Chapter Eighty-Eight: Failure in the Examinations (Part One)

In the side hall of the imperial palace in the Eastern Capital, the Emperor said, "Bring it here. Let me look again." After the ministers had finished their quarrel, the matter was settled, and they all withdrew from the hall. Then the Song Emperor Zhao Xu pointed to Li Sijian's examination essay, which Zhang Dun had flung to the floor.

Lian Shicheng, who stood nearby in attendance, quickly picked up Li Sijian's paper. Then, dropping to both knees, he slid forward on his shins until he reached Zhao Xu, lifted the essay high with both hands, and presented it, saying, "Your Majesty, it is late. Why not return to the palace and rest?"

Zhao Xu waved him off and took the essay, reading it carefully once more.

After finishing, Zhao Xu closed his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Your Majesty, this is an article once written by that candidate, titled 'On Conquering the Land by the Sea.' This servant made a copy of it. Would Your Majesty care to read it?" Lian Shicheng then produced several sheets of paper and spoke cautiously to Zhao Xu.

"Hm? Conquering the Land by the Sea?" Zhao Xu glanced at Lian Shicheng, took the copied article, and studied it again.

"I had not expected that a youth so young could produce such writing," Zhao Xu sighed after reading it. "But he is indeed too young."

What Zhao Xu marvelled at was not the quality of the prose, but Li Sijian's insight within it. Such a view could be said to be unprecedented since the founding of the dynasty. Until now, all men had valued the overland routes and neglected the sea lanes.

Li Sijian's ideas were so fresh that they astonished Zhao Xu.

...

Within the inner court of the Song dynasty there was an office called the Miscellaneous Procurement Bureau.

Its former name had been the Market Purchase Office. As the name implies, its chief duty was to purchase all manner of supplies for the palace, and so the eunuchs of the bureau were permitted to come and go from the imperial palace at will.

One day, after a young attendant from the bureau had left the palace gate, he did not go to the market. Instead, he went straight to Li Sijian's lodgings, slipped a scrap of paper into Li Sijian's hand, and hurried away in a panic.

Li Sijian stood there holding the note, utterly bewildered and at a loss.

He looked at it at once. On it were written six words: "Danger. Leave the capital at once!"

This only made him more confused and uneasy.

The note was clearly a warning, but what danger could there be for him? Had the warning been meant for the wrong person? Li Sijian thought to himself. He had not even figured out the identity of the messenger who delivered it; he only knew the man had elegant clothes and a rather effeminate air.

Still, better to believe than not, he recalled carefully everything he had done since coming to the capital, but could not think of anything especially outrageous. He had offended no one, save for what happened last time at the gates of the Cai residence.

But in that matter, it was the Cai family who broke the engagement and insulted his mother; he had merely struck back in words. Could that really be enough to anger some high official and bring danger upon him?

That seemed unlikely, and he rejected the thought.

Then Li Sijian suddenly remembered what had happened when he first arrived in Kaifeng, later while drinking at the House of Purified Heart. At the time, he had drunk too much and said things he should not have said. Could he have thus offended the authorities and brought disaster on himself?

Then there was the civil examination itself—but surely one would not be punished merely because of a single essay in the examinations? he thought.

"Third Brother, what is wrong?" Li Sijian had been standing at the door in a daze, which left Madam Fu, Second Lady Fu, equally perplexed, and she came out to ask him.

"Mother, I am fine. It is raining outside; be careful not to catch cold." At once, Li Sijian helped her back inside.

He had no mind to think about it any longer. What was the use of pondering it endlessly? What must come would come. As for fleeing the capital, he had no such intention at all. With his family in tow, how could he possibly run? Besides, if he had offended the authorities, or even incurred the wrath of the court, where could he flee? If it truly came to that, then under heaven there would be no place for Li Sijian to stand.

...

In the third month in Kaifeng, the ice and snow were gradually melting, and spring had arrived. Spring was a season of sunshine and blossoms in full bloom, but it was also a season of frequent rain. Spring rain could fall endlessly, perhaps for several days at a time.

On a certain day in the third month, the candidates from the twenty-three circuits of the Song realm again gathered at the Examination Hall, assembling once more. Besides the more than two thousand candidates, there were countless onlookers and others with all manner of motives. There were also countless servants and loafers waiting to deliver the good news and collect their reward money, and even many wealthy gentry, estate lords, and retainers who watched hungrily for the practice of seizing a son-in-law beneath the posted list.

As the phrase implies, seizing a son-in-law beneath the list meant that on the day the Ministry of Rites posted the results, wealthy families from all over would send out the whole household, racing to choose newly successful degree-holders as sons-in-law. The scene was practically a scramble, and the people called it "catching a son-in-law."

Because the Song court treated scholars with great favor, men of learning held very high status, and everyone wanted to become an official. Though the economy of the Song was highly developed, merchants did not enjoy a high social standing. To protect their wealth, advance their families, or gain entry into high society, merchants all wanted to form ties with some court official, but there were not many paths available to them. Either one's family produced readers and officeholders, or one married into the imperial clan, or else one offered a lavish dowry to lure a scholar into marriage.

No route was swifter or more direct than seizing a man who might one day be ennobled and rise to the highest office as a son-in-law. Even if those who were to be "caught" could not in later years become grand chancellors or ministers, at the very least they would become regional governors and powerful provincial officials.

Scholars sought wealth, merchants sought profit, and the two often met with remarkable ease. Indeed, it was not only merchants who did this; many daughters from official families also waited to be "caught" as wives. It was said that during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, some people even brought suit to court over such matters.

"My family has a thousand mu of good land. I am willing to offer a hundred mu and ten draft oxen as a dowry. Is there any young gentleman who would take them?"

"Out of the way, you bumpkin. All you know is land and oxen. I am willing to offer five thousand strings of cash, one hundred bolts of first-rate Jiangnan silk, and fifty bolts of Sichuan brocade. Anyone interested?"

"Foolish man, are you selling your daughter? With the one in your house, all crooked and misshapen... and yet you would still sell her? I have two daughters of sixteen. Is anyone coming? A generous dowry is included..."

Today was the day the newly appointed jinshi were to be announced, yet the Ministry of Rites' list had not even been posted before the crowd had already begun shouting. Voices rose in a clamor so noisy that, at first glance, one might have thought oneself at a bustling marketplace for buying and selling people.

Everyone knew the wisdom of striking first and of preparing in advance. Once the Ministry of Rites' list was posted, it would be too late. So the people intent on catching a son-in-law stared at the candidates like hungry wolves, guided by instinct.

When the list was finally made public, if they caught the wrong one, they could simply kick him aside and be done with it.

Li Sijian, Zeng Gongming, Ye Mengde, and the others who had come to watch the posting were also being watched closely. At the first sign of trouble, they would be seized at once.

But all of that would soon have nothing to do with Li Sijian.

In a moment, the Ministry of Rites officials brought out the list of the newly admitted jinshi, and it was quickly pasted onto the Ministry's notice board. Instantly, the crowd was drawn over. They surged beneath the list, eyes wide, either searching for their own names or helping others look. The men waiting to catch sons-in-law did not look at the list at all; instead, they fixed their gaze on the candidates. The instant one of them showed delight, or broke into tears, or cried out in excitement, or otherwise lost composure, he would be seized and carried off to the family home.

Within moments, the candidates were either cheering wildly, weeping aloud, running about to spread the news and wishing the whole world to know they had passed; or else they sat down on the ground, dejected beyond words; or they left the Examination Hall in sorrow and sought a place to drown their grief in wine.

The many faces of the world were laid bare there.

"No, no..." Zeng Gongming said with a wretched expression. He had scanned the list at least five full times, yet still could not find either Li Sijian's name or his own. Not only were their names absent, but none of the candidates from Lingnan were listed either.

The Lingnan candidates had been utterly wiped out in this examination.

Li Sijian also shook his head in disappointment. With only one glance at the list, he already knew his own name was not there. Among the more than two hundred names, there had not been many surnamed Li to begin with, and he could tell at once that he had failed.

His failure in this examination was, for Li Sijian, both expected and unexpected.

Afterward, Li Sijian had already felt that the policy essay he had written was somewhat ominous, yet he still clung to a thread of luck, a thread of hope that the examiners, or even the emperor, might recognize it. But now it seemed that hope had been shattered.

"Oh, is that not the first talent of Lingnan, Li Hanjian? Well then, has your name made the list?"

"Haha, brother, he ought to change his name to Li Hanlin. Perhaps then he might truly be listed."

At that moment, some of the candidates recognized Li Sijian, who had won first place at the Lantern Festival gathering, and those who were not from the Lingnan circuit immediately began to mock him. Those who had passed spoke all the more gleefully.

"What good is fine poetry and prose? In the end, his name is still nowhere on the list, heh heh."

The more they said, the more delighted they became, until the Lingnan candidates all glared back in fury.

"Silence!" Zhao Mingcheng, who had also taken part in this examination, had likewise failed to make the list of newly admitted jinshi. Seeing these men treat Li Sijian so rudely, he could not contain his anger and pointed at them, rebuking them. "Tang poet Meng Jiao passed only after the third try and was praised as Master Zhenyao. And the great master of prose of the Tang, Han Yu, the esteemed Master Han, passed the jinshi examination only on his fourth attempt, and later rose to high office. The same was true of our own dynasty's Duke Wenmu. Such examples are everywhere. How can you judge heroes by a single success or failure?"

Once Zhao Mingcheng spoke, the laughter only grew more brazen, and they jeered: "Ha! If that is so, then after how many tries will your hero Li finally appear on the list?"

"Yes indeed, Hero Li, let us meet again next year."

"Hahahaha."

As the old saying goes, where fortune lies, misfortune is hidden; and where misfortune lies, fortune depends. Our protagonist Li Sijian's story has only just begun. Pray, dear readers, keep your attention upon it.