Chapter 108 Sheng Hong's Gentle Place
Zhao Xing left Longtu Pavilion, still thinking about the imperial examination questions.
The most important part of the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty was the policy essay. After all, the imperial examination was to select talents for the imperial court, and the policy essay tested the scholars' political views, ideas on governing the country, and analysis of the current and future situations.
However, in Zhao Xing's opinion, the policy essays cover too much content, and the focus of each imperial examination policy essay question is different, which cannot select talents well.
Zhao Xing wanted to come up with a more open-ended question as possible to reduce restrictions on the scholars.
In the evening, Zhao Xing had dinner with his father and Queen Cao in the palace before leaving the palace and returning to the East Palace.
After washing up, I lay on the bed, thinking about random things for a long time, and I had some general ideas about the imperial examination questions.
The next morning, Zhao Xing asked Sanshui to go to the school to inform them that they would not be going to school that morning, and he also asked someone to find Wang Anshi.
He was a little unsure about his exam questions and wanted to hear Wang Anshi's opinion.
At this time, Zhao Xing also realized that there were too few talented people around him who could be used.
It’s not that other people are useless, but the questions in the imperial examination are of great importance, so he can’t trust them.
While Zhao Xing and Wang Anshi were discussing the matter, the emperor also ordered the Secretariat to draft an edict, appointing the crown prince as the chief examiner of this imperial examination and Hanlin scholar Hai Wenyu as the deputy examiner.
Before the news was announced, many officials in Bianliang had already learned about it.
Talent and knowledge in the imperial examination is only one aspect. Another very important point is predicting the topic.
Generally speaking, the policy essay questions for the joint examination are set by the chief examiner of the imperial examination, while the questions for the palace examination are set by the government.
Many people have some misunderstandings about being on the list of successful candidates, and they think that passing the imperial examination means being on the list of successful candidates.
In fact, the list after the palace examination is the real gold list.
However, this understanding is actually not wrong, because if you pass the provincial examination, you will become an official, and the palace examination only determines the final ranking.
Whenever the chief examiner of the imperial examination was decided, the scholars would predict the questions based on the examiner's personality and political views.
This is the same as doing practice questions in later generations. Some people have average grades, but they get lucky during the college entrance examination. Many of the question types they encounter are ones they have done before, so they know the steps to solve the questions and perform exceptionally well.
The same goes for predicting the topic. If you guess it right and are prepared, you will naturally get twice the result with half the effort.
The examiner's political views are even more important than predicting the topic.
For example, if the chief examiner does not agree with political reform, but the scholar's essay tends to favor reform, then no matter how well the essay is written, it will be impossible for the scholar to pass the exam.
Because the examiner needs to mark the papers.
However, the chief examiner and the person who set the questions this time was the prince, which made those officials whose children were going to take part in the imperial examination a little confused.
They had no idea what questions Zhao Xing would ask, and given Zhao Xing's status, it was impossible for him to mark the papers personally. He could only look at some of the top-ranked articles.
This means that it was Zhao Xing who set the questions, but someone else who graded the papers.
Hai Wenyou is the deputy examiner, it must be him, this is not difficult to guess.
However, as the chief examiner, Zhao Xing would definitely select some to look at.
What if they answer the questions according to Hai Wenyou's preferences, but the article is seen by Zhao Xing and makes Zhao Xing unhappy?
……
Moriya
After Sheng Hong was beaten by Liu Sanshi in Yangzhou, his attitude towards Lin Xiaoniang changed a lot.
But in general, Lin Xiaoniang's treatment still exceeded the standards for concubines.
When they arrived in Bian Jing, Sheng Hong was worried that he would be caught by the censors, so he became even more restrained and even went to Lin Xiaoniang's room less frequently.
After so many years, Lin Xiaoniang has faced the reality and placed her hopes on her son and daughter.
If his son could pass the imperial examination and his daughter could marry into a wealthy family in the future, Sheng Hong would not treat her so badly. Therefore, after arriving in Bianjing, she begged Sheng Hong to hire a famous teacher for Sheng Changfeng.
Apart from other aspects, Sheng Hong still put a lot of thought into his children's education.
The eldest son was studying in the Eastern Palace, and was being taught by the ministers and great scholars in the court, so he didn't need to worry about anything.
However, he did not neglect the education of his second son. He personally wrote a letter to invite Zhuang Xuejiu to his home to teach Sheng Changfeng and his three daughters.
This year, Sheng Changbai and Sheng Changfeng will both take the exam. When Lin Xiaoniang learns that the chief examiner is the Crown Prince, she becomes interested.
Sheng Changbai is the prince's companion and is highly regarded by the prince. It's possible that he knows what questions the prince will ask.
So, while Sheng Hong was on leave at home, she cooked a meal herself, took a bath, dressed up carefully, and asked someone to invite Sheng Hong over.
Sheng Hong hadn't been to Lin Xiaoniang's place for some time. When he heard Lin Xiaoniang inviting him over, he missed her a little, so he came to Linqi Pavilion.
Seeing Lin Xiaoniang who was dressed up carefully, Sheng Hong was also a little dazed.
Sheng Hong had many concubines, but the others were not as pretty as Lin Xiaoniang and Wei Xiaoniang.
However, those concubines were just like Wei Xiaoniang, dressed simply and didn't make up much. When they saw him, they were very obedient and would not speak unless asked, like wooden people.
Men, especially writers, like the atmosphere of being under the moonlight and with the fragrance of red sleeves.
This is also the reason why so many literati and poets in ancient times liked to visit brothels.
However, Sheng Hong was very careful about his reputation, so he could only feel that feeling from Lin Xiaoniang.
Lin Xiaoniang bowed with a smile, walked forward and took Sheng Hong inside, saying with a smile: "I heard that the master has been very busy with official duties these days, and comes home very late every day. It is a rare day off. I personally cooked some dishes that the master likes to eat, and asked someone to warm up a pot of wine."
"You are thoughtful. Is there anything else besides this?" Sheng Hong asked.
"What are you saying, Master? It's as if I have some purpose in looking for you."
Lin Xiaoniang pulled Sheng Hong to the table and sat down. Hearing this, she turned away in dissatisfaction.
"Look, I'm just asking, why are you still angry?" Sheng Hong quickly coaxed her.
Lin Xiaoniang also knew the principle of knowing when to stop, and she measured the situation just right. After Sheng Hong coaxed her for a while, she pretended to have calmed down, poured wine for Sheng Hong, and invited him to eat and drink.
After a few drinks, Lin Xiaoniang's face turned slightly red, making her look even more beautiful, which made Sheng Hong's appetite increase greatly.
Seeing that the time was almost right, Lin Xiaoniang lost her smile and began to talk about her grievances with a somewhat depressed look.
What did Sheng Hong mean by being cold and disgusted with her? Why did the lady make things difficult for her?
Old Madam Sheng taught Rulan and Minglan the rules, but did not teach Molan.
Plus she squeezed out a few tears at just the right moment, which made me feel so pitiful.
But Sheng Hong just fell for it. He held her in his arms and comforted her softly, saying that this was Bian Jing and he had to be careful about the impact and that he would visit Lin Xiaoniang more often in the future.
Lin Xiaoniang lay in Sheng Hong's arms and said softly, "I also know the difficulties of the master, and naturally don't want to cause trouble for the master. When I chose the master, I was prepared to be wronged."
Sheng Hong's heart softened when he heard this. He doted on Lin Xiaoniang, not only because she was a capable person, but also because in his heart he and Lin Xiaoniang were truly in love.
Lin Xiaoniang could have married someone else and become his wife, but she was willing to be his concubine.
Therefore, Sheng Hong still feels guilty towards Lin Xiaoniang.
"Master, I don't want to think about anything else right now. I just want to educate Feng'er and Mo'er well. The imperial examination is coming soon. The chief examiner this time is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Second brother is a tutor in the East Palace and knows a little about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Master, please see if you can talk to second brother and ask him to spare some time to teach Chang Feng." Lin Xiaoniang said.
(End of this chapter)