Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 436: Palace Examination
On October 30th of the first year of Han Xingshun, which was also the first year of Chu, the imperial examination of Chu was held in Jinling.
For this purpose, the Ministry of Rites specially requisitioned the Jinling University under construction "outside the city" and first arranged the already built part as the examination hall...
After all, it was the first imperial examination. Although the really famous bigwigs still took the route of recommendation, most of the participants were young people with unknown reputations, but those who dared to come had some foundation and ambition. Besides... because they didn't understand it and couldn't cheat, no cheating was discovered.
Of course, although the white map has made the Ministry of Rites remember it carefully, it is still far from being like the imperial examinations in the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, which still included body searches and other procedures.
In the Ministry of Rites... no, in the eyes of almost everyone at this time, no one would be so shameless, and it is even more wrong to "humiliate" these educated scholars just because of such a tiny possibility.
More anti-cheating measures are taken to prevent cheating by proxy!
Bai Tu did not specifically object to this.
That's indeed the truth - before actually catching cheaters, they have to be searched right at the beginning of the imperial examination? If it were Bai Tu, he would also feel that this is a humiliation!
There is no need to rush. Wait until you catch the first person who cheats in, then criticize him/her and then gradually become more strict.
When the time comes, the students will scold those shameless people...
Before heading to the examination hall, the team of thousands of candidates first listened to the King of Chu's emotional speech and encouragement at the Dianjiangtai, then went to the "Humin Temple" to pay homage to the heroes enshrined there, and then went to Jinling University.
Because the "county" level was to be gradually abolished, the name of "county school" naturally had to be de-countyized, and Bai Tu directly called it "university" - the same name as the essay "Xiao Dai Li Ji" and "University" which is now subordinate to "Book of Rites", but it did not come from this. Bai Tu was talking about the "university".
It was already afternoon when we entered Jinling University. The examination room arranged by the Ministry of Rites had small seats separated by screens. After taking the exam, candidates could move around, eat and sleep in Jinling University on their own. During the three-day examination period, candidates were not allowed to leave Jinling University without permission.
Watching the Chu State Ministry of Rites organizing the "driving" of thousands of people into Jinling University, the envoys who watched the ceremony either remained silent or took a deep breath, contributing to global warming...
Thousands of "literati" who have undergone preliminary screening, what kind of mobilization power is this?
If the master wants to imitate him, not to mention other obstacles, the prestige alone is far from enough - appeal is undoubtedly one of the direct manifestations of prestige.
And some people have begun to notice that the rural and county schools in Chu...
I'm afraid that in the future it won't just be a difference in appeal. Within ten years, there will be a fundamental gap in the base!
"Will you all follow me into Jinling University? If you do, you won't be able to come out until three days later." Bai Tu asked the envoys from all parties with special emphasis.
It actually has no practical significance.
Bai Tu just wanted to set an example to weaken the possible dissatisfaction among the candidates - no one is allowed to enter or leave during the imperial examination period, and this king is no exception!
Of course, if there is an emergency, that's another story...
After all, today’s “candidates” are not as “worthless” as the scholars during the imperial examinations in the Ming and Qing dynasties!
Firstly, it is true that there are far fewer "literati" nowadays than in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Secondly, they have not been tamed by the imperial examination system. They do not study hard for ten years just to serve the emperor one day. Most of them are from aristocratic families.
The top priority for Bai Tu and the Ministry of Rites was not the issue of cheating, but the worry that someone would boycott the exam by cursing.
So in general, the standards for food, clothing, housing and transportation are still very high, and Bai Tu will apparently eat and live with the candidates!
If the examinees were given the same examination environment as during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it would be unimaginable...
It is estimated that more than half of the candidates would boycott the exam that day, and after returning home they would curse Kong Rong, Guan Ning and Hua Xin - even though Guan Ning and Hua Xin were not in Jinling at all, but who made you from the Ministry of Rites?
What? Scold Baitu?
They probably wouldn't dare to do so. At most they would hide at home and curse. Otherwise, the common people who use the essence of Shennong and Bai Gongli would spontaneously destroy the results of the Ministry of Justice's legal education - as we all know, throwing feces in front of someone's door is also illegal!
Bai Tu's personal compliance with the rules is undoubtedly the best authority for these rules...
This is the first palace examination, so I don’t have to accompany you every time in the future.
As for the others... Bai Tu was no exception, and Jian Yong, Liu Ye and others were naturally no exception, and they really wanted to go in and take a look!
They all entered with Bai Tu as they wished.
Of course, they did not go to the examination room to answer questions, but came in to visit. There was nothing to keep secret in this regard, and it could not be kept secret, so it was better to be generous. Bai Tu even made an active promotion.
In this way, if other princes also take the "imperial examination" or do something similar, the person who finally stands out through this will also give some thanks to the State of Chu, which is a sure win!
Looking at the relatively orderly examination process, this was undoubtedly also promoting the soft power of the Chu State. Details such as obscure names and transcription of Chengji were also secretly noted down by Jian Yong, Liu Ye and other interested people.
Finally, Jian Yong couldn't hold back his temper and asked, "Your Highness, King of Chu, may I borrow your country's imperial examination papers to have a look?"
"Of course you can, but you can't tell anyone else about it before the exam is over." Bai Tu was not worried that someone would ask them to cheat.
This volume of paper is indeed not easy to produce. It is even more difficult to produce than after the rules of the imperial examinations in later generations were clarified!
After all, this first imperial examination was open to all scholars, and their knowledge was influenced by the mainstream, mainly Confucianism, but since most of them were from aristocratic families, who knows if some of them had some family knowledge in other areas, and some poor families might have hidden the only copy of the pre-Qin Dynasty...
Not to mention marking the key points, there aren’t even any textbooks!
However, Bai Tu also has his own way. There are seven subjects in this imperial examination - the six ministries and the Privy Council each wrote their own test papers.
It mainly consists of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Since there are no designated official school textbooks, there are no fill-in-the-blanks. The rural schools do directly study Bai Tu’s primer, but you can’t ask about the Three Character Classic in the palace examination, right?
Simply, each department sets its own questions, and the examination papers of the six ministries and the Privy Council are not weighted differently, and the final total score is not compared...
The basic part of the test paper of the Ministry of Rites is biased towards values, and the extended part is the interpretation of various classics from various schools of thought; the basic part of the test paper of the Ministry of Criminal Justice is based on the selection of "Chu Law", and the extended part is the conviction of bizarre cases and the logical reasoning of simulated cases...
There is a minimum score requirement for the basic part!
The other four ministries and the Privy Council do not have a basic part, nor do they have a lower limit. It doesn't matter if you hand in a blank paper in a certain subject. The Ministry of Civil Affairs tests on simulated engineering, the Ministry of Revenue tests on simulated accounts, the Ministry of Personnel tests on simulated acceptance of projects and simulated verification of accounts, and the Privy Council naturally tests on military strategy. The Ministry of Works... Well, few people can understand the Ministry of Works.
As long as you reach the minimum score limit for the basic parts of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice , and the other parts are graded separately, you will be considered passed if you are selected by one of them.
The test papers are also made up of multiple-choice and subjective questions. Although there are no official scriptures, you can quote as much as you like from the works you have read to show off your erudition...
Bai Tu has also seen these test papers. If he is also a candidate this time and cannot use a mobile hard drive... Bai Tu estimates that with his experience of watching more than a thousand episodes of Conan, he still has a chance to be admitted to the Ministry of Criminal Justice!
