Chapter 24: The Prefectural Examination (2)

After the first session of the examination, it would take three days for the results to be posted. At that time, the Education Commissioners would announce the list of candidates qualified for the re-examination, and only after that final test would the official results and rankings be released.

The candidates were allowed a brief respite. Although they were not permitted to leave the examination compound, they could at least relax their minds. The proctors and examiners, however, faced a much more arduous task.

The full moon hung high in the sky, yet the grading area remained ablaze with light. From time to time, the sounds of sighs drifted from among the examiners.

"Inspector Wang."

Education Commissioner Chen Ju, chewing on a large steamed bun, stepped forward holding an examination paper. "This candidate, Li Yu—isn't he being a bit too reckless?"

He had been asked to write a policy essay on the drawbacks of the imperial examination system, and he had truly written about the drawbacks of the imperial examination system. He even claimed that the "eight-legged essay" stifled the minds of officials, causing the loss of many practical talents and leading to a severe brain drain for the imperial court.

Oh, really? If one cannot even write a proper eight-legged essay, how can one speak of assisting the Emperor in governing the world?

Chen had intended to strike the boy from the list, but recalling that the Investigating Censor had lingered before this candidate for a long time today, he thought it best to sound him out first. After all, the Inspector was appointed directly by His Majesty; it would be unwise to eliminate a candidate he favored.

"Youth is wasted if one is not reckless," Wang Zhiqiu replied with a smile. He took the paper from Chen, read it through carefully once more, and picked up his vermilion brush to write the word "Accepted" on the scroll.

"His Majesty often says he hopes his ministers will speak and dare to speak. If we do not even allow people to voice their opinions, why would His Majesty bother to appoint remonstrating officials and censors?"

He did not comment on whether Li Yu’s arguments were right or wrong, leaving Commissioner Chen unsure of his true intentions. However, since the man was a direct representative of the Emperor, whatever he said was naturally the final word.

Once all two hundred papers were graded, only the top hundred candidates remained for the re-examination. As the bailiffs called out the names of those who had failed the first session, the rejected candidates left one by one with their heads hung low. By the end, the examination hall was half empty.

Li Yu, Wu Jingcheng, and Ning Yuan all made it through. Even Li Yu's rival in love, Yu Guang, had qualified. Seeing this, Wu Jingcheng patted his good friend on the shoulder and said, "Don't take it to heart, Zixuan. In the end, only the top fifty can become students."

If one failed the re-examination, Instructor Ning would have to be a fool to pass up a promising scholar like Zixuan just to marry his daughter to an ordinary man.

Li Yu replied, "I am not concerned about that. I am actually more worried about you."

The competition was fierce. It was said that out of the fifty student quotas for the entire province, the candidates from Rongcheng Prefecture alone took thirty. With only twenty spots left for the remaining hundred-plus counties, how much ancestral merit would he and Wu Jingcheng need to squeeze in?

Wu Jingcheng looked puzzled. "Why are you worried about me? When I left, Inspector Li told me that regardless of whether I pass this academy exam or not, he is willing to betroth sister Ying to me."

He felt no pressure at all; if he passed, it was a good thing, and if not, he would just try again in two years.

Li Yu: "..."

Did this man have anything on his mind besides marrying his sister Ying?

The re-examination consisted of only two questions. The first was on the classics, asking candidates to explain their understanding of the "Doctrine of the Mean." A five-hundred-character essay on this was quite standard.

The second was a question on current affairs and policy.

The prompt read: "Industry and commerce are the nation's vital assets, and trade is the source of the people's livelihood. Observing current industry and trade, there are blockages; wealth does not circulate, and the people's livelihood suffers. Analyze the pros and cons of slighting commerce, and discuss how to facilitate trade and benefit the artisans to enrich the nation, benefit the people, and strengthen the military."

Li Yu found this quite interesting. A nation does not simply become prosperous forever once a new dynasty is established. Instead, it follows a cycle of rise, decline, and collapse.

During the final years of the previous dynasty, the nation faced internal strife and external threats. To suppress domestic rebels, the former court spent vast sums of silver to purchase warhorses from the Northern Di. If not for a lingering sense of reason, they might have even asked the Northern Di cavalry to judge their affairs. Fortunately, the emperors of the past realized that it is easy to invite a god but difficult to send one away.

The sixty years of chaos in the late dynasty had drained the nation while strengthening the Northern Di. The Northern Di had long coveted the Central Plains. After the Emperor of the Great Yong ascended the throne, they continued to harass the borders, causing the frontier people to live in misery. The Khan, Joli-getu, even demanded that the Great Yong continue to purchase their horses at high prices, as the previous dynasty had, or else they would trample the entire Great Yong.

The Great Yong was not the late former dynasty, so naturally, it would not bow to such threats. Consequently, conflicts erupted at the border every few days. During the reign of the Founding Emperor, several major battles were fought, which emptied half of the national treasury that had been painstakingly accumulated.

The current Emperor wished to deal with the Northern Di once and for all, but the domestic situation was in ruins; the previous dynasty had collapsed precisely because of excessive taxation. The Great Yong had been established for less than fifty years, so it could not rush to "harvest the leeks"—or rather, it could not increase the burden on the people.

If there was not enough grain, they bought it from neighboring Siam. The problem was that commercial tax revenue had been severely crippled, and given the low social status of merchants, there were far fewer people willing to go into trade compared to the prosperous days of the former dynasty. The current treasury simply did not have enough money. Without money, the court could not buy grain; without grain, the court could not launch large-scale campaigns.

Therefore, to become a strong nation, the primary task was to generate wealth. While generating wealth, agriculture could not be abandoned; the people had to be kept peaceful and prosperous so that there would be no shortage of men when a major war was needed.

What Li Yu found interesting was that the person who set the question dared to put the topic of "slighting commerce" on the table and ask everyone to discuss its merits and demerits. Even though he sat in the exam booth and could not see the expressions of his fellow candidates, he could guess how strange they must look.

In the eyes of scholars, was there any downside to slighting commerce? Surely it was all beneficial.

Li Yu did not want to guess the examiner's mind. Since he was already here, he would simply say what was on his mind. He would use this as a test: if he failed, he would know better than to tell the truth next time, and he could just spout standard platitudes in a year or two. Besides, looking at the Investigating Censor, perhaps he was the type who enjoyed reading the truth.

And so, he wrote exactly what he thought, detailing the pros and cons of slighting commerce with absolute clarity. He also wrote in detail about how to improve the social status of merchants to encourage trade, though after some thought, he added a few more paragraphs.

"The merchant class is not the material for officialdom. Those who pursue profit are often preoccupied with wealth, while those who seek office must prioritize virtue. Merchants are drowned in market transactions and rarely possess the ambition to cultivate their character, regulate their families, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. Therefore, the gate of the imperial examination should be open to scholars, not to merchants. This should be a settled rule, never to be changed."

Merchants should certainly possess the same human rights and status as others, but they absolutely must not hold political power or be given the opportunity to dominate the world. Once merchants held power, the world would fall into chaos.

Wang Zhiqiu had been pacing back and forth, reading the paper several times. Seeing that Li Yu had finished, he couldn't wait to grab the paper and grade it on the spot.

Li Yu: "..."

He hadn't even had the chance to pull the bell at his desk.

Was this Investigating Censor too impatient? He wondered if this man was the one who had set the question. And if he were, would his answer meet with his approval?