"I've seen Master Xie and Chen Shilang."

"I've seen two examiners."

"Why are you two arguing?" Xie Mingtang asked with a calm face, looking at the two of them.

The two of them scramble to answer, because often whoever says it first has the upper hand, giving others a preconceived impression.

Xie Mingtang saw Wang Kui holding the test paper in his hand, so he said, "Wang Kui, tell me, what is the matter." ”

Wang Kui arched his hand and said: "I am in the same group as Zhang Jiaoyu, and this exam paper in my hand, Zhang Jiaoyu's judgment is too arbitrary, and I feel that this is very unfair to the candidates, so I argue with reason, and the two quarreled over this matter." ”

Wang Kui didn't dare to arrange it at will, so he told the story roughly, Mr. Xie looked at Zhang Shouming, and Zhang Shouming also said that this was indeed the case.

"I'll show you the test papers." Mr. Xie said.

Wang Kui hurriedly presented the scroll in his hand, Xie Mingtang took it and was stunned when he took it and looked at it, this handwriting turned out to be the same as the word scroll he had just read. He looked at the number on the name of the test paper again, the number of one zero zero, it was indeed the same person.

Xie Mingtang opened the paper and looked carefully, overall, after reading a few questions, he found that this candidate's answers were moderate, and if he followed this level, his results should be good.

However, when I opened the last paper and looked at the fifth question, I saw two completely different judgments from the examiner, "do not take" in the front and "A" in the back.

It seems that the two are arguing about this last question, and after Xie Mingtang patiently read it, he felt that the answer to this question was decent.

handed it to the deputy chief examiner Chen Yao, Chen Yao frowned slightly after reading it, looked at Zhang Shouming, but didn't say anything, and put down the test paper.

Xie Mingtang watched Chen Yao finish reading the test paper, put down the tea cup in his hand, looked at the two people in front of him, and finally fixed his gaze on Zhang Shouming, and said: "It seems that your dispute is the fifth question, I think this exam question is answered by this candidate in a regular manner, and there is nothing overstepping, Zhang Jiaoyu, why do you not judge this candidate." ”

Zhang Shouming replied: "Lord Examiner, the lower official judged this question because this candidate was suspected of plagiarism. ”

Xie Mingtang and Chen Yao were both stunned, cheating in the examination room is not something that can be done sloppily, "Have you found the test paper with the same answer, and who is the other person." Chen Yao asked.

"There were no identical papers found in this exam." Zhang Shouming replied.

His answer made the two examiners very unhappy, and they didn't find out how you said that others cheated and plagiarized.

"Then why are you judging this candidate for plagiarism?" Xie Mingtang's tone was already unhappy. In fact, Xie Mingtang is very appreciative of the candidates of this test paper, the calligraphy is beautiful, and he can be ranked in the top few in this exam, he has seen the scriptures, and the answer is not bad, especially the first fu, which can be said to be very exquisite, it can definitely be said to be a masterpiece, and he loves it very much, it is the "autumn" word, and it is also a rare masterpiece.

It's best for this Zhang Shouming to say what the reason is, if he judges at will, he won't let it go easily, at least he will take away his status as a fellow examiner.

Zhang Shouming said with a straight face: "Bachelor Xie, three years ago, Xiaguan once did the Ezhou Township Examination and the same examination, and this exam question also appeared in that session. Hold on to its ambitions, without violence. I remember that there was a person who was admitted at that time, and the answer was exactly the same as that of this candidate, because that person's scripture question was judged by me, so I remember it deeply."

"Taking a test with answers that someone else has answered is not cheating." After Zhang Shouming finished speaking, he craned his neck and looked at Wang Kui.

In front of the two adults, Wang Kui ignored him and turned his face away.

Listening to Zhang Shouming's words, Xie Mingtang's brows furrowed deeply. "Are you saying that in the last township exam, Ezhou also had the same exam questions?"

"Yes, it should be the third question of the scriptures." Zhang Shouming said.

"Come on, go to the Xuezheng Yamen to check whether there is this question in the examination questions of various provinces over the years." Xie Mingtang commanded.

Soon a servant received the order to go out.

The room fell silent for a moment.

After about a quarter of an hour, a small official came back, took a thick book of provincial examination questions, and opened it for Xie Mingtang to read.

Xie Mingtang was silent for a while before he said leisurely: "I personally came up with the exam questions this time, but I didn't expect that the exam questions from other provinces would coincide, which was my mistake." ”

The others were taken aback, and Chen Yao hurriedly said: "Bachelor, dozens of provinces across the country, it is another exam question from three years ago, and it is not widely circulated, and it is not an exaggeration for the bachelor not to know." ”

"Besides, I have never had a rule that the exam questions overlap, this should not be the fault of the bachelor, even so, the candidate's answer may not be exactly the same as the previous candidate, and you have to check the paper to know."

But this is the case, which also makes Xie Mingtang difficult to let go for a while.

The chief examiner of the township examination has great powers, and is responsible for determining the questions and finally admitting them. Every year in the township examination, the emperor sends Hanlin scholars to sit in the town. The Hanlin Bachelor is the official of the emperor's cronies and advisers, and the status is very important, and those who are not Jinshi and the first are not allowed to enter the Hanlin, and the Hanlin Scholar is the reserve of the prime minister.

There are only three people in Jinshi and the first three years, and the champions are all killed from thousands of troops, and their minds and knowledge are the top people.

Xie Mingtang is 42 years old this year, and he is the champion of the first meeting of the palace examination after the emperor of this dynasty ascended the throne, and he can be said to have won the trust of the emperor, otherwise he would not have been sent to the most important Jiangnan examination room.

But he didn't expect that there would be such a mistake in this imperial examination.

In fact, speaking of which, this is not a mistake, because there are so many scripture questions, changing patterns back and forth, there is always a possibility of overlapping, the last exam is too close to this exam, only three years, Xie Mingtang chose the same question without checking for a while, which is also a coincidence.

"Show me all of this candidate's answer sheets."

After a while, the other rooms brought over the exam papers, Xie Mingtang and Chen Yao looked at them, and found that this candidate's scripture questions and Moyi questions were all right, and the text was neat, which can definitely be used as a model volume.

Chen Yao read the poem Fu volume again, and was also attracted by the above poem "There Are Things Mixed into Fu", and couldn't help but shout "Okay", that autumn poem is also excellent.

Chen Yao said: "This candidate's other answers are excellent, if according to the results, even if he is the first place this year, it is not too much, I think that the scripture question, not much of a problem, even if the answers coincide, it can only show that the candidate has a well-read memory, if the answers to the scriptures over the years can be memorized, it is not difficult to answer the questions." ”

At this time, other people dare not say anything, and it is offensive to say that they are right or wrong.

Xie Mingtang said with a firm look in his eyes: "I have an omission in this matter, I will write to His Majesty to explain the problem, as for whether to take this candidate, I have already made a decision, you continue to judge the papers." ”