"Father, there has always been a lot of cheating during the imperial examinations. This year's exams are about to begin again. I have a suggestion. We can add a preventive measure to the existing ones."
"Oh?" The emperor raised his eyebrows slightly. "Your idea sounds quite innovative."
The exam is just a few days away. Is it too late to come up with new ideas now?
The eldest prince clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, Father. As long as you think this method is feasible, we can quickly handle everything even if the exam starts tomorrow."
Hearing this, the emperor became interested: "Then go on."
"In fact, this method is very simple. It is based on the existing system and allows candidates from two adjacent regions to exchange their answer sheets."
Seeing a flicker of excitement in the emperor's eyes, the eldest prince said firmly, "This way, even if someone wants to find a local official through the back door, it will be useless."
The original rule was that after receiving the candidates' answer sheets, all personal information would be hidden and then transcribed by a designated person.
Although this practice can prevent examiners from favoring a student by accepting money, there will always be some people who take advantage of loopholes.
For example, some candidates discuss with the examiners in advance to add special codes or signal words in their essays so that the examiner can recognize them and give them high scores.
The imperial court has always been troubled by this problem and has been unable to find a solution.
"In addition, the location of the test paper can be changed several times, which makes it more difficult to guess the secret and can greatly reduce cheating."
After hearing this, the emperor was delighted and said, "That's a great idea! Let's try it out this year!"
The eldest prince bowed again and said, "I would be honored if I could help share my father's worries."
There was a satisfied smile on the emperor's face.
However, he soon frowned again and raised another headache-inducing question: "What if something unexpected happens while transporting these test papers?"
Paper is very fragile and can be destroyed by a spark, wind or rain.
In general, there is a high possibility of errors during transportation, and once problems occur, the consequences are often very serious.
This question obviously stumped the eldest prince, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer.
Standing next to him, Chen Rang, who was as straight as a bamboo, was quietly recording the entire conversation.
Seeing that the eldest prince was thinking, he bowed to the emperor.
"Aiqing Shen, do you have any good ideas?"
"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we do not need to actually move the exam papers; we can simply relocate the examiners. Transporting thin sheets of paper is extremely risky; if something goes wrong along the way, it's irreparable. However, if we have the examiners relocate to a nearby location, we can avoid such problems."
Shen Rang explained.
The eldest prince also agreed: "Indeed, I thought so too, but Lord Shen said it first!"
Afterwards, Shen Rang saluted again and returned to his seat to continue taking notes.
Looking at his eldest son, the emperor smiled with satisfaction. "Your ideas are all very good. I will arrange them as soon as possible. I am tired today. Go back and rest first."
The eldest prince then took his leave.
Not long after, this matter reached the ears of the prince.
"How shameless!" said the old man on the side angrily.
The prince soothed him, "Don't be angry, Grand Master. This brother has always acted this way. If there are new proposals in the future, I will definitely handle them more carefully."
The current Grand Tutor is named He Fenghua. He serves as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and is one of the emperor's most trusted ministers. He was also the prince's childhood teacher.
The two of them can talk about anything.
This method of changing the scrolls was actually figured out by the prince from ancient books.
However, when he was about to tell the emperor about this idea, the eldest prince Gong Lue got there first.
"Who was in the room when you were talking to the prince that day?" He Fenghua whispered.
The prince thought about it and shook his head: "They are just the people who usually serve me."
He Fenghua sighed and said, "It seems that the servants in the East Palace need to be properly reorganized."
The prince waved his hand and said, "Forget it. If we act rashly, we might give the other party an opportunity to take advantage of us, and it would only cause trouble."
As he spoke, he took a sip of tea, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.
On the other side, Wen Zhu received a string of gadgets designed in the shape of little rabbits.
Among them are handicrafts that can be used as ornaments, and several pendants that can be used as hanging decorations, all of which are rabbit-themed.
Wen Zhu looked at these with confusion and asked, "Are these all gifts from the prince?"
Jing Yuan nodded in confirmation.
Wen Zhu took the things and said, "Brother Jingyuan, please thank the prince on my behalf."
Although it was unclear why Shen Rang gave him so many rabbit dolls, the room was indeed too simple, and with the addition of cute decorations, the room immediately looked much warmer.
As soon as Jingyuan left, Wen Zhu began to decorate the living room, placing the rabbits in different corners, making the originally simple bedroom warmer.
After finishing the tidying up, Wen Zhu took a deep breath and sat down at the table.
After calming herself down, she continued copying the scriptures.
Before I knew it, it was getting dark and the sunlight was casting shadows through the window.
Wen Zhu looked up and saw the person coming. He said without surprise, "Prince, you're back."
Shen Rang placed the food box on the windowsill and asked, "Are you still copying the scriptures?"
Wen Zhu nodded and said, "My brother is going to take the imperial examination this year. All I can do to help him is copy some scriptures. It's also a token of my appreciation."
"Oh, I see."
Recalling carefully, during the days when she was studying at Chen's private school, Shen Rang remembered that there was a very popular senior brother who was Chen Zongwen's favorite disciple. He should be the brother she was talking about.
Shen Rang opened the lid of the food box and said, "This is cherry pie, would you like to try it?"
The outer layer of this cherry pie is made of flour, and the inside is filled with cherry filling, which tastes very sweet.
Wen Zhu took a bite and his eyes immediately lit up as he said, "Prince, Luoyang is so full of delicious food!"
"How do you like it?"
"like!"
"I'll bring you something else to eat tomorrow."
Since this girl has difficulty moving around, I will try my best to bring back all kinds of delicious food that she likes for her to taste.
"Okay!" After eating a few bites, Wen Zhu suddenly put the pancake in his hand back on the plate.
Shen Rang thought she was not used to this kind of food, and when he was about to ask her, he found that she picked up the unfinished copy.
After making sure there were no stains on the transcript, Wen Zhu put it away with peace of mind and began to enjoy the snacks on the table.
At this time, Shen Rang looked around, his eyes finally fell on the hanging little rabbit ornament, and he smiled.
It seems she really likes it.
It was probably time for dinner, so Shen Rang turned and left.
The next day, after he came out of the Hanlin Academy, he specially found some snacks suitable for girls to eat and packed them up to take back home.
Thinking that Wen Zhu should be happy, Shen made people feel full of anticipation.
However, as soon as I got off the car, I saw that the front gate of the marquis's mansion was extremely lively.
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