Chapter 73: Shady Dealings in the Assessment
Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Shady Dealings in the Assessment
The imperial examinations,
as the saying goes, are like a thousand men, ten thousand men, crossing a single-plank bridge.
But that refers to the civil examinations. The Military Examination, on the other hand, is a hardcore test of strength and has an age limit.
As a result, the number of participants in each session isn’t very large.
The Imperial Examination for the Imperial Scholar.
Passing it meant obtaining an official post, opening up a world of possibilities. Failing meant that most Martial Artists, who typically reached the Bone Forging Pass in their early twenties, only had a little over a decade left before hitting the age limit of forty.
At most, they could participate a little over ten times.
This didn’t even account for the risk of injury during the martial contests.
The martial contests for the Martial Scholar examination were incomparably stricter than those for the lower-level Martial Scholar title.
Furthermore, every Martial Artist who passed the preliminary tests could challenge anyone in the top ten.
Defeating an opponent meant taking their rank.
Therefore, no one who became a Martial Scholar did so without enduring a dozen or more challenges.
Because of this, the battles became exceptionally fierce.
Those who were challenged had to use brutal methods to crush their opponents, hoping to intimidate subsequent challengers and reduce the number of fights they had to face.
After all, no one could guarantee they wouldn’t make a mistake and be defeated after a series of consecutive battles.
So, they had to establish their dominance!
They had to make others too afraid to challenge them.
"Fang Yue of Da Liushu Village, here for the examination. My guarantor is the Martial Scholar, Zhang Boyang."
It was soon Fang Yue’s turn. After stating his village and guarantor, an official checked his name off a roster, and his guarantor, Zhang Boyang, confirmed from a short distance away.
The entire process took the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Soon, a junior official came to lead Fang Yue into the grounds.
He was in the barracks of the Xiahe County City Guard Army. The compound was surrounded by brick and stone walls, enclosing a large training ground and rows of buildings nearby.
The windows of these buildings had been removed, and the interiors were partitioned to create two examination rooms each.
On the training ground stood more than ten stone lions of varying sizes.
This was the first test of today’s Martial Examination: the stone lift.
The smallest of the stone lions weighed exactly twelve hundred catties.
Each subsequent lion was fifty catties heavier than the last.
A total of eighty-seven people had come to take the Martial Scholar examination, which was about the number Fang Yue had heard to expect.
More than half of them were clearly in their thirties, old enough to have children who could already run errands.
It was a testament to the difficulty of cultivating the Martial Dao. In the vast Xiahe County Town and its dozen surrounding towns and villages, with a population of hundreds of thousands, how many could possibly reach the third pass, the Bone Forging Pass, before the age of forty?
And even among these few, a large portion were not first-time participants.
Soon, gongs and drums sounded in unison.
The Xiahe County Martial Scholar examination had officially begun.
Fang Yue received his number tag from the proctor—’Ding Twelve’—and then waited in the crowd.
The Martial Scholar examination began with the stone lift, followed by archery, equestrianism, and Military Strategy.
After these four tests, the rankings would be determined.
Of course, only the top ten would be ranked. After that came the most important test of all: the martial contests.
"Captain Ding, step forward."
"Begin the stone lift!"
Hearing the command, Fang Yue stepped forward with the other Martial Artists from his group.
They approached the stone lions in the center of the field.
These stone lions ranged from twelve hundred catties to the heaviest at three thousand.
Fang Yue hadn’t tested his strength recently, but based on his performance a few days ago, he knew he could definitely lift two thousand five or six hundred catties.
However, that amount of strength was typical for a Martial Artist at Great Success in Bone Forging, which didn’t match Fang Yue’s current Cultivation Realm of the Early Stage of Bone Forging.
Therefore, he went straight for a stone lion that weighed twenty-two hundred catties.
In the previous tests for groups A and B, the majority of contestants had lifted around eighteen or nineteen hundred catties. Few had surpassed two thousand.
Only four people had reached twenty-five hundred catties.
Twenty-two hundred catties wasn’t the highest, but it was still in the upper-middle range.
~~~~~~
"This year’s tea is excellent. Where did you buy it?"
In a watchtower overlooking the training ground, Liu Zheng sat on the highest floor, surveying the entire examination field.
From here, he could see both the Martial Artists undergoing the stone lifting test and, on the other side, the civil candidates who were still entering.
"It was a gift from Hall Master Zheng of the White Tiger Military Officers. Elder Zheng of the White Tiger Boxing Hall has provided all the tea for today’s examination," a nearby official in charge of the Government Office accounts quickly explained.
"The White Tiger Boxing Hall is quite thoughtful. Oh, right, how many people from the White Tiger Boxing Hall are participating in the examination this year?" Liu Zheng asked, taking a sip of tea.
"Only one," the official beside him replied hastily.
Liu Zheng nodded, then immediately instructed the official to bring him the roster entry for Fang Yue, the candidate from the White Tiger Boxing Hall.
He wanted to see what kind of candidate the White Tiger Boxing Hall had sent. If the man was promising, he wouldn’t mind helping him secure a prosperous future.
Then, he would have a legitimate reason to discuss future business with the White Tiger Boxing Hall.
The Great Wei Dynasty had been founded several hundred years ago, and the integrity of its officialdom was a far cry from what it had been in the beginning.
Although the current Emperor of Great Wei intended to clean house, he faced immense resistance. In reality, as long as one wasn’t too brazen,
cheating in the imperial examinations was not impossible.
It was only enough to offer a little help in subjects like Military Strategy and equestrianism.
As for the final martial contests, he was powerless to interfere.
Without real substance, a candidate was certain to fail against the challengers.
But that would be none of his concern.
’If he lacks the strength, he’ll only bring humiliation upon himself.’
Such minor arrangements were commonplace in every prefecture and county, and there was no fear of being investigated for them.
’Still, if Fang Yue’s results are too poor, I’ll have to give up on the idea.’
Liu Zheng looked over the roster. Fang Yue was young, only nineteen this year.
He had passed the examination to become a Martial Scholar last year and had already begun Bone Forging this year.
His cultivation progress was impressive, but it was a bit early for him to be participating in the Martial Examination.
After all, if he had honed his skills for another two years and had mostly finished tempering all the bones in his body, he would have a much better chance.
He might even have had the strength to take first place.
"Lord Liu, the stone lifting test for Group D is starting," the nearby official reminded him.
Fang Yue was in Group D.
Liu Zheng’s gaze immediately went through the window to the training ground.
He quickly found Fang Yue using the physical description from the roster. After all, the other participants in the group were somewhat older.
The younger, somewhat green-looking Fang Yue was easy to spot.
’Twenty-two hundred catties. Upper-middle level. That’s acceptable.’
There is no first in scholarship,
but there is no second in martial arts.
The Martial Examination was not as murky as the civil one. If one wanted to bend the rules for a candidate, that candidate still needed to have at least average ability.
Otherwise, they would be exposed the moment the martial contests began.
Wouldn’t that just give people something to gossip about?
He could only offer a little help in subjects like Military Strategy and equestrianism.
For Military Strategy, for instance, the score was entirely up to the chief examiner. Giving a few extra points was normal.
For equestrianism, he could arrange for a docile, fine horse, which would help the candidate achieve a good score.
In all these things, there were opportunities.
Since Liu Zheng was so inclined, he immediately signaled for a trusted subordinate to make the arrangements.
Just as the subordinate official was about to leave, Liu Zheng seemed to think of something and suddenly stopped him.
"This Fang Yue... he’s from Da Liushu Village?"
"Correct, he is from Da Liushu Village."
Liu Zheng nodded and waved his subordinate away.
Then, his gaze returned to Fang Yue, who had finished the stone lift and was preparing for the next test.
The corners of Liu Zheng’s mouth lifted slightly. If he remembered correctly, Chen Cheng’an had disappeared in the mountain forests near Da Liushu Village.
Along with him, a Qi Sensing Secret Manual had also vanished.
...
Meanwhile, Fang Yue followed a proctor to the archery range on the other side of the training ground to begin the archery test.
The examination used a Nine-Stone Bow.
It required one thousand six hundred and twenty catties of strength just to draw.
To use it with ease, one needed at least eighteen hundred catties of strength.
This was no challenge for Fang Yue.
He had more than enough strength, and as a year-round hunter, the archery test was a freebie.
As expected, he scored a Grade A on this test.
Among the several dozen men, he ranked fifth.
~~~~~~
「At the same time, by the Jade River.」
Li Xiangjun sat leaning against a railing, playing a melody.
"Lian’Er, dear, what’s wrong? Why are you so restless today?"
As one of the top courtesans of Yihong House, Li Xiangjun naturally had her assets.
Her skin was fairer than snow, and she possessed a naturally faint, elegant fragrance that left men captivated.
At this moment, the beautiful woman, her fragrant shoulders half-exposed, watched her dazed handmaiden with a faint, knowing smile.
"Are you thinking about your sweetheart again? Wondering why he didn’t come today? Hehe, I’ve already made inquiries. That little rogue of yours is taking the Military Examination today."
"Tsk, tsk. To think he’s actually a Martial Scholar. But don’t you worry. We can’t let a man like him get ahead. I’ve already arranged for someone to teach him a proper lesson on the training ground."
Li Xiangjun chuckled, her charm undeniable.
But her words made the girl named Lian’Er anxious. "Sister, no, you can’t do that!"
"Hehe, look at you, already defending him when it’s nothing serious. I was just joking with you. How would I have the means to deal with a Martial Scholar?"
"Really?"
"Of course, it’s true. As true as can be!"
~~~~~~
「Meanwhile, in Da Liushu Village.」
In the courtyard of the Fang Family home,
"Judging by the time of year, it’s about to snow. Zhi’Er didn’t take any thick clothes with him when he left. I wonder if he’s cold,"
Ms. Chen mused, shelling walnuts absentmindedly.
The nuts dropped one by one into a basket beside her.
"Mom, I already spoke with Mr. Fuquan. We’ll proceed with matters after Zhi gets back."
Just then, Fang Cheng returned from outside. Seeing the walnuts Ms. Chen was shelling, he grabbed a handful and was about to stuff them into his mouth.
"Hey! Put those down! Who said you could eat them? I’m shelling these for your brother Zhi."
Ms. Chen, feigning anger, raised her hand as if to strike Fang Cheng.
But then she remembered that her eldest son was about to get married. After the wedding, he would be a grown man, and she couldn’t scold him like this anymore.
If a mother was always scolding her son, he would never mature, and the family would never stand on its own two feet.
"Just this once. If you want more, shell them yourself."
"Alright, Mom. I won’t eat them. I’ll leave them for Zhi," Fang Cheng said with a chuckle, scratching his head and putting the nuts down.
"Hmph, I said you can eat, so eat. When you’re full, hurry to the village entrance and take over for your father."
By her calculations, Fang Yue should be returning soon.
So, for the past few days, Ms. Chen had made Father Fang and Fang Cheng, who had no work, take turns waiting for Fang Yue at the village entrance.
"Okay, I get it, Mom."