Chapter Twenty: The Four Gentlemen Select Talent

At the very moment Li Yanqing was haggling with Shopkeeper Luo, four local squires of Xiaohe Township were invited by Yao Ding to the schoolhouse.

These four prominent squires were the leaders of Xiaohe Township, including Li Wenyou, the patriarch of the Li clan; Wang Wanhao, the grandfather of Wang Gui; Tang Lian, the grandfather of Tang Huai; and another squire named Zhang Baojun, who was also the head of a major clan.

These four squires were the benefactors of the school. Although the school had been converted into a government-run institution, Yao Ding still consulted them on all significant matters.

"I imagine you all have guessed why I invited you here. I went to the county office this morning, and the School Inspector has set the date for this year’s Children’s Examination for the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, four days earlier than last year."

In the Song Dynasty, literary culture was at its peak. Every imperial examination was treated with the utmost importance, from the imperial court down to the local level. Placing high in the imperial examinations was not only a tremendous honor for the scholar personally but also for his hometown. Even the local magistrate would receive praise for his successful management of education, which was highly beneficial for his career advancement.

Therefore, local governments attached great importance to the selection of young talents. Some forward-thinking magistrates began scouting from childhood, and Magistrate Liu Zhen of Tangyin was one such official.

Four years ago, upon taking office, he personally devised a selection scheme for young elites. As part of this, the eight primary schools under the county’s jurisdiction held an annual winter test called the "Children’s Examination" in December. Each school selected four students to participate. This year marked the fifth iteration.

How the four spots were chosen was left to each township to decide. Yao Ding wanted to use a competitive examination to make the selection, but the four benefactors firmly disagreed. They went collectively to the Magistrate, and in the end, Magistrate Liu compromised, agreeing that the students from Xiaohe Township would be recommended by the four of them, with Yao Ding merely submitting the names to the School Inspector.

Consequently, the students representing Xiaohe Township every year were children from these four families. Their results were predictable: they ranked eighth every year. Last year, they moved up to seventh only because the Tangbei Township school had an accident and withdrew mid-contest.

Yao Ding had become disillusioned and simply let the four men nominate whomever they pleased, only responsible for reporting the names. Today, however, he had a new idea.

Wang Wanhao was the most straightforward. He laughed immediately, "Then let's go with last year’s list! Nothing has changed anyway, what does everyone think?"

Tang Lian was more astute. In the past, Master Yao would send them a post asking for their recommendations, but they had never been called together to deliberate. Since he had gathered them today, there must be a change.

He asked with a smile, "Master Yao, is there any change to the Children’s Examination this year?"

Yao Ding shook his head. "There are no changes to the exam itself, but I would like to recommend someone for one of the spots, so I wanted to discuss it with you all."

Everyone laughed. "Master Yao must be wanting to recommend your grandson!"

Last year, all four of them had agreed that one of this year’s spots would go to Yao Ding’s grandson, Yue Fei, as a gesture of gratitude for his hard work over the years.

Yao Ding pondered for a moment and said, "Although my grandson Yue Fei is indeed excellent, I would like to give this spot to someone else. This person is named Li Yanqing, a new student."

Li Wenyou was stunned. *Qing’er?*

Li Wenyou truly had not expected Qing’er to be so highly regarded by Yao Ding that he would invite the four squires to discuss this matter. Perhaps Qing’er possessed the literary talent of their great ancestor; it must be so.

"Master Yao, which family does this Li Yanqing belong to?" Wang Wanhao asked.

Although the other three did not know that Li Yanqing was a clansman of Li Wenyou, Li Wenyou felt embarrassed. He forced a laugh and said, "I understand Master Yao’s intentions, but the rules cannot be broken. Having two Li family descendants participate in the children’s exam will cause gossip among the villagers. Master Yao, there is no need to give up a spot; I will recommend Yanqing."

Everyone then realized that this Li Yanqing was a member of the Li clan. Yao Ding, however, said with some difficulty, "But the Bailiff, Du, told me two days ago that the Li family would be recommending Li Feng this year."

Bailiff Du was Li Wenyou’s younger brother, Li Wengui, and Li Feng was his eldest grandson. Every year, he claimed one of the spots.

Li Wenyou smiled. "That is a matter within my clan. I will talk to him when I return, but the Li family will recommend Yanqing."

Li Yanqing was thus settled, taking the Li clan’s spot. But the next issue was for the other three families to give up one spot for Yao Ding’s grandson.

Wang Wanhao’s face darkened immediately. Last year, the four families had drawn lots, and Wang Wanhao had drawn the short straw. He had intended to gloss over it, but he had not expected Yao Ding to be so sharp as to bring it up again. Helplessly, he declared, "Fine! The Wang family will not participate in the children’s exam this year."

Yao Ding felt greatly comforted. His grandson was the most outstanding student in the school, yet he had never had the opportunity to take the examination, which he felt was truly unfair. Today, he had finally gotten his wish.

...

At night, in the west room of Aunt Hu’s house, the lamp light was bright and soft. Li Yanqing sat on the *kang*, focused on his homework. Tonight’s assignment was to recite the *Thousand Character Classic* and the *Hundred Family Surnames* three times each, and to copy twenty Tang poems. The *Thousand Character Classic* and *Hundred Family Surnames* were lessons taught two years ago; Master Yao feared the students would forget them and wanted them to review the old to learn the new.

Most students had been in the school for two years and had a small foundation. Now, they not only had to study the *Analects* but also memorize classical prose and Tang poetry. Some older students with better academic progress even attempted to write their own poems and couplets.

Although Master Yao had a strange temper, he was an enlightened teacher. Li Yanqing also calmed his heart, earnestly following his master to read and study.

The room was very quiet. Big Black was lying behind Li Yanqing, going all out on a large marrow bone—a reward Li Daqi had specifically bought for it to acknowledge its bravery in protecting its young master.

Li Daqi, however, sat at the large table, lost in thought. This afternoon, he had found his cousin Li Daguang and learned the truth of the matter from him. Before he could recover from the shock, Patriarch Li Wenyou had sent someone to return fifty strings of cash—the wages he was owed for four years of work—along with thirty strings of cash for his son’s literary talent, equivalent to thirty taels of silver.

At this moment, before Li Daqi’s eyes, besides the three gleaming silver ingots, lay a land deed and ten strings of cash. The ten strings of cash were his hard-earned money from four years of copying books, which had been snatched away by Liu Chenghong but returned by the grand steward. The deed for the three mu of land was ancestral property left by his grandfather, which had been forcibly bought by the Bailiff, Li Zhen, at an extremely low price years ago.

Li Daqi’s nose felt sore. Everything he had lost had returned. If only Qing’er’s mother were still here, how wonderful that would be.

After a long while, Li Daqi wiped away his tears, rose, and went to the *kang*. He sat cross-legged opposite his son and asked with a forced smile, "Qing’er, have you gained anything from your studies?"

Li Yanqing replied while writing, "How could I not? Even though today is only the second day, the assignments from yesterday were returned. Master Yao criticized my writing, saying it has the hidden strokes of clerical script but lacks the variations of regular script. He said it is neither regular nor clerical, neither one thing nor the other. He suggested I practice clerical script for a year, then regular script for two years, and finally running script for two years."

Because his son’s handwriting had previously looked like demonic talismans and had suddenly become beautiful, Li Daqi had been very excited and hadn’t paid attention to the details. Hearing this, he looked closely at his son’s work, and it was indeed so.

"Your master has a keen eye, and his method is correct. You should listen well to your master’s teachings."

"Mmm! If what he says is right, I will listen."

Li Daqi was preoccupied and didn’t hear the implication in his son’s words. He pondered and said, "Qing’er, Father wants to discuss something with you."

"What does Father want to say?"

"Father has reached an agreement with Shopkeeper Luo today. You will write at most three more novels."

"Why?" Li Yanqing stopped his brush and looked at his father, puzzled.

"Actually, you were right today. You need to study. Your schoolwork is heavy, and you don’t have time to write novels. If you want to pass the imperial examinations, you must go all out. Ten years of bitter study by the window cannot be done with a divided mind."

Li Yanqing felt an immediate sense of resentment. Why was it always about the imperial examinations? He was going to school, but not for the sake of any exam.

Seeing his son’s expression, Li Daqi quickly changed tactics. "I don’t mean I don’t want you to write novels; it’s just that you are still young. You know the story of Fang Zhongyong. Once you have studied hard for ten years, when you are sixteen, you can write to your heart’s content, and I will never stop you again."

His father’s words made Li Yanqing feel slightly better. He knew that writing novels now was a bit too early. He had only picked up the pen to change the family’s poverty. But if he didn’t write, how would they survive?

Li Daqi understood his son’s worry and quickly added, "Your Fourth Uncle told me today that the county plans to compile a local gazette in cooperation with the major squires early next year. The Patriarch has recommended me and two others to be the chief editors of the Xiaohe Township Gazette. It pays five strings of cash a month, and this project will take at least several years. Plus, I plan to rent out the three mu of ancestral land; that will also provide some annual income in grain. Although we won’t be rich, at least we will have food and clothing."

Li Yanqing thought for a moment and said, "Let Uncle Hu farm the three mu of land. Don’t ask for any rent. Uncle Hu has already helped us enough."

"As you wish! As you wish!"

Li Daqi agreed repeatedly. As long as his son was willing to study hard, these small matters were not problems. He was happy and laughed, "Tomorrow I will go buy some clothes and grain, and some furniture. Once the house is repaired, we will move back and start a new life."

Li Yanqing smiled mischievously. "And get Father a wife."