Top Scholar

Chapter 258 The So-Called Literary Gathering

On March 18th, Mr. Zhang Yanqiu led thirty-one students from Taiping Academy to the prefectural government office to register.

We happened to run into Mr. Liu Dachuan, who was leading twenty-two students from the Zhengyizhai branch of Heshan Academy...

Seeing Su Lu surrounded by a group of unfamiliar students, chatting and laughing with them like family, the students of Zhengyizhai cast resentful glances at him.

Su Lu couldn't help but feel a little guilty, like a heartless man who abandoned his family... After his classmates from Sheng Shen Zhai also entered He Shan Academy, he experienced the helplessness of having two partners at once. If he spent more time with his classmates from Zheng Yi Zhai, his classmates from Sheng Shen Zhai would get jealous, and vice versa.

"I'll go over and say a few words to them," he said with a smile to Li Qiyu and the others.

"Brother, don't rush, let's finish this question first. 'A minister of the king entrusted his wife to his friend and went to travel in Chu.' How can we break through the superficial meaning of 'it is easy to blame others but difficult to blame oneself'?" His classmates from Sheng Shen Zhai wouldn't let him go, but instead grabbed his arms as if they were afraid he would be snatched away.

"Exactly! How can we delve deeper?" The classmates echoed, their strong thirst for knowledge bursting forth.

"Have you no shame?" Zheng Yizhai, who had a short temper, couldn't hold back any longer. "We're all my classmates, why are you all monopolizing me all day long?"

"Because we knew you first, brother!" Li Qiyu said cheekily. "New clothes are worse than old ones, don't you know that?"

“That’s right, we’re all from the same place, and I’m even my brother’s cousin!” Su Dan chimed in.

“We’ve been together for a year, and you even helped us turn our lives around. Our bond is no less than yours!” Zheng Yi Zhai’s classmates pressed the 'scumbag' to make a statement: “Brother, aren’t you right?”

"Ah, right, right, right." Su Lu definitely couldn't say 'no,' which shows that one must be loyal...

"Did you hear that?" The students from Zhengyizhai were overjoyed. "Brother is everyone's brother. It's wrong for you to monopolize him!"

"Quiet!" Fortunately, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Liu finished their procedures and came out in time to stop these shameful people.

The registration for the state examination was basically the same as that for the county examination. Candidates still needed to submit a guarantee certificate for government-subsidized students, a guarantee certificate for five children, a family history of three generations, and a copy of the household registration page from the Yellow Register.

There are two differences: first, the examination fee has increased to two hundred coins; second, in addition to the guarantor being a student with a stipend, a guarantee letter from the county instructor is also required... which is actually the document issued by the county that permits the candidate to take the state examination.

There are certain rules to follow, and you can just follow them. If you get stuck, just slip some money to smooth things over. In short, it took half a day for everyone to get their first round of tickets.

After leaving the prefectural government office, Su Lu took the initiative to go to his classmates at Zhengyizhai and had dinner with them. He promised to give them more love from their parents in the future, which finally soothed their wounded hearts.

~~
On March 20th, Wenzhantang graduated.

For the next ten days, prominent families in Luzhou City would provide quiet and elegant meeting places and invite "local scholars" who were well-versed in the imperial examinations, such as successful candidates or experienced old scholars, to explain to the candidates the techniques for breaking down the eight-legged essay and the connection between policy and current affairs, so as to help the candidates accurately grasp the pulse of the government.

In fact, the literary gathering hall served the same purpose, but candidates dared not neglect the latter while attending the former. This was because, compared to the purely academic literary gathering hall, the literary gatherings organized by local gentry also provided candidates with opportunities to gain recognition. Once they gained the appreciation and recommendation of the local gentry, their chances of passing the provincial examination would greatly increase.

Therefore, candidates were required to attend at least one of the literary gatherings of the seven major families, and those who could afford it might attend three to five. There were also those who refused to participate, only to be taught a harsh lesson by reality the following year. They would then have to obediently beg for an invitation and dutifully send money… uh, to attend the literary gathering.

Invitations were supposed to be given free of charge by the host family to the candidates, but apart from famous scholars from Luzhou like Su Lu, Zhu Zihe, and Bai Yunshan who could receive a stack of invitations while sitting at home, most people didn't even know who you were.

Some might ask, "Isn't there a list of candidates for the county-level examinations? Can't we just check it?" Indeed, we could easily find out by checking, but why would they need to?

If you want to attend the literary gathering, you have to ask for it yourself. Stewards, doormen, even tavern owners and innkeepers all have stacks of empty invitations, but why would they give you one? Of course, it's because of money…

"Two taels of silver per card, don't complain about the price!" In the county office, Qiao Feng showed off the Han family invitations he had bought. "I've been observing for two days, and this is already the cheapest price I can get."

"How come I spent five taels to get it?" Li Qiyu took out his white banknote.

"Because you're stupid," Cheng Wanfan said smugly, showing off his invitation from the Li family. "I only need five hundred coins!"

"real or fake?"

"So cheap!" The classmates were all shocked and took it over to examine it. They quickly noticed the problem.

Ma Qianli pointed to the address on the wall and said, "This isn't right. All of ours are from the Li family of Daqiao, why are you from the Ji family of Quanqiao?"

"Huh? It really is!" Cheng Wanfan was dumbfounded. He quickly snatched it back and took a closer look. Sure enough, he saw a very subtle stroke above the character "Li". If you didn't look closely, you would think that the stroke of the character "Li" was off-center.

The same principle applies to the character for "dog" (犬).

"Damn it! How dare you sell me counterfeit goods!" Cheng Wanfan's face turned bright red, and he was about to go find the seller.

"Don't go, you probably won't find them," Lin Zhihong said. "Did someone on the street ask you if you needed an invitation?"

“Yes.” Cheng Wanfan nodded and said, “He pulled open his clothes to show me. They were all different colors, and they were cheaper than in the market.”

"Why would he sell it to you so cheaply?" "He said he bought too many and was selling them off cheaply..." Cheng Wanfan said shyly, "I bought several more, thinking I'd share them with you."

"Thanks," his classmates patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "We appreciate it."

"Sigh, now you know who's the idiot between us, right?" Li Qiyu sighed.

"You two are both pretty stupid," Cheng Wanzhou snorted.

"No way, I'll search the whole city to find that guy!" Cheng Wanfan said angrily, baring his teeth.

"Don't go," Ma Zhaizhang also stopped him, saying, "What's the use of finding him? The exam is in a few days. If you get into a dispute with someone, you'll be the one who suffers."

“That’s right, they did this because they knew you wouldn’t dare report it to the authorities.” Su Lu walked in from outside. “Just consider it a lesson learned.”

"I've learned my lesson the hard way..." Cheng Wanfan looked at the five invitations in his hand, on the verge of tears.

"How about this, I'll go to the Zhu family's literary gathering tomorrow. You can come with me and we don't need invitations to get in." Su Lu said, then added to the others, "Anyone who doesn't have an invitation can come along too."

"Isn't that inappropriate? You'll get blamed for doing that," Ma Qianli said worriedly.

"Going to other people's homes is inappropriate, but going to the Zhu family is fine." Su Lu waved his hand with a smile, then said in a low voice, "But this is all I can do to help. Any more would be inappropriate."

"Understood, understood." The classmates stopped talking. Although they were young, they were all very clear about the ins and outs of this matter, knowing that to get an introduction, they would have to pay at least one hundred taels of silver as a fee! Su Lu's influence wasn't that great.

And while they wouldn't shy away from talking about buying invitations, they would absolutely never discuss their experiences buying calligraphy and paintings. Few people would be foolish enough to bring up such a low-class matter…

Who bought and who didn't can only be guessed. To be on the safe side, we can only assume that everyone bought, so in the end, I have to grit my teeth and beg for a couple of calligraphy and paintings before I can feel at ease entering the market.

As for those who genuinely can't afford it, then they can only do what Chun Ge'er did two years ago: participate for the sake of participation...

In reality, those wealthy and powerful families didn't care about the few dozen taels of silver per person. They were using this method to exclude scholars from poor families as much as possible, in order to ensure the chances of their own children passing the exam.

Just as Su Lu once said, although the aristocratic clans have long since disappeared, there are always people trying to revive them.

Is it dark? Yes, it is, but it's already the fairest path in this era...

~~
The next day, Su Lu took four classmates, including Cheng Wanfan, to the Zhu family to attend a literary gathering.

The literary gathering was held in the elegant Zhu family school and was divided into two parts. The first part was guided and answered by the local teachers, and the second part was a composition on a given topic. All the candidates present received one-on-one guidance.

With a clear, ringing chime, the literary gathering began.

The village elder sat in the seat of honor. After the candidates bowed respectfully, they sat upright on the cushion below and listened to the guidance of their senior.

The mentors all possessed insightful perspectives and unique information, which greatly benefited the candidates. They also answered all the candidates' questions earnestly, demonstrating their mentorship and guidance towards the younger generation.

An hour later, the first half of the exam ended. The candidates bowed and expressed their gratitude, while the respected village teachers moved to the next room to rest.

The servants then served tea and delicate refreshments for the examinees to enjoy...

The examinees sipped fragrant tea while pondering the questions left by their teachers. Outside the window, bamboo shadows swayed, and a warm breeze carried their sweet aroma—truly an elegant scene!
After the tea break, the candidates began to write. Once they finished, they were led one by one to the next room to receive individual guidance from the village teachers.

The local scholars carefully commented on each candidate's essay, but what they said beyond that remains unknown.

Anyway, when Su Lu went in with the article, he didn't hear a single offensive word...

Master Zhu held his hand and said with a smile, "This is the old scholar's outstanding student, my younger brother's disciple, and my son's senior brother."

"So it's Su, the top scholar. My apologies for not recognizing you." All the local scholars stood up and bowed to him.

Zhu Jie then reintroduced several local scholars to Su Lu… Previously, he had only introduced their academic qualifications, but this time he also introduced their identities.

Among them was a staff member of Prefect Jia, who smiled at Su Lu and said, "Hongzhi, we went to Hejiang together, do you remember me?"

"Of course I remember." Su Lu quickly cupped his hands and smiled, "Mr. Feng has been very kind to me, how could I forget?"

"Hahaha," Feng Muyou laughed, "I heard you've already won first place in the Hejiang County examination, what are you doing here at this literary gathering?"

(End of this chapter)