"Education Minister Ma Shuhan has sent word that everyone in Shuzhou who holds scholarly credentials must attend. Anyone who fails to appear will be stripped of those credentials and barred from the imperial examinations forever."
Chen Yunfan looked at Chen Yi and said solemnly:
"You missed the last two annual examinations. Even with Jinling Academy vouching for you, you've already been demoted from a stipendiary student to an auxiliary student."
"If you miss this one, you can imagine the consequences."
Seeing Chen Yi remain silent, he continued, "What's more, Ma Shuhan has petitioned the Imperial Court, asking His Majesty to revise part of the six-grade system of promotion and demotion."
"Oh? What did he change?"
Chen Yi knew about the six-grade system. It was essentially an assessment scale like "excellent, good, average, poor" or "A, B, C, D."
It ranged from first grade to sixth grade, with first being the best and sixth the worst.
Those who earned first or second grade received rewards, while third grade was equivalent to a pass, with neither reward nor punishment.
At fourth grade, however, they would be punished, usually with strokes of a ruler across the palms from an academy teacher.
Fifth and sixth grades went without saying. At best, they were expelled from the academy; at worst, they were stripped of their credentials and reduced to examination candidates, forced to start over.
Chen Yunfan wore a rare look of seriousness. "Anyone below third grade may be stripped of their credentials at discretion."
"At discretion?"
"Yes. Besides the education minister's assessment, they'll also seek recommendations from the Shu Provincial Administration, academy teachers, and elders. That's what 'at discretion' means."
Chen Yi understood. In other words, there was room to maneuver.
The key to assessments from the authorities, teachers, and the like lay in