Training the Heavens

Chapter 246 County Examination
Zhou Fuqing was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, and Zhou Fengyi's title of scholar was also revoked. The Zhou family's sky suddenly collapsed. In those days, life was definitely not easy for a family without an official or a scholar.

Zhou Fengyi cried bitterly, wiped her tears and began to try to find ways to get Zhou Fuqing out. Being sentenced to death does not mean that he will definitely die. As long as he spends enough money, there is still hope of saving his life. As long as he is still alive, there is a chance.

If you are lucky and the imperial court issues a general amnesty, you may be able to get out of prison and go home to live out your life.

During this year, the entire Zhou family was in agony. They kept emptying their savings and selling off their property. Money was sent to the government office like water. Occasionally, when they heard good news, they cheered. But a few days later, the good news was proved to be false, and the whole family cried together again.

In such an environment, Ah Zhang had obviously matured a lot. He came to Sanwei Bookstore every day and no longer slacked off and played. Instead, he studied hard with books in his arms all day long. Mr. Shou Jingwu was quite pleased to see this.

He also encouraged him with a sentence from Sima Qian's "Letter to Ren An": "King Wen was imprisoned and wrote the Book of Changes; Confucius was in distress and wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals; Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote the Li Sao; Zuo Qiuming was blind and wrote the Guoyu; Sun Tzu was crippled and wrote the Art of War; Bu Wei moved to Shu and the Lü Lan was passed down; Han Fei was imprisoned in Qin and wrote the Difficulties and the Anger of the Lonely; the 300 poems in the Book of Songs were mostly written by sages and wise men out of anger."

"Your family has suffered a tragedy, but you've been able to wake up and concentrate on your studies. This is a blessing. As for your grandfather, perhaps things will turn out well. Maybe you'll hear good news soon."

Sure enough, near autumn, Zhou Fengyi received a letter from the provincial capital. His hands were trembling and he didn't dare to open it, fearing that it was bad news. After opening it, he burst into tears of joy. Zhou Fuqing's life was temporarily saved, at least he would not be beheaded this year.

The Zhou family members present felt relieved. After cheering, Zhou Fengyi burst into tears again. "This year has been peaceful, but what will happen next year? When will these days end?"

Not long after, more bad news arrived. In the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Beiyang Fleet was completely annihilated. When the news reached Shaoxing, Shou Jingwu and his son burst into tears, muttering, "China has been defeated, the Qing Dynasty is finished!"

The students of Sanwei Bookstore were also wailing. Even though Zhang Xingjiu knew that China would stand up again in the future, he was still filled with sorrow. When he thought that such days would continue for a long time, he was overwhelmed with grief.

When Zhang returned home, the Zhou family was also discussing this matter. Zhou Fengyi, in a moment of indignation, patted his chest and said, "I have four sons. In the future, I can send one to the West and another to the East to seek knowledge and find a way to save the country!"

This was his first infection, and Zhang clenched his fists. He wondered if this would affect him when he traveled to Japan in the future.

At Sanwei Bookstore, Shou Jingwu and his son Shou Pengfei had a rare quarrel. Shou Jingwu believed that the court was full of people who were just sitting there doing nothing, which was the reason for the loss to Japan, so he resolutely refused to allow Shou Pengfei to take the imperial examination.

Shou Pengfei, however, believed that it was precisely because of this that he had to take the imperial examination and enter the court, so that he could make some changes from top to bottom.

The father and son argued fiercely. Zhang Xingjiu felt rather conflicted when he heard what they said, because the year was already half over and the New Year was coming soon. After the New Year it was also the time for the county examination, and he wanted to go down and try, but he didn't know if Mr. Shou would allow it.

After much deliberation, Zhang Xingjiu finally approached Mr. Shou and told him about his plans. Mr. Shou asked sternly, "Why do you want to take the imperial examination? Are you hoping to become an official and gain wealth?" Zhang Xingjiu replied respectfully, "I haven't thought that far. I just feel my parents are working too hard at home. Now that I'm fourteen, I think it's time to help out and ease their burden. If I can pass the exam, I might be able to earn a living and support my family while continuing my studies."

Shou Jingwu nodded slightly. "Respecting one's parents is a noble duty. How can a teacher stop you? With your knowledge, it's time for you to give it a try. In that case, starting tomorrow, you won't have to attend classes with the other students. Let Pengfei teach you the ropes of the imperial examinations. We still have more than four months left, which should be plenty of time for you."

He was very satisfied with this student. In just over a year, he had memorized the Four Books and Five Classics and Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries. The county examination was relatively simple. As long as he could memorize these fluently and write some simple poems and essays, he could basically pass. Zhang Xingjiu should have a chance to pass.

After thanking Mr. Shou, Zhang Xingjiu found Shou Pengfei again. Shou Pengfei had won the first place in the county examination at the age of 18 and was very proficient in the tricks of the examination room. He started teaching him immediately, teaching him knowledge for two hours every day and explaining the common sense of the examination room for another half an hour. In the rest of the time, he found the examination papers of the surrounding counties and asked Zhang Xingjiu to try to do them.

Zhang Xingjiu was very familiar with the tactic of doing a lot of exercises. He recited and did exercises every day. Although his life was boring, it was also fulfilling.

In the blink of an eye, it was Chinese New Year again. Zhang Xingjiu stayed at home for a few days, then returned to Sanwei Bookstore to concentrate on preparing for the exam. Not long after, the county government posted a notice announcing the exam date. This year's county exam will start on February 12, one month later.

Shou Pengfei immediately took him to go through various procedures and first prepared his personal resume: his name, age, place of origin, physique, and facial features, etc. At the same time, he filled in the life and death records of three generations of his great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. The adopted person had to write about his biological parents for three generations.

Find four more candidates who are also preparing to take part in this year's county examination, and have them write a mutual guarantee agreement among the five children. If anyone cheats, the five of them will be held responsible together. This is called mutual guarantee.

Sanwei Bookstore had taught many students, and Shou Pengfei was a famous talent in the city, so it didn't take much effort to gather the required number of students.

The next step is to ask the county's students to give a guarantee, which is called "guarantee", to guarantee that they are not impersonating others, concealing the death of a deceased person, using a substitute, or using a false name, and to guarantee that their family background is clean, that they are not the descendants of prostitutes, actors, or officials, and that they themselves have not committed any crime or engaged in any other profession.

Shou Pengfei himself was a student on the imperial academy, so he directly acted as a guarantor for Zhang Xingjiu and did not even take his money. Acting as a guarantor was one of the biggest ways for students on the imperial academy to make money, so this favor was not small, and Zhang Xingjiu secretly kept it in mind.

After all the preparations were done, they went to the county government's ceremony room to register. Shou Pengfei took Zhang Xingjiu with him and paid for the personnel to be in place for him, and he successfully obtained the qualification to take the exam.

It is so lucky to meet such a teacher, otherwise the personnel fee alone would be enough to give Zhang Xingjiu a headache.

On February 12, Zhang Xingjiu carried his exam basket and entered the examination room with other candidates, ready to take the exam that would change his destiny.

(End of this chapter)