Chapter 18 - His Majesty: "Impudent!" (1/2)

After the Palace Examination had finished, the most difficult time for the candidates was waiting for the examiners to review their work.

Become famous in one fell swoop. Several years of hard study all for the sake of the golden list of successful candidates, the essay titles, the review of the examiners, and, afterwards, the ranking whose results would follow them for a lifetime.

Inside the palace, eight examiners selected by the Hanlin scholars1 and the ministers of the central government of the Great Heng were reviewing the papers of the tributary students.2 Each of the eight examiners had a table, and the examination papers passed through each of them, with the Imperial Guards standing nearby. They were running out of time, and it was necessary to decide the ranking of the tributary students as soon as possible.

A few days later, the examination official placed the top ten papers with the best scores in front of the Emperor so that he would, together with the ministers, select the Zhuangyuan, Bangyan and Tanhua.34

Among the top ten, with the exception of one student who had ranked below the 20th place in the test and now had risen to the ninth place, all the others had only moved up and down a few places, and there was little change.

After the examination official declared the ranking, the audience to review the papers officially began. The group of tributary students were standing outside, waiting for the results of the Palace Examination to be announced. Meanwhile, in the side hall, Gu Yuanbai and the ministers were discussing the ranking of the ten papers in front of them.

The Imperial Examination was a layer of cloth that concealed the bureaucracy. The top ten were all similar as far as their knowledge went. Therefore, in order to determine the ranking, more elements had to be taken into consideration.

The ten papers already had the seals removed.5 Gu Yuanbai let the ministers go back and forth reading the papers before asking with a smile: “What do you think of this new group of Jinshi?”6

The highest officials of the Zhengshi Hall and the Military Affairs Bureau were naturally supportive of the Emperor. Envoy Zhao, from the Military Affairs Bureau, stroked his white beard and exclaimed: “Our Great Heng has many talents! These ten papers are all brilliant, and their writers are all outstanding! It is a blessing for Great Heng!”

The officials from the Zhenshi Hall smiled, echoing the sentiment.

Gu Yuanbai pondered for a while, picked out three papers and placed them at the top. Pointing at Chu Wei’s essay, he exclaimed: “The one who achieved the first position in the Metropolitan Examination has written an excellent paper even in the Palace Examination.”

The Minister of Rites rushed to say: “Your Highness, Chu Wei also achieved the first position in the Provincial Examinations seven years ago.”

“Oh?” Gu Yuanbai said. “What a coincidence.”

The others laughed. Gu Yuanbai smiled and pointed to Kong Yilin’s paper. “What do you think of this one?”

The envoy thought for a while and finally said: “This student has a profound heart, and what is most rare is that he is also down-to-earth. He lacks neither determination or sharpness. A good and practical talent.”

Gu Yuanbai nodded. “The top three will be selected from these three people, but We get a headache trying to decide how to arrange them. In Our heart, the three of them are equal.”

The minister of finance proposed: “Your Majesty, why don’t you meet the three of them?”

Gu Yuanbai was pleased by the idea. “Very well.”

He liked Kong Yilin, and the appointed officials from Shandong province hadn’t formed a separate group in the dynasty. This talented person, born to a poor family, was down-to-earth and showed his skills in the essay. He could be considered for Zhuangyuan.

As a future capable minister, Chu Wei was also a great talent, but, at this time, he had yet to experience the sea of government officials he’d have to deal with. Although his writing was realistic regarding the population’s livelihood, some of his ideas were too radical. However, his father had a low position as an official and was uninvolved in disputes amidst political groups. It’d be very suitable to choose him as Banyan.

Lastly, for the title of Tanhua he could choose someone such as Chang Yuyan who was well known, but seen by the public as a talented scholar as well.

After a while, the eunuch by the door announced: “Chu Wei, Chang Yuyan, and Kong Yilin are here to see the Emperor.”

The three of them glanced at each other, and entered the secondary hall without changing their expressions, followed by the jealous eyes of the students behind them. The three of them were young, healthy and slender young men. Gu Yuanbai still had a smile on his lips, but it disappeared abruptly when he saw Kong Yilin come in.

Kong Yilin looked plain, but his eyes were extremely deep. For some people, their eyes alone could make their entire face shine. Kong Yilin was one of them. However, this set of eyes did not belong to the people of the Great Heng Dynasty.

”

”

Something flashed in Gu Yuanbai’s scattered memory, and he suddenly remembered who this Kong Yilin was.

The story of “Powerful Minister”,7 was based on historical facts about Huang Chao’s uprising. Huang Chao was a Jinshi who was dismissed because of his ugly appearance by the Emperor Xizong of Tang.8 The incident led to Huang Chao’s uprising down the line, even forcing Xizong to flee to Chang’an later on.

In “Powerful Minister”, Kong Yilin played such a role. However, he was not ugly; the reason why he was dismissed was because he had Western Xia blood.

If Gu Yuanbai hadn’t transmigrated, at this time, the power minister, Lu Feng, would still be in charge of the government. Lu Feng was a stubborn and domineering conservative who, naturally, would not allow people of Western Xia blood to be appointed as officials in the Great Heng Dynasty.

After being dismissed, Kong Yilin, left with nothing, directly abandoned his identity as a Great Heng citizen and switched to Western Xia to help develop the nation’s strength. With only the small Western Xia, he made the Great Heng lose five or six cities in a row. If Gu Yuanbai remembered correctly, Xue Yuan was the one who led the soldiers against him on the battlefield, fighting a mighty battle.

Gu Yuanbai smiled slowly.

After a while, he got up from behind the table and walked up to the three of them.

The Emperor’s body smelled of the precious incense of the palace, delicate and elegant but long lasting and luxurious. It transmitted a contradictory feeling, but it definitely brought the word ‘noble’ to everyone’s mind when they perceived it.

The three people standing there were all taller than the Emperor. Even if they lowered their heads respectfully and avoided looking directly at the Emperor, they could still see the blue silk draped over his back as he walked.

Kong Yilin’s eyes were clearly Xixia in origin. Although his expression didn’t show it, he was still worried about them. Seeing the Emperor approach now, his head bent even lower, and his presence had been weakened to the extreme.

But the Emperor stopped in front of him.

“Kong Yilin,” said the Emperor with a voice like pearls falling on a jade plate. “We have examined your policy essay. The writing is so good that it makes for quite the enjoyable read.”

”

”

Kong Yilin bent down even more humbly. “This student doesn’t deserve Your Majesty’s recognition.”

The Emperor said: “Look up and let me look at you.”

Kong Yilin followed the Imperial etiquette as had been taught by the Ministry of Rites, and raised his head with his eyes still lowered. He could only see the dragon robe on the Emperor’s chest, but Gu Yuanbai could clearly see his features from close range. Eyes of Xixia descent.

With his eyes down, his eyelashes looked long and dense, and looking at them, they seemed like a doll’s.

Gu Yuanbai wanted to see the color of his eyes clearly, but Kong Yilin seemed to be too apprehensive. He followed etiquette strictly, not raising his eyes even slightly. It was clear that these eyes had caused him much suffering.

The Emperor remained silent. Kong Yilin’s heart sank. Lifting his robe, he knelt on the ground. “This student recognizes his mistake and asks for punishment.”

Gu Yuanbai let out a long sigh and leaned over to help him up. “What mistake?”

In a daze, Kong Yilin stood up with his help, looking confused.

Gu Yuanbai smiled lightly and said: “Yilin has outstanding talent, We look forward to cherishing your service. Why would We punish you?”

Chu Wei and Chang Yuyan, on the side, watched this harmonious scene between the Emperor and his official. One of them looked unchanged and the other had a smile like a spring breeze. They both remembered how, back during the Palace Examinations, the Emperor had stood watching beside Kong Yilin for a long time.

How talented was this Kong Yilin? Was he really so special?

Gu Yuanbai said a few more words to the top three, and then let them out.

”

”

After they went out, Gu Yuanbai immediately told the Minister of Rites: “Chu Wei is the Zhuangyuan, Kong Yilin is the Bangyan, and Chang Yuyan can be Yanhua.”

The Minister of Rites solemnly assented.

In the main hall, Chang Yuyan smiled like a gentleman. He took the initiative to go greet Kong Yilin, and said: “Brother Yilin, His Majesty treats you so well. I believe your ranking won’t be low.”

Kong Yilin humbly replied: “I’m really talentless, I can’t accept such appreciation from His Majesty.”

Chang Yuyan’s heart was cold. Kong Yilin might declare himself talentless with his mouth, but his eyes were calm and unchanged, and it was obvious that he was very confident in his skills.

Ever since the Emperor had ignored Chang Yuyan in the Xue mansion last time, Chang Yuyan had felt uneasy. Now, he finally saw the Emperor again, but the Emperor had been looking at Kong Yilin this time.

The Emperor was still just as beautiful as a clear moonlit scenery. No matter where one looked, everywhere showed the dignity that belonged to the Son of Heaven. Before such a noble Emperor, Chang Yuyan, no matter how hard he tried, couldn’t stop fearing being disliked by His Majesty.

But now, what kind of policy essay did this Kong Yilin end up writing, to make the Emperor value him so?