Calligraphy and Writing Soar Together
Originally, the top ten exam papers were to be graded by the emperor himself. However, the founding emperor, whether out of laziness or a desire to involve the heads of the three courts and six ministries in the arduous task of grading exam papers so that he would not have to suffer alone, decreed that the heads of the three courts and six ministries would grade the top ten exam papers first, and then submit them to him for final approval.
Therefore, although Zhang Changshen, Wu Huaisi, Qi Xugu and others also had to participate in grading the exam papers, their task was still very easy. They only needed to quickly look through ten exam papers, write comments, and then submit the rankings they proposed to the emperor for review before they could go home and sleep.
The remaining hundred or so copies were reviewed by people selected from the Three Academies and Six Ministries, who then ranked them. This ranking was the final ranking of the successful candidates and would not be changed.
To prevent the exam papers from being intentionally or unintentionally destroyed or altered that night, the examiners could not wait until the next day to grade them; they had to stay up all night and could only go home to rest after finishing grading them the next day.
To maintain a serious demeanor and ensure fairness and impartiality, and to avoid being influenced by others, the examiners generally refrain from idle chatter and try to remain silent whenever possible.
The top ten exam papers were sent to the heads of the three departments and six offices, where each person received one paper for grading, and then the papers were rotated.
The first official to receive Zhao Ruxi's exam paper was Li Hongbin, the Minister of Ministry of Justice. When he saw the beautiful handwriting on the paper, his eyes lit up.
Although his own calligraphy wasn't superb, he had practiced since childhood and it wasn't bad; he had basic appreciation skills. He felt that the characters on this exam paper were no worse than Qin Zhe's, and could even rival those of Master Mingcang, though their styles were quite different. Deep down, he preferred the characters in front of him.
His gaze involuntarily shifted to the place on the exam paper where his name was written; it read "Zhao Ruxi".
He was so surprised he almost cried out.
He knew Zhao Ruxi, Zhao Zhiwei. This woman, famous for her talent, was currently enjoying great popularity. Even though Li Hongbin was busy with official business and knew nothing about the gossip in the capital, he was aware of the deeds of this outstanding student of Mister Kumu.
If Zhao Ruxi's achievements were limited to painting, that would be fine. There are women with talent in this field, such as the County Princess of Qingyang. Although the court officials thought this girl was good, they wouldn't admire her much.
Calligraphy and painting, after all, are artistic skills, unrelated to governing the country and politics; to them, they are merely minor pursuits.
However, Zhao Ruxi dared to compete with men in the imperial examinations, and even stood out from the other candidates by achieving the top score in the provincial examination and the second place in the metropolitan examination. The ministers in the court who had previously not paid attention to her gradually began to take notice of her, and began to respect her and place her on an equal footing with them.
If it were any other competition, they might have suspected foul play. But the imperial examination was the fairest and most impartial competition, and no one could deny Zhao Ruxi's achievements. She stood on the same starting line as all the male candidates, and she succeeded. This courage, which was different from that of ordinary women, and this talent, which was superior to that of all men, earned the respect of these ministers who had also studied hard and knew how arduous the path to the imperial examination was.
Now, seeing this beautiful calligraphy and the article written in one go, with a powerful and majestic style that is exactly the same as Zhao Zhiwei's landscape paintings, Li Hongbin couldn't help but want to stand up and applaud, calling everyone to come and appreciate this calligraphy and article together.
Unfortunately, it's not possible.
He had no choice but to suppress his excitement and carefully read the article. After finishing it, he wanted to slam his fist on the table and shout "Bravo!"
This article is truly well-written.
Li Hongbin's father came from a poor family; but by Li Hongbin's generation, he had become a second-generation official. He himself is now in his fifties, and his son and grandson are also from official and scholarly families. His family understands the conflict between aristocratic families and poor families all too well.
Therefore, he neither approved of a blanket ban on aristocratic families and the complete support of those from humble backgrounds, nor did he approve of allowing aristocratic families to wield too much power and encroach upon the interests of the state and the people. Finding the right balance was a profound art of imperial governance.
Zhao Ruxi elaborated on this issue in her article.
Perhaps out of consideration for taboos, she used historical examples extensively, citing numerous sources and historical facts to support her point of view; and her views coincided with those of Li Hongbin.
After reading Zhao Ruxi's three articles, Li Hongbin was deeply moved, and his pen trembled slightly as he drew circles and wrote comments. In his comments, he praised Zhao Ruxi's three articles to the highest degree.
Wu Huaisi, who was sitting next to him, had already finished reading and commenting on the article in his hand. Seeing that Li Hongbin had put his pen on the pen holder and seemed to have finished commenting on the article, he handed over his article and asked to exchange it with Li Hongbin for one to review.
Li Hongbin was secretly pleased. He took the article from him and handed over his own. Then, he pretended to read the article while glancing at Wu Huaisi out of the corner of his eye, wanting to see how Wu Huaisi would react when he saw his junior sister's article and calligraphy.
As Wu Huaisi looked at the words, his eyes were filled with amazement; he was clearly stunned by the master-level calligraphy. Then he looked up at the place where the name was written, and his expression froze; he obviously hadn't expected that it was his junior sister's handwriting.
He looked at the article again, then at the name, and then turned to Li Hongbin as if seeking confirmation.
Li Hongbin was worried that others would accuse them of favoritism, especially since Wu Huaisi and Zhao Ruxi had a close relationship. He admired Zhao Ruxi and had a good relationship with Wu Huaisi, and didn't want to cause them any trouble. He nodded to Wu Huaisi, quickly gave him a thumbs up, and then looked down at the article in his hand, no longer glancing at Wu Huaisi.
After a while, however, he couldn't help but look up at Wu Huaisi, only to see Wu Huaisi staring blankly at the exam paper for a moment before calming down and starting to read the article.
Li Hongbin smiled slightly, composed himself, and began to read the article.
Although Wu Huaisi and Kang Yannian, among the examiners, had close relationships with Zhao Ruxi, there were also examiners who were related to other candidates by blood and intentionally suppressed them; or simply had a prejudice against Zhao Ruxi, the female candidate.
For example, Shen Wenyong, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices of Imperial Sacrifices, is 65 years old this year. He has some conflicts with Kang Shilin and is very old-fashioned. He dislikes Zhao Ruxi very much, thinking that a woman should stay at home to be a good wife and mother, but instead comes here to show off her intelligence and compete with men for resources. He thinks that she is very unchaste.
If it were up to him, he would definitely give Zhao Ruxi the lowest score and write a bunch of bad comments to make the old man feel better.