White-robed Minister

0005 [Recruiting Strong Men]

"Cousin, come and lend a hand," Xu Lai called out.

Bu Chao rushed over and, looking at Yu Shanyuan, said, "Why is he sleeping on the floor?"

"He's drunk," Xu Lai said, pulling Yu Shanyuan's arms. "Help me carry him into the shack. In this weather, if he lies there any longer, he'll definitely catch a cold."

Bu Chao bent down and grabbed Yu Shanyuan's ankles. Together with Xu Lai, they exerted their strength and lifted him into the shack like a dead pig.

He threw the man into a haystack, covered him with a blanket, and then ignored him.

Bu Chao picked up the wine jug: "Wow, there's still a sip left. Let me taste it and see what it's like."

Xu Lai rested his chin on his hand and leaned against the table, lost in thought.

It's so boring.

He was too lazy to organize the able-bodied men into groups, because it didn't matter whether they were organized or not; they would just scatter if they encountered bandits.

Moreover, he doesn't hold any official position. If he keeps wielding his authority like a tyrant, the able-bodied men will eventually get tired of his meddling.

Sigh, what should I do?

Xu Lai picked up his broadsword and walked to the haystack.

He imagined salt bandits ahead, swung his broadsword to slash, then hooked it back. He practiced this movement repeatedly.

This broadsword was modified from a woodcutter's knife; it was tied to a stick to become a long-handled weapon.

The blade is curved inwards, allowing it to hook onto tree branches and vines in the mountains.

With nothing else to do, the able-bodied men gathered in groups of three or five to chat and joke. When they saw Xu Lai practicing with his broadsword, they came over to watch, laughing and joking, treating it like a comical monkey show.

Xu Lai was really just practicing blindly, completely unaware of power generation techniques and without any moves whatsoever.

However, everything can be explored through trial and error.

At first, he swung wildly, using the wrong force, but gradually he got the hang of it. At least now, when he swung, he wouldn't lose control and hurt his back.

After practicing for half an hour, Xu Lai was panting heavily from exhaustion.

Fortunately, he had a full lunch and cooked a special meal with Yu Shanyuan, otherwise he wouldn't have had the strength to practice his sword on an empty stomach.

Uncle Zhang Er walked over, carrying a hunting bow: "Sanlang, are you really going to fight the salt bandits to the death?"

Xu Lai said, "If we run into someone and can't escape, we can at least take someone down with us. Second Uncle, can your bow kill someone?"

Uncle Zhang laughed and said, "Guess."

Bu Chao joked, "His bow can only shoot pheasants; he'd have to run for his life if he encountered a wild boar."

Uncle Zhang said, "Pigskin is thicker than human skin."

"Not really, some people have skin as thick as a city wall. Take that scoundrel who came to the village to conscript laborers, for example. He cheated so many villagers. If it were me, I would have been too ashamed to show my face in public long ago," Xu Lai joked.

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

The able-bodied men who had gathered around to watch Xu Lai practice his swordplay all burst into laughter.

They hated those who conscripted laborers and enjoyed making fun of them. It was a way for them to vent their anger and get some satisfaction.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, another new member was reported.

Xu Lai sat back down at the table, picked up his pen to register them, and then found himself with nothing to do.

After thinking it over, he wandered around the camp and found the man who had been flogged for fighting over excrement: "Uncle, what's your surname?"

"Huh?" The other person didn't understand.

Xu Lai then asked, "What's your name?"

The man replied, "My name is Lin Changsheng."

"My family is a fifth-class household. What class is your uncle's household?" Xu Lai asked.

Lin Changsheng said, "Look at my clothes, what class of household do I belong to?"

Xu Lai then talked about Qingxi Village, saying that the mountain people were discriminated against and frequently forced to perform corvée labor. He also mentioned that his brother had fallen into the river and died last year while repairing a plank road.

"Sigh, your family is pitiful too. Our village is better than yours, at least it's not in the mountains. But all the good fields have been taken by the rich, and my family's fields are all low-lying..." Lin Changsheng took the initiative to talk about his family's situation.

Xu Lai chatted with him casually, and before long, he had learned about the man's situation, even knowing that his chickens had laid double-yolk eggs last year.

Moving on to the next one.

When Yu Shanyuan woke up, Xu Lai had already chatted with more than a dozen people from various townships and villages.

These people will turn around and chat with their fellow villagers. By tomorrow, all the able-bodied men will know Xu Lai's name. They'll know that his elder brother died building the plank road, that he took his father's and brother's place in the corvée labor, and that he learned to read by eavesdropping on the teacher's lectures.

Why did Xu Lai do these things?

Gather information, unite able-bodied men, build a reputation, and be prepared for any eventuality!

The harvest was exceptionally plentiful.

For example, he learned from the able-bodied men that the river to the northwest was called the Binjiang River. For decades, salt bandits had frequently traveled along the Binjiang River. In the past, they always traveled by boat, but when the crackdown was strict, they would switch to the western mountains. Further northwest, in addition to the official post roads, one could also take small paths to Lianzhou.

These able-bodied men knew the routes the salt bandits took very well!

At their most rampant, the illegal salt gangs would openly roam through villages and counties, scaring the locals into fleeing into the mountains.

As for the officers and soldiers?

The government troops retreated directly into the city, hoping that the salt bandits would not raid it.

……

Night falls.

Yu Shanyuan, who had slept for a long time during the day, sat on the sandbar and looked up at the starry sky.

After Xu Lai and his companions finished their patrol, they walked over to Lao Yu and asked, "Is the magistrate observing the celestial phenomena last night?"

Yu Shanyuan said, "If the salt bandits arrive early, they can get here within half a month."

Xu Lai was somewhat puzzled: "Even the Guangdong Circuit Commander has been alarmed and personally went north to inspect the situation. All the counties along the river are conscripting local soldiers. I heard that they are also cracking down on salt bandits in Jiangxi. With the government making such a big show of it, don't the salt bandits know to temporarily retreat and wait a year before plundering again? Wouldn't that be safer?"

“Those salt bandits are used to being arrogant and don’t take the government troops seriously at all,” Yu Shanyuan said. “But what you said makes sense. Maybe we can get along peacefully this year.”

After chatting about the salt bandits for a while, Xu Lai asked about the imperial examinations: "What books do I need to read to pass the imperial examination?"

"You really want to take the imperial examination?" Yu Shanyuan said as if he were listening to a joke. "The Nine Classics, Mencius and Xunzi, the Wenxuan, from the Records of the Grand Historian to the History of the Five Dynasties. There are also rhyme books, Tang poetry, and collections of literature from all dynasties. The more books you thoroughly read, the easier it will be to pass the exam."

Xu Lai felt a bit overwhelmed: "There must be a few books that are required for the exam, right? I heard there are things like 'Painting the Classics' and 'Ink Interpretation'."

Yu Shanyuan said, "When I took the imperial examinations, the tests on copying classics and interpreting texts were very strict. But after the second year of the Jiayou era, these tests were no longer valued, and submitting a blank paper didn't have much of an impact."

The Millennium Dragon and Tiger List of the second year of Jiayou was very famous, producing a large number of famous people such as Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zeng Gong, Cheng Hao, Zhang Zai, and Wang Shao.

However, in the Northern Song Dynasty, its significance lay in reigniting the reform of the imperial examination system.

The imperial examinations were changed from being held every four years to every two years. A separate Mingjing (Classics) subject was established. The emphasis on copying classics and interpreting them in writing was eliminated. The system of passing each examination in turn was abolished. The first examination, which used to test poetry and prose, was changed to test policy essays. The palace examination no longer eliminated candidates… and so on.

Take Su Shi as an example. If he had taken the exam a year earlier, he would have been eliminated in the first round of poetry and prose, and wouldn't even have been qualified to take the policy essay exam—Su Shi failed the poetry and prose section!

Even if Su Shi were to pass by chance and successfully participate in the palace examination, he would still be eliminated in the palace examination stage—Su Shi's palace examination score was fifth class, which would have meant elimination before the second year of Jiayou.

"You can submit a blank paper?" Xu Lai understood a little.

The writing of sutras and essays during the Jiayou era was similar to the official document writing in the Ming Dynasty. Although they were indeed part of the imperial examination content, the examiners did not pay much attention to them, and writing haphazardly would not affect the score.

Yu Shanyuan laughed and said, "Do you know how many Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) have emerged from Guangdong since the founding of the Song Dynasty?"

"How much?" Xu Lai asked.

Yu Shanyuan sighed, "Not even twenty yet."

Xu Lai: "..."

Nearly a century has passed since the Song Dynasty conquered the Southern Han regime, yet in such a long period, only a dozen or so people from Guangdong have passed the imperial examinations.

Yu Shanyuan said, "Even the imperial court couldn't stand it anymore and worried that the scholars from Guangnan would harbor resentment, so they allowed scholars from Guangdong and Guangxi who had passed the imperial examinations multiple times to directly serve as acting officials as successful candidates. Moreover, they could continue to take the imperial examinations while serving as officials."

"What is a regent?" Xu Lai inquired.

Yu Shanyuan explained:

"Acting officials are those who serve as deputies, and this happens all over the country, but the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi is quite special. Lingnan is plagued by miasma, so northern scholars who have passed the imperial examinations would rather resign than come to Guangdong and Guangxi to die."

"Therefore, the prefectures and counties of Guangdong and Guangxi had many positions for acting officials. For example, a newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) could only be appointed as a county lieutenant in the provinces according to custom, but if he came to Guangdong and Guangxi to serve as an official, he would start as an acting county magistrate."

"Scholars from Guangdong and Guangxi who passed the imperial examinations multiple times would be appointed as acting officials in Guangnan by the court. They would typically serve as acting officials for about fifteen years, and if they did not make any mistakes during that time, they could be promoted to selection officials."

Have you heard of Luo Ciyuan?

Xu Lai shook his head, thinking: I've only ever heard of the second dimension.

Yu Shanyuan said, "Luo Kai, courtesy name Ciyuan, was the best scholar in Guangdong and Guangxi. He first served as an acting official for ten years after becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination). While serving as acting registrar, he won third place in the Jinshi examination in the second year of the Jiayou era."

Awesome!

The third-ranked scholar in the Dragon and Tiger List in the second year of Jiayou, wouldn't that surpass Su Shi, Cheng Hao and others?

Yu Shanyuan turned to look at Xu Lai: "I won't stop you from studying for the imperial examinations, but I'll just give you a word of advice. With your family's wealth, if you aspire to take the imperial examinations, you'll need to put in a thousand times more effort. Even if you sold all your land, it wouldn't be enough to buy a copy of 'The Correct Meaning of the Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals'."

During the Northern Song Dynasty, papermaking and printing were not yet advanced, and books were so expensive that even small landowners couldn't afford them.

Let alone a fifth-class household like Xu Lai, even a fourth-class household couldn't afford large books and had to go to great lengths to borrow books from all over the place and copy them themselves.

That night, Xu Lai and Yu Shanyuan talked for a long time.

His main purpose was to inquire about the content of the imperial examinations, including the examination process. He discovered that the path to the imperial examinations was fraught with difficulties; even if one acquired a wealth of skills, it would still be extremely difficult to pass the examinations and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).

For example, to enter the examination hall, one had to be guarantored by a fellow townsman.

Yu Shanyuan said, "You are from the mountains, and to scholars from outside the mountains, you are someone of unknown origin. They are unlikely to vouch for you, because if you commit fraud or cheating, they, as your guarantors, will be implicated. If you want to participate in the imperial examinations, you won't even be able to find a guarantor."

"Isn't there any other way?" Xu Lai asked.

Yu Shanyuan said, "It can also be guaranteed by the government."

Xu Lai hurriedly asked, "So you're asking an official to act as guarantor?"

Yu Shanyuan nodded and said, "For the county examinations and the prefectural school entrance examinations, if the county magistrate is a guarantor, there is no need to find anyone else. However, if it is the prefectural examination, even if the county magistrate is a guarantor, two more scholars from the same hometown will still be needed."

Xu Lai turned his head to look at the distant county town.

Looks like I need to find a chance to get to know the county magistrate!

-

(Note: Before the second year of the Jiayou era, the imperial examinations were conducted in stages. It was like taking the college entrance examination; after the Chinese exam, the papers were graded immediately, and those who failed were eliminated, not even qualified to take the English or math exams.)

(The brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe first immigrated to Kaifeng through the imperial examination system, and only after obtaining a quota in Kaifeng did they take the imperial examination. Su Shi's poetry and prose were not up to standard, but because his policy essays were well written, he was exceptionally admitted by Ouyang Xiu.)

(That year, the imperial examination allowed candidates to take an additional test on the fundamental principles of classical texts. Su Shi ranked second overall in the fundamental principles of classical texts and first in the Spring and Autumn Annals, thus he was exceptionally promoted from the fifth class of Jinshi to the fourth class.)

(The number of guarantors for the provincial examinations in the Song Dynasty was not uniform; usually it was five people mutually guaranteeing each other, but in some places it was ten. Three people mutually guaranteeing each other was also acceptable, but another official had to act as guarantor.)