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This was a policy question. Before answering the question, you should first write a subject’s opening remark expressing you were answering the Emperor's question.
"This subject responds:
This subject heard that when an Emperor starts to take control of the palace, it is necessary to have real governance in his hands, only then can the crowd be restrained and a myriad of state affairs can be dealt with, then a peaceful rule can be possible.
There also must be a solid heart for advocacy; quench and stimulate all kinds of workers in order to invigorate the common affairs, then prosperity can be achieved.
Establish social norms and rectify the legal system, write it into a decree and hang it outside the palace gates. First promulgate it in the imperial palace, then to the government departments of all levels, all the way to different counties and coastal areas. Spread it everywhere, thorough and detailed, none should not know about it; heavy strictness must be placed, no one must slip through.
What does a solid heart mean? It is to put an end to laziness and slack and encourage the clever and strong to work. Starting from the smallest ways, from within the shadows, starting with the Emperor and the court, then the citizens of the capital, until it reaches the distant corners of the borderland. With the spirit of harmony, the mind, freed of mental worries, will be free-flowing, and the body will also be freed of obstacles…”
Xiao Liulang mainly emphasized the importance of governing the country by law and the implementation of practical policies, the laws and regulations must penetrate the people, and the voices and sentiments of people must also be heard by the one above.
At the same time, he also proposed to educate the people by studying Confucianism and vigorously punish corrupt officials, so that the treasury could be filled.
Of course, he also stressed that the Emperor was the son of Heaven, and everything he did was mandated by Heaven—— appointing officials was to appoint virtuous people for Heaven, eliminating evil was to condemn sinful people for Heaven, all of it was the correct path.
Compared with the sharpness of his words in previous exams, Xiao Liulang's choice of words this time was much milder.
After all, a certain someone had gambled all her fortune, and he couldn’t just let himself get carried away by his willfulness.
When Xiao Liulang was nearing the end, he realized that this question was really difficult. Everyone's ease when they first got the exam paper was gone. They racked their brains real hard and no one handed in their paper early.
Perhaps Xiao Liulang was so devoted to writing that he didn’t notice the Emperor standing behind him for a while.
From the Emperor's point of view, only the back of Xiao Liulang’s head could be seen.
The Emperor didn't look too long. He didn't have a nasty hobby of adding pressure to the examinees in the examination hall. He just happened to pass by Xiao Liulang when he came in and saw Xiao Liulang's beautiful handwriting.
He glanced at the handwriting. It was very good.
Then he looked at the examinees’ name—— Xiao Liulang.
Oh, wasn’t that the poor student who tied for first place with An Junwang?
There was a crutch next to him. Was he injured or disabled?
As a matter of fact, in the current dynasty, a person’s looks was also a small part of the criteria in electing officials, mainly because Marquis Xuanping's appearance boosted the Emperor's aesthetic standards for civil and military officials. Those who were too ugly would be transferred out of the capital after a few years.
The Emperor was a little disappointed when he saw the crutch. He was worried that the other party was not very good-looking either.
It wasn’t that the Emperor only looked at one’s appearance. Old Chief, for example, wasn’t really good-looking, and yet he could still be liked by the Emperor. It was because Old Chief was very talented and capable.
The Emperor quickly walked past Xiao Liulang and sat in the front seat.
The supervising officials all noticed that an examinee was noticed by the Emperor, though they didn’t know whether the Emperor’s impression of him was good or bad.
After the Emperor sat on the supervisor’s seat, he no longer paid attention to Xiao Liulang. After all, he was too far away to see clearly.
He had people bring him the memorandums, which he silently read while supervising the exam. He did this until the end of the exam.
All the examinees got up and saluted the Emperor. The Emperor picked a few random examinees and asked them some questions. An Junwang and the grandson of Grand Secretary Yuan were both called.
Xiao Liulang wasn’t called.
At the third quarter of the period of youshi(5-7 pm), everyone left the palace.
The exam only took one day, but all of them were more exhausted than in the provincial exam and metropolitan exam.
Except for a few examinees, most people had never seen the Emperor in their lives, and being under the same roof as the Emperor made them almost unable to write.
"I was very nervous." Feng Lin's back was drenched.
His examination number was in the front, so he sat in the first row which was practically under the nose of the Emperor. He did not dare to look up at the Emperor, for fear of being accused of great disrespect.
"I feel like I messed up the exam. I didn’t even know what I'm writing at the end."
He said sadly.
Du Ruohan consoled, "Don't be discouraged, everyone was just like you, forgetting what they were thinking when His Majesty came."
The Emperor was already kind enough to come over after noon, when everyone's drafts were nearly finished. Otherwise, if he had sat there from the very beginning, definitely half the people wouldn't even be able to finish their drafts.
When the Emperor stood behind Xiao Liulang, Du Ruohan got a fright too. Their exam numbers were next to each other and he was sitting behind Xiao Liulang. He could smell the ambergris on the Emperor's body and his scalp went numb with nervousness.
However, thanks to the stimulation caused by Marquis Xuanping in the early morning, he seemed to be able to withstand it a little better.
"How did Liulang do in the exam?" Feng Lin asked Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang replied, "Not bad. I've written everything I thought."
Feng Lin also asked Du Ruohan and Lin Chengye, who performed like usual. It was just that policy questions were extremely subjective. Whether they could pass the exam and be included in the principal Jinshi list or not depended on the preferences of the examiners.
It was simply beyond their control. They could only do their best to listen to their destiny.
Everybody returned home.
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the examiners began to grade the exam papers, with the Minister of the Ministry of Rites and Senior Official of State Ceremonial Bureau serving as the Chief and Deputy Chief examiners respectively, and the four cabinet great scholars serving as marking officers. This time, the exam papers would not be marked in groups, but each exam paper would be reviewed by these six people.
The top twenty would then be sent to the Emperor.
Just because one did well in the metropolitan exam didn’t mean they were guaranteed to do well in the palace exam. Being able to withstand the pressure of the Emperor and perform steadily was part of the equation, as well as the subject coinciding with your area of expertise.
Still, there were examinees like Xiao Liulang who got the attention of the Emperor because he tied for first place with An Junwang, not to mention that the Emperor stayed by his side for a while during the palace exam.
If his exam paper wasn’t in the top twenty, the Emperor would definitely question it and probably ask someone to bring his exam paper for him to see how it fell out of the top twenty.
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