Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 395 List Release Day

Compared to ordinary failed juren, those on the second list had a huge advantage in their official careers. They could skip the potentially lengthy waiting period of the Ministry of Personnel's selection process and directly enter the imperial court, embarking on a career path to becoming an official.

The so-called "teaching" means taking up teaching positions in various places, such as professors and instructors in prefectural schools, principals and instructors in state schools, and teachers and instructors in county schools.

Teaching as a starting point for a career in government was a very low one, and compared to the top three scholars who would directly enter the Hanlin Academy, it was arguably a lowly position. This was because only the highest-ranking provincial professors were officials at the bottom of the Ninth Rank, while other academic officials such as academic principals, instructors, and supervisors were all considered to be below the rank and had no rank.

But a low starting point does not mean no future, especially after the Hongzhi period.

In the early Ming Dynasty, teaching was considered a difficult and arduous job with little chance of advancement. It was said that "once you take up teaching, you'll never see a career." Therefore, even ordinary juren, not to mention the second-place juren, were generally reluctant to pursue teaching. Instead, they preferred to enter the Imperial Academy and pursue official selection, or to visit the Ministry of Personnel and await selection. This led to a severe shortage of teaching positions in prefectural, state, and county schools.

To address this problem, the court adopted both coercion and encouragement. The coercive approach required that all candidates on the second list of successful candidates be "commanded to teach, without excuse." If they did not wish to serve as an imperial instructor, they could forgo their academic achievements. Furthermore, if the emperor so desired, he could even resort to direct force, as the ancestral precepts stated, "All under heaven are subjects of the king. Those who refuse to serve the king are those who have excluded themselves from the teachings. They should be executed and their property confiscated, without any penalty." Thus, teaching became closely tied to candidates on the second list of successful candidates.

The imperial court's incentives were to provide a clear career path for teachers. Excluding the exceptional case of Hu Yan, who was appointed a teaching instructor during the Hongwu reign, became a county magistrate during the Jianwen reign, and then, during the Yongle reign, was directly recommended by Xie Jin to the Hanlin Academy, becoming one of the first cabinet members, the typical career path for teachers was to "select those who had taught for at least nine years, through examination, for positions such as censor or county magistrate."

Furthermore, "fulfilling nine years of service and passing the examination" is a sufficient, not a necessary, condition. If someone is appreciated, recommended, or happens to have a vacancy in a certain area, they can be promoted early. The most typical example of this is Hai Rui. In the 33rd year of the Jiajing reign, he was appointed as the instructor of Nanping County, Yanping Prefecture, Fujian Province, a position not considered high-ranking. However, just four years later, in the 37th year of the Jiajing reign, Hai Rui was promoted to the position of magistrate of Chun'an County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province—a truly remarkable achievement.

Along with the "secondary list being tied to teaching positions" and the "increasing importance of teaching positions", there is also the increasing number of successful candidates and the oversupply of talent.

At the beginning of the Republic, when the country was newly settled and everything was underway, talent was in short supply, and it was common for Juren to be directly appointed to administrative positions. However, after the formal reinstatement of the imperial examination system, the number of scholars gradually increased, and the official career became increasingly crowded, making it increasingly difficult for Juren to be appointed to official positions. Even low-ranking teaching positions were not always available. Many Juren were selected by the Ministry of Personnel, but by the time they died of old age, they still had no official positions.

Being included in the vice list and directly admitted to the teaching profession was considered a breakthrough from zero to one. Many scholars were stuck here in their lives, never breaking through until their death, and lived with the regret of having no official title.

Therefore, every time the imperial examination list was filled in and the secondary list was filled in, the examiners were still willing to force themselves to have a careful discussion, carefully picking out from the papers that had been discarded by the chief examiner, and choosing a few talents to give them a starting point.

This time, the Enke examination, the papers selected by the same examiners but discarded by the chief examiner, totaled nearly a thousand. Divided among the twenty examiners, including the chief examiner, each had to read forty to fifty papers. Even though most examiners could read ten lines at a glance, this work still lasted until the first watch.

When the supplementary list was completed, everyone returned to their rooms and the bright moon was already high in the sky.

After washing up, Xu Guangqi went to bed. Because he was exhausted physically and mentally, he fell asleep as he had done in the past few days. However, for some reason, Xu Guangqi did not sleep through the night, but woke up suddenly in the middle of the night.

Xu Guangqi could feel his heart beating very fast and his ears were ringing constantly. It was an extreme palpitation.

After taking a few breaths, Xu Guangqi's heart rate gradually dropped. He guessed that he must have had a nightmare, but no matter how hard he tried to recall, he could not remember the specific content of the dream.

Xu Guangqi tried to fall asleep again, but this time he couldn't. After tossing and turning several times, Xu Guangqi simply put on his clothes, wrapped in a cotton jacket to protect him from the night chill, left the president's quarters, and followed the candlelight in front of the hall in the corridor. He walked alone to the steps under the eaves of the Zhigong Hall and sat down quietly.

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During the examination period, the Imperial Examination Hall was staffed primarily by soldiers temporarily transferred from the Beijing barracks to serve as the "Signing Guards." The Jinyiwei captains served merely as foremen. After the examinations concluded and the candidates departed, the soldiers withdrew and returned to their quarters, leaving the Jinyiwei as the primary patrol force within the Imperial Examination Hall.

These Jinyiwei captains came from various offices of the Jinyiwei and were managed by patrol officers temporarily appointed by the emperor. They were all elite soldiers with sharp eyes and sharp ears.

There were two huge lanterns hanging under the eaves of the Zhigong Hall. Under the reflection of the lanterns, a moving figure looked so eye-catching.

As Xu Guangqi sat down, a flag officer on night duty guarding Mingyuan Tower came trotting along the central axis with two lieutenants. As they advanced, the flag officer could barely see Xu Guangqi's face in the candlelight, so he loosened his grip on the sword handle.

"Your humble servant greets President Xu." Xiaoqi clasped his hands together and bowed, performing a formal salute.

"No need to be so polite, Tan Xiaoqi." Although the inspector Zhang Maozhong only led his low-ranking military officers to make a brief group introduction when entering the Imperial Examination Hall to meet the examiners, Xu Guangqi still remembered the faces of every Jinyiwei military officer who participated in the inspection tour of the examination.

Tan Xiaoqi hadn't expected Xu Guangqi to recognize him so immediately. He was stunned for a moment, then a smile crept across his face as he spoke again. "President Xu, please forgive me for asking, but what brings you here?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly felt like sitting here." Xu Guangqi pointed, "Seventeen years ago, I sat right there."

Tan Xiaoqi followed his lead and saw only darkness. He extended his hand, pointing in the direction of Mingyuan Tower. "There's some food upstairs. Would you like some?"

"Is there any wine?" Xu Guangqi asked.

"President Xu, you're joking." Tan Xiaoqi shook his head and said, "How can I drink while on duty? But if you really want to drink, I can go to the restaurant and get it for you."

Xu Guangqi smiled and said, "Forget it then. I'll just sit here for a while and go back when I feel sleepy."

"Then I will not disturb your pleasure." Tan Xiaoqi bowed again and turned to leave. Following the Jinyiwei's retreating steps, Xu Guangqi looked towards Mingyuan Tower, which stood proudly at the center of the central axis. On either side of it were row upon row of residential buildings.

Just over a dozen days ago, these examination rooms were still dotted with candles, and in their glow, examinees would furiously compose what they considered brilliant sentences, or stare blankly at their papers, occasionally composing a few awkward phrases. Now, the lights of the examination halls have all gone out, leaving only the long-burned lamps in the corridors and halls still glowing.

Xu Guangqi sat for a long time, but sleep still didn't come. He silently felt his heartbeat and continued to recall the nightmare that had suddenly awakened him. As he thought, he heard footsteps approaching. Xu Guangqi turned his head to look, but the person who came spoke before him.

"Zixian, you are here after all!" There was a hint of complacency in Shi Jixie's voice.

"Brother Shicheng?" Xu Guangqi asked, "Why are you here too?"

Calculated by the year of his Jinshi degree, Shi Jijie was the runner-up in the Renchen year of the 20th year of the Wanli reign. He was only in his early 30s when he passed the exam, a truly remarkable talent. Xu Guangqi, on the other hand, was a Jinshi in the Jiachen year of the 32nd year of the Wanli reign. In terms of seniority, Shi Jijie was Xu Guangqi's senior. In terms of official rank, although both Shi Jijie and Xu Guangqi held the title of Minister of Rites, Shi Jijie's main position was Grand Secretary, the third-ranking official in the cabinet. If Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao, two of his predecessors, had passed away and the Emperor had no other preferred candidates, he would have been promoted to the position of Chief Minister. Therefore, in terms of official rank, Shi Jijie was Xu Guangqi's superior. However, in terms of age, Shi Jijie was only a year older than Xu Guangqi. As they spent time together, the two gradually became familiar with each other, and Shi Jijie developed a liking for Xu Guangqi. He took the initiative to suggest that they address each other as brothers, rather than using their official titles.

"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me," Shi Jixie chuckled, sitting down next to Xu Guangqi. "I'm getting old, and even if I don't drink before bed, I'll have to get up several times this night. Not to mention this last banquet, with all the drinking and drinking going on, I'm practically a drunkard. I got up to go to the bathroom and saw your door was open, but you weren't inside, so I came over to check."

"Haha." Xu Guangqi smiled knowingly, then he remembered that he had forgotten to close the door when he left. "Brother Shicheng, how did you know I was here?"

"Yao He has a poem that says, 'Despite my joy, I still suspect a dream,' and 'I often wake up in the middle of the night with a start.' In the 26th year of the Wanli reign, I entered the Imperial Examination Hall for the first time as a co-examiner. I was awakened in the middle of the night by a suspected dream, thinking I hadn't passed. After realizing I was dreaming, I realized I had indeed passed, but I couldn't fall asleep. So I came here to sit and look at the place where I had answered questions before, and reminisce a little about the past." As he spoke, Shi Jixie also looked toward the darkened literary hall. "Although you are the chief examiner, this is also your first time back at the Imperial Examination Hall, so I wonder if you would come here to reminisce like me."

"So that's it." Although Xu Guangqi still couldn't recall the content of the dream, after hearing what Jing Shi Jixie said, he also felt that he might have had a dream about failing the imperial examination.

On the upper floor of Mingyuan Tower, a lieutenant pointed at two people standing in the shadow of a lamp on the eaves from a distance and asked his superior, "Sir, there's another one here. Should we go over and take a look?"

"This must be an examiner too," another captain yawned. "I wonder what these officials are doing here, up late at night, holding a meeting."

"Let's go take a look." Yawning is contagious, so Tan Xiaoqi yawned too. "Is there any untouched food?" he asked, turning around.

"There's still half an uncut chicken and half a jar of pickles, so this cake can be considered untouched." The captain, who was being watched by Tan Xiaoqi, picked up a cake that had been bitten twice.

"Then quickly cut off the part that was bitten by the dog and divide it into two pieces. Cut the chicken into pieces and make a plate of pickles." Tan Xiaoxia gave the order.

"Okay," the captain replied like a tavern waiter, then added, "But sir, we don't have any clean chopsticks."

"There's a water tank downstairs, just wash up." Tan Xiaoqi looked at the yawning captain. "You go."

"Yes." The yawning captain stretched, then quickly walked over to pick up two pairs of chopsticks scattered on the wooden table, and hurried to the water tank downstairs.

Soon, Tan Xiaoqi, accompanied by two lieutenants and a plate of "untouched food," approached the two presidents. Before he even reached them, the sound of a night watchman's bell rang out from outside the Imperial Academy walls.

"What time is it?" Xu Guangqi murmured.

"It's four o'clock in the morning." Tan Xiaoqi not only heard Xu Guangqi's mumbling, but also saw Shi Jikai's face clearly. "President Shi, President Xu. Please enjoy your meal." Tan Xiaoqi placed the tray on the ground next to Xu Guangqi without asking any more questions.

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On the day of the results announcement, the examiners were not the only ones who couldn't sleep at night and had a dream about failing the exam.

Starting from the fourth watch, some scholars, alone or with their servants, began to wait for the results at the place where the list was posted outside the Imperial Examination Hall.

In order to avoid causing trouble, congestion, or even stampedes, on the morning of the day the results were announced, the entire street in front of the Imperial Examination Hall would be blocked, and sedan chairs and carriages would be prohibited from entering or leaving.

Yet, even in this crowded restricted area, a luxurious carriage actually stopped at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall. Furthermore, a team of people even cleared a space specifically for the carriage.

By dawn, the place where the notice was posted was packed with people. But even so, the carriage didn't move. The soldiers in charge of maintaining order turned a blind eye, as if the carriage was supposed to be parked there.

At the exact hour of noon, a deep, solemn chime echoed from the bell tower several miles away, punctually knocking on the gates of the Imperial Examination Hall. First out came the Imperial Guard officers, led by Zhang Maozhong, a patrol officer. They cleared a path to the left and right, carving a path wide enough for three people to walk side by side through the sea of ​​people between the Imperial Examination Hall gate and the wall displaying the notice.

Then, under the watchful eyes of twenty examiners, several officials and clerks in charge of posting the list picked up the list and the necessary items needed for posting the list from the table in the middle of the Zhigong Hall, walked along the central axis of the Imperial Examination Hall, passed through the doorway of Mingyuan Tower, and then passed through the Dragon Gate, the Second Gate, and the Main Gate, and walked all the way to the wall where the list was posted.

From the moment they appeared, the noise outside the Imperial Examination Hall gradually died down. When the official who posted the list walked to the wall and slowly unfolded the list facing the wall, all was in complete silence. All the examinees waited, expected, and prayed with bated breath.

(End of this chapter)