The second month of this year happened to coincide with the civil service examinations, which were held every three years. According to the system, the Ministry of Rites presided over the examinations. The Emperor would appoint a chief examiner and 18 deputy chief examiners to select the best scholars in the realm. During this ti in previous years, the Crown Prince and Prince Yu would attempt to support their own people into the new civil service positions by whatever ans possible, creating trouble both overtly and secretly. Furthermore, the examiners who took advantage of these faction fights for personal rank and power naturally had to in turn look after the interests of their respective masters, and so these private corrupt practices continued to prevail. There were so loyal imperial court officials who would admonish them countless tis, but not only was it ineffective, they also ca to a bad end. This corruption in selecting scholars had beco the imperial governnts most chronic disease, with few who had the experience or knowledge to understand it.
But everyone understood that this year, the circumstances would definitely change. As for how, many were keeping watch.
Apart from being the eldest son who inherited the nobility and rits of his family, the civil service examination was the only way for the majority of people to begin an official career in the civil service. The various aspects involved were very complicated. Geography, origin, in-laws, old friends and acquaintances, teachers.many factors could affect the final result. Its not just about faction politics. To avoid taking that path and put an end to any rumour, one must endure pressure from all parties in ones network, while simultaneously safeguarding ones integrity and fairness in order to avoid others nitpicking on ones mistakes and so et with failure.
This ti, the crown prince was out of the ga and Prince Yu was under house arrest. It seed that Prince Jing was the only one who could influence the Emperors choice of examiners this year. If he wanted to exercise such influence, no one would dare to argue with him.
At the end of the first month, the Ministry of Rites announced the years auspicious date for the civil service examinations after reading the heavenly bodies. Presiding over the selection of examiners in court, the Liang Emperor asked Prince Jing for his opinion on the matter, to which he replied, This is a serious matter. I dare not respond arbitrarily. Please give your son several days to carefully consider this, even though there was no clear answer. However, it was very clear that he had no intention of staying out of it. But reversing such long-standing abuse within the system was no easy matter, and if not handled carefully it may have the opposite effect, so everyone waited in great anticipation for the ti when the final list of nas would be revealed. In fact, they were actually waiting to see this princes final decision, whether he would strive to recomnd the kind of upright and outstanding scholars whose worth he recognized without worrying about offending people, or capitulate to the previous years usual practice of appointing an accommodating examiner who would leave a gap for so special people to enter (the system).
On the fourth day of the second month, the Imperial edict was finally issued, and it was read aloud to the public by a ceremonial officer. If their chins could drop off, one would have seen many chins scattered all over the court that day. The deputy chief examiners were the youngest and most energetic officials from the six ministries, but the chief examiner was the elderly 73 year old Cheng Zhiji from the Phoenix Pavilion. Although Cheng lao da ren* had the grace of remaining at ho for many years without having to be at court, although being the Master of the Pavillion was well-known to be an honorary official position, but in the system, he was still a first-grade court official, and qualified to be selected as the Chief Examiner.
*old lord form of respect
Its just that no one like him had been appointed to such a position before, and no one thought of him when speculating about potential candidates.
But everyone soon understood what Prince Jing was trying to achieve by proposing such a mix of young and old. Cheng Zhiji was not a particularly tough and unyielding old court official. He was kind and gentle, never rejected anyone nor caused anyone to lose face. He was well-inford about the current state of affairs, even though it seed to have forgotten about him because he had simply been away from court too many years. Because he had no clear connections at court, his conversations with others centred around matters that were public knowledge and everything had to be explained in detail. The crucial point was that if an ironclad relationship didnt exist, who would dare to play the martyr and say sothing for personal gain without careful thinking? Especially so before soone who had been forgotten for so many years and whose limits one was unclear of. After all, one must first consider the risk when doing sothing. One cant simply insist on bringing along a chest full of gold, silver, pearls and jewelry to ask for help when the path is no longer the sa old familiar one. After all, his predecessors werent vegetarians.
But between the selection of the examiners to the start of the examinations, there were only ten days. Before anyone had the ti to discover the path to win Cheng Zhiji over, he was already in the examination room with his bags. Without any outside influence or personal selfish motives, even argunts and objections beca simple. Actually, the biggest flaw in mixing the old and the young was that the elder tended to stick to their conservative views, unwilling to accept new ideas, while the young were arrogant and impetuous, not respecting the experience of their elders. This was what Prince Jing was contemplating when deciding on the candidate during the several days he requested. Although the final list of nas werent completely those he had selected, and the Liang Emperor had made a few changes, it retained the original plan and ultimately achieved Prince Jings desired outco.This is mainly because Cheng Zhiji was a suitable choice. Even though he was old, he wasnt stubborn and was willing to listen to other points of view. At the sa ti, he was a forr scholar, and the Master of the Phoenix Pavilion. With such weight behind him, all eighteen deputy chief examiners had high regard for the old master, and not one of them dared to show him any disrespect when the ti ca for grading on the first day of the examinations. When the Chief Examiner does not react badly to the varied views and impulsiveness of the young and the Deputy Chief Examiners recognize the authority of the Chief Examiner, mutual restraint can naturally beco mutual benefit, avoiding the likelihood of major contradictions.
Actually, this years civil service examinations was still far from being able to avoid missing any talents, because that was simply not possible, but at the very least, this was the fairest and cleanest preliminary examination round for the past many years. Prince Jings goal was no pass with no achievent. He did not expect to completely clean up such long standing corruption all at once, nor did he adopt a hard stance to enforce integrity that could have easily led to resentnt and opposition. What he first wanted to change was the old notion of no disadvantages for not passing the examinations, stopping the so-called usual practice that had lasted for so many years, thereby taking the first step in cleaning up the election of governnt officials.
The civil service examinations ended smoothly without any major disturbance, which made the Liang Emperor very happy. What he was most worried about was that Prince Jing would be unaware of the current situation and cause a political upheaval by blindly imposing his own way of thinking, so the Emperor was glad to notice that he was becoming increasingly moderate and amiable.
In the blink of an eye, the third month arrived. The court began to busy itself with preparations for the imperial familys Spring Hunt which would be held away from the palace at Jiuan Mountain. Apart from Prince Yu who was under house arrest, all the rest of the princes were expected to go. Including the rest of the imperial clan and the retinue of high officials, there were close to two hundred people, each of them bringing their own entourage, making this the largest group in history. Those ordered to stay behind to take care of things were the sa as previous years, but the imperial concubine who joined the hunt wasnt the previously favoured Concubine Yue from Guanliu Palace but Concubine Jing.
Two days before they departed for the hunt, Mu Qing made his way once again to the Su Residence on his palanquin, heading directly to the rear garden before alighting. Besides the young prince, there alighted from the palanquin another young man who seed to be recovering from a serious illness.
Li Gang ca forward silently to make his salutations before turning around to guide them into i Changsus quarters in the main building. As soon as he entered the room, Mu Qing headed exuberantly towards the host, his hands cupped in greeting, saying, I have brought him here safe and sound. Nothing happened along the way. Saying this, he turned to the side, revealing the young man behind him.
Many thanks, Prince Mu, i Changsu smiled politely in return. At the sa ti, he glanced at the young man. i Changsu has the pleasure of eting General Wei Zheng. Is your injury healing well?
Wei Zheng suppressed his turbulent emotions and replied in a trembling voice, For Mister Sus grace in coming to my rescue, I will never forget After saying this, he looked like he was going to fall on his knees but he was stopped by the others soft gaze, and so forced himself into a deep bow with his hands clasped.
Feeling that his mission had been accomplished, Mu Qing swung his arms and asked, Wheres Fei Liu? Hes not here. i Changsu understood the young princes intention, but at the mont there was sobody waiting in the secret chamber, so of course he had to think of a way to make him leave. I will bring him to your mansion another day. Im afraid I cant keep you company today as I now need to make arrangents for General Wei Zheng.
You must rember to co. Mu Qing was a frank and straightforward person and didnt feel that anything was amiss. After this reminder, he imdiately turned around and strode directly away. As soon as his silhouette disappeared, Wei Zheng fell heavily to his knees, saying tearfully, Young Commander..please bla Wei Zheng for not being careful..
Thats enough. Do such words need to be said between us? i Changsu didnt help him up. Instead, he, too, knelt down, and clutching Wei Zhengs shoulders, said, Calm down. Dont get too excited. I am going to bring you to et Prince Jing. Be careful not to let slip who I am in front of him.
Yes..
Co, get up.
Wei Zheng took a few breaths before stretching out his hand to i Changsu for support, and they stood up together. Both of them approached the bedroom side by side, and opening the secret door, they entered, one after the other.
Your Highness Prince Jing, General Wei is here. Following this simple announcent, i Changsu got out of the way like Mu Qing earlier and quietly retreated into the corner.
Wei Zheng.greets Your Highness Prince Jing..
Seeing this person from his past that he had never thought to ever et again, Xiao Jingyan found it more difficult than expected to control his emotions and he quickly steadied himself as he stepped forward to support Wei Zheng up. Standing behind him, Lie Zhanying also couldnt resist taking a step forward, carefully looking Wei Zheng up and down several tis, after which the rims of his eyes were red.
Your Highness, lets all sit down and talk. I think tonights conversation wont be a short one. ng Zhi, who was the most calm as he had t with Wei Zheng many tis, ca forward to arrange the seats. Lie Zhanying insisted on standing to the side, according to military decorum, while Wei Zheng cast a covert glance at i Changsu, evidently wanting to stand behind him too, but the latter rely leaned against a table, fiddling with the heating stove, not looking up.
Wei Zheng, since we are in a secret room, you dont have to stand on ceremony. There are many things I would like to ask you, so please sit. Prince Jing pointed to the seat closest to him. So many doubts I have kept hidden in my heart all these years, that I didnt think I would ever find any answers to. The Heavens have blessed now, to be able to once again et soone from the past. I hope you will allow to clear them up one by one.
Yes. Wei Zheng bowed deeply and slowly moved to take the seat. Your Highness, please ask your questions. I will answer them without reservation.
Prince Jing looked straight into his eyes and asked his first question. Were there any other survivors?
Wei Zheng was prepared for this question, and imdiately replied, Yes, but not many, and even less of those with rank. Because they were declared as rebels and would have been sentenced to hard labour, even low rank soldiers dared not return ho, and could only live in exile.
What about those I know?
Im afraid Your Highness does not know these lower ranking officers. Of the higher ranks, only Nie Duo.
Prince Jings gaze wavered. Nie Duo is still alive?
Yes, but I have no idea where he is now, which ans he is well hidden.
Nie Duo was also one of the key ranking officers. Then what about the Northern Valley? Were there truly no survivors from there?
Wei Zheng lowered his head. It was hard to tell if he couldnt bear to reply, or if he was unwilling to.
How could this be Prince Jing tried to keep his trembling voice steady. Others may not be aware, but I know fully well that the Chiyu Battalion was the toughest army to face in any battle. Xie Yu and Xia Jiang brought in 100,000 cavalry from the western border. How did they end up in such defeat?
Wei Zheng suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing. Did Your Highness really think that we would engage Xie Yu in battle? Was our Chiyan army really a rebel army, to engage in such a terrible battle with an army the court appointed?
Prince Jing grabbed Wei Zhengs arm, squeezing it as if he would shatter it. Did you an to say that Xie Yu continued to attack even though you all didnt resist? But knowing Xiao Shu, even if he hadnt anticipated this at first, once the butchers knife was raised, he wouldnt just sit back and wait for death!
Your Highness is right, but Wei Zhengs cheeks were stretched taut like strands of iron, At the ti the butchers knife was raised, we had just gone through a fierce battle and no longer had the strength.
Afterthought: When I first started translating this chapter, I had not anticipated its upcoming change in direction. The first half was very tedious to translate, being so wordy, but ultimately, I enjoyed reading this insight into XJYs brain. He wasnt just all brawn and in MCSs shadow as the show seed to have made him out to be because MCSs bosom friend would have had to provide him with so ntal stimulation at least! But ah, the turn in the chapter just crept up on and happened very suddenly, and here we are, having to stop our hearts from lurching as we begin an emotional roller coaster ride with the next couple of chapters.
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