Chapter 113: Chapter 92: I Got Promoted
Translator: 549690339
Half a month later, the catch officer from Changning County escorted the students who had returned from the imperial examination, including the newly promoted juren, back to the county town.
On the day of their return, the county magistrate led the officials of the town, as well as the local gentry and commoners, to welcome them three miles outside the city. The celebration was extremely grand.
According to Sun Siwen, he did not receive such an honor when he became a juren and returned to his hometown.
Lu Yuan carefully recalled that he was not present when Sun Siwen returned to the county town, so he didn’t know the situation at that time.
But when they returned to Yangmei Town, he saw that the townspeople gathered at the entrance of the town and watched for an hour or two.
There was no such reception a few miles out of town.
But it made sense.
In Dayu County, there was a rich literary tradition, and a juren emerged every two or three years.
However, in Changning County.
It was said that no juren had emerged for more than twenty years. Now that they finally had one, it was not too much to give him extra attention.
So, all Lu Yuan could do was pat his slightly envious friend, comfort him a little, and tell him not to think too much about it.
Lu Yan’s promotion to juren could only be attributed to good timing and good luck, as well as the unique circumstances in Changning County.
After him, no one will have such a grand event as today when they become juren.
Upon returning to the city, a banquet was held for the new juren as well as for the students who had returned from the examination.
During the banquet, the main characters were naturally the county magistrate and the newly promoted juren, Lu Yan, who received congratulations from everyone present.
At the same time, Lu Yan did not forget his teacher, Sun Siwen. He came to Sun Siwen several times with wine, addressing him as his teacher and showing great respect.
However, just as he had said before, Sun Siwen did not take the credit for his student’s success. Instead, he claimed that it was all due to Lu Yan’s hard work in studying, and he had merely added some finishing touches.
Unfortunately, few people present believed Sun Siwen’s words about giving all credit to Lu Yan. Many saw it as the Teaching Assistant’s humility and admired him even more for being modest and not taking the credit for himself.
This made it even harder for Sun Siwen to explain his stance, and in the end, he just sighed and didn’t bother to refute it further.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan, seeing Sun Siwen’s attitude, became even more respectful and seemed genuinely like a student.
Those who are close are better aware of their own matters.
Lu Yan knew that his success in passing the juren examination was mostly due to his own efforts, but Sun Siwen’s help had also played a part.
That’s why he called Sun Siwen his teacher and regarded himself as a disciple.
However, it was hard to know how much of this was genuine and how much was just for show.
But at this moment, seeing Sun Siwen’s modesty and sincerity and refusing to take credit for his success, Lu Yan couldn’t help but feel touched.
Such a gentleman of good character is indeed rare in this world.
‘Being a disciple of such a gentleman wouldn’t be a bad thing.’
With this thought in mind, Lu Yan’s respect for Sun Siwen grew even stronger.
After the banquet, the students who returned from the examination either went back home to continue their studies or started visiting friends and gatherings, resuming their normal lives.
The fact that Lu Yan became a juren had a significant impact on the students in Changning County.
Now they saw that after more than twenty years, literary talent once again emerged in the form of a juren in Changning County, where the literary tradition had been weak for a long time.
Influenced by this, many students who had been neglecting their studies or lacking confidence began to work even harder.
As the representative of late bloomers, Lu Yan naturally became even busier. He visited the retired old juren in the county, socialized with the officials, attended the banquets of the local gentry, and re-experienced everything that Sun Siwen had gone through before.
And in all these social interactions, Sun Siwen, as a teacher, was naturally indispensable.
Lu Yan visited him in person three times. Each time, he was extremely courteous and respectful. Even in front of Lu Yuan, Sun Siwen’s good friend, he maintained a junior’s attitude and respect, despite being older in age.
This made Lu Yuan feel even better about Lu Yan and praised Sun Siwen for gaining a good student.
However, after the last visit, during a casual conversation between Sun Siwen and Lu Yuan, Sun Siwen lamented, “Like me, Lu Yan didn’t continue with the examinations and chose to become an official instead.
Now the appointment from the prefecture has arrived, and he will soon go to South Sea Prefecture as a Tax Examiner, taking charge of the taxation in the county, starting from rank nine. At the beginning of next month, he will begin his new post.”
According to the regulations in Da Yue, the maximum age for taking the imperial examination is forty-five. Once exceeded, one cannot participate in the examination anymore.
After all, the purpose of the imperial examination system is to increase talent for the imperial court. Employing an official who is too old would limit their years of service to the court.
Nowadays, Lu Yan is forty-one years old. With the jinshi (imperial examination title) spring examination held every three years, he can only take the examination for jinshi once.
Apparently, like Sun Siwen, the newly promoted juren wasn’t confident about taking the jinshi examination and chose to become an official instead.
In Da Yue, officials retire at sixty, giving Lu Yan almost twenty years to serve as an official. If he performs well during this period, he can hope to become a county magistrate before retirement.
Luyan would be content to become a rank seven official and a father to his jurisdiction.
Lu Yuan could understand this.
However, Sun Siwen then mentioned something else that stirred Lu Yuan’s heart.
“Twenty-one scholars from the county took part in the imperial examination, and one juren was chosen. Not only did the county magistrate receive recognition from his superiors and secure his position, even I benefited from it.
A few days ago, I met with the county magistrate and he hinted that the prefecture is very satisfied with my teaching abilities and intends to promote me.
Maybe in a short time, I will receive a new appointment.
Once the teaching assistant in the county is about to retire, I may take his place and serve as the county teaching assistant.
This is a promotion beyond the normal rank.
However, I think it is unlikely to be a significant promotion. Instead, it may grant me the temporary rank of associate eight and the position of acting teaching assistant.
Afterwards, I will either wait for a few years or help another one or two collogues to become juren in order to be promoted to a full rank of eight and eliminate the ‘acting’ condition.”
Sun Siwen spoke in an extremely calm tone about a matter that was clearly intended to boast.
Obviously.
His old problem had recurred, as he boasted to Lu Yuan about his prowess.
Upon hearing this.
Lu Yuan almost couldn’t help wanting to tell the other party straight out that he was already a second-tier expert in the Jianghu world and was on par with a county magistrate.
Fortunately, he managed to restrain himself and didn’t say it out loud.
Leter, when he calmed down and saw Sun Siwen boasting, he felt as if he was looking down from a high atmosphere.
You never thought, did you?
You think we’re on the same level or even above me.
With this in mind, Lu Yuan was no longer angry. Instead, he laughed and played along with his friend’s boasting, fully supporting him.
Sun Siwen, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to this. He was even happy that he had gained some face in front of his friend and seemed to have come out on top.
He ate two more bowls of rice than usual, and had an excellent appetite that day..