Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

The imperial examinations in Dayi were truly difficult.

Many students never imagined that the Dayi Imperial Examination would place such importance on policy essays while completely disregarding poetry and classical texts.

The entire exam consisted of only one question: either a poem composition or a classical text interpretation. The poetry question was also quite crudely worded.

Compose a poem on a self-selected theme, in any style (five-character or seven-character, quatrain or regulated verse). You may also compose a ci (lyric poem), in which you choose your own ci form.

This question left many candidates who were well-versed in poetry speechless. They had been taking exams on poetry and classical texts for many years and had never seen such a simple question before!

Moreover, it is obvious that poetry and classical texts combined only account for one question, which is a very small percentage, or even almost non-existent.

Originally, Ren Yuan only planned to test three policy essay questions, but later the strategists said that poetry and classics are what many scholars specialize in throughout their lives, and it would be unreasonable not to test any of them, so they added this question.

Of course, those students who relied on poetry and classical texts to turn their fortunes around after their strategies failed are likely to be disappointed this time.

"That, that..."

One student did just that. He shakily raised his hand, signaling the patrolling soldier to come over. The rules of the imperial examination just now said that if you have any questions, you can raise your hand to ask.

"what's up?"

The two soldiers closest to him came over; one checked the student's name and exam credentials, while the other began asking questions.

"I... I want to ask, is there a mistake on this test paper? Why is there only one question on poetry and classical texts?"

The student gritted his teeth and finally asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Oh, that can't be wrong, because all the sealed tubes were checked three times before they were given to us. As long as your sealed tube was in good condition, the problem can't be wrong."

Upon hearing that the question was being questioned, the two soldiers quickly took two steps back to create distance, while loudly telling him that there was no problem with the question.

"Yes, but..."

The student wanted to say something more, but the soldiers didn't say much, only telling him very seriously:

"This candidate, please do not ask any more questions, or we will have to ask you to leave."

Similar scenes actually occurred several times in the examination hall, but the students did not receive a reply from the patrolling soldiers. Since the examination had already begun, they were unwilling to leave without answering anything. Helpless, they could only grit their teeth and continue answering, trying their best to write the poems well, and as for the policy essays... well, they would write as much as they could.

Clearly, most of them will not pass. This time, Dayi's liberal arts exam really focused on policy essays. It's possible that next time, poetry and classical texts will be moved to the miscellaneous subjects.

However, for students with strong policy-writing skills, this time the questions were very easy to handle. They quickly completed the first optional poetry questions and then focused on the policy-writing questions.

Among these people were Zong Ze, Zhang Jun, Lü Jiang, Chen Kangbo... and even Qin Hui.

Most people could still struggle with this topic of war, since Dayi had just recovered Yan and Yun, and they could still write something. Zhang Jun and Chen Kangbo, for example, were very adept at this topic and wrote down their thoughts quickly.

Another advantage of this question is that even those students who only know poetry and classical texts can find that they can write something praising Ren Yuan and the Dayi army on the topic of recovering Yanyun, and it seems that they can still submit it! Although they may not be good at other things, they are still good at word choice and sentence construction, and the overall article will definitely read particularly beautifully.

However, as for the second and third questions, he truly couldn't answer them. The four characters "经世济民" (jīngshì jìmín, meaning "to govern the world and benefit the people") seem simple, but they actually contain a lot of complexities. Even a seasoned veteran like Zong Ze pondered for a long time before he began to write.

As for the final selection of talent through the imperial examination, this was also extremely difficult, because Ren Yuan was essentially asking these people for their opinions on the future selection of talent for Dayi, and to have them discuss the problems with the current imperial examination system. When answering this question, Lü Jiang, who came from the Imperial Academy, wrote with great enthusiasm, producing a long and eloquent piece of writing, to the point that he had to add more paper.

As for Qin Hui, this guy took a different approach and focused on the current imperial examination, analyzing its differences from previous ones and offering his own insights.

To be fair, Qin Hui in his youth was indeed capable; had he not gone astray, he would have been a promising talent.

But none of that matters now. No matter what rank Qin Hui is, he's destined to serve under Yue Fei. Ren Yuan has already prepared the banner of the "Beiwei Army" for his junior brother, ready to give it to him as soon as he can officially take over.

Even if Ren Yuan were truly biased, so what?

However, not many people in the entire examination room were actually able to maintain a writing posture. Many people were in a state of panic, scratching their heads and sitting crookedly, as if they had encountered a major problem.

Some test-takers, after realizing they couldn't write anymore, decisively gave up on continuing. Instead, they started drawing on the paper, or used all their writing skills to rewrite the contents, or simply lay down and fell asleep in their seats, or clasped their hands together and prayed to heaven, hoping that no one else would...

In short, the examination hall is a stage for all sorts of people, each with their own unique characteristics.

Ren Yuan, who was on the high platform and had a clairvoyant view of the entire examination hall, saw all of this. He sighed helplessly. Sure enough, there was a difference between academic underachievers and academic high achievers. Although those who answered the questions seriously did not make up the majority, there were at least more than 40%. The rest were probably mostly those who only knew poetry and classical texts. Asking them to write something else would be asking too much of them.

“Old Xiao, from now on, the university must offer courses on policy essays. If those who failed the exam this time are willing to go to the university, throw them in to study. Don’t let them only know how to compose poems and lyrics in the future. That kind of thing can’t govern a country.”

“Brother, you can’t expect everyone to be able to govern a country. For some people, it’s good enough to be able to learn something! Those who know poetry and classics can be mentors for the children of Dayi, teaching them to read and write, or they can write letters for the elders in the village.”

Hsiao Chia-hui said, "Where are we going to find so many people with the potential to govern the country? Let's just make do with what we have for now."

"That makes sense. Now, would you like to see who's doing well right now?"

Ren Yuan handed the telescope to Xiao Jiasui, but Xiao refused it.

"I won't look. Anyway, the top ten are probably just a few people. If there are any we haven't noticed before, I'll take a closer look."

……

Inside a house in Bianjing, the capital of the Great Lai Kingdom.

A man in his thirties was burning incense at home, worshipping something in front of a memorial tablet.

Through the rising smoke from the incense and candles, one can vaguely see the character "Nie" on the memorial tablet, which is covered with the marks of time.

"Ancestor above, the old traitor Cai Jing has usurped the country. This unworthy descendant Shan is willing to use his crippled body to kill the traitor for the country. Please help me, Ancestor!"

……