Chapter 92: Chapter 71: Imperial Examination Plan
Translator: 549690339
A barbecue night feast left everyone happy and satisfied.
However, after the revelry, everything eventually returned to tranquility. On the second day, as Gu Songvun said, he did not continue hunting in the mountains but stayed in the academy to study hard.
This impoverished student really cherished the current learning opportunities, desperately trying to improve himself, hoping to stand out through learning and change his own destiny.
Lu Yuan admired this very much. So, he gave the fur he got from yesterday’s hunt to the other party, as a form of assistance from an elder.
A sheepskin and five rabbit skins could sell for a hundred cents or so.
He didn’t care about this small sum of money, and since Gu Songyun participated in the hunt yesterday and also shared so much knowledge about the mountain, it could be considered payment.
In response, he naturally gained more gratitude from the students, who felt that their teacher’s friend was even more approachable.
While the students were busy working hard, Sun Siwen, as a teacher, was not idle either, and began to work on his own tasks.
He was going to the county government to have a small meeting with the county magistrate and the education official.
It was already the end of August, which meant it was time for the yearly Imperial Examination.
During these days, the county magistrate and the education official were worrying about whom to arrange for the Scholar exam to aim for the title of juren.
Apart from the livelihood and taxation, the assessment of a county’s governance by the prefecture also placed a high proportion on education.
Therefore, the prefecture had a fixed requirement for each county to cultivate a certain number of scholars and recommend them for the juren exam. The evaluation of local officials’ achievements depended on whether the recommended scholars could pass.
Producing more scholars and having at least one juren during their tenure would naturally lead to an excellent evaluation, which could be used as the basis for promotion.
On the contrary, if the teaching was unsuccessful, and the officials were severely derelict in their duties, either a reprimand order or demotion would ensue.
Facing such important matters that concerned their future, the county magistrate and the education official naturally attached great importance to it.
However, Changning County was inherently disadvantaged in its scholarly environment, and in the past, it had always failed to meet the standards, always being part of the bottom-ranked counties.
Fortunately, their superiors also knew about their unique situation here, so they were not overly harsh on them.
But the situation has changed now.
Since Sun Siwen’s arrival and the implementation of a series of educational reforms, the scholarly atmosphere of Changning County has changed.
Not only did the number of students in academies increase, but several scholars have also been cultivated, breaking through the barrier of twenty and bringing the total to twenty-one.
With such achievements, the County Magistrate and Education Official naturally harbored some ambitions.
They didn’t expect to have a juren come out of their county in this year’s Imperial Examination, as that would be unrealistic.
What the two officials wanted were for more scholars to take the juren examination than in the past.
Although passing the juren exam was the biggest achievement.
But having more Scholars take the juren exam was also an achievement.
In previous years, there were only four or five Scholars from Changning County who took the juren exam, which placed them at the bottom of all the counties.
But this year, the county magistrate wanted to make a big push, recommending all twenty-one Scholars for the juren exam.
This was undoubtedly a bold move.
So, when Sun Siwen heard the county magistrate’s plan, he frowned and cautiously reminded his superiors: “Your Honors, it is a good thing to let more students participate in the Imperial Examination.
However, many students come from poor families and may find it difficult to raise the funds for the exam. Forcing them to participate in the Imperial Examination may lead to a catastrophe. ”
In the past, Changning County had always had more than ten scholars. But why were there only a few who took the imperial examination?
Wasn’t it because of the money?
Like Sun Siwen, it took him borrowing thirty silver tales from Lu Yuan last time to barely gather enough funds for the examination.
Thirty silver tales, in Changning County, was already equivalent to the entire income of an ordinary household for three years without eating or drinking. But a household always had to eat and drink and had various expenses to bear.
For them to raise thirty silver tales, they would need nearly ten years of savings.
Ten years of saving up for the examination fees were the norm for poor students.
Due to the difficulties in accumulating examination funds, many ordinary scholars, even after finally gathering enough funds, would not dare to participate in the imperial examination until they were confident of passing.
It is because they fear that if they fail, they will have to accumulate funds for several years or even a decade again, which, for a hopeful scholar, is really an unbearable burden.
Therefore, using the number of people participating in the Imperial Examination to evaluate local officials’ achievements is to some extent reasonable.
If a place can have more students participating in the Imperial Examination, doesn’t it just prove that your local economy is strong, well-developed, and can support more students to take the exam?
It is not wrong to use this standard to evaluate achievements.
Of course, if the local officials force the students to take the imperial examination for their achievements, regardless of the students’ life or death, that is another matter.
Sun Siwen was officially worried about this, so he gently reminded them at this time.
The county magistrate was also a graduate of the imperial examinations, so he couldn’t fail to understand the meaning of the other party’s words. He smiled and said, “I know how difficult it is for students to take the imperial examination. To raise the funds needed for the examination, many students spend several years or even a decade in hardship.
I am not a tyrant, and I will not force the students into poverty for my own achievements.
That’s why I made this proposal, planning to allocate funds from the county government and asking the major households in the county to donate, raising enough examination funds for all the students, and sending them to take the Imperial Examination.”
Grand Tutor Sun, what do you think?”
Having said that, how could Sun Siwen possibly object? After all, if more people participated in the Imperial Examination, he, the person in charge of education, would also have merits.
So he immediately bowed and said, “If that is the case, all the students in the county will be grateful for your kindness, and I, on behalf of them, would like to thank your honor.”
Being praised by others naturally made him happy, so the county magistrate laughed heartily. Then he looked at Sun Siwen sincerely and said, “I can solve the problem of money. But since we have spent so much money, we must achieve some results.
Grand Tutor Sun is a recent juren, so he knows more about the imperial examination-related matters than us out-of-date old-timers.
There are still two months until the Imperial Examination, and even after deducting one month of travel, there is still one month left.
So please, Grand Tutor Sun, be more mindful during the next month, and teach the Scholars in the academy well, so they can learn more and shine in the
Imperial Examination.”
The county magistrate was not only providing the money but also looking for people to invest; of course, he was not doing charity.
His three-year tenure was about to end, and it was time for him to be evaluated for promotion or demotion.
However, the county magistrate’s achievements in his previous two terms had been very poor. If he didn’t have any achievements this time, he might lose his position as county magistrate.
How could he accept that?
Since he had tasted power, he could not bear to lose it.
So, he pinned his hopes on this year’s Imperial Examination, hoping to offset his negative points in other areas with his achievements in education. This required the help of Sun Siwen, the skilled and beloved education official.
As for this, Sun Siwen naturally agreed happily.
After all, if he achieved good results, he would also have merits.
Grand Tutor Sun had his eye on a higher education official position, hoping to improve his rank in the next few years.
What he did not expect was that the opportunity had so quickly presented itself before him.
When a duck is delivered to your doorstep, how could you not seize it?
Let’s do it..
