Many people's faces showed doubts, even tangled and dazed, and they wanted to ask Sun Tu out loud - this is the end? In today's temple examination, there is no other opportunity to show their talents except for such a strategic essay?

It's just that poetry and songs have been canceled, but even the examination school for classics and classics has been canceled, which is too difficult for them to accept, is this still the imperial examination? You must know that in the past, what everyone has been concentrating on reading are those classic articles that speak for saints, and these things that have been learned in the cold window of ten years are not even used today?

If it weren't for the fact that he was in the palace now, facing Taiwei Sun, who was high, powerful, and terrifying, I was afraid that someone would have jumped up and questioned it at this time. But even if no one made a sound, the tangled look on everyone's faces couldn't be hidden.

Sun Tu looked at the candidates with a smile, but he didn't see his strange expression, and continued: "In addition, this palace examination can be composed in ancient and colloquial styles, and it will not get greater preferential treatment because of a certain style, so all candidates also ask each candidate to show his strengths and hand in an essay that satisfies everyone." ”

After a pause, he said again: "Okay, the hour is almost up, let's start." Today, you can write before the time, so I won't delay your time. As he finished saying this, his own guards and others handed out a copy of the Four Treasures of the Study to each candidate's desk. In addition, there is also a food box, which is full of wine, food and fruits used by officials in the DPRK and China, which can be regarded as a kind of preferential treatment for all candidates.

It's just that the vast majority of candidates don't have the heart to pay attention to these details, and they can feel that Sun Tu has made up his mind, and he won't change it at all because of the change in his expression. Strike? That's an unrealistic move, not to mention that they don't have such courage, even if they have, in the examination room of this palace exam, they are so close to success, who would be willing to let go of such a great opportunity?

Even if you are a confident candidate, you don't dare to say that you can be admitted to the Jinshi in this subject, and you can do it again in the next subject, and the results will definitely be better than this year. You must know that Da Song's status as a lifter is not a lifelong system, and after this time, the next subject will have to be re-examined from the township examination. What's more, maybe the next imperial examination will still be like this?

So in the end, after a period of entanglement, these candidates finally stopped thinking about these difficulties, but focused on the exam questions themselves, and began to conceive an essay, thinking about how to make an essay that was beautifully worded and satisfactory to Taiwei Sun and the princes of the imperial court.

While others were still struggling with that series of questions, Cai Qi had already begun to conceive his own article in high spirits. He was one of the very few of these candidates who was excited by Sun Tu's introduction, and whether it was the need to write an essay in ancient Chinese, or the topic, he was extremely appetizing.

As a small household official in Zhuji County, he can still come into contact with a lot of relevant official documents and newspapers of the imperial court on weekdays, and often uses them to make some of his own judgments. Maybe these things are not worth anything in the court, and they have not been adopted by the county order, but he still enjoys it, and he has also written a few things at home.

When he arrived at the examination room today, Cai Qi felt that this was completely an opportunity to express his knowledge in his chest, coupled with his own obsession with arithmetic, he might be able to write an article that could make people's eyes shine.

At the moment, he no longer hesitated, laying paper and researching ink, while conceiving, while writing, but also clearly organized, the pen flew away. It's just that with the continuous deepening of the article, there are more calculations that need to be used, and at the moment there is no calculation chip available, the only way is to calculate by pinching his fingers, which naturally slows down his speed of writing articles. But these data are the things he values the most, so no matter how difficult it is, Cai Qi did not relax at all, but kept burying his head in writing.

Compared to him, the movements of the other candidates, who had been a beat slower than him before, were much faster. Since these people can enter the stage of the palace examination, their talents and learning are naturally extremely high, even if this kind of policy article is not their strength, it is difficult for them, as long as they have what they have in mind, they can make a beautiful and catchy splendid article from the end of the pen.

Sun Tu also walked around the examination room at random during this period, and then went outside with some officials, first dealt with the official business at hand, and then gossiped with Tong Mu and others: "You said that today's palace examination can allow the imperial court to select a few talents?" ”

"It's hard to say, I heard that this year's really outstanding people in Jiangnan are all in the army, and all those who can come are indiscriminate, so it's not easy to select some talents who can be used." An official said with a not so good-looking face.

His words naturally meant to complain about Sun Tu's previous decision, but it was not a big mistake, because over the years, Jiangnan was indeed the land of the Great Song Dynasty, and every time in the imperial examination, the candidates there were the most selected.

Sun Tu just smiled when he heard this, and didn't dwell on it, but looked at Tong Mu: "What do you think?" ”

"It's hard." Tong Mu also shook his head: "The two ways of civil and military are not comprehensible, and the questions you come up with are too general, which is not something that these candidates who only read the books of sages and sages and don't ask about other things can understand, let alone let them make a satisfactory article on their own." Don't look at your low requirements, but it is difficult to achieve only what you say and what you say. ”

Sun Tu shook his head and said: "I don't think there is a need to be so pessimistic, there are so many talents in the world, since there are only those who know how to chant the wind and make the moon or die to study, and naturally there are also those who know how to practice, I don't believe that there is no such candidate in the palace today." ”

After another pause, Zhengse said: "In addition, the rules of the palace examination that I suddenly decided today are also preparing for the future, and the method of taking the imperial examination in the future of our Great Song Dynasty should also be changed. ”

"What do you mean by that?" Tong Mu suddenly asked with interest, and the other officials looked awkward, wanting to say something, but finally endured it.

Sun Tu didn't care about the strange looks of other people, and said his idea: "What is the purpose of the imperial examination?" It is to recruit talented people for the imperial court, not to find some literary heroes. Therefore, in my opinion, it is important to write articles, but it is not necessary, and it is even less necessary for the examination of the Ming classics to only test the familiarity with those classics and historical classics.

"Now what the imperial court and officials at all levels want is people who can do practical things, so we should examine this point from the time of taking the priesthood. For example, the Ministry of Officials, starting from the perspective of their promotion of officials and the overall situation of the entire government, let them write an article to elaborate; The Criminal Department asks them to write essays on the topic of the judgment; As for the household department, it is even simpler, if you don't even know how to count, you are not qualified to enter the household department, in addition, you must also have a certain understanding of my Great Song Dynasty income, local taxes and so on...... All these are the most correct and direct ways to take the imperial examination, I don't know what you think? ”

Listening to his long speech, even Tong Mu was a little stunned, and he didn't know what to say for a long time. In the end, he could only sigh: "Taiwei Sun is really far-sighted, which is beyond our comparison." It's just that in this way, the imperial examination is very different from the past. ”

"Yes, but it's better for finding the best people. And now this is just the beginning, and I've decided to spend 10, 20 years to change all that. Sun Tu said leisurely again.

Time passed quickly, the sky slowly darkened, and thick candles were lit in the side hall where the examination room was located, and small candles were lit on each candidate's desk to continue their composition. During this period, many candidates have finished writing essays and left the palace after handing them in.

Seeing this, Sun Tu no longer chatted, but returned to the examination room and casually flipped through the articles of those candidates. If you want to say that these candidates don't mention anything else, this pen of writing is still quite beautiful, and when it falls on the paper, it is like the printing style of later generations, and the words are regular, and the force penetrates the back of the paper, which alone is not something that Sun Tu can do.

It's just that after Sun Tu read the contents, his brows slowly furrowed. There are few articles in the imagination that have something to say, and each one is a sprinkling of empty words and clichés, singing praises of virtue, just blindly touting how strong the Great Song Dynasty is today, how invincible the Heavenly Soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty are, and this Northern Expedition will inevitably achieve victory.

If it's just one or two people who write like this, Sun Tu should listen to people flattering and pat horses, which is also interesting. But when the dozens of articles at hand were all like this, it made him a little unacceptable. If it is just such an article, no matter how beautiful the rhetoric is, how accurate the diction is, and how majestic the momentum is, it is not worth mentioning at all.

And what makes him even more troublesome is that when the time comes, he will have to choose the best three articles from these dozens of things to determine the champion list and the tweed, which is really ridiculous.

Feeling bored, Sun Tu didn't want to stay in the palace anymore, so he went out and walked around again before coming back. Then I was a little surprised to find that the entire examination room was empty, and only one person was still writing with his head bowed at this time. And the way this person writes is quite strange, and from time to time he will stop writing and bend his fingers, as if he is calculating something.

And because he was the only one left in the examination room now, he felt even more flustered, and his forehead was constantly oozing sweat, looking really embarrassed.

At this time, the small candle on his desk was about to burn to its head, and the firelight flickered, which made his heart sink again, and he quickly reached out to protect the light, for fear that it would suddenly be extinguished. And at this moment, a long candle was sent over, and a majestic and gentle voice sounded: "Don't worry, there is still time, write slowly." ”