Chapter 330: Chapter 130 Perfect Answer Sheet_3
In the side hall, a huge, long table was set up, with medical officers seated on both sides. Each had a high stack of exam papers in front of them, and sighs could be heard from time to time.
"Take finely cut sweet wormwood, add three sheng of water, child’s urine fifty sheng, decoct down to one and a half sheng, remove the dregs and keep the juice to simmer into a paste, make into pills, take twenty pills at a time, on an empty stomach, while lying down with warm wine to wash them down... child’s urine fifty sheng... fifty sheng..."
The speaking voice suddenly became shrill, "Fifty sheng, is this a treatment for tuberculosis? I think this is about sending someone off!"
Chang Jin glanced at the speaking medical officer, shook his head, and thought, another one has gone mad.
Staying inside the side hall endlessly reviewing papers for a long time could drive anyone mad. Especially when encountering some papers full of errors, it frequently enraged the reviewers; they were also concerned about the quality of the new batch of medical officers entering the Medical Officer Institute.
"Such a simple question is wrong, what does he learn all day at the Imperial Medical Bureau, eat shit?" The medical officer who had just gone mad was gasping with his hand on his chest.
The medical officer beside him passed a cup of water and consoled, "Getting angry is harmful to your health. The exam papers sent over this year are hardly any good to look at. If you ask me, it’s all Doctor Ji’s fault."
Chang Jin raised his head and asked, "What does Doctor Ji have to do with this?"
"A lot! He set such difficult questions that those young lads from the Imperial Medical Bureau, upon seeing them, undoubtedly lost heart, reluctantly answered a few, and then, completely discouraged, scribbled anything down, right?"
This statement was indeed true.
Across, a medical officer propped his chin, nearly biting his pen to pieces, "There are hardly a few exam papers that pass muster, it’s a wonder if we can even manage to fill the twenty medical officer positions this year."
This year’s spring exam was to select twenty candidates from top to bottom, part of these candidates would enter the Imperial Apothecary, and part would join the Hanlin Medical Institute. Choosing twenty medical officers in past years was not difficult, but this year Ji Xun had set such difficult questions that the quality of the papers was excessively poor, and nominating twenty medical officers would indeed make one feel a bit guilty.
"Heh, you think that’s bad? You should see the pile Chang is dealing with—those papers are the epitome of poor quality!"
The speaker took a perverse delight in the misfortune of others, but Chang Jin revealed a pained expression.
It was one thing for others, but the medical subject he was responsible for marking, the new "Verification Case Study," was precisely the one added this year.
This was a new subject, and to be honest, even the medical officers at the Hanlin Medical Institute would not dare to claim expertise. The reason he was tasked with marking was that he had once worked with a Judicial Investigator for a while and understood the Verification Case Study better than the other medical officers. Yet even so, Chang Jin felt that Ji Xun had gone a bit too far with the question.
If even he felt it was too much, not to mention those young lads from the Imperial Medical Bureau. Some of them stopped answering halfway through, some plainly fabricated answers, and others, even worse, simply turned in blank papers with not a word written, obviously having given up on themselves.
For five whole days, he hadn’t seen a single paper that had answered all of the questions.
They were all equally terrible.
"This year, we can’t even choose a model exam paper, how are we going to present anything to those stubborn old men at the Imperial Medical Bureau. Heaven above, please bring forth a genius to save this year’s spring exam!" the medical officer prayed with hands clasped together.
Chang Jin merely smiled skeptically.
How could there be so many geniuses in this world? The majority of people were merely mediocre in ability. Over the years, Shengjing had produced only one genius like Ji Xun. Compared to this genius, they were nothing but straw bales who knew only how to eat.
People are inherently different.
Chang Jin sighed and picked up a new exam paper to begin marking.
Upon opening this paper, Chang Jin couldn’t help but frown. The writing was just too sloppy.
The students at the Imperial Medical Bureau were taught to write clearly and neatly, so that the reviewing examiners could enjoy pleasant handwriting during grading, but the writing on this exam paper was flamboyant and unrestrained.
Chang Jin was curious to see which young master was so rebellious, but each paper’s name was covered by black paper and could not be unveiled until marking was completed.
He had to suppress his curiosity.
Well, although this person’s handwriting was a mess, at least the paper was filled with writing. Regardless of whether the answers were correct or not, the approach seemed proper, far better than those who submitted blank papers.
Vexed, Chang Jin continued reading.
As he read on, Chang Jin’s expression gradually changed.
This exam paper was answered exceptionally well!
"Verification Case Study," as the name suggests, involves examining the state of a corpse. In class at the Imperial Medical Bureau, real corpses are used for live teaching. However, the students there, perhaps due to young age and lack of experience, were rather apprehensive at the sight of a real corpse, shrinking back. The learning was fraught with fear; how could they claim to be proficient?