"Hoo~"
"Brother Chen, Brother Chen! How do you think you did on the exam?"
After the National Language exam ended, Yu Shusheng spotted Chen Shusheng and trotted over, asking with a smile.
"This National Language exam is no different from previous imperial examinations. It only subdivides a few questions, and the questions themselves remain the same. For those of us who have studied extensively, it should not be difficult."
Chen Shusheng replied with great confidence.
"Haha, I thought the same." Yu Shusheng laughed heartily, then said with some worry, "I only hope the subsequent subjects don't get progressively harder."
"Alas, thinking too much is useless. There's still one subject this afternoon. Let's go back and rest to conserve our energy."
Chen Shusheng shook his head and suggested.
"Let's go together." Yu Shusheng did not object, and the two walked together.
Inside the Ministry of Rites' official residence, Chu Chen sat at the head seat, listening to Zhang Guozhu's report: "This National Language examination has a total of 20,500 candidates. The examination time was one hour. The imperial guards, inner officials, and Ministry of Rites officials were all present, and no cheating was found."
"Good, that's good. If such deeply studied subjects require cheating, it would be too improper."
Chu Chen nodded and instructed, "After the examination, do not be careless. You must lead people to grade the papers and rank them as soon as possible. At the same time, you must be vigilant and prevent any loss of examination papers and answer sheets."
"Yes, your subordinate understands." Zhang Chengzhu respectfully cupped his hands in reply.
This Zhang Chengzhu was one of the talents Chu Chen had discovered earlier, but he had not had suitable opportunities for him to earn merit, so he had not been actively promoted.
Now that the additional imperial examination was being held, with Chu Chen personally overseeing it, he naturally would not forget to bring this person along to share in the merit and build capital for promotion.
After Chu Chen finished his inspection and left, Zhang Chengzhu, who was temporarily appointed as a fifth-rank examination supervisor, then called his colleagues together to grade the papers.
Nearly 20,000 examination papers were to be graded by over a hundred officials, supervised by a squadron of imperial guards, one secret agent, and three eunuchs, all within a time limit.
This made the officials feel as if they were taking the exam themselves, causing some nervousness.
In the afternoon, the candidates took another exam, this time on arithmetic.
Zhang Chengzhu read out the rules as usual. After the timer started, he sat at the head of the high platform, glaring down at the candidates.
Yu Shusheng finished grinding his ink, took out blank paper and an abacus, and began calculating the arithmetic problems with a clatter.
The first part was relatively simple, with ten addition and ten subtraction problems within a thousand. The second part involved multiplication and division within a hundred.
The third part began to get difficult, with one of the problems being the classic "chicken and rabbit in a cage."
"There are thirty-five heads and ninety-four feet in a cage of chickens and rabbits. How many chickens and rabbits are there?"
Another problem: "There is an unknown number of objects. When divided by three, there are two left. When divided by five, there are three left. When divided by seven, there are two left. What is the number of objects?"
And another: "A magnificent ancient temple stands in the mountains. How many monks are in the temple? There are three hundred and sixty-four bowls. They are all used up without any shortage. Three people share one bowl of rice, and four people share one bowl of soup. Please tell me, wise sir, how many monks are in the temple?"
This third section of problems caused many young scholars to scratch their heads and feel anxious, even to the point of pulling their hair out in frustration.
Although there were few problems in this section and abacuses were provided, very few candidates were confident. Most were dumbfounded.
In previous imperial examinations, the problems rarely went beyond the first two sections of counting within a hundred. They had never encountered such difficult problems in the third section.
Even the reference books they had purchased contained similar problems, but they were not exactly the same. Calculating, verifying, and deducing took a lot of time and mental effort.
When the hour was up and the imperial guards came to collect the papers, many candidates burst into tears.
Outside the examination hall, Yu Shusheng found Chen Shusheng and noticed his troubled expression. He couldn't help but ask, "Brother Chen, did you not finish your answers?"
Chen Shusheng sighed, "Of course not. It's just that the difficulty of these problems makes me uncertain. Thinking back, I feel something is wrong. I fear I will fail this subject."
"Uh, did you not find someone to practice these problems with after looking at the reference books?"
"???" Chen Shusheng was stunned. What kind of study method was this? Why didn't you tell me!
Unlike the candidates, the examiners found this part much easier. They didn't need to analyze the correctness of the answers; they could simply check the provided solution and grade them mindlessly, making it much less difficult than grading the morning papers.
Subsequently, on the second morning, the examination was on politics, and in the afternoon, it was on agriculture.
The third day was for physics in the morning and cultivation in the afternoon.
After three full days and six subjects, the candidates were utterly exhausted.
Except for the cultivation exam, which was simple and only required them to display their aura on the spot for the imperial guards to record, the other subjects left the examiners mentally drained and weary.
Three days later, the candidates gathered again in the examination hall.
Zhang Guozhu returned the graded papers to the candidates and, for subjects with correct answers, attached the answers in red ink.
He then shouted, "This additional imperial examination is the provincial examination. Each of the six subjects is worth one hundred points. Those with a total score below five hundred points can pack their bags and go home!"
"Five hundred points! How can the qualification score be so high!"
The young scholars who did not score five hundred points wailed in despair and were then driven out by the Five City Patrol with sticks.
After a chaotic scene, the remaining two hundred-odd people were the qualified candidates.
Out of ten thousand candidates, only about one hundred made the cut, demonstrating the difficulty of the examination.
"Everyone, those of you who remain seated here are the qualified candidates. You have all passed with over five hundred points. Remain humble and do not become complacent! You must maintain your original intentions and continue to strive for excellence!"
"Your students understand!"
The two hundred-odd candidates replied with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Zhang Chengzhu nodded, then waved his hand, signaling for several treasure chests to be brought over, and instructed people to gather the scholars in front of them.
When the scholars were close, he opened the treasure chests, revealing piles of gleaming silver, which made the eyes of the two hundred-odd scholars widen.
Zhang Chengzhu was very pleased with their expressions and smiled, "I have called you here today to announce one thing! You are all candidates from Shuangyue Prefecture. Vice Minister Chu Chen has a word for you: those who qualify will each receive five taels as a scholarship. This is exclusively for the candidates of Shuangyue Prefecture!"
"Thank you, Minister Chu!"
"Minister Chu is truly worthy of the title of sage!"
"How can we not study diligently with such generosity from Minister Chu?"
Most of the students shouted excitedly, while only a small minority from noble families remained indifferent.
Their expressions made Zhang Chengzhu even more satisfied, and he then ordered the imperial guards to distribute the silver rewards, five taels per person, no more, no less.
He then added, "You may return to your hometowns to await the autumn examination, or you may stay in the capital to continue your studies. Those who leave will receive ten taels for travel expenses; those who stay may go to the academy for free room and board, and await the imperial examination!"
"The choice is yours. Those who wish to stay, go to the right; those who wish to leave, go to the left!"