Grain and Farmers, Merchants at the Bottom; Profit Hidden in the Text

Here, this is your exam paper.

Inside the examination room, Qiu Yan sat upright at a table, taking out the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from his examination basket, along with some snacks, and placing them on the table. Soon, a guard from the examination room came with a few sheets of paper and handed them to Qiu Yan.

"Thank you." Qiu Yan arrived, took the exam paper, unfolded it on the table, glanced at it briefly, and then browsed through it.

The Metropolitan Examination for the provincial examinations were similar to those for the Provincial Examination, and were still divided into classical texts, Mohist texts, miscellaneous essays, and policy questions. However, the questions were determined by the Ministry of Ministry of Rites' Imperial Examinations administration after negotiations with the examiners.

After just one reading, Qiu Yan could tell that the questions on classical texts and Mohist principles in this Metropolitan Examination were much more difficult than those in the Provincial Examination, but they were still largely similar to the usual traditional questions and had little to do with the New Law.

"Since it's a test for the Chancellor Wang, the questions should be related to the New Law; otherwise, how can they select officials and establish the backbone of the reform?"

Although Qiu Yan never said anything about Wang Fu being appointed as the chief examiner, nor did he discuss it much with others, he had his own thoughts. He knew that Wang Fu intended to use this Imperial Examinations to select some seeds who were ideologically close to the New Party.

In fact, even the news that Wang Fu would be the chief examiner might have been deliberately leaked by the New Party. Otherwise, why would it have spread on the day of the Lantern Festival? Wasn't that the day with the largest crowds and the fastest spread of news?

"By leaking the news in advance, we are actually hinting to the candidates to try to understand the New Law. But in just half a month, how many people can really grasp the secrets of the New Law? Only those who already have this kind of thinking or have outstanding comprehension can perform well in the exam. And these are the people the New Party needs."

With this in mind, Qiu Yan opened the exam paper for another essay, only to be met with a single sentence—

Low grain prices harm farmers, while high prices harm merchants.

Upon seeing this sentence, Qiu Yan's eyelids twitched, and he involuntarily thought of the situation in Xingjing Imperial City.

The city was in turmoil due to the impending promulgation of the Market Exchange Law. However, according to Qiu Yan's understanding, the claim that it was about to be promulgated was inaccurate. The New Law had actually been piloted not long ago, which forced merchants in the city to take risks, hoarding grain and artificially inflating grain prices as a form of blackmail.

This is an extremely dangerous practice. If it weren't for the various interests involved behind the Prosperity Capital merchants, how could these merchants dare to defy the state apparatus?

"When grain is cheap, it hurts farmers; when it's expensive, it hurts merchants. 'Farmers' refers to farmers, and 'merchants' is the last in the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. This saying seems to emphasize the elasticity of supply and demand. If grain is too cheap, farmers who grow it will naturally suffer losses because they can't sell it. But if it's too expensive, merchants will be affected in both buying and selling grain, even affecting the circulation of grain. These principles should be understandable from a practical perspective, but they are ultimately just superficial phenomena..."

As he pondered, he took a deep breath, then flipped up the exam paper and looked at the last one.

The final section is the policy discussion.

The title of this policy essay is not a single sentence or a few words, but a long passage.

After glancing at it, Qiu Yan quickly summarized its contents. In fact, the passage wasn't profound; it could be summarized in one word: --

Profit!

This simple word can be interpreted in many ways, but in the end, it still comes down to interests and money. However, it is said in a very subtle way, and if one is not perceptive enough, one may miss it. The main reason for this is that in today's Great Rui, Confucianism still advocates "avoiding talking about wealth and profit".

"That's interesting..."

A glint of light flashed in Qiu Yan's eyes. He put the exam paper back down, ate a piece of cake, and then began grinding ink. The whole process exuded a calm and composed air. After grinding the ink, he dipped his brush in it and wrote his name and place of origin on the exam paper in the designated area. This place would be covered up afterward.

After finishing these tasks, he continued writing without stopping, and then began to explain the meanings of the classics and the interpretations of the Mohist texts.

Only when he picked up his pen did he feel an immense pressure surging from both inside and outside. The inner pressure was the vast will he had imprisoned, while the outer pressure was a powerful Qi Manifestation that seemed to want to expel him from the Examination Hall!

"This situation is truly dire. I have to distract myself from resisting the pressure from the Examination Hall. It must be one of the punishments for those who cultivate Divine Ability powers and attempt to integrate into the Dynastic Fortune. Although my inner will has been temporarily suppressed, it has disrupted my thoughts, while the external pressure is further affecting my State of Mind and physical strength. The Metropolitan Examination last for a whole day. If this continues, even those with profound cultivation will be slowly worn down. It seems that my time is limited and I cannot afford to waste any time!"

With that in mind, he withstood the immense pressure and continued writing, without backing down or panicking, but instead began answering the questions on the exam paper!

Although these questions were more complex and demanding than those of the Provincial Examination, Qiu Yan was no longer the same person he was during the Provincial Examination. Not only had his cultivation level greatly improved, but the Sage Spirit had also broadened his horizons and enhanced his understanding. Not to mention, his study and farming in the humble house in the Lin Zhong had given him many insights, and his understanding of the classics and articles was now incomparable to what it was before.

With each stroke of the pen, as if divinely inspired, each character, full of life and spirit, landed on the paper, exuding an aura of determination and confidence. My Qi and Blood surged, and a faint mist gradually appeared in the surrounding air, though it was not yet noticeable.

"Head Wang, what's wrong?"

Just as Qiu Yan was engrossed in his exam paper, not far away, Wang He, the commander of the army, was whispering with a constable beside him, saying that they were going to exchange jurisdictions.

During the examinations, each area was assigned a fixed patrol officer who moved around frequently and could not easily switch posts to prevent cheating. However, since the Metropolitan Examination lasted all day, these patrol officers would eventually have to be moved around, and there were some unspoken rules involved.

Wang He smiled and said, "Xiao Li, don't worry, I was just a little careless during the search and left a small problem. I'm just checking and I'll be leaving soon."

Wang He's statement wasn't necessarily unique; similar incidents occurred in every Imperial Examinations. After all, once cheating was discovered, it often implicated others, forcing many officials to investigate and remedy the situation afterward.

Wang He, having transferred from the army, held some prestige among the constables. After a few words, the other party agreed to temporarily exchange places with him, but only for a short period.

"Don't worry," Wang He said with a smile, then strode inside.

In the various examination rooms along the way, the candidates displayed different behaviors: some wrote furiously, some frowned and remained silent, some were confident, and some scratched their heads in frustration...

Wang He walked and looked around, stopping when he arrived at Qiu Yan's cell.

Inside the cell, Qiu Yan was engrossed in writing, his wrist moving without pause, revealing a flow of Literary Thought.

"Qiu..." Wang He wanted to speak, but seeing Qiu Yan's appearance, he was still afraid that interrupting the other party's train of thought would anger him, so he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his throat.

However, just as he finished speaking, Qiu Yan suddenly stopped writing, looked up at him, and her bright, star-like eyes left a deep impression on Wang He.

Immediately afterwards, Qiu Yan lowered his head again.

Once his gaze fell away, Wang He returned to normal, but as he recalled what had just happened, he seemed frozen in place, unable to speak even though he had something to say. Just as he was becoming increasingly conflicted, Qiu Yan's voice rang out in his mind.

The voice was indistinct, yet contained a peculiar power, instantly making him understand Qiu Yan's meaning. He glanced at the other party again with surprise and uncertainty, then retreated. This was Qiu Yan telling him to leave and Metropolitan Examination other matters after the imperial examination.

"Someone wants to harm me, and can even mobilize the proctoring guards. Keeping this guard around is just right, as he can be used as a pawn. This allows me to understand the situation and make arrangements accordingly. Since this guard has malicious intentions towards me, I should be prepared to use him to his fullest extent, but I'll have to wait until after the Metropolitan Examination..."

Qiu Yan didn't even look up, but he was fully aware of Wang He's departure. After a thought crossed his mind, he flipped over the exam paper in front of him and put the question on ink theory aside.

The questions were already written on the paper, and the Metropolitan Examination had only been underway for less than half an hour.

"The Imperial Examinations Metropolitan Examination truly deserve to be called the Talent Selection Ceremony. The candidates in these examination halls are related to the fate of the nation and the country; their Fortune are actually linked to the dynasty."

Within the Imperial Palace stands a towering mountain, its shape peculiar, constructed from stones collected from all over the world. It is an artificial mountain, dotted with pavilions and towers, serving as a recreational area for the royal family. The emperor, princesses, and concubines often climbed to its heights to enjoy the view.

But today, with the Metropolitan Examination still early, the mountain was quiet, with only the occasional heavy footsteps coming from the bottom of the mountain – the sound of soldiers patrolling the Imperial City, their boots pounding on the ground.

However, atop the mountain, a figure swayed precariously. It turned out that someone was sitting on the summit, gazing into the distance, with a view of the Examination Hall in sight.

Chirp, chirp.

The man was watching while biting into a chicken leg, his hands covered in grease. Upon closer inspection, he turned out to be a Daoist priest dressed in rags and extremely slovenly clothes.

He finished the chicken leg in no time, not even leaving the bones behind, crunching loudly as he chewed. Then he reached for his waist, pulled out a gourd, and gulped down a few mouthfuls of wine.

After doing all this, the man laughed heartily, opened his mouth and sprayed out a cloud of water mist, which condensed in front of him, and a figure emerged from it—an old man with a braid on his head.

"Hemp Robe, you are so afraid of that Eighth Worthy King. He said he wouldn't let you into the city, so you really didn't dare to go in. You had to resort to such methods to get through."

"Wu Gou, you're still as sharp-tongued as ever. Prosperity Capital is detrimental to the Divine Path. Even if I were to come in, I would lose half my strength. What's the point of coming here?" The old man with the braid in the mist didn't argue, but just shook his head, then turned to look at the examination Examination Hall.

"However, this Metropolitan Examination is of utmost importance and should not be missed; we must witness it here." (To be continued...)

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