Do you know: I am Qi Heng

The imperial court did not prohibit gambling dens; these gambling dens were all licensed by the government and were not opened haphazardly.

"Guanpu" and "gambling house" are completely different concepts, referring to the act of adding gambling to commodity transactions.

Strictly speaking, later games like ring toss all involved gambling, and poker basically falls into this category as well.

However, the definition of who could pass the imperial examination and how many places they could achieve was rather vague.

Because it has no commodities to rely on, and it is different from the projects in ordinary gambling dens.

Therefore, the imperial court turned a blind eye to this matter.

In his article, Su Shi first listed the previous instances of rampant gambling and the court's intervention to prohibit it.

He further characterized the practice of gambling on the imperial examinations as a new type of gambling, and concluded by saying that it was an insult to scholars and a disgrace to the solemnity of the imperial examination system.

Su Shi's female fans were outraged by this behavior after reading the article, and even went to their fathers, brothers and elders to ask them to write a letter to prohibit it.

When the scholars saw this, they no longer cared about criticizing Su Shi, but instead turned their anger towards the gambling dens that operated during the imperial examinations.

Often, intellectuals have no stance at all, or rather, their stance can change frequently as long as it doesn't affect their own interests.

Because their stance is influenced by "justice," and what they consider "justice" must conform to the basic values ​​of the majority.

Take their criticism of Su Shi, for example. In reality, no matter how famous Su Shi is, it has no impact on most of them.

Even if Su Shi hadn't been so famous, they would still have been ignored.

Only a few relatively famous candidates were overshadowed by Su Shi.

The reason they joined in criticizing Su Shi was not because Su Shi harmed their interests, but because of their jealousy.

Of course, criticizing Su Shi as "righteous" is also an important factor.

But now Su Shi's articles directly target those gambling dens that use the imperial examinations as a pretext, and these gambling dens are somehow related to all of them.

This is because it can solidify the high and mighty status of scholars.

The Great Zhou Dynasty had hundreds of prefectures, but only a few hundred people were admitted to the imperial examinations each time.

On average, only one person from each prefecture passed the imperial examinations. However, in some prefectures, several or even a dozen people passed with flying colors in each examination.

In other words, it was already extremely rare for even one person from a state to pass the imperial examinations several times.

Those less desirable prefectures may have been places where no one has ever passed the imperial examinations since the founding of the nation.

The imperial examination system gave ordinary people the opportunity to rise through social classes, but it was not the main reason why so many ordinary people saved every penny to send their children to school.

Most ordinary people don't even think about their children becoming officials; they just want them to pass the imperial examinations and return home with a degree.

Because scholars held a high social status, they only needed the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination) to live a very comfortable life in the local area.

Therefore, maintaining the status of scholars is in the interest of all intellectuals.

It is precisely because of this sense of "justice" that they feel compelled to join in criticizing such things.

Many officials in the court were being bothered by their wives and daughters, because many of their wives admired Su Shi's writings.

Seeing the growing public opinion, he seized the opportunity to submit a memorial to the throne, requesting a strict ban on gambling shops using the imperial examination system for gambling in any way.

This was not a big deal in itself, but given the strong public opinion, the government naturally wouldn't refuse.

Soon, the imperial court issued a decree to the world that the imperial examinations must not be used for gambling in any form, and those who violated this rule would be exiled along with their families, and all their property would be confiscated.

Upon the issuance of this edict, scholars immediately felt a sense of victory and showered the emperor with praise.

Upon receiving the news, Qi Heng smiled and said, "Su Shi certainly understands things quickly!"

He was referring to Su Shi that day, so this matter is not his fault and has nothing to do with him.

Even without Su Shi, those gambling dens would still use other people as gamblers, and some people would still lose everything.

The difference is that Su Shi's fame led some people who originally didn't intend to bet so much to place a heavy bet.

But as I said before, the responsibility does not lie with Su Shi; the problem essentially lies with those gambling dens.

Su Shi understood his meaning and also figured it out.

That's why Su Shi's article went straight to the heart of the matter, ultimately leading the court to issue an edict prohibiting gambling shops from using the imperial examinations for gambling.

However, the ability to accomplish this ultimately stemmed from Su Shi's fame.

In previous years, there must have been people who lost everything in the imperial examinations and chose to commit suicide.

Because the odds offered by the gambling shop were extremely high, the temptation was too great.

Su Shi is famous enough, isn't he? He was the most popular candidate to win the top scholar title before.

However, as far as Qi Heng knew, the odds offered by those gambling shops were 1 to 3.

Even Su Shi, who was the most popular choice, had such odds; the odds for others were even higher.

Those who closed the gambling dens weren't fools, because they knew that the imperial examination was too unpredictable.

While writing well is one thing, the imperial examination was for selecting officials, and it wasn't just about literary talent and writing style.

Take this imperial examination as an example. Four of the eight great families participated. As a result, Su Shi and his brother, Zeng Gong, passed the exam, while Su Xun failed.

The top scholar title was won by Zhang Heng, who was relatively unknown.

Only gamblers, who don't understand these things at all, only look at the reputation and bet heavily on Su Shi.

In previous years, some people committed suicide because of this, and others wrote letters to describe this chaotic situation, but because there was not much public opinion, it did not attract much attention.

Su Shi's fame drew a lot of attention to the matter from the beginning, and after it fermented, the imperial court issued an edict to prohibit it.

Throughout history, and even into later generations, many people still cherish their reputation because it can bring tangible benefits.

Qi Heng had planned to visit Su Shi during his day off, but unexpectedly, when class ended that day, the gatekeeper of the Sheng family came to the school and handed him a letter from Su Shi.

After reading the letter, Qi Heng was stunned, but upon careful reflection, he realized that such a thing did indeed happen in history.

"Yuanruo, what happened?" Sheng Changbai asked with concern when he noticed that Qi Heng's expression was off.

Qi Heng said, "Brother Zizhan's mother has passed away!"

"This…"

Sheng Changbai was stunned upon hearing this, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

This incident was a huge blow to the Su brothers, not only emotionally, but also in terms of their future prospects.

Now that the Su brothers have passed the imperial examinations, they are just waiting to be appointed to official positions.

When the imperial court appoints officials, there are never many good positions available.

However, according to filial piety, children are required to observe a three-year mourning period after their parents pass away.

If a woman is already married, she is not included in this count. However, if the wedding date has been set, or even if she is on her way to the wedding but has not yet formally completed the wedding ceremony, she must immediately cancel the wedding and return home to observe mourning.

The son was required to observe mourning, and even if he held an official position, he had to resign and return home to observe mourning.

Unless the emperor intervenes to prevent a man from being released from mourning, he can return to his hometown to observe mourning and continue to hold his official position.

If this was the case for officials, then it goes without saying that those like Su Shi, who were not granted official positions, were even more so.

But once the mourning period is over, it will be almost impossible for them to obtain a better official position.

Perhaps because of this, their achievements in life were limited.

Although Sheng Hong didn't have deep feelings for Old Madam Sheng, his devotion to wishing her a long and healthy life was probably no less than Minglan's.