The places where names are written on all test papers are covered with paper strips and then sent to the marking room.
The marking room of the Academy of Arts was as bright as day.
The marking room of this liberal arts college is extremely spacious. More than 20,000 test papers for children are placed on rows of tables. It looks like a paper-making workshop.
Three examiners, one imperial examination inspector and ten academic candidates stood in front of the statue of Confucius.
"Respectfully invite the Holy Judge!"
Invisible power descended and wind blew in the room.
All the test papers exuded smoky orange talent, but the talent was of different shades and levels.
An invisible force passed by, and tens of thousands of test papers were moved to one side of the marking room, stacked on top of each other, and piled up into a mountain of paper.
Finally, the two hundred most talented test papers were placed on the table.
Magistrate Dong said: "I don't know if the Five Movements of Literature and Music are a curse or a blessing, but since the saints have increased the number of scholars, it is a good thing for our human race. Let's start marking the papers."
Ten candidates from the liberal arts academy walked forward first, each selecting nineteen test papers, while the ten papers with the most talents remained where they were.
Different from the county examination, the prefecture examination requires cross-marking by candidates from the liberal arts college. After each two adjacent people have scored their own test paper, they must judge the other party's test paper.
The third examiner and an inspector looked at the first ten test papers.
The top-ranked stack of papers was a talent of two feet four, followed by two feet one, two feet and one foot nine.
Magistrate Dong smiled and asked, "Would you like to guess who is the most talented?"
Master Zhou said: "Is there any need to guess? The first one must be Fang Lun."
"What Mr. Zhou said is absolutely true." Feng Zimo said with a smile.
Inspector Geng sneered and said: "That's not necessarily the case. Even if he is the most talented, it may be that he is talented in poetry. It may not be that he is talented in classics and meanings. Look at the subsequent talents, they are less than one foot apart. Who is the most talented person? Maybe you don’t know! As disciples of the saint, you praised Fang Lun before the examination. If you hadn’t taken your face into consideration, you would have asked the Holy Inquisition to deprive you of the examination qualifications.”
The three examiners were angry, but speechless. Although the imperial examination marking was serious, we were all literati and not stupid, so there was no need to be so rigorous. But Inspector Geng was right. Moreover, he is Hanlin, so everyone can only sulk.
"Master Geng's lesson is, let's start grading the papers." Magistrate Dong suddenly walked quickly to the first test paper, and the other two deputy examiners looked at each other. Follow him silently.
Follow the rules. The examiner will ask the imperial examination inspector to review the first test paper. Firstly, he respects the status of the Holy Court, and secondly, he respects people with high literary positions, but Inspector Geng has already broken his skin and made things difficult for Fang Yun. If Fang Yun hadn't threatened to ask the Holy Judge, Geng's inspection would have intensified.
One side is a local tycoon and the other is an official of the Holy Academy. The two will probably never meet again in their lives. Inspector Geng fell out first, so the three examiners who are also in Jingguo no longer need to worry about anything.
The three people stood in front of the test paper table, and Inspector Geng could only turn his head to look at it.
Inspector Geng smiled contemptuously, not angry at all.
When the four of them looked at the test paper, three of them changed their faces.
Inspector Geng took a closer look, laughed, and said: "This is not Fang Yun's handwriting, I recognize it! Fang Yun is not the most talented person. You Yuhai City is indeed full of talents. Okay! Okay!"
Magistrate Dong said with a dark face: "Inspector Geng has lost his composure."
Inspector Geng didn't take it seriously. He looked at the top-ranked test paper with a smile and said, "Let me take a look. The talent for classics and meaning is one foot six, and the talent for poetry is eight inches. I don't recognize the handwriting. If my guess is correct, it seems to be That Tong Li is a formidable young man. With his talent of just one foot and six, he can be the best in many places. If no one cheats in the imperial examination, he will be the best."
Chief Zhou had the best relationship with Fang Yun and said in a deep voice: "Inspector Geng, please be quiet. This is the scoring room, not a place for random boasting."
Inspector Geng was still smiling and confident of victory.
Magistrate Dong said: "We will cross-judge the papers, and after the final rating is made, it can be verified by Inspector Geng."
"please!"
"please!"
Feng Yuanjun and Chief Zhou were polite to each other, but no one paid any attention to Geng's inspection.
Magistrate Dong read the scriptures, Feng Yuanjun read the poems, and Lord Zhou read the holy words.
Not long after, Magistrate Dong simply wrote two words with a red pen under Tong Li's scripture.
B in.
Inspector Geng took a look at it and said nothing. This evaluation was very objective. Tong Li's talent in classics and meanings was good, and his problem solving was above B level, but the latter part was average, but he still stood out among the scholars.
Inspector Geng watched with cold eyes. The current rating is only to be determined. Except for the Holy Words, the one with the highest rating for poems and scriptures will be changed to A, even if it is C.
The other two examiners also made their evaluations one after another.
Tong Li's sacred words, poems and scriptures are Yixia, Yixia and Yizhong respectively.
Afterwards, the three people cross-scored the papers, but no problems were found, and the final ratings were the same as those of the first examiner.
Under normal circumstances, the three examiners would praise Tong Li. After all, it is not common to be ranked in the third grade. If nothing unexpected happens, this person will definitely be a talented person.
Before the three examiners could open their mouths, Inspector Geng said, "Not bad! You three are quite fair."
The three of them looked at each other and began to judge the second portion.
The handwriting is still not lucky.
The expressions on the three people's faces became even more ugly, while Inspector Geng's smile became even bigger.
Not long after, the second set of ratings appeared, which were C-above, B-medium, and B-low.
Inspector Geng said: "This man's evaluation of classics and meanings is the same as Tong Li's, but Tong Li's talent for classics and meanings is four inches higher and not as good as Tong Li's."
The three of them silently evaluated the third test paper without saying a word.
Still not lucky.
The faces of the three examiners are no different from those of the scapegoats. However, the three of them have the courage to do so. No matter how bad their mood is, they will not give random ratings because of this.
The third person's rating is C-above, B-above and C-above.
Inspector Geng once again commented: "This man's poetry has come out of the county, and his talent is one foot per foot, and he can be ranked above B. I saw the handwriting of the fourth person, it must be Fang Lun." There was a sage who looked down at the sky and the earth, and some words were innocuous. After all, the three half-saints are the real examiners.
The three examiners began to read Fang Yun's test paper with complicated emotions.
As soon as the sacred words, poems and scriptures were separated, there was a trace of despair in the eyes of the three people.
Fang Yun's classic meaning has only a very slight talent. Not even an inch.
"Go on." Magistrate Dong sighed softly and began to read Fang Yun's scriptures.
After reading the first broken question, Magistrate Dong said loudly: "Okay! I have been an examiner for more than ten years, and this is the first time I have seen such a clever broken question! If the rest of the essay is good, I will definitely give it an A grade!"
The other three people immediately looked over, and Inspector Geng also craned his neck to look.
"Wonderful! Not even as good as me!"
"Great talent!"
The smile on Inspector Geng's face disappeared.
Magistrate Dong slowly said: "Talent is the only criterion for poetry, but it is not the only criterion for measuring the meaning and policy theory of scriptures. Especially the sages and disciples of Confucius in the pre-Qin Dynasty, their scripture meanings often have no talent, but they contain great meanings. It makes sense. When the great Confucian scholar Yi Zhishi of Wu State was tested, his talent was only a mere three inches, but he still managed to win the first grade."
Inspector Geng knew that Magistrate Dong was telling him, but he did not respond and continued reading.
The four of them watched slowly, and Inspector Geng's face became increasingly gloomy. The expressions of the three examiners became more and more colorful.
"If I were Mr. Dong, the first comment would be 'well-structured'! This is a lucky move. It starts with breaking the question, then continues with Maozi, and then the original question. It is extremely smooth. It really lived up to our expectations. Even if he is the number one scholar in a country, The structure alone couldn’t be better.”
"The topic is cleverly solved, and the structure is tight. What I like most is the development of abdication, hereditary inheritance and popular election. Abdication and hereditary inheritance are great gifts. There are changes in etiquette, but he can find its meaning from it, and the meaning also changes, and If there is a problem with the genius of this sutra, it must be due to his assumption of popular election. Although he is unable to assume a system of popular election that is as perfect as abdication and hereditary inheritance, he clearly points out the characteristics of balance and stability, which are extremely important. It is in line with my Confucian doctrine of 'golden mean'. However, he also emphasized that there are saints watching it in the selection, which shows that this selection is not a perfect ceremony. Fortunately, if there is a great gift of the country that can get rid of the saints, it will not be beautiful. "
"Although this son's hypothesis is bold, in terms of balance and stability, it is better than today's Ten Kingdoms System. If there are no saints in the Ten Kingdoms, the country can only be maintained by wise kings, but if the king is incompetent, the country will be in danger. He also It states that since he has chosen traits such as balance and stability, there will also be negative traits that will follow. If he can learn from each other's strengths and integrate their essence into the Ten Kingdoms, he can use this article as the foundation to become a great Confucian!"
"First!"
"First class!"
"First class!"
Magistrate Dong wrote under Fang Yun's scripture: "The topic is wonderfully solved, the structure is tight, there are signs of change, there are opportunities to rejuvenate the human race, there are feasible methods, and a profound understanding of etiquette and justice, first-class!"
Later, Master Zhou and Feng Yuanjun also wrote first-class comments on it. As long as the same exquisite meaning of scriptures does not appear in the subsequent test papers, Fang Yun will be a talented person.
Inspector Geng said, "This article cannot get a first-class rating!"
The three examiners looked at Inspector Geng together. The others were fine. Feng Zimo immediately said angrily: "Inspector Geng, this article is obviously a first-class article, how can it not be awarded a first-class article? I know you colluded with Shi Dehong, a disciple of Shijun, and you want to You want to take revenge on me, Jingguo, but if you want to destroy my great talent, I will ask the Holy Inquisitor to expose you! You know your selfish intentions best!"
"Master Geng, you should think twice. Fang Yun's "The Inscription on the Humble Room" is a semi-saint's comment! If this article is rated as first-class by the saint, you will at least lose your official position in the Holy Academy, or at worst, your literary courage will not be solid, and you will never make any progress in this life. ah!"
Master Zhou sneered and said: "Master Dong, Master Feng, you two are Jinshi. It will be a big disaster if you fail to ask for the Holy Inquisition. I am just promoting people, and it doesn't matter even if I fail. Geng Hanlin, don't force me to ask for the Holy Inquisitor."
Inspector Geng said slowly: "Although the hypothesis of this article is very strange, it is still a hypothesis. No one has written a book to prove it. Giving it an A grade is too much. I suggest that like Tong Li, give it a B grade. Both of them have the same grade. impartial."
"You seem to be impartial, but in fact you still have harmful intentions. If both of them are ranked B, and Tong Li's article is more talented, it will definitely be changed to A! Mr. Dong, let me ask you the last question, will you give Fang Yun A? Wait? If you don’t give it, you don’t have to worry about it anymore, I’ll ask the Holy Judge to decide this article right away!” (To be continued...)