Four exam papers were all picked up by the same person.
After the handwriting was repeatedly examined, Lord Geng sighed with emotion. “What do you mean it looks very similar? It is exactly the same! Look at these identical characters. The strokes are precisely the same.”
These words caused the entire scene to fall silent. The four lords looked at each other with no words to say.
There was more shock and doubt. They could not believe that the top scorer in all four rooms came from the same person. The problem was that all four rooms had given full marks to these four papers. What did this mean?
The scoring for this kind of metropolitan examination has certain rules. Those who received four “inferior” marks naturally failed. Those who received four “average” marks only just passed all four subjects. It did not mean they had passed the exam. In fact, there was a high chance they had failed.
One could imagine that scoring only a pass in all four subjects and expecting to become a tribute scholar was impossible.
Those who received four “good” marks had a chance of passing the metropolitan examination and making the tribute list. The outcome still depended on how many people reached this standard.
Those who received four “excellent” marks had no doubt about it. They were definitely admitted as tribute scholars.
But the chance of one person achieving exactly the same result in all four subjects was very small. The scores in the four subjects would normally show some variation.
The rules also had another way of distinguishing treatment.
For example, “excellent” was divided into nine or ten points. Most people who received excellent usually got nine points. Only those who were particularly outstanding would receive ten points. As the saying goes, there is no first in literature. It easily leads to disputes. Therefore, in literary comparisons, full marks are rarely given. Giving full marks is an extremely rare thing.
So, if someone could get one full ten-point “excellent”, and the other three subjects only needed to reach the “average” standard, that is, the pass standard, then they would make the list and be admitted as a tribute scholar. There is a saying for this: not bad in all aspects, and proficient in one subject. This is the kind of talent the court can use.
One full mark plus three passes was enough to be admitted as a tribute scholar. With four full marks, what more needed to be said?
Of course, at present it was only that the handwriting looked similar. It was only an estimate that these papers were very likely from one person. Before the truth was revealed, no one dared to be certain.
At this point, there was nothing left to show off about. There was no mood left to look at the content of the answers.
Lord Chu had already waved his hand and ordered, “Quickly, quickly. Hurry up and open the names to see who it is.”
Lord Geng could not help but ask, “What if it really is the same person?”
Lord Luo smiled bitterly. “We have already reached the stage of registration and recording. The four sets of answers have been put together. Can we really change the judgement just because we suspect it is the same person’s handwriting? If we really did that, the court would curse us to death. We would be waiting to go to prison. The saliva of scholars across the world could drown us.” He waved his hand. “Open it. Open the names. I want to see if there really is a heaven favoured genius who can occupy the top spot in all four rooms at the same time!”
Upon hearing this, the other three chief examiners all nodded. They immediately signalled for the attendant officials to come and open the names.
The attendant officials immediately took small silver knives to cut open the pasted names on the papers. The imperial calligraphy officials sent from the palace held their brushes ready to record.
The policy essay paper was opened first. As the pasted name was revealed, it showed: Liezhou, Liangtao County, A Shiheng!
“A Shiheng…” One of the observing chief examiners muttered the name.
The calligraphy official immediately recorded the candidate’s name and the score for that paper.
Next, the fu essay paper was opened. Upon seeing the revealed name, the chief examiners of the four rooms immediately looked at each other. It was correct. It was indeed the same person.
Then the classics and history paper was opened. The revealed place name and personal name were still the same as before.
“Hiss!” Grand Scholar Luo Yewen drew in a cold breath. He pinched his beard and exclaimed in admiration, “Such a talented scholar should not be unknown. Why have we never heard of him before?”
The poetry and lyrics paper was opened last. The pasted name area still neatly showed those eight characters: Liezhou, Liangtao County, A Shiheng!
The stagnant atmosphere at the scene suddenly exploded. The onlookers burst into an uproar.
Although they had vaguely guessed the result beforehand, the four chief examiners were still shocked and could not speak for a long time.
“Heavens, it really is from the same person!”
“Have you ever seen a candidate in the metropolitan examination who scored full marks in all four subjects at the same time?”
“Where would we see that? According to historical records, since the founding of the Jin Kingdom, there have been two such cases. This should be the third person!”
“A once in a century event has actually been witnessed by us.”
“It is good that so many people saw it with their own eyes. Otherwise, we would definitely be suspected of cheating.”
“Look at what you are saying, Lord Luo. Even if it was cheating, no one would dare to give such high scores! Which cheating candidate would dare to ask for that?”
“After today, this young man will surely become famous throughout the world! We happened to be present at the right time. How fortunate we are!”
The commotion inside the examination compound was unknown to the outside world. After the commotion, they could not delay the proper business of listing and ranking the names. They could not delay the auspicious day for releasing the results.
After all candidates’ pasted names were revealed and the four paper scores were combined, more than eight thousand people reached the pass standard. There were many overlapping scores, for example, many people scored two “good” and two “average”. It did not matter. They were then ranked in the order of policy essay, classics and history, fu essay, and poetry and lyrics.
When the court selected scholars, the most important thing was still practical ability. Even if it was just talk on paper, when scores were the same, those with higher policy essay scores were given priority. If still the same, then those with higher classics and history scores came first. Next was the fu essay. Poetry and lyrics were considered minor paths and ranked last.
After sorting out all the rankings, the relevant personnel checked them repeatedly to avoid any mistakes.
It was not until the day before the results were released that a small window was opened at the gate of the examination compound. A sealed document was passed out through it.
The sealed document recorded the scale of the ranking groups and listed several options. For example, how many people would be admitted if the admission line was set at one “excellent” and three “good”, and how many people would be admitted if the line was set at four “good”.
A young general who had been waiting outside took the sealed document. He immediately led several riders galloping straight to the imperial palace to hand the sealed document over to the court cabinet. The cabinet would then discuss and decide the admission line based on the several options provided by the examination compound. After that, it would be reported to the emperor for approval.
The sealed document would not involve any candidate’s exam scores or names. This was to prevent anyone from having selfish motives when setting the admission line.
That is to say, at the beginning, no one knew how many people would be admitted. The court would only make a decision after seeing the overall performance of this year’s candidates. If the overall standard was found to be good, they might admit a few more. If the overall standard was relatively low, there was a possibility of admitting fewer.
On this point, the chief examiners of the examination compound had no power at all.
After the court cabinet’s reply returned to the examination compound, the examination compound, which now held the score line, became busy again to prepare for the release of the results the next day…
The release of the metropolitan examination results was not the golden list after the palace examination. The list was announced outside the examination compound.
Before dawn, the area outside the examination compound was already crowded with people. More people kept coming from all directions.
A group of soldiers isolated the dense crowd of people viewing the list outside the large archway.
A large piece of red cloth covered the big archway. The list behind the red cloth was related to the future and fate of many people. Rows of red lanterns hung high on both sides. Even before the list was revealed, it already created a festive atmosphere.
The scene was noisy and filled with all kinds of discussion. At this time, most of the people present were not the candidates themselves.
The sky gradually brightened.
Mr Ming, who was travel worn, carrying a bundle and wearing a bamboo hat, was also among them. He was dressed in coarse plain clothes. Not long after he approached the scene, he was squeezed tightly by the people arriving afterwards. It was impossible for him to keep to himself.
After the metropolitan examination began, he had left the capital and gone to a village by the lake, where he boated on the lake and fished.
He had been to that place more than once. Ever since he stopped taking the metropolitan examination, at the start of every session he did not want to stay in the capital. He did not want to hear anything about the metropolitan examination. He wanted to wait until it was completely over before returning. However, this time he still could not hold back. He tossed and turned and could not sleep. He walked back to the capital overnight. He waited until the city gates opened and then came here as if possessed.
From the first time he took the metropolitan examination, for more than thirty years in every session, he had always quietly watched under the list. But his name was never on the list.
From a young age he had carried the name of a child prodigy. He prided himself on being full of knowledge. He passed the provincial examination in his teens. At sixteen he took the metropolitan examination as a provincial graduate. What an honour that was! He was praised as having heavenly talent. He was a heaven favoured genius on whom his fellow villagers placed high hopes. Matchmakers broke the threshold. He could choose any suitable woman of marriageable age.
He chose a woman from his hometown whom he considered the most beautiful, the gentlest, and the most virtuous as his wife.
How proud he had been back then!
Later he fell here. After falling here, he could never get up again.
So his fate was carved here. His soul was hooked here. He could not hide from it, nor could he escape it.
In the noisy sounds, Mr Ming’s mind was in a mess. He could not hear what the people around him were saying. He did not even know that his bamboo hat had been knocked off, fallen to the ground, and been trampled.
When sunlight shone on the archway, when the light gradually covered the entire red cloth and made the whole piece of red cloth look fresh and dripping, the sound of drums suddenly rumbled. The gates of the examination compound opened. The four chief examiners led a group of judges out.
The four chief examiners climbed the steps under the archway. They cupped their hands from afar to the common people, then stood in lines on left and right.
Clang! With the sound of a large bronze gong being struck with a deafening noise, the four chief examiners each grabbed a strip of red silk and pulled together. The red cloth covering the archway slid down, revealing the large white announcement board behind it. The board was written with red characters. It was exactly the list of those who had passed the metropolitan examination and been admitted as tribute scholars.
Everyone’s eyes stared straight at it.
The characters on the announcement board were very large. But the single line of text listed separately at the very top was particularly large. Each character was as big as a washbasin.
Three large characters,鲜红 and extremely eye catching: A Shiheng.
Behind it was a line of smaller characters: Liezhou, Liangtao County.
Below the three large characters was another line of smaller characters: Policy essay (ten), Classics and history (ten), Fu essay (ten), Poetry and lyrics (ten).
Then below that came rows of other people’s rankings in characters the same size as the smaller text. A Shiheng’s name was the only one without a ranking marked. It did not need to be marked. Everyone understood at a glance that he stood alone at the top!
“A Shiheng…”
“From Liezhou, hey. The top metropolitan graduate is from our Liezhou. A Shiheng is from our Liezhou…”
“What do the four ‘ten’ attached below mean? In the last metropolitan examination, there was no such line of small characters written below.”
Countless sounds of shock, uproar, and envy gathered in the sky outside the examination compound.
“…” Mr Ming’s face was full of shock. No one at the scene was as shocked as he was. His mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.
He thought he had seen wrong. He looked again at the place and person attached after the name. It was correct. The young man he had taught had said he was from Liezhou, Liangtao County.
That guy… that guy who needed him to hit with a stick before he would study had actually passed? Not only had he passed, but he had also taken the top spot as the metropolitan examination leader in one go?
Shock! Utter shock. It shook his head until it buzzed.