The Great Qian dynasty has reformed its imperial examinations. For poor scholars who spend ten years studying, passing the exams can mean a meteoric rise to prominence!
Lu Wenjie is an orphan from a humble family. His father died when he was young, and he was raised at his clan’s school, where he endured endless disdain. Though brilliant, he lives in utter poverty, forced to borrow his neighbors’ leftover ink just to have something to write with. On the eve of the provincial exam, an elder from his clan sneers, “A poor family can’t produce a distinguished son. You’ll be nothing more than a low-level candidate your whole life!”
But Lu Wenjie is determined to defy fate!
With his gift for remembering everything he sees, he enters the examination system as the top candidate in the county exams. When the provincial results are announced, he outshines the sons of powerful families and earns the title of provincial champion. At the metropolitan exam, his essay, “A Memorial on the People’s Livelihood,” shakes the court and leaves even the chief examiner applauding in admiration. At the palace exam, he speaks candidly about the empire’s ills in response to the emperor’s questions, every word polished and incisive. In the end, he is personally appointed as the top graduate of the second tier and made a Hanlin scholar!
Yet passing the exams is only the beginning.
Nobles and powerful officials scheme to suppress him, poor scholars have no one to turn to, and undercurrents of factional strife swirl through the court.
With his pen as a blade and his strategies as a sword, Lu Wenjie carves out a path through a world of deceit. From a seventh-rank Hanlin editor to an official in one of the Six Ministries, and then to a powerful regional governor, he climbs step by step toward the pinnacle of power, determined to prove that even a poor family can produce great ministers and generals!
This is the story of a humble scholar’s rise, and a battle of wits in the turbulent world of the imperial examinations!
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The writing is good, the literary talent is very good, but the pace is too fast, resulting in a small number of words. Some character descriptions and intrigues in the officialdom can be added appropriately. The protagonist can suffer more setbacks, otherwise it will be too mythical from beginning to end. Good luck, author.