Xu Guangqi woke up a day and a half later.
After the examinations, he returned to his rented room and fell asleep. He slept until a day and a half later. When he woke up, the sky was already dark. He looked at the time and realized that it was midnight.
For a moment, he didn't know what day it was, but after he woke up, he felt a great sense of loss.
He had failed the examinations.
He knew that he had failed the examinations.
The discomfort of his body and the confusion of his mind in the examination room made him realize that he must not have done a good job in his essay. He had been relying on his willpower to support himself. He already knew very well what the outcome of this exam would be — if there was no miracle, he would fail.
He was already thirty-six years old and had been taking the imperial examinations for more than ten years. Last year, he had finally passed the High Scholar's exam. He had thought that this year, he would be able to pass the High Scholar's exam and bring glory to his ancestors. In the end, he had failed due to his inability to adapt to the extreme cold and his weak body.
His family did not have any more savings for him to take the examinations. Hence, he had no choice but to go out and make a living. In the end, he had finally passed the High Scholar exam. This was a huge blow to Xu Guangqi, who had thought that he had reached the pinnacle of his life.
He started to doubt if he would be able to progress further in the examinations. He started to doubt if he could become a Grand Scholar and bring glory to his ancestors.
Sometimes, he even felt that it was a good thing to stop. After all, as a High Scholar, he already had the qualifications to be an official. With an official position, he could be exempted from taxes. Naturally, there would be people who would give him land.
Because of his poor family, he had to study to find a way out. In fact, when he passed the High Scholar exam, he had already achieved his goal.
In the end, the thrill of being selected as the Top Scorer had caused him to lose his cool. He even felt that he had the ability to become a Top Scholar. However, after thinking about it, being selected as the Top Scorer of Shun Tian Prefecture was not necessarily a bad thing for him. It was only because the examiner appreciated him that he was selected as the Top Scorer.
Had his luck run out?
Although there was still a month before the results were announced, Xu Guangqi did not have much hope.
Really, he felt uncomfortable reading that kind of essay. How could he have the confidence to progress further?
What he should do now was not to think about his ranking in the examinations. He should think about leaving the capital and returning to the south to continue his life. There was no hope for the examinations anymore. Why not become a High Scholar and live a stable and prosperous life!
With this thought in mind, in the middle of the night, Xu Guangqi wrapped himself in his clothes and started to pack his luggage.
Clothes, books, and a few taels of silver. Actually, that was all he had. As a student rushing to take the examinations, what else could he have on him?
This was one of the few traveling expenses that his hometown could buy for him. The declining Xu family could not support him for three years. When he returned home, he would start to repay his family for what they had done for him over the years.
Xu Guangqi tidied up the things in the cupboard and took out a few boxes from under the bed. When he saw a slender box, he suddenly froze.
This was …
Xu Guangqi silently opened the box and looked inside.
The flintlock pistol was still lying in the box. Back then, this flintlock pistol was placed in the box together with Xiao Ruxun's letter. It was hidden under his bed. As he was worried that reading the letter would affect his preparation for the examinations, Xu Guangqi did not read it. Instead, he planned to read it after the examinations. Over time, he had forgotten about it.
Xu Guangqi lit the lamp brighter and opened the letter.
He had thought that even if a general had read some books and knew some words, she wouldn't be able to write anything. At most, it would be a few words of concern, a description of her relationship with the court, and so on. But he never expected that Xiao Ruxun didn't say any of this. Other than the greetings at the beginning, she only stated her ambitions and ideals.
"Although I am a general, I know about propriety and honor. Since young, I have understood that studying is not for the sake of becoming an official, but for the sake of governing the country. It is also for the sake of saving the country in times of crisis."
"What is the purpose of studying? I come from a family of generals and cannot be a civil official. What is the use of studying? I once asked my teacher this question. My teacher thought about it for a long time and told me that studying is for the sake of the common people. "
"That is because I was still young and did not understand why studying is for the sake of the common people. I am a general, yet I am studying for the sake of the common people. Isn't that ridiculous?"
"It was not until the battle of Ningxia was over that I realized that all the knowledge I had learned in school had been used to fight against foreign enemies, to win, to kill generals and seize flags, to pacify rebellions, and to restore the people's livelihood. That was probably what my teacher wanted to tell me."
"I have heard that in Jiangnan, where education is flourishing, there are many scholars who stop advancing after passing the imperial examinations. From scholars, they become rural tyrants. They use the privileges of the imperial examinations to wantonly accumulate wealth and annex land. They are extravagant and lascivious, and they distort black and white. I was puzzled. Is studying to make oneself richer and to take advantage of the villagers?"
"When studying becomes a ladder for those with bad intentions to take advantage of the villagers, what is the point of studying? What is the point of everything that Confucius said? What is the point of inheriting the lost knowledge of the ancient sages and creating peace for all ages? If you can't apply your knowledge to the world, all knowledge is just a decoration. "
"Ruxun believes that if studying is only to make oneself richer and not to save the country and the people for the sake of the world, then studying is meaningless. It will only give the world another scholarly scum who will use his knowledge to bully the people and deceive the court."
"Scholars look down on the vulgarity of martial artists, but aren't the things that they do after studying even more vulgar than what I, a general, have done? Is the act of using literature to confuse the law an act of refinement? "
"Saving the country and the people is not the privilege of scholars. It is something that everyone in the world should do. The world is the world of the people, not the world of scholars. Saving the country and the people is not something that can be accomplished by one or two scholars. It requires the wisdom and strength of everyone in the world."
"There are no more than 300,000 scholars in the world, but there are millions of common people. How can 300,000 scholars support a country with millions of people? It requires everyone in the world to be willing to contribute. It requires the land to be north and south, and the people to be young and old. It requires the wisdom and strength of everyone, and the world will have hope. This is the so-called rise and fall of the world, and everyone is responsible. "
"Ruxun is not talented. Although I am only a general and a common man, I am willing to shoulder the rise and fall of the world. I will use everything that I have learned from studying and fighting to contribute to the prosperity of the world."
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