Chapter 78
Although Lu Shang wanted to develop a career in the capital, he knew that now was not the time to concentrate on business.
He had to leave home when his wife was about to give birth. He had to do so because he had paid so much for the imperial examination, and he couldn't let it go in vain.
Not to mention that he originally wanted to make a name for himself in the officialdom, even if it was just to live up to Jiang Wanning's expectation of leaving her alone to give birth, he had to try his best to prepare for the Spring Examination in half a month.
Before coming to the capital, Jiang's father handed him a list. Most of the people on the list were court officials in the capital, and the one leading the list was a second-rank official. All of these people were disciples of Jiang's father and had close ties with the Jiang family.
Father Jiang meant that if Lu Shang encountered any difficult problems in the capital, he could use his relationship with these people to seek help. However, the Jiang family's misfortune was too sudden. From being imprisoned to being sentenced to exile, it took only two months. As a result, Father Jiang had no idea which of his many students had worked hard for him, and which ones had stood by and taken advantage of his misfortune.
Therefore, although he gave Lu Shang this list, he could not guarantee that everyone on the list could seek help, so he could only take it with him as a precaution.
Lu Shang spent two days to find out the people on the list, but he did not plan to visit them in person. He even burned the list just to be on the safe side and just memorized it in his mind.
While other students frequently attended poetry gatherings and banquets, Lu Shang changed his previous behavior. Except for eating, he rarely left his room and just stayed in the house to review.
He lived with Feng He and Pang Liang. Under his influence, the other two also quit many poetry gatherings, studied hard from morning till night, and vowed to achieve good results in the exam this year.
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of April and the imperial examination began as scheduled.
The chief invigilator of this joint examination was the current Zuo Cheng (left chancellor). One of the three deputy invigilators was on the list given by Jiang's father. His surname was Wang and he was currently serving as a lecturer in the Imperial Academy. He had been invigilating for two consecutive joint examinations and was also one of the main examiners. He was fond of flashy and pragmatic writing style.
After learning about the invigilators of the imperial examination, Lu Shang only made a special trip to inquire about their preferences. As for getting acquainted with the lecturer Wang in advance, he did not want to do so in order to avoid unnecessary trouble as the imperial examination was approaching.
The process of the joint examination was similar to that of the provincial examination, except that the examination time was changed from three days to six days. During these six days, candidates were not allowed to leave their rooms except to go to the toilet, and were not allowed to bring anything except paper and pens. As for food, bedding, etc., they were not allowed to bring them themselves since the new emperor ascended the throne. Instead, they would be distributed by officers and soldiers at the corresponding time.
Lu Shang was happy to see this change, as it would not only reduce the possibility of cheating, but also save him a lot of time worrying about trivial matters.
Before entering the examination room, he met with the other four people who had guaranteed each other safety, and checked each other's belongings. Soon, he lined up behind the inspection team, waiting for the officers and soldiers to check him. They did not separate until they entered the examination room and went to find their own rooms.
The gongs and drums sounded, the examination room door closed, and the exam officially began.
The imperial examination in Dazhao was divided into three sections: poetry and prose, interpretation of classics, and policy questions. The poetry section lasted one day, the interpretation of classics lasted two days, and the policy questions lasted three days. Students were not allowed to whisper to each other, nor were they allowed to hand in their papers early.
After Lu Shang got the test paper, he first read through all the questions. When he saw the policy questions that accounted for the most weight, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
He quickly calmed down and started answering from the beginning.
He had no talent for poetry and it was all thanks to Jiang Wanning that she gave him model essays that could handle most of the topics. He applied them impromptu, without any real emotion, just relying on technique.
Since he had no high pursuit for poetry and prose, as long as he could write according to the topic, he would not spend too much time on it. Within half a day of the examination, he had already written all four poetry and prose topics on the draft.
When he started writing, it was time for lunch distribution. Lu Shang simply stopped writing and waited until after lunch, and then continued copying in the afternoon.
Lunch was the simplest meal of white flour buns and cold water. Some students from wealthy families couldn't get used to it, but there was nothing they could do. They could only force themselves to eat half a bun, and when their stomachs stopped churning, they would continue answering questions in the afternoon.
Candidates were not allowed to bring their own candles to the Dazhao examination, and they were not distributed in the examination room. As a result, at night, the examination room was completely dark, and there was naturally no such thing as answering questions overnight.
Under the special training of Jiang Wanning and Jiang's father, Lu Shang's handwriting has improved a lot in the past two years. Although not comparable to the masters, it is at least neat and tidy.
Seeing that he still had plenty of time, he paid more attention when copying in the afternoon. Although his speed slowed down, there was no trace of any changes on the entire answer sheet. At a glance, it was a neat and beautiful answer sheet.
As night fell, the examination room became completely quiet.
Lu Shang's room was located in the very center of the examination hall, which was fine at first. However, at night, he could hear deafening snoring sounds coming from all around him. Every time he was about to fall asleep, he would suddenly wake up, which made him so angry that he almost cursed.
There is no doubt that he did not sleep well that night.
The next day, he had big dark circles under his eyes and exuded a low mood. Even when he opened the scriptures and saw the familiar questions, his face did not look much better.
There are a total of twelve questions on the meaning of the scriptures this year. Except for the last one which has a slightly new twist, the rest of the questions are quite standard and have all been explained by Jiang Wanning several times before.
Lu Shang had memorized all of this information long ago, and with Father Jiang's pointers, these questions were not difficult at all in his eyes. He didn't even need to make a draft and could answer them directly on the test paper.
When the exam ended the next day, he had completed most of his answers to the scriptures. He roughly estimated that if he had another morning tomorrow, he would be able to finish answering all the questions, which would leave him just enough time to catch up on some sleep in the afternoon.
The first three days passed smoothly. After Lu Shang had a half-afternoon's sleep, he didn't know whether it was because he was in a good mood or his brain had adapted to the environment, but at night, despite the snoring coming from all directions, he was able to sleep soundly.
Before the formal examination on the fourth day, the invigilator will collect the answer sheets from the first two exams and leave an hour of relaxation time for the candidates to move around in their rooms.
When it was time to answer the policy questions, the examination room became quiet again, with only the rustling of pages turning.
There are ten questions in total in the policy paper. The first two are arithmetic questions, one is routine and the other is complex. Most candidates can answer the routine questions. After all, being an official in the court is not like being asked to do accounting. As long as you are familiar with simple arithmetic skills, you can meet the requirements of being an official.
But the second complex question was different. The score of the second question accounted for a smaller proportion. Some people who were not good at arithmetic would skip it directly. But people like Lu Shang who were not better than others in poetry and prose would of course seize this opportunity to increase their score.
He first used modern arithmetic methods to calculate the problem, and after obtaining the correct answer, he applied Dazhao's algorithm to it, and Dong pinyinzigou was able to give a complete answer.
The following questions covered various aspects such as agriculture, industry, and people's livelihood, with current affairs accounting for the majority. Some asked about solutions to floods in the south, some asked about ways to help the people after the locust plague in the north, and some even asked about the recruitment policy for contemporary craftsmen... The scope of the questions was so wide that even Lu Shang couldn't help but be amazed, and what followed was his admiration for Jiang Wanning.
There is no other reason. All of the above are within the scope of teaching in private schools.
It was his first time to take part in the provincial and metropolitan examinations. After all, the provincial examination was a local examination. When he saw familiar questions in the examination room, he did not think much about it. It was not until he came to the metropolitan examination that he understood why an unknown private school could produce so many successful candidates.
Following Jiang Wanning's instructions, Lu Shang wrote down the answers on a piece of scratch paper. In addition to what Jiang Wanning had said, he also added some of his own opinions based on Jiang's father's advice.
In any case, he had seen the solutions that modern state machinery used to deal with natural disasters, and even if he just copied them verbatim, there would definitely be no mistakes.
Not to mention that he also made some improvements based on the current situation and used Jiang Wanning's method of connection. When this answer sheet was submitted, no one would be able to find any mistakes after reading it. It all depended on whether the points he and Jiang Wanning had thought of hit the mark of the examiner.
The first nine questions alone took Lu Shang two full days, and at this point, not only did he only have the last and most important question left, but he also hadn't copied the answer yet.
He realized that time was running out, so he had to skip three meals a day. He got up at dawn, ate a quick bite after dark, and then took the time to rest.
On the last day of the imperial examination, he spent the entire morning copying the first eight questions onto the examination paper, and finally set his sights on the last question -
Question: Can scholars and merchants be combined? If so, how should they be combined? If not, why not?
The gentry are noble and the merchants are lowly. This is a concept rooted in the minds of generations.
But Lu Shang could not forget his original intention of wanting to enter the officialdom. Wasn't it because he saw the merchants being oppressed and having a low status that he wanted to change?
He stared at the questions on the test paper for a long time.
Until the patrolling officers reminded: "There are only two hours left until the end of the exam!"
Lu Shang picked up the pen, but instead of writing on the draft paper, he wrote the answer directly on the answer sheet. At the beginning of his answer, he asked a rhetorical question -
Why not?
This question was one that neither Jiang Wanning nor Jiang's father had mentioned before, and Lu Shang had never thought that there would be such a question in the exam. However, when he actually started writing, he found that the whole article was written very smoothly, in one go, without any hesitation.
Bang——
"The exam is over, put down your pen—"
Lu Shang wrote the last stroke, and with the reminder of the officers and soldiers, he placed the brush on the small table next to him and let his hands fall on his knees.
The examination ended after six full days.
…
Just as Lu Shang finished answering and walked out of the examination room, Jiang Wanning and others who were far away in Songxi County City also began to look for experienced midwives and doctors.
After counting on my fingers, I found that there was only one month left before she gave birth.
Before leaving, Lu Shang repeatedly instructed that on the day of delivery, in addition to the midwife, two more doctors must be invited. In case anything goes wrong, the adult must be given priority.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
