The three looked at each other and laughed, thinking that Huaiyuan Inn was good at business.
Seeing the darkness outside, Chen Jian’an, hoping to start things off auspiciously, first asked about the price of lanterns. When he found out that the lantern prices weren’t much higher than elsewhere, he bought three Red Lanterns, giving two to his classmates and keeping one for himself. Afterward, the three of them left Huaiyuan Inn, carrying their lanterns.
"Have the examinees from Chang’an County arrived?"
Just as they reached the entrance of the prefectural office, Xu Xing heard a governnt runner shouting loudly.
"Yes!"
Li Mingda hurriedly called out, then casually thrust his lantern into Xu Xing’s hands and quickened his pace to join the line for Chang’an County examinees.
The Prefecture Exam was for examinees from the various counties under Jingzhao Prefecture who had passed their respective County Exams. Before entering the examination hall, the governnt runners would admit examinees in batches according to their registered counties. Chang’an County and Xianning County, among others, were the counties under Jingzhao Prefecture closest to the provincial capital. Thus, examinees from Chang’an County, Xianning County, and similar areas were among the first batch to enter the examination hall. Li Mingda was from Chang’an County.
"Jingyang County..."
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
After a short interval, another governnt runner called out.
Xu Xing joined the line for Jingyang County examinees.
Slightly different from the County Exam, the Prefecture Exam and Academy Exam had a "seating hall number." The seating hall number was for the top ten examinees from each county’s County Exam to take their test in the Public Hall where the Prefect was seated, personally invigilated by high officials like the Prefect. If an examinee caught an official’s eye during the examination, it was common for them to be selected on the spot in the Prefecture Exam.
Xu Xing wasn’t so fortunate. He had ranked fourteenth in the County Exam and did not receive the privilege of a seating hall number. After going through the guarantor’s verification process, he was led by a Book Official to a corner of the examination hall to take his seat for the exam.
Shaoqing later, governnt runners lifted their placard lanterns and patrolled back and forth.
[Four-Book Question:]
[King Hui of Liang said: ’The state of Jin is the most powerful in the world. Is there a right way of dealing with neighboring countries?’]
Multiple Choice Questions.
Both sentences were from the "King Hui of Liang" Chapter in *ncius*.
Seeing this exam question, Xu Xing was secretly relieved. He was grateful that he had inford Xiaoyi Hall early on, and they had run errands to help him obtain information on Count Yin.
Like the County Exam, the Prefecture Exam emphasized the Main Test, which was the first session. And within the Main Test, the first question was of paramount importance.
This Multiple Choice Questions wasn’t difficult; producing an Argunt wasn’t hard. The challenge lay in crafting an Argunt that perfectly aligned with the examiner’s political leanings and would be judged a top-tier paper.
The first sentence, "King Hui of Liang said," in its entirety is: "King Hui of Liang said: ’The state of Jin—none under Heaven was stronger, as you, venerable sir, know. Yet, during my ti, we were defeated by Qi in the east, where my eldest son died; in the west, we lost over seven hundred *li* to Qin; and in the south, we were humiliated by Chu. I wish to thoroughly wash away this disgrace for the dead. What, sir, can be done?’"
The source of the second sentence is from a dialogue where King Xuan of Qi asked ncius, "Is there a right way of dealing with neighboring countries?"
Ti...
Late Qing Dynasty, Kang Liang submitted morials, advocating for reform...
The Imperial Court’s influence on local affairs.
Count Yin...
Xu Xing didn’t rush to put pen to paper. Instead, he first pondered the intention behind the Prefecture Exam setting such a question.
Success in the Imperial Examination never depended solely on literary talent. Since ancient tis, countless gifted poets and essayists had failed. They failed not for lack of talent required to pass, but because they couldn’t fathom the deeper anings embedded in the exam questions, leading to their bitter disappointnt.
In The 15th year of Guangxu, Count Yin submitted a morial fiercely denouncing the Westernization Faction for throwing the country into chaos and ordered the destruction of machinery within his jurisdiction.
In the 18th year of Guangxu...
Xu Xing recalled the information he had on Count Yin. Every piece seed to indicate opposition to the Westernization Faction.
No, that’s not right... He quickly overturned his initial thought. The Westernization Faction is not the sa as the Reform Faction. Count Yin’s denunciation of Westernization was likely not because of Westernization itself, but because most mbers of the Westernization Faction were southern officials... After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the southern provinces largely governed themselves and were semi-autonomous. The Qing court could mostly only collect taxes from them. For northern local officials, opposing the Westernization Faction was a matter of political correctness; it wasn’t that they were genuinely against Westernization itself.
According to the information, Count Yin had a good relationship with Fang Yun, the Governor of Qin Province. The Reform Faction didn’t hold real power; they relied on the Emperor’s authority to carry out their reform movent. Therefore... I must write about Reform!
Xu Xing took a deep breath, then, after a mont of contemplation, began to write: "The Saint transmits the learning of the ancient kings, averting conflict from Lu; he promulgates the virtue of Duke Zhou, so that even though Qi is great, Duke Jing cannot rest easy."
His Argunt still followed a stable and moderate approach, not a radical one.
The aning of this Argunt was: Confucius, by transmitting the wisdom of the ancient kings, saved the perilous state of Lu from the calamities of war. By promoting the virtues of Duke Zhou in Lu, even though the state of Qi was powerful, Duke Jing of Qi was so disquieted he could neither eat with relish nor sleep in peace.
However, after elucidating this Argunt, Xu Xing’s writing took a turn. He ntioned the line from the *Xiaoya* section of the *Book of Songs*: "Though Zhou is an ancient state, its mandate is new."
This verse ans... the learning of the ancient kings, as promoted by Confucius, also contains the spirit of Reform.
History is a girl who can be dressed up by anyone. So is Confucianism. Whatever one desires can be extracted by carefully selecting words from the sages.
In short, Xu Xing’s core idea was to perform minor "surgery" while maintaining a foundation of reverence for antiquity. This way, as a young man, he wouldn’t appear stagnant, demonstrating a willingness to reform while also being cautious and not reckless in the process. He understood how to advance and retreat wisely!
After finishing the Four-Book Question, the subsequent Five-Classics Questions and policy essays were not so fraught with "danger." Xu Xing had a solid foundation and answered them one by one.
「Later that night, they exited the Dragon Gate of the examination hall.」
Xu Xing waited at the entrance for his roommates, Chen Jian’an and Li Mingda.
Before long, Chen Jian’an erged from the examination hall with a sullen expression, muttering as he walked, "That Count Yin has no good intentions, what kind of ssed-up questions did he set..."
"How did you approach the Argunt?" Xu Xing asked casually. As roommates, there was no need for excessive reservation when discussing their approaches to the questions.
"I didn’t dare answer. I was afraid of getting into trouble," Chen Jian’an shook his head, quite clear about his own limitations. "Anyway, I have no hope of passing the Academy Exam this year."
He couldn’t grasp Count Yin’s intention behind the Four-Book Question and feared that writing recklessly would lead to literary persecution, so he hadn’t dared to answer it.
In the Qing Dynasty, literary inquisitions were frequent. The most famous was the case sparked by an exam question using a phrase from the *Book of Songs* that ant "Supporting the people and finding rest." During the fourth year of Emperor Yongzheng’s reign, the examiner, Zha Siting, chose this verse. Accusations arose that he harbored sinister intentions to symbolically behead Emperor Yongzheng. This claim was based on a visual pun: if the top part of the two written characters forming the Emperor’s personal na, Yongzheng, were removed, the remaining strokes could be interpreted as forming two entirely different characters. These new characters, in turn, were linked to the allegedly seditious aning of the exam phrase.
"Where is Mingda?" Chen Jian’an looked around curiously. "Hasn’t he co out of the examination hall yet?"
Just as they were speaking, Li Mingda erged from the examination hall, swept along by the crowd. His face was an unnatural shade of red, and by the ti he reached his two classmates, he was gasping for breath.
"Risking half your life for this, why bother?" Chen Jian’an shook his head and sighed, then, together with Xu Xing, helped support Li Mingda.
「Three days later, the Prefecture Exam results were posted.」
Unexpectedly, Xu Xing ranked first in this exam. He beca the Top Scholar in the Prefecture Exam.
At the sa ti, Xu Xing’s White Destiny [Wenchang] advanced to Red Fate. Furthermore, he condensed another, unexpected Destiny: [Reform].
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