Top Scholar

Chapter 443 The Top Scholars and Old Zhang
Sichuan Guild Hall.

Once everyone had quieted down, Yang Shen introduced Su Lu to everyone, saying, "This is Brother Zhang, the top scholar of this year's imperial examination in Shuntian."

The tall man who had spoken first bowed to Su Lu, his tone humble yet revealing the worldliness of a scholar from the capital: "Brother Su, I have long admired you. I am Zhang Xingfu from Daxing County, Shuntian Prefecture, courtesy name Zixian. If you have any questions about the capital, please feel free to ask me."

"I've heard so much about you. My name is Hongzhi, and I'll be troubling you quite a bit in the future, Brother Zixian," Su Lu said politely in return.

Yang Shen then pointed to a slender scholar with gentle features, "This is Wu Jieyuan from Yingtian."

"My name is Wu Shi, courtesy name Kexue, from Yicheng." Wu Jieyuan also smiled and cupped his hands to Su Lu, saying, "I was fortunate enough to be the top scholar in Yingtian, but unfortunately I set off a step too early and was unable to witness Brother Hongzhi's lecturing in Jinling."

"I am ashamed, it is all thanks to the kindness of the elders and seniors in Nanjing." Su Lu hurriedly returned the greeting with a cupped hand, saying, "We are all in the capital now, so we have plenty of time to discuss the classics."

Then Yang Shen introduced to Su Lu the top scholars of this year's imperial examinations: Zhang Zhi from Zhejiang, Xia Liangsheng from Jiangxi, Zhu Zhe from Fujian, Liao Shan from Huguang, Li Jieyi from Shandong, and Huang Jin from Guangdong...

There was also a short man in his thirties from Zhejiang who had passed the provincial examination. He explained, "My name is Zhang Cong, courtesy name Bingyong. I passed the provincial examination in the eleventh year of the Hongzhi reign. I have failed the metropolitan examination three times already. I am ashamed."

Upon hearing this, Su Lu's pupils contracted, and he politely cupped his hands, saying, "Brother, your ability to pass the imperial examination in Zhejiang is enough to prove your ability. It's just that your literary luck hasn't arrived yet, so what's there to be ashamed of?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cong's face relaxed, and he said gratefully, "People say that if you haven't met Su Jieyuan in your life, all your reading of poetry and books is in vain. Meeting you today, I can confirm that your reputation is well-deserved!"

"Who's making fun of me?" Su Lu couldn't help but chuckle.

"Him!" Everyone pointed at Yang Shen.

"I knew there was no one else here," Su Lu said feigning annoyance, and everyone burst into laughter.

After they sat down again and chatted for a while, the top scholars looked at each other, and then Zhang Xingfu, the top scholar from Shuntian, spoke up: "Brother Hongzhi, have you heard the rumors in the capital?"

Su Lu knew they wouldn't come to the capital without a reason, so he said calmly, "I've only just arrived in the capital and haven't had a chance to rest yet. What's going on in the capital?"

"Something terrible has happened!" all the top scholars exclaimed in unison.

"Oh, what's the big deal?" Su Lu asked curiously.

“The list of those admitted through the provincial examination has already been finalized, so it doesn’t really matter whether we take the exam or not,” Zhang Xingfu said angrily.

"How could that be?" Su Lu said incredulously, "The provincial examination hasn't even started yet, how could they possibly recruit candidates?"

"Can't you see how dark the officialdom is these days from what my brother experienced last winter?" Wu Shi said coldly. "Let me tell you, everyone already knows who the top scorer and the second-place winner of this year's imperial examination are!"

"Who?" Su Lu asked knowingly.

"Jiao Huangzhong, the son of Grand Secretary Jiao, and Liu Ren, the son of Minister Liu of the Ministry of War!" Zhang Xingfu and the others exclaimed in unison.
"Besides those two, many other candidates have already been pre-selected for admission. In short, this imperial examination is just a formality."

"Is this really that outrageous?" Su Lu was dumbfounded.

"Yes, that's how outrageous it is!" the crowd exclaimed angrily. "It's absolutely outrageous! In the entire century of our dynasty, we've never heard of anything like it!"

"We all want to quit the exam!" Li Jieyi, the top scholar from Shandong, slammed his fist on the tea table, then said dejectedly:
"But with three or four thousand candidates from the two capitals and thirteen provinces vying for those three hundred spots, we'd be more willing to not take the exam than others."

"Yes, if we don't take the exam, plenty of others will," the other candidates said helplessly. "Ultimately, we come from all over the country, and we're from all different fields. It's really too difficult to get everyone to think and work together towards the same goal..."

"If only Brother Hongzhi could have gone to the capital earlier." Everyone looked at Su Lu with regret: "If you had raised your voice, you would have had a great response."

"..." Su Lu thought to himself, "Luckily I arrived late," and said with a wry smile, "You all think too highly of me. What merit do I have?"

"Your reputation has already spread along the Yangtze River to all corners of the country. Among scholars, no one is unaware of you. We are all willing to follow your lead!" the top scholars said in unison.

“You are all mistaken. I am just a junior scholar who has just left Sichuan for the first time. I was arrested and brought to the capital by the Embroidered Uniform Guard on a whim.” Su Lu was not fooled and waved his hand, saying, “The officials and people of the prefectures and counties along the way gave me a grand reception to express their protest, not because of me.”

He gave a wry smile and said, "You may not know this, but ever since I was acquitted and traveled north, I have never seen any crowds to greet me."

“We can testify to this,” Xia Bangmo, Xiao Tingjie, and the others nodded, “It’s like experiencing two completely different worlds before and after crossing the river.”

"..." All the top scholars looked at the elder brother, and Zhang Cong smiled and said, "Brother Hongzhi, there is no need to be modest. No matter what, your reputation is far above all of ours. You are the only one who can be the leader."

"Hey, you can't say that." Su Lu glanced at Zhang Cong, thinking to himself, "The Great Rites Controversy hasn't even started yet, what are you jumping around for?"
Before the crowd could offer any further advice, Su Lu waved his hand and said seriously, "Let's not discuss who should be the leader yet. Instead, tell me what you're planning to do."

“Don’t worry, Brother Hongzhi, we won’t do anything before the exam,” Zhang Xingfu said. “After all, the official admission list hasn’t been released yet, and rumors are just rumors. It would be hard to justify a strike at this point.”

“The key is that many candidates won’t admit defeat until they see the coffin,” Wu Shi said. “They always feel that even if there’s some shady dealings, they can still pass, so they’re unwilling to cause trouble before the exam.” “Yes, right now everyone’s mind is on the exam, so a strike won’t amount to much,” Zhang Cong nodded and said quietly. “But things will be different after the provincial exam.”

"That's right, nine out of ten candidates will fail, and everyone will be furious!" Li Jieyi, the top scholar from Shandong, said in a muffled voice, "As soon as they see that Jiao and Liu are indeed the first and second place winners, there will definitely be an uproar!"

"When the time comes, we'll raise our voices again, and surely a great crowd will respond. We'll lead everyone to beat the drum of appeal, begging the Emperor to uphold justice for us and hold a new imperial examination!" Zhang Zhi, Xia Liangsheng, and the others said excitedly.
"The chances of success will be much greater then!"

"Brother Hongzhi, please join us and lead everyone in filing a petition with the Emperor!" All the top scholars turned to Su Lu with pleading eyes.

Looking at the youthful innocence on their faces, Su Lu nodded helplessly and said, "If that is indeed the case, I will do my duty without hesitation."

"Great!" The scholars were overjoyed, as if they were one step closer to victory in the struggle.

"With Brother Hongzhi taking the lead, everyone will surely follow!"

~~
At this moment, the manager of the guild hall came over and said that the banquet was ready.

The scholars then moved to the back hall, where they ate and chatted.

During the gathering, the candidates who had arrived in the capital early shared many hearsay tales of corruption and corruption—

"As soon as I arrived in the capital, I heard that if you want to pass the imperial examination this year, you have to give gifts to Sun Cong, the clerk of the Ministry of Rites."

"Even the Minister of Rites can't decide who will pass the imperial examination, so how can a mere clerk like him have such power?" Xia Bangmo found it hard to believe.

“Because he’s Eunuch Liu’s brother-in-law!” Zhang Xingfu sneered.

"I see!" Xia Bangmo and the others suddenly realized.

"Steward Sun has clearly stated the price: two thousand taels for candidates from Shaanxi, five thousand taels for candidates from other provinces." Zhang Zhi said with a self-deprecating laugh, "As for us candidates from Zhejiang, we get ten thousand taels."

"The scholars from Henan don't need to go through Sun Cong's connections, because they all send their money to Jiao Fang's residence," Li Jieyi said with a sneer.
"It's not just the two of them; the others in the Eight Tigers also have connections, but they charge even higher prices, so not many people go to them."

"Actually, they're still the better ones. What's even more hateful are the many swindlers in Beijing, each one boasting that they have connections to the heavens, swindling countless candidates out of their fortunes, only to leave them with nothing in the end..."

“There are plenty of swindlers around the provincial guild halls, who specifically target us out-of-province candidates. Please be careful not to fall for their tricks.”

"Don't worry, if we don't pass the exam, so be it. We won't do anything dirty." The group of Sichuan scholars said very frankly.

But the provincial graduates disagreed; everyone would say the same thing to their faces...

"Brothers, I don't understand," Lin Zhihong couldn't help but ask, "There were a series of anti-cheating measures during the provincial examinations, such as body searches, locking the courtyard, and sealing the copies. The metropolitan examination should be even stricter. How could they possibly choose whoever they want?"

“Brother, you are too naive.” Zhang Cong sneered, “There are no secrets in this world. As long as you are capable enough, you can take whoever you want.”

“Indeed, there are ways,” Zhang Xingfu continued. “For example, before the exam, you can agree on a few special ‘key words,’ such as those ending with ‘Yu Xiu Xi.’ When the examiner sees these three words in the agreed-upon location, they’ll know that this is someone they want to take care of!”

"This method is very discreet; as long as both parties keep their mouths shut, it won't be discovered," Xia Liangsheng said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"To be honest, we've always wanted to get our hands on this term and spread it around so that people can't distinguish between Feng Jing and Ma Liang. Unfortunately, we've wasted a lot of money, and the term we got is different for each person."

"Hahaha, you guys got scammed!" Everyone burst into laughter. "No wonder you hate scammers so much, turns out you were victims too."

"To maintain secrecy, these words must have been decided at the last minute." Zhang Cong nodded and said, "Those of us who didn't get the right connections couldn't get them even if we spent money."

"Alas, the harm done to us is not just the words on the key points," said Liao Shan, the top scholar from Huguang, after taking a swig of wine. "I heard that Jiao Fang, in collusion with Liu Jin, is going to adjust the list of candidates from the North and South, reducing the number of places available to us Southern candidates."

"They can change this?" The group of Sichuan examinees were truly stunned this time. If the North and South lists were changed, they would be in trouble.

Because Sichuan locals are beneficiaries of the North-South ranking system...

"There's no smoke without fire. They've already committed the heinous act of increasing the quotas for Shaanxi and Henan, so I don't think it's surprising that they're adjusting the North and South lists again!" Wu Shi said with a wry smile.

"I also heard that Jiao Fang instructed the examination hall to give the older examination slots to candidates from Henan, while reserving the younger ones for candidates from Jiangnan, Jiangxi. They even wanted people from Yuyao to sit in the worst slots!"

"Good heavens, it turns out that Grand Secretary Jiao is a regional stigmatizer!" Su Lu, who had been mostly silent, finally couldn't help but complain.

P.S.: The next chapter will be available tomorrow morning. Please vote with your monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)