Chapter 184 Mission 016

After the examination, Xiao Ying just left the examination room and found that the carriage of Li's mansion was still waiting at the door, so he hurriedly walked through the crowd.

The coachman, Lao Zhang, had been driving the carriage at Li's mansion for more than 20 years and had a good relationship with Mr. Li. Now he only drove the carriage for Mr. Li and his wife. Mr. Li asked Lao Zhang to drive the carriage for Xiao Ying this time, which showed that he was very concerned about Xiao Ying's examination.

After getting on the carriage, Xiao Ying could hardly feel any particularly strong vibrations while sitting in the carriage, which showed that the coachman's driving skills were very good.

He closed his eyes slightly, recalling the questions he had just answered in his mind, and compared them one by one with the preferences of the examiners that Mr. Li told him before the examination. He felt that he was sure to be on the list, but he didn't know if he could get the first place.

The difference between the ancient imperial examination and the modern college entrance examination lies here. The subjective consciousness of the examiner has a great impact on the final score, unlike the modern college entrance examination, which has a so-called standard answer.

After returning to the Li Mansion, Mr. Li said to Xiao Ying impatiently: "Shenzhi, write down your answers quickly, I will help you check them."

This behavior of checking answers after the exam is a habit that has been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years.

Xiao Ying wrote down all the contents of the test paper he wrote in the examination room in the past few days. With his memory, the contents he wrote down were not exactly the same, but at least they were almost the same.

Mr. Li read all of Xiao Ying's answers, then stroked his beard and nodded with satisfaction, saying: "Good! Good! Good! Except for the question about the sea ban, which is a bit novel, I am sure that the examiner will give you a top grade for the rest." The chief examiner of this examination, Mr. Zhang, is a relatively stable person and a confidant of the current emperor. Mr. Li is not sure whether Xiao Ying's relatively novel answer to this question will cause the chief examiner to dislike it.

If it were an ordinary person, he would definitely teach his disciples to write articles in a balanced way during the imperial examination. Don't write articles that are too outdated, but don't write articles that are too novel. This is the best way to get on the gold list. But Mr. Li likes to be unconventional and innovative. When he was an official in the past, he was disliked by his superiors because of this character. He was pressed in the Hanlin Academy to temper his temper. He didn't change much until he retired. Instead, he became more stubborn because of his age.

Obviously, Mr. Li liked Xiao Yan's style of answering questions very much.

Xiao Yan just smiled faintly: "Even if this question is not favored by the chief examiner, I am sure to be on the list."

Mr. Li sighed: "If I can't get the first place, I will have no chance of getting the three first places."

Generally speaking, if a candidate wins the first place and the second place, as long as the candidate's background is clean and politically correct, then during the palace examination, the emperor will basically decide him as the top scorer and get the reputation of the big three first places.

Xiao Yan had already won the first prize in the provincial examination. If he could win the first prize in this joint examination, then he could be said to have the first prize in his pocket.

This imperial examination is held every three years, and the first prize is also held every three years. It can be said that the first prize is not worth much in the officialdom, but the political prospects of ordinary first prize and the first prize of three first prizes are completely different.

Mr. Li, who knew all this well, could not help but sigh with regret.

Xiao Yan did not care much. He wanted to become a high-ranking official quickly, but ordinary means would definitely not work. The speed was too slow, so from the beginning he planned to use extraordinary means beyond this world, such as hypnosis and loyalty talismans...

******

The importance of the joint examination does not need to be explained. The examiners all read the papers in the closed examination hall, and they were not allowed to leave the examination hall for eating, drinking, defecating or urinating during the period. As the chief examiner of this examination, Mr. Zhang had great power. The position of the first prize could be said to be decided by his word. A paper that could be included in the list or not depended on his thoughts.

However, as the current confidant, Lord Zhang knows how to do what is in line with the emperor's mind.

During the dispute over the maritime ban in the court, Lord Zhang figured out the current emperor's mind, so he favored those candidates who answered more politically correct papers when marking the papers.

After marking the papers, the examiners would hand them over to the deputy examiners, who would then hand them over to the chief examiners after marking them.

Lord Zhang took a quick look at the papers on the list, and after confirming that the level was normal, he put them aside and took out the top ten papers separately for a closer look.

The joint examination is different from the provincial examination. After the joint examination is the palace examination, and the palace examination does not eliminate candidates. Therefore, as long as the top ten candidates in the joint examination perform normally in the palace examination, they are basically the top two Jinshi, and their future prospects are promising.

The top ten papers have been ranked by the deputy examiners, but the final ranking is still determined by Lord Zhang, the chief examiner.

Mr. Zhang started reading from the tenth place's paper. His expression was very calm. Even though the deputy examiner and other examiners were secretly watching his expression, he did not show any abnormality. It was not until he saw the sixth place's paper and read the answer to the question about the maritime ban that Mr. Zhang could not help but exclaimed.

After hearing this, the deputy examiner glanced at the paper in Mr. Zhang's hand and was slightly relieved when he saw the very neat and colorful handwriting on the paper. He remembered that this paper had good calligraphy and excellent answering skills, so there should be no problem. Then he asked respectfully: "Mr. Zhang, is there anything wrong with this paper?"

Mr. Zhang shook his head and did not answer. Instead, he carefully read the answer to the question about the maritime ban on this paper again.

After reading it, Mr. Zhang said nothing and continued to read the fifth paper. After reading the remaining papers in his hand, he rearranged the order of the ten papers, especially the The sixth-place paper was placed on top, and then handed to the deputy examiner: "This is how the rankings will be determined."

The deputy examiner took a look at the ten papers in his hand, especially the one placed at the top, which was the sixth and now the first. He felt a little regretful that the one he had chosen for the first place fell to The second place, but did not express any opinions. Now the first-place paper is actually of a very high level and it is no problem for him to become a Huiyuan. It was just that he did not like the radical and novel views of this candidate before and ranked him sixth. Since the examiner appreciates this candidate's style, There was no need for him to refute the examiner's face for this.

After the test papers have been graded and ranked, the gold list can be unsealed. The basic information such as name and place of origin on the paste is torn apart. The number one Huiyuan has undoubtedly attracted the attention of many adults, especially Mr. Zhang. Attention, come here specifically to see this candidate's information.

Shao Qingyun, Qingyang County, Luoyang Prefecture...

Mr. Zhang was a little surprised. He had thought that the candidate who could write such a sharp and to-the-point article would be from a big family or an official family, but he didn't expect that he would be from a poor family! But it’s good for a kid from a poor family. He doesn’t have to worry about whether the political stance of the family behind him is against his. He can safely recommend him to the higher-ups...

******

On the day when the results were released, Xiao Yu was sitting in the small study room specially opened for him by layman Li in the Li Mansion, practicing calligraphy. He was in a very calm mood, unlike layman Li who looked calm on the surface but was actually pacing back and forth in his heart. Restless.

The person Li Jushi sent to see the results was the steward of the Li Mansion, which shows how much he attaches importance to Xiao Yu's examination.

Xiao Yu could not be quiet in the small study for long before he was taken out by layman Li to wait for the news with him.

In the words of Mr. Li, it means that labor and management are so anxious for you, so of course you, a brat, have to be anxious too!

In this regard, Xiao Yu could only sit silently in the front hall and watch his teacher, who was even more anxious and angry than him, pace back and forth and look anxiously at the door.

Before his calm demeanor could once again offend Layman Li, Butler Li, who had gone to look at the list, finally ran back sweating profusely.

A very discerning young man rushed forward to help Butler Li. Butler Li took a breath and ignored the others who immediately reported the good news to layman Li and Xiao Yu with beaming faces: "Great joy, great joy! Mr. Shao has won the first prize of Huiyuan." !”

Li Jushi, who could still pretend to be calm at first, finally could no longer pretend. He couldn't help laughing, stroking his hands and praising: "Good! Good! Good! What a great Huiyuan! Three yuan is just around the corner!"

Xiao Yu looked at layman Li who was so ecstatic that he even said the words "three yuan is just around the corner", and knew that he must be extremely happy, otherwise he would not be so careless.

Fortunately, there was a sober mistress in the Li Mansion. Mrs. Li ordered that the words of Lay Master Li be sealed and not allowed to spread. Then, in the name of celebration, she gave the servants an extra month's money as a reward, a big stick with sweet dates. These servants were all obedient, not to mention that the servants waiting in the front hall who heard what layman Li just said were basically the sons and daughters of confidants who were in high positions.

Li Jushi, who was overjoyed, came to his senses and realized that he shouldn't have said those words just now.

After all, certain unspoken rules are like this. Although everyone knows some truths, if they don't say it out, everyone will abide by the unspoken rules. If it is revealed, it will be embarrassing.

Although Xiao Yu won the first prize in succession, according to the usual practice, the emperor would give him another number one scholar to make up for the big three yuan celebration. Basically, everyone with some knowledge knows this well. If you don't say it clearly, everyone will just say a few words of jealousy secretly in their hearts, but if you say it arrogantly directly, then the position of the number one scholar will be variable. If you are unlucky, the emperor will think that you are arrogant and have changed your attention... Haha , cooked duck can also fly.

So Jushi Li quickly hit the servants present again after Mrs. Li sealed her mouth.