The Heavens: From Knowing Whether You Rule the World

Chapter 15 Hard work and persistence!
After fifteen days and nights, the examination of candidates was basically completed.

The ink scroll was sealed, the copy was read, everything went on in an orderly manner.
The candidates' affairs have come to a temporary end, but the examiners' affairs have just officially begun.

The examination team for this assessment consists of a total of 19 people, including 16 officials from six ministries, two from the Hanlin Academy, and one from the Ministry of Personnel.

Among the 17 people in the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel accounted for four, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites accounted for three each, and the remaining three ministries each had two people.

The chief examiner of the joint examination, Zheng Jun, was the Minister of Rites, Grand Secretary of Guanwen Hall, and Jinzi Guanglu Doctor, a second-rank official.

The deputy chief examiner of the joint examination, Hong Ze, was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor, a third-rank official.

The two examiners bowed to the statue of Confucius and lit incense in front of many other examiners. They led everyone to swear an oath: "For the sake of the country, we will not show favoritism or accept bribes, and we will be fair and just. If you violate this oath, the gods will punish you!"

Thus, the distribution of examination papers officially began.
Time flies, it seems as if nothing has happened, yet it seems as if a long time has passed.

In the blink of an eye, it was the day to examine the list.

Hesitation, fear, expectation, desire, struggle, fear, luck
As soon as the sky was getting light, countless candidates headed to the Imperial Examination Hall with mixed feelings. The candidates from Yangzhou also rushed to the Imperial Examination Hall under the leadership of Chu Hong.

Along the way, the atmosphere among the Yangzhou candidates was very depressing, no less depressing than the atmosphere before the imperial examination.

The group had mixed feelings, but they went there early. They wanted to know the result earlier, but they didn't want to know the result.

If you pass the imperial examination, you will definitely become a Jinshi in the future, and from then on you will become an official and a truly superior person.

But if I failed the examination, I would have wasted the expectations of my relatives and friends in my hometown, and three years of hard work would have been wasted.

The coldness of relatives and friends, the hurtful words of neighbors, and the silent but regretful look of his wife.
The gap is too big to be accepted.

In front of the Imperial Examination Hall, from a distance there was a huge crowd of people. The closer you got to the Imperial Examination Hall, the more people there were, and the more you could feel the depressing atmosphere.

Of course, after the results are announced, the depressing atmosphere will be polarized.

The more depressing the moment is, the happier the people who make the list will be. It is a kind of joy that is enough to break all depression.

Likewise, those who did not make the list will become even more depressed, and it is common for them to commit suicide by banging their heads against the ground.

There were quite a few people from Yangzhou, and with the help of a few strong servants, they successfully reached the top of the yellow list.

It didn't take long before the yellow notice began to be posted at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall.

In an instant, thousands of people were looking on, not daring to relax for a moment.

Many people standing in the front saw their names on the list and laughed to vent their inner depression.

The wealthy businessman who had been waiting for a long time rushed forward to comfort and ask questions, and kindly asked where he lived and whether he was married.

If the scholar has not yet married, the rich businessman will excitedly tell you how wealthy his family is, how generous his dowry is, and how kind his daughter is.

What is a little funnier is that some scholars who are about to reach middle age actually say that they have not yet married and express their willingness to marry the beautiful daughters of wealthy businessmen.

It is obvious that he is planning to divorce his wife and remarry in order to live a wealthy life overnight.

And a scholar of this age is surprisingly popular among wealthy businessmen, as if he is ready to sell his daughter for fame and fortune.

There is naturally competition for a son-in-law. Catching a son-in-law in front of the Imperial Examination Hall is actually the final process of choosing a son-in-law.

After all, do we have to wait until the real palace examination is over and the dust has settled before catching the Jinshi?
Most scholars came from ordinary families, and many were willing to marry the daughters of wealthy merchants.

After so many years of development, the practice of selecting a son-in-law from the list has become a unique feature of the civil service system of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Once he passed the imperial examination, he would be sent to be a high-ranking official in a certain place. No wonder those wealthy businessmen were tempted and wanted to marry their daughters to him even regardless of the age difference.

Without an official background, a wealthy family is just a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered. Having a son-in-law who is a Jinshi will make you feel more at ease.

Some even went so far as to drag the captured "virtuous son-in-law" who was in his 40s or 50s away with laughter, boasting that they would book a restaurant to entertain all the students. At first glance, it was hard to tell who was older, the "virtuous son-in-law" or the father-in-law.

Cool, unrestrained, funny, crazy.

This is because the palace examination no longer eliminates people, which means that anyone who passes the examination will become a Jinshi.

Logically speaking, there is also the Palace Examination after the Joint Examination. Only those who pass the Palace Examination can become Jinshi. There were also cases of people being eliminated during the Palace Examination, but that was before Emperor Renzong. During the Renzong's reign, people were no longer eliminated during the Palace Examination.

In Renzong's early years, there was a talented person named Zhang Yuan. He passed the joint examination but was eliminated in the palace examination. He was extremely resentful, so he defected to Western Xia and actually became the prime minister in Western Xia.

Renzong felt very sorry about this, and was also worried that other rejected candidates would follow suit, so from then on the palace examination only considered the ranking, and no one was rejected.

In other words, after passing the imperial examination, one is still a Gongshi in name, but in fact he is already a Jinshi.

Among all the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the number of Jinshi officials was less than one-tenth.

With the identity of a disciple of the emperor, he would eventually become an important official in the county with his qualifications.

It is normal for some students who do not pursue high rankings in the palace examination and focus on the county to celebrate in advance.

……

In front of the Imperial Examination Hall, the densely packed names made people feel uneasy, making noises, laughing, and crying...

The sharp contrast between the extremely happy smile and the extremely sad head-banging formed a stimulating feeling in the hearts of everyone present.

Chu Hong's calm heart was also infected by this noisy and exciting situation, and his blood began to boil inexplicably.

"Bumu, Sanqi, find it!"

"Yes, son."

Sanqi is a servant of the Chu family and one of Chu Hong's servants since childhood. He is a few years older than Chu Hong, extremely strong and with impressive fighting skills. He has been Chu Hong's bodyguard for many years.

Bu Mu is Chu Hong's servant and has a very high status among the servants.

When Bu Mu received Chu Hong's order, he immediately called on several literate servants to start looking from the front yellow list, while Sanqi relied on his strong body to lead the way.

"Young Master, Young Master, second! Young Master, second!"

After a while, Bu Mu and San Qi ran towards Chu Hong with great joy. Their faces looked rosy and congested, and they looked extremely excited.

“Sanqi, take out a hundred taels of silver and distribute them later so that everyone can celebrate.”

"Thank you, sir!"

"call!"

Chu Hong immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had some expectations in his mind, his expectations and the actual results were ultimately different.

Moreover, when it comes to estimating things, you can only underestimate them and keep lowering your expectations. Otherwise, if the results do not meet your expectations, you will inevitably feel uncomfortable and depressed.

Chu Hong believed that he was well-versed in ancient and modern times. He had all the advantages of scholars in today's times, and he also had a vision that scholars in today's times did not have, so even if he estimated it low, he would still be in the top 50.

Now that I am ranked second on the list, I can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment, and my blood is boiling involuntarily.

He studied poetry and books for more than ten years, never stopping even in the cold winter.

I am where I am today thanks to my own efforts!
Eh? its not right!
Shit, I’ve worked so hard and persisted so hard, yet I’ve never done it?

Who is the first one?
……

(End of this chapter)