Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 713 Release of List
This situation is somewhat awkward. If the exam had been conducted according to the original format, Xia Lin would have certainly been among the top three scholars, if not the top scholar.

However, with the new exam content, he could only barely pass the imperial examination and make the list.

Lin Musen ranked 127th on the Southern List, out of a total of 150 people.

The top student on the Southern List wasn't Old Zhang, but a very young boy, only eighteen years old. He was a third-generation student at the academy, from a poor family, and lived and ate at the academy, even working part-time during holidays.

But Lao Zhang wasn't bad either; he got third place, only four points behind second place. Keep in mind that Lao Zhang hadn't received any systematic training or consulted any relevant books. His third-place finish was entirely due to his own efforts in extracting and summarizing information from scattered memories and conversations with others.

"Over a hundredth place? You're the one who founded the school of thought, how can you be so shameless as to rank over a hundredth?"

"Stop cursing, stop cursing." Xia Lin looked at the list carefully. "Pick some people from both lists and promote them extensively."

Old Zhang raised an eyebrow: "Who are you planning to choose?"

“For the Northern List, we’ll choose Tao Xianzhi and Du Gaohe. I’ve looked into these two. Tao Xianzhi is an orphan, adopted by her aunt, and makes a living by growing vegetables and chopping firewood on the outskirts of Luoyang. Du Gaohe’s situation is similar; after his father was wrongfully imprisoned, he made a living by herding sheep. These two are ranked first and fourth in the Northern List, respectively. We should promote them well and get the Jinling Daily to publish a large feature on them.”

After Xia Lin finished speaking, she turned to look at Emperor Jingtai, who was frowning and repeatedly looking at the list: "What are you looking for?"

"Why isn't my name mentioned?"

"You failed the exam, huh?" Xia Lin rolled her eyes. "You're still laughing at me. I could have gotten over a hundred places."

Emperor Jingtai took a deep breath, then sat there sullenly without making a sound. After a long while, he finally spoke: "I am full of learning, yet I can't even pass the Northern List? You two are so ignorant and incompetent, yet you easily passed the list? Did you cheat?"

Old Zhang leaned back and chuckled, "Your Majesty is full of knowledge, but in this exam, knowledge only accounted for half of the score. The rest of Your Majesty's knowledge was only half-examined."

"Why?"

"Know nothing."

"Yes." Emperor Jingtai nodded slightly: "Guards, drag him out and kill him."

The guards came in, but stood there looking at the people in the room with a blank expression. Xia Lin waved for the guards to leave, and then continued, "Brother Jing, don't be discouraged. There are exams every year now. If you don't succeed this year, you can try again next year."

Emperor Jingtai was still somewhat unwilling. He threw the list in his hand onto the table and said, "I'm not looking at it anymore. It's annoying. Those people in the Ministry of Rites are too inconsiderate."

"Your Majesty, quite the opposite, they are too sensible." Old Zhang laughed heartily: "This time, no matter what, they must carry out the task impartially. As long as they do so, even if they offend Your Majesty, Your Majesty will not be able to say anything bad about them. But if they help Your Majesty cheat, no matter how well they do it on the surface, Your Majesty will not be able to say anything good about them."

Hmm... that makes sense. If they're willing to help others cheat today out of fear of the emperor, then tomorrow they might help others cheat for other reasons. If the emperor himself sets a precedent for cheating, then don't blame his subordinates for making it even more widespread.

Therefore, the Ministry of Rites handled the matter extremely efficiently this time; if someone was unqualified, they were unqualified, and if they weren't on the list, they weren't on the list.

"Oh, not making the list isn't such a bad thing." Xia Lin looked at Lao Zhang with a smile: "Some people get the third-highest rank, but when all three are on the list, they don't know what to do."

Emperor Jingtai and Lao Zhang immediately realized that the top three scholars in the northern and southern examinations were to be paraded through the streets with flowers on the day the results were announced.

Zhang Zhongchun, the prime minister of the Great Wei, is an old dog in his thirties. Is he going to ride a horse and parade through the streets with young people? That would be the biggest joke in the world, and people would criticize him for taking away the opportunities from the young people.

"What should we do?" Old Zhang looked at Xia Lin: "I'll leave it to you to handle."

"You're a real dog, leaving everything to me." Xia Lin sneered, "Fine, it's time for a sudden, fatal accident at the inn."

"You think you can just send me away with a 'Sudden Death Inn'?"

"Otherwise what? What else do you want? Would you rather hear that the current prime minister, Zhang Zhongchun, forged his name to participate in the imperial examination with the intention of cheating, and have your entire family executed?"

“There’s no need for that.” Old Zhang shook his head. “Alas… what a pity for me, what a pity for the third-ranked scholar of the Great Wei! I was a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examinations), and if I had taken the exams back then, I might have been able to become the top scholar.”

They chatted idly, unaware that this exam would be called the "Millennial Dragon and Tiger Situation" by future historians, because this first imperial examination after the reform produced forty-one figures who would influence future textbooks.

Among them are nine bridge construction masters, eleven mathematics masters, ten prime ministers, five experts in natural science, three literary masters, and three historians.

This exam increased the thickness of future students' textbooks by one-tenth, which shows how valuable it was.

However, these are all things that happened very, very late in the future. They couldn't possibly see them at that time. But when future students mention this list of dragons and tigers over the millennium, they don't see any reverence for the sages in their eyes, only fear when citing it in their papers.

Once the list is finalized, the results will naturally be released.

Three days later, on the day the results were announced, the city of Jinling was practically deserted as countless people awaited the outcome of the exam.

Early in the morning, when the official in charge of posting the results walked out from the crowd, everyone stood on tiptoe to look. Whether they were sons of noble families or commoners, they were all eagerly waiting.

This was the first time in history that they had competed on a fair, just, and open stage. They had the same preparation time, the same exam scope, the same content, and even the exam materials were uniformly printed by the imperial court. Although many noble children expressed their dissatisfaction, they had no better recourse and couldn't even cause a disturbance.

As the list and the top three exam papers were posted together, the crowd surged forward. Some frantically searched for their names on the list, while others looked with great interest at the top scholar's answer sheet.

Those who passed the imperial examination were overjoyed, some even pounding their chests in despair, some fainting on the spot and being carried away, while others, feigning composure, trembled as they repeatedly checked their names. The sons of prominent families calmly instructed their servants to prepare a banquet, their eyes brimming with undisguised pride, while children from ordinary families ran frantically with their good news reports.

The old scholar who failed the exam slumped to the ground, muttering to himself. The young scholar who didn't make the list tore up his manuscript and laughed bitterly at the sky. Someone else suddenly lunged at the list and frantically pounded on it. As the yamen runners dragged him away, he was still shouting, "There must be a mistake in the transcription!"

Vendors around the area took the opportunity to sell herbal remedies to relieve the heat, gambling dealers were busy settling bets, storytellers secretly noted down the various aspects of life as material, young ladies peeked at the talented men through the sedan chair curtains, and maids chattered about their future sons-in-law.

The chief examiner then emerged; he was none other than the Minister of Rites. He stroked his beard, a broad smile on his face, accepting the compliments. The yamen runners loudly shouted orders to maintain order, while the local constable of Jinling skillfully directed the messengers carrying the good news, casually pocketing handfuls of congratulatory money. The entire scene was like a boiling cauldron of oil, instantly revealing the myriad facets of human nature. Ten years of hard study, the anticipation of a decade's study, the turning point of generations' rise and fall—all were settled on this yellowed paper.

What is even more gratifying today is that the ratio between scions of aristocratic families and ordinary children is no longer one-tenth or one-twelfth; they have reached a point of equal strength, and ordinary people are even better off.

As for the scions of aristocratic families, there are also outstanding individuals among them. They are all young people of the same era, and their examination papers are certainly impressive.

However, this day is known in history books as the day when the sun pierced through the dark clouds, because on this day, the thousand-year monopoly of aristocratic families finally dissipated, and the new reforms gave ordinary people a chance to look up at the sky. Although they knew in their hearts that they were still far behind the children of aristocratic families because they had no hands to support them, they still came out, walked out of the mountains and rivers that had trapped them for generations, and crossed the Dragon Gate.

Some people say the questions are so difficult, what's the point? Difficult? That's what makes it difficult! This is the Dragon Gate, not a fish tank. Would it be called the Dragon Gate if it wasn't difficult?

Of course, the aristocratic families were actually very dissatisfied, but they had many things to complain about, so one or two more wouldn't make a difference. As long as Xia Lin didn't leave, they wouldn't dare to show their teeth. The reason they used to act so arrogantly was simply because no one dared to mess with them.

After the results were announced, the much-anticipated "Three Flowers Gathering at the Top" took place. However, this year's gathering was somewhat special. Originally, it was three people riding horses through the streets to meet the Emperor, but this time there were five. The main reason was that the third-ranked man on the male list was found dead in an inn this morning. It was said that he had spent the night partying with a brothel woman and died on her stomach.

It's certainly a pity, but when everyone heard that he died on a woman's stomach, they all smiled knowingly. After all, it was quite a romantic way to die, at least he didn't have to suffer in this life.

Five fine horses carried five young men wearing big red flowers as they walked down East Street. Countless women threw silk scarves embroidered with their names at them, filling the street with the fragrance of daughters. The surrounding people looked up at them with envy and amazement.

The road wasn't long, but it took them a whole morning to walk it, and His Majesty the Emperor had been waiting for them outside the palace gates all morning.

Upon meeting Emperor Jingtai, the five scholars dismounted and bowed to him as students. At that moment, the central gate of the palace behind them was opened with a buzzing sound.

Even the emperor himself might not receive this treatment. The central gate was opened either to honored guests, to welcome ancestors, or to receive the future.

This is how we connect to the future.

They changed into their finest clothes and followed Emperor Jingtai to the main hall of the palace, where hundreds of officials greeted them in a grand display. This made the examinees quite uneasy; thankfully, they hadn't drunk much water that morning, otherwise they would surely have wet their pants.

Next, the governors of the three provinces hung up the titles for them, which were written on them as the top scholar and the second-highest scorer. However, because there was one person missing, Old Zhang could only silently put the extra title into his own pocket.

Following this, the six ministers presented their gifts. Some brought out their treasured ancient books, some brought out a silver scale, and some even gave a study...

In short, the grandeur of the event surpassed that of any previous imperial examination procession entering the palace.

The speech segment that followed was rather verbose, and Xia Lin remained behind the screen in the main hall throughout, with the Grand Eunuch Delu waiting beside him.

"My lord, would you like me to find you a chair to sit on?"

"No need." Xia Lin waved his hand. "Delu, I have a question for you."

"Sir, please speak."

"Is Dou'er your godson?"

Delu paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "He is my godson."

"How did you teach him? That brat talks way too much." Xia Lin started complaining, but then waved her hand and said, "If he weren't so capable, I would have sent him back long ago."

"This servant apologizes to Your Excellency on his behalf. Although the child is wild, he is truly a top-notch martial artist in the palace. His Majesty's intention is that since General Luo Shixin has become an instructor, it's not good for Your Excellency to be without a bodyguard..."

Just then, Emperor Jingtai's voice came from outside: "Today I have also prepared a surprise for you all."

As soon as the word "safety" came out, Xia Lin was about to leave. He straightened his clothes and walked out from behind the screen.

The group was taken aback at first. The students taking the northern exam didn't recognize him, but the students taking the southern exam naturally knew Xia Lin. The two of them quickly took off their hats, held them in their hands, and knelt down: "Headmaster Xia!"

The remaining scholars from the north immediately understood who this person was, and quickly took off their hats and knelt down: "Headmaster Xia".

Xia Lin raised his hand: "His Majesty summoned me here today to witness this event, so you don't need to perform such a grand ceremony for a commoner like me. Today, as I have nothing to give you as a gift, I will instead offer you each a house."

Several people shrank back, quickly saying they dared not. But Xia Lin glanced at Emperor Jingtai and said, "Your Majesty, please do it."

After saying that, he silently stepped aside, while Emperor Jingtai smiled and said, "This is not his money, so don't panic. This house was provided by the Dugu and Tang families in the city. Ten years of hard study is not easy, so you should accept it."

At this moment, Xia Lin bowed to the court officials and Emperor Jingtai, saying, "This humble subject will take his leave now."

As soon as he bowed, all the ministers below immediately turned around and returned the bow. In short... although he was now a commoner, the Night Emperor was still the same Night Emperor, and his power was even greater than ever before.

"I don't get a share of the house?" Old Zhang found Xia Lin while he was in the bathroom: "You, I'm a third-ranked scholar, after all."

"Are you crazy? Would you dare live there?" Xia Lin rolled her eyes. "You're already hooked up with a woman!"

"You son of a bitch!!!" Old Zhang pointed at Xia Lin: "Couldn't you come up with a better way for me to die?"

"Alright, that's romantic enough. You go back now, and remember to send a message about what happened later."

"Hmm, it's just a rumor, isn't it?"

“Yes.” Xia Lin nodded: “I’m in charge of cleaning up all the people involved in the Gao Shilian case. Remember that, make sure to include that.”

(End of this chapter)