Chapter 060: Hit the mark
With an idea for solving the problem, Shen Yichen wrote quickly, and soon two essays based on the Four Books and Eight-Part Essays appeared on the paper.
When it came to the five-character six-rhyme test poem, this time Shen Yichen did not just write it casually to get by, but chose the rhymes very seriously, at least to ensure that the test poem would not become a stumbling block for him.
Perhaps because he was becoming more and more familiar with the rules of this era, Shen Yichen felt that his goals and ambitions were growing bigger and bigger.
The reason for choosing the imperial examination in the first place was simply to escape the despised identity of being the son of a maid. The ranking was not important, as long as one passed.
Now, as he progressed step by step, Shen Yichen realized that as long as he made good use of the resources around him, he was no worse than the average official's son. The reason why he was doing so badly in the past was mainly because he was too lazy.
If a person cannot even make himself strong, why should others look up to him, just because he is the illegitimate son of Chengguo Zhu Yong?
Seriously speaking, there is nothing wrong with relying on this, and no one would dare to mess with such a playboy, but the prerequisite is that he must be included in the family tree and be recognized by Zhu Yong. Without this prerequisite, there is no point in discussing it.
Now Shen Yichen wants to be at the top even more, the reason is just like the college entrance examination in later generations. Graduates from 985 and 211 are more valued than ordinary undergraduates. The same is true for the imperial examination rankings. If you get the first place, others will look up to you!
When the last stroke was made, Shen Yichen copied the answer and stood up to hand in the paper. Having enjoyed the benefit of handing in the paper early once, Shen Yichen was unwilling to give this opportunity to others.
Yingtian Prefecture Governor Li Min and others had originally thought that many candidates would not be able to answer today's underworld question, and even if they finally figured it out, it would take a long time.
Unexpectedly, just at noon, some people had already handed in their papers ahead of time. Who was so confident?
You have to know that this is not a county exam and there is no mandatory registration threshold. The provincial exam itself is for the best candidates who have been selected before, so there is no possibility of writing .
As the visitors gradually walked in, an expression of "as expected" appeared on the face of the prefect Li Mindu. It seemed that winning the Winter Solstice Poetry Competition was not a coincidence, and there was a reason why the top scholar Lin Zhen accepted a student as his disciple.
Only a person with great talent can solve the problem and hand in the paper so quickly!
"Your Excellency, I request an on-the-spot interview."
If Shen Yichen passively accepted the success in the county examination, then in this on-the-spot interview for the prefectural examination, Shen Yichen will take the initiative!
It is indeed as Lin Zhen said, sometimes when strength has accumulated to a certain level, it should be displayed appropriately, and fine clothes and a strong horse are in line with the temperament of a young man.
"Well, you have courage!"
The prefect Li Min praised happily. He thought that his evil test questions would cause a big collapse of the candidates in this prefectural examination. If it affected his own assessment, or he was rated as a low grade in the "external inspection" of the external officials, it would be a loss of the greater for the smaller.
Now it seems that although the questions are a bit off-topic, as long as the candidates have solid knowledge, there will be no problem.
"Please ask the prefect to review the papers."
As Shen Yichen spoke, he placed the test paper on the desk. As the paper was slowly spread out, the extremely neat "Tai Ge style" also caught the eyes of the three examiners.
Li Min had seen Shen Yichen's handwriting once at the Winter Solstice Poetry Conference, so she was not very surprised.
But it was the first time for the examiner, the prefectural chancellor Du Shi, and the prefectural school professor Sima Yun to see Shen Yichen's calligraphy. When they saw that a teenager could write such beautiful calligraphy, they could not help but marvel at it .
"This handwriting is really pleasing to the eye. Many calligraphy masters are no better than this."
As a school official, the professor of the provincial school has met many literati and poets. In terms of calligraphy alone, there are not many who can be better than Shen Yichen in terms of neatness.
Even if there are some outstanding qualities, they are only based on the personal style accumulated over decades. The only flaw of Shen Yichen's handwriting is that it lacks some characteristics.
"Indeed, it is rumored that this boy has great literary talent. I didn't believe it at first, but today I believe it now."
Du Shi, the prefectural governor, agreed. As a local official in Nanjing, he had heard a lot of rumors about Shen Yichen. Even if the subsequent evaluation took a 180-degree turn, the first impression was there. It would be difficult to completely change one's opinion before meeting him in person.
Seeing this handwriting now, the impact it brings to people may be more direct than the article. Du Shi finally believes that the rumors are true.
"Everyone, you still have to read the article."
The two examiners were like "country bumpkins" who had never seen the world, but the prefect Li Min felt a sense of detachment. After all, I had seen them a long time ago and could be said to have a keen eye for talent.
Now you two should be calm. This handwriting is just a basic operation of Shen Yichen. There is nothing to be surprised about.
Li Min first saw the first question from the Four Books, an eight-part essay: In everything, preparation is the key to success, while lack of preparation leads to failure.
When Li Min was setting this question, he wanted to balance the difficulty of the cut-and-join questions, so he made it very simple. If a candidate can't even answer this question, it may not just be a problem of knowledge, and he should check how the county exam was passed.
So Shen Yichen's answer to this question is average and can be considered a top-notch essay, but there's nothing particularly outstanding about it.
But then again, with this kind of standard question, the "words of the sages" in the eight-part essay are basically fixed, and it is almost impossible to have literary talent.
So Li Min focused his attention on the second question, which was about the connection between two parts. If Shen Yichen could answer this question well, he would choose the one that suited him best without any hesitation!
While Li Min was marking the papers, several other candidates came to hand in their papers. They were Xu Donghai from Zhaowen Academy, Luo Zheng from Jiangning County, and Qin Xusheng, the top candidate from Shangyuan County.
Although Shen Yichen didn't know Xu Donghai and Luo Zheng, the two regarded him as their rival. When the county exam was announced, Shen Yichen topped the list and won the title of first place, while Xu Donghai was ranked second.
As for Luo Zheng, he should have been ranked second based on the level of his essay, but his family background was not as good as Xu Donghai's. In the end, the examiner Zhou Shun compromised and ranked him third.
The candidates naturally didn't know the ranking process behind the scenes, so Luo Zheng didn't regard Xu Donghai as his imaginary enemy. Since they wanted to fight for a ranking, they would definitely focus on the strongest person, and that person was Shen Yichen!
Shen Yichen had won the first place in the county examination, and he had to seize the initiative in this provincial examination no matter what.
But they didn't expect that even though they had tried their best to speed up, they were still one step slower than Shen Yichen. Could it be that this kid had an extra hand?
When Xu Donghai and his friends came to the case, they saw that Li Min was already reviewing Shen Yichen's test paper in class, and they felt extremely depressed. If they had been a little faster, they would have been the ones being reviewed by the examiner!
However, there was no possibility of queue-jumping in the provincial examination, and they did not dare to make any noise to disturb the prefect's train of thought. No matter how anxious they were, they could only stand behind Shen Yichen and wait obediently.
"Well written. This article is very original and unique, and it is a masterpiece of nature. Even I can't help but admire it!"
When Li Min saw that Shen Yichen's solution to the problem was "order", she was so shocked by the innovation that she felt like Shen Yichen had created a masterpiece by accident.
You should know that for this kind of topic, the only way to solve it from ancient times to the present is the word "ritual". To be more creative, you can add the word "virtue". No one has ever thought of solving it with "order".
To be honest, according to Li Min's previous evaluation criteria, as long as the question was correctly examined, he thought it would be acceptable. As for writing something new and brilliant, Li Min had never thought about it, as it was almost impossible for this group of students to do so in the provincial examination.
Facts have proved that I was wrong. Shen Yichen should be called a genius!
The exclamation of Yingtian Prefecture Governor also attracted the attention of the two examiners. Regardless of the other candidates watching in the hall, they all stood up and walked behind Li Min to look at Shen Yichen's test paper together.
"I didn't expect that besides his handwriting, his writing is so outstanding. He is really amazing at such a young age."
The chief academician of the Imperial College stroked his beard and nodded in praise. He had seen countless students, but only a few could reach the same level of thinking as Shen Yichen.
"Mr. Prefect, we can conduct the interview in class."
Du Shi, the prefectural chancellor, was more direct. He thought that with the level of Shen Yichen's two eight-part essays, the five-character six-rhyme test poem that followed was no longer important . Even if it was a mess, it would still meet the standard for selection, so he might as well conduct an interview in class in advance.
Hearing the words of the prefectural chancellor, Xu Donghai became a little anxious. The chance to speak to the chief examiner was only for one of the first few to hand in his paper. But it was very rare to get a place in the prefectural examination!
If this spot is taken by Shen Yichen, then my chances of being selected again will be very slim. This is not only about the quality of the essay, but also about the unspoken rules of the exam. It is impossible for multiple people to be selected in one exam.
Xu Donghai thought that his writing was as good as Shen Yichen's, so why should he be inferior to him in every aspect just because he was a few minutes late?
"Your Excellency, I, Xu Donghai, beg you to review this in class!"
Since Shen Yichen can review the papers in class, then I, Xu Donghai, can too! Lord Li, the prefect, has met him several times, and even once he was brought to see him by his cousin. He will definitely give him this face.
If it was an ordinary person who suddenly interrupted, Li Min would definitely think that the other party had no rules of respect. However, when he saw clearly that the person coming was Xu Donghai, he had to suppress his displeasure and nodded and replied: "Okay, then I will take a look at yours too."
After all, this is the cousin of Xu Qi, the Minister of War in Nanjing. He should be given this face. And to be honest, Li Min also knows Xu Donghai's knowledge and knows that he is not a playboy.
When the other two saw the prefect taking Xu Donghai's test paper, they also wanted to let him review it in class, but the problem was that they didn't have any relatives who were ministers of the current dynasty, so they didn't dare to act rashly and could only wait obediently.
After glancing at Xu Donghai's article, Li Min smiled and nodded, saying, "The article is well written. It can be seen that he has a solid academic foundation."
After saying that, Li Min picked up a red pen on the table.
Is this going to hit me?
Seeing Li Mindu's action, Xu Donghai couldn't help but feel ecstatic. As long as this red pen drew a circle on his test paper, it meant that he had passed the test.
Shen Yichen, Shen Yichen, so what if you hand in your paper quickly? Whether you can be selected depends on the quality of your essay!
But the next scene made Xu Donghai's ecstatic mood collapse instantly. After Li Min picked up the red pen, he moved it to Shen Yichen's paper and drew a circle.
Shen Yichen, hit the mark right away!
