Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 26: His future is filthy and not worth boasting about!
“Finally, I won…”

When Zhou Liang saw that this stubborn kid actually passed the exam, he couldn't help but praise him:
Cow batch!

"Back then, I only took the exam three times, spending ten years on it, and it drove me to a mental breakdown. Your nine times and twenty-four years... is seriously way off the mark!"

"You clearly knew that passing the imperial examination had nothing to do with your performance on the exam. You could only pass if your superiors wanted you to. If your superiors didn't, you'd pass even if you tried your best... Yet, you persisted for twenty-four years despite this situation..."

Zhou Liang didn't know whether to criticize him for being stubborn or praise him for his strong will...

The difference between this kid and Fan Jin is just a matter of going crazy!

"But then again, he should have passed the exam every time, so why does he always fail?"

Zhou Liang couldn't help but start thinking:
Once is luck, twice is coincidence, and three times you can say you are unlucky... but failing the exam eight times in a row, this can't be a matter of luck, it's clearly someone deliberately targeting you!
But the problem is, this guy has no grudges against the officials in Xi'an, so why are they targeting him?

And if you are targeting me, just target me. Why are you suddenly not targeting me this time?

If Zhou Liang's guess is correct, there must be some unknown py transaction involved!

"I hope he can continue on this path, this time unraveling as many of these mysteries as possible... Once he understands them, he can then find a way to ascend to a higher level. I don't ask him to achieve some extraordinary achievements in life, but I simply hope he can clear the fog of the world as much as possible and establish a complete worldview."

"I've lived for over fifty years, and all I've done is serve as an assassin leader in Shaanxi and Bashu. As for the Ming Dynasty, I've never truly understood it... I hope you can do better than I did, and know more than I do in the future..."

With a helpless sigh, Zhou Liang continued to simulate with hope...

……

[“Good news! Master Zhou Huiliang of your family has achieved first place in the Shaanxi Provincial Examination and has been listed in the top three in the Beijing Newspaper!”]

[The messenger shouts and rushes to your door. A banner has already been put up. The red banner clearly states the news that you have passed the imperial examination!]

“Ah! Great! I won!”

[You clapped your hands with a silly smile, tears slowly falling from your eyes...]

At this moment, you suddenly understand Fan Jin's feelings. The disparity between years of hard work and fruitless achievement, and then sudden success, is something that no ordinary person could endure.

There's a sense of fulfillment at the reward of hard work, a sense of satisfaction at having one's achievements recognized, a sense of bitterness at recalling all the times one failed the exam, and a sense of excitement at the prospect of receiving both power and wealth...

【It is normal for Fan Jin to go crazy.】

"But you won't go crazy. Although you've had similar experiences to Fan Jin, you've died twice and witnessed the downfall of the Shaanxi officialdom... As the saying goes, once you've seen the sea, all other waters are but puddles; once you've seen Mount Wu, all other clouds are but puddles." Your perspective has long surpassed that of ordinary people like Fan Jin, so this little commotion isn't enough to completely deplete your sanity...

[But this is a happy event after all. It proves that your efforts over the past 24 years have not been in vain. As long as you keep moving forward, the road ahead will continue to extend!]

【so……】

[“Liang, what are you doing?”]

Your equally surprised parents couldn't help but pat you, the celestial master, on the shoulder: "Why don't you go tell your master and the others the good news! Let's pick a good day and set up a few tables together!"

“Hey! Good!”

You responded with a smile. This was probably the most enjoyable laugh you had had in the past twenty years...

"What? You won?!"

The master, who had long since retired and was now idle at home, almost had his white beard flying off his chin in shock!

After being surprised, he couldn't help but sigh: The money tree has finally grown to the point where it can give him gold coins!

[However, he is no longer greedy for money. Now in his seventies, he just wants to live a peaceful life with his grandchildren. Even if a money tree grows, he doesn't want to shake it...]

"But no matter what, you've been his apprentice for over twenty years, and we've long been like father and son. So he still sincerely congratulated you and, in a rare display of generosity, gave you a gift of fifty taels of silver!"

Next, you made a special trip back to your hometown in the countryside and brought your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a whole host of other relatives to the county town. You all booked a restaurant in the city and had everything you wanted to eat and drink! You, the newly minted scholar, weren't stingy at all and celebrated wherever necessary, which made everyone even more enthusiastic about you.

[You were already a renowned child prodigy and a prominent figure in your hometown. Now that you've passed the imperial examination, you've become an even more sought-after figure!]

Some offered to donate land to you, some offered to become slaves in your family, and some, seeing you had no wife or children, planned to act as a matchmaker for you... In addition to your close friends and relatives, local gentry also sent visiting cards, offering congratulations and gifts, sincerely hoping to bring the two of you closer...

Suddenly, you experienced almost everything Fan Jin went through, and you couldn't help but sigh: "What a grandeur! What a style! No wonder everyone wants to be an official!"

However, you still appropriately rejected their kindness. You accepted the normal gifts, but you flatly rejected those who offered land and slaves: you are not a person like Fan Jin.

Some were delighted, others disappointed: "Now I can't get close to you, the juren!"

After celebrating with friends and family for a few days, you quietly brought some food and wine and came to several desolate graves outside the city...

These are the graves of Li Laiheng and his companions. Back then, Li Laiheng and his companions were already quite old. Now, in the blink of an eye, twenty-four years have passed. Naturally, those old men have long since passed away.

They had no descendants, no relatives, or friends. Ever since the catastrophe in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign, they had lived in solitude, and now they died alone, with only a few old brothers by their side...

You distributed the food and wine to them, then sat in front of Li Laiheng's grave. Looking at the blank tombstone, you couldn't help but sigh.

“Until the very end, I still didn’t know your real names… You’re not Li Laiheng, you’re just an unknown old thief.”

"I understand hiding your identities... but you've done such a good job hiding your identities that I don't even know what to engrave on your tombstones... Your names are unknown, and your deeds are untraceable..."

"The inscriptionless stele... You guys are truly enjoying the emperor's treatment."

You poured Li Laiheng a cup of wine and muttered to yourself, "But this is just as well. If I write that you're thieves, your graves will be dug up sooner or later. It's better not to write it... Anyway, as long as no one knows who you are, no one will dig up your desolate graves in their entire lives..."

["By the way, I finally passed the exam this time and became a juren... Although this is of no use to you, I have completed the task you gave me... Just consider it to make you happy. It doesn't matter if you're not happy..."]

[“Oh, and… don’t expect me to do anything to the Ming Dynasty. I will never reach a high position in my lifetime. At best, I can only live a mediocre life. Don’t expect too much from me…”]

【"besides……"】

You muttered a lot in front of the grave, not caring whether they could hear you or not.

[After a long while, you finally seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, your face lightened with joy...]

"Okay, that's all I have to say."

You smiled and poured yourself a final glass of wine, as if saying goodbye to them... but also as if saying goodbye to your own life over the past twenty years.

[You know, from today on, you will officially enter the power system of the Ming Dynasty and embark on a path different from that of ordinary people. One step forward will lead you to another world...]

【…】

In the seventy-second year of the Chongzhen reign (1699 AD), the lunar year of Jimao, the Shaanxi provincial examinations finally came to an end!

[You, Zhou Liang, a native of Mizhi County in northern Shaanxi, have won the title of provincial champion in one fell swoop!]

In September of that year, the newly appointed Shaanxi Provincial Governor, Ning Bufan, summoned the candidates for the imperial examination and held a "Scholars' Banquet" at the Provincial Governor's Office.

As a top-ranked candidate, you naturally know what the Imperial Examination Banquet means. It means you finally have the opportunity to formally meet the Governor, the most important official in Shaanxi. With your status as a top-ranked candidate, you might even have the honor of conversing with him.

[Of course, it actually has a second meaning: it means that the Governor will personally grant you divine power and teach you in detail the relevant details and knowledge, thus opening your path to transcendence!]

You finally have the chance to officially touch the transcendental, to personally unravel the questions that have troubled you for over twenty years...

[However, to your surprise, before you had time to answer your questions about the extraordinary, the newly appointed Governor met with you privately first and told you with great interest the secret of your success in the imperial examinations despite having failed for so many years...]

……

(End of this chapter)