The new emperor ascended the throne and allowed those who had failed in the examination room for thirty years to re-enter the examination room. White-haired old boys and students flocked to Gongyuan and poured their half-life experience into the examination papers. What the emperor really wanted was a folk record that stripped away the official trappings. The dust-covered sufferings of the people, the truth about taxation, and the long-standing abuses of official administration are unfolded in front of the imperial court with ink marks. A special imperial examination revealed the true texture of the dynasty in its heyday.
