After Yang Hanlin’s exclamation of “Excellent!”, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became lively. Everyone clicked their tongues in admiration, their amazement and praise plainly evident.
Ye Jinghua’s literary talent was immediately a level above that of the Chang family’s candidate. Reading the Chang essay had already felt extraordinary, but upon seeing Ye Jinghua’s choice of words and phrasing, one could not help but clap in admiration. There was no sense of obstruction in his sentences; reading it was like flowing clouds and running water, as if inspiration had struck suddenly, plucked from an immortal palace. The allusions he used were all perfectly appropriate, without the slightest sense of forced insertion.
Judging by writing alone, he already surpassed all other candidates by several levels. Reading further, the insights into current affairs revealed in Ye Jinghua’s essay struck directly at the heart of the matter. The topic “Expenditures Ever Expanding” in this spring examination was in fact closely related to the military expenditure reforms that Emperor Yuanzhi was preparing to implement. Since the war with the Shan Country three years ago, the emperor had harbored considerable dissatisfaction toward the army. However, as he had already carried out a purge of the southern officialdom three years prior, he had delayed taking action. Recently, however, with the former Minister of War retiring and Emperor Yuanzhi yet to appoint a successor, the atmosphere in court had grown somewhat delicate…
The topic “Expenditures Ever Expanding” could naturally be discussed in far more than just military expenses, but what Ye Jinghua addressed undoubtedly struck at the emperor’s greatest concern. Moreover, not only did he analyze the issue of military overspending with precision, but at the end of his essay he also listed several solutions. Due to length constraints, he did not elaborate further, yet these few brief lines left Yang Hanlin and the others feeling as if enlightenment had dawned upon them. They were left itching, eager to read more.
No wonder that the moment the examination ended, he was taken into the palace. Most likely, one reason was the emperor’s fondness for Ye Jinghua; another was that the latter half of this policy essay had probably already been thoroughly discussed between ruler and minister.
Indeed, their guess was correct. At this very moment, the latter half of that essay lay quietly on Emperor Yuanzhi’s desk. That day, as soon as Ye Jinghua left the examination grounds, he was summoned into the palace. After washing and changing, he had not even had time to eat before being called into the imperial study, where he wrote out the second half of the essay word for word before being allowed to rest.
Upon learning that her younger brother had been treated this way, Consort Chen flew into a rage and quarreled with Emperor Yuanzhi for several days, forcing him to sleep in the imperial study for three nights.
Knowing he was at fault, Emperor Yuanzhi found himself liking the essay more and more the more he read it. Every word Ye Jinghua wrote struck precisely at the most sensitive point in his heart. Reading the essay stirred his blood; he nearly wanted to reorganize the entire military overnight.
But he was no longer the hot-blooded youth who had just ascended the throne at sixteen. Implementing such policies involved many details and required careful planning.
Thus, Ye Jinghua was kept in the palace, discussing affairs daily in the imperial study.
It was not that Emperor Yuanzhi did not know Ye Jinghua still had the palace examination ahead, but at present there were no capable people in court, and military reform was urgent, he simply had no one else to consult.
If this were spoken aloud, no one would believe it, that Emperor Yuanzhi, who had ruled the realm for decades and had been hailed as a wise ruler from his youth, would one day feel that there was no one of use in his court.
At this moment, in the imperial study.
Just after Ye Jinghua had left, the two young palace maids standing at the door still blushed, lowering their heads deeply, not daring to look up. Eunuch Xia stepped in from outside and immediately noticed their dreamy, unfocused expressions. Ever since Ye Jinghua had been summoned to the palace, these young maids had all lost their wits.
Shaking his head helplessly, he walked inside and saw Emperor Yuanzhi sitting behind his desk, arms crossed, silently staring at the policy essay before him, his expression not very good.
Eunuch Xia paused, his heart tightening. What was wrong? These past few days, the emperor had been in a very good mood, especially when seeing Ye Jinghua, the estrangement between ruler and minister over the past three years had vanished. Just yesterday, Eunuch Xia had seen the emperor personally see Ye Jinghua out, patting his shoulder firmly, smiling so broadly he could hardly see his teeth, he had seemed happier than when seeing his own son.
Could it be that someone had offended him today?
Eunuch Xia carefully stepped forward, bent down, and called, “Your Majesty.”
Only then did Emperor Yuanzhi come out of his thoughts and look up at him: “…You’ve seen Liang Kang off?”
Xia replied, “Yes. The Lord Shangshu has already returned to the Hanlin Academy.”
The emperor nodded. He had instructed Liang Kang to take Ye Jinghua’s paper back without giving any further orders. He had always had great confidence in Ye Jinghua’s learning and ability; if the scholars of the Hanlin Academy dared to rank such an essay as second-class, then they could forget about keeping their heads.
After a pause, the emperor asked again, “How is that boy from the Chang family?”
Xia replied with a smile, “This servant’s knowledge is shallow, so I do not know much else, but the scholars of the Hanlin Academy all say that Young Master Chang’s essay is excellent.”
The emperor nodded and sighed: “The Chang family has always had good upbringing. I’ve heard that boy is both accomplished in scholar and martial skills?”
Eunuch Xia replied, “Yes. It is said that Young Master Chang is highly skilled in riding and archery, capable of hitting a target from a hundred paces.”
“Good.” The emperor nodded and waved his hand: “Pass down my words, since the essays are good, they should be fairly judged. We must not wound the hearts of the many meritorious officials of our dynasty.”
Eunuch Xia immediately acknowledged. He thought to himself that the emperor still remembered the favor of the old General Chang, who had protected the crown prince in the past. But then again, the emperor had not given a single instruction regarding Ye Jinghua, showing clearly the difference in closeness.
Seeing that there were still a few promising individuals in this examination, Emperor Yuanzhi’s expression finally improved somewhat. He sighed softly, tapping his fingers on the table twice, and said, “These past few days, as I discuss matters with Huiqing, I wanted to have one of my sons listen in, but after thinking it over, I couldn’t find a suitable one.”
Hearing this, Eunuch Xia immediately lowered his head further. The emperor’s expression revealed neither anger nor joy as he continued, “Little Fifth is too young, Xiang Wang is too rash, Ping Wang is not even worth mentioning, ”
Thinking of his few sons, Emperor Yuanzhi frowned deeply and let out a long sigh. His expression even carried a trace of sorrow as he murmured, “If only my Zhen’er were still alive…”
With a thud, Eunuch Xia dropped to his knees, his forehead striking the ground heavily: “Your Majesty, forgive me!”
The emperor glanced at him but said nothing, only lightly: “What fault is yours? Rise.”
Eunuch Xia murmured, “Thank you, Your Majesty,” and scrambled to his feet, standing to the side without daring to breathe loudly. In recent years, the emperor had spoken less and less of the late crown prince. But every time he did, it was deeply painful. Eunuch Xia stood still, holding his breath, listening to the faint tapping of the jade ring on the emperor’s finger against the fine sandalwood desk. The imperial study was utterly silent.
After a long while, the emperor sighed again, composed himself, and asked: “Other than those two, are there any others worth noting?”
Eunuch Xia was startled, cold sweat instantly forming on his forehead. After a brief pause, he said, “This servant has not heard of any others, ” Seeing the emperor’s face darken at once, he quickly added, “But this servant has heard an amusing anecdote, just about to tell Your Majesty.”
“Oh?” The emperor raised a brow and leaned back. “Let’s hear it.”
With a smile, Eunuch Xia stepped forward and said, “This servant heard that during the spring examination, a servant from the residence of Second Young Master Ye also came to take the exam. Many candidates present saw it.” He continued cheerfully, “Leaving aside whether he passed, just the fact that even a servant of the Ye residence could obtain juren status shows how scholarly the Ye family is. The capital is full of praise for them.”
That day, Zhao Baozhu and Ye Jinghua’s delay at the examination gate had been witnessed by many. After the gates opened and the candidates were released, the story spread. Now, many noble families in the capital scolded their children with the same words: “Look at the Ye family, even one of their servants can become a juren. You eat and drink well every day, why can’t you pass?”
The scholars of the capital were suffering greatly because of this. Before, at worst, they had been compared to Ye Jinghua, though they would be scolded harshly, failing to match him was nothing shameful.
But now they were not even as good as a servant from the Ye family, where was the justice in that?
“There’s such a thing?” Emperor Yuanzhi laughed upon hearing it. “Good, good, let them talk. The nation is prosperous now; these lazy bones are too accustomed to fine clothes and rich food. If they aren’t pushed a little, they won’t study properly.”
Regarding the matter itself, Emperor Yuanzhi did not think too deeply about it. The Ye clan, tracing back several generations, had already become famous throughout Xianzhou because its descendants excelled at calligraphy. There had even once been the celebrated story of a single family producing three zhuangyuan among father, sons, and brothers. Ye Jinghua’s grandfather was moreover a great Confucian scholar of his age, having founded the Suiyang Academy in Xianzhou, where every year scholars from across the realm competed to study under him.
Therefore, he was not at all surprised that a servant from the Ye residence had managed to pass the provincial examination. He gave it little further thought, and even less did he connect it with the young boy who stayed by Ye Jinghua’s side.
Hearing Eunuch Xia speak, however, he paused, suddenly recalling something, and said thoughtfully: “Don’t you think Huiqing’s complexion seems a little off?”
These past few days, with Ye Jinghua detained within the palace, Emperor Yuanzhi had looked him over again and again, always feeling there was something strange about him, though he could not pinpoint exactly what. Hearing this, Eunuch Xia froze for a moment, then after a pause replied: “This…” He thought for a moment and glanced hesitantly at the emperor. “This old servant is dull-eyed and truly did not notice anything. Perhaps Second Young Master Ye has simply been overworked these past few days, so his complexion looks somewhat poor.”
The emperor frowned and pondered for a while, but in the end could think of nothing. He waved a hand, rose from his seat, and with his back to Eunuch Xia said: “Enough. Let Huiqing return home today. He’s been exhausted these past few days. Have him bring back the ginseng that Liaodong presented before the New Year and eat it.”
Eunuch Xia lowered his head in acknowledgment and withdrew to deliver the decree, inwardly calculating how many carts it would take to haul away all the rewards Emperor Yuanzhi had bestowed piecemeal over the past few days.
***
Meanwhile, within the Hanlin Academy, the examiners were embroiled in heated debate over where Ye Jinghua ought to be assigned in the future.
Yang Hanlin was the first to flare up, blowing his beard and glaring as he waved the examination paper in his hand.
“A talent like this must belong to our Hanlin Academy! Look at this literary grace, this mastery of history and letters, he’s perfect material for compiling books!”
The examiners, whose average age was well past fifty, immediately flushed red with anger upon hearing this. Someone even reached out to snatch the paper from his hands.
“You old b*stard! Don’t tear the paper!”
Another person declared: “Nonsense! Do you really think your Hanlin Academy is such a wonderful place? A heaven-sent genius like this naturally belongs to the Ministry of War!”
Someone else objected: “What noble young master from a refined family would go to your filthy place? He has such insight regarding finance and grain administration, he’d do far better in our Ministry of Revenue!”
“Our Ministry of Personnel—”
“Our Ministry of Rites—”
Seeing that they looked ready to name all Six Ministries one by one, Liang Kang, seated above them, closed his eyes and gave an impatient cough.
“All of you, shut up.”
The crowd below, who had been arguing noisily beyond measure, reluctantly fell silent and turned toward Liang Kang. Reclining in his grand chair, he slightly lifted his eyelids and cast a faint glance at those below.
“This person’s future posting is not something you can decide. Worry less about it.”
Only then did everyone remember, this Second Young Master Ye was deeply favored by the emperor and also happened to have a prime minister for a father. How could it possibly be their place to concern themselves with his future?
Liang Kang waved a hand.
“Enough. Stop gathering around. Go back to grading papers.”
Only then did the others reluctantly set down Ye Jinghua’s examination paper and return to their seats, continuing their struggle with the wildly uneven quality of the candidates’ essays before them. But after reading Ye Jinghua’s work, looking at the remaining papers inevitably produced a painful sense of contrast. For a time, everyone was grimacing so hard it seemed they might tear their beards out.
As chief examiner, Liang Kang did not need to personally grade papers. Holding the cup of Laojun Mei tea a pageboy had served him, he continued lounging in his grand chair with his eyes half-closed in rest, a faint smile hovering on his face, looking for all the world like a living Maitreya Buddha.
Below him, one examiner frowned as he marked a large red cross on a candidate’s paper and tossed it aside with a sigh. Then he drew another sheet from the mountain of papers beside him.
The moment the xuan paper was set before his eyes, they lit up.
The handwriting on this examination paper was rather good.
Though the brush strength was still somewhat lacking, the strokes already possessed a distinct structure and momentum. Merely seeing such elegant handwriting was refreshing. The examiner relaxed slightly, his tightly furrowed brows finally easing, and he gained the interest to continue reading carefully.
After finishing the two policy essays, he sharply raised his brows.
This was rather unusual.
This candidate’s method of approaching the topic was highly unconventional. Ordinary candidates, in praising Emperor Yuanzhi’s enlightened rule, mostly listed the various political decrees enacted since his ascension. Yet doing so often resulted in shallow, surface-level arguments. This candidate, however, focused on local governance, especially emphasizing agriculture.
Among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, “farmers” ought to stand before artisans and merchants as the very foundation of the state. Yet as the prosperity of the Yuanzhi reign continued to strengthen, vulgar sayings such as “people laugh at poverty, not prostitution” had become widespread among the common folk, which was deeply lamentable.
The examiner silently nodded to himself, stroking his beard with approval in his eyes. It was rare to see such a grounded candidate. However, the references to classical texts were somewhat lacking, the literary polish only average, and though the wording was earnest, it was overly stiff. In his heart, the examiner formed evaluations of every aspect of the paper. Compared with the other essays he had immediately rejected, this one at least contained substance, though the learning still lacked refinement.
Unable to decide, he flipped the paper over, intending to see how the final regulated poem had turned out.
The instant he turned the page and saw the eight-line five-character poem, his vision nearly went black.
This was actually a poem written by a juren?!
It was hardly any better than the crude rhymes a village child might casually blurt out! The examiner’s face darkened immediately. The handwriting was still fine, and it was obvious the candidate had tried very hard to obey the required rhyme scheme, but he simply possessed no poetic talent. The resulting poem was awkward, clumsy, and utterly dreadful.
For a moment, the examiner’s feelings were complicated. The earlier essays had at least been novel… but this terrible poetry!
He stared at the few inked characters on the xuan paper, whose brushwork even seemed slightly uncertain and drifting compared to earlier, as though the writer himself lacked confidence. Truly unable to bear it, he muttered under his breath: “Still lacking refinement. Better to send him back and let him take the exam again in three years.”
With that, he raised his brush, preparing to mark a cross at the head of the paper.
At that moment, Liang Kang’s voice sounded behind him.
“Wait.”
The examiner paused and turned around, only then noticing that Liang Kang had somehow appeared behind him holding a teacup, smiling amiably.
“You looked hesitant. Can’t make up your mind?”
“My lord.” The examiner hurriedly set down his brush and respectfully presented the paper. “I am somewhat uncertain… This candidate’s policy essays are quite good, but his grounding in the classics is still lacking. I ask Lord Shangshu to decide.”
Hearing this, Liang Kang took the paper and read through it carefully. Then he sighed. “Don’t mark this one in red.”
Which meant it was to be accepted.
The examiner hesitated and raised his head.
“But this poem truly is…” He paused. “This official sees that the essay’s conception is fresh and its prose forceful. It must have been written by a young man. Why not reject him and let him polish himself for another three years? Then afterward—”
Liang Kang half narrowed his eyes and glanced at him. Then he raised a hand and pointed to the two policy essays on the xuan paper. “Where do you think the policies he describes come from?”
The examiner was caught off guard. Lowering his head, he reread the essays. The two policy essays discussed local governance in extraordinary detail, especially the agricultural conditions of villages and counties. The examiner narrowed his eyes and studied them for a while.
“It seems somewhat like Yizhou…”
After saying this, he abruptly stopped, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face.
Seeing that he had understood, Liang Kang smiled.
“Yizhou is ten thousand li of great mountains, with nine out of ten villages empty. For him to have reached this step today was already extraordinarily difficult. If you send him back, he may truly have no choice but to return to farming in those mountains.”
Only then did the examiner fully awaken to the reality. Yes, they lived in the capital, where even children from modest households had families willing to spend generously on education. But for these poor scholars who had journeyed thousands of li to the capital, once rejected, they might not even be able to scrape together the travel expenses to return home, let alone come again in another three years.
“Thank you for your guidance, my lord.”
The examiner bowed respectfully to Liang Kang, then put away the red brush and placed the paper among the accepted examination scripts. Seeing this, Liang Kang nodded in satisfaction, drained the last of the Laojun Mei tea from his cup, and wandered unsteadily toward the next examiner.
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