Chapter 668 - 345: Imperial Examination
Chapter 668: Chapter 345: Imperial Examination
The Imperial Examination, colloquially referred to as the Spring Examination, was the second-highest level of the civil service exams, trailing only behind the Palace Examination. Previously, it was held every February. However, considering the inconvenience of winter travel for students, and the risk that traveling long distances after the New Year might cause them to miss the exam date, the start time was delayed to early March every year.
In March, the peach blossoms were in full bloom. The flowers in the suburb of the capital were brilliantly lush and captivating to the eye, but the commoners of the Capital City were in no mood to enjoy them or go on spring outings.
Ordinary families also supported scholars. Whenever this time of year arrived, they would sweat buckets in anxiety for their friends, relatives, and their own children and nephews. Wealthy merchants and affluent families had even more considerations. They wanted to invest in promising candidates and snatch up scholars as sons-in-law right beneath the result boards, hoping to secure immense wealth and power overnight. They had no choice but to have their retainers gather information around the clock, so that the silver they invested would one day yield returns hundreds or thousands of times over.
The officials’ residences had even more on their minds. They wanted to meddle in the Imperial Examination while simultaneously scouting ambitious and capable talents to serve their own factions. Unfortunately, they had no say in the selection and dispatch of the examiners. The court had been fiercely debating this for days, and the Empress Dowager even used an illness as an excuse to force the Emperor to compromise. The two towering figures couldn’t reach an agreement. Until the day before the Imperial Examination, the matter remained unsettled.
As for the ambitious talents, the truly capable ones were mostly proud and arrogant, originating from wealthy backgrounds. They were naturally affiliated with certain clans and factions, making it nearly impossible to simply win them over. As for the scholars from humble backgrounds with clean slates who were eager to find a faction to rely on, no matter how amazing they sounded in the rumors of outsiders, they were still somewhat lacking in their breadth of knowledge and social etiquette when compared to the young prodigies carefully cultivated by prominent aristocratic families.
The atmosphere in the Capital City was blazing hot, and there were dozens of times more people on the streets than usual. In the midst of this fervent atmosphere, the day of the Imperial Examination finally arrived. Rushing right before the exam, after the political maneuvering between His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, the chief examiner and the three deputy examiners were finally selected.
According to previous years’ customs, the chief examiner of the Imperial Examination was mostly chosen from high-ranking officials who started as an Advanced Scholar, such as a Cabinet Scholar or the Six Ministers. But this year’s situation was special. Setting aside any Cabinet Scholar or the Six Ministers, even several members of the Cabinet had close nephews, students, or younger in-laws participating in the exam. This eliminated the vast majority.
As for the remaining officials, they were either observing a mourning period, or had been reprimanded for "lax family discipline" because their younger family members caused trouble before the New Year, leaving them currently confined at home to reflect on their mistakes. There were also some who had grudges and disputes with the fathers and older brothers of the participating scholars, making them unsuitable as well.
In the end, an exception was made to bring out Prince Ning, who was currently in charge of the Inspectorate. Prince Ning was the biological son of the Grand Empress Dowager and shared the same mother as the late Emperor. He was born with a leg disability and was therefore destined to have no chance at the throne.
When the late Emperor was alive, Prince Ning was infatuated with traveling the mountains and rivers. After the late Emperor passed away, he appointed a group of people, including Prince Ning and the Empress Dowager, to assist in governing. But Prince Ning had no interest in political schemes. He never truly participated in the court’s politics, only serving as a mere figurehead.
When the Emperor turned fifteen, Prince Ning resigned from his crucial role as a regent, intending to travel far and wide. Ultimately, he couldn’t leave and was kept in the Inspectorate by the Emperor to serve as the Left Imperial Censor. However, everyone in the court knew that he was just holding an empty title and occupying a seat. Bringing out Prince Ning now showed they were truly out of options. Fortunately, Prince Ning favored His Majesty. So, in a way, this could be considered a superior move by the Emperor.
On the day of the Imperial Examination, Zhao Jing and Xu Yanhe, who were participating in the exam, woke up early in the morning. Xu Yanlin and De’an personally escorted the two of them to the examination grounds. By the time they returned to the manor, the sky was just turning bright. Everyone in the manor had gathered in the old madam’s courtyard and was currently having breakfast. After Xu Yanlin and De’an came over, they sat down directly, took the bird’s nest porridge handed over by the nanny, and began to eat.
De’an was a chatterbox, talking while eating. "I thought there would be very few people participating in the Imperial Examination. I didn’t expect the crowd to be so massive that they had to lock down the area three miles out."
"There are a full six thousand people participating in this Imperial Examination," the old madam, who knew the details, said. "Because it’s an extra grace examination, there are far fewer people than in a regular examination. But between the examinees, those sending them off, and the government officers maintaining order at the scene, the total number of people gathered is still quite immense."
De’an nodded and added, "You absolutely wouldn’t believe it, but there are quite a few elderly scholars in their seventies and eighties participating in the Imperial Examination. At such an old age, aren’t they afraid of dying right there in the examination grounds?"
Nowadays, very few people lived past sixty; those who reached their seventies and eighties were considered miracles of longevity. Furthermore, since they had already attained the title of scholar, wouldn’t it be better to stay home and enjoy the filial service of their children and grandchildren? Yet they stubbornly refused to give up, determined to risk it all to fight for the title of Advanced Scholar.