Chapter Sixty-Two: A Very Unpolished Jade

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“Because this child’s essay is truly… both fragrant and foul,” Qian Huairen struggled to find the right words, so he simply asked someone to fetch the exam paper for the Headmaster to review personally.

Zhu Liu was genuinely intrigued this time, and as he took the paper and glanced at it, he saw the opening lines:

‘Human nature is constant; if guided, it is righteous. Understanding reason is hard to enforce; following it brings peace.’

“Excellent opening! Such grand momentum!” Zhu Liu praised, “Just sixteen words, each drawn from the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects, the Commentaries, and the Mencius—stirring and invigorating!”

According to the rules of punctuation, a period marks a sentence, so these sixteen characters are actually two sentences, not breaking any rules.

“That is precisely the purpose of an opening!” Zhu Liu smiled at Qian Huairen and the others. “I am already anticipating a remarkable essay.”

“Please continue reading, Headmaster,” Qian Huairen replied with a smile.

“The daily acts of the people are carried out without knowledge of their rationale. The sage guides the people by the Way—not because he does not wish for them to know, but because knowledge is not easily attained, and following the Way is the easier path.”

The excitement on Zhu Liu’s face faded by about thirty percent, yet he still smiled, saying, “This is the development of the topic—nothing fancy. A solid argument suffices; though the wording lacks refinement, it remains excellent.”

He continued to the main discussion—

‘Heaven’s mandate bestows nature; following nature is the Way. The people adhere to their nature, which is their constant. To guide them by governance and regulate them by law is to spare them from crime but leave them shameless; to guide them by virtue and regulate them by ritual is to instill shame and enable transformation. Is this not the method of guiding the people by the Way? It is difficult to comprehend reason. The wisdom and ignorance of the people differ; the sage does not force deep reasoning upon them but leads them by the common Way.’

“Well…” Zhu Liu’s smile had grown a bit strained, and he coughed. “There is argument and there is style…”

“Yes, the style truly does not match the depth of the argument,” Qian Huairen replied with a bitter smile. “His prose is barely passable, but his regulated essay is simply unbearable.”

Zhu Liu, upon seeing the regulated essay section, finally understood Qian Huairen’s ‘both fragrant and foul’ remark. The boy’s writing was like stinky tofu—one holds their nose, yet cannot help but read on!

After finishing, he could no longer hold back. He tossed the paper onto the desk and complained:

“What is ‘Only those of supreme wisdom can, but it is unnecessary to force understanding’? What is ‘The wind stirs the grass, but it is not the grass understanding the wind; it is the wind moving naturally’? What is ‘Those who know may not act; those who act may not fully know’? Good heavens, what is this plain language?!”

The Headmaster had gone to Beijing to take the imperial exam four times, inevitably picking up some northern dialect…

“Yes, this regulated essay is so plain, it is unmatched in the entire school,” Qian Huairen said helplessly. “I honestly suspect the child has never attended elementary school!”

“If he hadn’t attended elementary school, how could his grasp of argument be so mature?” Mr. Zhu shook his head. “To be able to stand at a high vantage point with the Way of the sages, there is none better.”

“Moreover, the structure of his writing is especially elegant. I read it in one breath, and was utterly convinced by his argument.”

“Yes, it is indeed overly plain, but has a remarkable persuasive power,” the other teachers agreed.

Their opinions were surprisingly unanimous: the essay was exceptionally strong in argument, but exceptionally weak in style.

So, unsurprisingly, at the top of the paper, there was a large ‘〇’ written in blue ink.

“So it was judged not worthy of any points?” Zhu Liu looked at the big ‘〇’. “Which teacher graded this paper?”

“Headmaster, it was me,” the examiner, the very Mr. Zhu who had so praised Su Lu, answered gravely, “According to the school regulations, excellence in both argument and style merits top marks, one point; strong argument but average style merits half a point; average argument, even with excellent style, earns no points.”

Mr. Zhu sighed regretfully, “Though it is not explicitly stated, it is clear from the second clause that strong argument but poor style earns no points.”

“No mistake there,” the other teachers nodded. “Strong argument with average style merits half a point, so strong argument with poor style certainly earns none.”

“But the Headmaster just said, if we discover raw talent, we should not be too bound by fixed rules,” Qian Huairen interjected. He had served in the county office and was much more adept at pleasing superiors than the others.

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“Do you think this child counts as raw talent?” Zhu Liu asked.

“He should, though he’s a bit too rough…” Qian Huairen laughed at his own remark.

“Indeed, fine jade, naturally formed, but perhaps too natural…” The other teachers agreed.

Zhu Liu thought for a moment, then instructed, “Call in his study master.”

In such grading, anonymity was impossible; for fairness, the three study masters did not participate.

Soon, Zhang Yanqiu entered, bowing, “Headmaster, you summoned me?”

“Mr. Zhang, please look at your pupil’s masterpiece,” Zhu Liu pointed to the ‘stinky tofu’ on the desk.

“Yes.” Zhang Yanqiu picked up the paper, glanced at the name, and knew at once. He read it closely, then looked up. “Headmaster, I have finished reading.”

Zhu Liu saw his expression unchanged and asked with interest, “The essay is written like this—was it expected by Mr. Zhang?”

“No, I am somewhat surprised,” Mr. Zhang shook his head. “I did not expect such rapid progress. Previously, he wrote even prose in plain speech…”

“What?” The teachers were curious. “Yanqin, have you asked which teacher instructed your pupil before?”

“Yes, I’d really like to meet this teacher, to ask how he taught argument and structure so thoroughly, yet not a word on style.”

“Actually, you may find this hard to believe—” Mr. Zhang smiled wryly. “My pupil had never learned structured essays before entering the school. All related to composition I taught him myself.”

“What?” The teachers were incredulous. “Yanqin, you’re not joking?”

“That’s right, two months is not enough to teach such argument and structure—not even two years!” Vice Headmaster Qian agreed, “And for style, even if you taught nothing, anyone who attended elementary school for a few years wouldn’t write so plainly.”

“But the fact remains,” Zhang Yanqiu spread his hands. “You haven’t seen the pupil. On his first day, he didn’t even know what an opening was—handed in a blank paper.”

“That night, I gave him a copy of ‘On Learning and Standards’, told him to preview. The next day, I taught a class on openings, and afterwards, he could write various types, no worse than his classmates.”

“Really?” The teachers gasped, the temperature in the lecture hall rising noticeably.

The hardest part of writing is the beginning, spoken of as the phoenix’s head, pig’s belly, and leopard’s tail. The opening is the crown atop the phoenix’s head—of utmost importance, but also the hardest.

Everyone believed, if the opening is good, the essay cannot be bad!

Someone can learn it in one go, and do it right immediately? Is that even reasonable?

The elder teachers recalled their own days, none without a year or more of hard practice before mastering the opening.

“How did you teach him?” The teachers asked curiously.

Mr. Zhang admitted, “The master leads the way, but learning is personal. It’s mainly the pupil’s talent—his teacher dares not claim credit.”

“As for his style, I can only tell you that when he entered, he didn’t even know what matching lines was. Now I make him practice couplets daily to make up for the lack in elementary schooling.”

Fortunately, Mr. Zhang was known for his honesty, so the teachers believed him.

Mr. Zhu grumbled, “His elementary teacher should be dragged over and beaten! What a waste! Such a talented child, and this is how he was taught…”

~~

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Sweetwater Record, behind the counter.

Su Youcai was watching the busy figure of the proprietress, her apron tied around a slender waist… Suddenly he turned away and sneezed twice.

He rubbed his nose and muttered, “Who’s cursing me, Qiu-ge?”

~~

Near the Tai Ping Wharf, in a shabby little diner.

On a greasy, battered table were several small dishes—salt-steamed pork, taro chicken—all modest in portion, but rich in flavor.

Li Qiyu sat on a bench, sighing, “At last, I see hope of staying. You don’t know how happy I am.”

“Back home, you’ll inherit your father’s post as commander, right?” Su Dan teased, “Isn’t that more practical than being a sour scholar?”

“I can’t inherit it; I have an older brother, born of the legitimate wife…” Li Qiyu’s expression was gloomy. “I’m the one from the legend, raised by a servant girl.”

“Achoo, achoo, achoo!” Chewing the spicy taro chicken, Su Lu sneezed three times, rubbed his nose, and said, “Who keeps talking about me?”

~~

In the lecture hall, more than one person was indeed talking about him.

After hearing Zhang Yanqiu’s words, Headmaster Zhu Liu smiled, “So, this Su Lu is highly talented, but with a weak foundation—no wonder he almost didn’t make it in.”

“Yes.” Zhang Yanqiu nodded. “He only started learning the ‘Three Hundred Thousand’ last August, crammed for three months, so it’s already impressive he got into the academy.”

“Three months?!” The teachers exclaimed again. “Others study six years, and he enters after three months?!”

“What do you mean, impressive? It’s downright miraculous!” Mr. Zhu slapped the desk. “I knew from the start this child was extraordinary. My judgment was spot on!”

“But you gave him zero points,” Zhang Yanqiu protested.

“I admire him, yes, but rules are rules,” Mr. Zhu replied helplessly. “If we break the rules for him, it’s unfair to the other fifty-nine students. I know which weighs heavier.”

“Exactly, academy rules are paramount, none may break them,” the teachers agreed.

“But this puts him at risk for the subsequent rounds,” Mr. Zhang tried to argue, bowing to Zhu Liu, “Please, Headmaster, consider his special circumstances and let the academy keep such a promising talent.”

“Heh, that child is more than just promising,” Zhu Liu nodded, turning to Mr. Zhang. “I called you here precisely to see if we could make an exception for him.”

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Zhang Yanqiu hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

“Headmaster…” The teachers grew anxious. “You can’t break the rules!”

“Calm down,” Headmaster Zhu Liu raised a hand, not about to let things end there. “But after hearing Mr. Zhang, I have changed my mind…”

Ps. Don’t worry, you’ll see soon. But on the day of the launch, anything can happen—please be patient, updates will come as soon as things are settled…

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