Chapter 201: The Palace Examination (Part 2)

"Your servant believes this is feasible."

Lü Haowen hesitated for only a moment before immediately voicing his agreement. Not only that, none of the other ministers present spoke out in opposition.

This time, it was Zhao Jiu himself who was momentarily stunned—this was it? This was a Presented Scholar degree!

But clearly, this was it.

In truth, this matter was entirely Zhao Jiu being overly suspicious, even somewhat petty and clever in his own conceit… He had no idea that there was actually half a precedent for this.

During the reign of the Retired Emperor, the Daoist Sovereign, who had been taken north, a similar incident had occurred. Moreover, it involved an Imperial Prince personally taking the examinations, advancing all the way to the palace examination level on his own genuine ability, and was even said to have won the top scholar position through real talent and learning… With such an absurd precedent to fall back on, it would be difficult for the Song officials present to refute the current Emperor's aboveboard actions.

Even the six hundred quasi-Presented Scholars below had nothing to say, because according to the dynasty's rules, once one reached the palace hall, there was no issue of failing—they were all Presented Scholars, only differing in ranking and grade. And since a Military Governor was being allowed to enter the palace examination at the last moment in such an open and upright manner, the Emperor could hardly shamelessly give this Defender-in-Chief Yue the top scholar position.

At most, it would be a middle ranking, harmless to both those above and below, and would become a fine tale passed down in future… Perhaps some might even think they could gain a rare bond as fellow graduates, and later, when meeting privately, say, "I happen to be two years older than you, Defender-in-Chief Yue, so at the banquet, I'll take the seat of honor first!"

Of course, with six hundred people and several dozen ministers, there were bound to be some dissatisfied. But with the Emperor proposing and the Chief Councilor agreeing, their opinions could not be expressed for the moment, so the matter proceeded without hindrance.

And Yue Fei, in his bewilderment, could only step forward from the ranks to respond.

But just then, as Yue Fei stepped out under the cold stares of all his colleagues except Zhang Rong, showing some hesitation, Zhao Jiu suddenly felt a pang of unease… He realized he had overlooked a major problem—he hadn't communicated with Yue Fei in advance. What if Yue Pengju, to avoid incurring his colleagues' jealousy, took the initiative to refuse?

At this thought, Zhao Jiu had a flash of inspiration. His expression unchanged, he pointed again at the ranks of military commanders and spoke calmly: "Since Councilor Lü has permitted it, I will not be petty… Not only Pengju, but any of you below Lord Liangchen who feel your literary skills are up to par may also come up. Shaoyan (Li Yanxian's courtesy name), Zicai (Wang Yan's courtesy name), and Qu Duan—you three are also known as masters of both civil and martial arts. Would you like to give it a try?"

At these words, Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, both rough military men, exchanged bewildered glances. Meanwhile, Li Yanxian and Wang Yan, whose faces had shown the most displeasure, were momentarily taken aback, then both hesitated in unison… After all, though these two could write a bit of prose and handle some documents, they were self-aware enough to know they were far from capable of composing proper essays to compete for a Presented Scholar title.

If they actually accepted, once their essays were made public, they would only end up disgraced.

Thus, the two almost simultaneously shrank back, not stepping forward at all.

But almost at the same time, Qu Duan, who had been named, was unwilling to let this opportunity slip. He immediately stepped out, rushing ahead to stand beside Yue Fei, and responded excitedly: "Your servant begs Your Majesty to grant a desk for fair comparison. I am also willing to have my essay posted outside Donghuamen after the palace examination. If public opinion deems my essay extremely poor, I am willing to accept punishment!"

This sudden interjection directly changed Yue Fei's mind, which had been leaning toward declining… He was certainly worried that obtaining this Presented Scholar title would further alienate his fellow military commanders. But as the saying goes, choose the lesser of two evils. If he backed down now, he would instead incur a deep grudge from this "master of both civil and martial arts" standing beside him.

It must be understood that everyone with insight in the hall knew that Qu Duan's sudden appearance was not merely to seek a Presented Scholar title. He hoped even more to use this to escape his awkward position of being sidelined, to show the world that he, Qu Da, was still a figure of importance before the Emperor.

This concerned his political life.

And so, Yue Pengju also clasped his hands in salute from the side, but said nothing. This was the meaning of "me too."

Seeing this, Zhao Jiu finally laughed openly before the assembly, then turned his head to look at Lan Gui: "Since only two are willing, then go and add two desks with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Let Pengju and Shiyin (Qu Duan's courtesy name) take the examination. The rest will remain here to observe the ceremony."

Yue Fei and Qu Duan naturally knelt together to thank the Emperor. But compared to Yue Fei, who was still caught off guard, Qu Duan suddenly felt a desire to shed tears… For only now did he realize that the Emperor had actually known his courtesy name all along, but had simply never used that form of address.

Desks were added for Yue Fei and Qu Duan, and the brief disturbance passed. Zhao Jiu finally raised his brush and wrote down the examination questions one by one.

Now, during the Song dynasty, the imperial examination system had been reformed repeatedly. By the time of the Jingkang era, under Song Huizong's prosperous and extravagant reign, the examinations had been abolished entirely, replaced by the Three Hall System (county school, prefectural school, and Imperial Academy). Those who passed the Imperial Academy could be directly appointed to office. This current special grace examination granting Presented Scholar status was also a hybrid concoction by the Emperor and Councilor Lü, so the rules of the palace examination naturally had a somewhat arbitrary flavor.

But no matter how much things changed, the core remained the same. Ultimately, Zhao Jiu, as the Emperor, had to pose several questions, and the new Presented Scholars below had to produce a proper political essay based on these questions.

From Zhao Jiu's perspective as the question-setter, given the current situation, the policy questions could not possibly go beyond a few topics… In fact, Zhao Jiu did not try to be innovative. On the contrary, he followed the political tradition since Emperor Shenzong, asking only five questions. However, they were exceptionally concise, without a lengthy flowery preamble.

By comparison, historically, when someone crossed the river on a clay horse and held examinations, they asked dozens of policy questions in one go—who knows what they were thinking.

The specific five questions were as follows.

The first was a major question on current affairs. Zhao Jiu began by asking, in the four years of war between Song and Jin, from a long-term perspective, how could Song achieve victory?

The second was a specific military question. The Emperor spoke directly: if the Jin forces came again after autumn, how should defense be conducted, and how should it be planned?

The third was a question of fiscal balance. It asked how, while ensuring the military arrangements at the front, the burden on the common people in the rear could be minimized.

The fourth was the perennial question of talent selection. Zhao Jiu added a twist here, asking how, under the new circumstances, qualified personnel capable of facing military pressure could be selected.

The final question circled back to the fundamentals of Confucianism, somewhat general in nature. It stated, "The Way of governance is rooted in Heaven; the Way of Heaven is rooted in the people." How should the Son of Heaven uphold the Way of governance between Heaven and the people?

It seemed the Emperor was still influenced by his conversation with Hu Anguo.

After the five questions were written, the chief eunuch Lan Gui took them first and passed them to Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei. Zhu Shengfei merely glanced through them to confirm the questions were not particularly absurd, then returned them.

Immediately afterward, Lan Gui, in the silent Jiying Hall, raised his voice as much as possible and read aloud these five brief questions. He read them three times in succession, then asked whether anyone above or below had not heard clearly.

In truth, this was merely a formality. Several Hanlin Academicians nearby had already heard the questions clearly and quickly transcribed them in large characters. They were to be handed to eunuchs, who would hold up the questions every ten or so desks so the scholars could see them clearly, copy them onto drafts, and then compose their essays.

It was still somewhat crude, lacking the proper formalities of earlier times, such as setting up placards in advance, bestowing wine, and carefully transcribing examination papers.

But it sufficed.

However, just as Lan Gui finished reading and was about to withdraw, Zhao Jiu, seated on the throne, suddenly spoke up again, raising his voice to declare something. This caused the several chief councilors and military commanders nearby, as well as the hundreds of quasi-Presented Scholars below, to all prick up their ears.

"Ministers, before you begin answering, I have one more word…" Zhao Jiu declared loudly, his voice carrying clearly through the Jiying Hall, which had excellent acoustics. "I believe that in this era, it is truly a time of total war between Song and Jin. The state is in peril day and night, and all matters are disturbed by military affairs. Therefore, all formalities can be simplified. You, ministers, in your answers today, need not adhere to essay regulations or old customs. As long as you speak with substance, that will suffice! Now, begin answering!"

Such words stirred many hearts in the hall… Some felt it was a necessary reminder from the Emperor, some thought it was a hint, and others were simply shaken by the phrase "total war."

But regardless, after these words, the Emperor calmly turned and left the Jiying Hall together with the other civil and military high officials, heading to the adjacent Huangyi Hall to drink tea and wait.

For a time, only the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the eunuchs of the Eunuch Bureau, and the armored Imperial Guards remained in the Jiying Hall, accompanying these six hundred and two quasi-Presented Scholars in this unremarkable examination.

PS: Thanks to new patrons Weiweiweiweidu and Linghu Wuzhong, the 71st and 72nd patrons of this book… That makes 72 Earthly Fiends.

Half a chapter first… I'm dead tired. Consider this half a leave of absence to sleep… It's not writer's block, but I've had some work matters to deal with these past two days. As a result, writing has been extremely dry. Can you believe I spent four or five hours in front of the computer on this half chapter? Or maybe it's another form of writer's block? I hope you'll understand. I'll try to make it up before 12 tonight.