Chapter 288: Exam Begins
Finally, time soon came to the day before the exam.
In an office of the Imperial College.
The Imperial College Secretary was the chief examiner, and there were some doctors as deputy examiners.
There were three doctors of the Imperial College, who were of the sixth rank. They could manage the ceremony of collecting tuition, supervising classes, and taking exams.
Although the official position of the doctor of the Imperial College was higher than that of the Imperial College Secretary, they were the assistants of the Imperial College Secretary in the matter of the entrance examination. As a sixth rank, they were more than enough to examine some new students.
Before the exam, the examiners still needed to check the test questions one last time.
Because the entrance exam of the Imperial College was the questions that the examiners set for each student after getting the student's information, so they had to check them repeatedly to make sure they were suitable for the student.
In the past countless years, there had never been any mistakes. They were experienced and sharp-eyed. They could always catch what the students were good at and what they were not good at, and then make targeted assessments to ensure that the other party had indeed reached the standards of the Imperial College.
Just when everyone was busy.
Suddenly, the Imperial College Secretary spoke.
"Everyone, the questions for Lu Ji, Tao Hongjing, He Fasheng, and Du Guangting have been prepared. Now we have to prepare Li Qi's questions. Do you have any ideas about this person?" The Imperial College Secretary asked the Imperial College Doctors.
"Is there any problem with him? Oh, Li Cheng thinks this person has a special identity?" A Imperial College Doctor raised his head and said so.
"Indeed, he has a special identity. This person is the son of Wushen Mountain. He came here for exchange study. However, it was agreed that he would be admitted directly, but the great witch over there took the initiative to ask for an exam, so this happened." Another Imperial College Doctor looked through the information again and confirmed Li Qi's origin.
"The son of Wushen Mountain, that question should not be difficult for him. Although Wushen Mountain is a barbarian, it has a deep foundation. After all, it is also a branch of humanity. It should be easy for him to learn knowledge." The third doctor looked very relaxed.
"No, no, no, three doctors, you must pay attention to this. Don't let him pass." The Imperial College Secretary raised his head and said seriously.
The other three doctors of the Imperial Academy immediately stopped what they were doing and frowned.
"Li Cheng, do you want us to be partial to others and cheat?" One of the doctors spoke first: "Even if this person is from Wushen Mountain, we still have to do what we should do. The rules are like this. Don't make mistakes."
His tone was very serious, and he seemed to hate this kind of thing.
The other two did not speak, but judging from their expressions, they had obviously reached a consensus and would not change the test questions at will.
The rules of humanity are as heavy as a thousand pounds. Those who practice humanity regard principles as their lives.
Humanity once had a great power of the legalists, and there was an allusion of "self-destruction". It was obviously the law he made, but after he violated it, between his own life and his own law, he chose the law without hesitation and eventually died under his own punishment. It can be seen how heavy it is.
"No, no, I am not asking you three to be partial to others, but to teach Wushen Mountain a lesson. This matter was sent by the Dean, and there is a letter here." The Imperial Academy Cheng said, taking out a letter.
"Wu Shen Shan had already agreed before, but they changed their requirements temporarily. We have changed it several times to meet their unreasonable demands. Si Ye was very angry about this and believed that it was rude. You also know that Si Ye is a Confucian student and believes in "repaying grievances with justice". Wu Shen Shan's rude behavior must be severely punished."
The Imperial College Secretary said so, and then observed the expressions of others.
However, those doctors all looked unhappy.
"Even so, if you want to complain, you should go to Wu Shen Shan's witch. It is indeed unpleasant to go back and forth like this, but it is the witch who is going back and forth, and you should go to him to complain. Why vent your anger on a child?" A doctor of the Imperial College said immediately.
Another person immediately added: "I have seen that the resume of this Wushenshan son is clean and honest. He studies hard and has never violated the law. He is humble and polite when dealing with others. Even if there is a conflict between the two families, they cannot take it out on a child. This behavior is despised by others."
The third person immediately followed up: "Besides, if the difficulty of the Imperial College exam can be tampered with, then should we still keep it secret when teaching knowledge in the future? If he has not violated the law, should he be punished? The master craftsman must teach people with rules, and the students must also follow rules. There must be a law for speaking, and then it can be accomplished. If the teacher does not do this, there will be no way to teach, and if the student does not do this, there will be no way to learn. This is the case for learning art, let alone the way of the saints?"
The doctors of the Imperial College reached a consensus and resolutely refused to make things difficult for any candidate.
However, their reactions were already expected by the Imperial College Secretary.
Therefore, the Imperial College Chancellor took a step back upon seeing this: "Alas, I actually thought so too, but there is no way. This is something ordered by Zhu Siye. You all know that Siye is in charge of the decrees for students' academic assessments. I am also very embarrassed to receive his letter."
But a doctor of the Imperial College sneered: "Oh, what's the difficulty? With this letter, we can directly inform Jijiu impartially, and he will surely fall flat on his face!"
"The rules are the same and will not change. They will not be relaxed for Qin and Chu, nor will they be changed for Hu and Yue. One is not evil, and it is practiced without flow. It is formed in one day and passed down for thousands of years. How can it be changed because of a Siye? Why don't you come with me, Li Cheng, and we will report to Jijiu in advance. This time, we must punish him severely!"
"That's right. Since there is a letter, it should be so!"
"It should be like this. Let's go, let's go together!"
Several people quickly reached a consensus, and all agreed that they should not do anything to students. If they want to take revenge, they should find the real person. It is not a gentleman to vent anger on others.
Seeing this, the Imperial College Secretary sighed: "Indeed, well, if that's the case, then I will go with you to hand over this letter to the chief priest."
The four people joined hands, stood up and walked out of the office, but saw that the Imperial College Secretary carefully locked the door and sealed the ban. After ensuring that everything was correct, he left with the three Imperial College doctors.
However——
Soon after they left, the ban opened automatically, and the door set by the third-rank chief priest himself revealed a little gap.
A transparent wave quietly passed into it.
On the other side, the four people went to complain, and the result of the handling came out soon.
The chief priest believed that the secretary had changed the rules arbitrarily. Although there were reasons and excusable circumstances, he was a teacher after all, and this trend should not be allowed to continue. He ordered him to face the wall and reflect on his mistakes, and was not allowed to touch Li Qi's affairs again. If he committed the same offense again, he would be dismissed, deprived of his official position, and returned to the Ministry of Personnel for use.
They said they were going back to the Ministry of Personnel for future use, but in fact everyone knew that they were basically going to be demoted, and it was unlikely that they would continue to become fourth-rank officials.
The three doctors were very satisfied with the result of this handling, and felt that the chief priest handled it very fairly.
The matter was settled, but no announcement was made.
After all, it involved a dean, and there was no trouble. It was handled in advance, so there was no need to make it public.
They continued to go back, carefully opened the ban, and then continued their previous work.
The doctors did not take credit for it, but continued to assign questions to the candidates responsibly, ensuring that everyone could be properly tested in the field they were good at.
This ensured that they could give full play to their strengths instead of encountering things they had not learned, and at the same time ensured the difficulty, ensuring that these candidates could reach the admission standards of the Imperial College while exerting all their strengths.
However, in the eyes of others, such "fairness" meant extremely difficult.
Even if they fully exerted their strengths, only a very small number of people could pass the test of the Imperial College, and on average less than one person a year.
Long, long ago, in the extremely backward and barbaric era, the exam questions of various sects and forces were basically fighting, and people had to go up to the ring to fight, and the competition was all about violence.
But now it is no longer that era, and fighting is just one of the hundred arts. In Chang'an today, there is no need to fight with others all the time.
In the long history, force has always been the absolute advantage.
After all, force has a vital and irreplaceable role.
But the times will always develop.
At first, those practitioners who only knew how to fight showed disdain when facing these scholars, because mathematics can't let you run away from the knife of the mountain bandits, and knowing when ice will freeze and why rain will fall can't let you knock down your enemies.
But today, it is no longer the case.
——————————
After Li Qi finished preparing for the exam, he had a good sleep again.
After getting up, he lay in bed for a while and contacted Shen Shuibi through the terminal to see what was going on over there.
It's only been a few days, so naturally nothing big will happen. Shen Shuibi is safe and sound. She has also arranged some formations for cover and defense, and is ready to fight with people remotely.
As for the child of destiny, there are some clues, but he is still too young, so Shen Shuibi is not going to show up for the time being.
Everything is in order, and there are no accidents.
After chatting for a while, everyone is safe, Li Qi can rest assured to close the terminal, and then go to the exam.
Soon, he came to the examination room alone.
Because he stayed in bed for a while, the examination room was already crowded at this moment.
It feels like a college entrance examination room, and even more.
There are not many candidates, only a few thousand, but the accompanying family members, onlookers, media, and people from all walks of life are probably more than 100,000.
The Imperial College Examination is a big event, and newspapers and various media are happy to report it, so there are many people gathered around.
Everyone knows that those who can be admitted to the Imperial College will definitely rise step by step in the future and will soon become big figures.
Although it is not a big deal in Chang'an.
In Chang'an, the density of high-ranking cultivators is terrifying. You can catch anyone on the street who has the ninth-rank cultivation. Those above the eighth-rank are everywhere. The seventh-rank is a little rare, but it is not rare.
Only the sixth-rank is considered rare, but it can be seen in the news newspapers at any time, and the people don't think it is anything special.
In fact, the news reports of the third-rank and fourth-rank can be seen in the newspapers every day.
This also makes the people's spirits high, but only the spirits are high, and those who should not be ranked will not be ranked.
It's like an ordinary citizen who sees this high official and that noble every day, scolding the king of heaven and commenting on the emperor and generals, and it seems that it doesn't seem to be anything special.
But when you go out, let alone commenting on the emperor and generals, you can handle the community security and control your own property, which is already considered the most capable.
With all these messy things in his mind, Li Qi confirmed his identity with the terminal without any pressure, got out of the crowd, and stepped into the candidate team from the crowd of onlookers under the gaze of a bunch of people.
The candidates also had different attitudes.
Some were still cramming, holding the book and chewing hard, or constantly studying the skills, trying to make their cultivation more profound.
Some were confident and seemed to be sure of success. They chatted and laughed with the people around them, but it was not known whether they were really that sure.
Some were trembling with fear and sweating. Li Qi was afraid that they would die of a heart attack in the examination room.
Some seemed to be fine and laughed loudly, but in fact their fingers were trembling and their steps were weak.
Others closed their eyes and concentrated, concentrating, just looking at their family members gathered outside from time to time, and then continued to prepare.
The world before the examination room was no less than that in the hospital.
Li Qi certainly didn't care.
For him, the examination of the Imperial College was not a big problem as long as it was not deliberately difficult.
At first, he was curious why he always got a response when he performed the ritual and hoped that the gods would respond. It was not as difficult as described in the book.
Now he understood the reason.
There was nothing special, just because he was a genius.
He entered the rank after practicing for one year. This record could scare many people to death. Li Qi has only practiced for more than three years and has reached the eighth rank. He may break through the seventh rank at any time.
Even among the Wushen Mountain Young Masters, he is considered outstanding, and has reached the point where many great witches praise him. It should not be a problem to take the Imperial College entrance examination.
As long as the questions are not too outrageous.
Li Qi did not brag about this. In fact, the gold content of Wushen Mountain Young Masters is much higher than that of Imperial College students.
Although the number of Imperial College students is already small, in fact, one student can enter the school every year.
It seems small, but over the years, there are quite a lot of officials in the Tang Dynasty who have studied in the Imperial College. If you count the officials of the Tang Dynasty who have studied in the Imperial College, it is not enough to say that 100,000 people are few, and this does not include those who did not become officials.
But Wushen Mountain Young Master, generally speaking, a great witch has only one disciple, occasionally there will be two or three, and only in very rare cases will it exceed this number, and there is no expansion of enrollment. Most of them have only one disciple in their lifetime.
This number is naturally much lower, and the quality has also improved accordingly.
But it can be regarded as a strategy.
Although the number of students in the Imperial Academy is slightly larger, the output is stable, and there is basically no luck involved. Moreover, with a large number of students, there will naturally be outstanding ones, such as Liu Junyi before, who can even fight against the three young masters in both knowledge and combat power alone without losing.
There are few young masters in Wushen Mountain, and they are all elites. Just the three that Li Qi is familiar with, Boyue, Yanke, and Zhong Minglou, are all favored children of heaven no matter where they go.
Time passed by little by little.
About a quarter of an hour later, as the bell rang.
Li Qi and others entered one after another.
The exam began.