The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

The first step of the plan was to let the three who were doing well experience the blow of failure.

……

On the day of the competition, Zhuge Yunshu and the other two put on brand-new Yunshui Town school uniforms and followed Master Wang to the gate of the county school.

Unlike the literary competition held by the clan schools, there weren't many onlookers at the entrance of the county school at this time.

Zhuge Yunshu thought that after all, it was only once a month, and people were probably tired of seeing it.

However, things did not develop as she had expected. Before long, elderly people and children from all over the county town crowded around her.

I'm afraid that if I'm a step too late, I won't be able to get a good spot.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

It felt like only a moment after the words were spoken.

Just then, a few students from Yunze Town swaggered over, exuding an air of arrogance, and didn't forget to utter a threat, "Just you wait!"

Yunshui Town certainly couldn't be harmed either, so Zhang Hao immediately replied, "We'll wait and see."

The students from the other towns rolled their eyes at their behavior.

The fifth from last dares to talk tough to the last-place team; how shameful.

"Those from the ten town schools whose names are heard, please enter in turn," a constable with a sword announced in a loud voice.

“Yunmu Town School, Yuntian Town School, Yuntu Town School… Yunze Town School… Yunshui Town School”

"Line up and follow."

Zhuge Yunshu and the others followed behind Master Wang and Xie Yu, walking with the crowd into the county school.

Zhuge Yunshu is now certain that the team order should be based on last year's results.

From this perspective, Yunze Town School is only ranked fifth, so there's nothing to be proud of.

Upon entering, they discovered that a body search was required, with separate rooms for men and women. Of course, those who were teachers could pass through without any restrictions.

Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi passed the check quickly, after all, there were only six women among the thirty people.

If I'm not mistaken, two of them were ranked first and second in the town's top schools.

After everyone had been checked, the lead constable led them to a three-week-old open-air enclosure.

It's clearly a place specifically designed to make it convenient for onlookers to watch.

At this time, about twelve teachers from the county school were already seated on the stage.

"The teachers from each town stepped forward to draw numbers."

As soon as he finished speaking, Master Wang stood behind the other teachers in line. When it was the last number, he slowly stepped forward to take his number.

Zhang Hao said somewhat awkwardly, "We must make sure that Master is ranked first next time."

“Okay, let’s work together,” Zhuge Yunshu said.

"Each town's school students will sit in their designated seats according to their assigned numbers."

Zhuge Yunshu and the other two followed behind Master Wang and arrived at the second location area.

Master Wang and Xie Yu were sitting in the two seats at the back, so the three seats in front must have been theirs.

After everyone was seated, the two people sitting in the middle began to speak.

It was at this time that Zhuge Yunshu and the others realized that one of them was actually the county magistrate.

What they didn't expect was that such a small competition would alarm the head of a county.

Those who were also caught off guard, including Zhi and the others, were also surprised, as were the various instructors who led the teams.

The competition officially began only after the main figures on stage had finished speaking.

"Please come up to the stage, Number One and Number Two. Number Three and Number Four, please prepare to choose your competition topics."

Ignoring the smug faces of the people from Yunze Town School, Zhuge Yunshu and the other two followed Number One to the competition area.

The two sections are made facing each other, and each has a drum at its very edge.

Zhuge Yunshu speculated that it might be in preparation for submitting the exam paper early.

Meanwhile, Number Three had already placed the slip of paper he had chosen in the hands of the presiding master.

"Second policy essay, open topic."

Hearing this result, Zhuge Yunshu was not surprised at all, after all, the fourth position was the one held by Yunze Town Academy.

She glanced at Number One across from her, and sure enough, he also looked worried, probably not good at this either.

A moment later, the second scroll was seen rapidly unfolding in the middle of them.

"Northern China is suffering from a severe drought; what can be done about the disaster? What can the people do?"

Everyone was stunned. Their first reaction was, "This is too difficult!"

They all thought that someone might have taken the wrong exam questions.

After all, there are eight options in a policy discussion, so it's normal to pick the wrong one.

When Master Wang and Xie Yu saw this question, they frowned. This kind of difficult question was comparable to the imperial examination!

Seeing the crowd below discussing amongst themselves, the headmaster of the county school quickly stood up and said, "Quiet down, feel free to speak your mind."

He was also helpless; of the eight options, he had to choose the most difficult one.

Actually, they didn't want to include this topic, but the magistrate insisted, and they had no choice.

In short, the teachers at the county school all guessed that the county magistrate must have become senile from the commotion caused by the disaster victims in various towns.

"The competition begins in the time it takes for four incense sticks to burn." (Note: One incense stick burns for half an hour.)

While others were pessimistic, Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi, and Zhang Hao were secretly delighted.

For no other reason than that we were all too excited last night and couldn't sleep, so we chatted for a while.

For some reason, Zhuge Yunshu brought up the matter of many disaster victims outside the city, and the three of them expressed their own opinions on this matter.

There's nothing I can do, I'm just that lucky, I actually passed the exam today.

After filling in the town school name and his own name in the designated space, Zhuge Yunshu began to write the title of his policy essay.

Peking University is suffering from a severe drought; what can be done about the disaster? What can the people do? ...

Zhuge Yunshu's first thought was that minor offenses should be handled by local officials, while serious offenses should be reported to the imperial court.

In short, we need to get the authorities or our superiors to take this seriously before we can proceed with the subsequent warehouse opening and disaster relief efforts.

After all, it was impossible to use grain from official and private granaries to set up soup kitchens without permission from above.

Then, when the government funds are insufficient, the people need to raise money for disaster relief. The major contributors to this money are definitely wealthy merchants from various places. The government will offer them benefits and give them a certain reputation and prestige. Those wealthy merchants should be very happy to do such a business.

The second point is the use of work relief instead of monetary aid. However, both money and food require the government to bear a large amount of human and material costs. Such disaster relief methods can only solve the immediate needs of the victims and cannot provide long-term relief.

The work-for-relief approach can solve this problem. A series of measures, such as building farmland irrigation systems, reclaiming wasteland, encouraging temple construction, and encouraging wealthy households to engage in high-end consumption, can provide employment opportunities for disaster victims. This not only achieves the goal of relief but also promotes local development and saves money, among other benefits.

The third option was to relocate people from disaster-stricken areas to places with abundant food and land. After the disaster area was rebuilt, those who wanted to return would be given money for travel expenses, while those who did not would start a new life in the new place.

Based on the above points, Zhuge Yunshu wrote them down on paper in the proper form for a policy essay.

However, without even realizing it, she finished writing two pages of content in one go.

Zhuge Yunshu looked up and saw that Wang Yi and Zhang Hao were still writing furiously.

In order not to disturb the two, she did not hand in her paper early, but put down her brush and took the paper aside to let the ink dry.

Seeing Zhuge Yunshu's actions, the students from Yunze Town assumed she had just written something haphazardly and didn't know how to proceed, so they gave up on the competition.

They thought to themselves, "She's only eight years old. Even if she's very talented, she's only been studying policy essays for a month. Unlike us, who have been studying for several years."

In addition, they had to memorize the questions, and coincidentally, they chose the most difficult one.

It's estimated that Yunshui Town School will be eliminated in the first round before they even have a chance to make a move.

"Tsk tsk, what a pity," the tall, thin man mocked.