"Clang – clang – clang –"
By the time he had eaten to his satisfaction, feeling warm all over, the sound of gongs signaled the arrival of a fully armed contingent of soldiers, who marched in neat formation to the center of the examination grounds once more.
"Everyone, come out and line up!"
Urged on by these soldiers, all the scholars formed neat ranks again and proceeded to the center of the examination grounds.
Before long, two officials in purple robes strode out. The one in front, with his white hair, was presumably the chief examiner for this session, Grand Scholar of the Hall of Harmonious Cultivation, Meng Changling.
What Han Mo didn't expect was that he actually knew the assistant chief examiner standing beside him.
In the past few days, his entire focus had been on his essays. It was only now that he realized the assistant chief examiner for this session was Cai You.
What followed was a string of meaningless words, but Han Mo wasn't paying attention, as it was all just old talk.
In the end, it was all just redundant chatter.
Compared to this, Han Mo was more concerned about whether Cai You would deliberately make things difficult for him.
This was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road. He had just played a trick on him, and now he had fallen into his hands.
At this moment, being under someone else's roof, he could only pray that this guy wouldn't recognize him.
Otherwise, he would likely suffer quite a bit over the next two days.
"Yes!"
Han Mo hadn't even clearly heard what Meng Changling had said before he heard the scholars collectively respond with a "Yes!"
Then, he followed the crowd back to his examination cubicle. Before long, soldiers delivered the examination papers.
After glancing at the questions, Han Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Upper Question: Man has something to be shaken.
Lower Question: A gentleman speaks of greatness.
If he hadn't read so many papers, Han Mo estimated he would be in a terrible headache right now.
However, after reading nearly five hundred papers, questions of this difficulty could no longer stump him.
Almost in the blink of an eye, he recognized them as two phrases from the Doctrine of the Mean.
The original text was the way of the gentleman expounded by Confucius.
However, now that they were presented individually, he had seen no less than fifty model essays on them. Answering this kind of question was now incredibly smooth; without even thinking, Han Mo began to write.
He was not like those old scholars who had to expound on content according to their own schools of thought when writing. Although there were already seven or eight existing interpretations of how these phrases should be explained.
However, Han Mo had no intention of getting into academic debates with them.
In this era, this question had a standard answer, which was the "New Interpretations of the Three Classics" written by Wang Anshi.
The Doctrine of the Mean was originally extracted by Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholars from the Rites of Zhou. According to Wang Anshi's interpretation, it was definitely correct.
Although Wang Anshi's reforms ultimately failed, as the saying goes, in times of poverty, one remembers a virtuous wife; in times of national crisis, one longs for loyal ministers.
As Emperor Huizong's funds became increasingly insufficient, he missed Wang Anshi more and more.
Furthermore, even Cai Jing considered himself part of the reformist faction.
Whether it was for political reasons or other considerations, Wang Anshi's status was naturally elevated again and again.
Now that this stubborn Chancellor was even enshrined in the Confucian Temple, it would be sheer madness not to answer according to his prescribed answers in the imperial examinations.
In less than half an hour, Han Mo had already filled two full sheets of paper.
After answering the questions, he had nothing to do for a while.
He put away his papers and placed them in the nearby scroll tube, then propped up his bed, hugged his hand warmer, covered his head, and began to sleep soundly.
Indeed, opportunities always favored the prepared.
Although Han Mo's approach had a suspicion of opportunism, it could not be denied that it was the best way to deal with the examination.
Over two days, across four consecutive sessions, almost all the questions were ones he had previously encountered.
After finishing the last paper, even Han Mo felt a sense of pride.
As long as no other unforeseen complications arose, his chance of becoming a Jinshi should be secured.
Of course, his arrogant behavior naturally attracted the attention of those who were paying attention.
At the very least, Cai You was one of them.
If he could be stopped at the first hurdle of the imperial examinations, everything that followed would be much simpler.
"Arrange for it. Strictly review the papers according to the New Interpretations of the Three Classics! Any scholar who does not comply will be disqualified!"
"My lord, rest assured. We have already given the necessary instructions. Everything we do is in accordance with the rules, and there will be absolutely no problems!"
Although Cai You was the assistant chief examiner, his status was quite special. Meng Changling, being a man who swayed with the wind, naturally did not dare to confront him directly at this moment.
Moreover, Cai You's actions, if strictly speaking, did not have any other problems.
After all, the court had been selecting officials according to the New Interpretations of the Three Classics for more than a year.
"But my lord, are you really sure that kid won't answer according to the New Interpretations of the Three Classics?"
"Have you forgotten what that kid's surname is? Back then, Han Qi was a major opponent of the reforms! If a descendant of the Han family still took the imperial examinations according to Wang Anshi's books, would this kid still have the face to return to the Han family?"
Cai You said dismissively.
"My lord is truly a divine strategist!"
Upon hearing Cai You's analysis, his confidantes immediately lavished him with praise.
"Alright, stop flattering me. Let's get that kid kicked out quickly, and we can finally resolve an old man's concern!"
After speaking, Cai You waved his hand and sent all the examiners out.
As the sky was about to darken, with the sound of a gong, the soldiers finally began to collect the papers.
Of course, Cai You could no longer interfere with the subsequent procedures.
First, the names were sealed, then the papers were copied. Only after all the papers had been transcribed would the examiners begin to review them.
Of course, while they were busy with this, Han Mo had already changed back into his clothes and left the examination grounds with his examination box.
"Brother Han, how did the exam go?"
Zhong Yanchong asked Han Mo with a smile.
"Just lucky, just lucky. The questions this time were not too difficult!"
"If that's the case, then Brother Han is bound to succeed this time?"
"Not at all, not at all, it's not that easy to succeed. But since the exam is finally over, why don't we find a place to have some drinks?"