I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

The door of each compartment is open, so that the officials patrolling outside the door can observe the movements and scenes in the room, and check whether anyone is cheating.

After taking several deep breaths in a row, and talking to himself in his heart to cheer himself up, Takigawa's heart, which had become a little flustered due to the sudden accident, gradually returned to calm.

The emotional return to calm also made Takikawa's thinking become sensitive again.

The original thoughts that were like a messy ball of wool were also sorted out one by one.

After clearing his thoughts, the experience of studying under his master, the master of Sinology, Xiangsheng Chunshui, turned into a series of images that flashed through his mind one by one.

Later, Takigawa was surprised to find that his master Aioi Harusui once explained the phrase "do it when you know what you can't do".

Takikawa remembered that it should have happened a year ago. Aioi Harusui spent nearly half an hour in a certain class explaining this sentence to his disciples including Takikawa.

A lot of allusions are also cited to help everyone understand this sentence.

His master Xiangsheng Chunshui admired Confucius the most, so he also most admired the Analects of Confucius and his disciples' words and deeds.

Because "The Analects of Confucius" is the most respected, Xiangsheng Chunshui has the deepest research on "The Analects of Confucius".

When explaining the content of "The Analects of Confucius", Xiangsheng Chunshui will also pay more attention.

And Takikawa still remembered nearly 90% of what Aioi Shusui said at that time.

Takikawa couldn't help but chuckle.

Fortunately, I am Xiangle Shunsui's disciple.

Fortunately, I still remember the main content of Xiangle Shunsui's explanation of this sentence.

Takikawa carefully recalled how Sagara Shunsui explained this sentence at that time, and organized the language at the same time.

After typing out the manuscript, Takikawa picked up the pen again, dipped the tip of the pen in ink, bent down, and began to write word by word on the test paper.

After holding the pen and writing, Takikawa only felt as if he was being assisted by a ghost, and his thoughts were springing up.

The whole person entered a state of ecstasy, and even the footsteps of the officials who kept pacing back and forth in the corridor and patrolling could not be heard.

Takikawa put all of his body and mind into answering.

until the last word is written,

Takikawa's body and mind slowly separated from the examination paper.

After quickly putting down the pen in his hand, Takikawa impatiently read the article he just wrote.

The more I read, the more amazed I am.

Takikawa felt that this was the best article he had ever written in his life.

It is really a real pharaoh, full of flowers, and after reading it, Takikawa couldn't help but have the illusion of "I really wrote this?".

After reading it back and forth several times, Takikawa put down the examination paper in his hand contentedly.

Takikawa now only felt that his self-confidence was almost overflowing from his chest.

This article of his will definitely be praised by the judges - Takikawa has full confidence in this.

Takikawa felt that after seeing him, he won the first place in the literary examination, and then successfully let the old Nakamatsudaira Sadanobu know the scene of his character.

Thinking that he was very likely to get into the eyes of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Takikawa couldn't help but imagine how he would display his talents under the promotion and training of Matsudaira Sadanobu once he was appreciated by Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Takikawa has already begun to imagine how to revitalize the shogunate and govern the country after he is appreciated and promoted by Matsudaira Sadanobu.

He must first put forward to Matsudaira Sadanobu his previous proposals such as "vigorously revitalizing the samurai Tsunade", "at all costs to capture Ogata Yidaosai and behead him for public display".

Through the method of "revitalizing the samurai Tsunaji", we can sweep away the corrupt and depraved atmosphere of the samurai's life.

Takikawa firmly believed that as long as he followed his set of political ideas of "vigorously revitalizing the samurai family" and "severely punishing thieves who violated Bushido", within a few years, the country's situation would be reversed in one breath.

The country, which was devastated by the Tianming famine three years ago, will recover under his governance, allowing the shogunate to regain the unparalleled power it had when Ieyasu was alive.

And I will live forever as a generation of famous ministers like Niwa Chohide and Maeda Genyi, for the admiration of hundreds of millions of people in future generations.

In this way, Takikawa was immersed in his ambitious fantasy.

Because he was too immersed in fantasy, a disgusting smile appeared on Takikawa's face...

— Hurry up to the time to hand in the paper!

Takikawa wished he could hand in the paper now.

Takikawa, who was quite confident in his answer paper, felt that he could already vaguely see the appearance of the examiner who was surprised when he saw his test paper, and then hurried to see whose test paper it was.

...

...

Holding the pen whose ink was almost dry, Ogata stared at the examination paper on the table in front of him.

The scene of sacrificing himself to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai one year ago, and the scene of capturing the shogunate alone three months ago played back and forth in Ogata's mind.

It forced Ogata to revisit the two craziest things he has done so far.

"Do it when you know you can't do it" - this sentence is also one of the most famous sentences in "The Analects of Confucius".

There have always been different interpretations.

One of the most widely spread and most accepted interpretations is: It’s not that you know you can’t do it but you want to do it, but you don’t ask if you can do it, but ask whether it should be done, no matter what the result is, but ask for a clear conscience.

——Me, the elders of the Kuranaga family, and Ichiro decided to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai at that time... It should be considered "knowing that it can't be done"...

While Ogata sent out this brief emotion in his heart, he unconsciously showed a faint smile on his face.

Ogata is not an idiot.

As the person involved, he knew better than anyone else how difficult it was to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai.

If the assassination fails, you die.

If the assassination is successful, he will also be charged with the crime of "killing the lord", and live a life of being wanted and hunted down by the shogunate.

Whether the assassination is successful or the assassination fails, it is not a good result.

But knowing that the assassination is extremely difficult, and there will be no good results regardless of success or failure, Ogata decided to abandon everything including life and swing the sword at Matsudaira Genuai.

Ogata believed that the elders of the Kuranaga family and Ichiro must have had the same state of mind as him at the time: facing the known tragedies, they were still going forward.

And Ogata's mood when he attacked Nijo Castle three months ago was similar to the mood he had when he decided to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai a year ago.

Knowing that this move is tantamount to completely offending the shogunate and Shiranui, he still has no hesitation.

Ogata carefully recalled his state of mind when he made up his mind to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai and attack Nijo Castle, dipped his pen in the ink, and slowly started writing on the examination paper...

Ogata integrated his mood and determination at that time into the ink on the tip of his pen, turning them into words...

...

...

When the sun rose to its highest point, the people in the government rang the big gong very punctually to inform everyone: it's time.

Ogata also played an extreme operation - when the big gong used to inform everyone that the time was up sounded, Ogata had just finished writing the last word.

After handing over the examination papers to the officer who entered the room to collect the papers, Ogata let out a sigh of relief.

"It's more tiring than I imagined..."

Then he smiled wryly and sighed in a low voice.

It has been a long time since he concentrated his body and mind like this and leaned over to do the paper, which made Ogata a little unaccustomed to it. After finishing the paper, he just felt a little dizzy.

After kneading his right hand that was numb due to long hours of writing, Ogata took back the knife placed by his side, and quickly left the tea house where he was staying, and returned to the place where he, A Ding, Huluya and his party lived. Inside the hotel.

As soon as he got back to the hotel room, Ojai was immediately surrounded by A-cho and others, asking how the essay test was going.

"It's not bad." Ogata replied, "Most of the questions can be answered, only a few questions don't know right or wrong."

"The more difficult thing is that there are some accidents in this essay test..."

Ogata briefed everyone about the sudden incident that there was an extra question on the examination paper.

After leaving the tea house, Ogata paid attention to the conversations of the people around him.

So Ogata found out——everyone was very surprised that there was an extra question on the exam paper.

After leaving the tea house, most of the people discussed with their friends why the number and types of questions on the examination paper were different from what the government said before, or shared with their friends how they answered the "composition question" of.

"I basically played that question casually." Ogata, who was sitting cross-legged on the tatami, said in a half-joking tone, "I don't know if my answer like that is considered a pass. I also don't know if the question is important... ..."

"If only those who can answer that question well can pass the essay test, then we will be in big trouble..."

"Well, have more confidence, Ogata-kun." Genichi, who was sitting in the corner of the room like a good-for-nothing as always, let out a "chichichi" smile while drinking, "this kind of thing related to writing articles The title depends on whether the examiners agree with what you have written."

"Maybe the guy who graded the paper really liked the answers you wrote, and then decided to judge you as the first place in the essay test."

"I don't dare to think about such a thing." Ogata said angrily, "I never thought about getting the first name in the literary test from the beginning. My goal from the beginning was just' Just pass the essay test'."

"Hehehe." Yuanyi let out a strange low laugh, "Ogata-kun, do you know what is the most profound truth I have realized after living for so many years?"

"That is - what happens in life is always more exaggerated and unreasonable than the stories told by storytellers."

"So it's not impossible for your article to suit the taste of the examiners, and then the examiners decide to judge you as the first place in the essay test."

After finishing speaking, Yuanyi took another big gulp of wine into his mouth, and then burped a lot.

Looking at Genichi who was drinking leisurely, Ogata couldn't help complaining in his heart:

——Speaking of which... I always feel that Minamoto-sama hasn't done anything since he came to Edo. He just sits in the corner of the room and drinks wine every day...

...

...

That night——

Edo, Matsudaira Jonobu's residence, Matsudaira Jonobu's room—

"My lord, this is the final exam paper."

Matsudaira Sadanobu's surname - Tachibana placed a large stack of examination papers on the tatami in front of him.

"En." Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting not far from him, nodded lightly, "Tachibana, thank you for your hard work."

On the tatami between Matsudaira Sadanobu and Tachibana, there were piles of examination papers.

These examination papers are the examination papers of the participants who participated in the "Imperial Examination" this morning.

After all the examination papers were collected, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately sent someone to start marking the papers.

Matsudaira Sadanobu sent a total of 10 people to correct these papers.

The scope of correction by these 10 people is limited to the first 100 fill-in-the-blank questions, and the latter "composition questions" are not corrected by them.

Because these "fill in the blank questions" are quite easy to correct, and the 10 examiners carefully selected by Matsudaira Sadanobu are all proficient in Sinology.

So it only took one afternoon, and the 10 retesters digested all the test papers.

And these examination papers that have been corrected and filled in the blanks were all sent to the mansion of Matsudaira Jonobu tonight.

The reason why the 10 correctors only judged the fill-in-the-blank questions and did not comment on the latter "composition question" was because - Sadanobu Matsudaira specifically requested that the last question of the examination paper be corrected by himself.

Matsudaira Sadanobu clasped his hands in front of his chest, and after scanning the piles of examination papers in front of him, with obvious disappointment on his face, he said softly:

"The number of people participating in the 'Imperial Trial' is much less than expected..."

According to official statistics, there were only 538 people participating in the "Imperial Trial Match".

This morning, there were only 508 people present for the essay test, and 30 people were absent.

That is to say, the total number of people who actually came to participate in the "Imperial Trial" is only a little over 500 people.

Much less than what Matsudaira Sadanobu expected.

When I heard that there were a large number of people from all over the world pouring into Edo, Matsudaira Sadanomoto was still very excited, thinking that many people would come to participate in this "gozen trial".

But who knows—until the registration deadline, the total number of people who signed up for the "Imperial Trial" was only a little over 500 people...

Seeing the disappointment on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face, Tachibana hurriedly explained:

"The reason why many people go to Edo is purely to see the excitement of the 'Imperial Trials', not to participate in the 'Imperial Trials'."

"There are also some people who originally wanted to participate in the 'Imperial Trials', but found that the 'Imperial Trials' was not only martial arts, but also literary, so they gave up."

"There are also some people who gave up participating in the 'Imperial Trial' for other reasons."

As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well, although the number is much smaller than expected, it is not unacceptable."

"I hope there will be more people who can successfully pass the essay test."

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu put the table case placed aside in front of him, and then spread the pen, ink and inkstone prepared earlier in the morning on the table case.

Tachibana, who was kneeling in front of Matsudaira Jonobu, looked at Matsudaira Jonobu who was fiddling with the table case, and asked softly while showing a wry smile:

"My lord...do you really want to read these exam papers one by one?"

After all, Tachibana couldn't help but glanced at the stacks of examination papers in front of him.

There are 508 people participating in the "Imperial Examination", which means that there are a total of 508 examination papers.

Matsudaira Sadanobu intends to personally correct the last question of the 508 exam papers... Just imagining the workload, Tachibana's scalp feels numb.

Sadanobu Matsudaira smiled until what Tachibana was worried about:

"For me, who has directed countless political affairs, this is nothing more than a trivial matter."

"And I read very fast."

"I only need one more day for this amount to read and correct all of them."

When he finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu had just arranged the table case and all the objects on the table case.

"My lord, you may not know that many people who participated in the 'Imperial Examination' today complained why the questions in the essay papers were different from what the government said before." At this moment, Lihua put on a wry smile, Said.

As for Matsudaira Sadanobu - after hearing Tachibana's words, he chuckled a few times:

"It seems that we have done a good job of keeping secrets. No one knows that there is such a question at the end of the examination paper."

"...My lord, I still don't understand."

Tachibana's voice suddenly became much lower.

"Why did you suddenly add this extra question in the exam paper? Why did you keep it strictly confidential, prevent everyone from knowing that there was such a question before the literary test started, and why did you have to correct this question yourself?"

Tachibana is the nickname of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Generally speaking, everyone would only choose their cronies as their surname.

And Matsudaira Sadanobu is no exception, Tachibana is one of his cronies.

As a confidant of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tachibana naturally knows a lot of inside information.

For example-the examination paper of the essay test did only have the 100 fill-in-the-blank questions at the beginning, and there was no such "composition question".

It was Matsudaira Sadanobu who suddenly ordered to add more questions, and demanded strict confidentiality, and no outsiders were allowed to know that there were other questions in the test paper besides filling in the blanks.

After silently listening to the series of questions raised by Tachibana, Matsudaira Sadakami said in a calm tone:

"If everyone knows in advance that there are such types of questions, then everyone will prepare early."

"In this way, I will not achieve what I want."

"As for why you need to add this question, and you have to ask this question yourself..."

After Matsudaira Sadanobu was silent for a while, the corner of his mouth was pulled up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

"There are many reasons."

"The main reason... is probably just to see if there are like-minded people."

After saying something that made Tachibana feel confused, Matsudaira Sadanobu waved at him.

"Okay, you go back first. I'm going to start grading papers, don't bother me."

Tachibana also wanted to ask what Matsudaira Sadanobu meant by that sentence just now.

But seeing that Matsudaira Jonobu had already begun to tactfully chase away people, it was inconvenient for Tachibana to say anything more, so he could only quickly answer "Yes" loudly, and then quickly exited Matsudaira Jonobu's room.

After Tachibana exited the room, Matsudaira Sadanobu moved the stack of examination papers closest to him to his side, and then spread the top examination papers one by one on the table in front of him.

What Matsudaira Sadanobu said to Tachibana just now, "I can read words very fast" is not bragging.

He couldn't put down the book since he was a child, so he unconsciously developed the ability to accurately understand the main content of the article even if he glanced at ten lines.

Matsudaira Sadako quickly read one letter after another.

The movements of his hands were fast, but the expression on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face never changed much.

Just like this, he looked at the test papers one after another blankly.

The moon outside the window is constantly changing its position as time goes by.

The oil lamp in the room was also replaced once.

The expression on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face finally changed.

But—a bad change.

The face that was originally expressionless now frowned slightly.

There was also a faint displeasure on his face.

"One or two...all are just following the script..."

After reading another exam paper, and then placing it on the top of the "hill" piled up with the exam papers that have already been read, Matsudaira said in a tone of impatience.

Matsudaira Sadanobu rubbed his already sore eyes.

Because of concentrating on grading papers, Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know how much time had passed since Tachibana left.

I can only feel instinctively—it should be late at night now, and it's getting late.

Matsudaira Sadanobu opened his sore eyes, glanced at the "hill" piled up with the exam papers that had been read, and said in his heart:

——Have you read more than 50 exam papers...

As far as the results are concerned, tonight's results are quite fruitful.

After hesitating for a while between the two options of "go to bed" and "correct the paper for a while", Matsudaira chose the latter.

Rubbing his eyes for a while, until the eyes leaked tears, Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that the sore eyes felt better.

After regaining his energy, Matsudaira Sadanobu took another exam paper from the side that he hadn't read yet.

Compared with all the previous exam papers, this exam paper has nothing to be noticed.

The handwriting can only be considered neat, not good-looking, and one can tell at a glance that it is the kind of person who has not specially practiced calligraphy.

Judging from the choice of words and sentences, the person who wrote this examination paper is not very talented.

Matsudaira Sadanomoto held the mentality of "it should be another boring exam paper".

However... After his eyes quickly passed over the lines of words on this page, Matsudaira Sadanobu's originally calm expression and expression gradually began to change.

More and more emotions began to surface on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.

After reading at a speed of ten lines at a glance, Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly turned his gaze back to the very beginning of the article, and began to read again.

This time, Matsudaira Sadanobu read it very carefully.

It is almost a word, a word to read.

After spending many times longer than the first time reading the article on the exam paper, Matsudaira Sadanobu hurriedly turned back to the first side of the exam paper to see who the owner of the exam paper was.

In order to make it easier to identify whose ownership each test paper belongs to, the owner's name is written on the first side of each test paper.

After quickly returning to the first page of the examination paper, Matsudaira Sadanobu impatiently looked at the names written on the examination paper.

"Mashima... Goro..."

Then, with a deep voice, he whispered the name again.

*****

*****

It's a new month again.

The author wishes you all the best in the new month~~