The list had been posted on the open ground outside the examination hall, where the scholars were all staring at the enlarged, bolded roster of successful candidates.
This was a true contest. On average, only a few dozen men per prefecture could pass the exam and obtain the qualification for recommendation. Even a major prefecture like Yang Province was much the same; no matter how many there were, they would not reach a hundred. Several thousand people competed for barely more than a hundred places—more than one hundred candidates for every successful one.
And this was not even the end, merely the qualification to sit for the provincial examination. At that stage, recommended candidates from across the realm took the exam together—at least thirteen or fourteen thousand, sometimes sixteen or seventeen thousand. Those who earned the jinshi degree numbered as few as one hundred fifty or sixty, and at most barely over two hundred.
Taken together with the prefectural examination, every jinshi who passed the provincial examination had stepped over the shoulders of ten thousand scholars.
Of course, jinshi were not the only ones who could become officials. There were also those granted the lesser jinshi status by imperial decree, as well as the various Classics and Child Prodigy examinations. But jinshi were certain to become high-ranking officials. Without a jinshi background, one could never reach the pinnacle of a minister's power.
The Song Dynasty had supported scholars for a hundred years, and there were simply too many people eligible for office. There was no shortage of officials; the Ministry of Personnel could barely handle the queue. This was where the superiority of the jinshi showed itself. They were guaranteed official posts—the only question was how much power they would hold. That was why the jinshi examination was so popular...