The civil service examinations were unquestionably a momentous matter—both for individuals and for the court.
For individuals, they marked the fruition of years of study and brought them another step closer to officialdom. For the court, they stabilized the scholar-gentry, kept Human Heart at peace, continually selected qualified officials, maintained the healthy operation of the bureaucracy, and tested the organizational capacity of both local governments and the central administration.
The inns within Yang Province had begun raising their prices very early on.
As the capital region of Huainan East Circuit and a key hub of water and land transport, Yang Province alone had a population of two hundred thousand, counting transients. Including the counties below it, that number rose by another two hundred thousand. Huainan East Circuit had a total population of over three million, and Yang Province alone accounted for one-eighth of it.
The venue for Yang Province's prefectural examination was naturally in Yang Province. The men who had failed year after year and those taking the examination for the first time this year numbered several thousand altogether, all flooding into the city. They booked lodgings by the month for three months, since they had to arrive early and wait here for the posted results afterward. And whether they had money or not, they had to socialize a bit.
In truth, so long as one was willing to swallow one's pride, the most important social activity for scholars did not actually cost much. One did not need exceptional talent—just enough not to rank at the bottom, plus the willingness to flatter others and put them on a pedestal. Scholars from wealthy families generally welcomed such people. Not only could they eat and drink for free, even their expenses at the brothels could be covered.
It was only the urge