Chapter 3

It was like a question he had once seen on Zhihu before his Chuanyue :

In theory, if one memorized the Four Books and Five Classics in ancient times, they could become a Zhuangyuan,

then why did the vast majority fail even to pass as a Xiushai?

One highly upvoted answer stated: During the final imperial examination of the Qing dynasty, the palace examination question was:

Egypt relied on foreigners and fell; Japan relied on foreigners and rose—

analyze the gains and losses, and propose solutions.

Regarding the imperial examinations, Zhang Jie also knew a joke he wasn’t sure was true or false:

The Theory of Xiang Yu and Napoleon.

In 1901, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered reforms to the imperial examination system, adding Chinese and foreign political history to the content.

To comply with this decree, one examiner once inserted Napoleon into the exam question.

Because this examiner vaguely knew Napoleon was a fierce general who met a downfall, much like Xiang Yu of China,

he devised a comparative question: “On Xiang Yu and Napoleon.”

The examiner was chasing fashion, but the eight-legged essay candidates from across the empire couldn’t keep up.

Thus, a farce unfolded.

One candidate began his essay thus:

Xiang Yu was a hero of unmatched strength, able to uproot mountains—how could he fail to pick up a broken wheel?

If the broken wheel repaired itself, how could Xiang Yu possibly pick it up?

If one cannot even seize a whole wheel, how much less a broken one?

Translation: Xiang Yu was a hero of superhuman strength, able to uproot mountains—

how could he fail to lift a broken wheel?

Moreover, if the broken wheel repaired itself, how could Xiang Yu possibly pick it up?

If one cannot even seize a whole wheel and win, how much less a broken one?

…

Leaving aside the yet-unseen Jinshi, Zhang Jie’s current first goal is to pass this August’s autumn examination and become a Juren.

But with his current accumulation, he can no longer achieve it as effortlessly as he had when passing the Xiushai.

Originally, he planned to wait a few more years until he had greater confidence before taking the provincial examination.

But plans cannot outrun change; heaven’s winds are unpredictable, and human fortune turns in an instant,

and most importantly, one may have no ill intent toward the tiger, yet the tiger harbors murderous intent.

He was forced to be thrust into the fray and take this year’s autumn examination,

and now he was racing against time, frantically cramming.

“Alas!

If the Master and Lady had not both died suddenly three years ago, how could the Young Master be in such a rush?

And those damned bandits—why didn’t they do anything else, but rob my Zhang family’s caravan?

Otherwise, with the Young Master’s natural talent, taking the examination three years later would have been as good as securing the Juren title in his pocket.

But now the Young Master suffers.”

Watching the fleeting anxiety on Zhang Jie’s face, Pan Jinlian, just stepping out of the study,

turned to close the door, her heart filled with sighs and pity.

As his spiritual awareness grew sharper, and with their daily companionship,

Zhang Jie knew perfectly well what Pan Jinlian was thinking.

Regarding the death of his parents in this life, Zhang Jie felt slight sorrow, but not deep grief.

First, in this Water Margin world without antibiotics, hormones,

or any miracle medicines, parting and death were perfectly normal.

A simple cold or flu could bring down a strong, ox-like man within two or three days.

Second, his parents in this life were not young.

As previously mentioned, Zhang Jie was an old-age son born to Master Zhang,

and when Zhang Jie was born, Master Zhang was already over fifty.

By the time Zhang Jie reached his teens, Master Zhang had passed away at over sixty, nearing seventy.

In an era where men in their forties called themselves “old man,” Master Zhang’s age was considered long life.

Master Zhang’s death was seen by all as a joyful passing—not mourned,

but celebrated with drums, gongs, and loud festivities.

Yet for this, Zhang Jie had to observe three years of mourning.

According to Song Dynasty mourning rules, the period was typically three years.

During mourning, one must wear mourning clothes, eat vegetarian food, abstain from entertainment, avoid marriage, and decline banquets.

Why must Zhang Jie, a modern man with no habit of mourning, observe it?

Zhang Jie’s answer: he had no choice.

The special rule for Xiushai: during mourning, a Xiushai cannot take the imperial examinations,

and must “conceal the death,” or risk disqualification.

Zhang Jie, powerless to resist, had no choice but to follow local customs and wait three years before taking the academy examination to become a Xiushai.

Because mourning was seen as a sign of virtue, directly affecting a Xiushai’s reputation and official prospects.

Zhang Jie, who aspired to become a Jinshi and secure a modest official post,

to live out his hard-won second life in ease and comfort,

how could he leave such a stain on himself?

Now, Zhang Jie’s urgency to pass the Juren examination stems from the fact that someone is watching him—or rather,

watching his family’s considerable assets: over a thousand mu of land and dozens of shops.

When he took the academy examination, his Zhang family’s largest and most important caravan was ambushed outside the city.

Not only were all goods lost, but several guards and martial instructors were killed!

This incident delivered a crushing blow to Zhang Jie:

He had thought he fully understood the cruelty of this world,

but when he saw the corpses of those guards and instructors—limbs severed, faces unrecognizable—

he truly grasped the world’s cruelty:

In this Water Margin world, a single misstep could mean sudden death!

After the incident, Zhang Jie tried reporting it to the authorities.

The magistrate of Yanggu County, the “Hundred-Li Lord” Wen Bin, who governed over a hundred thousand people,

after accepting five hundred taels of “bandit-suppression sponsorship funds,” solemnly promised:

“The bandits must be eradicated—there is no alternative!

Only without bandits can there be peace!”

Then he sent his county lieutenant, accompanied by over a hundred old, weak, sick, and unfit soldiers, to “suppress the bandits.”

Zhang Jie had expected at least some results from this lieutenant, or at least some deterrence against the bandits,

but the man simply rode out, wandered aimlessly for a few days, and returned…

This was utterly beyond Zhang Jie’s expectations:

Though he had suspected the incompetence of the corrupt bureaucracy,

he had never imagined the Song bureaucracy was this utterly broken.

Even Heshen, the most infamous corrupt official of the Qing dynasty, knew to do at least something after taking money!

This made Zhang Jie realize others were unreliable;

to survive well in this corrupt world, the only person he could rely on was himself.

Previously, Master Zhang had shielded him from harm;

now that his adoptive father had passed away, Zhang Jie must shield himself.

Zhang Jie’s only plan now is to pass the provincial examination and become a Juren,

then seek revenge against the bandits with greater status.

Moreover, through his secret investigations, Zhang Jie discovered this was not merely a simple robbery and murder—

someone in the city had colluded with the outside bandits to seize his Zhang family’s wealth!

This person, familiar to those who have read Jin Ping Mei and seen its illustrations,

is none other than the Western Gate Official, who later became the adopted son of the powerful minister Cai Jing and ruled Yanggu County with near-total impunity.

Yet Zhang Jie was not particularly surprised:

The Western Gate Official’s wealth was not all earned through honest enterprise.

According to Zhang Jie’s investigation, most of the Western Gate Official’s assets were acquired through trickery and force.

This Western Gate Official had only recently seized the property of his friend Hua Zixu,

taken Hua Zixu’s wife Li Pinger as his own, and now he was eyeing Zhang Jie’s fortune.

“Western Gate Qing, you want my Zhang family’s wealth? Don’t choke on it!”

"Ximen Qing, you want my Zhang family's wealth—do you fear bursting from overeating?"

Sitting in the chair, Zhang Jie silently vowed revenge.

He pulled open a drawer on his desk and took out an object, examining it closely.

The object was forged from high-quality metal, its surface finely treated, gleaming with a cold, eerie luster.

If another transmigrator were here, they would instantly recognize what Zhang Jie held:

A complete short-barreled flintlock pistol—with barrel, lock, and stock all intact!

Over the years since arriving in the Water Margin world, Zhang Jie had never felt secure.

So he used knowledge from his past life to hire several master craftsmen,

commissioning them to forge the barrel, hammer, striker, spring, and stock, then assembling the whole thing himself.

Here, Zhang Jie silently thanked his pre-transmigration habit of browsing Douyin and Bilibili,

which had given him at least some basic understanding of firearms.

Otherwise, even with his spiritual power greatly enhanced after transmigration,

and even with perfect recall of his past memories, he still could not make a meal without rice.

As for black powder, everyone knows: one saltpeter, two sulfur, three charcoal.

If Ximen Qing continued to press him,

Zhang Jie would not mind using this anachronistic weapon to send him to the Western Heaven!

And if the flintlock failed, Zhang Jie also had a passing knowledge of how to make nitroglycerin…