Chapter 599: Policy Questions Investigating the Way of the World

Love Shenjing, Examination Hall, 3rd month, 20th day, sunset.

The book classics examination in the first session of the 15th year of Emperor Jia Zhao spring examination had lowered its curtain.

After the spring examination officials collected the examination papers, the candidates who had worked hard for three days finally welcomed a slightly relaxed night.

The three days of the first session of the spring examination required completing seven book classics questions, which seemed ample in time, but in reality, it was not so.

Not to mention the seven questions, each had to be written independently, which would naturally consume quite a bit of time.

For candidates to stand out among more than three thousand candidates and place on the list, it was not just about finishing the questions.

Every question and every essay had to be broken down and established, and the opening had to be planned, which must be a cut above the rest. The wording had to be precise and exquisite.

Otherwise, how could they win the favor of the associate examiners and chief examiners?

For every candidate, every essay and every word, whether they had exhausted their ability and whether it was perfect, was related to their future official career and prospects.

Therefore, every candidate facing the questions was racking their brains, exhausting their strength, and burning their heart-lamps to write essays.

In this heavy mental consumption, accompanied by huge examination pressure, the three days passed extremely quickly.

As the highest level of the imperial examination, the Metropolitan Examination tested not only talent but also timing, temperament, patience, and even physical strength.

From this morning, Jia Cong sat in his cubicle and heard coughing sounds, and even heavy breathing sounds, coming from the narrow and long alley from time to time.

All candidates entering the Metropolitan Examination had the status of Provincial Graduate Wu. There was a saying about "poor scholars," but there was absolutely no such thing as "poor Provincial Graduate Wu."

Because as long as a scholar obtained the status of Provincial Graduate Wu, they stepped into the threshold of scholar-officials, not only having the qualifications to be granted official positions by the imperial court but also having a certain quota of tax-free farmland under their name.

As long as they passed the provincial examination, landlords and wealthy families would compete to offer land.

These candidates entering the spring examination had become Provincial Graduate Wu for a few years, and some were old Provincial Graduate Wu of more than ten years.

Almost all of them had quite a bit of family assets. Apart from studying, they did nothing, unlike ordinary poor people who could endure the hardships of wind and sun.

The cubicles of the Examination Hall were not only narrow and simple but also open-air, making it difficult to avoid wind and sun daily. Sleeping at night, apart from having a roof, was not much different from sleeping in the open.

Now it was the end of spring, and the spring nights in the Love Shenjing were still cold and chilly. Added to the fact that it had rained several times since the 18th, the temperature had dropped even more.

Those candidates had spent three days and two nights in the cubicles, and quite a few who were physically weak had caught some wind and cold.

In this era, wind and cold could cost a life. Because the spring examination lasted for nine days, there was no reason to leave the Examination Hall for medical treatment halfway.

In the spring examinations of previous years, there were candidates who were stopped from taking the examination halfway due to severe illness and were carried out of the Examination Hall; such situations were not rare.

Fortunately, Jia Cong had no such problems at all. Although he was born in a wealthy family and had lived in luxury since he was ten,

he had been practicing martial arts and knives with Qu Hongxiu since he was a child, with a solid foundation and a strong body.

Even in the bitterly cold land of Liaodong, he could still lead troops to fight, free from all diseases, not comparable to ordinary candidates who couldn't even truss a chicken.

Therefore, after the three days of the first session, Jia Cong was still in high spirits, and the writing of the book classics essay in the first session was smooth and fluent. The feeling of the examination was excellent, and for him, the nine-day grand competition had a good start.

Jia Cong packed up his brushes and ink, and saw the miscellaneous workers of the Examination Hall's food stall pushing a cart full of food, entering the alley silently, but they didn't hawk or sell, because silence was the iron law of the Examination Hall.

Even for such a high-end imperial examination, the imperial court didn't provide free meals. The food at the Examination Hall's food stall was for sale, and not only was the taste questionable, but it was also known for being expensive.

Even though these candidates had some family assets, most of them prepared their own dry rations.

Jia Cong naturally didn't lack silver, but he didn't touch the dishes at the Examination Hall's food stall. Seeing that the rice was clean, he spent silver to buy some.

He took out the seafood and southern goods prepared by Wu'er and Lingguan, as well as various exquisite dry rations, roasted them on the small stove in the cubicle, ate a comfortable dinner, and then buried his head and slept.

3rd month, 21st day, east was slightly bright, the sky was not yet fully bright.

The Examination Hall's drum rang. After a night of rest, countless candidates woke up from the cubicles, simply tidied their appearance, and waited quietly for the new test.

After the cloud board rang, the spring examination officials distributed the formal papers and draft papers as usual, and two runners walked back and forth in the alley as usual, showing the candidates the questions for the second session of the spring examination.

The second session of the spring examination tested "Lun" (Discourse), "Zhao Gao Biao" (Imperial Edicts and Memorials), and "Pan Yu" (Judgment).

"Lun" was similar to the argumentative essays of later generations, also intercepting sentences from the Four Books and Five Classics as questions, but it didn't require answering in the eight-legged essay format, and the freedom of expression was greater, with a difficulty lower than the book classics essay in the first session.

"Zhao Gao Biao" was a collective term for various official documents of the imperial court and government offices, requiring scholars to imitate the speech and conduct of superiors and draft official documents, which was also a test of future ability to enter officialdom.

"Pan Yu" appeared somewhat special compared to others, that is, the comments made on documents submitted by subordinates.

Jia Cong had heard Liu Jing'an explain the judgment question examples of the previous spring examination, such as: handling of officials receiving bribes, how to deal with criminals resisting arrest, how to judge knowing and hiding, etc.

It mainly tested the candidates' logic of governance and their familiarity and application of the Great Zhou laws.

Among the three sessions of the spring examination, the second session appeared very special. Some candidates felt the second session was light and easy, while others felt they couldn't grasp the direction.

The former were like Jia Cong, who not only served as the main official of the Ministry of Works for nearly two years but also had been observing government affairs in the Ministry of War.

Therefore, he was very familiar with various official documents circulating in government offices, and even had contact with many instructions and official documents issued by superiors in the Ministry of War and Ministry of Works.

As the main official of the Firearm Division, he also needed to issue instructions for the daily government affairs of the Firearm Division and the construction of firearm workshops outside the city.

In the process of investigating major cases in the Jin Ling Detective Office, he had contact with a large number of judgment and law official documents from the Jin Ling Prefecture government, the Love Shenjing Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, etc.

He was also an old hand at various criminal judgment laws and the handling of various urgent situations.

Added to the fact that he had been studying hard for the examination for half a year, he had read and pondered the Great Zhou laws, almost without any omissions.

Therefore, the second session of the examination appeared very familiar to candidates like Jia Cong, but appeared difficult and complicated to those candidates who had no official status, had never been through government affairs, and only knew how to talk on paper, making it difficult to grasp the measure.

But for candidates like Jia Cong, it appeared very easy.

In the second session of the examination, there were one question each for Lun, Zhao, Gao, and Biao, and five questions for Pan, totaling nine questions.

Jia Cong only used three hours to write all the drafts, which must be the easiest session among his three sessions of the examination.

He carefully revised it on the first day and rested early. On the second day, he carefully pondered and deliberated, and finally finalized the draft.

On the third day, he rose early and began to carefully transcribe it. Afterward, he felt quite bored, waiting for the officials to come and collect the papers at sunset.

3rd month, 24th day, morning, when the Examination Hall's drum rang again, the third session of the 15th year of Emperor Jia Zhao spring examination finally opened its curtain.

The policy question comparison of the spring examination, compared to the book classics essay in the first session and the official document judgment in the second session, had a broader and more practical meaning.

During the previous dynasty, Confucianism was flourishing, and the spring examination had always emphasized the book classics essay in the first session, with the policy question test in the third session in a supplementary and auxiliary position.

However, after the Mongol cavalry ravaged the Central Plains and the remnants of the previous dynasty moved south in large numbers, Li Tianling took advantage of the situation to sweep across the Central Plains when the mountains and rivers were broken, and established the world.

The Great Zhou Li family rose in the slaughter of war, and compared to the previous dynasty's imperial family, they had less of the soft and decadent spirit of Confucianism and more of the cold spirit of practical use.

History turned into the new dynasty of the Great Zhou, which also caused many changes in the imperial examination system that had been passed down for thousands of years.

By the time Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao ascended the throne, compared to the previous monarchs of the Great Zhou, he advocated practical merit even more, and even felt very disgusted with the parallel prose and empty words in the memorials of court officials.

What the emperor likes, the subordinates will surely follow.

The emperor's handling of affairs naturally subtly influenced the country's standard for selecting talent, so the weight of the policy questions in the three sessions of the spring examination also rose with the tide. Although hindered by the thousand-year orthodoxy of the imperial examination system, the weight of the policy questions in the three sessions of the Great Zhou imperial examination did not exceed the book classics study in the first session, but it had vaguely become equal.

Moreover, after the spring examination, the candidates would place on the list and welcome the palace examination that determined the ranking of the top three.

The palace examination was presided over by the emperor, and only tested policy questions. Those who passed the palace examination were all students of the emperor.

Every time the spring examination list was posted, there were as many as several hundred candidates. The first place was the Huiyuan, followed by the ranking, and just like the provincial examination, there was also the elegant matter of being at the end of the list.

However, candidates who placed on the spring examination list, even if they ranked low, if they had the policy question talent of a ghost-god pen, one magnificent essay could win the emperor's favor, and the success or failure could be reversed, and they could also climb high on the Golden List.

Therefore, as long as candidates cherished the ambition of climbing the blue clouds and had the heart to occupy the top, no one was not proficient in the study of policy questions.

Within the Examination Hall, the more than three thousand candidates, having endured two sessions over six days of rigorous testing, lighting lamps and burning oil, racking their brains, were mostly exhausted in spirit and mind.

But all the candidates, in the first two sessions of the examination, regardless of whether they were unsatisfactory or full of ambition,

no one had any slack, and everyone in their hearts gathered all their strength, pouring the remaining energy and hope into the third session of the policy question comparison.

The policy question comparison of the Great Zhou spring examination was much the same as the previous dynasty's regulations, and also set five policy questions.

But compared to the previous dynasty, there were also differences, mainly based on practical affairs and seeking depth.

!

Therefore, the five policy questions in the three sessions of the spring examination, the first question was the theme, and the other four questions were derived from the first question.

The policy question set in the previous spring examination was derived from the first question into four sub-questions: maritime administration, river defense, border affairs, and taxation.

That is to say, the first policy question was the top priority.

If the answer to the first policy question was written in a disorderly manner and ruined, the other four questions would lose their root, and the three sessions of policy questions would be a complete failure.

Compared to the rigorous and regular eight-legged essay of book classics, the study of policy questions seemed to be more unrestrained, but mastering the study of policy questions was by no means a one-day effort.

Ever since Jia Cong worshipped Liu Jing'an as his teacher, Liu Jing'an would list a large number of book lists for him every year, involving various schools of thought, letting him broaden his vision and consolidate the foundation of policy theory.

The tempering and accumulation of these years, years of hard work for one day, dripping water wearing through stone, finally succeeded. Wanting to be one step ahead in the examination field, there was no shortcut to take.

After the three drum sounds stopped, Jia Cong ground ink and dipped his brush. He saw two runners holding examination cards walking into the alley.

All candidates stared fixedly, all gathered on the first policy question on the examination card:

Scholars study the classics until their hair turns white, and their learning is profound, all for the sake of serving the king. From the beginning of the ancient emperors, it has been the unchanging orthodoxy of sages.

However, there are changes in the Spring and Autumn period, there are wise and foolish kings, there are rich and poor among the people, there are many and few enemy chiefs, and there are loyal and treacherous officials.

The orthodoxy of sages cannot be changed, but the methods of the time have no fixed theory. How can one govern the affairs of a hundred generations?

The sages once said: "Melt the heart of heaven and earth with the heart of one person, and melt the heart of the world with the heart of heaven and earth."

It is based on the foundation of the source of governing, unifying all laws, so that the whole world, scholars, people, and commoners, all share the same reason and righteousness.

Without the worry of rebellion against the root and branch, and the wind of different directions between superiors and inferiors, how can this be achieved?

Jia Cong focused all his attention on browsing the questions on the examination card, and recorded them with flying speed. But after reading the content of the first question, his heart moved slightly, and he was lost in thought.

More than ten positions ahead of Jia Cong's cubicle was the cubicle of Lin Zhaohe, the Jieyuan of Hangzhou Prefecture.

When the runner's examination card wandered to his cubicle, he looked at the first question with full attention and recorded it with flying speed.

After recording the other four policy questions, Lin Zhaohe returned to read the first policy question carefully.

After he finished reading the meaning of the question, he pondered slightly, and a strange feeling arose in his heart, his brows slightly locked...

As the runners holding the examination cards walked in the alley, more and more candidates saw the first question, and many people showed difficulty on their faces...

It had to be admitted that the first policy question was magnificent in meaning and profound in thought, but the more such questions were, the greater the difficulty for candidates to control the answering of the policy questions.

Already quite a few candidates were cursing in their hearts that this first policy question was magnificent and strange, surging and unrestrained, and imposing.

I don't know which of the three chief examiners set it; he himself was showing off his talent and writing freely.

But with such magnificent and difficult question meaning, wanting candidates to write a matching questionnaire was truly not easy. This spring examination's policy question comparison didn't know how many candidates' blue cloud ambitions would be broken...

As the runners holding the examination cards walked back and forth in every alley, wherever they went, many candidates couldn't help but make low sighs of difficulty.

In a cubicle far away from Jia Cong, Wu Liang saw the first policy question on the examination card and recorded it with flying speed.

When he read the sentence in the question stem: "Melt the heart of heaven and earth with the heart of one person, and melt the heart of the world with the heart of heaven and earth."

He had a realization in his heart, shook his head and recited it several times, his heart seemed to be touched by inspiration, and he picked up his pen and drafted an outline on the draft paper.

In another alley, Zhou Yan, after six days of the first two sessions of the examination, was disheveled, his face pale, his eye circles blue, and his spirit very exhausted.

He had been a Provincial Graduate Wu for many years. Although he had failed the spring examination twice, his years of hard study also gave him some foundation.

And he had long been familiar with the hardships of the spring examination, and he was in his prime; he shouldn't have become so embarrassed after only two sessions.

But before the spring examination, because he had been immersed in book classics essays and official document judgments for many years, he had some confidence.

Obtaining the exclusive mock questions from chief examiner Huang Hongcang, through pondering the mock questions to understand his thinking and literary context, he was determined to win the third session of policy questions, and originally thought he was sure to place on the list this time.

But he never expected that he would enter the Examination Hall full of hope, but when the matter came to a head, he was late to realize, and his original burning expectations all fell through!

When a person's will is instantly destroyed and his full hope is strangled in an instant, it can cut off three-tenths of his ten-tenths of ability.

Moreover, he had spent most of his energy before the examination pondering Huang Hongcang's mock questions, and even somewhat abandoned the right path. The huge energy and effort all became a useless effort.

Zhou Yan was not a talent as outstanding as Jia Cong and Lin Zhaohe. Encountering such a sudden change, his heart was panicked and confused, difficult to speak, difficult to resolve, and naturally, he was increasingly defeated like a mountain.

Under such low spirits, he lost quite a bit of agility in the first two sessions of the spring examination, his performance was not very good, and he was so tired that he was about to collapse.

By the time the examination card wandered in front of him, he saw the first policy question that had been secretly cursed by many candidates, and searched his gut to find memories.

But his brain seemed to be a paste, with no gains at all. His heart was increasingly filled with wailing, and it took a lot of effort to stumble and record the five policy questions.

Jia Cong focused on the somewhat difficult first policy question, pondered and deliberated for half an hour, his thoughts immersed, gradually sorting out the clues, nourishing his literary spirit, and picked up his pen to write:

The methods of the time and the fixed theories cannot govern the affairs of a hundred generations, because the world at that time was different.

In an age of prosperity, the way of governing is the same. In an age of chaos, the way of governing is different.

The reason for the difference is just the governance and chaos of the world. The so-called way of governing has never been different.

If the person governing has no different heart and no different way, the effect of governing will be no different.

Tracing its source, the way of governing does not move; it changes according to the strategy of the time, and is the same spirit across a hundred generations.

If the heart method is clear, the way method is established; if the way method is established, the governing method is raised.

In the wilderness of the world, the right learning is not passed on, and the common people do not see the wisdom of the emperor. However, the fire is passed on, slash-and-burn cultivation, fighting in mountains and waters, blood and seeds are passed on, and the way of governing begins.

Scholars obtain the mantle of sages, encourage themselves and seek, and when the learning power is reached, they fade the old and change the new, the heart method is magnificent and upright, and the sky is wide and the earth is large.

If the source is right, then from oneself to the family, from the family to the country, from the country to the world, there is no policy that is not established, and no matter that is not raised... (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 600 =====