Chapter 203: Ranking

Setting aside this kind of examination hall grandstanding, the rarely flustered Emperor Zhao Jiu continued reading, only to fall into contemplation once more at the very end of this essay.

Because this 'new second-place graduate' at the end of his essay, in response to the final question, had broadly discussed the sovereign's way of governance again, and had leveled a serious critique at the scholarly interests the Emperor had recently and clearly shown. He believed that under the current circumstances, the Son of Heaven should not be discussing those empty, flashy things, but should instead adopt traditional, simple, so-called more effective methods to win people over.

For example, offering sacrifices to the ancestors, proactively issuing a stern statement to the Jin Jun, demanding they unconditionally return the abducted Two Emperors, the Zhao clan members, and the loyal ministers who were also detained and abducted at the time.

These matters are simple and direct. Regardless of the outcome, once done, they can always broadly stabilize people's hearts, and generally have an immediate effect.

"The realm, it is the realm of the ancestors; the throne Your Majesty occupies, it is the throne of the ancestors."

Several months later, Zhao Jiu once again 'heard' this slightly jarring sentence, and still had to silently admit in his heart that it was extremely correct... especially considering the context of the era.

Today is the tenth day of the eighth month in the third year of the Jianyan era. There is still an entire Mongol Yuan and a Great Ming dynasty before even the Great Qing.

Even based on the jumbled information provided by the maritime merchants introduced by Lady Wu's family, cross-verified with Zhao Jiu's own geographical knowledge gleaned from certain low-end games, at this very moment, from east to west, the entire world island seemed to be in chaos... Back in the Jiying Hall, he had nearly said 'the era of the Warring States' instead of 'the time of total war between Song and Jin'.

At a time like this, falling back on ancestral rites and laws can indeed quickly stabilize people's hearts.

And to be honest, Zhao Jiu himself knew full well that this new graduate's suggestion was fundamentally different from the Imperial Uncle's suggestion. Imperial Uncle Zhao's came from an instinct for clan law, while this new graduate made it very clear that he considered these measures relatively more effective.

But unfortunately, Zhao Jiu was unwilling to choose the more effective method.

There were two reasons:

First, it was the willful psychology of him, a time traveler, based on his historical knowledge from another time and space... There's nothing much to say about it. It was Zhao Jiu disregarding the bigger picture for his personal likes and dislikes. He was always telling others to endure for the country, but he himself couldn't help getting angry at those surnamed Zhao.

Of course, there might also be the issue of a time traveler's unique personal identity cognition, but the sample size is too small to say for sure.

Second, being an engineering dog at heart, Zhao Jiu was naturally more inclined towards things that were more advanced, and also things that were simpler and more direct.

This new graduate spoke well. Dao Learning, Qi Learning, Principle Learning, even New Learning—these internal ideological issues of Confucianism—discussing them extensively during the current wartime does seem somewhat untimely.

But it seems that is all it is: untimely.

Because constructing a new Confucian ideology is itself a call of the times and the foundation for long-term stability... Zhao Jiu doesn't understand any profound sociological knowledge. He doesn't know if this situation is an inevitable course of Confucianism's own development, or if it's directly related to population growth and productivity development.

But without a doubt, he at least knows the historical process, knows this trend, knows that Dao Learning, or Principle Learning, would soon become the uncrowned king within Confucianism, and then the crowned king... Not only that, but in his actual governance, when trying to communicate and promote things with civil officials, Zhao Jiu has already felt the eagerness stirring below.

In other words, a new Confucian ideology is bound to emerge.

And if he, Zhao Jiu, doesn't occupy this position, he will only let others occupy it.

In fact, the Emperor himself might not even realize that he has secretly come to regard this matter as second only in importance to the great cause of resisting the Jin. Under these circumstances, how could he possibly abandon it just because it's untimely?

If there's an opportunity, he must try to push it forward; if there's no time to push it forward, he must at least hold his ground.

Returning to the Huangyi Hall, as it happened, Zhao Jiu sat there reading this essay, first clicking his tongue in wonder, then momentarily stunned, then laughing out of character, and finally lost in thought. This had long since drawn the sidelong glances of all the high ministers in the hall, wondering what kind of essay it was.

After finishing reading, Zhao Jiu came back to his senses, unconcerned, and simply handed the essay to the Chief Minister, Lu Haowen, to read.

Lu Haowen read it at a glance, got the gist, and despite a slight awkwardness, couldn't help but smile wryly: "How could I compare to Yan Shu or Wang Gui? As for Chancellor Xu, he has devoted himself wholeheartedly to all the mundane affairs of the Secretariat, working hard to maintain things... I believe that although the man dare not compare to the pure virtue of Fan Wenzheng, he still has a heart that worries about the world's joys and sorrows. And as for Privy Councilor Wang, he has followed Your Majesty from Hebei with a bow on his back, long serving as Your Majesty's right hand, experienced in military affairs, and has weathered many crises. Although he dare not compare to Han Qi, he can still be called decisive... This essay is, after all, a bit harsh."

Saying this, Chancellor Lu handed the essay to Xu Jingheng beside him, directly pointing out that passage.

Wang Boyan and Xu Jingheng, even without reading it, could guess most of it from Lu Haowen's words. They looked at the original text while thinking about how to modestly decline and protect their colleagues.

However, before the two could speak, the Emperor, seated behind the desk, waved his hand repeatedly and said bluntly: "I won't hide it from you ministers. At first, I saw his sincere words, substantial content, and the ten-thousand-character essay completed in one go, so I intended to make him the Zhuangyuan. But later, seeing him belittle the current chief ministers like this, I couldn't tolerate such insolence... If someone like this became the Zhuangyuan and his essay was posted, wouldn't it mislead the whole realm? Demote him to the last place in the first class!"

Lu Haowen and the others, seeing the Emperor so straightforward, exchanged glances but didn't dare say much... In reality, the rule of the palace examination was to tolerate both 'praise' and 'criticism'. Even someone who made a clear mistake like committing a taboo was only demoted to the fifth class, let alone someone like this?

Since he couldn't be demoted in class, he could only be placed last in the first class.

And this already showed the Emperor's attitude of protecting the chief ministers.

Thus, since the Son of Heaven and the chief ministers had jointly decided that this man was the fifth place in this palace examination, the Ministry of Rites officials present no longer hesitated. They directly opened the sealed names and transcribed the ranking list... It was a man from Jizhou named Hu Quan.

That's right, an extra note must be made here.

The current Song dynasty palace examination ranking system is a five-class system, not the later three-class system. Moreover, the first class currently has five slots, from first place to fifth place, all being the first class.

This is a typical consequence of the massive expansion of the Song dynasty's Presented Scholar examination and palace examination.

Actually, in those days, there were always two 'Bangyan' (second-place graduates), because the second and third place names were positioned to the left and right of the Zhuangyuan on the posted list, hence the name 'Bangyan' (eyes beside the list)... If there were only one, it would be called a 'one-eyed dragon'.

As for 'Tanhua' (flower-picker), it also referred to the two youngest and most handsome among the graduates, related to the celebration activities after the palace examination.

The notion that Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua specifically refer to the top three is not reliable and can only be roughly guessed. It probably became a custom only after the Ming dynasty's 'Three Top Graduates' system was established.

In other words, the Emperor had a fit of pettiness. Seeing that 'ancestors' business, he felt displeased and moved Hu Quan from first to third, and finally to fifth.

However, it must be said that Hu Quan's palace examination essay was far too outstanding. After reading this one, all other essays seemed bland and uninteresting.

Actually, by the afternoon, with all six hundred and two essays delivered, the group of prospective graduates left the West Huamen Gate for the Imperial Academy, some anxious, some confident, waiting for the results to be posted in a few days. Little did they know that here in the Huangyi Hall, the Great Song Emperor and his chief ministers had already quickly arrived at a rough result.

After all, there were five classes. The first and second classes were 'Jinshi Jidi' (Presented Scholars with Distinction), the third and fourth were 'Jinshi Chushen' (Presented Scholar Background), and the fifth was 'Tong Jinshi Chushen' (Associate Presented Scholar Background).

Just sort by class first and then rank. Except for the top five, the actual ranking wasn't that important.

Among them, Yue Fei was selected in the upper part of the third class, roughly around the hundred-and-somethingth place out of six hundred, earning a decent 'Jinshi Chushen'. Qu Duan, however, entered the latter half of the second class, obtaining a 'Jinshi Jidi'...

Zhao Jiu took one look and understood what was going on. It had nothing to do with content, but rather with how well the essays cited classics and adhered to Confucian canonical meanings.

In this regard, although Yue Fei was exceptionally gifted and had made great progress in literature, he was a latecomer. Compared to someone like Qu Duan, who had long had a literary reputation and knew how to write official-style essays, he was at a disadvantage.

But it didn't matter. Zhao Jiu wasn't really going to make Yue Fei the Zhuangyuan. In fact, this ranking might just make Qu Da a perfect scapegoat for Yue Pengju.

So, with just one look, the Emperor stopped paying attention.

Next, the Emperor was supposed to arrange the order of the first class and designate the top of the second class before leaving. But by then, he had lost interest and just arranged them casually.

The top five: fifth place Hu Quan aside, the other four were one named Li Yi, one named Wang Dabao, one named Zhao Boyao, and the last one named Yu Yunwen.

Among them, Yu Yunwen was the youngest, only twenty years old according to the roster. At such an age, if he wasn't bad-looking, he should be one of the most handsome Tanhua of this examination... Zhao Jiu directly placed him fourth.

As for the other three, one Zhuangyuan and two Bangyan, the Emperor initially felt that the name Wang Dabao was friendly and intended to make him the Zhuangyuan. However, Zhu Shengfei reminded him that Zhao Boyao was actually a member of the imperial clan, from the branch of Zhao Dezhao, the second son of Emperor Taizu.

But this reminder—was it to make Zhao Jiu give special treatment to show the principle of uniting the clan, or to hint that the Emperor should absolutely not make a member of his own Zhao family the Zhuangyuan?

Regardless, Emperor Zhao Jiu followed the first interpretation. He publicly and haphazardly placed this imperial clansman first, Wang Dabao second, and Li Yi third.

With the first class arranged, the next step was to designate the top of the second class... This was also a matter of good fortune. And at this point, the Emperor, who had already lost interest, perked up a little:

"I once granted Hu Hong, the second son of Hu Anguo, the status of Imperial Academy student. He should be eligible for the palace examination. Did he come to take it?"

The ministers hurriedly searched and indeed found him. He was actually in the fifth class... which was also astonishing!

It must be known that this was a special grand examination. Among the six hundred candidates, there was a considerable number of capable petty officials, young men with military merit, and redeemed refugees from Hebei... people of mixed backgrounds. Their level was what it was, so the fifth class was not lacking in people.

However, Hu Hong, the son of a great Confucian, the younger brother of a Censor-in-Chief, already twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a literary reputation long established, falling to the fifth class—what was that about? It couldn't be that he had directly written the three characters 'Zhao Kuangyin' in his essay, could it?

Unexpectedly, however, neither His Majesty the Emperor nor the several chief ministers showed any reaction, as if they saw nothing wrong with it.

Because these few knew full well that this man had ended up in this position not because of his literary skill, but nine times out of ten because his scholarly views were too obviously in the same vein as his father's, and then something about "Qi" or not had displeased the examining officials, who had deliberately demoted him to this spot.

In fact, after reading Hu Hong's essay once, the Emperor hesitated briefly but ultimately made no changes, merely confirming the originally designated sixth-place candidate, Chao Gongwu, as still the top of the second class and a Presented Scholar… and then asked no further.

And so, after only one day's interval, on the twelfth day of the eighth month, this hastily convened Grand Grace Examination of the third year of the Jianyan era was officially announced.

At the East and West Splendid Gates, though the bustle of former days was gone, the crowd still pressed shoulder to shoulder and heel to heel.

By evening, when Yang Yizhong came to make his routine report, he mentioned that various ministers were seizing sons-in-law from the examination list. Among them, Hu Quan was ignored, while the top scholar Zhao Boyao was seized by Privy Council Director Wang Boyan, the second-place left candidate Wang Dabao was taken by Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei for his own niece, and the second-place right candidate Li Yi was surrounded by servants sent by Lady Yuwen, who had remained in the capital…

However, one incident that caused an uproar and much discussion was that Yu Yunwen, the widely acknowledged third-place candidate, had been personally tied up and taken to the Great Xiangguo Temple by Military Governor Zhang Rong… According to reports, Chief Zhang did indeed have a daughter at home.

As for the trusted family retainers sent by Lu Xiang, Lord Lu Haowen, they returned empty-handed.

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, but disregarding the lateness of the hour, he set off personally for the Great Xiangguo Temple… There was no help for it—he was afraid that if he arrived too late, this greenhorn new Presented Scholar, in his stubbornness to refuse the marriage, might say something inappropriate and directly wound the heart of his trusted commander.

And that would never do.

PS: I was wrong, I bow in apology to everyone, but it was really good to read… I really couldn't control myself.