Chapter 171 is the best [ask for monthly ticket]
Chang'an.
The first examination hall for the imperial examination.
The First Examination Hall had two thousand people and was one of the examination halls with the best environment in the capital. Li Nuo and Song Yu entered the examination hall together, and then separated and went to their own rooms according to the examination guidelines.
Like the spring examination, the first subject of the imperial examination is also the literature subject.
Compared with the spring examination, the imperial examination is much more difficult. Candidates have to learn to make choices and usually put the subjects they are good at first.
Li Nuo's goal is to be the top scholar, so of course he cannot make a choice. He wants to have all four: calligraphy, painting, law, and writing.
He first opened the calligraphy test questions from an envelope.
This time, the test was not on the content of the "Sixteen Classics", but on a famous calligraphy piece with a total of sixty-two characters. The candidates needed to write this famous calligraphy piece in three different styles of writing.
The three types of writing styles refer to the major categories of calligraphy writing styles. You need to choose three out of the five: seal script, clerical script, regular script, running script, and cursive script. It is not allowed to use three different regular scripts, and the other two will be counted as invalid.
If you are confident in yourself, you can write only one article to save time, but if your score is the same as others, you will be ranked behind.
Fortunately, Li Nuo was well prepared.
If he still only knows how to write small characters with flowers in his hair, calligraphy will reveal his true colors.
He picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote three pieces in regular script, running script, and cursive script, which are also the three most popular writing styles at present. However, he used regular script instead of small regular script with flowers.
The examination room this time was extremely spacious, with a table at the back that was specifically used for drying calligraphy and paintings.
Li Nuo put the three calligraphy test papers behind and opened another envelope.
The birds’ chirping is faint in the warm spring, and the flowers’ shadows are heavy when the sun is high.
After taking a glance at the painting topic, Li Nuo was surprised. The three thousand taels of silver Li An Ning spent were not wasted. The old court painter might not be very skilled in painting, but he was really good at predicting the topics.
This year's imperial examination was really about flowers and birds.
Candidates need to use both ink and color painting techniques to paint the scene described in this poem in a picture.
Compared with the spring exam a month ago, behind Li Nuo stood more than a dozen painting masters from Daxia.
Just by glancing at the title, he had a picture in his mind.
When I finished this painting, it wasn't even time for lunch.
Li Nuo ate something, drew water from the bucket in the cell to wash his hands, and after drying them, he opened the law test paper.
There are still twenty questions on the law.
However, the exam is more difficult and covers a wider range. The spring exam mainly tests "Law of Name Examples", "Law of Judgment of Cases", "Law of Theft and Robbery", "Law of Litigation", etc.
The imperial examination also required testing on "Official System Laws", "Household and Marriage Laws", "Small Business Laws", "Defense Prohibition Laws", and even the most complicated and disorderly "Miscellaneous Laws".
The difficulty of the questions was not comparable to that of the spring exam. If Li Nuo had not memorized the entire "Daxia Law", he might not have been able to answer them satisfactorily.
When Li Nuo finished answering the law subject, he was in another room in the First Examination Hall.
Song Yu just opened the law examination questions.
These questions are not unfamiliar, but they are not familiar either.
He could write a few sentences for each question, but not many.
There was only one thing he remembered very clearly.
Anyone who hits others with his hands or feet in a fight shall be flogged forty times; anyone who beats others with a weapon shall be caned sixty times; if three or more people beat and injure others together, the crime shall be increased by one level; if more than five people beat and injure others together, the crime shall be increased by two levels; if more than ten people beat and injure others together, the crime shall be increased by three levels.
According to the description in the title, this situation is a fight between seven people with weapons, and the punishment is 60 strokes of the cane. Because the number of people is more than five and less than ten, the punishment is increased by two levels, that is, 80 strokes of the cane...
Shortly before and after Song Yu confidently put pen to paper, several students from Yunmeng Academy in their rooms stopped scratching their heads, their expressions of deep thought disappeared, and they also put pen to paper with full confidence.
At this time, in another room.
Zhou Yu has completed the answers to the law and articles.
The law is not difficult, as long as you memorize the "Daxia Code". It is not easy to get an excellent score, but it is easy to get an A+.
However, writing, calligraphy, and painting were not his forte, so he had to try his best to do his best, otherwise, he would not even have the opportunity to show his achievements in the imperial examinations.
Inside Li Nuo's examination room, he had already started answering the last subject.
This year's essay test paper is quite interesting.
In the imperial examination, the title of the opening poem is "Success in the Golden List", which implies the best wishes to the candidates. In the fierce and ruthless imperial examination, it gives people a faint feeling of warmth.
After writing the opening poem and looking at the title of the article, Li Nuo even felt that it was easier than the spring exam.
Although he had read a lot of books during this period, the most important thing was the examination papers of the top scorers in the literature subjects that Li An Ning had stolen for him.
As he read more classic articles, his improvement was naturally great.
After finishing all the test papers, Li Nuo asked the patrolling examiner about the time and learned that there was still half an hour left before the end of today's exam.
Li Nuo was worried that he would be caught by Li An Ning if he handed in the paper early, so he sat in the examination room and waited.
For Li Nuo, there is plenty of time.
But for most people, this is not the case.
Calligraphy is relatively easier, as one can understand the rules if he knows them, but there is nothing he can do if he doesn't. However, painting requires conception, poetry requires conception, and writing also requires careful consideration of words and sentences, so the time spent on them must be much longer than his.
For this subject, candidates need to make choices.
The total score for the subject is taken into account. You should try your best to maximize your strong subjects and narrow the gap in your weak subjects. You should also think about how to allocate your time before the exam.
The hour of Xu.
The first writing test of the imperial examination has officially ended.
Three gongs sounded, and the examination staff responsible for maintaining order walked past the doors of each examination room, notifying the candidates one by one to put down their pens and walk out of the rooms one after another.
In a short period of time, the entire examination hall went from extremely quiet to extremely noisy.
"Alas, time is too tight. There are two questions in the article that I haven't answered yet."
"Fortunately, I put calligraphy last and only had time to write one piece, but it didn't affect my grades..."
"I'm in a terrible situation. I've only finished half of my painting and I don't even know if I can participate in the next one!"
At the entrance of the examination hall, some people held their heads high, while others looked dejected.
Outside the examination hall, martial law was imposed within a hundred-foot radius.
Li Nuo walked for a distance and saw several figures in the distance. He walked to the carriage. Song Yu's legs were numb from standing there. He said, "Brother-in-law, why did you come out just now? I've been waiting for you for an hour..."
Li Nuo looked at Song Yu. He only had half an hour left to finish writing, but Song Yu was actually half an hour faster than him.
Song Yu laughed and said, "As for the imperial examination, if you know the answer, you know it, and if you don't know the answer, you don't know it. I can't figure it out just sitting there. I might as well get out early. The examination room is so cramped that I can't even stretch my legs when I lie down. I'm not sleeping well..."
In fact, the examination room in the First Examination Institute was very spacious, and he could stretch his legs when he lay down. However, he slept too comfortably and snored, so he was complained by the candidate next to him and was then driven out by the patrol personnel of the examination room.
Seeing two other figures coming out of the examination hall, Song Yu waved his hand and said, "Pei Jun, Zhou Yu, here!"
Next to the carriage, Song Jiaren looked at Li Nuo. Before she could say anything, another figure asked impatiently, "How did you do on the exam?"
Song Jiaren glanced at Li Anning, and Li Anning shrank behind Mu'er.
Li Nuo looked at them, smiled and said, "Not bad."
Song Yu asked, "Pei Jun, Zhou Yu, how did you do on the exam?"
Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "No, I don't know how to answer two questions in my essay..."
Pei Jun also sighed and said, "I only had time to write one calligraphy piece, and I almost didn't finish the painting..."
Song Yu put his arm around their shoulders and said, "Why are you sighing? Do you really want to pass the imperial examination? If you can't pass, then we can go to the army together and do something great..."
After a while, the carriage slowly drove towards the Song Mansion.
When they came, Li Nuo and Song Yu came together.
On the way back, Song Yu consciously chose to walk.
In the carriage, Li Nuo and his wife sat in one row, while Li Anning and Mu'er sat opposite them.
The two of them tacitly kept silent, only Mu'er kept chattering and asking questions.
Song Jiaren looked out the car window, not knowing what she was thinking.
Li Anning also looked into the empty space, feeling extremely uneasy.
She was most worried about Li Nuo's book exam, which was also her first exam. If she failed in the exam, all her previous efforts would be wasted, and she wouldn't have to watch the rest of the exam...
Compared to the two of them, Li Nuo was not worried at all.
Even if he called all the calligraphy masters and painters of Daxia, gave them a copy of Daxia Law and laid out the Sixteen Classics for them to open, he would not be afraid.
The second imperial examination will not begin until five days later.
There were only more than 10,000 candidates for the spring exam, but there were nearly 100,000 candidates for the imperial examination. Moreover, the marking of the imperial examination was more strict. It was impossible to finish marking all the examination papers within one day.
Before Li Nuo's carriage arrived at the Song Mansion, all the test papers in the First Examination Hall had been sorted and sent to the marking site.
In Daxia, the imperial examination was the only way to enter officialdom. Naturally, the court treated the imperial examination much more strictly than the spring examination, the most obvious of which was the marking of the papers.
Take the calligraphy scroll as an example.
For the calligraphy paper in the spring exam, the final score can be decided by one examiner, which involves a certain element of luck.
If the examiner is good at and likes regular script, and the candidate uses cursive script, there is a certain possibility that the grade of the test paper will be lowered.
However, this situation will not occur in the imperial examination. As far as calligraphy is concerned, each candidate's test paper will be cross-checked by five examiners and summarized at the end.
These five examiners are each good at different handwriting styles. The highest and lowest evaluations from them will be eliminated, and the average of the three in the middle will be taken as the final score.
It is precisely because of this fair system that the possibility of cheating in the imperial examination is extremely small and it is highly trusted by candidates.
The First Examination Hall was equipped with fifteen examiners for calligraphy alone.
All the examiners were in their rooms, marking the papers nervously.
Wei Xun put his hands behind his back and went in to take a look from time to time.
As the person who set the questions for the calligraphy paper and the chief examiner of this imperial examination, he did not have to mark the papers personally, but in some circumstances, he could reject the examiners' evaluations.
Today is the last day for marking papers for the literature department.
Before noon tomorrow, the total scores of the book subjects need to be summarized and the list of candidates entering the next exam will be announced.
The results of the calligraphy subject have been summarized.
In the First Examination Hall, there were two thousand candidates and six thousand calligraphy examination papers.
Among them, there is no absolute best.
There are eleven copies of the one above.
Nineteen copies of Grade A.
This year's calligraphy paper is different from previous years. There are thirty papers with grade A or above, which does not mean that thirty candidates have scored A. Among them, two or more papers may belong to the same person.
But as examiners, they can only give grades. Not to mention the names of the candidates, even the numbers of the candidates are sealed, completely eliminating the possibility of cheating by the examiners.
According to the rules, all examination papers with grade A and above must be submitted to the chief examiner for review.
During this process, the examiner can make final adjustments.
Wei Xun glanced around and showed surprise.
There is no small calligraphy with flowers on it.
This is an imperial examination, and it is impossible for candidates not to use the handwriting they are best at.
The only possibility is that Li Xuanjing's son performed exceptionally well in the spring exam, but did not reach his highest level in the imperial examination, and his calligraphy score was below Grade A.
People are not machines. It is impossible for them to be in the best condition all the time. When Wei Xun is not in the best condition, he doesn't even want to look at the words he writes a second time...
In this case, he would be helpless.
It was impossible for him to find the test paper with the hairpin-shaped small calligraphy from the six thousand test papers and lower his grade by two points...
The chief examiner cannot do whatever he wants. If such an obvious action is known by the inspector, his second half of life will be over.
According to his original idea, if there was a test paper using hairpin-flowered small regular script that got an A grade or above, he could lower it to a grade below A or above B, but since Li Xuanjing's son made the mistake himself, he couldn't be blamed.
It was originally aimed at you, but you yourself are not motivated...
An examiner took out three test papers from the test paper on A and said, "Mr. Wei, please take a look at these three test papers. Do you want to upgrade them to excellent..."
All the examiners gave these three test papers an A+ rating, but that does not mean they are only worth A+.
The imperial examination is different from the spring examination. In the imperial examination, every excellent result has to be discussed by many parties and finally finalized by the chief examiner before it can take effect. Afterwards, the court will also inquire about the excellent test papers.
All examiners believed that these three test papers were qualified to be promoted to excellent.
Wei Xun picked up the three test papers one by one, stroked his beard, and his eyes were full of admiration.
He saw his own shadow in these three test papers.
Even if the owners of these three test papers were not his disciples, they must have copied his calligraphy for a long time and could be considered his successors.
It is necessary to be cautious in judging the excellent results, especially for calligraphy and painting which require subjective judgment by examiners. Every excellent test paper will be checked again by the court, and if there are any problems, the examiners will be held accountable.
Therefore, even if the examiners like the test paper very much, they will only give it an A at most.
But he really liked these three test papers, and even had the idea of finding them and taking them as his disciples after the imperial examination.
Wei Xun thought about it again and again, nodded and said: "These three test papers are excellent!"
An examiner hesitated and said, "If the court asks..."
Wei Xun waved his hand and said, "Let the court ask, if there is any problem, I will take full responsibility!"
(End of this chapter)
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