Jinting Han people

Chapter 76 Taikang Ninth Year (4k)

In the spring of the ninth year of Taikang (288 AD), the Anle Mansion was filled with the long-lost fragrance of peach and pear blossoms.

Eight months have passed since the Jinguyuan case.

The disturbance was so great at the time that the entire Luoyang city was under strict control. However, as time passed, the various prefectures in the Sili region failed to find any clues, and no new major robberies occurred. The matter eventually came to nothing and became an unsolved case. Luoyang city returned to normal, except that the people of Luoyang had more topics to talk about after dinner.

The same is true for the Anle Mansion. After experiencing the Crown Prince's wedding last year, they are preparing for the Crown Prince to enter the officialdom this year. They are so happy and smiling that they have no time to take care of these things.

In the second half of the eighth year of Taikang, they were busy with one thing, which was to renovate the Anle Mansion.

After Zhang Ximiao's death, the income and expenditure of the Anle Mansion fell under the management of the eldest wife, Fei Xiu. She took out all the taxes that had been accumulated over the years, cleaned the exterior walls of the Anle Mansion, painted them a bright vermilion, and repaired the door lintels, making it look much more imposing. She then requisitioned the study of Anle Duke Liu Xun and extensively renovated it, saying that it would be used exclusively for Liu Xian's work.

The rest of the relatives in the mansion did not disagree. Although the uncles and aunts often quarreled over trivial matters, when it came to Liu Xian, the elders were very unanimous in their views:
They all had high hopes for him, believing he could lead the family out of its predicament. Cousins like Liu Xuan, Liu Ke, and Liu Zhen would often visit Liu Xian.

They were so happy that they didn't know that the Jingu Garden robbery that shocked the capital last year was masterminded by Liu Xian. They almost had a close call with death, and even Liu Xian himself almost couldn't escape.

As for this matter, Liu Xian kept it a secret from his family. He firmly believed that it was a secret that could not be told to anyone. He even did not tell his wife A Luo, who only said that he had made some more friends outside.

Because of this, no one had ever suspected the Anle Mansion. When Luoyang Magistrate Man Fen searched the mansion, he just asked a few casual questions and sent him away.

As for Lu Zhu, Liu Xian did not send her back to Dongwu, but instead let her stay in Chen Shou's mansion to avoid the limelight. Chen Shou's mansion was remote and deserted, and no one suspected that Lu Zhu used a pseudonym to become Chen Shou's maid and easily avoided the search.

But since then, Chen Shou looked at Liu Xian with a strange look in his eyes, and asked Liu Xian about his marital relationship in a roundabout way, thinking that there was some discord in the family.

But these are all things of the past. Over the past six months, Liu Xian has resumed his original plan, either going to Sima Wei's palace to study with him, or attending classes at the Imperial Academy, or discussing scriptures and swordsmanship with Zu Ti and others.

His life was uneventful and he could be said to be on the right track. He only had to wait for the one-year journey at the Imperial College to be over, and then he would be able to obtain his first official position in his life.

On this day, Liu Xian woke up, had breakfast with his wife A Luo, and then sat in the corridor to admire the peach blossoms. The weather this year was a little colder than in previous years, causing the peach blossoms to bloom a month later, but they were also more colorful than usual. When the sun shone down, the peach blossoms were as red as fire.

But at this time, someone from the Juancheng Mansion suddenly came and said that he wanted to see Liu Xian for something.

"What happened? Has my father-in-law's condition worsened?" Liu Xian glanced at A Luo, then turned to ask Lai Fu who reported it.

Ever since marrying off his daughter last year, Duke Juancheng's health has been failing, with intermittent bouts of coughing up blood and shivering. Doctors have been called in, but to no avail, so Ah Luo is deeply concerned and frequently returns to visit. Now that Duke Juancheng's mansion has sent someone over, it's hard not to think about this.

Fortunately, Lai Fu shook his head and said, "It seems to have nothing to do with the Duke of Juancheng. It was the Second Master Cao who came and said he wanted to discuss your entry into the government."

"Is that so?" Liu Xian was surprised and quickly got up and went to the main hall to greet him.

The so-called Second Master Cao is Cao Guang, the eldest son of Duke Juancheng. He is seven years older than Liu Xian and is currently serving as a counselor in the court.

After getting married, Liu Xian and Cao Guang did not interact much on a daily basis. They only exchanged gifts and greetings on major holidays. They were not very close to each other. It was obvious that this brother-in-law was not satisfied with his sister's marriage.

Even Cao Guang's face was very cold when he came over, but he was under his father's order, so he tried to be pleasant and said, "I heard that the Imperial College will hold its rankings in ten days or so. My master asked me to ask you, are you sure?"

"Be sure? What are you sure of?" Liu Xian was a little confused. According to the usual process of the Imperial College, there was no need to conduct shooting tests like the Imperial College. As long as the Imperial College's chief academic officer reported the list to the Taichang Mansion, and discussed it with the doctors and Zhongzheng, he would be able to get the rank directly.

He just needs to wait, how can he be sure?

Cao Guang smiled and explained, "It's about the assurance of getting a high grade. Although it's easy to get a high grade after entering the Imperial College, there are still differences in quality."

"Some people can get the second rank, some can get the third rank. The difference of one rank when entering the officialdom is like the difference between heaven and earth. What rank do you think you can get this time?"

Liu Xian was certainly aware of all this. Ever since the Cao Wei Dynasty established the Nine-Rank System, a person's hometown rank had determined their position and reputation in officialdom, and the evaluation of their hometown rank was determined by the Zhongzheng. In theory, the Zhongzheng would conduct a comprehensive evaluation based on the person's family background and conduct, dividing talent into nine ranks.

But in reality, Zhongzheng couldn't really understand a person's talents and moral character one by one. Most people just glanced at their family background and made a hasty judgment. Just like the first rank was exclusive to the royal family, the second rank and below were the ranks for scholars.

Students who entered the officialdom through the Imperial College were basically children of aristocratic families, and their rank was either third or second grade.

However, in recent decades, the status of aristocratic families has become increasingly consolidated, and there are signs of over-promotion of the second and third ranks, so the third rank has become inferior, and only the second rank is the truly high rank.

The meaning of Cao Guang's question was to ask Liu Xian whether he had the confidence to get the second rank.

This really made Liu Xian feel a little embarrassed.

In terms of talent and learning, Liu Xian was confident that he was the best among his peers. In terms of moral character, he also truly observed mourning for three years without any pretense.

But in terms of family background, although the title of Duke of Anle was Duke, its political influence was not as great as that of an ordinary marquis. The fact that he was able to successfully enter the officialdom from the Imperial College was all thanks to the blessing of Duke Juancheng.

From this perspective, whether or not one can definitely get a second-grade evaluation is indeed an uncertain thing, with a probability of only 50 to 60 percent. But this is also good. After all, one cannot be ashamed to ask the seriously ill Duke Juancheng to participate in activities.

Originally, Liu Xian had made up his mind. It would be great to get the second rank, but the third rank was not a big deal, as long as he could enter the officialdom smoothly. However, Duke Juancheng obviously considered more.

He then sent Cao Guang over to offer Liu Xian an idea: "Aren't you currently serving as a tutor at the Prince of Shiping's Palace?"

"What the lord means is that you can find a connection with the King of Shiping and ask him to recommend you to take the scholar examination. As long as you are really capable and pass all five examinations, you will definitely be able to obtain the second rank. Naturally, your future career in officialdom will be smooth sailing." Liu Xian suddenly realized and was moved by the painstaking efforts of the Duke of Juancheng.

The Duke of Juancheng was concerned about his future and was afraid of damaging his self-esteem, so he recommended a way for himself to clear his name. If he did not value himself very much, he would not be able to achieve this.

However, his wife A'luo didn't like this idea. After Cao Guang left, she said to Liu Xian, "Sir, what a fool! Doesn't he know how difficult the scholar examination is? Why go through so much trouble when he can just make more connections?"

Liu Xian said, "Although it's troublesome, the road ahead is bright and it won't attract jealousy. There's nothing wrong with it."

As mentioned before, although the Zhongzheng system is now very popular, as a universal empire, the emperor cannot allow the gentry to completely monopolize the bureaucracy. A large number of grassroots bureaucrats are also needed to manage the local areas. Therefore, the recommendation system did not withdraw from the stage of history. Instead, it was combined with the Jiupin Zhongzheng system to form a recommendation system with the characteristics of the Western Jin Dynasty, which continuously provided the emperor with talents from humble backgrounds.

During the Han Dynasty, local officials recommended talents to the central government based on different subjects according to the emperor's requirements. After passing the imperial examination, they were awarded official positions. Today, although the subjects have changed, the specific process has not changed much. The main change is that after passing the examination, the candidates can be awarded the local rank based on their performance.

For example, the annual Imperial College exams, including the Imperial Examinations of Classics and Archery, ranked candidates according to their scores, with grades ranging from upper, middle, and lower, giving them the 4th, 5th, and 6th rank, respectively. Similarly, the traditional Han Dynasty exams of the Xiucai and Xiaolian classes, where candidates who passed the Archery exams were ranked according to their scores, giving them the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rank, respectively.

Although the selection of candidates for the imperial examination was still inevitably influenced by family background, the threshold was much lower than directly passing the imperial examination, and the consideration of talent was much more important. It could be regarded as one of the few upward channels reserved for people from poor families.

Among the existing examinations in the Western Jin Dynasty, the two categories of virtuous and talented and talented candidates were the most difficult.

The virtuous and virtuous had age requirements and were personally assessed by the emperor, which we will not discuss here. The scholar examination required candidates to answer five consecutive policy questions, each set by the Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, Doctor Jijiu, and Zhongzheng. If one failed to answer a single question, the candidate would be rejected. Only those who passed all five could be promoted to the second rank.

Liu Xian was not unaware of the "Xucai Recommendation" system, but firstly, he lacked connections to such a system, and secondly, he wasn't particularly obsessed with high rank. However, since the Duke of Juancheng had pointed out this path, he thought it was a good one. As the saying goes, "It's better to rely on oneself than on others." Being able to prove himself this way was better than simply relying on family background to select someone.

So the next day, he went to the Prince of Shiping's mansion to ask to see Sima Wei.

Sima Wei was reading in the corridor at the time. The emperor's arrangement of a study companion for him had proven fruitful. Over the past year, he had made rapid progress. At least he no longer resented books and could make use of some of the classics. Seeing Liu Xian approach, he naturally called for a servant to bring a bowl of tea and asked Liu Xian to sit down beside him.

Liu Xian stated his purpose to Sima Wei very directly, asking if he could be recommended to take part in the scholar examination.

"Oh? Huai Chong wants to take the scholar exam? That's easy, but I heard the exam is very difficult!"

After a year of getting along, even though Liu Xian still couldn't break into the circle of the palace, his relationship with Sima Wei was still close.

Sima Wei now considered him a good friend, seemingly oblivious to the roles Liu Xian and he had played in the Golden Valley Garden robbery the previous year. This was hardly surprising, however; Sima Wei felt no danger that day and simply thought he had witnessed a joke at the Boling Palace.

When he heard that Liu Xian wanted to take the exam for the scholar degree, he quickly figured out the reason and said with a broad smile, "Could it be that Huai Chong doesn't know Zhongzheng and is afraid of not getting a high rank? That's not a difficult matter. I can just go and tell him."

Liu Xian was very grateful for his kindness, but after thinking it over, he declined. "Your Highness, it's not that I don't care about high-quality goods, but some things are more enjoyable only when they are earned by oneself."

"So, you're aiming for a successful exam?" Sima Wei didn't hesitate. He smiled and said, "That's a good thing. You're from the Prince of Shiping's mansion. If you can produce a successful scholar, it will be a great achievement for me. Okay! I agree!"

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"What are you thanking me for? Let me be frank. If you don't perform well and embarrass me, I'll hold you accountable!"

At this point, both of them laughed.

To be fair, although there was chaos in the Shiping Palace, Liu Xian really admired Sima Wei. He was an open-minded person with a strong character, and did not care much about material enjoyment. Among the princes, this was indeed very rare.

If he didn't have a group of villains like Qi Sheng who were happy to cause trouble, he could probably have become a pillar of the country.

However, Liu Xian didn't have much to blame Qi Sheng for. Qi Sheng and his men were happy to see other people's misfortunes, so wasn't he the same?
The world is like this, people don't believe in loyalty in their hearts, and they are exaggerated in their filial piety. They have no faith and loyalty at all, and the result is bound to be hell. As Xiao Ruan said, at this time, we can only do our best to be ourselves.

After bidding farewell to Sima Wei, he went to visit his teacher Chen Shou again, told him about his recent preparations for the imperial examination, asked for his teacher's advice, and took the opportunity to see Lu Zhu.

Lu Zhu had changed into her natural look at this time, but she was still charming. She was very happy to see Liu Xian coming, but she remained reserved. After serving Liu Xian a bowl of tea, she retreated to the corner and watched quietly.

Two years had passed since his setback in his official career, and Chen Shou's mentality had improved considerably. When he heard that Liu Xian was about to take the examination for the scholarly talent, he tapped the table and said with a smile, "For you, the examination is not difficult at all. It's nothing more than speaking some high-sounding nonsense."

"Listen to me. As long as you stick to the classics, prioritize recent state affairs, and talk about learning from the ancients, there's no reason not to. If you have the energy to spare, and can sing His Majesty's praises, then achieving a second-rank rank will be a piece of cake."

Chen Shou spoke so easily that even Liu Xian laughed along, and the teacher and student chatted for a while.

But at the end of the conversation, Chen Shou suddenly lowered his voice, took out a letter from his pocket, handed it to Liu Xian, and said, "Huai Chong, this is a letter from Wuyang, take a look at it yourself."

Wuyang? Liu Xian was shocked. He knew that was Li Mi's hometown. He quickly opened the envelope and looked through it. Instead of the long speech he had expected, he found a very simple five-character poem. The words were:
"Sowing wheat in a high field will never produce ears of wheat. How can a man not grow haggard in a foreign land?"

The handwriting on the letter was already very messy, with many tear-like ink drops, which showed that the writer's fingers were shaking uncontrollably while writing, and he had used all his strength to write this poem. At the end of the poem, there was another small paragraph of words, which read:

"All matters in Shu are now concluded. I hope my lord will take a long-term view, remain patient, and choose the right time to return. If you can restore the great foundation and bring glory to the country, even in this infernal realm, I will be filled with gratitude and tears."

The last four words are: "Li Mi's last work".

After reading it, Liu Xian stood up and wandered around, then looked up to the sky and sighed, unable to speak for a long time.

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(End of this chapter)