first place has been decided directly, what should we do if a better article comes out later?
"Mr. County Magistrate has a point, but the main point has always been the most important thing in history. Even if there are other excellent works in the future, it will be difficult to be ranked first."
Teacher Lin insisted on his own opinion, because the content and difficulty of the questions in subsequent rounds such as the initial review and the secondary review were actually gradually reduced.
Since the difficulty is different, the judging criteria cannot be the same.
Another point is that when the list of successful candidates is released, the top-ranked scholars will relax, and the quality of the following essays will inevitably decline. Some even simply give up the following exams and prepare directly for the April provincial exam.
Therefore, according to the rules and principles of fairness, the first place in the county examination must be decided today. If we are really afraid of causing controversy in the public opinion, we can choose to keep it secret for the time being.
Seeing the teacher's attitude, the county magistrate also realized that it would be difficult to change the old scholar's mind.
So he simply said the candidate in his mind: "In this case, I think Xu Donghai, the prodigy of Zhaowen Academy, can be the first choice!"
