The prince nodded, turned around and was about to leave, he remembered something, turned around and asked: "Which number is Bai Shan in now?"
Several examiners looked at each other and said: "Your Highness, the current affairs policy has not been approved, so there is no ranking yet."
"Find out his papers," the prince paused and then frowned, "Take out Bai Cheng's papers too."
So everyone had to work together to find out the papers of the two of them. Fortunately, their names were not obscured in the exam, and Bai Shan's two papers were temporarily rated as top, so it was quite easy to find.
But Bai Cheng took some time.
The prince read Bai Shan's Confucian classics and felt a little dizzy, so he simply handed the paper to Kong Jijiu, "How do you think the answer is sir?"
Kong Jijiu had already seen it before, but this time he just watched it again. He stroked his beard approvingly and said, "That's right, it's just that the current affairs policy is a bit poor, but the naming should be able to enter the top ten."
Some people objected, "He is ranked eighteenth in the general list, my lord, the places for four people below the number one scholar have all been set."
Only then did Kong Jijiu think of this, frowned and said, "The tongbang is a tongbang after all, so we should focus on articles."
"It is mainly based on articles. Everyone has read their papers. Don't you agree with them before? This time the imperial examination is just a paper, and it is biased to judge based on it. Compared with , the scrolls can better reflect their talent."
The prince asked, "Did Bai Shan not have a record?"
"Yes," Kong Jijiu said, "everyone made the general list based on their records."
What is a list
Before the exam, the examiners go to the society to investigate the talent and reputation of the candidates, and then make a list based on the comprehensive consideration of the quality of the papers they submitted. This list is called the list.
After grading the Jinshi examination papers, the examiners will refer to the general list to determine the names, and some of them have already determined the top few places before the exam even started.
Therefore, some candidates will spend a lot of money in order to gain fame, and it is not a small amount to spend tens of thousands of dollars for this.
The prince asked to see their top ten current affairs policies.
After reading it, he picked out two copies and threw them aside, and said with a serious face: "I won't talk about the other orphans, these two people are not worthy."
The examiners went to look at the two papers. Among them, a doctor of imperial studies who strongly recommended a candidate said: "Your Highness, why not take a look at his writing papers. He is very talented, and his poems and essays are like flowing water..."
The prince glanced at him and said: "I only know that his article is not as good as Bai Cheng's. This is a Jinshi exam. If you only read the grades, what's the point of the exam? Wouldn't it be good to just pass the list and get the name?"
He sneered and said, "You don't need to talk about how much water is in the list, right? The Jinshi Department is only for selection, and it only needs people with insight, not just rich and famous scholars."
Kong Jijiu did not express any objection, and the others could only hold back even if they were dissatisfied.
The prince had a fit and then turned to leave. Kong Jijiu stayed behind and comforted the examiners with a smile, then followed him out.
The prince stood outside the courtyard of the Ministry of Rites and waited.
Kong Jijiu went forward to salute and sighed: "If Your Highness wants to get more scholars from poor families, then the general list should be cancelled, and the papers should be filled with names, that would be fair."
The crown prince frowned and said: "Gu and His Majesty have mentioned it, but His Majesty said that the late Emperor took five years to set up regular examinations, and there were several years in between. In these years, each family has often written a letter asking His Majesty to set up a regular examination, and each family has also made investigations. Talents come to Beijing, and if we let people cancel the list and confuse their names, I'm afraid it will be even more troublesome."
The prince himself is not afraid of making trouble, but he thinks that his father may not like making trouble at the moment. Over the years, the emperor has become more stable and unwilling to have more disputes.
Kong Jijiu obviously knew this too, he glanced at the prince, nodded slightly, and was convinced.
He didn't know if the emperor was looking for stability, but he knew that the emperor obviously wanted to leave this matter to the prince, so that the prince would be able to stand up by then.
But the emperor saw that it was the heyday of Spring and Autumn, and the prince didn't know when he would be able to use this matter to stand out.
After Kong Jijiu sent the prince out, he went back to continue marking the papers.
Then the examiner took the paper and asked, "My lord, this paper..."
Kong Jijiu said indifferently: "The list is just for reference, you should read the exam paper more."
"But… "
Before he could finish speaking, Kong Jijiu took out two papers from the side and put them on the A-class beside him, and said to him: "These two papers are also good, let's order together later."
Everyone looked at the place of origin and names on the test paper, and found that they hadn't heard much about it. They thought about it in their minds for a long time but couldn't remember who these two people were.
I can only reach out and pick up the paper to read, um, this paper is impressive, the poems and prose are not good, but the classics and current affairs policies are well written, but it is unknown, and I don’t know who it is.
Mainly I don't know how the prestige of character is.
Everyone wanted to object, but Kong Jijiu said: "In the past two years, most of the places in the Jinshi examination have come from the general list, and the list is almost all students. In the last two Jinshi examinations, no Xianggong was selected? If things go on like this, I'm afraid The civil scholars are dissatisfied."
A doctor of Guozixue objected: "After all, there are only a small number of folk scholars. All scholars of the same age have passed the examination and entered the county school, prefecture school, and Guozijian. Counting it, there are still many students."
Kong Jijiu shook his head slightly, "Why don't you eat minced meat? There are countless students in this world who want to learn but can't afford to go to official schools. You can't be prejudiced just because they are not students."
"Official schools can be reduced, private schools cost more, and those who can afford private schools can't afford government schools?"
"Of course there are private tutors from my father and brother," Kong Jijiu said, "Dr. Yan should go to the local area for a while. Since Jinshi has passed the examination paper, it should be based on the examination paper and only judged by the content of the paper. Are two papers okay?"
So everyone talked about the quality of the article.
It is so easy to find the faults of an article. There is no first article in this article. If someone wants to find faults, there are many ways.
Everyone debated for half the night, and they barely agreed that the two papers should be placed in the first class.
It was already five days after they finished grading the papers, and after 5 days of grading, they also quarreled for five days. Fortunately, Kong Jijiu was very prestigious and could hold people down, and the quarrel did not delay the grades.
Thirty-two Jinshi are scheduled to be selected this year, so the obviously bad papers are thrown into the bamboo basket aside, and only a few can be placed on the table.
The papers on the table are also divided into two types, the one on the left is confirmed to be good and can be taken, and the one on the right is pending.
To be determined, either the papers are not bad, or the candidates themselves are very famous, maybe in the general list, their reputation and grades are not bad.
In the end, everyone selected 32 of the more than 60 papers left to order.
After fighting for a whole day, the thirty-six papers were finalized, and Kong Jijiu sent the quota and the papers to the palace for the emperor to see, and he made the choice.