Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 396: One Family's Joy, Hundreds of Families' Worry
During the Ming Dynasty, the number of people admitted in a single imperial examination generally showed a steady upward trend.

The reason we say this is an overall figure is because there are individual cases where the number of candidates suddenly increased or decreased due to special reasons. For example, during the Hongwu reign, six examinations were held and the results were announced seven times, with an average of 155 candidates admitted per examination. However, the second examination in the 18th year of the Hongwu reign admitted 472 candidates at once. If we add the 130 candidates who were selected to fill vacancies based on local chronicles, the total number of candidates admitted for this examination alone is 602, more than five times the number of candidates admitted in the first examination in the 4th year of the Hongwu reign.

Excluding these exceptions, the overall number of students admitted to each examination has consistently exceeded 200 since the Jingtai period, and after the Chenghua period, it has remained around 300 per examination. During the Jiaqing, Longqing, and Wanli periods, each examination admitted 320 students.

This imperial examination was a special one, a special one, because there would be a regular examination the following year. Therefore, the number of candidates reported to the emperor by the Ministry of Rites was only two-thirds of the number of candidates admitted in the Jiwei examination of the 47th year of the Wanli reign, or 230. This number was roughly equal to the average number of candidates admitted in the eight imperial examinations during the Yongle reign.

Like the Golden List, the Xingbang List was a long scroll, its length determined solely by the number of admitted candidates. From first to last place was listed on the same scroll. When it was posted, the court didn't create any suspense, nor did they have anyone read it aloud. Instead, the list was simply spread out from left to right, following the customary writing style, and then hung on the wall.

Unlike the Golden List, the Apricot List didn't distinguish between first, second, and third place, but only between top and non-top candidates. In addition to their ranking, each top candidate was labeled with the classic they studied. For example, the list of top scorer Liu Bi Da read: "First place, studying the Book of Changes, Liu Bi Da."

After posting the main list, officials would also post the supplementary list. This year, each examiner's office selected one candidate from the supplementary list, bringing the total to eighteen, a relatively high number for a given year. But regardless of the number of candidates selected, the supplementary list was merely a supplement compared to the main list, appearing as nothing more than a blank sheet of paper. While the names on the list were ranked in order, there was no rank order.

Before the secondary notice was posted on the wall, the corner under the wall where the notice was posted became noisy again.

"I, I, I got it? I got it! Ugh! Woo!"

It was unknown who had shouted first, but soon, this roar, devoid of any scholarly air and unrefined, began to appear sporadically among the crowd that seemed to be piled up like a mountain or sea. Soon, the crowd began to surge, and more and more people roared out their ecstasy.

For a moment, the voices beneath the wall were noisy, like a roaring crowd, like a fire alarm, like soldiers entering the city, and like crows returning to the forest at dusk.

"Back off! Everyone, back off! Stop pushing forward!" The Imperial Guards understood the candidates' eagerness, but their duty was to prevent them from getting too close to the list. If any candidate, distraught over not being selected, went berserk and defaced or even tore up the list, every last one of them would be punished.

A candidate, recently turned away by the Imperial Guards, was already sifting through the entire list, shoulder to shoulder, beneath the wall of bulletin boards. He couldn't find his name on it, and a blank expression crossed his face, only his lips moving slightly. Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, he jerked sideways, attempting to push aside the candidate next to him. As he did so, he shouted, "There's a second list! There's a second list!"

The crowd remained motionless, and he could only continue to squeeze towards the secondary list. Finally, he squeezed through and took in all the names on the list. But he didn't see his name on it.

The candidate was stunned. He stared blankly at the black characters on the white background, feeling dizzy. He stood there like a wooden stake. Around him, a crowd of people continued to surge.

"Ah!" the candidate raised his head and roared hysterically. But even this roar, which seemed to squeeze out all the air from his lungs, seemed insignificant amid the surging roar of the crowd. No one paid any attention to his tears. The imperial examination hall was full of losers like him.

"Dad! Dad!" Wen Bing squeezed through the crowd. As soon as he was out of the crowd, he stumbled and fell to the ground. But Wen Bing didn't care. He rolled to his feet, not even brushing off the dirt stuck to his clothes. Shouting, he ran towards the archway where Wen Zhenmeng was standing.

"Did he get hit?!" Wen Zhenmeng quickly walked towards the direction his son was running towards. After just a few breaths, his heart began to beat wildly.

"I got it! I got it!" Wen Bing fell forward again, perhaps because he slipped or was tripped by something. Fortunately, this time, his younger brother Wen Cheng held him steadily before he fell to the ground.

"What's the ranking?" Wen Cheng asked hurriedly.

Wen Bing took a few breaths and swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva. He was really squeezed. "My name is... my name is above Sun Shan!" Mingluosun Shan was a euphemism for failing the imperial examination. Mingluosun Shan meant passing, but not a very high ranking.

"How many are there?" Wen Cheng asked.

"Two hundred and thirteenth." After a few breaths, Wen Bing finally calmed down. After calming down a bit, he began to feel the pain from the bump.

Wen Zhenmeng's face was already filled with unconcealable joy, and tears of joy silently streamed down his face. While the ranking in the imperial examination was certainly important, being on the list was a major event, enough to be recorded in the family tree. However, Wen Zhenmeng didn't cheer immediately. Instead, he asked, "Where's Brother Liangfu? Did Brother Liangfu make the list?"

Wen Bing was startled at first, then he deliberately suppressed the joy on his face. He didn't reply, but just shook his head gently.

Wang Zheng was standing next to Wen Zhenmeng. The two of them had arrived together just in time for the results to be announced. When they arrived, the wall where the results were posted was already crowded. Because he was old and not very strong, Wen Zhenmeng let Wen Bing squeeze in to see the results.

Wen Zhenmeng asked anxiously, "Where's the secondary list? Have you seen it?"

"I saw it." Wen Bing lowered his head.

"This"

Just when things were awkward, Wang Zheng unexpectedly took the initiative to smile and bow to Wen Zhenmeng, congratulating him: "Congratulations, Brother Wen Qi, on getting into high school!"

Wang Zheng's face was full of joy, but Wen Zhenmeng still keenly caught the loneliness between his eyes and brows.

"It's just some shabby and pedantic writing, it's just luck." When Wen Zhenmeng said this, he suddenly remembered the last time his nephew Yao Ximeng passed the imperial examination and looked unhappy.

Yao Ximeng's father died young, and he was raised by his mother, Wen, Wen Zhenmeng's sister. Because Yao Ximeng was only five years younger than Wen Zhenmeng, he spent a long time studying with his uncle. In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, during the Jiwei year of the Ming dynasty, the uncle and nephew took the same examination. Yao Ximeng passed, but Wen Zhenmeng failed. Yao Ximeng suppressed his joy, saying, "It was just luck."

The imperial examination was always a matter of joy for one family and worry for hundreds. The average person would say, "My past filthiness was nothing to boast about, but today I'm unbridled and wanton. The spring breeze is blowing, and my horse's hooves are galloping. In one day, I can see all the flowers in Chang'an." The average person would say, "Red flowers are half fallen, and swallows are flying. I was a guest in Chang'an, but now I'm returning alone. I send a letter home to my brothers, but I'm ashamed to wear the clothes I wore when I left."

But whether it was "seeing all the flowers in Chang'an in one day" or "a letter from my hometown to my brother", these were not the things the examiners needed to worry about. Their job was to return to their original office and continue their work after the candidates had dispersed.

The sedan chairs prepared for them were already set up in the open space between the main gate and Mingyuan Tower. For officials outside the Ministry of Rites, once they left the Imperial Examination Hall, the examination was over. Unless the emperor selected them to participate in the palace examination,

After the twenty examiners exchanged greetings in order, they all approached the open space where the sedan chairs were placed. However, they discovered that there were only nineteen sedan chairs. To be more precise, one of the sedan chairs that should have been used by the Chief Executive was missing.

Xu Guangqi frowned. He had arranged all these meticulous matters in advance, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Just as he was wondering, Zhang Maozhong, the patrol officer and the Admiral of the Jinyiwei Street Office, approached Xu Guangqi. "Grand Master, there's a carriage waiting for you at the door." He didn't speak into Xu Guangqi's ear, nor did he lower his voice deliberately.

"Which?" No matter the reason, a night spent in exhaustion will eventually return to the body in the form of fatigue. Xu Guangqi felt like yawning the moment he opened his mouth, but he immediately suppressed it. "Which government office is this car from? I still have to get back to the Ministry to deal with matters." For officials from the Ministry of Rites, the end of the joint examination wasn't the end but the beginning. The procedures for the palace examination were complex, and every step required careful planning, with no room for sloppiness.

"It's the car of the Imperial Household Department." Zhang Maozhong replied.

"The Imperial Household Department!" Xu Guangqi's first reaction was that someone in the Imperial Household Department had already learned the contents of the list and wanted to make some "adjustments" to the palace examination to get someone's ranking slightly higher on the gold list. If this was true, it was too blatant. Not only did they block him at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall, but they even had their sedan chair removed. "What does the Imperial Household Department want me for?"

"I don't know about that. I'm just following orders." Zhang Maozhong didn't know, but he guessed that the Imperial Household Department sent a car to pick up Xu Guangqi most likely because of the matter of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

After Johann Adam Schall von Bell's disturbance at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall, Zhang Maozhong did two things. First, he issued a gag order to his subordinates who witnessed the incident, forbidding anyone from discussing it inside the hall. Second, he sent someone to report it to the higher-ups. After all the examinees had left, the hall was sealed off again. Although the higher-ups only replied with an "I understand," and no further information came in, Zhang Maozhong's intuition told him that this incident was likely serious.

"What if I don't go?" There was a hint of displeasure in Xu Guangqi's tone.

"The carriage is parked at the door, just a few steps away. You can go and talk to him yourself." Zhang Maozhong waved his hand towards the door.

Xu Guangqi frowned and sighed in frustration. He had already decided to get to the bottom of things at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall. If the person came for the palace examination, he would refuse them on the spot, even at the risk of offending the Imperial Household Department. Otherwise, he would be unable to continue his official duties.

By this time, the area around the Xingbang list was deserted. Those who had passed the exam drank and celebrated, greeting and getting to know each other. After all, they were now considered fellow examinees of the same year, naturally bonding. Those who hadn't found their place gathered in small groups, sharing their sorrows. But whether they were triumphant or frustrated, most had left. The crowds dispersed, and the Jinyiwei breakwater was withdrawn, leaving only a few soldiers from the Dongcheng Bingmasi still watching. The Xingbang list would remain up until the day of the Palace Examination, and during that time, someone would constantly be watching over this list filled with the names of the Wenquxing.

Xu Guangqi walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall and, as he passed the gate, saw the luxurious carriage parked at the entrance, with the driver sitting inside. Suddenly, a fragmented image flashed through Xu Guangqi's mind, and a strange feeling emerged in his heart. He felt as if he had seen this scene before. Xu Guangqi walked, recalling it, but even when he reached the carriage, he still couldn't recall the subsequent scene.

The driver had arrived early in the morning and had been waiting for most of the morning. Now, exhausted and sleepy, he yawned relentlessly in the driver's seat. After the spirited spectacle of laughter and tears at the Imperial Examination Hall, the driver's yawns had intensified, nearly leading him to fall asleep in the carriage. But when he saw the man in the uniform of a second-rank official swiftly approaching, he stifled the last of his yawns.

The driver jumped out and bowed respectfully to Xu Guangqi. "Are you President Xu?"

"It's me." Xu Guangqi stood beside the coachman and responded lightly.

"Please get in." If it was an eunuch from the Imperial Household Department riding in this carriage, he would have enjoyed the treatment of a human footrest, but an outsider like Xu Guangqi could only step up on his own. The driver could only give him a hand.

Xu Guangqi did not take the hand offered by the coachman, but instead opened his voice and deliberately shouted: "What is the purpose of the Imperial Household Department coming to the Imperial Examination Hall to see me?"

The driver didn't know why President Xu was yelling so loudly, but he still patiently explained, "The Imperial Household Department isn't looking for you. It's the Emperor who summoned you to the palace. Please get in quickly, and don't keep the Emperor waiting too long."

"what?"

Xu Guangqi was stunned for a moment, then obediently got into the car and left, leaving the examiners looking at each other in bewilderment.

The carriage took Xu Guangqi all the way to Donghuamen Gate. The distance was about six or seven miles, but because there were soldiers clearing the way from Gongyuan to Dong'anmen, the journey was smooth and unobstructed, so it didn't take too much time.

The carriage stopped and the driver got out first. He opened the curtain and found Xu Guangqi sleeping with his eyes closed. The driver smiled dumbly and knocked lightly on the carriage frame. "President Xu, it's time to get out."

In order not to be disrespectful in front of the emperor, Xu Guangqi began to catch up on sleep almost as soon as he got on the carriage. In his fragmented dreams, he actually saw the scene again.

He opened his eyes, took the hand offered by the driver, leaned out of the door, looked up at the plaque of Dong'anmen, and for a moment he could not distinguish between reality and dreams.

(End of this chapter)