The palace examination was presided over by the emperor himself, and the examination time started at sunrise and ended at sunset.
There is basically no such thing as failing the palace examination. The main thing is to re-rank the candidates, and the changes will not be that big.
In other words, if Su Shien answered the questions normally, at worst he would not fall below the second place, and at best he would barely make it into the top ten.
Yijia didn't dare to think about it, after all, his background was there.
After the test paper was handed to him, Su Shien looked at the policy questions and thought for a moment, then decided to change the angle of approach.
The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, looking down at the candidates in the hall.
This was already the third palace examination he had presided over. Everyone present was considered a disciple of the emperor, and it was unknown how many of them could really be of use.
All the tribute students were answering the questions seriously with their heads down. The emperor was getting bored and his eyes began to scan the students one by one.
Looking around, it was pitch black, consisting entirely of heads.
He walked down the jade steps, put his hands behind his back and started patrol mode.
The Grand Secretary glanced at the Emperor and complained silently in his heart: "It's started again. He knows these tribute students have never seen such a scene, but he still insists on scaring them."
The emperor is busy with government affairs every day. He has to worry about national affairs and people's livelihood, and he also has to compete with old foxes in wits and courage. In fact, he is under a lot of pressure.
Most of the newly-appointed scholars are young and strong, so it is reasonable for them to bear some pressure.
Before the cattle and horses were officially recruited, they had already suffered the "workplace bullying" from the big boss.
To be able to reach the palace examination, one’s psychological quality must be very strong, but this is the emperor!
The supreme imperial power was intimidating, and these tribute students were inevitably nervous.
Did the Emperor read my essay? Why hasn't he left yet? Did I make a typo? Or is there something wrong with my approach to the policy paper?
The emperor walked to the side of Huiyuan and took a look at his paper. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be able to get the "big three prizes".
Whenever the emperor passed by a top candidate for one of the "Three Top Prizes", he would deliberately stay for a while.
These people couldn't help but wonder, could it be that I have caught the emperor's favor? Then can I just have a little hope? What if I make it into the "top class", wouldn't it bring honor to my family?
Su Shien finished writing the draft and was about to copy it onto the test paper, but the emperor, the emperor of the world, stood next to him and refused to leave.
Could you please move a little? Should I copy or not?
The emperor originally wanted to see Su Shien's appearance. After all, he had seen his works and they had known each other for a long time.
Then I remembered that I couldn’t see the face at all. Just as I was about to leave, my attention was attracted by the contents on the draft paper.
The idea is novel, the angle is tricky, and the shamelessness reveals the self-righteous and robber-like thinking.
It’s quite interesting. Let me take a look at it below.
Oh? What about the following content?
The emperor was stunned for a moment and found that the draft paper was shrinking back little by little.
Su Shien's slender fingers were not idle. He pulled the straw paper back slightly and pressed it under his palm.
The emperor was speechless for a moment, thinking that this man was just like the storybook he wrote, insisting on dividing it into two volumes to deliberately whet people's appetite.
"Hmph" ~ How stingy! He doesn't even want to watch it anymore!
Although the emperor left, everyone around him heard the cold snort he made before leaving.
Everyone unanimously agreed that this candidate was doomed.
It was good enough that he didn't fail the exam because he had angered the emperor. Even if the emperor was magnanimous, the last place in the top three had been chosen.
Several invigilators also quietly looked in Su Shien's direction.
The person sitting in that seat should be one of the top candidates. He didn't make any big movements, and didn't even raise his head from beginning to end.
They exchanged a bewildered glance. What had happened to the Emperor? He actually frightened a newly minted scholar.
Eunuch Wang stepped forward and helped the emperor to take a seat. He knew something about it, but he was reluctant to say it out loud.
The emperor is also a human being and needs some diversion and entertainment. Mr. Erqi's "Chronicles of the Original Xia Dynasty" has been read by the emperor many times.
Judging from his many years of professional experience, the emperor was not only not angry, but was in a better mood after his walk.
It seems that Mr. Erqi’s answer is not bad.
The palace examination lasted a whole day, and a meal was provided at noon, so Su Shien finally got to eat the food in the palace.
Su Shien started copying in the afternoon. He wrote very carefully and did not make any major revisions. After finishing it in one go, the article came alive on the paper.
After checking carefully twice more, when the sun was about to set, the invigilators began to collect the papers.
Just like when they came here, the candidates were led out of the palace by officials from the Ministry of Rites.
They felt relieved after taking the exam. Ranking is not determined solely by academic knowledge. They all understood the principle and at this stage they could only leave it to fate.
The examiners marked the papers overnight, and the papers of the top 20 were presented directly to the emperor for his personal review.
The policy questions in this palace examination involved flood and drought disasters and food reserves, and candidates were required to express their countermeasures to this problem.
The emperor appeared calm, but he was actually itching to read what was written in the second half of the policy paper.
Eunuch Wang was very shrewd and looked for Su Shien's paper, only to find that it was placed at the last page.
The emperor was somewhat displeased. He had clearly ranked 14th in the provincial examination, so how come he almost fell out of the top 20 in the palace examination?
Eunuch Wang was speechless, thinking that it was all because of your cold snort.
The fact that this paper appears here shows that the examiners value its talent.
It seems that Mr. Erqi's article is indeed unique, otherwise these old foxes would not risk angering the emperor and insist on keeping it among the top 20.
In fact, this article is extremely controversial. When several people started discussing it, both conservatives and radicals fell silent.
This person is like a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, while they are afraid of wolves after they have grown horns.
By the evening of the next day, the candidates for the "top three" had been finalized.
The top scholar came from a scholarly family and was the eldest grandson of a second-rank civil official. He was also the top scorer in both the Jieyuan and Huiyuan examinations in this year's exams, making him the top three scorers in the imperial examinations, which was an auspicious omen.
The most important thing is that once this kid enters the court, his grandfather will be able to retire and enjoy his life in three years.
There is always a price to pay when the old generation is replaced by the new.
The runner-up comes from a family of farmers and scholars, and is the hope of the entire village. He is now 37 years old, with a son and a daughter. His eldest son is preparing to take the exam for the scholar, and his youngest daughter is about to reach the age of marriage.
The third place winner is the son of a noble family. He has no title and his family has no real power. He has lived a wealthy life since childhood and has good looks.
The most rare thing is that he did not go astray and has solid knowledge.
Although the first class was appointed by the emperor himself, he also had to consider the balance between different classes.
It is impossible to cover everything, we can only try our best to maintain it.
All the ministers thought the candidate for the first place was good and praised the emperor for his wisdom.
The emperor waved his hand tiredly, asking them to leave and quickly write the imperial edict so as not to get in his way.
The emperor made a compromise, and they decided to stop while they were ahead, and each of them respectfully and quietly took their leave.
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