The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1453 Results of the Provincial Examination

Sun Dingnan, the village chief, was relieved to learn that Xiaofeimei and Sun Bomin were alright and that it was a false alarm. He hurriedly returned to the workshop.

Sun Shan gave De Ge'er a push, saying, "De Ge'er, you go to the workshop with Nan Ge."

They had already asked him to go last time, but Uncle Sun couldn't bear to part with him and insisted that Dege stay.

This time, Sun Shan could no longer tolerate it and had to separate De Ge'er and Uncle Sun San to prevent the father and son from plotting against each other.

Dege'er strongly objected: "Shanzi, I'm not going, I'm not leaving, I want to stay in the city."

The workshop, being in such a remote mountain place, was nowhere near as good as the city. Dege'er had had enough of the howling of wolves and roaring of tigers.

Sun Shan didn't give Dege a chance to object, and waved his hand, saying, "Work hard in the workshop, learn accounting from Brother Nan and Manager Wang. In a few days, we'll arrange for you to sell grain in Dongting Lake."

Sun Shan tried his best to build connections and find acquaintances to do business, but unfortunately his strength was still weak. His letters went unanswered.

They had no choice but to hold back for now and wait until they had a better plan before setting off.

Dege patted his chest and said confidently, "Shanzi, I've learned how to do the accounting now."

He paused, then added, "Not only have I learned bookkeeping, but I also understand some business planning. I've already finished the business plan for purchasing farm tools and oxen that you asked me to write last time."

Sun Shan didn't want to waste time talking to De Ge'er, so he casually pulled out the workshop's account book and examined it in various ways.

Dege scratched his head, having gotten five out of ten questions wrong.

Sun Shan: ...

See? It's not that we don't give Dege a chance, it's that the chances we give him are useless.

Sun Dingnan glared at Dege'er with exasperation: "Stop struggling. Come back to the workshop with me and settle down to learn. If you're planning to go into business, knowing how to read ledgers is the first step. No matter how well you do business, if you can't read them, you'll be cheated in no time."

Seeing that Dege was so useless, Uncle Sun couldn't bring himself to say anything nice.

With a pained expression, he waved his hand and said, "De-ge, go ahead and train hard. You're still too green. It's understandable that Shan-zi doesn't need you."

And so, Dege'er returned to the workshop with Sun Dingnan, the village chief, and Wang Ganhua, who was reluctant to leave her family.

Sun Shan wanted to keep Sun Dingnan, but Wang Ganhua was also useless and had not yet taken control of the workshop, so he had no choice but to let Sun Dingnan take charge.

Before long, it was the end of August. Magistrate Wang rushed in, his face grim, and said, "Sir, something terrible has happened."

Sun Shan's heart tightened, but his face remained impassive as he asked calmly, "Don't make a fuss, what's wrong?"

Looking around, it seemed that Magistrate Wang was holding something in his hand. Could it be that there was bad news from Chenzhou Prefecture?

Is it conscription or military service?

Logically speaking, it's not time for conscription yet.

Unless it is a major war, conscription will not, in principle, be carried out from ordinary households.

Could it be a tax? That does happen occasionally.

In addition to fixed collections, taxes may also be apportioned for various reasons.

For example, war taxes, bandit suppression taxes, and additional material taxes levied for building palaces and imperial tombs.

Magistrate Wang handed a copy of the official gazette to Sun Shan, saying with extreme disappointment, "Sir, all the candidates from our Yuanlu County who participated in the provincial examination have failed. Alas, not a single scholar has passed. This is truly a terrible situation."

If we're talking about sadness, Magistrate Wang was truly heartbroken.

Wang Jiaxing, a promising member of the Wang family this year, participated in the provincial examination but unexpectedly failed.

I thought the Wang family would produce another scholar who passed the imperial examination, but alas, it was all for naught.

The only saving grace was that the entire army in Yuanlu County was wiped out, which made Magistrate Wang feel a little better.

Sun Shan stared at the official gazette; it was indeed the list of candidates for the provincial examination. Unfortunately, not a single candidate from Yuanlu County made the list. Not even a supplementary list, let alone the main list.

It would be a lie to say I'm not disappointed, but it's not to the point of being a major disaster.

It's normal for students from Yuanlu County not to be on the list; it would be abnormal for them to be on the list.

Sun Shan quickly read through the information on the provincial examination in Chenzhou Prefecture and found that some candidates had made it onto the list.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that a candidate from Mayang County had made it onto the list of successful candidates in the provincial examination.

Sun Shan was stunned for a moment, then asked incredulously, "County Magistrate Wang, is this candidate from Mayang County?"

County Magistrate Wang glanced at Sun Shan with a puzzled look, then looked at the list.

He said definitively, "Sir, I'm from Mayang County. What's wrong? Do you know me?"

He looked at Sun Shan with probing eyes, trying to see if there was anything unusual.

Do you know them? Of course not!

But he knew the magistrate of Mayang County.

Damn it! The education in Mayang County is actually better than his this year!

It's astonishing that a mediocre and incompetent magistrate like Magistrate Shen could produce better exam results than those from Yuanlu County.

If he could, Sun Shan would love to give the middle finger to the sky!

This is fucking so unfair!

Magistrate Shen does nothing but indulge in romance and poetry.

And what about Sun Shan? He not only donated the imperial examination materials he had painstakingly collected, but also personally wrote textbooks for mathematics. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to this task.

And the result? One magistrate, who did nothing and was nothing like a magistrate at all, actually won completely!

Sun Shan wanted to cry but had no tears.

Sun Shan took a deep breath and waited for a while before calming himself down.

He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and said, "I don't know them. I'm just curious that a student from Mayang County made the list this year."

County Magistrate Wang was unaware of the "love-hate relationship" between Sun Shan and County Magistrate Shen, but he did know that it was quite rare for a candidate from a low-ranking county like Mayang County to be on the list.

Compared to Yuanlu County, no students were at work in Zhong County, which is frustrating.

Magistrate Wang said with a worried look, "Sir, I failed the provincial examination this year. I'll have to wait another three years. Sigh, three years after three years. I don't even know if any candidates will be able to pass the exam in three years. Alas, my son is a disappointment. He failed the exam. He has truly let you down."

To outsiders, Wang Jiaxing was personally trained by Sun Shan, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, yet he still failed. It's hard not to feel sad about that.

Of course, some people doubted the abilities of Sun Shan, the so-called "two-time Jinshi" (successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

If Sun Shan knew that Magistrate Wang was thinking this way, he would definitely have Gui Ge'er give him a good whack.

When did Wang Jiaxing become his disciple? How could he possibly have such a foolish disciple as Wang Jiaxing?

It was just a few months of well-intentioned training, how did it become a matter of a closed-door disciple?

Moreover, Sun Shan was not disappointed in Wang Jiaxing at all, because he had never given him any hope.

It would be abnormal for Wang Jiaxing to be on the list; his failure to be on the list was expected.

Sun Shan, holding the list list helplessly, said, "Send it to Instructor Deng. Tell him to keep working hard and try to have a candidate on the list in three years."

Magistrate Wang responded sullenly and walked out of the yamen dejectedly.

Soon, the news that the candidates from Yuanlu County ate ginkgo nuts during the provincial examination spread to every corner. Whether it was a small street or a main street, gossip about the provincial examination was everywhere.

Among them, Wang Jiaxing, who was favored, naturally became the most outstanding among the failed candidates. Many people secretly sneered at the Wang family, wishing they could spread the word that the Wang family's broker was nothing special.

Wang Dayazi was able to pass the imperial examination and become a Juren entirely because of good luck.

Hmph, look, after all these years, only one person has passed the imperial examination. To advance further is like climbing to the heavens.

Many people secretly mocked the Wang family.

My arch-rival even bought braised pig's trotters to take home and celebrate with a small drink.