In Love With My Fierce Farming Wife!
Chapter 1218 - 1130: Old Topics Revisited

Chapter 1218: Chapter 1130: Old Topics Revisited

He didn’t know at the moment that, because when he was old, he compiled his own life story into a book, he copied the examination questions into it, which were then passed down.

Years later, these examination questions became epoch-making dossiers, widely studied and used as references by countless students.

In Jiying Hall, all the Tribute Scholars were writing feverishly. Su Ke felt an overwhelming urge to relieve himself, but just as he moved a little, a Supervisor turned his gaze onto him.

He had no choice but to suppress his thoughts and continue writing.

Once the domestic economy had developed, it was time to expand the international economy. The Silk Road was a path to wealth; through it, the Imperial Court could continually send abroad our Great Zhou’s abundant silk products, including silk, satin, damask, velvet, gauze, along with tea, ceramics, wood carvings, and more, in exchange for ivory, furs, jade, jewels, incense, and other items that our Great Zhou needed but lacked. They planned to expand and refurbish the Southern, Northern, and Central Silk Road routes, striving to make the travel more convenient and safe.

Having talked about the overland Silk Road, Su Ke then shifted the topic to the Maritime Silk Road.

The Maritime Silk Road had already been established in the previous dynasty. However, due to the previous dynasty’s depleted national strength and the crudeness of its ships, which could carry very little, and with long voyages yielding meager profits, it was abandoned by the Imperial Court after only a few decades. Since then, although there were commoners continuing the trade clandestinely, it was always on a small scale, never enough to form a viable operation.

The reason Su Ke brought up the Maritime Silk Road at this point was that he once heard about it from his fourth sister.

Fourth sister said that beyond the vast boundless ocean, in distant lands, there were many different races of people. And they had many rare and exotic treasures, unavailable here but plentiful there.

To make a fortune from the Maritime Silk Road, it was necessary to build large sea-faring ships that could withstand violent storms, carry ample cargo, and form sufficiently large Business Teams to finally achieve satisfactory results...

Su Ke had written at length.

When he finished, he was surprised to find that he had filled two full pages of draft paper!

One should know that the palace examination was unlike any other.

The dossiers for the palace examination followed a specific format. The front needed some blank space for pasting names later, and the margins had to be of a certain width. Although there was no strict regulation on how much to write on the approximate length of a dossier, the variations were quite small.

Su Ke glanced at what he had written and felt it was obviously too much for the dossier. He had to focus, making alterations on the draft paper—deleting what needed to be deleted, condensing where necessary, and adjusting as required. Once the word count seemed right and there was nothing left to change, he then copied the content onto the official dossier.

The rest of the Tribute Scholars were in a similar situation, now in the copying phase.

Silence reigned in Jiying Hall, except for the rustling of the answering scripts from the candidates.

Qin Yi sat at the high seat, leisurely observing the ten students in Jiying Hall with half-closed eyes.

Among those present, he naturally recognized Su Ke and Xue Qian. He was also very familiar with Feng Jiu, and he had taken the time to thoroughly understand the identities and specific knowledge of the rest. He had already formulated his judgments.

As the sands in the hourglass slowly trickled down, two hours flew by in the blink of an eye. Students gradually set down their brushes to submit their answers.

Su Ke neither submitted his dossier early nor late, but at an average time.

After the last one was submitted, everything proceeded according to protocol. The dedicated personnel who had been waiting pasted the names, and then the named dossiers were handed to the Review Officers for assessment.

However, the palace examination dossiers were not transcribed, meaning the Review Officers read all the original submissions from the students.

If a Review Officer encountered handwriting he recognized, or if he was familiar with a student’s certain small habit, and particularly "appreciated" that student, then that student would certainly be fortunate enough to score highly.

Of course, such cases were rare as those who made it to the palace examination already possessed considerable knowledge.

At that moment, it was down to the calligraphy of the candidates.

How well the characters were written also became one of the criteria for assessing the palace examination results.

After all, people at that time wrote Memorials to Emperor to the Emperor using Writing Brushes, and if the characters were not pleasing to the eye, His Majesty might not be in the mood to read a Memorial filled with scribbles.

Studying hard and practicing calligraphy from a young age had its reasons for being indispensable.

Therefore, in the palace examination, neat and good-looking writing was a prerequisite for doing well.

Su Ke and the others were then led out of the Imperial Palace by a Eunuch.

It wasn’t until he stepped out of the palace gates that Su Ke snapped out of his previous tension.

"Young master, you must be tired. Let me support you."

Little Shitou and Duan Yan had been waiting outside the palace gate. Upon seeing Su Ke emerge, they quickly rushed to support him on either side: "Young master, you seem to come out a bit slowly today. We saw several others leave before you, and we were worried something had happened to you. Are you cold, young master? There’s hot water in the carriage, have a cup if you’re feeling cold."

He hadn’t had a moment to relieve himself all day and was in no mood to drink water.

"No, let’s hurry home. Where’s the carriage?"

Su Ke waved off the offer. He didn’t want anything else but to get home as soon as possible. He had just taken a step forward when he nearly stumbled, but Duan Yan quickly steadied him.

"Be careful of the stone steps under your feet, young master. Our carriage is over there."

They supported Su Ke to the carriage that had been waiting.

The examination had only taken six hours, but it had drained Su Ke of all his strength.

Seeing their young master barely able to walk steadily, Little Shitou expressed his concern: "Young master, how did you do on the exam?"

Could it be that those who left the palace earlier had done better? Had the young master finished the exam? He had always been confident in his young master, but seeing the others leaving with a relaxed demeanor and his young master pale, trembling slightly, he couldn’t help but feel unsettled.

"Probably not well."

Su Ke struggled to hold back before finally answering.

During the time he walked out of the palace gate, he thought carefully and felt like his perspective might have been too biased.

In Jiying Hall, he had been writing effusively, feeling quite good about himself.

Now that he was out of the palace, he felt what he wrote was too ordinary, filled with platitudes. Such dossiers would likely struggle to achieve a high ranking, let alone anything else.

Outside was the bright spring sun, the season in full bloom, a scene of vibrant life all around.