White-robed Minister

Chapter 117 0115 [News Reaches Back to Guangdong]

The soldiers of the Xiang Army in the Song Dynasty were proficient in everything except fighting.

For example, they do a very good job in the postal service.

A relay station was set up every ten li. Depending on how busy it was, each relay station was staffed with 4 to 12 soldiers.

These garrison soldiers belonged to the Xiang Army system.

It is said that there is a post station every ten li, but in some remote areas or areas with smooth waterways, the distance between post stations is much greater than ten li.

Based on delivery speed, it is divided into three levels.

It could travel two hundred li a day and could deliver both text and goods.

Those who could travel three or four hundred li a day could only deliver written messages, such as information on disaster relief, river defense, tax collection, and general military intelligence.

Any mission requiring a daily mile travel of over 500 li (approximately 250 kilometers) was considered an urgent military emergency. Regulations even stipulated that clerks were not allowed inside buildings, and that any shouts heard from afar...

Upon seeing the flag, one must prepare the horses in advance so that the handover can take place immediately upon meeting.

Outside Shaozhou City.

A courier entered the post station, put down a large pile of things, and said, "Official documents. Gazette. Private letters. And a package of some unknown items. Please sign for it."

The shopkeeper was a literate veteran of the local militia. He carefully checked whether the official documents and items had been opened and only signed his name after confirming that everything was in order.

Immediately afterwards, the shopkeeper summoned two of his subordinates: "Deliver the official documents and gazette to the prefectural government. Deliver the private letter and this package to the county government; it was sent by Magistrate Wei's family."

The reports were copied by the Imperial Secretariat, and each clerk was responsible for sending copies of the official gazettes to three or four prefectures.

The prefectural government had specialized clerks who were responsible for receiving and copying the official gazettes, and then sending copies to the counties under the prefecture's jurisdiction.

Liu Qifa was the official in charge of reporting to the emperor in Shaozhou. In addition to copying the official gazette, he also had to handle and copy a large number of official documents.

He didn't take the official gazette seriously; it was always dealt with last. He should have checked what official documents were in it first and forwarded them to the relevant departments immediately to avoid delaying the important business of each office.

After forwarding the official documents, Liu Qifa finally read the official gazette.

Today's official gazette has an extra page, with a detailed list of the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

Liu Qifa did not look at the list of successful candidates, as it had little to do with Guangdong, since often no one from Guangdong passed the exams.

After copying down the other official documents, he then copied down the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations. When he got to Yang Shu, Liu Qifa chuckled to himself, "It's truly rare for someone from Guangdong to pass the exam."

Even at this point, Liu Qifa didn't realize anything. Because Xu Lai's name was followed by the Imperial Academy (Guozijian Taixue).

"Have you finished copying the official documents over there?" Liu Qifa asked his colleague.

My colleague replied, "I just finished copying it."

"Stop resting, let's copy the official gazette together," Liu Qifa said. "Besides the regular official news, there's also the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations. There are quite a few words, enough for us to copy."

My colleague jokingly asked, "How many people from Guangdong got in?"

"One of them is named Yang Shu, from Guangzhou," Liu Qifa said.

A colleague couldn't help but exclaim, "This guy must be incredibly lucky! He's probably the only one like this in Guangdong these past few years!"

"Yes, just him," Liu Qifa said.

The two shared the official gazette and copied it together, and soon they pulled in two other colleagues to join them.

All the major government offices in the prefecture city had to send a copy, and copies also had to be sent to the county government offices in each county.

Zhang Kai, the prefect of Shaozhou, only received the official gazette the next day.

Zhang Kai was already over sixty years old and had never passed the imperial examinations before, but he had persevered through sheer hardship to finally achieve it. He glanced through the documents and then looked at the list of successful candidates.

Xu Lai?

Imperial Academy?

Zhang Kai suddenly sat up straight.

Of course he knew who Xu Lai was; he had seen him at Yu Jing's funeral last year.

Zhang Kai summoned his personal advisor: "Make a copy of the list of successful candidates and send it to Old Madam Lin and Young Master Yu."

The staff dared not be negligent.

Although Yu Jing has passed away, his students and former subordinates are still around. If Zhang Kai befriends Yu Jing's descendants, it might come in handy someday.

However, it was inconvenient for Zhang Kai to personally appear, because Xu Lai's current status was only that of Yu Jing's disciple, and the two families had not yet gotten engaged due to the mourning period.

Sending an advisor to inform them was just the right move.

During this period, Yu Zhongxun mainly did four things.

She sorted through her father's manuscripts, received mourners, was occasionally invited to give lectures at schools, and supervised her younger brother and son's studies every day.

Yu Zhongxun put away his manuscript and walked out of his study, only to find a large group of people gathered in the backyard. Besides his younger brother, son, and daughter, his two unmarried sisters were also there.

"What are you doing?" Yu Zhongxun asked with a dark face.

Yu Shuying smiled and said, "Brother, we are doing a physics experiment. A few days ago, we asked a craftsman to grind more than a dozen lenses out of crystal. By observing the size of the light spot on the paper with one side facing the sun and the other side facing a piece of white paper, we can measure the focal length of the lens. This was recorded in a booklet that Xingzhi left behind when he passed by our house on his way to the capital for the imperial examination."

"Yes, brother, that booklet is very interesting," Pianpian said with a smile as she walked to Yu Zhongxun's side. "Third brother also taught us the books 'Mathematics' and 'Geometry'."

Yu Zhongxun looked at his younger brother, eldest son, and second son, and couldn't help but show a helpless expression. These three accounts had already been ruined.

He then looked at his third and fourth sons and scolded them, "You two, go and study right now!"

The small one can still be salvaged; who knows, he might even pass the imperial examination in the future.

Pianpian winked at the others, signaling them to hurry up and slip away, while she tugged at Yu Zhongxun's sleeve and said coquettishly, "Brother, don't be angry. We're planning to make our own telescope so we can see very, very far away."

Just as Yu Zhongxun was about to say something, a maid came over and invited them all to the reception room.

Yu Zhongxun thought there were more guests who had come from afar to mourn their father, so he quickly led his younger siblings, son and daughter to greet them.

As a result, they only met with the prefect's staff.

"Pianpian, look what this is?" Lin said with a smile.

Pianpian walked over curiously and saw the words "List of Jinshi" (进士名录), followed by "First Place: Xu Lai" (第一名徐来). Her eyes widened in disbelief: "Zhuangyuan—Zhuangyuan?" (状元?)

Madam Lin smiled and nodded, then handed the list of successful candidates to her son.

Yu Zhongxun was equally astonished upon seeing this: "He actually managed to become the top scholar?"

Madam Lin was quite relieved: "Your father was right. I just thought Xu Sanlang was smart and steady, and guessed that if he studied hard for a few more years, he might pass the imperial examination. But I never expected that he would become the top scholar this year."

At this moment, the servant brought copper coins, which Lin gave to the advisor who came to deliver the message, and then asked Yu Shuying to see the advisor out.

Yu Sigong leaned closer for a closer look, as excited as if he himself had passed the imperial examination with top honors: "I knew it! Xu Sanlang would definitely pass!"

Yu Zhongxun slapped his son on the head: "Mind your seniority!"

Yu Sigong covered his head: "I'm not engaged to my aunt yet, am I? I'm older than him, what's wrong with calling him Xu Sanlang?"

"Even if he wasn't engaged to your aunt, he was still your grandfather's disciple!" Yu Zhongxun rebuked.

Yu Wuniang held Pianpian's hand and said, "Sixth Sister, congratulations!"

Pianpian tried to appear reserved, but couldn't suppress the upturned corners of her mouth: "He has never disappointed; he always keeps his word."

Just then, Lady Su arrived after hearing the news.

Yu Zhongxun handed the list of successful candidates to his wife.

Madam Su accepted the document with a puzzled look, but was overjoyed when she saw Xu Lai's ranking: "Xu Sanlang is indeed clever! Sixth Sister has found a good husband!"

She completely forgot her dissatisfaction with the marriage and also forgot that she had always looked down on Xu Lai for his humble background.

The top scholars (状元) in the early and mid-Northern Song Dynasty were vastly different from ordinary scholars (进士).

Not one of them did poorly!

Many top-ranking scholars (those who passed the imperial examinations) could only achieve the initial official position of the top scholar (Zhuangyuan) after a lifetime of hard work.

After seeing off his staff, Yu Shuying returned and said happily, "It's a pity we can't drink and celebrate during the mourning period. You don't know how many sons of famous officials admired and followed Xu Sanlang when he was in the capital."

While everyone was distracted, Pianpian snatched the list of successful candidates from her second sister-in-law's hand and hid to the side, staring at the words on it again and again.

She couldn't show it here, so she made an excuse to slip back to her bedroom, calling her maid Yu'er along the way.

Yu'er asked, "Madam, what did the old lady summon you for just now?"

Pianpian whispered in her ear, "Sanlang has become the top scholar in the imperial examination."

"real?"

Yu'er's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she pulled her young mistress and jumped up and down, saying, "That's great, that's great! Sanlang is really promising."

""

Pianpian jumped around excitedly with her, as happy as two little rabbits.

The news arrived a little later in Qingyuan County.

The underreport was first sent to the Guangzhou prefectural government, and then copied and distributed to the subordinate counties by the reporting official.

As the county clerks became increasingly arrogant, Magistrate Shen finally could not tolerate it any longer and recently hired a new advisor to discuss how to put the clerks in check.

Unfortunately, the results were not very good.

"My lord, we must join forces with Registrar Luo. Otherwise, we will never be able to control those clerks," said Fang Xingcheng, an advisor.

-

Shen Zhi was a little embarrassed: "But I got drunk last time and embarrassed him in public, so things got a bit tense between us. Why don't you try to sound him out first?"

"I've already tested him, and Clerk Luo is also very dissatisfied with the clerks. However—" Fang Xingcheng said, "Clerk Luo also cares about his reputation. His birthday is next month, and Your Majesty needs to write a poem in public to praise him at the birthday banquet."

Shen Zhi was a little displeased: "Don't I have any dignity? To make a county magistrate write a poem in public praising the registrar? How could he even think of that!"

Fang Xingcheng said, "Just praise his character."

Shen Zhi had actually been persuaded, but he was still a little embarrassed: "Let me think about it some more."

Just then, a servant stood at the door and said, "My lord, Wu, the clerk, requests an audience."

"What's he doing here? Bring him in." Shen Zhi put on a kind and amiable expression; his acting skills were becoming increasingly superb.

Clerk Wu trotted over with the official gazette in hand, beaming, and said, "Congratulations, Your Excellency!"

"What's the joy about?" Shen Zhi asked.

Wu, the clerk, said, "Xu Sanlang has become the top scholar in the imperial examination."

"What did you say?"

Startled, Shen Zhi suddenly stood up and snatched the official gazette from Wu Yashi's hand.

When Xu Lai took the county examination, Shen Zhi personally vouched for him. He also issued Xu Lai's examination certificate when Xu Lai went to Guangzhou to take the prefectural examination.

In this situation, Xu Lai has now become the top scholar in the imperial examination, and Magistrate Shen will definitely have a significant achievement.

Moreover, his political achievements are quite remarkable!

Shen Zhi stared at the list of successful candidates, his gaze lingering on Xu Lai's name, unable to look away for a long time.

Wu, the clerk, then reminded him, "Yang Shu, who went to Guangzhou with Xu Sanlang back then, has also passed the imperial examination this time."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Shen Zhi burst into laughter: "Heaven is on my side! Um, have all the departments of the county government make preparations, I, the county magistrate, will personally go to Qingxi Village to offer my congratulations."