Chapter 27: The First Lesson in Officialdom

When you, as the invitee, meet this new Provincial Administration Commissioner in the study, your first impression is: he is a scholar!

Yes, a scholar.

It is a strange feeling, as "scholar" is not typically used as a standalone adjective, yet it is the only word that comes to mind to describe him.

It is not as if you have never met a Provincial Administration Commissioner before. Twenty-four years ago, the Shaanxi Commissioner named Liu Yizhao left a profound impression on you: efficient, shrewd, dignified, and greedy.

But this new Commissioner, Ning Bufan, possesses none of those traits. Rather than a powerful frontier official governing a province, he seems more like a gentle man of letters.

Your arrival puts Ning Bufan in high spirits. After your nervous greeting, he examines you with great interest for a long time, as if you were a rare animal.

"Truly the child prodigy of Northern Shaanxi from years past; seeing you once is worth a hundred reports!"

He praises you from the heart, then laughs heartily: "How does it taste, not passing for twenty-four years?"

Upon hearing this, you are immediately jolted. "Sir, you mean..."

Could it be that this new Commissioner intends to kindly clear up your confusion?

To be honest, while you have spent these twenty-four years loathing the vermin who clearly made things difficult for you on purpose, you have never understood why: had you ever offended them?

Twenty-four years! How many twenty-four-year spans does a life have? These vermin truly treated you like a crop to be harvested.

Facing your cautious inquiry, Ning Bufan does not answer directly. Instead, he asks a question that seems completely unrelated.

"Do you know the average age at which candidates in our Great Ming's two capitals and thirteen provinces pass the provincial examination?"

You shake your head blankly.

He answers, "Between twenty-five and thirty."

"Commoners must first learn to read, then study the classics, then broaden their knowledge to other profound subjects, and finally learn to write the eight-legged essay... This process takes an average person at least seventeen or eighteen years before they are even ready to take the examination for the status of a scholar."

"Then, they undergo further refinement in the prefectural school for at least five years before preparing for the provincial examination. By the time this cycle is complete, they are nearly twenty-five. Considering the difficulties of the examination, many do not pass on their first try, requiring a second or third..."

"As for those who still haven't passed after three or more attempts, they likely lack the capacity, and even if they keep trying, there is usually no hope."

The Commissioner says slowly, "Therefore, the average age of those who pass the provincial examination in our Great Ming is between twenty-five and thirty."

Is that so?

This logic leaves you stunned, yet you still fail to see the connection. Does this explain why your scores were suppressed? Can the existence of a child prodigy not be tolerated?

The Commissioner seems to see your confusion and smiles. "You think this has nothing to do with you? Let me elaborate."

"Because those who pass usually fall within that age range, they are viewed as having normal potential. If they follow the standard path, they will likely become mid-level officials of the Great Ming."

"On that basis, the younger the candidate, the greater their potential, and the higher the probability that they will eventually transcend the mid-level and ascend to the upper echelons. Officials like to bestow favors upon such people to cultivate connections."

"Conversely, the older the candidate, the lower their potential. Their future is visible at a glance, and officials are generally indifferent toward them."

Hmm?

The more you listen, the more bewildered you become. This doesn't seem right. If this theory holds, then if you passed at five, your potential would be astronomical! With such potential, shouldn't Liu Yizhao and the others have tried to win your favor? Why was it the exact opposite?

The Commissioner soon resolves your confusion: "Because you were too young!"

"A five-year-old child—what heavy responsibility could you handle? Even if you passed, the imperial court wouldn't dare use you."

The Commissioner sighs helplessly. "Because you were of no immediate use even if you passed, and the court has always turned a blind eye to such matters, local officials wouldn't let you prodigies pass. Instead, they would privately sell your scores to those with connections and the wealthy gentry."

"Those well-connected individuals who wouldn't have passed otherwise would use your examination papers to secure their status. This meant they were effectively held hostage by the Commissioner and his ilk. Even after entering government service, they would instinctively protect these interests, forming a network beneficial to the Commissioner."

"Meanwhile, the Commissioner and his colleagues would collect a huge sum of silver for selling your papers—a hundred thousand taels for a regular provincial graduate, five hundred thousand for a top-ranked candidate. With such returns, why wouldn't they do it?"

"The result is that the sellers get silver and a network, and the buyers get the coveted status to pursue even greater interests. It is a win-win for them; only you, who should have passed, are the one suffering."

You: ...
You: ...
You: (CPU unresponsive...)

You are stunned: such a thing is possible?!

In this moment, you finally achieve a clear understanding of the darkness and corruption deep within the Great Ming...

After a long silence, you say dryly, "So, the real reason I failed for twenty-four years is simply because I was too young?"

"Yes, and no."

The Commissioner shakes his head. "You were indeed suppressed at first because of your age, but later, it wasn't just that."

"If a normal person is deliberately suppressed, they learn their lesson—either they wait until they are older to try again, or they pay up and admit defeat. But you are different. You stubborn child, you knew you were being targeted, yet you came back to test every single time. You were clearly challenging them head-on, so they started challenging you back!"

"During these twenty-four years, although Liu Yizhao was transferred away, the subsequent Commissioners heard of your reputation. Seeing how stubborn you were, they simply followed in their predecessor's footsteps. Since you showed up every time and always scored as the top candidate, you were a cash cow worth five hundred thousand taels every time..."

You: ...

Fine, fine! So you were all just mining my gold, were you? I will eventually make you vermin eat "purple eggs" one by one!

Your resentment seems ready to overflow. After a long while, you ask dryly: Is it possible that it wasn't my stubbornness, but that I simply couldn't afford a hundred thousand taels?

"That?"

The Commissioner seems to have anticipated this, smiling. "That is actually very simple. A hundred thousand taels is a lot, but a local prefect could certainly afford it. You could have just gone to your Northern Shaanxi Prefect and borrowed it! Given your high potential when you were young, the Prefect surely would have lent it to you!"

"Commissioners love to cultivate connections, and prefects, other officials, and wealthy merchants do too. As long as you were willing to form an interest-based alliance with them, what was a mere hundred thousand taels? They might have even offered to adopt you as a godson or a son-in-law..."

The Commissioner clicks his tongue. "I remember an old retired gatekeeper saying that he found you likable and hinted more than once that you should go borrow from the Prefect or other wealthy men, not to be so stubborn. But you never listened, tsk..."

You: ...

So, it turns out, I just didn't understand the ways of the officialdom...

You suddenly feel a sense of self-mockery. It seems you are truly ill-suited to be an official. Even though the entire Great Ming dynasty is filled with decay and darkness, you still do not know how to go with the flow.

Just like the butcher Ding carving an ox—even he knew to cut along the gaps in the joints so as not to damage his blade. Yet you were holding a fruit knife, furiously hacking at the rock-hard ox bones. Isn't that just asking for suffering?

In pain and helplessness, you finish this first lesson in entering the officialdom of the Great Ming...

After a long time, you ask bitterly, "Then, my passing this time—is it because you saw that I am finally old enough, and decided to let me off?"

This is a very blunt, perhaps even offensive question!

But Commissioner Ning does not get angry. He smiles. "No, that is not what I thought."

"I admitted you because this stubborn spirit of yours is exactly what I desire!"

He suddenly becomes serious. "Zhou Liang, I know you are a child prodigy, and from your refusal to yield over all these years, I have seen the conviction you carry..."

"You refuse to follow the flow of the corrupt officialdom, and you refuse to bow to decay. I have also learned of your reputation in Northern Shaanxi; I know you have never been a man of indulgence. If you become an official, you will surely be one of integrity. The Great Ming is in dire need of officials like you!"

"I took an oath the day I became an official: in this life, not only must I serve the Great Ming with action, but I must also strive to cultivate and promote officials of integrity who, like me, aspire to peace under heaven!"

"Now that I have had the fortune to meet you, I must naturally fulfill my oath."

In his eyes, there seems to be a glowing lamp. It is something you have never seen in anyone else's eyes in all these years—no greed, no darkness, only a pure clarity.

He smiles at you. "From this day forward, you must remain loyal to the Great Ming and to His Majesty, so that my words today are not in vain..."

"With that, take this provincial graduate status."

You stare at him blankly, speechless for a long time...

He is likely a good official; that is beyond doubt. You have no disagreement with the weight of his kindness, but...

Loyalty?

You sigh inwardly.

"The Great Ming is not worthy, and the Divine Emperor is even less so..."

...

In the seventy-second year of Chongzhen, in the ninth month, the new Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commissioner, "Ning Bufan," personally selected you as the top provincial graduate, intending for you to be loyal to the Great Ming and the Divine Emperor, and to seek welfare for the world!

Yet, will you truly do as he wishes?