Chapter 9

"Even a mere boy who hasn't even passed the child scholar examination, why is he so highly regarded by the respected county magistrate's uncle?"

Xu Lingxiao, unwillingly, grabbed County Secretary Li Ting and asked, "Sir Li, what kind of background does this person have? How can he be treated as an equal by my uncle?"

"Scholar Xu, this boy is no ordinary person. His future achievements will surely far surpass ours by a thousandfold!" County Secretary Li Ting replied.

"Oh? Sir Li, I really want to know, what is so remarkable about this person? Could he be from a family of sages? Even if he has such a prestigious background, it doesn't guarantee his future success. For us literati, our own thoughts and insights are the true wealth that cannot be taken away." Xu Lingxiao's face was full of disdain and contempt, thinking that County Secretary Li Ting meant that Su Lin's family background was significant.

"Not at all! Not at all! Scholar Xu, you are mistaken. Su Lin's birth is even less distinguished than yours. He is the legitimate son of a scholar surnamed Su in this county. Although he is from the Su family of Jianzhou, he is a collateral branch and not favored by the clan. However, after today, the Su family of Jian'an will likely rush to recognize this kinship."

Li Ting shook his head and smiled, which only made Xu Lingxiao more curious. What was so remarkable about Su Lin? At fifteen or sixteen, he hadn't even obtained the rank of a child scholar. Could he be more promising than Xu Lingxiao, who was already a scholar at eighteen?

"Sir Li, stop beating around the bush. What kind of background does Su Lin really have? Just tell me straight!"

"Not telling, not telling... I'm afraid it might打击your literary heart. If you can't advance in your literary rank in the future, you might blame me. Wouldn't that be a pity?" Li Ting declined.

"No way! Sir Li, if you don't explain clearly, I won't let you go." Xu Lingxiao grabbed County Secretary Li Ting's arm and said, "I'm not afraid of being struck down, just tell me!"

"Alright, I'll tell you. Today, the county magistrate's official seal suddenly emitted a golden light, indicating that a child in the county had been enlightened by a scholar of the Hanlin Academy or higher. The county magistrate invited me to search together, and we finally found the Su family." Li Ting said.

"But it's just enlightenment by a Hanlin scholar. I, Xu Lingxiao, was also enlightened by a Hanlin scholar's words, and I was enlightened at the age of nine, five or six years earlier than Su Lin. What's so remarkable about that?"

"Scholar Xu, you haven't heard clearly. The golden light from the county magistrate's seal indicates that a child in the county has been enlightened by a scholar of the Hanlin Academy or higher, but it's not limited to just the Hanlin. If it were just a Hanlin or a great Confucian scholar, would the county magistrate, with his jinshi rank, invite Su Lin so warmly?"

Li Ting smiled, and Xu Lingxiao suddenly realized, screaming, "Could it be... that Su Lin was enlightened by a sage's words? A genius enlightened by the words of a semi-sage?"

"Indeed, he was enlightened by a sage's words, but not by a semi-sage. Su Lin was enlightened by Confucius's words, 'A gentleman is not a vessel.' It is truly a sage's words that enlightened him."

After saying this, Li Ting looked at the stunned Xu Lingxiao, sighed, and shook his head as he walked into the county office.

Xu Lingxiao's mind was filled with the golden words "enlightened by a sage's words," and he kept muttering, "Impossible! Impossible!"

Inside the Fengle County Office, County Magistrate Xu invited Su Lin to take a seat and asked with a respectful manner, "Su Lin, I began reciting the Analects at the age of four. For nearly forty years, I have pondered the meaning of 'A gentleman is not a vessel,' but I have never grasped its true essence. Now that you have been enlightened by Confucius's 'not a vessel' doctrine, even with my jinshi rank, I must humbly seek your guidance. What does Confucius mean by 'not a vessel'?"

"I dare not accept your request for guidance, County Magistrate Xu. Confucius said that a gentleman is not a vessel but should become the one who wields the vessel. A gentleman should form his own path and adhere to it consistently, rather than being confined to specific talents in one area. That's all."

For County Magistrate Xu, a jinshi scholar, to seek guidance from Su Lin, who hadn't even obtained the rank of a child scholar, would be a laughing matter if it were known. However, if those who laughed heard Su Lin's explanation of the "not a vessel" doctrine, they would not dare to laugh again.

"Not a vessel! Not a vessel! So it means to become the one who wields the vessel and form one's own path. I have studied Confucianism since childhood, and my family elders have always told me to become a vessel. Nearly forty years old, I have achieved the rank of a jinshi and become a county magistrate. In the end, I have been walking on a path laid out by others. To my family, I am a vessel in the hands of my elders. To the state, I am a vessel in the hands of the emperor. So it is... So it is..."

Upon hearing Su Lin's words, County Magistrate Xu's face tightened, his heart raced, and sparks of thought ignited in his mind.

Su Lin could clearly feel that County Magistrate Xu's holy power was continuously growing, and it seemed to reach a critical point. Su Lin couldn't help but exclaim, "Is County Magistrate Xu about to advance to the rank of a university scholar?"

Su Lin didn't expect that his few words could give County Magistrate Xu the ability to advance to the rank of a university scholar. However, what disappointed Su Lin was that County Magistrate Xu's holy power ultimately stalled, unable to break through the university scholar rank.

"Alas! Indeed..."

After a long sigh, County Magistrate Xu opened his eyes, with no trace of joy from his increased cultivation, but rather a face full of regret as he said to Su Lin, "Su Lin, your 'not a vessel' doctrine is profound and a great truth of life. However, not everyone can cultivate and understand it. I have been a vessel for too long, and it is deeply rooted. Even if I now understand the true meaning of 'not a vessel,' I cannot change my path."

"What a pity, County Magistrate Xu. You were almost able to break through the jinshi bottleneck and achieve the rank of a university scholar." Su Lin also expressed his regret.

"It's not a pity. Su Lin, I have already gained enough. Your words today have saved me at least three years of hard study and helped me reach the bottleneck of a university scholar. Just the fact that you were enlightened by a sage's words in my county is a great achievement for me as a county magistrate. In our country, such a true enlightenment by a sage's words has never happened before. I don't know how many merits I will be granted for reporting this, but at least it will be enough to promote me to the level of a prefecture governor."

County Magistrate Xu smiled and stroked his chin, saying, "This kind of good fortune falling from the sky has actually happened to me, Xu Wenliang."

The merits that County Magistrate Xu mentioned, Su Lin knew about. In the Tianren continent, the nine countries all select officials through the imperial examination system. As long as one passes the lowest rank of a child scholar, they are automatically registered on the merit list of their respective country.

The purpose of the merit list is simple: to record the contributions of each literatus to the country, measured in merit points. Each level of official position requires a corresponding number of merits to be held. There are many ways to earn merits, including the different ranks of literary positions that literati can achieve, each with corresponding merit rewards.

A child scholar earns one merit point, a scholar earns ten merit points, a provincial candidate earns a hundred merit points, and so on. A county magistrate must have at least a thousand merit points to qualify for the position, and a prefecture governor must have tens of thousands of merit points.

County Magistrate Xu had been in office for less than two years. Fengle County had favorable weather and no natural disasters, and in one year, he handled no less than a thousand administrative matters, accumulating less than a thousand merit points. However, now, because Su Lin was enlightened by a sage's words in his jurisdiction, he would earn at least tens of thousands of merit points for nurturing talent. Wasn't this a stroke of luck from the sky?

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