novelraw Chapter 34 The Imperial Examination Begins
Chapter 34 The Imperial Examination Begins
After waiting for about an incense stick's time, Wang Min, having finished his bath, came to the hall.
"father!"
Even though Wang You was a calm and collected person, his tone revealed excitement when he saw Min.
Because of the influence of his past life memories, Wang You's feelings are actually somewhat complicated when facing his parents and family.
Over time, these complex feelings gradually disappeared.
Wang You thought he had gotten used to it, but the longing he felt for his parents and family during his first time away from them made him realize that family is family, not just a habit.
The reason why I had complicated feelings towards my parents in the past was entirely due to the influence of my past life memories.
Having memories of his past life, he is very mature in his thinking.
Although he showed great intelligence from a young age, he was still a child in his parents' eyes.
The way his parents looked at him and their attitude towards him made him feel very awkward.
Over time, he got used to his parents' attitude towards him, rather than the affection they showed him.
This family bond will always exist.
"Um."
Wang Min was also very excited to see Wang You, after all, this was the first time Wang You had been out of their sight.
When I went to Yangzhou before, Feng also accompanied me.
Ever since Wang You came to the capital, Madam Feng has often been worried that he is not eating or sleeping well.
A mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles; this is the essence of the saying.
Although Wang Min said that Wang You was a boy and that he had servants to take care of him, Feng Shi didn't need to worry.
But he himself was also quite worried.
However, the father was very reserved in expressing his emotions. He restrained his excitement, nodded calmly, and sat down in the main seat.
"I heard you went to check the results today. Did you pass?" Wang Min asked.
"My son is on the list of successful candidates; I'm just waiting for the imperial court to notify me to participate in the palace examination," Wang You said with a smile.
"Don't get carried away with success."
Seeing Wang You's happy expression, Wang Min said, "Don't forget the admonition Kong Xuezheng gave you when he gave you your courtesy name."
"I understand."
Wang You smiled and asked, "Father, are you here in the capital to report on your duties?"
"How did you know?" Wang Min asked in surprise.
"Uncle Sheng just returned from his duty report not long ago. My father is the prefectural vice-prefect. Even if he needs to send someone to the capital for official business, it wouldn't be you coming in person," Wang You said.
Wang Min stroked his beard and laughed, "This matter is all thanks to you. The imperial court has already issued a decree promoting me to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice."
"Congratulations, Father, on your promotion!" Wang Youxin happily congratulated his father.
The position of the head of the Six Ministries has been controversial in various dynasties, but the position of the last among the Six Ministries is undisputed.
The Ministry of Justice was the lowest-ranking of the Six Ministries, even lower than the Ministry of Works.
The reason for this is still a matter of power.
The main powers of the Ministry of Justice were to review death sentences and to formulate laws.
However, the laws were already established at the beginning of the dynasty.
At most, we can only make some optimizations based on the existing ones.
As for death penalty review, how much power does it have?
The imperial court did not execute civil officials; most of the cases involved ordinary people.
Besides these, the Ministry of Justice had some other powers, but they were all insignificant.
The Ministry of Works also needed to plan the construction of various royal buildings and repair waterways and manage floods.
Fortunately, the current government values frugality, so the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Justice are now in the same boat.
However, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice was still a government official in the capital, and his rank was slightly higher than that of the Vice Prefect.
Most importantly, if a struggle for the crown prince were to break out in the future, a mere official in the Ministry of Justice would be of no value in winning him over.
Don't worry about offending anyone.
"Speaking of which, I owe this all to you."
Wang Min said with a complicated expression, "If you hadn't reminded me, I'm afraid I would have had to wait several more years."
He entered officialdom through the privilege of his privileged background, and last year was the quadrennial performance evaluation.
Before the evaluation, he did try to bribe officials, but he was given a hint that his performance was insufficient and that he should patiently serve in local positions to accumulate achievements.
Wang Min naturally understood that the so-called political achievements were secondary; the fundamental reason was that the government restricted the promotion speed of officials with hereditary privileges.
The court officials were still unsure of the Emperor's attitude towards the promotion of officials who held hereditary titles, and dared not lend him any support.
Without anyone's support, his political achievements naturally couldn't compare to those who did.
However, because of Wang You's reminder, he wrote to the emperor about Li Dalang's case, which led to his promotion.
Normally, promotions involve a performance review first, followed by the official announcement of the promotion.
This still leaves some uncertainty.
He received both the official decree of promotion and the current performance review document at the same time.
They come to Bianjing just to go through the motions, then go back to wait for the next year's successor to arrive. After the handover is completed, they can go to the capital to take up their posts.
"I was just saying that; it was Father who understood it himself before submitting the memorial."
Wang You laughed and said, "My father has been an official for many years. How can he completely listen to the words of a mere child like me?"
Although he knew Wang You was flattering him, Wang Min still appreciated it.
"Tomorrow I will go to the Ministry of Personnel to complete my report, and the day after tomorrow you will come with me to visit those senior officials," Wang Min said.
Sending a younger person to visit is just a normal exchange.
He personally led Wang You there, so that he could truly broaden his horizons.
"Father, the imperial examination for child prodigies could be held at any time, so I need to prepare. Anyway, you'll be going to the capital next year, so there will be other opportunities later."
Wang You dislikes visiting and socializing. He had no choice before, but now that there's a suitable excuse, he naturally doesn't want to go.
"It was my oversight that led me to this. Let's talk about it later." Wang Min nodded.
The father and son then chatted for a while, with Wang You mostly asking about the family situation.
After learning that he had left, Mu Jie cried for several days, which was both bitter and funny.
……
The following morning, Wang Min went to the Ministry of Personnel to report on his work.
According to his account upon his return, the performance review went very smoothly.
That's normal, since he had already received the imperial decree; the report was just a formality.
After completing his report, Wang Min began to visit the connections left by Grand Tutor Wang.
The families that Wang You and Wang Zhuo visited before were just those with a decent relationship with the Wang family.
Wang Min made many more visits. He visited anyone who had any connection with Grand Tutor Wang, regardless of how close or distant that connection was.
Whether or not people want him to visit them, he has to go.
As the saying goes, it's never wrong to be overly polite.
If he goes there, they won't help him; if he doesn't go, they won't only not help him, but they might even hold a grudge.
Wang Min originally planned that after he finished dealing with matters in Bianjing and the palace examination was completed, the father and son would return together.
He stayed in Bianjing for seven or eight days, and although he had finished all the necessary tasks, the palace examination had not yet begun.
As a prefectural vice-prefect, he couldn't stay in Bianjing any longer, so he could only give a few words of advice before taking a boat back to Shouzhou.
No sooner had Wang Min left than Wang You received a notice that the palace examination would be held in five days.
He was instructed to go to the Ministry of Rites to study etiquette three days later.
When meeting the emperor, one must naturally follow proper etiquette.
The ages of those who participate in the prodigy test vary, with some even as young as four or five.
If we don't teach them proper manners, it will be bad if they are disrespectful to officials.
However, the training provided by the Ministry of Rites was quite simple, consisting mainly of basic etiquette, such as not looking directly at the emperor and how to answer questions asked by the emperor.
After learning the etiquette, they waited another day until the day of the palace examination arrived.
Early that morning, Wang You didn't even dare to eat breakfast before taking a carriage to the capital.
There was nothing that could be done; how long the palace examination lasted depended entirely on the emperor's will.
During the imperial examination, one was not allowed to use the restroom and had to hold it in.