In Love With My Fierce Farming Wife!
Chapter 1186 - 1098: Su Pan’er’s Opinion

Chapter 1186: Chapter 1098: Su Pan’er’s Opinion

Qin Yi nodded and took her hand in stride, "You’ve had a tough time, Pan’er."

"His Majesty already knew about these matters; my speaking of them now is nothing but showing off my slight skills before an expert," Su Pan’er glanced at Marquis Yingwu not far away and quickly withdrew her hand, "It’s just that I couldn’t bear to see His Majesty work so hard, hence I said a few more words."

Qin Yi smiled, "However, you only mentioned that the students cheated, which seems not to be the whole story, right?"

"Aside from the students cheating, officials cheat as well."

Su Pan’er spoke with confidence, "The reasons why examiners cheat are rather complex. Some are compelled by power, some due to personal feelings, and some for money. Regardless of the reason, there are mainly two forms of cheating: one is leaking test questions, like what happened during last year’s Beneficent Examination. The other is using secret signals."

"Indeed, last year’s Beneficent Examination leak involved too many people, and I handled it lightly, without making things worse, because I thought that after the realm had just been stabilized it would be better to let the commoners heal and recuperate for a while," he acknowledged.

"Since there was a leak during last year’s Beneficent Examination, it’s likely that the culprits won’t be so bold this year during the Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination. If there are still officials who intend to cheat, they probably only have one other option. Just have someone watch closely after nightfall, and you should reap significant findings!" she suggested.

"You believe the cheating happens at night?"

Qin Yi was uncertain.

Though the saying goes, ’commit murder and arson under the cover of darkness,’ wouldn’t cheating in the dead of night make it easier to detect?

"Please consider, Your Majesty, that this year you suddenly changed the rules and prohibited students from bringing food and sundry items into the exam hall, which has thwarted many people’s careful plans. If they’re going to cheat, it would have to be by seemingly the most improbable methods," she pointed out.

"And what would those be?"

Su Pan’er smiled confidently!

"Either cheating using candles, or using secret signals," she declared.

Su Pan’er’s words were not without foundation. Given that so many people sent by His Majesty had thoroughly investigated to no avail, the most deeply hidden and longest-standing methods were surely these two!

While the Emperor and Empress were discussing how to effectively eradicate cheating from examinations, Su Ke began his third examination session.

The third session tested "scholarly essays," "edicts and memorials," and "judgments and decrees." The essays no longer required the eight-legged essay format, and the questions didn’t come from the "Four Books" and "Five Classics." The topics were broad-ranging and flexible, similar to the essay section of modern college entrance examinations.

This time the essay question was, "A gentleman stands firm but does not lean."

Su Ke first analyzed the question, then formulated his approach. Given the cryptic question he encountered before, he was even more cautious this time.

The phrase originated from the Li Ji, which stated, "Thus, a gentleman is harmonious but not conformist, strong yet unwavering; stands firm but does not lean," reflecting the Confucian doctrine of the Doctrine of the Mean.

But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t as straightforward as that.

Keep in mind that this third session was about scholarly arguments, not about poetry, lyrics, or elegies in the eight-legged essay form.

With its potential to mislead, if one were to answer using the form of poetry or lyrics, the scope of the discussion would become quite limited.

Su Ke carefully reviewed and pondered over the dossier and felt that the intent behind this question wasn’t surface-level; the examiner mainly wanted to explore court officials’ views on factionalism and cronyism.

After last year’s Autumn Imperial Civil Service Examination leak incident, His Majesty placed a high importance on this Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination. Introducing such a question likely reflected not only the intent of the examiner but more importantly, that of His Majesty himself.

Having established the thesis, the rest became much easier to handle.

Since the exam did not require eight-legged essays such as poetry or songs, the topic allowed students to express themselves freely and delightfully.

Su Ke ground some ink and then picked up his brush to dip it into the ink before writing the first sentence on the draft paper: "The noble man takes a stand but does not lean . . ."

This sentence was what was known as the introductory breakthrough.

It conveyed the main theme he planned to write about. Generally, after the Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination, examiners had half a month to twenty days to review the papers. They had to peruse the dossiers of more than ten thousand students. Each student had three dossiers, and the efforts involved were hard for outsiders to understand!

Among so many dossiers, to stand out, the first sentence of the introductory breakthrough was crucial!

Of course, Su Ke understood this point and continued writing after the breakthrough.

There were three rounds of exams; the first round rarely contained errors. The second round tested the depth of knowledge, while the third round truly tested the principles of holding office!

Just one "discussion" essay was already challenging, and the following "edicts," "petitions," and "judgments" were, simply put, practical writings for officialdom. The first was drafting official documents for superiors. The second was writing annotations for subordinates. They were all essential knowledge for an official, and the examination content was very comprehensive.

Compared to the first two exams, the third was of utmost importance.

Su Ke did not dare to slacken in the slightest; he wrote feverishly, completing the first discussion question. Without taking time to eat, he hastily moved on to the next question.

When he finished the second question, the Bell and Drum Tower had already rung for the Two More Sky outside.

Extended periods of intense concentration exhausted Su Ke. His stomach was as empty as an unguarded city, cold and hungry, yet he had no appetite for food. He forced himself to pick up the bowl and eat the cold food and soup, and then curled up in a corner and fell into a deep sleep.

Accompanying him to sleep were the breathing noises from the student in the adjacent exam number, resembling bellows, and violent coughs.

The next day, before dawn, Su Ke awoke again.

Of the three questions, he had one "judgment" left to write. He had just washed his face and felt exceptionally cold. Fortunately, soldiers soon delivered food. This time, the food was hot, including the soup. Having gone a long time without a bite of hot food, Su Ke felt particularly blessed. He quickly devoured the food and then continued answering questions.

In previous years, the same topics were examined, but this year, after the "judgment" section, two additional questions on natural philosophy were added: one on physical science and one on water irrigation.

Physical science, simply put, was a chemistry question, and the water irrigation question naturally concerned river management.

This addition was specifically requested by His Majesty, largely because of the Yellow River flooding and the fact that a Defender had privately blown up the river channel. This resulted in the submersion of Fengdu Ancient City under the vast river water, causing countless casualties and widespread displacement of commoners. It had also become a heartache for His Majesty.

The two natural philosophy questions had indeed emerged as a result.

Su Ke, having been influenced by his time with Su Pan’er, had a hand in both the creation of gunpowder and firearms machinery. And the water irrigation question, pertaining to irrigation works he was facing now, was one of his strengths.

While other students were wracking their brains, he was already writing vigorously, converting everything he had observed and learned into text on his dossier.

After the third exam, all the students were completely drained.

This naturally included Su Ke.