Fang Yun looked at the six sticks of incense and bowed his head, reciting in his heart.
"First, for mother, I may not be able to go back. Forgive me for being unfilial, please take care of yourself."
"Second, for the deceased Fang Yun, thank you."
"Third and fourth, for Fang Yun's parents. Fifth, for sister Yu Huan's father. With me here, I will not let sister Yu Huan suffer."
"Sixth, for Meng Haoran, thank you for the poem."
Fang Yun looked at the incense for a long time, his heart full of melancholy turned into a sigh, as if he was bidding farewell to the past.
After the incense, the two of them sat face to face at the table.
Fang Yun said, "Sister Yu Huan, let's set a rule for today's meal."
"Little scholar, please instruct me." Yang Yuhuan said with a smile. She had not laughed so happily in a long time, because the burden on her shoulders had finally lightened.
"Today's rule is, you take a chopstick, I take a chopstick, however much you eat, I will eat! You don't have to say, this rule cannot be changed! How much I can eat today is all up to you. "
Yang Yuhuan quietly looked at Fang Yun, her heart filled with warmth. She suddenly felt that with Fang Yun's words, all the hardships and tiredness of the past few years were nothing.
"Our family's Xiao Yun has grown up and knows how to care for your sister. You are now a scholar, in the future your family will be much better off. When you become an Elementary Scholar, this fish meat will not be much. Today, thanks to you, sister will have a good meal. "
Fang Yun picked up a piece of oily red braised pork and placed it in front of Yang Yuhuan's mouth, softly saying, "No, it's all thanks to you. Without you, not to mention studying, even living would not be easy. I will always remember."
Yang Yuhuan's eyes reddened as she opened her mouth and ate the red braised pork, chewing slowly.
Born in a poor family, she knew how precious meat was.
Fang Yun picked up a piece of red braised pork for himself. After eating, he picked out a drumstick from the pot and placed it in Yang Yuhuan's bowl.
"Let's have one each."
"Okay!"
It was rare for the two of them to eat meat once a year. Today, they ate as much as they wanted and finished everything.
Yang Yuhuan looked at the empty plate and felt a little embarrassed. She had eaten too much just now.
The two of them were so full that they were too lazy to stand up. They looked at each other and smiled, chatting happily. The room was filled with a warm atmosphere.
Not long after, a commotion could be heard from the neighbors. It was Old Wang, who had drunk too much and was lecturing his child to study hard for the Tong Academy Entrance Examination.
The two of them smiled. Yang Yuhuan looked at the sky and said, "The three examiners should be marking the papers right now."
Fang Yun nodded.
In the study courtyard.
The spacious marking room was brightly lit, and rows of long tables were neatly arranged. The exam papers of more than two thousand examinees were placed on top of them, covering the entire table. It was a spectacular sight.
The three examiners stood solemnly in front of the statue of Confucius in the depths of the grading room. Behind them were ten lecturers from the county's Institute of Literature.
County Magistrate Cai said, "We respectfully await your judgment!"
"We respectfully await your judgment," the crowd said in unison.
A strange force descended from the sky, causing a gust of wind to blow in the room. However, none of the exam papers moved.
Most of the exam papers did not change, but about half of them suddenly emitted an orange glow.
Talent appeared.
The orange glow came in varying amounts. The highest talent was close to three feet high, almost reaching the level of Mingzhou.
The second highest talent was barely a foot high. The difference between the two was huge.
Soon after, a gust of wind blew, causing the exam papers to fly in the air.
When the wind stopped, a large number of exam papers were piled up in a corner. There were only a hundred exam papers left on the table, arranged according to their talent.
"Judge a person by his talent, and arrange them according to their literature."
After County Magistrate Cai finished speaking, the ten lecturers each held a copy of the answer to the Holy Word. From the back to the front, they each chose nine exam papers and began marking.
The ten exam papers with the most talent were left untouched.
County Magistrate Cai did not decline and said, "Since there is a poem that is close to Mingzhou, then I won't be polite and will take a look first." After saying this, he happily walked in front of Fang Yun's test paper.
The reason why it took so long to mark the exam papers was because after the examinees handed in their papers, there was a special person responsible for stamping the names of the examinees. When the exam papers were being marked, it could not be seen to prevent cheating. Only when the top fifty were determined could the names be seen.
The poem was placed at the top. When County Magistrate Cai saw the two words "Spring Dawn", he could not help but frown. Although the writing was neat, it was still too bad in his eyes. However, when he thought about how Fang Yun was a poor disciple, he was relieved.
Practicing writing required a large amount of ink and paper. Poor disciples did not have that much money. They could either practice on the sand with branches or write on the table with a brush dipped in water. The latter still required a lot of brushes.
County Magistrate Cai looked at the poem and could not help but read, "Sleeping in spring, I hear birds everywhere; the sound of wind and rain at night, I know how many flowers fall."
The three examiners were stunned. The words of the poem were very simple and easy to understand. However, after reading it, why did they feel a faint sense of regret?
The other two examiners looked at Fang Yun's exam paper and thought carefully.
"My heart feels like it's missing something." Wan Xuezheng said.
County Magistrate Cai was also a Grand Scholar and was a seventh rank official. Wang Yuanjun and Wan Xuezheng were both High Scholars and were seventh rank officials.
County Magistrate Cai read it a few times and suddenly sighed, "Wonderful. Although the words of the poem are simple and natural, the most important part is the word 'True'. The scenery is true and the meaning is true. The structure of the poem is also extraordinary. Look at the four lines of the poem, it is' Don't know ',' Know ',' Know ',' Don't know '. The first' Don't know 'opens the poem and the last' Don't know 'is left blank. It makes the reader think, how many flowers fall? Why do you ask about the flowers fall? "
When these words were said, the room became silent. It was as if everyone was thinking about the same question. How many flowers fall?
It was just a few words, but it stirred up everyone's thoughts.
Wang Yuanjun nodded and said, "Brother Cai has explained the beauty of this poem. The reason why this poem is' True 'is because every sentence is filled with spring. Every sentence is related to the topic. Sleepy in spring, spring birds, spring rain, spring wind, spring flowers. It seems to be full of scenery, but it does not speak of feelings. The rarest thing is that the words are simple and simple. It is the most natural and easy to spread. If this examinee did not come across it by chance, he would be an extraordinary scholar. "
The other two nodded. It was very important that it was easy to spread. Literary Name was one of the pursuits of scholars. Even Half-saint was not an exception.
Wan Xuezheng said, "I can also write such words. But to make a poem like a painting in front of one's eyes, to blend feelings within, and to make it so natural, that is difficult."
Wang Yuanjun said, "When the results are released tomorrow, I will write a letter and recommend this poem to Grand Scholar Jun Li of the State Court. I hope he will recommend it to 'Holy Road' and let this poem spread throughout the world."
"If this poem can enter 'Holy Road', it will greatly improve the style of our Jingguo Literary Name!" County Magistrate Cai said, full of expectation.
Wan Xuezheng's face darkened. He said in a low voice, "I am almost fifty years old and have thousands of poems. But I have never entered 'Holy Road'."
Wang Yuanjun smiled bitterly, "'Holy Road' is published by the Notre-Dame. Every month, it is a famous poem. Every person who has written in 'Holy Road' is either a master poet, a great scholar, or a scholar. Even the weakest one is a master poet. I do not dare to dream of it."
County Magistrate Cai nodded. He dipped his brush in red ink and wrote at the bottom of the paper, "Simple words, true feelings, beautiful poems, and long ideas. It should be first among all students. A!"
"Do the two of you have any objections?"
"The number one poem in this year's exam will be 'Spring Dawn'!" Wan Xuezheng said.
"No objections."
County Magistrate Cai took the paper with 'Spring Dawn' and said, "This person's literary talent is extraordinary. But if he wants to compete with Fang Zhongyong for the top position, he will need to read the Holy Words."
County Magistrate Cai looked at the words on the scroll and shook his head. He looked carefully at the first question and his eyes lit up. He said, "I did not expect this person to be so extraordinary! Even if I had encountered this question in the past, I would not have been able to answer it correctly. "
The other two examiners also looked at the answers. They looked down and were surprised. This was because they would not have been able to answer this question correctly, even if they were High Scholars. After all, this question was too difficult. It involved geography and deducing ability.
County Magistrate Cai continued to read. After reading the first three papers, his expression became serious. The other two examiners were also reading the papers. They did not speak for a long time.
County Magistrate Cai's brush did not fall.
After a while, Wan Xuezheng asked, "No mistakes?"
"No mistakes at all. This is incredible!"
County Magistrate Cai continued to read through the remaining twenty-seven test papers in one breath and simply put the writing brush aside.
"Still no mistakes?" Wang Yuanjun was a little surprised.
County Magistrate Cai said seriously, "This is amazing. Not only is there no mistakes, there are no mistakes, no mistakes, no blemishes, and no blemishes. This is the first time I have seen this."
"Could it be that even his Holy Words are A? Ever since Jingguo's Imperial Examinations began, there has never been an A grade Holy Words. Even Sage Chen only got a B grade. "
County Magistrate Cai said, "Unfortunately, I really want to give him an A grade. But his writing is really average. If I give him an A grade, I will definitely be attacked by the scholars."
After County Magistrate Cai finished speaking, he wrote on the Holy Words paper: Poor writing, no mistakes, B grade.
"What a pity."
"What a pity."
County Magistrate Cai reluctantly put down Fang Yun's paper and picked up Fang Zhongyong's poetry paper.
Fang Zhongyong's ability to write poems would have attracted the attention of the examiners no matter where he went. The examiners would definitely not be stingy with their praises and comments. Unfortunately, he met Fang Yun and the regretful County Magistrate Cai.
County Magistrate Cai looked at Fang Zhongyong's poem and did not say a word. He casually wrote "B grade" without any comments.
There were four grades: A, B, C, and D.
No matter what examination it was, there could only be one A grade in each subject.
After that, the B and C grades would be divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower grades. There was no need to divide the D grades, because any subject with a D grade would not be accepted.
The three examiners were immersed in the regret of not being able to give Fang Yun double A grades. They silently marked the papers. When they saw mistakes, they did not hesitate to make a stroke. Finally, they graded the papers based on the number of mistakes.
After reading the top ten papers with the most talent, the three examiners would give the remaining ninety papers a grade of poems and Holy Words.
These one hundred people would be ranked according to the grade of the Holy Words. The top fifty would become scholars.
If the poems were equal, the one with the least mistakes would be ranked first.
If the mistakes were equal, they would be ranked according to the grade of the poems. If the poems were equal, they would be judged based on the quality of the words. If the top fifty could not be compared to the rest, they would need to ask the Half-saint examiners to judge. Usually, there would be a few more scholars.
When the grading was completed, it was already late at night. However, no one was allowed to leave the Wen Courtyard. They all went to sleep in the Wen Courtyard.
The next morning, the three examiners and ten lecturers woke up at six o 'clock in the morning. After washing up and eating, they began to "review" the papers at seven o' clock in the morning to make sure there were no problems.
If there were too many mistakes in the grading, the Half-saint would intervene. Not only would the examiners lose face, they might even be removed from office and sent to prison.
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