Chapter 59 How Many People Can There Be in Ancient Times?
"It's over, it's over. This time it's completely over. What are the virtues of the 72 sages of Confucius? What are the merits of the 28 generals of Yuntai? Who are the 72 sages and 28 generals?"
"Who could have imagined a test like this? It's unprecedented!"
"I only wrote eighteen and the time was up."
"You can actually write 18 of them, but I can't even write 8."
"Oh, heaven and earth, is it possible that I will never pass the imperial examination and become a scholar in this lifetime?"
"Wow, wow, wow, wow, I've studied diligently for over a decade, and I never expected I couldn't even finish the exercises."
"After failing the exam this time, how can I face my parents again?"
"I won't live anymore!"
With a splash, one of the students couldn't stand the pressure anymore and jumped into the small river beside the county government office.
However, after he jumped into the water, he regained consciousness and swam back without anyone trying to rescue him. Even the scholars in Qingzhou could swim, which prevented the tragedy of jumping into the river.
Wenzhu had been suppressing her laughter, and only after getting on the carriage did she finally burst into laughter. She clapped the carriage while laughing, making it make a loud clapping sound.
The student next to him shook his head when he heard this and said to the servant next to him, "If you can't pass the exam, then you can't pass it. Just wait another two years. You're all crying and laughing like crazy. It'll only make things worse if you ruin your health."
Wenzhu, who laughed so hard that people thought he was crazy, was not laughing because he was sad, but because he was happy. He was laughing so hard that he almost couldn't stop.
Su Fengzhang hurriedly patted his back, fearing that he would get into trouble.
Wen Zhu waved her hand and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, I'm just happy."
"Feng Zhang, you are amazing! How could you have guessed that Lord Fang would ask such a question?"
"If you hadn't forced me to memorize all that stuff, I would have been completely stunned the moment I saw the test questions. I wouldn't have been able to answer them."
"Even my father said it was impossible and that Lord Fang would never do that. Who knew he would actually do it?"
"This Lord Fang is really a one-shot guy, but, hehehehehehe, I like it."
"At that time I laughed at you for thinking too much, but now I want to kneel down and call you grandpa."
Su Fengzhang was swayed left and right by his push, and quickly reached out to stop him: "Alright, alright, you're shaking my bones apart. Please don't call me grandpa, otherwise I will be Mr. Cheng's father, and this will mess up the generations."
"Bah, you really want to be my grandfather." Wenzhu also laughed when he interrupted her.
Overjoyed, Wenzhu was in high spirits the whole day, saying, "Before, I always thought I would never pass the exam, but after today's test, I no longer think so. Look at everyone outside, they all have sad faces. They definitely can't answer this question."
"As the saying goes, the tallest among the short ones stands out. Compared to them, I filled the paper completely, at least writing down the names of a hundred people. Oh, it seems that God really likes me."
This time, not only Wen Zhu felt that he was favored by God, but even Mr. Wen felt the same way. He was puzzled: "This kid usually doesn't study hard. He is always moving forward but still moving backwards. I didn't expect that he would get lucky this time."
Mr. Wen patted Su Fengzhang on the shoulder and said with a smile, "In the end, it's all thanks to Fengzhang. He's so attentive at such a young age. He guessed the exam questions just by hearing a word or seeing a person. You can see how important it is."
After saying that, he habitually hit his son: "As for you, even though you got lucky this time, it doesn't mean you will get lucky every time in the future. Go back and study hard."
Wenzhu didn't mind being scolded at all, he was very happy now.
Wenzhu was happy, but the students outside were not happy this time. Some of them were crying so loudly that the neighbors could hear them from far away.
The principals who were marking the papers were not so happy either. Originally, they just had to mark the papers step by step, rank them, and let Lord Fang make the final decision.
But this time it was different. Fang Zhiwen came up with such a tricky test question, but it couldn't be said that he was completely beyond the scope of the exam.
Before the exam was over, several principals felt that it was going to be difficult. When they got the test papers, they felt even more headache.
Most of the candidates could only write a few here and there, and it was rare to be able to write more than ten. After checking the papers one by one, not even one passed.
Principal Wang is usually gentle and extremely tolerant towards his students. He is the one who is most opposed to the test question asked by Fang Zhi.
After flipping through a few more exam papers, Shanzhang Wang couldn't help but sigh heavily and looked at the people beside him. "What should we do? According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the maximum number of candidates for the Qingzhou Prefecture Scholars Examination is fifty. I'm afraid we won't be able to get enough people."
Another headmaster also felt that his thinning hair had become even thinner in the past few days, and said helplessly: "Isn't it true? Every local official wants to produce more scholars and juren, so that they can show their success in literature and education. This prefecture is good."
Fang Zhiwen happened to walk in at this time. He pretended not to hear what was said and asked with a smile: "Masters, did you encounter any difficulties in the marking process?"
Several headmasters looked at each other, not knowing whether what he said was polite or the truth.
Finally, it was Dean Wang who mustered up the courage to ask, "Master Fang, please forgive my frankness, but this exam is a bit too difficult. So far, we haven't seen anyone answer correctly."
"Not even one?" Fang Zhiwen asked in surprise.
Principal Wang nodded gravely, "That's right. We still have one-third of the exam papers left to be graded, but judging by the current situation, I'm afraid it's unlikely anyone will get the correct answers."
Fang Zhiwen's expression also became solemn. He walked over and picked up a test paper. The student who wrote this test paper was probably not very talented. Not only were the answers he wrote in fragments, but the handwriting was also a bit messy. It was obvious that he was afraid of the test questions.
"Ah." Fang Zhiwen sighed, put down the paper in his hand, and spoke in a heavy tone, "Although the test questions are a bit biased, they are not difficult. These students wrote in a disjointed manner, which shows that their knowledge is still not good enough."
"If it were my opinion, since you can't even answer this test question, then no one should be admitted."
"Although the number of scholar positions is related to my assessment, I can't lower my standards just because of this."
"Everyone says Jiangnan is a place of great literary talent, but now it seems the reputation is not lived up to."
Several headmasters glanced at each other secretly, none of them quite understanding what the prefect meant.
Did he really want to not admit any of them? What good would that do to him as the prefect? Not only would the local literati be dissatisfied with him, but the imperial court would also be dissatisfied. After the news got out, it became a topic of conversation among other officials.
Shanzhang Wang also felt that it was not right. Although scholars seemed to have a noble life, they actually had a hard life, especially for poor students who had to come out to take the exam with great difficulty and spent countless silver coins. If they failed normally, it would be fine, but such words were really disheartening.
He frowned and said, "Sir, it would be inappropriate if none of them were admitted."
"After ten years of hard study, the number of places for the scholar degree is already very small for the students in a prefecture. The prefectural examination is held twice every three years. If you are not accepted this time, there will be more people next time."
"What you said does make sense." Fang Zhiwen actually nodded in agreement.
Shanzhang Wang followed up on his words and asked tentatively, "Then, could you please be more lenient?"
Fang Zhiwen frowned and said seriously, "Academics are about specialization. If we give him a free pass, wouldn't that be unfair to the hundreds or thousands of other students who didn't pass the exam?"
Shanzhang Wang was also confused by him and asked helplessly, "What exactly does Lord Fang mean..."
Fang Zhiwen suddenly said, "According to my requirements for students, since these people couldn't answer the questions, it's only natural that they failed the exam. However, what Principal Wang said is also true. It would be too harsh to admit no one."
"This reminds me that the candidates taking the exam this time are different from those in the past. They are willing to contribute their efforts to the court and take the initiative to participate in the river management. There are even several candidates who have worked so hard that they fell ill."
"Although his talent and learning are ordinary, his spirit of loyal service to the Great Zhou is still good and worthy of learning by scholars all over the world."
"Well, because of this, they didn't prepare well before the exam, so it's understandable that they made some mistakes."
"How about this? Considering their dedication to the Great Zhou, we can be a little more lenient with them. This wouldn't be considered partiality or abuse of power. After all, when recruiting talented individuals, we must consider their dedication to the country and the people."
Shanzhang Wang finally understood. It turned out that Lord Fang had already thought of this. He even said that he deliberately set such a difficult question this time just to give leniency to the students who participated in the river management in the imperial examination?
He quickly turned several thoughts, and finally nodded and said, "Master Fang is right. The Qingzhou Prefecture student is willing to serve the Great Zhou, and the prefect Fang is very sympathetic to the people. This shows that the local literary style is excellent."
Prefect Fang smiled, nodded, and said, "In that case, you will follow their answers. Those who answer more names will be ranked first, and those who answer fewer names will be ranked last. This will continue until the quota of fifty is reached."
With the final word, the people who graded the papers all felt relieved. After all, as long as no one was admitted, it would be fine.
They were just helping to mark the papers, and the process was not important. Besides, it was true that they took the initiative to help the Zhou Dynasty manage the river, and no one could find any evidence against them.
In this way, the grading speed is actually faster, because the standard is simple, it just depends on who has enough people answering the questions, and other factors such as writing style become secondary.
Prefect Fang was satisfied, and sat back in his seat, watching the crowd and waiting for them to decide the final ranking.
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The author has something to say: I will update the whole thing when I am free on the weekend~
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