sovbooks Chapter 336 Listening to the Rain at Night!
Chapter 336 Listening to the Rain at Night!
Xiang Bo, a core member of the Xiang family, leaned over and peered at the question, asking with some doubt, "Brother, the questions on this... are really strange?"
The preceding sections on the Four Books and Five Classics are fine, but this last long passage, titled "Essay," actually discusses strategies for managing floods and agriculture in the Jiangnan region?
"What do you know!"
Xiang Liang glanced at him sideways and sneered, "I spent a lot of money to find out the news from inside Xianyang a long time ago. In order to select capable officials, the current tyrant has specially added a subject called 'Essay Writing' to this year's county examination, which is a practical policy question.
"If that corrupt official hadn't been swayed by our lavish spending and beautiful women, how could we have obtained such a secret so early?"
Xiang Liang suddenly rolled up the silk and shouted to the outside of the tent, "Men! Pass down the order to drag all the Jiangdong youths who passed the county examination into the secret study hall in the back mountain!"
From this moment forward, you are not allowed to leave your room to eat, drink, or relieve yourself. You must memorize this answer perfectly! Not a single word is allowed to be wrong!
For the next few days, the secret study room behind the Xiang family's mountain was brightly lit, like a living hell.
Dozens of pampered scions of prominent Jiangdong families were being watched by Xiang family private soldiers wielding whips. Each of them had dark circles under their eyes as they frantically recited the answer key.
Confucius said... Confucius said... To know is to know...
"The solution to floods in the Jiangnan region lies in a combination of dredging and blocking, including digging canals to release flood peaks..."
Despite the excruciating pain of carrying the heavy load, these scions of noble families were filled with pride.
"Haha, with these answers, I'm definitely the top scholar in this county examination!"
"What can a mere poor peasant like you possibly do against us? Once the results are announced, the officialdom of Jiangnan will be our backyard!"
"Xiang Gong was truly farsighted; we can rise to prominence simply by copying his ideas!"
In a state of blind confidence, several days passed in the blink of an eye.
……
Outside the Jiangnan Examination Hall.
The autumn wind was bleak, and the area was heavily guarded.
The black dragon flag fluttered in the sky above the examination hall.
Dozens of core members of the Xiang family and young masters from various prominent families in Jiangdong, dressed in luxurious scholar's robes and waving folding fans, arrived at the examination hall with their heads held high.
This formed a stark contrast to the impoverished students around them who were shivering from the cold.
"Hey, isn't this Wang the tofu seller from the east of the city? What's wrong? You can't even afford a decent winter coat, yet you dream of rising through the ranks?" A member of the Xiang family mocked with a sneer.
"Hahaha, that's right! This imperial examination tests not only book knowledge, but also one's overall understanding! You poor scholars should go home and farm as soon as possible, so as not to embarrass yourselves in the examination hall!"
The young men from Jiangdong laughed loudly, and some even brazenly stuffed ingots into the hands of the invigilators during the entrance inspection.
In their view, this exam was nothing more than a formality.
Three deep drumbeats resounded, the gates of the examination hall slammed shut, and the heavy wooden bolts fell, announcing the official start of the Jiangnan Prefecture Examination of the Great Qin Dynasty.
The examination room was completely silent, save for the mournful sound of the autumn wind blowing through the corridor.
On the examiner's platform, Fang Zhengge, the prefect of Jiangnan, sat majestically in a grand chair, dressed in the crimson official robes of a third-rank official and wearing a black gauze hat.
He looked down at the Jiangdong youths in the cells below, a smile playing on his lips.
Steady!
As long as this exam goes smoothly, the entire Xiang family will top the list.
His position as the local tyrant of Jiangnan was now unshakeable.
Happy to everyone!
"The time has come, we beg Your Majesty's grace!"
As the master of ceremonies announced, Fang Zhengge stood up, walked solemnly to the incense table, washed his hands, burned incense, and bowed to the north.
Then, two fully armed Black Ice Guards carried a bronze box up to the platform.
The box was sealed with a fire-lacquer seal bearing the emblem of the Great Qin Black Water Dragon Flag, perfectly intact.
"Kaifeng!"
Fang Zhengge shouted loudly, picked up the jade mallet beside him, and smashed the fire-lacquered copper seal heavily in front of everyone!
"Curl hair!"
Stacks of top-secret exam papers, faintly scented with ink, were quickly distributed by the invigilators to the desks of the candidates in each examination cell.
Xiang Zhuang of the Xiang family sat in the number one examination room. He ground the ink, smiled slightly, and slowly unfolded the examination paper.
He didn't even bother to look at it carefully. He picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and prepared to write down the "reference answer" that he had memorized for five days.
However, just as he was about to put pen to paper, his gaze inadvertently swept over the first major question on the exam paper.
Xiang Zhuang's hand suddenly stopped in mid-air.
The smile on his face froze instantly, as if frozen by frost.
"First question: The Analects says, 'The Ji family was richer than the Duke of Zhou, and Ran Qiu helped them amass wealth and increase their riches.' Discuss the current Qin dynasty's policy of weakening the power of the vassal states and the drawbacks of the aristocratic families." (Note: The Ji family was richer than the Duke of Zhou, a minister of the Zhou emperor, yet Ran Qiu helped them levy exorbitant taxes and plunder money to increase their wealth.)
Xiang Zhuang's pupils suddenly contracted.
Wait... what kind of question is this?
The answer to the first question he's been memorizing these past few days was clearly the vague classical saying, "To govern a country, one must first regulate one's family." How did it turn into a strategy for weakening the power of the feudal lords?
Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Xiang Zhuang's forehead.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and stared intently at the exam paper again.
That's right!
Not only has the topic changed, but the intent behind it is practically an insult directed at the Jiangdong aristocratic family!
"Huff... huff..."
Xiang Zhuang's breathing became rapid. He forced himself to calm down. "It's okay, it's okay... Maybe the first question is just in a different position. Let's look at the ones after that, let's look at the ones after that..."
With trembling hands, he quickly pulled the exam paper down.
"Question 2: On the merits and demerits of the 'Five Arts of Governing the People' in the Book of Lord Shang in Jiangnan."
"Question 3: Critique Zhao Gao's abuse of power and misrule of the country, and discuss the methods for supervising officials."
crazy!
They've all gone mad!
What kind of weird questions are these?
This is not only completely contrary to the answer key they memorized for five days and five nights, it's utterly unrelated!
Even the most basic fill-in-the-blank questions on the Four Books and Five Classics were all answered incorrectly!
The exam question asked about the "Greater Odes" section of the Book of Songs, but the answers they recited were lines from the "Songs of Chu"!
If you were to force it in, it would be utterly ridiculous!
The brush in Xiang Zhuang's hand fell into the inkstone, splashing a pool of black ink that stained his clean white sleeves, but he was completely unaware of it.
It wasn't just Xiang Zhuang.
At this moment, all the Jiangdong students who had been working hard for five days in the examination hall were dumbfounded!
"Thump!"
Some people slid directly off the wooden planks of their cells, their eyes lifeless and their faces ashen.
"This...this is impossible..."
Why is this happening? What's the answer? What's my answer?
The faces that were arrogant just a moment ago were now twisted with terror.
Their backs were soaked with cold sweat!
When my gaze finally fell on the last part of the exam paper, the "Essay" question that took up an entire page, I completely broke down.
The essay answer they memorized for five days and five nights was: "The solution to the floods in Jiangnan lies in a combination of dredging and blocking, and digging canals to release the flood peaks..."
But at this moment, the large, scarlet characters on the exam paper boldly proclaimed:
[Essay Question: The Qin Law states: Anyone who deceives the emperor and harbors rebellious intentions shall be torn apart by chariots and have their three clans exterminated; anyone who knows of such an act and forms a faction shall be implicated and punished along with the other clans.]
Discuss how the Qin Dynasty, governed by law, should have implemented the extreme punishment of collective punishment, wielding swift and decisive force to eradicate all hidden rebellious officials and traitors throughout the land, eliminating them completely at the root.