Top Scholar

Chapter 370 The Economics of Jieyuan

Commander Ma was overjoyed. When he invested in the Su family, he had hoped that Su Lu would pass the imperial examination in the future.

But no one expected this day to come so quickly, and two of them even passed the imperial examination, with Su Lu even becoming the top scholar!

This was truly a case of losing a sesame seed and gaining a watermelon; how could he not be overjoyed?
If there's anything you can't handle in the future, Scholar Su can help you sort it out. And if Scholar Su can't handle it, there's always Scholar Su!
He couldn't imagine what problem in Sichuan that a top scholar like Jie Yuanlang couldn't solve.

This is not mere conjecture; the network of relationships in officialdom is woven from connections among classmates, fellow students, and fellow townsmen.

What does "fellow examinees" mean? Seventy candidates who passed the imperial examination in the same year were considered fellow examinees, and the relationship between them was called "year friendship." This was the most valuable interpersonal relationship among the candidates—no one dared to disregard this friendship, because if you didn't help your fellow examinees when they needed it, they wouldn't help you when you needed it.

Moreover, among the seventy successful candidates, some will inevitably become Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), even becoming members of the Hanlin Academy, or rising to the highest ranks of officialdom, reaching the pinnacle of their lives and becoming your natural and powerful backers. At that time, you can easily fawn over the big shots that others can't even dream of getting close to. Wouldn't that be incredibly splendid?
Therefore, officialdom places great importance on seniority. Out of consideration for being born in the same year, they will help if they can, and if they can't, they will find a way to help...

This was just an ordinary Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination), while Su Lu was a Jieyuan (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination) who could surpass Yang Shen. The entire Sichuan officialdom would give him a lot of face!

Overwhelmed with excitement, Commander Ma said in a deep voice, "Quickly give the order: the Garrison Command will be given a three-day holiday, and each household will be given a jar of Erlang wine and two catties of fresh pork. The entire garrison will celebrate the two Lord Sus's success in the imperial examination!"

"Yes, sir!" the deputy commander replied loudly. He used to avoid such matters whenever possible, but now he was quite eager to participate!
We can't afford to be passive. Given the relationship between the Su and Ma families, even if Commander Qianhu retires, he won't be able to turn the tide. If we don't act proactively, we won't be able to survive in the future...

"Lord Su has no other plans, shall we have a drink?" Commander Ma asked Su Youjin with a smile.

"We need to hurry back to the clan to share the good news and make our ancestors happy." Su Youjin no longer needed to be a mere yes-man.

"Of course! Filial piety should be the priority for those who are filial and incorruptible! How could I, an old senile man, forget this?" Commander Ma slapped his forehead and laughed, "Then let's wait a couple of days and let the brothers prepare as well."

"Yes, yes, yes." The officers nodded in agreement; preparing such a generous gift would indeed take some time.

"Then we'll take our leave." Su Youjin then prepared to depart with Youma.

"Wait a minute," Commander Ma saw that Su Youma was riding a strong and agile Akhal-Teke horse, which made Su Youjin's Yunnan horse look small and rustic. He ordered his own precious horse, Zhaoye Yusuanni, to be brought over and personally handed the reins to Su Youjin, saying, "This one is safe to ride."

"Isn't this inappropriate? This is the master's beloved horse," Su Youjin quickly declined.

"Alas, I am too old to ride a horse. If Lord Su rides it, he can bring more benefits to the people of Chishui River." Commander Ma resolutely gave it up.

Su Youjin had no choice but to accept the commander's kindness and rode off on his pure white steed with Su Youma.

After watching the Su brothers disappear from sight, Commander Ma hurried home and had his young wife pack his belongings.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" the young lady asked.

"I'm going to the county town to congratulate my brother. His eldest grandson passed the imperial examination..." Ma Qianhu said, rummaging through his belongings.

"Ah?" The young lady was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth. "He really taught his grandson to pass the exam?"

"He didn't finish. His grandson, who was a classmate of Qianli, even passed the provincial examination with top honors!" Commander Ma said, still looking shocked.

"My goodness!" The young lady was so shocked that she plopped down on the edge of the bed, patting her chest and saying, "What good fortune did Qianli accumulate to be able to be a classmate of the top scholar?"

"Right?" Commander Ma rolled his eyes at her and said, "I told you before that investing in their company would be the most profitable deal, do you believe me now?"

"I believe you, I believe you." The young lady nodded vigorously, abandoning her usual stingy nature, and said, "Bring all the money from home. He's a top scholar and a successful candidate in the provincial examinations, so we need to prepare a generous gift!"

"Haha, now the people who want to flatter my old brother are so many that they could line up outside his house in the city." Commander Ma shook his head and laughed. "Now even if you prepare generous gifts, you can't win his heart. Fortunately, I have put in a lot of effort over the years, and this time it will be enough."

As he spoke, he counted on his fingers and said, "There are still his three grandsons' marriages to attend to. What if he passes the imperial examination next year and then has a great-grandson... Let's take it easy."

“Indeed, we’ve given too much this time. How can we afford it later?” The young lady quickly nodded, agreeing with whatever he said.

Despite being told to take it easy, Commander Ma still prepared a full thousand taels of silver as a congratulatory gift, and then took his whole family to the dock, preparing to take a boat to the county town to offer his congratulations...

~~
In the short time it took Commander Ma to return home, the good news of Su Lu's passing the imperial examination with top honors had already spread throughout Taiping Town.

The town instantly became a sea of ​​joy, with every household hanging up firecrackers. The sound of firecrackers was like a pot of boiling porridge, never stopping, and in the blink of an eye, the entire street was covered in red!

Men, women, and children all flocked to the streets to join the celebrations. Everyone was incredibly excited and proud—Su Jieyuan was a legitimate son who had come from their Taiping Town!
"Oh dear, Su Jieyuan had it tough. That year, to raise tuition fees, he sold sweet water at the temple fair during the Lunar New Year, scraping together each copper coin one by one. It was truly a difficult time!" sighed the old temple keeper of the River God Temple.

"Really?" The out-of-town merchant found it hard to believe. Studying is an expensive endeavor, how could a top scholar rise from humble beginnings?
"Of course it's true!" countless people exclaimed in unison. "We even bought sweet drinks from him back then. The top scholar was small in stature, but very handsome and polite!"

"It was the money he earned from selling sweet water that enabled him to attend Taiping Academy!" The crowd pointed towards Guanshan in the south of the town and said, "But he still couldn't afford to live at the school, so he walked twenty li to and from school every day!"

"Yes, back then you could see him all the time. Before dawn, he would carry an old book box on his back and walk along the road reciting his lessons aloud. His pronunciation was so clear and melodious!" Old Zhang, the night watchman, said with a face full of admiration, "I said back then that this kid would definitely amount to something!"

"Nonsense! You clearly said back then that this kid must be a bookworm who wouldn't even know if he stepped in cow dung!" The crowd then started to jeer and laugh.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Old Zhang's expression changed, and he hurriedly covered his mouth, saying, "The top scholar is a star in the sky. If he speaks disrespectfully, his tongue will rot!" "Then you should go to the temple and pray to Jiang Taigong to help you make peace. Keep your tongue so you can report the next day." The neighbors laughed.

"Mmm." Old Zhang quickly covered his mouth.

The others, however, continued to reminisce enthusiastically about every detail of the top scholar's life...

Aunt Zhu, who ran the tea stall, said in a booming voice, "Once, it suddenly rained heavily. The top scholar went to school without an umbrella, so he took shelter under my stall. I saw that his nose was red from the cold, so I made him a bowl of hot yak tea!"

She said with a proud look, "The top scholar was very polite, he kept saying 'Thank you, Auntie,' and after finishing the drink he said 'It was really delicious!'"

"Quickly, give me a bowl of 'cowhide tea' too. I want to see what the top scholar's tea tastes like!" Everyone immediately became interested and surrounded the tea stall, begging the auntie for tea.

"Auntie, you should stop calling it 'cowhide tea' and start calling it 'scholar's tea'!" someone advised Aunt Zhu. "You can support three generations with this tea."

"Change it! Change it!" Aunt Zhu readily agreed and shouted, "Jieyuan tea! Jieyuan tea! Two coins a bowl, try the tea that the Jieyuan drinks!"

"Good heavens, isn't it supposed to be one penny a bowl?"

"Since Young Master Su has become the top scholar in the imperial examination, the price of his tea must also go up!" Sister-in-law Zhu said matter-of-factly.

"That makes sense." Surprisingly, everyone accepted it, and their enthusiasm for drinking tea remained undiminished...

Inspired by this, the owner of Liu's Restaurant also called out loudly, "Gentlemen, after drinking the Jieyuan Tea, why not try the Jieyuan Meal? The Jieyuan Scholar loves to eat at my restaurant. After every monthly exam, he always comes to our restaurant for a meal with his classmates!"

"Okay, okay, we'll have lunch at your place!" Liu's Restaurant was instantly packed.

In no time, vendors everywhere followed suit, desperately trying to associate themselves with the top scholar. All sorts of things like top scholar cakes, top scholar hats, top scholar umbrellas, top scholar sugar figurines, top scholar lanterns... sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

The sweet water shop owned by the top scholar was packed with people. Who wouldn't want to drink the sweet water from the top scholar's family? Not only did they drink it themselves, but they also had to take some home for their children. They couldn't refuse to drink it!
Even the town's madam was envious, waving her handkerchief and laughing, "Speaking of which, Scholar Su is a regular customer here..."

"roll!"

"Shut up!" To everyone's surprise, this only drew a chorus of condemnation from the crowd.

"Don't talk nonsense. Su Jieyuan was only fourteen when he was in town. He was still a child!"

"Su Jieyuan is a respectable scholar, how could he go to such a place!"

"That's right! If you keep making up these lies and ruining Jie Yuangong's reputation, I'll smash your brothel!"

The madam was practically drowning in angry spittle. Knowing she had incurred the wrath of the crowd, she had no choice but to resort to her trump card: "I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have dragged the top scholar into this. To express my apology, everything is free today!"

"Alright, this won't happen again!" On such a joyous occasion, everyone let it go.

~~
At the foot of Guanshan Mountain, Taiping Academy has moved to the county seat, and this place has now been transformed into Taiping Elementary School, providing education for the town's children.

The children surrounded the headmaster, chattering excitedly, "Sir, sir, did the top scholar really study here?"

The usually serious-looking Zhang Shanzhang had a smug look on his face, but he quickly regained his composure. He stroked his beard and said leisurely, "Of course, I was the one who gave the scholar his courtesy name."

Then, as if casually recalling, he said, "When he was little, he loved my wife's crispy fried dough. Sigh, now that he's passed the imperial examination, he's asking his teacher for more food."

"Really?" The children couldn't believe it. They looked at each other, unable to comprehend that someone like them could produce a top scholar.

"Follow me." Zhang Yanqiu led the students out of the school gate and to the east wall. He lifted the curtain covering the wall and pointed to the four characters on the white wall, saying, "Read."

"Er, Lang, Su, Lu!" the students chanted in unison.

"Wow, the top scholar really studied here!" Now they were completely convinced.

"Of course, he was the last one to enter school back then." Zhang Yanqiu encouraged the elementary school students in front of him, "But through diligent study, he eventually became the top scholar in the imperial examination!"

"We'll study hard too! We'll pass the imperial examination with flying colors!" The children immediately perked up and dashed back to the classroom.

"At the beginning of life, people are inherently good..." Before long, the sound of reading aloud echoed throughout the golden campus.

Zhang Yanqiu smiled and shook his head, gazing at the sunset, his eyes squinting contentedly.

"I actually became Jie Yuan's teacher, hehehe..."

(End of this chapter)