Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 54 Hu Yuan

"Gone?"

Zhou An was somewhat surprised to hear this, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt it made sense.

The end of the provincial examination also meant the end of the joint guarantee, so staying or leaving was no longer a concern.

Zhou An didn't ask any more questions, and discussed the provincial examination questions with the two of them.

They had participated in the provincial examinations many times and were quite experienced. Their understanding of the exam questions gave Zhou An a lot of inspiration.

Seeing that the two of them were not holding back, Zhou An also shared his understanding of the exam questions.

When they heard Zhou An's insights on the last question of the law, both of them were stunned.

"Huai De, are you overthinking this? Legal questions can be answered according to the Great Zhou Code. If the Great Zhou Code is not clear enough, just write down your own thoughts."

Scholar Wu frowned and said, "You're right, the main purpose of the imperial examination is to select officials, but how many of the candidates understand the procedures officials follow when handling these kinds of matters?"

"Brother Wu, it's not that Huai De is overthinking things; it's that we haven't considered things thoroughly!"

Feng Xiucai said with a somber expression, "Think about it carefully. In previous years, these kinds of exam questions didn't ask us to imagine ourselves as officials; they simply asked us how we would make a judgment."

"Perhaps that's just what the question setter wrote?" Wu Xiucai said somewhat unwillingly.

Scholar Feng shook his head and retorted, "Have you ever seen a useless word in an imperial examination question?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Xiucai's last bit of hope vanished completely.

Having participated in the provincial examinations many times, they had long since accumulated some experience. They knew that carefully reading the questions was very important, as there were sometimes traps in the questions.

Almost every scholar who participated in the imperial examinations had heard the saying that, during the examinations, the rigor of understanding the questions was more important than the quality of the answers.

If your answer doesn't grasp the core idea and deviates from the core concept of the question, even the best-written essay will be useless.

Conversely, even if the writing style is slightly inferior, as long as the core idea is not off, it will be better than the former in the eyes of the examiner.

Actually, when Zhou An was speaking, he had already thought carefully about the test questions and had the answer.

The reason they didn't think of it was ultimately due to carelessness.

The imperial examinations did not place much emphasis on legal questions, as can be seen from the proportion of such questions.

They simply added two questions related to the law after the questions on scripture, which seemed like they were emphasizing the law, but in reality they weren't that focused on it.

If the imperial court doesn't value it, the candidates will value it even less.

Over time, test takers will become less attentive to legal questions when reviewing the questions.

This is the main reason why the two, despite their rich experience and knowledge of the importance of carefully reading the question, were still careless.

"This is just my personal opinion, and you two don't need to be discouraged! Besides, the policy essay is the most important. As long as you answer the policy essay well, you may still pass the exam," Zhou An comforted him.

Upon hearing this, the two managed a forced smile. Zhou An was right, but only if they could answer each of the previous questions correctly.

In this situation, answering the policy questions well can cover up the shortcomings in poetry, classical studies, and law.

They failed to grasp the core issue, and such a huge mistake cannot be covered up unless they write an article that will be passed down through the ages.

The two men forced themselves to stay awake, chatted with Zhou An for a while, and then said goodbye and left.

Zhou An saw the two off, shaking his head slightly.

.........

Next to the Tongzhou Examination Hall was a house, which was where the examiners graded the papers during each provincial examination.

Before the provincial examination began, the selected examiners had already moved into this residence.

The entire residence was also strictly sealed off, and no contact with the outside world was allowed until they finished grading the papers.

After the first round of exams, the answer sheets were sent here, and the examiners began grading them.

The chief examiner, Du You, arrived at a small courtyard and stopped outside the main house.

"Has the teacher taken a break?"

"Come in."

An aged voice came from inside the house.

Du You was given permission to enter and walk around the screen.

Inside the room, on a soft couch, sat an elderly man with silver hair and a thin body, holding a scroll in his hand.

Du You bowed and said, "All the questions on the interpretation of the classics have been reviewed. What the teacher feared has indeed happened!"

Upon hearing this, the old man put down his book and smiled, saying, "I've never even passed the imperial examinations, yet you insisted on dragging me into setting the questions. After I set one, I felt it was somewhat inappropriate, so I asked you to set another one, but you refused. Now let's see how you handle this!"

"The students felt that the questions set by the teacher were excellent, which can be seen as a wake-up call for the test takers."

Du You smiled and said, "Fortunately, there were still some people who answered very well."

"That's not what I meant. You're asking someone like me, who failed the imperial examinations, to set the questions. Once the news gets out, there might be trouble!" the old man said gloatingly.

Du You retorted, "Teacher, you have served as a lecturer at the Imperial Academy and have presided over the Imperial College for many years. It is an honor for the candidates to have you set the questions; how could there be any trouble?"

The old man's name was Hu Yuan. He also came from an official family, but his father held a low-ranking position and died early, leaving the family in poverty.

Hu Yuan was also affected by this, and her studies were greatly delayed, resulting in her failing the imperial examinations multiple times.

Later, he gave up his studies and returned to his hometown to run a school and teach. At that time, Fan Daxianggong happened to be the prefect of the state where his hometown was located.

Having heard of Hu Yuan's reputation, he invited him to teach at the state school and had his son become his student.

After Fan Daxiang entered the central government, he recommended him for official positions, and he served in various places.

In recent years, he was promoted to lecturer at the Imperial Academy and put in charge of the Imperial Academy.

This year, due to my advanced age, I resigned and returned to my hometown. When I passed through Tongzhou, I was invited by my student Du You to stay and gave a few lectures at Tongzhou Academy.

Just then, the Tongzhou provincial examination was held, and Du You was selected as the chief examiner, so he was asked to participate in setting the questions for this provincial examination.

The last question on law in the provincial examination, as well as the final essay question, were both written by him.

"It's not as simple as you say. Fortunately, you're not an official in charge of a region."

Hu Yuan shook her head; Du You was oversimplifying things.

Although most people did not answer the question well, that question will not have a significant impact on whether the candidates pass the exam, but the candidates may not think so.

The candidates' answer sheets cannot be made completely public, and since ancient times, scholars have been prone to belittling each other. As the saying goes, unless the gap between them is particularly large, the candidates will not feel that their articles are inferior to others.

Although he was a great Confucian scholar and respected by many, it is an indisputable fact that he repeatedly failed the imperial examinations.

The test takers might not question his question setting to his face, but they would discuss it privately.

At that time, rumors will spread, which will be a considerable trouble for Du You.

"This is all thanks to the teacher's excellent guidance. He saw early on that the student was not suited to govern a region, and the student kept his teacher's words in mind, only doing teaching and nurturing," Du You said with a smile.

It wasn't that he thought it was simple; rather, he didn't care about the potential consequences.

He taught for over a decade, remaining incorruptible. Some rumors were irrelevant to him, as he had no intention of climbing the ranks anyway.

"Since you already know the answer, then I won't say any more."

Hu Yuan asked, "What business do you have with this old man?"

"Isn't it because I'm about to start grading the essays? I'd like to ask you to give me your feedback!" Du You explained his purpose.

"I'm an old man, and I've finally gotten some peace and quiet. How dare you have the nerve to order me around!" Hu Yuan said with a laugh.

Du You smiled and said, "The teacher set the question, so why wouldn't the teacher want to take a look? Besides, I don't think the teacher necessarily wants to be idle."

"Alright, I'll go take a look first thing tomorrow morning."

Hu Yuan didn't argue and nodded in agreement.