Chapter 296 Her Royal Highness the Princess’s Strategy Finally, the exam time was over and the bell rang. After the exam, the marking officers began the marking work in full swing. They were fast and efficient. By the end of the afternoon, the files had been sorted out, along with the ranking of each candidate, and were respectfully presented to Zhao Yingluo. Zhao Yingluo opened the file, and her eyes were first attracted by the names of the top three. She was curious in her heart, which talents could stand out in this imperial examination. So, she ordered the top three candidates to go out and answer the question. The three candidates walked out one after another and stood respectfully in front of Zhao Yingluo. Zhao Yingluo looked at the first-ranked candidate, smiled slightly, and asked, "Do you know when winter wheat will be sown? When will it be harvested?" The examinee obviously did not expect Zhao Yingluo to ask such a practical question. He hesitated for a long time, but in the end he was unable to give an accurate answer. Zhao Yingluo sighed secretly, and then conducted an agricultural investigation on the top ten candidates. However, the results were not ideal. Their answers all seemed hesitant and inaccurate.
Zhao Yingluo frowned slightly, and she realized that it might be that the marking officers paid more attention to aspects such as policy, theory, poetry, and poetry when grading, and lowered the score in the agriculture section. In order to verify her conjecture, she decided to randomly check and ask a few Jinshi who were ranked after the fifteenth. These Jinshi did well in the agriculture section of the examination paper, but because they were slightly inferior in poetry, poetry, and policy theory, they were not ranked high. Zhao Yingluo asked them one by one about their understanding and practical experience in agriculture, and she was quite satisfied with the results. Although these Jinshi were not outstanding in poetry, policy and theory, they had considerable knowledge reserves and practical experience in agriculture. The final result coincided with Zhao Yingluo's conjecture: the lower-ranked Jinshi students performed well in agricultural knowledge and answered questions fluently. In the late afternoon, in the vast palace square, the sun shines dappledly through the clouds on the bodies of the new scholars. Their faces are full of anticipation and nervousness. Today is the moment to announce the list of reranked Jinshi, and it is also an important day to determine their future career. Zhao Yingluo stood on the high level and glanced at these young people who were about to embark on their official career. She knew that the list she held in her hand would change the fate of many people. She personally checked nearly one-third of the nearly 300 prospective candidates, and carefully reviewed each person's test paper. In particular, those Jinshi who were originally ranked at the bottom due to their outstanding achievements in agriculture were all mentioned to the top of the rankings by her. Among them, the top three, No. 1, No. 3, and No. 2 were deeply impressed by their agronomy skills. The unique insights and profound agronomy knowledge in their answer sheets showed that they were not only professional in their studies, but their love and investment in agronomy were also obvious. . Following the steps of Neiduzhi Wang Shouen, a brand new list of Jinshi was slowly unfolded. The crowd in the square began to whisper, and everyone was guessing their new ranking. Wang Shouen cleared his throat and began to read out the rankings one by one. Subsequently, Neidu knew that Wang Shouen, under the instruction of Princess Zhao Yingluo, re-announced the rankings of the palace examination and held a grand passing ceremony. The square was bustling with people, and all the Jinshi were waiting for their rankings with nervousness and anticipation. "First place, No. 1 pick—Lin Wenyuan!" When Wang Shou'en read the name loudly, the crowd in the square was in an uproar. Lin Wenyuan, a child from a poor peasant family, was standing in the crowd and could not believe his ears when he heard that his name was connected with the word "number one scholar". Lin Wenyuan has had a strong interest in agriculture since he was a child, but due to his family's limited economic conditions, he had relatively few learning resources. Despite this, with his love for agriculture and unremitting efforts, he did exceptionally well in the agriculture part of the exam. However, he knew that his level of policy, poetry and poetry was average, so he never had too many extravagant hopes for the title of No. 1 Scholar.
At this moment, when he heard his name being announced as the top pick, Lin Wenyuan was stunned. He looked around as if searching for evidence to confirm the news. The colleagues next to him congratulated him one after another. At this moment, he woke up as if from a dream, and his eyes filled with excitement. "I...am I really the top pick?" he asked in a trembling voice. "Yes, Brother Lin! You have won the favor of Her Royal Highness with your solid agricultural knowledge and unique insights. Congratulations on becoming the top pick of this year!" His colleagues congratulated him one after another. After the Jinshi rankings were re-announced, the atmosphere in the palace was quite tense but also filled with expectation. The newly promoted Jinshi were uneasy, wondering what their future would be like, and the courtiers were also whispering in private, discussing this unprecedented change in rankings. Left Prime Minister Lu Yihao stood aside, his eyes revealing deep respect for Princess Zhao Yingluo. He knew that the reform of the Jinshi rankings was promoted by the princess against all opinions and single-handedly. Now that he saw the princess supporting agriculture so firmly, he couldn't help but lament the changes of the times. "Prime Minister Zuo," Zhao Yingluo's voice interrupted Lu Yihao's contemplation, "I have a special arrangement for the top ten Jinshi this time." Lu Yihao quickly bowed and said: "Princess, please speak, I will do my best to implement it." "I hope you can arrange for them all to take up positions in the Ministry of Agriculture." Zhao Yingluo's tone was firm and unquestionable. Lu Yihao was slightly stunned, but soon understood the princess's intention. He nodded and said, "Yes, princess. I will make arrangements right away." As Lu Yihao retreated, Zhao Yingluo stood on the high steps, looking at the fields outside the palace, filled with anticipation. She knew that this move of hers would bring about earth-shaking changes to the agriculture of the Song Dynasty. Naturally, the courtiers also discussed the change in the ranking of Jinshi. Many of them came from prominent families and did not pay much attention to agriculture. But now, seeing that the princess admired agriculture so much, they had to re-examine this knowledge. "The princess has made a big move this time. She even arranged for the top ten Jinshi to be assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture." An old minister sighed. "Yes, it seems that the princess is determined to promote the development of agriculture." Another courtier said, "This may not be a bad thing for our Song Dynasty." At the same time, in academies and schools in the capital, those who originally despised agriculture began to change their attitudes. They went down to the farmland one after another to experience the hard work and fun of farming first-hand and learn practical agricultural knowledge. They know that if they want to get a good ranking in the scientific examination next year, they must keep up with the princess and pay attention to the research and practice of agriculture. "Oh, the knowledge in this field is really broad and profound!" A young scholar sighed, "I really underestimated agriculture before." "Yes, the princess attaches so much importance to agriculture, how can we lag behind?" Another candidate said, "I will go all out in the next year's scientific examination and strive to make achievements in agriculture."