Chapter 48: Why Wengui Studies Martial Arts

Wang Zhaojing nodded. Over the past few days, his resentment had turned into genuine admiration, and both his words and attitude had changed from before.

"Wang Zhaojing, your family is a scholarly household. Forgive me if this offends, but studying martial arts must be considered a lowly pursuit in your family. How is it that your martial skill is so good?" This was a question Zhao Jin had been holding in for a long time.

In this era, the status of a literary man was incomparably exalted, and a scholar who had earned official rank was even more extraordinary. As for someone who had passed the metropolitan examination and served as a censor in the Chief Surveillance Bureau, a member of the pure-stream officials, he was already considered among the very top tier of literary men. In such a pure and noble household, even if the sons were incompetent, they would be urged to study, not to learn martial arts. One had to understand that even a Chief Military Commander, a top-ranked military officer, was nothing more than a dog in the eyes of civil officials. With that comparison, the legitimate son of a metropolitan graduate and a pure-stream capital official learning martial arts could only be described as shocking and unconventional.

Moreover, after spending these past few days with him, Wang Zhaojing was clearly no useless profligate. For a youth his age, he was remarkably persevering, calm, and intelligent, and compared to his peers, he was well-versed in the ways of the world. Someone like that certainly wouldn't be incompetent at studying.

Actually, the moment Zhao Jin asked the question, he felt it was inappropriate. Wasn't he implicitly saying the other party lacked the talent for studying?

With Wang Zhaojing's intelligence, he naturally caught that implication. His fair face instantly flushed bright red. An adult might have swallowed the insult, especially when trying to build a friendship, but at this competitive age, how could he endure being looked down upon? He immediately raised his voice to explain. Fortunately, the tournament in the arena had just reached the round of sixteen, and with many newcomers fighting their way up, cheers and shouts rang out continuously, so no one noticed them.

"My father and the elders in my family all say I am a seed for studying. If I took the college exam now, I would certainly pass and become a certified student. My father even says that when he was my age, his essays were not as good as mine are now, and that after a few years of tempering, passing the provincial exam wouldn't be difficult for me."

Wang Zhaojing spoke with such agitation, and he invoked his father and elders, so it didn't seem like a lie. However, Zhao Jin had a general understanding of this era's civil examination system. The prefectural and county college exam was an easy hurdle to clear; with wealth, influence, and connections, getting the certified student rank wasn't hard. But reaching the provincial graduate level was not so easy. Even Zhao Jin, from a military household, had heard the saying "a golden provincial graduate, a silver metropolitan graduate." This talk of gold and silver actually referred to the difficulty of passing each exam.

Certified students were numerous, but the ratio of those who passed the provincial exam was very small. Out of over a hundred thousand certified students, only about a thousand provincial graduates were selected per examination session. Then, provincial graduates would take the metropolitan exam and the subsequent palace exam to become metropolitan graduates or associate metropolitan graduates. Out of several thousand or about a thousand provincial graduates, a hundred or even several hundred metropolitan graduates were selected. This ratio was much higher than the ratio of certified students passing the provincial exam.

Furthermore, Wang Zhaojing had previously lived in the capital, in Northern Zhili, and now had returned to Xuzhou, in Southern Zhili. The Northern and Southern Zhili were the central hubs of the realm, and they had far more certified students than other provinces. The Jiangnan region, in particular, was brimming with literary talent, so much so that certified students had to pass a pre-selection exam just to take the provincial exam. This was an exam presided over by the Education-Intendant Censor; only by passing this hurdle did one qualify to sit for the provincial graduate exam.

With such a low ratio and such a difficult exam, to claim he could pass the provincial exam was a huge boast. If others heard this, most of Zhao Jin's peers wouldn't understand, while adults would assume it was just words to coax a child and not take it seriously.

But Zhao Jin did not see it that way. A scholarly household like the Wang family would act with propriety in all things. Excessively praising a child, only for him to fail the exam later, would make them a huge laughingstock in scholarly circles. Moreover, the Wang family did not seem like the type to coax a child. Wang Zhaojing put so much effort into martial skills every day; why would they need to coax him by saying he could pass the provincial exam? If they said it, there must be a basis for saying so.

Zhao Jin nodded thoughtfully. Seeing that Zhao Jin's reaction was not perfunctory but rather one of belief, Wang Zhaojing finally relaxed considerably. It seemed he was very afraid of people saying he studied martial arts because he had failed at literary studies.

"Actually, I found it strange at first, too. I heard from my mother that when I was little, my father originally planned for me to study literature and follow his path. But in his third year in the capital, he changed his mind and said I should study martial arts. Many people found it strange, and many close to our family came to dissuade him, but my father persisted. Fortunately, over these years, I haven't neglected either my studies or my martial training, so the elders have finally breathed a sigh of relief," Wang Zhaojing explained in detail.

A civil official, and a pure-stream capital official of metropolitan graduate background at that, had actually conceived the idea of having his own child study martial arts. This was truly strange.

Still, Zhao Jin smiled and said, "Wang Zhaojing, you are truly accomplished in both civil and martial affairs."

"You flatter me, Brother Zhao, you flatter me." Being accomplished in both civil and martial affairs was one of the most outstanding skillsets of this era, and Wang Zhaojing was very pleased to hear it.

In the arena, Dong Bingfeng had already defeated Sun Dalei and entered the top four. Although his staff technique looked flashy and impractical, yesterday's performance was more due to underestimating his opponent. Once he became cautious and stopped attacking so rashly, his physique and training made victory not difficult. The other match was between Chen Sheng and Shi Manqiang; Chen Sheng's odds of winning were about eighty percent.

"Brother Zhao, in my humble opinion, you are steady and composed, with outstanding strategy, and your martial arts are this good. If I may be so bold, even in a place like the capital, among people our age, someone like Brother Zhao is rare," Wang Zhaojing began to praise Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin laughed in spite of himself and shook his head. "We've all been playing together. You can tell I have outstanding wisdom and strategy just from that?"

"Yes. When you think carefully about those things, they all contain principles. I went back and told my father, and he was also very surprised," Wang Zhaojing said very seriously.

In the arena, both Dong Bingfeng and Chen Sheng won their matches in the semifinals. However, Dong Bingfeng was beaten quite badly by Ji Xiang; his nose was even bleeding. Chen Sheng, on the other hand, was untroubled.

"Brother Zhao, do you have any aspirations?" Wang Zhaojing suddenly asked this question. At that moment, Zhao Jin's attention was on the arena. Hearing this, he answered subconsciously, "To constantly grow stronger, and to leave my name in history."

The two in the arena were still using training weapons, but Chen Sheng's advantage was still great. In one step, he closed the distance... Zhao Jin suddenly felt something was off. The person beside him seemed too quiet. He turned his head and found Wang Zhaojing looking at him with a face full of shock and admiration. Zhao Jin was stunned for a moment. Had he said something wrong?

"Brother Zhao truly harbors great ambition! To temper oneself and seek to leave a name in the annals of history — remarkable!" Wang Zhaojing said solemnly.

Zhao Jin coughed. He did indeed think this way, and he wasn't afraid to say it aloud, but being evaluated with such reverence always felt very strange to him.

"When I first came here, I thought everyone was beneath me. After suffering a few setbacks, my father told me afterward that even among the wilds and thickets, there are dragons and serpents, and one must not be arrogantly self-important. Hearing Brother Zhao's words just now, I am now thoroughly convinced."

"We're all friends here. If you keep praising me like this, it'll create distance between us," Zhao Jin said with a smile, patting Wang Zhaojing on the shoulder.

Hearing Zhao Jin emphasize "friends here" once again, Wang Zhaojing nodded heavily.

A burst of cheers erupted from the arena. Chen Sheng used his short staff to parry Dong Bingfeng's long staff, then directly dropped his shoulder and knocked the opponent over, securing victory.

Up until this moment, Mu Shulan still had not appeared. The five thugs, however, did show up again with red, swollen faces. They slapped their own faces, kowtowed sufficiently, and left.

Unlike the others, the one who had won first place the most was Chen Sheng. He wasn't very interested in these pastries. Seeing what Zhao Jin had done, he wanted to follow suit. He first let his own younger brother take his fill, then let a few close friends take some, and distributed the rest to the whole crowd.

His generous act excited the youths who had come here. Dong Bingfeng also took two pieces and ate them with relish. Zhao Jin moved his legs and feet a little; they felt much better than yesterday. He would probably be able to enter the arena tomorrow or the day after.

"Zhao Jin, I'll help you back. It's on my way anyway," Chen Sheng said.

Seeing Wang Zhaojing and Zhao Jin chatting and laughing together, Chen Sheng felt somewhat uncomfortable. He thought to himself, Zhao Jin is my best friend; what business does a newcomer have butting in?

In truth, Zhao Jin walked quite steadily and didn't need support. It was just that not moving in this cold weather made one feel very chilled. As they walked and chatted idly, Chen Sheng spoke about the tournament. "That newcomer Dong Bingfeng is actually very strong. He just lacks tournament experience, so he doesn't know how to fight. That set of techniques of his is flashy, sure, but if used cautiously, it's still very formidable."

"Did you see the two people who came with him? Those two should be his masters. It looks like they understand martial skills for the battlefield and formations," Zhao Jin also shared his own observations with the other.