Chapter 597: Selecting Talent and Asking for a Resolute Heart

The 15th year of Emperor Jia Zhao, night of the 27th day of the 3rd month.

Love Shenjing, East City, Examination Hall.

When the first batch of candidates paying respects to the chief examiners entered the main hall of the Examination Hall, the little official leading the way loudly sang out the name of the third chief examiner.

It shocked all the candidates present, because the third chief examiner they had learned of from the imperial edict was the Vice Minister of Rites, Huang Hongcang.

However, the third chief examiner had now become the Vice Minister of Revenue, Xu Liangxiong. What on earth was going on?

On the 16th day of the 3rd month, chief examiner Huang Hongcang suddenly fell into a coma due to poisoning, and Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao suspected that someone was acting against the chief examiner of the spring examination.

Therefore, the candidate to replace Huang Hongcang as chief examiner was kept secret until before the spring examination entry and locking of the gates.

This was to ensure that before the spring examination began, there would be no public criticism due to the sudden harm to the chief examiner, which would lead to clamor among the candidates and avoid causing fluctuations in the spring examination, damaging the face of the imperial court.

If Jia Cong hadn't sent a woman from his prefecture to the Hongxing Southern Goods Store to buy alligator meat for Lingguan, and happened to encounter the Court of Judicial Review arresting people at the Southern Goods Store, he wouldn't have been able to know that chief examiner Huang Hongcang had met with an accident.

Afterward, he followed the list of chief examiner candidates on that blue-covered booklet.

He roughly inferred that the candidate to replace Huang Hongcang would be produced between Minister of Works Li Dekang and Vice Minister of Revenue Xu Liangxiong.

But according to the imperial court's practice of selecting chief examiners for the spring examination, it emphasized the candidates' own academic reputation.

Minister of Works Li Dekang was only at the end of the second rank in the spring examination that year, but Vice Minister Xu Liangxiong had placed in the first rank as the Bangyan (second place) in the spring examination.

Undoubtedly, Xu Liangxiong taking over as chief examiner of the spring examination possessed more scholarly reputation than Li Dekang.

The final result that appeared before their eyes was exactly within Jia Cong's prior inference, so he didn't feel too surprised when he heard this matter.

Moreover, for Jia Cong, it was irrelevant who served as the chief examiner of the spring examination; as long as he performed normally after entering and wrote good essays, that was all.

Perhaps most of the candidates were thinking much the same as Jia Cong; after the initial astonishment, they all quickly calmed their minds.

What they should be most worried about now was what kind of questions the three chief examiners would set; they hoped they would not be too profound and obscure, rather than who was serving as chief examiner.

But there were always exceptions. Among the candidates waiting to pay respects to the chief examiners, there was a candidate approaching forty, his face pale, his legs trembling, looking like a soul-lost person.

Ever since Zhou Yan and Wu Liang saw the spring examination edict at the entrance of the Examination Hall and learned that Huang Hongcang had been selected as chief examiner,

he had regarded the strategy questions he had obtained from paying respects to Huang as a treasure, seeing it as a vital guarantee for his own success in the spring examination.

Over these days, he had spent a lot of effort repeatedly pondering and practicing the questions set by Huang Hongcang, and often discussed and exchanged ideas with Wu Liang, reaching the point of being extremely proficient.

He was approaching forty, and his path to the imperial examination was becoming increasingly bumpy and slim. His accidental friendship with Wu Liang this year gave him such a heaven-sent convenience, making him pin high hopes on his success in the spring examination this time.

Originally, on the 16th day of the 3rd month, he and Wu Liang had an appointment to meet for a small gathering before entering the examination, to exchange insights.

He didn't expect his clan brother to suddenly invite him to a banquet, so he had to temporarily break his appointment with Wu Liang. At the banquet, he drank a few too many cups, and when he woke up, it was already midnight.

Originally thinking of going to make up for the appointment with Wu Liang early the next morning, he didn't expect that good things would be hard to come by...

When he woke up from his drunken stupor at midnight, the maid Fengming, who served tea and water in his clan brother's house, entered the room to serve him in sobering up.

Because she was teased by Zhou Yan after he was drunk, she shyly spoke of the elegant matter of her clan brother gifting her to Zhou Yan to serve him in bed.

At that time, Zhou Yan was burning with lust after being drunk. Hearing such verbal stimulation, how could he hold back against this pretty and plump maid?

Taking advantage of the ink-black night, he couldn't wait, and immediately pressed the maid Fengming onto the couch, messing around in the dark for a whole night before stopping.

By the time dawn broke, although Zhou Yan was reluctant to leave the fragrance and softness of the couch, he still prepared to get up, taking advantage of the time before entering the examination to go and meet Wu Liang.

But the maid Fengming, not knowing if she had received instructions from her master or wanted to please Zhou Yan so that she would have someone to rely on for the rest of her life, was not idle when she woke up in the morning, and deliberately served Zhou Yan with gentleness.

Zhou Yan had just tasted the flavor of this young beauty and was in the midst of knowing the taste, so how could he withstand such temptation from Fengming? Naturally, he turned over the waves again, enjoying spring breeze several times...

The two dawdled, and it wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Zhou Yan reluctantly got up.

It was just that he had wasted time in spring breeze, so how could he still have time to go see Wu Liang? He could only pack up hastily and rush to the Examination Hall to enter the pass for the examination. Now his waist and legs were still somewhat weak.

Zhou Yan had already assumed that because he had gained the convenience of Huang Hongcang, he was certain to succeed in this year's spring examination; now, having obtained this unexpected, warm, smooth, and fragrant pleasure, he was feeling the joy of one who believes that when life is going well, one must seize the moment.

But he never expected that as soon as he entered the Examination Hall, he would be struck by such a bolt from the blue.

It seemed that the comfort and success of this period were just a yellow-millet dream. When he heard the name of the new chief examiner, he almost instantly fell into a dark, panicked, and hopeless state.

Zhou Yan's unusual disappointment and panic didn't attract much attention from the candidates around him.

However, among the crowd waiting to pay respects to the chief examiner, a slightly plump candidate noticed Zhou Yan's unusual expression from afar.

Wu Liang saw Zhou Yan's soul-lost appearance, but felt a bitter smile in his heart.

This person's heart was also upright, and he didn't have much evil. Yesterday, when he learned of the change in the chief examiner, he originally wanted to notify Zhou Yan, but he had no way to do so, which was also in vain.

Now, facing Zhou Yan, Wu Liang felt somewhat guilty, but he had already entered the Examination Hall and the examination was imminent. Meeting him would not explain anything and would only cause extra trouble; it would be better to wait until the end of the spring examination to discuss it.

Wu Liang figured this out, then stepped back a few more steps, staying further away from Zhou Yan, to avoid meeting him and adding to the awkwardness.

By the time Wu Liang also paid respects to the chief examiner and was following the flow of candidates to find the cubicle for his examination, he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.

Candidates entering the Examination Hall and meeting acquaintances of the same year was also a very common thing.

Because tonight was just candidates entering the pass, not the official start of the spring examination, although there were officials managing order everywhere in the Examination Hall,

but before the candidates entered the cubicles, they were not forbidden from chatting, as long as they didn't make too much noise.

Wu Liang heard someone calling him, and couldn't help but jump in his heart. Turning his head, he found it wasn't Zhou Yan, but his classmate and good friend Lin Zhaohe, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But he thought of the day he learned of the change in the chief examiner, and was busy changing his path, re-pondering the way of the examination, and hadn't had time to notify Lin Zhaohe...

He said with a strange expression, "Brother Yichun, I really didn't expect that when the matter came to a head, the chief examiner would actually..."

Lin Zhaohe saw Wu Liang's strange expression, thinking that the Huang Hongcang whom Wu Liang was familiar with was not serving as chief examiner, and Wu Liang was inevitably feeling anxious.

As for the reason, Lin Zhaohe was also clear in his heart, but now that they were in the Examination Hall, some words were absolutely inconvenient to mention.

Therefore, he didn't wait for Wu Liang to finish, and interrupted, "Brother Xiwen, you don't need to be so surprised. The so-called accident is an accident; who serves as chief examiner is a matter for the imperial court to worry about.

For you students, preparing for the examination properly and writing good essays is what matters. I said before that reading the classics well is the foundation. Now Brother Xiwen should know that my words are not false, right?

Brother Xiwen is also a person of talent. After the examination starts tomorrow, as long as you calm your heart and spirit, and display what you have learned in your chest, you will surely be able to place on the Golden List."

Lin Zhaohe and Wu Liang walked and talked. After finishing his words, he waved his hand at Wu Liang and turned into a cubicle alley beside him. He thought his cubicle must be in this alley.

Wu Liang saw Lin Zhaohe suddenly cut off his words, his language somewhat irrelevant, and he was actually speaking polite words to him. He shook his head helplessly, put down his thoughts, and went to find his own cubicle.

Jia Cong followed the other candidates in meeting the three chief examiners, his state of mind as calm as still water, completely lacking the emotional turbulence of Wu Liang and Zhou Yan.

After leaving the main hall of the Examination Hall, he took the bamboo slip number plate in his hand and went to find the cubicle for his examination.

He walked for a short distance and, under the guidance of the little official of the Examination Hall, found the alley where the cubicle was located.

The Love Shenjing Examination Hall occupied a very vast area, with rigorous layout, towering walls, and a gloomy environment. Inside the Examination Hall, the main hall and government offices each occupied their place, distributed surprisingly.

Ever since Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao ascended the throne, he had attached great importance to selecting talent through the imperial examination, and had carried out many repairs and expansions on the Love Shenjing Examination Hall, which gathered the world's talents and selected them for his use.

And on the basis of the construction in the Yong'an reign, the area of the Love Shenjing Examination Hall continued to expand, in addition to rebuilding and constructing necessary halls and government office facilities.

The cubicles used for candidates' examinations were expanded from the original two thousand or so to nearly four thousand, enough to cope with the large number of spring examination candidates.

In addition, three layers of outer walls were added to the Examination Hall, divided into outer thorn walls, inner thorn walls, brick walls, etc.

Watchtowers were also built at the four corners of the Examination Hall, mainly serving the purpose of monitoring water, fire, and bandits.

!

Actually, from the overall structure of the Examination Hall, as long as the four gates of the Examination Hall were locked, the entire Examination Hall became a closed fortress, and in times of war, it could even serve as a place for offense and defense.

By the time Jia Cong determined the location of his cubicle, he breathed a sigh of relief, because his luck was not bad; his cubicle was just in the middle of the alley, near the entrance.

Such a cubicle location was already considered a medium-to-high choice. If his luck was bad and he was assigned to the end of the alley, or even the number one at the end of the alley, that would be truly unlucky.

Because at the end of every alley in the Examination Hall, a large restroom would be built to supply the daily use of hundreds of candidates in one alley.

If a candidate was assigned to a cubicle near the end of the alley, or even very unfortunately to the number one at the end of the alley, that is, the legendary "dung cubicle," that would be a terrifying thing.

You must know that the spring examination lasted for nine days and three sessions. After candidates entered the cubicles, except for daily entry and exit to the restroom, they could not leave the cubicles at will.

If a candidate was unfortunately assigned to the legendary number one at the end of the alley, bathing in the circulating air of the five internal organs at every moment for nine days, wanting to place on the Golden List under such harsh torment,

that candidate must have a mind as firm as a rock and talent that covers the sky; otherwise, it would be extremely difficult...

Although the number of cubicles in this Examination Hall was slightly more than the number of candidates, which could avoid some of the number ones at the end of the alley, there were still quite a few cubicles near the restrooms at the end of the alley.

When Jia Cong entered his cubicle with satisfaction, he could still vaguely hear the wailing of a certain candidate coming from the direction of the end of the alley...

As soon as Jia Cong entered the cubicle, a little official of the Examination Hall distributed a white wax candle and lit it, illuminating the dark and narrow cubicle in the night.

During the nine days of the spring examination, the Examination Hall only provided one white wax candle every night, until it was used up. If candidates were worried that the examination time was tight and needed to fight through the night, one white wax candle was not enough.

Therefore, most candidates entered the Examination Hall with a few white wax candles of their own, but the white wax candles brought in would be strictly inspected by the inspection officials to prevent anyone from hiding cheating materials in the wax.

Jia Cong took a clean cotton cloth from the examination box, moistened it with the clear water in the bamboo tube, cleaned the dust on the cubicle board, and took out the bedding to spread it out.

At this time, he looked up at the narrow eaves of the cubicle and saw the sky was as black and blue as ink, a waning moon had risen to the high sky, half-covered and half-hidden by the gloomy clouds, scattering cold light.

Jia Cong slightly restrained his thoughts, because tonight was not the official start of the examination, and there was nothing else to do.

Jia Cong sat peacefully on the couch, recalling the current essays and policy discussions he had learned, as well as the daily teachings and comments of Liu Jing'an, letting his thoughts slowly become active and full, entering the state of preparing for the examination.

Not far away in the alley, Zhou Yan was somewhat like sitting on pins and needles, his mind constantly recalling the details of his visit to Xu Liangxiong, as well as Xu Liangxiong's relevant remarks on the mock questions.

However, after they visited Xu Liangxiong that day, the Examination Hall issued the spring examination chief examiner edict, and Xu Liangxiong was not among the chief examiner candidates, and was not even among the officials of the spring examination.

From that time on, Zhou Yan threw everything about Xu Liangxiong to the back of his mind, and focused all his efforts on Huang Hongcang's mock questions.

Because time had passed, he even remembered the hundreds-of-words strategy mock question set by Xu Liangxiong very vaguely.

In another cubicle, the candle flame on the cubicle board flickered, shining on Wu Liang's slightly plump face. His eyes were filled with hope, his face had excitement and joy, and he kept muttering to himself...

More than ten positions ahead of Jia Cong's cubicle, Lin Zhaohe had already blown out the candle in his cubicle, leaning on the couch, his expression solemn and peaceful, closing his eyes to rest.

Tonight was the night before the spring examination. All candidates entering the examination had to be locked in for nine days. For all candidates, tonight was destined to be a night when it was difficult to calm their minds.

Everyone's heart was filled with worry, tension, hope, high spirits, and even disappointment and fear—a thousand people with a thousand states, all sorts of things.

In the Examination Hall shrouded in night, in the countless cubicles densely arranged, those jumping, unextinguished candle flames cast a gloomy and unspeakable atmosphere over the vast and gloomy Examination Hall.

Jia Cong recalled his daily lessons in his mind and heard the sound of the little official knocking on the clapper in the alley; the time had reached the Hai hour.

He stopped the meditation in his mind, blew out the candle on the cubicle board, lay down, and covered himself with the fur-lined cloak.

Under his head was the soft silk pillow made by Xing Xiuyan, which was very soft and comfortable. The palm fibers in the pillow emitted a refreshing and soul-cleansing fragrance, letting Jia Cong quickly enter a dreamland.

The 15th year of Emperor Jia Zhao, 3rd month, 18th day.

The east was slightly bright, and the soft, bright light of the early morning had not yet shone into the cubicle. Jia Cong woke up from his sound sleep. He had slept soundly last night, but it was just the daily routine that let him wake up naturally.

The entire Examination Hall seemed to wake up from the morning light. Jia Cong heard the surrounding cubicles all making rustling sounds; he thought they were all the movements of the candidates getting up.

Some of them, like Jia Cong, slept soundly for a night, but many others tossed and turned all night.

Jia Cong took out the dry rations prepared by Wu'er and Lingguan from the examination box, heated them on the small stove in the cubicle, and ate the first breakfast in the Examination Hall in an orderly manner.

By the time he finished packing his things and sat for a while, he heard the sound of the cloud board being knocked in the alley. The sound was clear, loud, and pleasant.

But when it reached the ears of the candidates, everyone's expression was solemn, because after the cloud board was knocked three times, the spring examination would officially begin.

After the cloud board was knocked twice, Jia Cong had already prepared all kinds of stationery.

He moistened the purple-hair brush prepared by Daiyu with clear water, ground a pool of thick ink on the gourd inkstone sent by Seeing Tan Chun, and placed the pair of glowing lychee-frozen paperweights at the end of the desk.

After the cloud board was knocked three times, a Grade 7 civil official entered the alley, followed by four or five little officials, distributing the examination papers and draft papers to the candidates in each cubicle.

Each alley sat more than a hundred candidates, and distributing papers along the way took a lot of time.

By the time the several officials distributing papers walked to the end of the alley, the Wenhuazhong bell of the Examination Hall rang again.

A little official walked into the entrance of the alley, his expression serious, holding an examination card, walking slowly in the alley. The eyes of all the candidates in the cubicles were gathered on that examination card.

On that examination card was written the book classics examination questions for the first session of this year's spring examination: three four-book essays and four five-classic essays, which the candidates needed to complete within three days.

When the examination card in the little official's hand passed by Jia Cong's cubicle, his eyes stared fixedly at that examination card.

The first four-book question on the examination card came into view, exuding a spirit of high spirits: "Can be entrusted with a six-foot orphan, can be entrusted with the fate of a hundred miles, and cannot be taken away even in the face of a great festival. Is he a gentleman? He is a gentleman."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 598 =====