Chapter 72: Minister Defends the Frontier in Search of a Title (Part 2)

In the evening, Han Gang bid farewell to his parents and Han Yunniang, mounted a borrowed old horse, and arrived at the city gate of Qin Prefecture before it was locked. The guards at the South Gate of Qin Prefecture were already familiar with this Third Master Han, who returned home every few days, and they did not dare to be negligent, quickly letting Han Gang into the city. After entering the city, Han Gang headed straight for Puxiu Temple, where he had been staying recently.

As soon as Han Gang reached the temple gate, the abbot, accompanied by a young monk, came forward, bowing and scraping before the horse. "Third Master! Young Master Wang is here! He has been waiting for you in the guest room for a long time."

"Thank you, Master!" Han Gang dismounted, bowed, and handed the reins to the young monk, then quickly entered the temple.

Han Gang was currently staying at Puxiu Temple, and the abbot treated him even more attentively, offering him the best guest room. Although Qin Prefecture was only about five li from his home, separated by a narrow Jishui River, Han Gang chose to live in the city and only returned to Xiaolongwan every few days.

The city gates of Qin Prefecture always closed early and opened late, making it inconvenient to enter and leave the city daily. Moreover, Wang Hou, Wang Shunmin, Zhao Long, and Li Xin, who had also been recommended to Wang Shao and were awaiting orders at the Military Commission, often came to visit him. In front of Wang Shao and Wu Yan, he had to maintain an attitude of being available at any time. Therefore, staying at Puxiu Temple was more convenient. The remnants of Chen Ju's gang had been completely captured, and even if some small fry had escaped, they could not cause any trouble, let alone have the courage to attempt assassination again. Han Gang no longer had to worry about his family's safety.

Once he officially became an official and earned a salary, Han Gang planned to find a house in the city and move his family there. He couldn't let his parents and mother continue to grow and sell vegetables while he held an official position.

However, living in the city had one disadvantage: he had much less time to read. Every time he picked up a book, someone would come to disturb him. Over the days, Han Gang's reputation for refusing gifts had spread, and fewer people came to offer gifts, but Wang Shunmin, Zhao Long, and Li Xin still visited him every few days with wine and food, and Wang Hou came even more frequently.

"Yukun! Good news! Great news!" As soon as they met, Wang Hou clasped his hands and walked up, laughing and congratulating Han Gang.

While walking into the room, Han Gang said irritably, "The last time you said it was great news, it was Li Wei from the East City's cloth shop proposing marriage for his pockmarked daughter. The time before that, it was a widow with a son. Who is it this time?"

As they became more familiar, Wang Hou's true nature emerged—he was humorous and loved to joke. The two times he mentioned as "great news" were the best marriage proposals, which he turned into jokes. Perhaps because he was too stifled by Wang Shao, Wang Hou came out of his house every night to drink and chat with him, leaving Han Gang with very little time to read at night.

However, Wang Hou was the son of an official, known as a "yamen," and his knowledge of court affairs, both inside and outside, was a hundred times greater than Han Gang's. After drinking a bit, his talkative nature would open up, and most of what he said was news from the court and the political arena, which Han Gang had never heard before. Many of these insights, which Han Gang guessed were passed down from Wang Shao to his son, were far more useful to him than Confucian classics.

This time, however, Wang Hou seemed very serious. "It's really good news. The imperial report just arrived from the capital. Your teacher, Zhang Hengqu, after meeting the emperor, has been promoted to the rank of Prince's Assistant and appointed as a Librarian at the Chongwen Academy. He is likely to be heavily used soon."

Han Gang stopped in his tracks, turned around, and exclaimed in surprise, "That is indeed great news!"

Zhang Zai and Wang Shao were from the same imperial examination cohort. Compared to Wang Shao, who was heavily used due to his "Plan for Pacifying the Barbarians," Zhang Zai's promotion was more gradual, partly because he devoted much of his energy to teaching students. Unexpectedly, after this trip to the capital, Zhang Zai was promoted to a regular eighth-rank official, the same rank as Wang Shao, and also received a position at the Chongwen Academy, a clear sign of significant use.

In the Song Dynasty's official system, the difference between a regular eighth-rank and a junior eighth-rank official seemed only one rank, but in reality, it was a world apart. The Song Dynasty's civil officials were divided into three categories: court officials, capital officials, and selected officials. Capital officials and selected officials were both ranked from junior eighth-rank to junior ninth-rank. In name, capital officials were listed in the capital, while selected officials, also known as local officials, were in the provinces. They were roughly equivalent to modern national and local civil servants, with no clear hierarchy, but in practice, the difference was significant.

Selected officials made up the majority of civil officials. Among the nearly 20,000 civil officials, about 90% remained selected officials for their entire lives, known as "eternally in the selection sea." Only those who received recommendations from five high-ranking officials at the provincial level and had an audience with the emperor could be promoted to capital officials.

In most cases, county magistrates in the interior were only capital officials. The modern concept of a seventh-rank official was a joke in the Song Dynasty. A county magistrate, a local lord, was typically a junior eighth-rank official. By the time they reached a regular seventh-rank, they could already serve as a prefect. Xiang Bao, the second-ranking military official in the Qin-Feng Circuit, had a regular seventh-rank rank as a Royal City Envoy.

In the Song Dynasty, official ranks were highly valued. When a chancellor first took office, they were usually only fourth or fifth rank, and even sixth or seventh rank was possible, unlike the Qing Dynasty, where red-topped officials and first-rank officials were common.

When a capital official was promoted to a regular eighth-rank, they became a court official, also known as a "court-rank official." As the name suggests, they could attend court sessions and meet the emperor. Considering the size of the palace, only a few thousand people could fit. The total number of court-rank officials, both civil and military, was only about a thousand. Excluding those serving outside, only about 400 to 500 officials attended the major court sessions on the first and fifteenth of each month. Zhang Zai, twelve years after passing the imperial examination, was already among them, a speed that would make most of his peers envious.

Zhang Zai's position as a Librarian at the Chongwen Academy was even more enviable, even for Wang Shao. The Chongwen Academy, also known as the Three Libraries and Secretariat, encompassed the Zhaowen, History, and Jixian Libraries and the Secretariat. The fact that even the current chancellor held the position of Grand Academician of the Three Libraries shows how important the Chongwen Academy was. The Chongwen Academy was known as a place to nurture talent. Entering the library was like entering a fast track for promotion. Whenever there was a vacancy in the court, the first candidates considered were from the Chongwen Academy and other library positions.

As a disciple, it was certainly good news that his teacher was heavily used. But for Wang Hou, who had no connection to Zhang Zai, it was just an excuse to come and drink.

"How could I deceive you!" Wang Hou laughed and walked past Han Gang, entering the room first.

Han Gang followed him into the room. The table in the guest room was already filled with wine and dishes, and a brazier was burning, warming the room. Wang Hou had already sat down and was pouring wine from a large copper pot.

Han Gang sighed inwardly. With Wang Hou coming to disturb him every day, he couldn't focus on his studies. Although he no longer needed to pass the imperial examination to become an official, reading was still beneficial. Only by reading more and increasing his knowledge could he avoid appearing foolish in front of the great ministers of the past.

Wang Hou, unaware of Han Gang's complaints, threw the empty wine jug under the table, hung the copper pot over the brazier to heat the wine, and smiled at Han Gang. "With such good news, does Yukun have any fine verses to commemorate it?"

"Brother Chudao, you know I'm not good at poetry. Don't tease me," Han Gang sighed. "If I were good at composing poetry, I would have taken the imperial examination."

Wang Hou comforted Han Gang, "But Yukun, you are well-versed in classics and history and skilled in state affairs. That is true scholarship."

"Even with high knowledge of classics, I can only pass the Mingjing examination, not the Jinshi."

"Yukun, you don't know," Wang Hou touched the large wine pot on the brazier to check its temperature and said casually, "Chancellor Wang originally intended to replace the poetry and prose sections of the Jinshi examination with questions on the classics. With your talent, you would have had a place. Unfortunately, Su Zizhan interfered."

"What!" Han Gang was startled. "Is that true?"

Wang Hou was surprised. "You didn't know? Oh, right! This happened more than half a year ago, when you were sick... At that time, Chancellor Wang submitted a memorial proposing to establish schools and reform the examination system, replacing poetry and prose with questions on the classics. The emperor had the Two Councils, the Two Chancellors, and the Three Libraries discuss it, and everyone had to submit a report. The capital was in an uproar, and the National University was in turmoil. The news spread throughout the country. But in the end, Su Zizhan's memorial negated it, and the matter was dropped."

"Is that so?" Han Gang's voice lowered, pondering Wang Anshi's intentions and the impact this would have on the political situation and himself.

Reforming the examination system and establishing schools were easy to understand, aimed at selecting and cultivating talent for the reforms. It was also understandable that Su Shi opposed it, as he was famous for his poetry and prose and had passed the Jinshi examination through them. His friends and disciples were also skilled in poetry and prose. The decision-making process, regardless of the era, never changed.

Han Gang was willing to bet his head that although Sima Guang was Wang Anshi's political rival, he never opposed Wang Anshi on the issue of examination reform. Why? Because he was from Shaanxi and was not skilled in poetry and prose. However, to make a deeper judgment, he would need to read Wang Anshi's and Su Shi's memorials.

Seeing Han Gang suddenly fall silent, Wang Hou asked, "What's wrong? Still thinking about the reform of the examination system?"

Han Gang looked up at Wang Hou and said, "I'm thinking about why Chancellor Wang wants to reform the examination system."

"Why?"

"Because talent is hard to find. The key to reform is to have the right people. The examination system is the most important way to select talent. If you were Chancellor Wang, would you prefer to see Jinshi graduates who are skilled in poetry and prose but oppose the reforms, or those who are well-versed in classics and skilled in state affairs and are your allies?"

"Allies?" Wang Hou pondered the unfamiliar term and smiled. "That's a good word. The 'Guoyu' says, 'Those of the same virtue have the same heart, and those of the same heart are allies.' If I were Chancellor Wang, I would certainly want to use people who share my values. In his memorial, Chancellor Wang also said, 'When the court wants to take action, there are many differing opinions, and no one is willing to listen. This is because the court cannot unify the moral standards.' He established schools and reformed the examination system to select and educate allies, to 'unify the moral standards.' Unfortunately, it was negated."

"Who says that once something is negated, it can't be proposed again? This year's examination is impossible, but in three years, the next examination might use questions on the classics. Perhaps by then, I might..." Han Gang laughed and shook his head. "But I already have an official position, so I can't take the Jinshi examination. Whether Chancellor Wang can reform it in the future is irrelevant to me."