Chapter 233: The Road to High Office 33

Chapter 233: The Road to High Office 33

Xu Zeli looked back at Big Tiger, who immediately understood his intention.

Xu Zeli pulled Little Tiger, who was still lost in thought, and led him out of the study.

After closing the door, the two stood guard outside.

"Don't want to be a big-shot in the capital?" Xu Zeli asked calmly. "Are you sure you've thought this through?"

"Brother, I've thought it through," Xu Zeping said firmly. "The moment I entered Yanjing, I knew what I wanted. Brother, the walls of Yanjing are just too damn high."

"Even if you become a local governor, there will come a day when the Sage will summon you back to the capital," Xu Zeli said, pausing for a moment. "Unless you're willing to remain mediocre all your life... but brother knows you're not someone who is willing to be ordinary or pave the way for others."

"Brother, then I'll strive to become a governor!"

"Good, that's the right ambition," Xu Zeli first encouraged Xu Zeping, then shifted his tone. "Those who become governors are all trusted confidants of the Sage. If you're unwilling to stay in Yanjing, how will you prove your loyalty to the Sage?"

Xu Zeping was at a loss for words. He wanted to say that he could prove himself through his political achievements.

Seeing his youngest brother's vulnerability, Xu Zeli smiled gently. "Pingping, what will you do?"

"Please teach me, brother," Xu Zeping said with admiration, like a young child studying under an oil lamp.

"Pingping, a person can't live their life doing whatever they want," Xu Zeli said, lowering his gaze. "Yanjing is both a cage of towering buildings and an opportunity for advancement. If you abandon this most direct path, you'll have to choose a more difficult one."

With that, Xu Zeli dipped his brush and wrote a single character on the pristine rice paper: "Purity."

Loyal royalists are always steadfast supporters of the Sage and the most trusted officials.

But if one cannot be that, then be a pure official who serves the people wholeheartedly, for the sake of the citizens and the Great Jing Dynasty's prosperity.

"I understand, brother."

"What should you do?"

"A protector of the people."

"You're teachable."

Having guided Xu Zeping on the path of an official, Xu Zeli returned to the main topic. "Suppressing your results is the most foolish option. If you've chosen this path, then don't be afraid."

After achieving top honors, there will be a Qiong Lin banquet where the Sage will host all newly appointed officials.

And this Qiong Lin banquet is the key to this high-stakes gamble.

"The Sage favors bold officials, not timid ones," Xu Zeli said lightly. "Your performance when you achieve top honors must be eye-catching, and at the Qiong Lin banquet, you must be daring. Whether you can become a local official depends on your courage."

"Yes, thank you for your guidance, brother."

Although Xu Zeli didn't say it explicitly, Xu Zeping understood the implication—setting a trap for the Sage.

Time passed quietly, and it was soon the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, a small spring for capital officials.

The Great Jing Dynasty's New Year holiday began on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and lasted until the Lantern Festival of the following year, a total of eighteen days.

On the eve of the holiday, the Sheng'an Emperor also announced the dates for the next spring examinations: the fifteenth, eighteenth, and twenty-first days of the second lunar month.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Zeli took Xu Zeping to visit Li Chengxue and brought customary holiday presents.

Xu Zeping finally met the legendary eldest disciple, a scholarly and refined wise man.

Although he had entered his sixtieth year, his personality was extremely unrestrained. He could stay up all night discussing with them and drinking warm wine while debating heroes.

His free and unrestrained nature was inherited from their teacher.

Of course, during the festive season, Xu Zeping did not forget to visit Mr. Cen in the inner city.

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Zeping brought New Year gifts and visited Cen Tianyuan's estate.

Unlike the single-courtyard house that Xu Zeli had bought, Mr. Cen's three-courtyard house was a gift bestowed by the Sage.

It must be said that the moment Xu Zeping stepped into the Cen family estate, he admitted that he was a little envious.

In expensive Yanjing, a three-courtyard mansion was quite something.

"You brat, finally willing to come visit me?" Ever since this kid came to Yanjing, Cen Tianyuan had been wondering when he would come to visit.

But no matter how long he waited, he didn’t see the kid.

Now, looking at the ingratiating Xu Zeping, he could roll his eyes so hard they’d almost reach the sky. Cen Tianyuan sat boldly and expansively, waiting to see what kind of excuse this brat could come up with!

"It's not that I didn't want to come, it's just that you're busy with government duties, leaving my senior sister and her son at home. As an outsider, I needed to avoid suspicion, didn't I?"

Xu Zeping's words were naturally nonsense. The real reason he hadn't visited Cen Tianyuan was that he wanted to keep a low profile and avoid unnecessary trouble.

In his reclusive state, trouble wouldn't just fall from the sky onto his head, right?

"Hmph, keep making excuses, brat!" Cen Tianyuan snorted lightly. "Forget it, it's the New Year, I don't want to be angry with you. You'll spend the New Year here this time."

Xu Zeping, who had already made plans to have reunion dinner with his elder sister and her family: ...

Would he get beaten if he refused?

Suddenly, Xu Zeping's eyes lit up, and he said urgently, "Mr. Cen, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and there will be a state banquet. I'm afraid I won't even be able to spend the New Year with you."

At the mention of this, Cen Tianyuan suddenly remembered.

At the Great Jing Dynasty's state banquet, unless there were special circumstances, all dukes and marquises, officials from the Six Ministries, civil officials of the fourth rank and above, and military officials of the third rank and above were required to attend.

Although Cen Tianyuan's position as a bureau chief wasn’t high enough to qualify for attendance, he also held the special position of an inspector in the Ministry of Works.

"You brat, if you don't want to, just say so. No need to go off on tangents."

"Mr. Cen, it's been a long time since we played chess together. How about a couple of rounds?"

"Let's go, do you think I'm scared of you?"

Cen Tianyuan knew full well that Xu Zeping, a terrible chess player, was just trying to change the subject.

But people always appreciate sincerity, and Cen Tianyuan was no exception. Looking at this young man who knew his place, he couldn't help but favor him a little more.

After the evening meal, it was nearly the hour of Xu (7-9 pm) when Xu Zeping returned to the Xu family estate by carriage.

The snow melted, the ice thawed, and the spring breeze returned.

As the spring swallows returned, it was already mid-February.

The spring examinations, like the autumn ones, lasted nine days. Barring any accidents, the Great Jing Dynasty would continue the policy of the previous dynasty.

But unexpectedly, an accident occurred. During the first spring examinations of the founding of the Great Jing Dynasty, there was an extremely rare cold spell in spring, causing the death of hundreds of common people due to the cold.

Emperor Wenwu showed mercy by shortening the nine-day spring exams to just three days.

From then on, the Great Jing Dynasty's spring examinations lasted only three days.

The first exam was on Policy Discussions.

The second exam was on the Eight-Legged Essay.

The third exam offered a choice of three subjects: exam posts, regulated poetry, or Arithmetic Classics, with candidates selecting one.

The process of the spring examinations was quite similar to that of the autumn examinations. Three days before the exam, candidates had to verify their registration info using their provincial exam badge at the capital government office.

After verification, they would receive their exam venue information.

On the day of the imperial examinations, they would go to the Examination Hall in the capital based on this information.

As Xu Zeping was waiting in line to enter the exam booth, Zhang Xiaolin's broad hand patted Xu Zeping's shoulder: "Xu Zeping, you lad! I thought you weren't coming to this year's spring examinations. I wrote you letters, and you didn't reply."

"Silence in the Examination Hall!"

"Follow the rules and line up, or you're out!"

The guards patrolling glared, and Zhang Xiaolin immediately closed his mouth, quickly running to the back of the line.

Boom!

At 7:30 AM, a dull bell rang, signaling that the spring examinations of the nineteenth year of Sheng'an had officially begun.

Sitting in the exam booth, Xu Zeping waited for the examiner to hand out the exam papers.

Although the duration of the spring examinations had been shortened, the rules had become even stricter.

The Examination Hall in the capital was divided into five exam sites: east, west, south, north, and central, with two examination yards per site, making a total of ten venues.

Each venue could accommodate a thousand candidates, but no more than five hundred were assigned to each venue to ensure better supervision of the candidates.

If the autumn examinations were difficult due to the length of time, the spring examinations were difficult due to the level of surveillance.

During the time the chief examiner handed out the exam papers, the patrolling guards had already made no fewer than three rounds. Each patrol brought sharp eyes that seemed to devour the candidates.

Each exam paper for the spring examinations was sealed with oil paper, so the examiners had to unseal them on site, with the patrolling guards distributing them.

With five hundred candidates, there were one hundred guards supervising.

Xu Zeping couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Was this an exam for the candidates or for the guards?

"To the south, there are pirates; now we build ships. Is this national prosperity and strength, or is it draining resources and harming the people?"

Looking at this Policy Discussions question, Xu Zeping's head buzzed. This Sheng'an emperor really doesn't play by the rules!

He had gone through the past spring examination papers and had never encountered such a blatant question that felt like a knife at your throat.

If you wrote about the latter, you'd definitely fail.

Historically, the spring examination questions were mostly prepared by the Hanlin Academy and cabinet ministers, and finally approved by the Sage.

Clearly, this question came straight from Emperor Sheng'an.

He finally understood why his elder brother said that the Sage likes bold individuals.

Wasn't the Emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty himself a living example of this?

The imperial censor submitted a memorial saying that shipbuilding was financially draining and harmful to the populace, right? Then I will present this financially draining issue to these candidates from all over the country, and you will see what they have to say!

Xu Zeping had heard from his elder brother about the reason behind the imperial censor's memorial saying that shipbuilding was financially draining and harmful to the populace.

The Sage has already passed his sixtieth birthday and has begun to construct his mausoleum for the afterlife. The construction of the imperial mausoleum is extremely costly.

The Ministry of Revenue calculated that if the construction of the imperial mausoleum were to begin, the shipbuilding project would likely be put on hold for two years.

Thus, the Minister of Revenue played a tricky move and shifted the burden onto the imperial censor.

The imperial censor had no choice but to step up. It was impossible to blame the Sage for focusing solely on shipbuilding, right? So they could only subtly hint that continuous shipbuilding would be financially draining and harmful to the populace.

...

Xu Zeping had been involved in shipbuilding under his mentor and knew that the Great Jing Dynasty's treasury was strained. In previous years, taxes were used to fix the loopholes in the Guanbei city wall.

The taxes of recent years were reserved for emergency grain reserves in case of natural or man-made disasters. With this calculation, the treasury could only build one large ship per year.

Xu Zeping took a deep breath. The treasury was strained, and it was the same old saying—they needed to increase the treasury's income.

But how to increase it?

Xu Zeping thought of the topic from the autumn examination—salt.

But why hadn't there been any news about sea salt, even though he had submitted his policy proposals and methods?

If it hadn't been tested, Xu Zeping wouldn't believe it.

If it hadn't been tested, there’s no way he would have earned the title of top scholar!

Xu Zeping realized he had forgotten to include the method for refining crude salt.

Well, what a fortunate oversight.

It gave him a chance to impress everyone a bit.

Of course, this couldn't be the main focus, as the exam question was about whether shipbuilding led to national wealth and strong people. So he could only briefly touch on it.

The most important thing was to demonstrate how national prosperity and strength stem from shipbuilding.