The Imperial Examination System

A year after the introduction of movable type printing, the price of books in the Tang Dynasty plummeted.

Seeing that every poor scholar had a copy of "The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics," the aristocratic families finally couldn't sit still any longer.

(Inner monologue: The fortress of knowledge monopoly has been loosened; it's time to give those from disadvantaged backgrounds a fair path to upward mobility.)

That day, Wu Zetian was reviewing the register of officials in the Ministry of Personnel when she pointed to the list of prefects and asked Emperor Gaozong, "Your Majesty, have you noticed? Of the thirteen prefects, nine are from the Pei clan of Hedong and the Cui clan of Qinghe."

Li Zhi sneered: "They control the recommendation system, so naturally they 'recommend the virtuous without regard to kinship.'"

"In that case," Wu Zetian said, unfurling the newly created map of the Tang Dynasty's territory, "why not define the criteria for 'virtue' more clearly?"

Three days later, an imperial edict shook the court and the public: reform the imperial examination system and add three new subjects: mathematics, law, and agriculture, to be ranked alongside the Jinshi degree.

Even more astonishingly, all candidates had to pass the "preliminary examination" set by the Imperial Academy in order to qualify for the imperial examination.

(Inner monologue: Let's break the recommendation system with standardized tests and see how you guys play dirty tricks now!)

On the night the edict was issued, Changsun Wuji requested an audience. The old Grand Commandant knelt before the palace, tears streaming down his face: "Your Majesty! Reforming the imperial examination system risks harming the very foundation of the nation!"

Wu Zetian chuckled softly from behind the screen: "Grand Commandant, should I find your grandson's mathematics exam paper from last year's Hongwen Academy for His Majesty to review?"

The area outside the hall fell into complete silence.

(Inner monologue: Luckily, I was prepared and had the Hongwen Hall secretly create an academic record for me.)

On the day of the first imperial examination, Chang'an was packed with people.

Farmers' sons brought abacuses, craftsmen's sons carried "Building Standards," and even Zhang Jialang, who sold flatbreads, came to take the exam—his "New Methods for Fermenting Flatbreads" was rated as excellent on the spot by the examiners from the Agricultural Administration Department.

The announcement of the results was even more exciting.

The list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations was crowded with young men in fine clothes, while the list of newly appointed officials—

"I passed!" A dark-skinned young man cried and laughed, holding up the list of successful candidates in the imperial examination. "The county government hired me to manage the accounts!"

The old farmer beside him, holding the agricultural administration certificate, trembled: "The government...the government really wants to promote my rice-growing method..."

(Inner monologue: This is exactly the effect I wanted!)

However, troubles followed one after another.

The sons of aristocratic families who failed the imperial examinations gathered in front of the Imperial Academy and caused trouble, smashing the list of candidates for the Ming Dynasty's legal examination.

Upon hearing the news, Wu Zetian immediately ordered the Imperial Guards to escort the troublemakers to the Ministry of Justice—just as the candidates for the Ming Dynasty's legal examination were observing the trial.

"Gentlemen," the newly appointed Doctor of Law, Di Renjie, began his lecture, "damaging official documents is punishable by sixty strokes of the cane according to the 'Household and Marriage Law.' If it involves gathering a crowd to cause trouble, then it is punishable by the 'Theft and Robbery Law'..."

The troublemaking scion of a prominent family collapsed to the ground on the spot.

(Inner monologue: Practical teaching doubles the effect!)

On the night the results of the autumn imperial examinations were announced, Wu Zetian pulled Li Zhi out of the palace in disguise.

In a tavern in Chang'an's West Market, a poor scholar who had just passed the imperial examination was hosting a feast, the wine bowls clattering loudly.

"From now on, we poor people finally have a way to survive!"

"Respectfully, Your Majesty the Empress!"

"Respect for Taiping paper! Respect for movable type printing!"

Li Zhi held Wu Meiniang's hand tightly in the private room: "Meiniang, did you hear that? This is the will of the people."

Looking down at the jubilant crowd, she suddenly remembered herself in her past life, desperately trying to squeeze into the job market.

(Inner monologue: Fairness is the best foundation for a prosperous era.)

As the moonlight bathed her path home, she suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, you said that if women could also participate in the imperial examinations..."

Li Zhi stumbled.

——————

[Mini-drama: The Empress's Regret]

(From Wu Zetian's perspective)

I know that's impossible.

The Tang Dynasty was, after all, the Tang Dynasty.

But when I watched Hong'er reviewing memorials, I would secretly wonder: if a woman were an official, would she be less pedantic?

(Well, we have to take things one step at a time.)

(Inner monologue: If I can't take the imperial examinations, learning a trade is still a good option.)