Zhao Ger was somewhat surprised to see him.
"Why are you back so early today?"
At this time, by modern reckoning, it was only four o'clock.
"I came back to get the household registration and documents." Fang Zichen had left work early to come back, but when he got home, there wasn't a single person there, and the door was still locked. He asked around, and someone said they saw Zhao Ger taking Guaizai toward the pine forest on West Mountain, probably to gather pine needles, so he came looking.
"Get the household registration and documents?" Zhao Ger asked, panting. "What for?"
"To register at the magistrate's office. The tongsheng exam is in middle of tenth month," Fang Zichen said.
"Why so soon?" Zhao Ger frowned slightly. "Wasn't it supposed to be in the second month next year? Why was it moved up?"
The tongsheng exam was divided into three stages: the county exam, the prefectural exam, and the academy exam. It marked the initial step for a scholar's entry into the official examination system.
The first stage was the county exam.
The county exam was typically held in the second month, presided over by the county magistrate, and generally consisted of five sessions.
These sessions tested various formats, including the eight-legged essay, trial poetry, classical commentary, regulated verse, and policy discourse.
The prefectural exam was held in the fourth month.
It was presided over by the prefect or the magistrate of a directly administered department.
Only those scholars who had passed the county exam were permitted to participate, and it involved three consecutive sessions of examinations.
The academy exam represented the highest level of the tongsheng exam.
It was presided over by the provincial educational commissioner.
With the examination date being moved forward by almost four months, Zhao Ger could not help but worry.
By a strict reckoning, excluding the first month, Fang Zichen had only been studying for three months.
Furthermore, he had been studying while working at the same time.
Zhao Ger had previously asked him how his studies were going, whether work was too busy, and if it affected his studies. Fang Zichen always waved it off, saying it was fine, it was fine, and that he had finished all the books he needed to read, appearing full of confidence. Zhao Ger thought they could continue like this until after the New Year, when he had earned more money. Then, after the new year began, he would have Fang Zichen stay home to study properly while he provided for them. But now, with the exam moved up, he was completely unprepared.
He seemed completely caught off guard, the whole person radiating a palpable sense of anxiety and fluster. Fang Zichen found the sight amusing.
"Relax, relax, you have to believe in me. Whether it's moved up or pushed back, a true top student is indifferent to such useless matters," he said with great bravado, acting incredibly cocky. "I, your husband, am the reincarnation of the Literary Star. A mere tongsheng exam is nothing; I'll handle it with ease."
[文曲星 (wénqǔxīng): lit. the Literary Star. In Chinese mythology, it's the deity or celestial body associated with scholarship, literature, and imperial examinations, believed to bless individuals with exceptional literary talent and success in academics.]
"......Then will you go back to town later?" Zhao Ger asked.
"Yes, Lao Wang told me to take the household registration to register first," Fang Zichen said, then made a bitter face. "But I need to find four villagers and a xiucai to act as my guarantors."
Villagers are easy to find, but where is he going to find a xiucai?
Fu'an Town was a poor place. It was difficult for impoverished families to produce scholars. In the entire town, the number of xiucai could be counted on one hand.
Those xiucai who still wished to advance further valued their reputations highly. They wouldn't be willing to help him without good reason. If he were to make any mistakes during the examination, the xiucai who guaranteed him would also suffer consequences.
Those who no longer sought to advance had opened their own schools and had more than enough of their own students to guarantee, it would not have been his turn.
He worked as a bookkeeper at Zuixiao Restaurant, a role that was half that of a 'merchant.' Whenever scholars came to the restaurant to dine, they almost invariably looked down on him and Shopkeeper Yang.
Fang Zichen could not be bothered to deal with them either. There had even been a few occasions when he was 'verbally disrespectful' and argued until a scholar vomited blood and fainted on the spot. Thus, to that day, he had not become acquainted with a single 'classmate.'
As for xiucai, that was even more impossible.
Zhao Ger was anxious for him: "Then what should we do? We can ask the village chief to help find villagers, but we don't know a single xiucai."
Fang Zichen said: "I'll go ask Lao Wang, he probably knows someone."
"Alright then!" Anxiety wouldn't help, and worrying was useless. Zhao Ger asked curiously: "Why was the imperial exam suddenly moved up?"
The imperial examination system of Da Xia was strict, and its schedules were largely fixed. Much like how in modern times national exams are held on set dates, these major events—mobilizing the entire nation and watched by millions—were not easily altered without significant cause.
However, in recent years, the border had suffered repeated enemy attacks. War brought hardship to the people and drained state resources, leaving the imperial treasury strained. Holding the examinations in the second month, when temperatures were still bitterly cold, required the government to provide charcoal braziers for each examination hall.
Ordinary charcoal did not burn long and produced heavy smoke, which could easily disturb the candidates, so only the highest quality charcoal was acceptable. Top-grade charcoal cost several taels of silver per catty. Each examination hall required multiple braziers, burning continuously for several days. Combined with the provision of meals, the total expense across the nation became considerable.
Fu'an Town was poor. Its examination halls did not have individual examination cubicles, so providing cotton quilts was unnecessary, which reduced costs significantly. But other regions were different. The gap between rich and poor existed everywhere in those days. In less funded areas, examination halls relied solely on natural ventilation. Moderately funded areas might have employed servants to manually operate large palm fans or utilized simple air-circulation systems. In the most affluent regions, examination halls could be furnished with sophisticated heating systems in winter and cooled through architectural designs that promoted air flow, such as high ceilings and water features, maintaining a more tolerable environment throughout the entire day.
No one dared to cut corners on examination supplies. A few years earlier, a prefect in Xunzhou, motivated by greed, had provided inferior charcoal. The examination halls filled with thick, choking smoke, causing candidates to cough incessantly and struggle to see their papers. The steamed buns supplied, made with coarse grain, turned hard as stone once cold and were impossible to eat. By coincidence, the son of the Educational Commissioner was taking the exam in his hometown and fainted from hunger in the examination hall. After an investigation, the Commissioner reported the incident to the Emperor during morning court, and the Prefect of Xunzhou was immediately dismissed from his post.
Moving the exam to the tenth month, when the weather was mild and pleasant, allowed candidates to write in comfort while the court saved a substantial amount of money—a true instance of killing two birds with one stone.
After Fang Zichen explained, Zhao Ger understood the general idea.
They went home to retrieve the documents, and Fang Zichen hurried back to town.
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