Chapter 059 Advanced Cheating
After leaving Duzhi Tower, Shen Yichen was led to the dormitory by a clerk. However, the clerk who led the way this time could not be described as polite, and it would not be an exaggeration to call him flattering.
He greeted Shen Yichen with a smile the whole time and even took him to the "Lao She" with the best seat. It was not known whether this was the treatment for the top scorer in the county examination or if it had anything to do with the prefect Li Min, but it was unusual.
After entering the cell, Shen Yichen arranged his stationery as usual, and then waited patiently for the sign to announce the test questions.
The prefectural examination is one of the three examinations in the initial stage of the imperial examination. It is a transitional examination in the middle. The content of the examination is the same as that of the county examination, but there are only two examinations, and the first one is still the most important.
Also, the second round of the provincial examination is very casual and can be seen as a complete make-up exam. Theoretically, if you are passed in the first round, there is no need to take the second round and you can directly jump to the final college examination stage.
While Shen Yichen was waiting, Zhu Qingyu and others also entered the dormitory. However, unlike Shen Yichen who arranged the stationery first, Zhu Qingyu attached great importance to the examination basket containing food and winter clothes.
While the patrolling soldiers were away, Zhu Qingyu cleared out all the items in the examination basket, then found a few specially woven bamboo strips and carefully pulled them out.
If you look closely with a magnifying glass at this time, you can find that these bamboo strips are densely carved with fonts, comparable to modern micro-carvings.
Although the ancient imperial examinations were strictly supervised and the punishment for cheating was severe, cheating in the examinations still occurred frequently.
After all, as long as one crosses the threshold of the imperial examination, it will bring not only money and fame, but also the improvement of the entire social class. Under such a great temptation, it is impossible to stop cheating in the imperial examination.
The stupidest way to cheat is to bring cheat sheets, which will be discovered when you are searched in the examination room. You will then be expelled from the examination and put in shackles to warn other candidates.
A more high-tech method is to write the answers on the inner layer of clothes using salt water or squid juice. After entering the examination room, the writing will appear when heated with a candle. This method is called "silver halide development".
The squid ink technique is a step higher, after all, in addition to physics knowledge, chemical theory is also used. The method is to mix squid ink with a special transparent fish bone glue, write on the clothes half a year in advance, and as the protein decomposes, the ink will turn transparent.
When it comes to the exam, the sweat on your body will restore the adhesiveness of the fish bone glue, and the handwriting will be visible just by sprinkling a little dust on it.
Originally, this cheating method was top secret, but unfortunately it encountered the ruthless Qianlong, who even ordered the candidates to soak their clothes in water for three days in advance. No matter whether it was salt water or squid juice, it was all useless.
Those who are more technical are like Zhu Qingyu now, using the "miniature" and "meter-engraving" methods.
"Miniature" is to use mouse whiskers to make special "mouse hair" and then write super small fonts, so that it can be easily carried. "Rice carving" is micro-carving, which was popular in the Ming Dynasty. It was called "ghost craftsmanship" in the early days. The most powerful one can carve a whole poem on a grain of rice, but the price is to go blind.
Of course, there is the last simple and crude approach, which is to simply bribe the examiners, invigilators, military inspectors, etc. with money or power.
Everyone in the examination room is mine, what can you use to catch me cheating?
With the sound of a gong, the provincial examination officially began, and all candidates were ready. Zhu Qingyu also quickly hid a few bamboo sticks. After all, he was not so powerful that he was all my people. If he was discovered by the patrol soldiers, the consequences would be serious.
The soldiers holding the placards began to move back and forth between the cells, and Shen Yichen soon saw the questions for the provincial examination.
The first question from the Four Books: In everything, preparation leads to success, while lack of preparation leads to failure.
When Shen Yichen saw this question, he was quite surprised. It was not because the question was difficult, but because it was too easy.
This question comes from the 20th chapter of "The Doctrine of the Mean", where Duke Ai asks about government. Translated, it means that no matter what you do, if you prepare in advance, you will succeed, otherwise you will fail.
Such a simple and straightforward truth, even in later generations, as long as you are not one of the people who have escaped the nine-year compulsory education, you will understand that it means that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared.
In the imperial examination, questions like this that are unambiguous and have clear citations can be called easy-to-score questions.
Just when Shen Yichen was wondering why the questions were so simple, he glanced down and saw the second question, and instantly understood the reason.
Because this second question is a fucking hell of a question!
The content of the test question is: Your wife has sexual desire.
According to the common people's understanding and thinking, this sentence can be divided into sections as "Mrs. Jun". If Yang Huo wants to continue writing along this line of thought, what he will get will be a complete pornographic article.
The problem lies in such an important examination as the imperial examination. Will the examiner give you a topic for a short essay?
So there is no doubt that this seemingly nonsensical test question is definitely made up of a few words taken from two completely different sentences and mixed together.
If you want to solve the problem, you must find the original text.
Even someone as smart as Shen Yichen, who had memorized the Four Books by heart, still found it difficult to suddenly think of which book or where this sentence came from.
As for the other candidates, they complained a lot when they saw this kind of question, and one could vaguely hear them grumbling and sighing.
"quiet!"
A majestic shout, accompanied by a warning gong, suppressed the complaints.
In the Duzhi Building, several examiners could vaguely sense the candidates' complaints. Sima Yun, the professor of the prefectural school, turned to Li Min and said, "Sir, it seems that the second question is a bit off the mark, and not many candidates can answer it."
"I know."
When Li Min said this, there was a hint of helpless smile on the corner of his mouth.
As the chief examiner and also the one who sets the questions, how could he not know that this kind of question is a kind of underworld question?
But the problem is that Li Min is very sad and he has no choice.
The regulations for the imperial examination required that all test questions must be selected from the Four Books. As a result, after thousands of years of examinations, basically all possible test questions had been used up.
Think about it, there are ten questions from the Four Books in five county examinations, four in the prefectural examination, and several more in the academy examination. There are so many counties and prefectures in the entire Ming Dynasty, so on average, there are thousands of questions in the examination every year, which is not too much, right?
Not to mention that after passing the examination to become a scholar, there are more advanced examinations such as the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, the palace examination, etc., which also require finding various test questions from the Four Books.
The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius, etc., all together contain only a few tens of thousands of words, so the later the dynasty, the more difficult it is to set normal questions.
Being forced into a corner, the test setters could only find ways to piece together information from the Four Books and come up with the so-called patchwork questions.
Many times, it seems that the questions are made to prank the candidates. In a sense, the rigid examination system of the imperial examination, such as the eight-legged essay, is making fun of everyone.
"The test questions are indeed a bit difficult, but they can also better test the students' abilities. I guess each has its own advantages and disadvantages."
The prefectural chancellor Du Shi helped Li Min by saying that he had also risen through the ranks step by step. When he was a county magistrate, his biggest headache was setting the questions for the annual county examination, so he could deeply understand the pain in the prefect heart.
The examiners may still be able to find some excuses to explain the problem, but the candidates have no choice at all; no matter how difficult the question is, they have to find a way to answer it.
Shen Yichen pondered for a long time and finally understood how this test question was put together.
The term "Jun Furen" comes from " The Analects of Confucius: Ji Shi". It does not represent a specific lady, but refers to the wife of the monarch, so it is abbreviated as Jun Furen.
What the Analects originally wanted to express was that the rituals and music of the Spring and Autumn Period had collapsed, the titles of the princes' legitimate concubines were confused, there was no distinction between superiors and subordinates, and all wives were collectively called the monarch's wives.
The word Yang Huo is relatively simple. It comes from "The Analects of Confucius·Yang Huo". Here it refers to a person's name, not some indescribable thing. His name is Yang Huo.
In the original text of the Analects, Yang Huo wanted to meet Confucius, but was turned away. The reason was that Yang Huo was originally a retainer of Ji Shi, but eventually seized power from the head of the family, Ji Shi. Confucius was very disgusted with such usurpation of power and naturally did not want to meet him.
In fact, after careful analysis, this question is not particularly difficult. The reason is that the word "Yang Huo" is a unique name in the Four Books and Five Classics, and it is easy for people to think of its source.
The most feared thing about patchwork questions is synonyms. There are many synonyms in the Four Books, and you have no idea which one the question setter is referring to.
Take the noun "gongzi" for example. If you have to use this word in a question, it will be fatal. Because in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the sons of princes were all called various gongzi. You can easily find ten or eight of them. Can you tell which gongzi the examiner is referring to?
Shen Yichen considered the relationship between the two nouns and concluded that the key to solving the problem lies in the word "li".
Whether it is the lack of hierarchy or the act of usurping power, it is all impolite.
It can be said that if you study the ancient eight-part essay thoroughly, it is not as mysterious as you first encounter it. If you look carefully, you will be able to find the key to solving the problem.
However, Shen Yichen vaguely felt that there were other ways to solve the problem, because "ritual" was too common, and if he could think of it, others could think of it as well.
If you want to write an outstanding essay, besides having good writing skills, you also need to have an excellent idea, and at the same time you must not let the examiner think that you have deviated from the topic.
After much thought, Shen Yichen decided to start with the word "order", which would also echo the question of the collapse of rituals and music, and be more original.
In a sense, Shen Yichen's move was a gamble. If the gamble was right, he would be able to pass the prefectural examination, and even get the top spot in the prefectural examination, thus ending his embarrassing status of still being a schoolboy after several years of studying.
The worst outcome of a wrong bet is to get kicked out and go home, but Shen Yichen had previously won the first place in the county case, so in theory he would be treated preferentially. As long as he was not wrong by a ridiculous amount, the examiner would still give him a pass, but his ranking would not be too high.
The solution to the problem, "order", was not too far-fetched even if it was a little off-base. Besides, he was also familiar with the examiner, Li Min, so he shouldn't be stuck.
It was precisely because of this guaranteed bottom line that Shen Yichen decided to take a gamble and try to see if he could turn his bicycle into a motorcycle.
After all, in addition to the "Big Three Yuans", the county examination also has a title called "Small Three Yuans". No scholar can resist the temptation of winning the three yuan in a row!
