The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 038 Auspicious Dragon And Phoenix Symbols Part 2
On August 19th, the three sessions of the xiangshi at the Shengjing Exam Hall had just ended the day before. The officials had already anonymized all over 30,000 exam papers and sent them to the hall where the examiners were. The pile of exam papers looked like a mountain range, making the heads of the academicians and scholars ache.
Before the official grading began, Chief Examiner Grand Secretary Yang raised his cup and said, "Let tea stand in for wine. To all my colleagues, within ten days, we must grade thousands of papers. I toast to you all!"
"A toast to you, daren!"
Everyone drank their tea and began ten grueling days of grading.
By August 29th, each examiner had finished reading the exam papers. Every paper had been carefully reviewed three times and marked with comments and critiques by the examiners. On the last day, the three vice examiners each selected three papers, and Grand Secretary Yang also selected one. The group gathered to decide the top three candidates of this year’s Shengjing xiangshi.
One vice examiner said, "This Liu Ze from Shanxi is somewhat of a fellow townsman of mine. I’ve heard of his reputation. He was a prodigy in Shanxi, and at sixteen, he passed the tongshi, winning the honor of sanyuan. Originally, he was supposed to take the xiangshi two years later, but his mother suddenly passed away, and he observed filial piety for three years, unable to take the exam. Three years later, when he was about to take the exam, his father unexpectedly passed away, and he observed filial piety for another three years. Eight years passed in this way, and now, at twenty-five, he has come to Shengjing to take the xiangshi."
Another vice examiner looked at Liu Ze's paper and said, "His writing is brilliant, his style strong, and his thoughts meticulous. Excellent!"
Everyone took a look, and even Grand Secretary Yang's eyes lit up, saying, "Excellent! This essay on 'At fifteen, I set my heart on learning,' every word is heartfelt. It seems he wrote this masterpiece with genuine emotion. He is undoubtedly the top candidate of this exam!"
Another vice examiner said, "This Yao Shan is from the capital and is forty-three years old this year. Though he is quite old, his reputation for talent is high. Twenty-four years ago, he received the honor of sanyuan in the tongshi in Shengjing, but who knew that his elder brother would die at the hands of the Liao people? He abandoned his pen and joined the army, going to Youzhou Prefecture as a lowly soldier. It wasn’t until last year that he retired and returned. His essay on 'I also wish to rectify people’s hearts' is written with grandeur, filled with experience and rich content."
Grand Secretary Yang read it and nodded in admiration, "Excellent!"
After reviewing the first exam papers of ten scholars, aside from Liu Ze, whom Grand Secretary Yang directly appointed as this year’s top candidate, the ranking of the other nine was up for debate, with differing opinions difficult to reconcile.
Someone suggested, "Let's look at their essays on the Five Classics from the second session."
The second session papers had to be reviewed, so everyone began reading them.
The hall was silent until suddenly Grand Secretary Yang exclaimed three times, "Good, good, good!"
The other three vice examiners immediately approached him, "Yang daren, did you find an outstanding essay?"
Yang Qi immediately displayed the paper, "Have any of you seen this work?"
A vice examiner said, "Tang Shen, Tang Jingze? I remember this candidate. Among those nine, his essays on the Five Classics and poetry were not particularly outstanding, but they were all solidly written, ranking in the upper middle. His handwriting is also elegant, much like his teacher, Fu Wei, Fu daren."
"Ah, so he’s a student of Fu daren."
"Wang daren's calligraphy is famous throughout the land, so naturally, his junior brother’s handwriting is also vigorous and elegant."
Without Fu Wei and Wang Zhen knowing, they had just received a bunch of compliments.
Grand Secretary Yang said, "This person's five essays on the Book of Changes may appear conventional, but gentlemen, look closely. In breaking open each topic, he wrote an additional four essays. This is splitting one into five, merging five into one, to create a grand essay!"
Everyone then carefully examined it.
"Excellent!"
The more Yang Qi read Tang Shen's paper, the more he liked it.
Among the ten candidates they had chosen, only Tang Shen and another person had chosen the Book of Changes. The other candidate's essay was florid but ordinary. Yang Qi was the epitome of a proud and impoverished Hanlin scholar, and Tang Shen could tell from his choice of the five topics that he was a lofty and self-demanding individual.
Compared to the other candidate's flowery style, Yang Qi was clearly so taken with Tang Shen's five essays that he couldn’t bear to part with them.
To strive in improvement is to conquer oneself, a gentleman seeks the way and aligns himself with the principles of Heaven. Small successes are gained through discernment and action; what is trodden above is to harmonize with Heaven and become virtuous, until the ultimate spiritual transformation!
This described Yang Qi himself!
He would not go along with the corrupt officials in the muddled bureaucracy!
Yang Qi even considered making Tang Shen the top candidate of this exam. He shared this thought with the other three vice examiners.
The three vice examiners were surprised, saying, "Although Tang Shen's five essays on the Book of Changes are indeed well-written, his first exam paper did not perform as well as Liu Ze's. Earlier, you also said Liu Ze was the undisputed top candidate."
Someone speculated, "Yang daren… perhaps you have a fondness for the Book of Changes?"
Yang Qi: "..."
If Tang Shen were here, he would probably be shocked. What happened to "everyone knows that Grand Secretary Yang loves the Book of Changes" as Wang Zhen had claimed? Where did this "everyone knows" come from!
Yang Qi re-examined Tang Shen's five essays on the Book of Changes, then looked at Liu Ze's paper. Liu Ze had chosen the Spring and Autumn Annals and wrote five essays on it.
"Such is the will of heaven!"
On the first day of September, the results of the xiangshi were announced.
Yao San originally wanted to go to the exam hall to see the government officers announce the results, but Tang Shen stopped him, "Do you know how many people will be crowded outside the exam hall today?"
Yao San had no idea, "I don’t know."
Tang Shen explained, “Out of more than ten thousand candidates, at least seven or eight thousand will want to know their results. They will have friends and family with them, totaling around ten to twenty thousand people crowding around the honor roll. Without queuing up at midnight, we won’t see anything! Let Feng Bi stand outside the crowd to listen for the results. If our names are called, he can come back and inform us. I believe I will pass.”
At this time, Shopkeeper Lu and Accountant Lin had also already arrived in Shengjing from the north.
If anyone else had said this, Accountant Lin wouldn’t have believed it, thinking it was bragging. But since Tang Shen said it, Accountant Lin stroked his beard and agreed, “Yao San, don’t go. Let Feng Bi go. If he hears any news, he’ll come back and report it.”
Feng Bi took the order and headed to the examination center while Tang Shen and the others waited at home.
As time passed and Feng Bi had not returned, even Tang Shen became a bit anxious. He took out the “Famen Temple Stele” that Wang Zhen had given him and practiced copying it to calm himself. By mid-morning, Feng Bi rushed back, his cheeks flushed with excitement.
Seeing this, everyone knew Tang Shen must have passed.
Yao San asked, “Quick, tell us. How did our little boss do? What rank did he achieve?”
“He...he passed!”
Tang Shen walked out of his study just in time to hear this and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Accountant Lin asked, “What rank?”
Feng Bi took a sip of tea and caught his breath, “Second place! The little boss got second place!”
Everyone was stunned.
The next moment, the sound of drums and gongs came from outside. Government officers in uniforms with red sashes entered the courtyard, congratulating, “Congratulations to Tang Shen from Gusu Prefecture, Jiangnan, on achieving second place in this year’s Shengjing xiangshi!”
Second place, the runner-up in the xiangshi.
Tang Shen laughed heartily and looked at Yao San, “Reward them.”
Yao San immediately took out the prepared silver and distributed it to the congratulating officers.
Knowing his result, Tang Shen immediately went to the Fu Residence to share the good news with Fu Wei.
Fu Wei wasn’t surprised at all and simply smiled, “Not bad.”
Tang Shen thought for a moment and asked, “Did you perhaps send someone to wait outside the examination hall as well?”
The page boy, Wen Shu, interjected, “Of course, I went to queue up early in the morning and even slept on the ground for a night!”
Tang Shen felt a warmth in his heart.
Fu Wei’s two students: Wang Zhen had truly topped the exams, placing first in the tongshi, the xiangshi, and the huishi. This time, Tang Shen placed second in the xiangshi, and Fu Wei wasn’t disappointed but rather felt proud of his student’s hard work.
Wang Zifeng came from the prestigious Wang family of Langya and became Fu Xiru’s student at the age of five. Tang Shen was a true scholar from a humble background, yet achieving this success and knowledge at the age of fifteen, which was truly remarkable.
Fu Wei asked, “Have you informed your senior brother of the good news?”
Tang Shen replied, “Not yet.”
“Then go. Zi Feng is like a half-mentor to you.”
Tang Shen nodded and went to the Minister Residence.
When Wang Zhen returned, he found Tang Shen waiting obediently for him in the flower hall. Upon seeing him enter, Tang Shen immediately stood up and said, “Thank you, Senior Brother Zi Feng, for the exam baskets you sent for each round of the xiangshi. Jing Ze is sorry to have not achieved first place and may have disappointed you.”
Wang Zhen paused and looked at Tang Shen’s respectful demeanor, unable to suppress a smile. His junior brother was quite the expert at preemptively taking the initiative.
“Second place out of ten thousand people, isn’t that good enough?”
Tang Shen bowed, “You were the top scorer in your time.”
Wang Zhen had another cup of tea brought and, instead of sitting at the head of the flower hall, casually took a seat next to Tang Shen. He suddenly remarked, “The ancients said there is a symbolic meaning of dragon and phoenix bringing prosperity.”
Tang Shen: “?” What does that mean?
Wang Zhen earnestly commented, “I was the top scorer, and my junior brother is the runner-up. Together, we’re like a dragon and phoenix bringing prosperity, completing our teacher’s legacy.”
Tang Shen: “...”
Is Wang Zifeng out of his mind!!!
AN: Little Tang Lang: Who is a dragon and phoenix with you!
Neighbor Wang: Hmm? I just meant that my junior brother and I are both exceptional. Did you think of something else?
TN: Dragon and phoenix symbols are often used as auspicious motifs in weddings and between couples.