All the exam papers had their names written on them and were sent to the marking room.
The marking room was as bright as day.
The marking room of the Prefectural Literature Institute was extremely spacious. More than twenty thousand exam papers were placed on the tables and it looked like a papermaking workshop.
Three examiners, one imperial inspector, and ten scholars from the Academy of Arts stood in front of the statue of Confucius.
"We await your judgment!"
An invisible force descended and a gust of wind blew in the room.
All the exam papers were emitting a smoky orange colored talent but the intensity of the talent was different.
An invisible force swept across and tens of thousands of exam papers were moved to the side of the marking room and stacked together, forming a mountain of papers.
Finally, the two hundred most talented exam papers were placed on the table.
Magistrate Dong said, "I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse but since the saints have increased the number of Elementary Scholars, it is a good thing for the human race. Let's begin marking. "
The ten scholars walked over and each of them picked nineteen exam papers. The ten most talented exam papers were left in their original positions.
The capital examination was different from the county examination. The capital examination required the scholars to cross mark the papers. Every two people next to each other had to mark their own paper and then judge the other person's paper.
The three examiners and the inspector looked at the ten exam papers in front of them.
The highest ranked exam paper had a talent of two feet and four inches. After that, it was two feet one, two feet two and one foot nine.
Magistrate Dong smiled and asked, "Do you want to guess who has the most talent?"
Registrar Zhou said, "Is there a need to guess? The first must be Fang Yun. "
"Magistrate Zhou is right." Feng Zi Mo smiled.
Inspector Geng laughed coldly and said, "That may not be the case. Even if he has the most talent, it could be in poetry and not in righteousness. Look at the rest of the exam papers. The difference is less than a foot. It is unknown who will take the top spot! As the disciples of the saints, you flatter Fang Yun before marking the exam papers. If it wasn't for your reputation, I would have asked the Emperor to remove your qualifications to mark the exam papers. "
The three examiners were angry but had nothing to say. Although the marking of the Imperial Examinations was strict, everyone was a scholar and not a blockhead. There was no need to be so strict. However, Inspector Geng was right. Furthermore, he was from Hanlin. Everyone could only sulk.
"Lord Geng is right. Let's start marking the papers." Magistrate Dong suddenly walked quickly to the first paper. The other two deputy examiners looked at each other and followed him silently.
According to the rules, the chief examiner would invite the Imperial Examination Inspector to judge the first exam paper. Firstly, it was to respect the status of the Notre-Dame. Secondly, it was to show respect to the person in charge of Gao Wenwei. However, Inspector Geng had already shed all pretense of cordiality and made things difficult for Fang Yun. If it weren't for Fang Yun's threat of inviting the Holy Court, Inspector Geng would have gone from bad to worse.
On one side was a local tyrant, and on the other side was an official of the Notre-Dame. The two sides would probably never meet again in their lives. Inspector Geng was the first to fall out, so the three examiners from Jingguo didn't need to care about anything else.
The three of them stood in front of the exam table. Inspector Geng could only turn his head and watch from the side.
Inspector Geng smiled disdainfully. He wasn't angry at all.
When the four examiners looked at the exam paper, their faces changed.
Inspector Geng looked carefully and laughed, "This isn't Fang Yun's handwriting, I recognize it! Fang Yun isn't the number one talent. Your Jade Sea City is indeed full of talents. Good! Good! "
Magistrate Dong said with a black face, "Inspector Geng has lost his composure."
Inspector Geng didn't mind and smiled as he looked at the first ranked paper, "Let me see. The Righteous Talent has a foot and six while the Poetry Talent has eight inches. I don't recognize this handwriting, but if my guess isn't wrong, it seems to be that Tong Li's? The younger generation will surpass us in time. Just based on this foot and six inches of Righteous Talent, he can be considered a top talent in many places. If no one cheats in the Imperial Examination, the position of Jade Sea City's top talent will belong to him. "
Registrar Zhou had the best relationship with Fang Yun. He said in a deep voice, "Inspector Geng, please be quiet. This is a marking room, not a place for random flattery."
Inspector Geng still had a smile on his face, as if victory was within his grasp.
Magistrate Dong said, "We will cross-mark the papers. After the final evaluation, we can let Inspector Geng verify it. "
"Please!"
"Please!"
Magistrate Feng and Registrar Zhou exchanged pleasantries, but no one bothered with Inspector Geng.
Magistrate Dong looked at the Righteous Talent, Magistrate Feng looked at the Poetry Talent and Registrar Zhou looked at the Holy Words.
Not long after, Magistrate Dong used a red pen to write two simple words under Tong Li's Righteous Talent.
Second Middle.
Inspector Geng took a look and didn't say anything. This evaluation was very objective. Tong Li's Righteous Talent was not bad and his answers were at the Second High standard. However, the latter part was average. Even so, he still stood out among the Elementary Scholars.
Inspector Geng looked on coldly from the side. The evaluation was still to be decided. Besides the Holy Words, the Poetry Talent and Righteous Talent, no matter which grade it was, would be changed to A grade.
The other two examiners also gave their evaluations.
Tong Li's Holy Words, Poetry Talent and Righteous Talent were respectively Second Low, Second Low and Second Middle.
After that, the three examiners cross-marked the papers and didn't find any problems. The final evaluation was the same as the first examiner.
Under normal circumstances, the three examiners would praise Tong Li. After all, the Third High Grade was not common. If there were no accidents, this person would definitely be a talent.
Without waiting for the three examiners to open their mouths, Inspector Geng said, "Not bad! The three of you are still fair. "
The three examiners looked at each other and started to judge the second paper.
The handwriting was still not Fang Yun's.
The three examiners' faces became uglier and Inspector Geng's smile became wider.
Not long after, the second paper appeared. It was respectively Third High Grade, Second Middle Grade and Second Low Grade.
Inspector Geng said, "This person's Righteous Talent is the same as Tong Li's. However, Tong Li's Righteous Talent is four inches higher."
The three examiners didn't say a word and quietly continued to grade the third paper.
It still wasn't Fang Yun's.
The three examiners' faces were no different from a black pot. However, the three of them had the courage to write. Even if they were in a bad mood, they wouldn't randomly grade.
The third person's grade was Third High Grade, Second High Grade and Third High Grade.
Inspector Geng evaluated again, "This person's Righteous Talent is one foot high. He can get Second High Grade. I saw the handwriting of the fourth person. It should be Fang Yun. " With a Saint overlooking the heavens and earth, some words were harmless. After all, the three Half-saint were the real examiners.
The three examiners started to read Fang Yun's paper with complicated feelings.
When the Holy Words, Poem and Righteous Scripture were separated, the three examiners' eyes revealed a trace of despair.
Fang Yun's Righteous Scripture only had a very faint Righteous Talent. It wasn't even one inch.
"Continue." Magistrate Dong sighed and started to read Fang Yun's Righteous Scripture.
After reading the first question, Magistrate Dong said loudly, "Good! I have been an examiner for more than ten years and this is the first time I have seen such a clever question! If the following words are correct, I will definitely give it an A grade! "
The other three examiners immediately looked over. Inspector Geng also stretched his neck to take a look.
"Wonderful! It's even worse than me! "
"Great talent!"
The smile on Inspector Geng's face disappeared.
Magistrate Dong said slowly, "Talent is the only standard to judge a poem. However, it isn't the only standard to judge a Righteous Scripture and Political Theory. This is especially true for the sages of the Qin Dynasty and the disciples of Confucius. Their Righteous Scripture often lacks Righteous Talent but contains great principles. When Wu Guo's Great Confucian Scholar was taking the High Scholar examination, his Righteous Scripture only had three inches of Righteous Talent. However, he still suppressed everyone and obtained an A grade. "
Inspector Geng knew that Magistrate Dong was saying this for him to hear. He didn't reply and continued to read.
The four examiners continued to read. Inspector Geng's face became gloomier while the three examiners' expressions became more and more colorful.
"If I were Magistrate Dong, my first comment would be 'the structure is tight'! This Fang Yun started from the Righteous Scripture and continued with the Righteous Scripture. It was exceptionally smooth and he didn't let us down. Even if he was the top scholar of the country, his structure couldn't be better. "
"The Righteous Scripture and Righteous Scripture are secondary. What I like the most is the development of Abdication, Hereditary Succession and Selection. Abdication and Hereditary Succession are great ceremonies. The Righteous Scripture has changed, but he has discovered the meaning from it. The meaning is also changing and echoes with the Righteous Scripture. If there is a problem with Righteous Talent in this Righteous Scripture, it must be the Selection that he hypothesized. Although he couldn't hypothesize a Selection System that is as perfect as Abdication and Hereditary Succession, he clearly pointed out the characteristics of balance and stability, which is extremely in line with the Confucian doctrine of the Golden Mean. However, he also emphasized that there are Saints in the Selection System, which means that the Selection System isn't perfect. Fortunately, this is the case. If there really is a great ceremony of the country to get rid of the Saints, it wouldn't be beautiful. "
"This kid's hypothesis may be bold, but in terms of balance and stability, it exceeds the current Ten Nations System. If there are no Saints in the Ten Nations, the country can only be maintained by a wise ruler. If the ruler is incompetent, the country will be in danger. He also clarified that since he chose the characteristics of balance and stability, there will also be negative characteristics. If he can learn from it and integrate it into the Ten Nations System, he can use this Righteous Scripture as a foundation to become a great Confucian scholar! "
"A grade!"
"A grade!"
"A grade!"
Magistrate Dong wrote below Fang Yun's Righteous Scripture, "The Question Solving System is wonderful. The structure is tight, there are signs of change, there is an opportunity for the human race to prosper, there is a feasible method, profound Righteousness, A grade! "
Then, Registrar Zhou and Magistrate Feng also wrote an A grade comment. As long as the Righteous Scripture didn't appear in the subsequent test papers, Fang Yun would definitely be a great talent.
However, Inspector Geng said, "This Righteous Scripture can't be given an A grade!"
The three examiners looked at Inspector Geng together. The others were fine, but Feng Zimo immediately said angrily, "Inspector Geng, this Righteous Scripture is clearly an A grade essay, how can it not be given an A grade? I know you colluded with Shi Dehong, Lord Shi's disciple, and wanted to take revenge on my Jingguo. However, if you want to destroy my great talent, I will ask the Holy Court to expose you! You know very well whether you are selfish or not! "
"Lord Geng, you have to think twice. Fang Yun's' Epigraph of My Shack 'was reviewed by Half-saint! If this essay is given an A grade, you will lose your position as a Notre-Dame. If it is serious, you will not be able to improve in this lifetime! "
Registrar Zhou sneered and said, "Lord Dong, Lord Feng, the two of you are Grand Scholars. If you fail to get the Holy Court to punish you, it will be a disaster. I am only a High Scholar, it doesn't matter even if I fail. Geng Hanlin, don't force me to get the Holy Court to punish me. "
Inspector Geng said slowly, "Although the hypothesis in this essay is very wonderful, it is still a hypothesis. No one has written a book to prove it. It is too much to give it an A grade. I suggest giving it to B High School like Tong Li. Both of them will be given the same grade. "
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