The court exam’s final ranking, as long as one didn’t offend anyone, naturally was the further forward one ranked, the better the assignment one got, regardless whether it was staying in the capital or getting appointed to an outside post. Moreover, in the Qi Yuan dynasty, the number of people in the second class was around one hundred and twenty[1], and the Imperial Hanlin Academy’s common lucky scholars[2]were usually all selected from the top fifty. Unless you have special connections, then falling outside of this range, you won’t have the qualifications to enter the Hanlin Academy.

‘Unless from Hanlin, can’t enter the inner cabinet.’ Although in the Qi Yuan dynasty, this wasn’t necessarily set in stone, after all there once were cabinet ministers that didn’t come from the Hanlin Academy. In fact, in Li Hong Yuan’s previous life, Sun Yi Lin was precisely this type of situation. But, these usually were all special cases. Anyone who’s successfully passed the highest imperial civil service exam[3], becoming a palace graduate, will all want to enter the Imperial Hanlin Academy, all having that fraction of ambition to enter the inner cabinet.

Le Cheng Emperor had the person lifted into the top ten. In addition to this being part of the Emperor’s personal bestowment, for the most part, there won’t be anyone causing mischief behind the scenes. Then, this person entering the Imperial Hanlin Academy was practically something nailed onto the board. Even if he doesn’t want to go to the Imperial Hanlin Academy, and chooses some other place, he would still have more of an advantage over the others. This youth clenched his two fists in excitement, while quite a few of the others further envied endlessly.

Luckily, among these people, only one had an embroidered pouch. If there were more, Le Cheng Emperor really wouldn’t dare to do this. After all, with more people, they’ll occupy even more number of places of the outstanding candidates’. Who knows whether or not they’ll have the other talented people crammed down.

Of course, the premise being that this youngster can enter the second class.

Since the opportunity was already given, then whether or not he’ll be able to grasp it will all depend on his own capabilities. Although it’s said that the reward can be gifted, but even if they were truly an idiot, for them to be able to give you the reward in the embroidered pouch was already pretty good. Other benefits, don’t even bother thinking about. And if this idiot really was dumb beyond normal, angering Le Cheng Emperor, then perhaps they might even get punished instead.

That youth’s essay was found, and the Head Minister of Appointments personally read it over. This old head minister previously had also seen quite a few essays before, both outstanding ones and inferior ones. Proctoring the metropolitan exam and judging the court exam, for him, long wasn’t just once or twice. As a result, towards all the essays this time, he already had a rough assessment. “Your Majesty, this child’s essay can enter the second class.”

This time, the youth finally beamed with joy for real, very much excited.

Perhaps there will be those few that can’t really comprehend this kind of feeling, but for the officials that had all walked over from this step, they could very much comprehend. To them, an opportunity, sometimes really was very important. One opportunity, perhaps, can change their entire fate.

The other nine very quickly entered the palace. Since this matter had nothing to do with the exam candidates, they could only just watch in vain, envying inside, and for those that had a good mentality, they just treated it as entertainment.

Le Cheng Emperor first had the inner court attendant check the slip of paper in each of the embroidered pouches, having the bestowments distributed one by one.

Ten items in total, and naturally each item was all a precious treasure. Of course, these things’ worth, more importantly, lies in the fact that they were bestowed by the Emperor, and taking them back, one would still have to nicely look after them. This was their true significance. And for those like Li Hong Yuan, whose hands have gone limp from getting bestowments, just like it’s a common occurrence, there was no need to compare.

For the nine of them, Le Cheng Emperor didn’t rush to add to their bestowments. After all, this additional bestowment really was completely dependent on Le Cheng Emperor’s mood. “The embroidered pouch that Ling Luo Wenzhu (the Grand Elder Princess’s eldest di daughter) took away, whose hand is it in?” Just as expected, Le Cheng Emperor won’t just watch his own younger sister get angered for nothing either.

“Replying to your Majesty, it’s this commoner.” A youth in a scholar’s garment walked out, appearing to be no more than fourteen fifteen years of age, unexpectedly even a bit younger than Chen Zheng Min, looking fair and clean. Don’t know if it was because he knew how the embroidered pouch came to be and felt embarrassed by it, but his two cheeks were scarlet red, even redder than those of young ladies’ with rouge on their face, and in those eyes carried a trace of stubbornness.

Such a person was rather beyond Le Cheng Emperor’s expectations. Le Cheng Emperor originally thought that some fat-headed, big-eared, ‘able to tell at a glance that they didn’t engage in proper work’, wastrel-like person was the one that had actually obtained Ling Luo Wenzhu’s embroidered pouch. With this first impression somewhat changing, the previous malice vanished quite a bit. Le Cheng Emperor then asked about his general situation. Turns out, he was actually Ling Luo Wenzhu’s mother-in-law’s mother’s younger sister’s grandson. This relation was sure far. Afterwards he asked, “What all are you good at?”

(T/N: This novel always pulls out the most convoluted family relationships, so I drew a family tree just in case anyone’s confused.)

The youth pursed his lips, “Replying to your Majesty, this commoner grew up in the countryside with one’s grandmother, this commoner knows everything to know about farming……….”

Once these words came out, nearly everyone present exploded into laughter. Le Cheng Emperor also laughed, but rather not in mockery, instead feeling this child was just as blunt and simple as a certain son of his. Seeing the youth’s face about to drip blood from embarrassment, Le Cheng Emperor coughed once. Afterwards, the laughter immediately came to an end. “Continue.”

The youth steadied his emotions before finally continuing, “This commoner saw that the folks back home have to go through a lot of trouble to use water, and upon learning that in the south, there’s an object called a water wheel, this commoner wondered, whether or not it can be used in the north. After much effort, this commoner was able to find the blueprints for it. But after creating the water wheel, one found that it wasn’t completely in line with the people’s desire, thus this commoner modified it. The modified water wheel can be considered easy to use………”

(T/N: The purpose of a water wheel is to draw water and is generally combined with aqueducts to transport water.)

“Boy[4], are these words true?” Le Cheng Emperor still didn’t have any reaction, yet the Head Minister of Works, Sir Zhong, started getting worked up first.

The youth nodded his head, “Replying to sir, this little one doesn’t dare lie. This one has asked the carpenter to make a small one based on that water wheel, and just happens to have also brought it into the palace.”

“Quickly go bring it over.”

Seeing his Beloved Minister Zhong this blatantly calling the shots, Le Cheng Emperor rather didn’t say anything. This was the so called ‘each field having its own specialist’.

The little water wheel was big, roughly only one foot tall, but after the youth explained how the water wheel operated, Sir Zhong’s eyes lit up even more, “Your Majesty, this child can enter the Ministry of Works.”

Even if he didn’t understand too well, Le Cheng Emperor still knew this was something beneficial to both the country and the people, “Granted.”

That youth, at this moment, also couldn’t help but let out a happy expression.

A ‘countryside child’ entering the six ministries, as long as his family background was without problems, then with the Head Minister of Works’s high regards, his future won’t be terrible. However, judging from his conduct, one could tell that he was already prepared in advance.

“The things you know and make, in an ordinary person’s eyes, are difficult to ascend the great elegant halls, so how did you think of showing these?” Li Hong Yuan voice suddenly sounded.

It was still fine before he asked, but once he asked, the others also raised their suspicions.

“This commoner’s ancestors were also of scholarly descendent, just starting from one’s grandfather’s generation, our family began to decline. This commoner is also one that has failed to live up to expectations in studying, yet grandmother has placed high hopes on me, hoping our family can rise again. And not long ago, maternal great aunt sent over this embroidered pouch. This commoner believes oneself to be one without talent and originally was thinking to have this embroidered pouch sent back. Yet, in the end, an elderly man came to our home, and he told me to do this.”

Hearing to here, how could the crowd still not understand, this was having someone give him guidance.

Li Hong Yuan rubbed his chin, “This prince is rather curious, what all are the others proficient in, could it be that they also received guidance from someone?”

Le Cheng Emperor’s curiosity was also hooked. After inquiring, of the remaining eight, actually half had received someone’s guidance, and every single one of them all didn’t walk the ‘proper path’.

That fat-headed big-eared youth, who at a glance one could tell didn’t engage in honest work, was also really someone who didn’t attend to one’s proper duties, and moreover was a money-grubber, a cheapskate. But this person had a very special trait, he was especially talented in looking over account books. As long as he knew some of the basic things, then every trace and thread of falseness and mistake on that account book all can be uncovered by him. Furthermore, his arithmetics was also first class. A string of numbers, as soon as you finish reciting, he can immediately give an answer, both accurate and quick. He was practically born to enter the Ministry of Revenue.

There was also someone, who no matter how one looked, all didn’t appear to be a youth, and in reality, he indeed wasn’t a youth. He was already in his early thirties, and in his earlier years, he didn’t have any other hobbies either, just liking to travel everywhere. And in this one trip, he practically walked through all of Qi Yuan dynasty’s territories, as well as quite a few places in the surrounding. And for all the places he’d gone to, for the most part, there weren’t any he couldn’t remember. What canton (administrative division), what fu (administrative prefecture), what county, and what village, for whichever place you ask, he’s all able to tell you what places are in the surroundings. Moreover, as long as it’s a place he’s personally set foot in, what specialties are there, and what the topography is like, he can all remember very clearly.

“A living survey map[5].” Li Hong Yuan, after hearing, all couldn’t help but mutter. When marching out to war, one simply doesn’t need to worry about getting lost.

(T/N: I really wanted to translate it as ‘living gps’.)

Of course, such a talented individual, not only can be used just on this bit, in many areas, all can be of great use.

Next was someone with eyes carrying a bit of faint blue, and a nose bridge that was also slightly taller than ordinary people’s. At a glance, one could tell, they were someone that possessed a blood lineage from a foreign land. However, the Qi Yuan dynasty, towards this bit, didn’t really mind all that much, just there’s relatively few of them that’s all. In large influential families, however, this bit was avoided as taboo. If there is such a child appearing in their family, the child normally would always be unfavored. This person was someone from the same ancestry and clan as the top scorer in the imperial exam this time, and was even Xie Ren Xun’s tang younger brother, name Xie Ren Hui. The embroidered pouch originally didn’t land in his hands, but in another Xie family descendant’s. He and Xie Ren Hui’s relationship was close, and was also someone favored at home. But in reality, he didn’t have any special talents, so the person that visited suggested giving the opportunity to Xie Ren Hui. And as for Xie Ren Hui’s talent, it was his gift in language. He knew the language of many big and small countries surrounding Qi Yuan, and even the ones of some relatively small foreign nations. The languages that he knew how to speak, read, and understand (by hearing) already surpassed six, let alone those that he only knew how to speak or read. Even if one pulled out the most talented person in Hong Lu Office[6], they would still immediately be compared into the ground.

The last one, because his father took an official post in a region overlooking the sea, he was born by the sea and grew up by the sea. Afterwards, he even went out to sea. If one has to ask what special characteristic he had, or what he was good at? “This commoner has gone out to sea more than thirty times. Others would all more or less get sick, but only this commoner alone has never once gotten sick before.”

Having a healthy body, what does this count as?

But for the officials that have taken an official post in regions overlooking the sea before, this youth definitely wasn’t simple.

[1] Aside from the first class which is the top three, the number of people in the other two classes differ from dynasty to dynasty so there’s no universal set number.

[2]Common Lucky Scholar [庶吉士]– Title of the temporary position in the Hanlin Academy, conferred to meritorious candidates until the next imperial exam.

[3] Referring to the Court Exam

[4] He actually calls him 竖子(shu zi) which translates to brat or boy, generally used towards a child servant; this is an archaic term used by someone with a higher status talking down to someone with a lower status.

[5]勘舆图– It fully translates to ‘survey world diagram’; this is a historical term referring to the territory maps in ancient times. ‘舆图’ is the archaic word for maps. Translating historical novels that are heavy in historical references need to know a lot of archaic terms in chinese. Technically most nouns and addresses used in historical novels are out of use in modern chinese.

[6]Hong Lu Office– In ancient times, this is the government office that’s in charge of receiving foreign guests. Historically, most of their other functions overlapped with the ministry of rites, so in the Song dynasty it was later incorporated into the ministry of rites. I think in the later Ming and Qing dynasty it was reestablished again.

T/N: Some of these characters are going to be important to the plot later on, so uh take notes ahahahhah. They aren’t just fodder for filler.

Also next part is very long because I decided to divide this chapter into 3 parts instead of 4 so the last part is actually 2600 words long, instead of usual 2k. Technically if I divide my chapters into even smaller parts like some translators do, I can update like 10 times a week but it’ll still be the exact same amount either way, and it bothers me to split them that small, my ocd starts kicking in.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com