You Kicked Me Out? Now I’ve Placed First in the Imperial Exams, So Why Are You Crying?

Imperial examinations first, then the imperial court + no golden finger + everyday family life

After transmigrating, Shen Chuan faced a disastrous start. Determined to change his fate through the imperial examinations, he never imagined his life would become a legend.

As a child, he wagered with the prefect and boldly promised him a smooth path to office. This led him to improve farming tools, and his mother was bestowed with a name by the emperor.

At sixteen, he became the first person ever to achieve six consecutive top honors in the examinations and entered the Hanlin Academy. Yet he also took charge of agriculture across the Six Ministries, improving rice varieties, creating firearms, developing water conservancy, and reforming bookkeeping.

At twenty-five, he subdued foreign powers with a combination of conciliation and cannon fire, pushing the borders of the Dayuan Empire outward by five hundred li.

In his thirties, he received the emperor’s favor, was summoned back to the capital, entered the Grand Secretariat, and was appointed Grand Preceptor to teach the crown prince.

Three years later, he sailed overseas and brought great wealth to Dayuan, extending its life by eight hundred years.

He returned at thirty-eight, became chief grand councilor, and reformed the administration. That same year, Dayuan entered its golden age.

The next forty years became known as the Jingchuan Era of Good Governance: “Jing” for Emperor Jingshun, and “Chuan” for Shen Chuan.

At sixty, he tendered his resignation three times, and Emperor Jingshun refused it three times, saying, “Without you, my dear Shen, I would be blind.” Their harmonious relationship became a timeless story.

After the emperor died, the crown prince succeeded him as the Yonghe Emperor and repeatedly visited the Shen residence to seek counsel.

When Shen Chuan died peacefully at the age of ninety-six, the Yonghe Emperor was overcome with grief, suspended court for three days, and bestowed upon him the posthumous title “Wenzheng.”

Later generations praised him, saying that of all the world’s talent, Shen Chuan possessed nine tenths. He could advise on governance with the pen and subdue foreign powers with the sword. With all the world in his heart, he held high office yet worried over the people’s hardships. Looking across a thousand years of history, he was the greatest chief grand councilor of all.