Chapter 1: The Scholar Who Transmigrated to the Great Song

The first year of Jiayou in the Northern Song, Hejiang County, Luzhou.

This place lies at the confluence of the Yangtze River and Anle Creek; now that spring waters have just risen, it presents a clear and harmonious scene of "young swallows flying over willow tips, orioles holding leaves to play in the water."

Two scholars carrying book satchels walked briskly across the stone bridge.

Listening to the sound of the water, one of them shook his head and swayed as he spoke.

"The Master said by the river."

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle."

That person looked at his companion in surprise; although today they had finished the policy essay exam at the county school and could enjoy the Cold Food Festival holiday, and although their mood was good regardless, mocking the Sage was still improper.

"Why are you looking at me?"

At this moment, the two who finally sensed something wrong turned their gaze to Anle Creek together.

"Not good! Someone has fallen into the water!"

Following the shouts of the two on the bridge, a fisherman well-versed in swimming soon fished the youth out.

He was a youth of sixteen or seventeen, with eyes tightly shut, a high nose bridge, eyebrows like a long sword slanting toward his temples, and a circle of bloodstain on his forehead where he had bumped it.

And this youth, the two scholars recognized.

"Lu Beigu? I remember he came from Gulin Town upstream on Anle Creek; he has always been at the bottom in the county school. How did he fall into the water?"

In the pitch darkness, a modern consciousness within Lu Beigu's mind began to revive.

He tried hard to recall everything that had just happened, but his mind was only a blur; he only remembered that he, a university associate professor, had originally been writing an academic paper, and seemed to have fallen asleep from staying up too late.

As a result, upon waking, he had actually transmigrated into the body of a scholar in the Renzong era of the Northern Song who shared the same name.

And just then, a large number of memory fragments from his predecessor entered his consciousness.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Lu Beigu finally slowly opened his eyes.

What met his gaze was a deep blue sky free of any industrial pollution; beside his ears flowed the sound of trickling water, yet his body was terribly wet and cold, as if the chill were seeping out from his very bones.

"He's awake! He's awake!" a slightly surprised voice sounded beside his ear.

Lu Beigu turned his head slightly and saw two scholars dressed in green robes squatting beside him; one of them was pressing a handkerchief against his bumped forehead.

Because he had merged with his predecessor's memories and emotions, he could understand the words spoken by people of this era.

"Finally awake; how did you fall into the water?"

Lu Beigu opened his mouth, but his throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, and he could make no sound.

"Don't talk about these things for now."

The scholar wiping away the bloodstains interrupted his companion's words, his tone carrying a hint of urgency.

"Today the county magistrate personally presides over the final exam before the county exam; we must hurry and support you to the county school!"

"Indeed! If you do not participate in the exam, you will likely be directly stripped of your qualification for the county exam!"

Upon hearing the words "county exam," a fear akin to a stress response instantly arose in Lu Beigu's mind.

His predecessor was a poor scholar from Gulin Town; his private school grades were passable, but after entering the county school he could not keep up with his classmates at all; his family had always economized on food and clothing and taken on debt to support his studies, hoping he could pass the county exam and enter the prefectural school.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, his grades remained at the bottom of the county school, making it clearly impossible for him to pass this year's county exam.

Ashamed to face his family's earnest expectations, in despair he threw himself into the water to end his life.

However, this had nothing to do with Lu Beigu, who had just transmigrated; what he wanted to do most at the moment was quickly take a hot bath and change into clean clothes, lest he become an unlucky transmigrator who died of a cold.

But his throat was so blocked he could not speak his One's Own Thoughts!

And just then, two very righteous classmates, without further ado, slung one of Lu Beigu's arms over each of their shoulders and forcibly supported him toward the direction of the county school.

Both were young men in good physical condition; while supporting him along the road, they did not forget to chat.

"Sigh, I wonder what the topic of today's policy essay is."

"This Magistrate Li has just been transferred here; who knows what he wants to test?"

"This policy essay exam is the first exam presided over by Magistrate Li; let's try to leave a good impression."

"Yes; in our dynasty, the Jinshi examination places primary importance on policy essays, and next comes the county exam; whether we can enter the prefectural school depends entirely on the magistrate's will."

As the sunlight dispersed the chill from his body, Lu Beigu's thoughts gradually became clear.

Now there were two paths before him: the first was to give up the exam, wait until he regained some strength, then go to the county school's dormitory to bathe and change clothes; the second path was to persist in attending this very important but not time-consuming exam while wearing his soaking wet clothes.

Originally he intended to choose the first path, but for some reason, a dialogue from a funny short video he had watched in his past life suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Liberal arts students used to have an employment advantage, but it's not so good now."

"How did I not know that? When?"

"The Song Dynasty."

In the present Great Song, the social status of scholar-officials was extremely high; or rather, the entire social atmosphere of the Great Song could be described by a poem that had not yet appeared: "All pursuits are inferior; only studying is noble."

One could say this was the best era for scholars!

For himself, if he were stripped of his county exam qualification due to missing this exam, then achieving class advancement in the future would basically be impossible.

And the policy essay exam was different from exams like memorizing classics or ink definitions; it did not require him to master the vast amount of Confucian knowledge needed for the Song civil service examinations, but only to write a classical Chinese argumentative essay directly according to the topic.

As a top-tier liberal arts scholar in the modern world, this was not difficult for him.

His predecessor feared the policy essay exam, but he did not!

And how did that saying go?

"Since we're already here."

At this time, the county school examination hall was already bustling with voices; students gathered in small groups, discussing in low tones the possible policy essay topics for the day.

Lu Beigu, supported by the two scholars, walked into the examination hall and immediately drew many sidelong glances.

"Isn't that Lu Beigu? Why does he look like this?" someone murmured.

"Looks like he fell into the water," another person whispered in response.

"His wretched appearance is really bad luck; let's hope it doesn't affect our performance."

And at this moment, a sneer suddenly came from behind.

Lu Beigu knew without turning around that it must be those wealthy young men from the county school.

In the previous owner's memory, these people most enjoyed bullying scholars from poor families, with He Cong, who ranked first in the county school, at their head; this man's family operated the most luxurious restaurant in Hejiang County.

"Brother Lu, your forehead bears a wound; did you perhaps injure your brain last night while hanging yourself and stabbing your thigh?" He Cong's voice came from behind, "Unfortunately, policy essays do not allow for shortcuts like poetry and rhapsodies do."

Speaking of which, the reason the previous owner chose to end it all today was also due to a fear of the policy essay examination.

After the Qingli New Policies, the Great Song established a two-tier education system of "county school" and "prefecture school" locally; to participate in the imperial examinations, one had to pass the county exam, advancing from the county school to the prefecture school, otherwise one would not be qualified to take the prefecture exam.

Coincidentally, the Qingli New Policies reformed the examination content, shifting focus from poetry and rhapsodies to policy essays, while the interpretation of classics also began to emphasize personal understanding.

This major version update was undoubtedly not very friendly to the previous owner, a small-town test-taker.

The reason was simple: if one were to take poetry and rhapsodies, one could still prepare some universal templates, after all, poetry and rhapsodies had fixed rhymes and themes.

But the core of the policy essay examination was the scholar's insight into current politics; in this era of extremely closed information, could a poor scholar like the previous owner, who had never even been to the prefectural city, possibly write well?

Instead, scholars from wealthy families had broader horizons, because their families often had retired or serving officials; under such influence, their insights into current politics were incomparable to those of poor scholars.

Therefore, every policy essay examination was an ordeal for the previous owner, like sitting on pins and needles; the subsequent commentary was even a public execution, causing the previous owner to feel immense shame and anger, eventually reaching a point of extreme fear.

But hearing these words, Lu Beigu felt not the slightest ripple in his heart, nor did he choose to respond.

Arriving at his seat, he took a deep breath and entered the examination state in one second.

As a top-tier modern liberal arts scholar, he possessed quite deep knowledge in the fields of Song history, politics, philosophy, and economics; no matter what question he faced, he was confident in his ability to handle it.

At this moment, surrounded by county school officials such as the School Director, School Recorder, and Lecturer, Li Pan, the Magistrate of Hejiang who presided over the policy essay examination, also arrived at the examination hall.

——————

① The county exam is the colloquial term for the county school selection examination; it is not a formal imperial examination, but an internal examination organized within county schools of over two hundred people established locally after the "Qingli Educational Revival" of the Northern Song to select talent for entry into prefecture schools.

② The prefecture exam, also known as the Jie exam or Autumn exam, was usually presided over by the Prefectural Assistant for the Jinshi subject and by the Recorder for other subjects in the Northern Song; scholars who passed were called Juren, which was a prerequisite for participating in the Ministry of Rites provincial exam and subsequently passing the Jinshi exam, and also the first stage of the formal imperial examination system.

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(End of this chapter)