Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 20, Question 3: Clouds

As the evening drums fell silent, the lingering chill of spring swept across the corridors of the county school.

Inside the county school, the copper stove and charcoal fire crackled and popped, releasing a few sparks that spread warmth and, along with the blue smoke, drove away the chill.

Cai Chao casually reached out and added a few pieces of silver charcoal, then dusted off the charcoal ash from the front of his blue silk official robe. The fish-shaped tally on his gilded belt jingled softly with his movements.

He addressed the officials in the hall:
"For this third test, you must compose a poem on a given topic, and demonstrate your talent and literary skills."

"To ensure fairness, this official will place ten questions of varying difficulty, including [魑、魅、圭、畦云], into a jar and randomly select one to test the students."

A celadon porcelain urn with scrolling grass patterns, prepared in advance, gleamed coldly under the candlelight.

Cai Chao reached into the urn, and the mulberry bark paper slip he picked up with two fingers was as thin as a cicada's wing. When he unfolded it, there was a crisp "rip~" sound.

He pulled a piece of mulberry bark folded paper from the jar, opened it, and saw a bold, dark character [cloud] that immediately caught his eye.

This character is the first character in the opening chapter of "The Primer of Prosody" [clouds against rain, snow against wind], and it is also the first character that children in private schools begin to practice writing.

"It's the character 'cloud'!"

"That's too easy!"

The four deputy examiners all stood up to look at the scene, and were taken aback.

This character is so common that no student of the Imperial Academy would not know it. If this character appeared in the first question of the exam, specifically in the section on character decomposition and analysis, probably all students of the Imperial Academy would pass smoothly.

"cloud!"

Cai Chao twirled the mulberry bark into a paper twister, a faint smile playing on his lips. The sparks from the bronze incense burner flickered in his eyes, his gaze filled with smug satisfaction.

He had long ago meticulously planned the three questions for this county examination.

The first two trials were extremely difficult.
The first question asked students to analyze the character "黍" (millet), citing classical texts to demonstrate how righteousness can overcome evil.

The second question asked students to write an essay on the county annals using the character "妖" (demon/monster). The heavens were interpreted as disasters, and the earth as demons, yet the essays deliberately depicted evil and gloom.

One was upright and awe-inspiring, the other sinister and eerie; they tested most of the candidates to a pulp. After filtering through the two iron sieves, only one in ten remained in the examination hall.

The final exam
Then, unexpectedly, they presented a very easy [cloud] challenge.

He knew all too well that the word "cloud," though seemingly gentle, was actually a sharp knife that could cut through bones—children might sing of clouds and lament about mud and clouds, but in the end, they could not escape the lessons they had learned in their early childhood.

Because the character [cloud] is so common and easy, the students had no room to demonstrate their abilities, and their skill levels were almost identical, making it difficult to distinguish between them.

You are all evenly matched!
In this way, he, as the chief examiner, has more say.

The four deputy examiners could not reach a consensus and found it difficult to make a judgment.

Finally, out of necessity
Wasn't it him, the chief examiner of Jiangyin County, whose word was law, who reluctantly made the decision?
This is precisely the power of the examiner, and the mystery of the application of power tactics.

It appears to be absolutely fair, but the power of judgment is entirely in his hands.

Moreover, since the questions were drawn directly from the jar, no one could accuse him of deliberately setting the questions.

"This question is not bad!"

"A perfectly legitimate exam question!"

The deputy examiners exchanged glances, seemingly understanding Cai Chao's scheme, but they had no choice but to agree.

Cai Chao randomly selected a topic from the jar, leaving them speechless. Since the students couldn't determine who was better, the final decision rested with the county's chief examiner—the educational commissioner, Lord Cai.

"Lord Pei, what do you see?"

Cai Chao pondered for a moment, then consulted Pei Jingyi in the court.

Master Pei Jingyi sat in the hall, holding a white porcelain cup in his hands, the steam rising from the cup and rippling in circles.

He seemed lost in thought, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, like the gleam of a blue sword drawn from its sheath.

The newly appointed Education Commissioner, Lord Cai, was indeed cunning and scheming. In the first two rounds, he used "millet" as a guillotine and "demon" as an iron caltrop, sifting through the city's ignorant students until they cried out for their fathers and mothers.

The third round was supposed to be the most difficult, but it turned out to be the simplest poem about "clouds".

Any child could scribble a poem or two!

But Lord Cai may have overlooked one thing.
It is unknown to what extent Jiang Xingzhou has come to understand the character [cloud]!

Half a month ago at the Xue family's private school, Jiang Xingzhou waved his hand and performed the [Cloud] character technique. Like an old Taoist priest with a hundred years of experience in the Taixu Temple, his brushstroke contained thunder and long wind. The last stroke broke through the sand and flew into the sky, and clouds, rain, wind, thunder and fog all changed color.

If Lord Cai had known, he probably would never have dared to use that word.

The twilight suddenly became so thick it was suffocating.

“Yes~!”

Master Pei Jingyi took a sip of warm tea, the wisps of steam creating a hazy illusion before his eyes. He lowered his gaze, remaining as sparing with his words as ever.

The clerk Cui Mingyuan's teacup was finally empty. Staring at the tea foam at the bottom of the cup, he vaguely saw the countless poor scholars struggling and rising in the sea of ​​ink.

“Lord Cai, I have another concern.”

Meng Sheng has a total of one hundred strands of talent. Each character requires ten strands, so he can write a maximum of ten characters.

A poem has at least twenty characters, and their talent was simply not enough to finish a poem; they could only finish half of it!
"Isn't this unfair to children from poor families?"

The clerk, Cui Mingyuan, couldn't help but express his concerns.

A person may be born with a hundred strands of talent, but that cannot be achieved by relying on oneself alone.

One must rely on literary treasures or consume literary pills or literary grains to double one's talent reserves or increase the speed of talent recovery in order to barely finish writing a twenty-character poem.

This is extremely disadvantageous for scholars from poor families.

Born into a poor family, he spent decades taking the imperial examinations to become a minor official, and he knew all too well how difficult it was for children from poor families to pursue education.

The tuition fees alone for private schooling exhausted the family's savings.

Not to mention spending exorbitant amounts of money to buy Wenbao and Wendan.

Even if a scholar from a poor family possesses low-grade literary treasures or literary pills, he is usually several levels below the scions of aristocratic families.

It might not even exist at all!
"It's alright, this question applies equally to all students."

You can't write it, and neither can anyone else.

If you can do it, so can others.

It depends on your ability.

"It seems Clerk Cui has forgotten that this is a selection process for the imperial court—the capable are promoted, the incapable are demoted, and there are no conditions!"

"I am a student official," Cai Chao said, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

Having said that, he offered no further explanation.

"Indeed, Brother Cui, you're overthinking it!"

It is extremely difficult for a student of my novice's talent to finish a poem, but in this competition, I am the top student and the best candidate in my Jiangyin County!
There are many prominent families in our Jiangyin County.
The Li family in the west of the city possesses a purple jade writing brush that can enhance one's talent; the young master of the Lu family has a Duan inkstone from the previous dynasty that can also enhance his talent.
The Cao family of Jiangyin was even more remarkable. Their ancestral Crane Cry Pill could easily increase a hundred strands of talent by taking it. Counting them, at least thirty to fifty students carried literary treasures and pills that could increase their talent by more than two hundred strands.

They are capable enough to write a short poem! If not, it's due to a lack of ancestral support, and one can't blame anyone else!

County Magistrate Zhou Wenyuan smiled.

Cui Mingyuan glanced at the other deputy examiners, who all had no objections, and could only remain silent.

The examiners from the county academy and the twenty-seven local worthies below the ten-step green steps—who among them cared whether a poor scholar had literary talent or not!
The state government wouldn't bother with such a "minor matter".

"Exam Question Three: Cloud Poetry, Begin!"

Cai Chao calmly placed the paper on the table, using a jade paperweight to press down the last stroke of the character "[cloud]", thus suppressing all objections.

dusk,

At the county college, the night snow weighed down and broke the withered branches.

The once bustling examination hall, with its thousands of simple examination rooms, was now eerily quiet.

With the elimination of 200 students in the second round, only 100 students remain in the examination hall, nervously answering their questions.

The assessment is not over yet.

Only those who pass this final third examination and rank in the top thirty will be eligible to be promoted to the position of student in Jiangyin County, thus entering the county school and enjoying the imperial salary.

No candles!
Hand in your paper before dark!

The constables in black boots held up the wooden board for the third exam question.

The gong rang out with a "clang!"

He walked around the examination rooms, reminding the candidates to hurry up and finish answering question three.

"Compose a poem on the theme of [clouds]?"

When the students saw the exam questions, they gasped in shock. Instead of showing joy, they wore expressions of deep sorrow.

None of the students who made it into the top 100 in the county were fools.

Such a simple assigned poem can be written by anyone with enough talent!

There's no difference at all!

To stand out from the crowd and outshine everyone else, how much effort must one put in?
(End of this chapter)