Chapter Nineteenth The Old Man

  Tan Yanke's arrangement made Tan Yanke think that the old man's delay in marriage was not just a coincidence, but also because the old man had received a letter from his future father-in-law, which made him feel uneasy. The repeated questioning was to give himself some color to see?! This was what Tan Yanke thought too much, the old man's intention to test his knowledge was not only to test his academic foundation, but also because the old man had been in charge of education in a province and had presided over many county examinations, so he was naturally very familiar with the examination questions. He also wanted to get a good understanding of Tan Yanke's performance in this county examination through this test.

  "Sir, this letter from Tan can be said to be a clever move. Although it has delayed the marriage between Miss and Tan Zu'an, in my humble opinion, it is entirely because he wants Tan Zu'an to make greater progress in his studies, and there is no malicious intent. Please rest assured, sir!" Liu Renxi sat under the lamp with Fang Ruyi, holding the letter that Tan Yanqing had handed over to Fang Ruyi during the day.

  "Fang Ruyu nodded and said, 'Jie An, I understand what you're saying. I passed the imperial examination a year after Tan Wengui, and later we worked together in the Hanlin Academy. He's a smooth talker who is good at scheming, but he won't do anything that would damage his reputation. Both the Fang and Tan families are prominent clans, so unless something major happens, it's not easy to decline this marriage proposal, as it also involves the face of our two families.'"

  Fang Ruyu stood up and took two steps forward, continuing to say: "If Zu An can make steady progress in the imperial examination, this is also what I hope for. You saw his performance during the day, it's not an exaggeration to call him a prodigy or a genius. Tan Wengui's plan was to take advantage of the old empress dowager and the emperor's lavish praise for 'On Encouraging Learning' to let Tan Zu An make a bold effort to complete the provincial examination and the metropolitan examination in one go. Next year is the year of yiwei, also the year of the metropolitan examination. Now it seems that Tan Zu An will pass the provincial examination with ease, and next year is the 60th birthday of the old empress dowager. All the government offices in the capital are operating to celebrate her birthday. Next year is the year of enzheng and keju, if luck is on their side, passing the metropolitan examination and becoming a jinshi should not be difficult!"

  Liu Renxi smiled and said, "Your Excellency, what I just said about Tan Wenqing being a master of intrigue is precisely because he has calculated everything so finely that it's beyond the reach of ordinary people!"

  Fang Ruyu smiled slightly and said: "Originally, the wedding was scheduled for next March, and the imperial examination will also be held in March. A man should make a name for himself as his first priority. If Tan Zong'an can really become a jinshi in next year's imperial examination and lay the foundation for his future career, then he is worthy of my daughter! This is actually not bad at all, but rather a good thing!"

  Liu Renxi smiled and asked: "That day when I saw you reading the letter during the day, there was a doubt in your heart, what's the reason?"

  Fang Ruyu smiled: "When I and Tan Wengong agreed on this marriage, we didn't expect that Zu An would be taking the imperial examination at the end of the year. Now that it's happened, delaying it a bit isn't a big deal. Rongqing is already 15 years old this year, and for an ordinary official family, she should be getting married around this age. Next year, after Zu An passes the imperial examination, there will be two more important exams - the palace exam in April to determine the top three scholars, and the court exam in October to determine the final appointment of officials. These are not things that can be avoided. Think about it, if everything goes smoothly for Zu An later on, will he still be able to come back and get married?"

  Liu Renxi furrowed his brow and said: "If that's the case, then it will definitely be postponed for another year..."

  Fang Ruyi shook his head and said, "Tan Wengui must have thought of this point, but he didn't tell the truth in his letter! Of course, it's also possible that he himself wasn't confident about Gu An passing the test..."

  "Are adults worrying too much..."

  "I hope so, but it's not just me who has high hopes for Guan An's future development. Some high-ranking officials in the imperial court and local governments also have a good impression of him. This is also because Tan Wenqing knows how to get along with people. As an official for decades, he has rarely had enemies or opponents, but rather friends all over the world. The people he associates with include not only upright and honest officials like Weng Tonghe, but also high-ranking officials in charge of foreign affairs like Zhang Zhidong. Among the high-ranking officials in the imperial court, he is one who keeps a low profile and does not seek to draw attention to himself. With his character, unless it's an extremely difficult situation, he would absolutely not decline this marriage proposal. If it really came down to that point, maybe even I wouldn't be able to stop him... but fortunately, there isn't anyone in the imperial court who is that powerful yet..."

  Liu Renxi thought for a moment and said, "Rather than having long nights and many dreams later on, it's better to get married after passing the imperial examination this year or next. This way, everything will be settled once and for all. Moreover, in my opinion, passing the imperial examination is not a problem at all. At least when it comes to destiny, he has an advantage. With his real talent and learning, if he can't pass the examination and become a jinshi, that would be truly unfortunate. After becoming a jinshi, getting married will also be a wonderful thing. Besides, Miss is already fifteen this year, with a dignified and elegant demeanor, and her poetic talent is not inferior to that of ordinary scholars, and may even surpass them..."

  "Haha, only Tan Wenqing understands me. After careful consideration, I think this is the best choice. I'm sure Tan Wenqing won't refuse..." Fang Ruyi said with a hearty laugh.

  Tan Yanqian did not know that the old man's letter would make his father-in-law think so much, originally thinking that he could drag out the engagement for a while, but it was advanced at his father-in-law's place. He, who was studying hard, couldn't help but sneeze, and thought to himself: "Is someone plotting against me? How can I catch a cold on such a hot day?! If someone is plotting against me, it must be He Jiong, but the crime of colluding with bandits as a local official is not light. Even if he doesn't get his family confiscated and exiled, being dismissed from office would be enough..."

  Although the journey was arranged tightly, Tan Yanqing still planned to stay at his father-in-law's house for more than ten days, so as not to make people feel disrespected by coming and going hastily. However, Tan Yanqing did not know that Fang Ruyu had already sent someone to deliver the letter he wrote about the marriage of the two families in advance to the old man in Fujian. He spent his days assisting with work in Fang Ruyu's government office with Liu Renxi, and in his spare time, he would discuss poetry and literature with a group of officials, and Fang Ruyu would often join them. After all, they were about to take the imperial examination, so most of the time they talked about some interesting stories related to the imperial examination, and Tan Yanqing also gained some experience indirectly.

  Tan Yanqian, as the leader of the first hall in the Fujian-Zhejiang Governor's Office, was naturally very familiar with the official business that Fang Ruyu had come into contact with. Any documents handed over to him were quickly processed, and Liu Renxi and other staff members were extremely surprised by this. However, thinking about some rumors surrounding the Fujian-Zhejiang Governor, they felt relieved.

  What amazed them even more was that no matter what kind of article it was, as long as Tan Yanqian had read it once, he could recite it fluently without any errors. Liu Renxi and Fang Ruyu saw the look of astonishment in each other's eyes, but also felt a sense of admiration - no wonder Tan Zu'an could gain the favor of Tan Zhonglin with his humble background, just based on this skill alone. If heaven wasn't jealous, fame and fortune would be easily within Tan Yanqian's grasp.

  In the midst of such a tight schedule, Tan Yanqi had also made other arrangements - he wanted to get to know Fang Yuqing again, and didn't want to rush into marriage without knowing his future wife. Although in this era it was almost impossible to find someone with similar values and goals, he still wanted to see what kind of person she was. This era was no longer as strict as hundreds of years ago when men and women were not allowed to meet, but both the Tan and Fang families were high-ranking officials from Hunan Province, and they had taken great care to ensure that the couple did not meet before their wedding day, except for that brief encounter by the artificial hill.

  What interested Liu Renxi and Fang Ruzhong was the governor's guard team brought by Tan Yanqing. They had long known that Tan Yanqing was able to come here from Fujian via land so safely, thanks to the efforts of his bodyguards. The uniforms of this guard team were something they had never seen before. Tan Yanqing was also very happy to show them the combat power of the guard team and offered to use the barracks of the Nanchang garrison for a demonstration.

  In this era, the strongest military forces in China were undoubtedly the Huai Army and the Xiang Army, which were established by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang respectively. Especially notable figures within the Xiang Army, such as Zuo Zongtang and Tan Zhonglin, who were fellow graduates of the same year, had a very close relationship and supported each other in politics. Although Zuo Zongtang has already passed away, his achievements in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Rebellion are still widely boasted about by their elders as glorious feats, serving as important educational materials for their children to build on and as objects of reverence.

  At this time, Tan Yanxin showed Fang Ruyi and Liu Renxi another way of fighting - with the support of advanced firearms, if not facing a human sea attack, the precise shooting of the guard would easily eliminate all opponents 400 meters away. This is absolutely incomparable to those seemingly powerful hand-held large knives and long spears in the mansion. However, this is not the end. Tan Yanxin showed his father-in-law the power of the Maxim machine gun - a tree that two people could hug was shot down by the dense fire of the machine gun, which shocked both of them greatly.

  When Tan Yanqing led the guard team to leave Nanchang by boat, what made him regretful was that he still didn't see Fang Zhongyan. He didn't know that when his boat sailed on the Ganjiang River, a delicate sedan chair stopped at the riverbank, and behind the window screen of the sedan chair, a pair of very bright eyes were watching the boat go further and further away until it disappeared...

  Tan Yanqian and his entourage took a boat from Ganjiang into the Yangtze River, going upstream to Hubei Wuchang. However, they did not stay here for long, but instead headed south into Dongting Lake and then into Xiangjiang to reach their final destination of Changsha on the banks of Xiangjiang River, where he would face a very important exam - the county test in a month.

  It's been two years since he left, and the lotus pond in front of Ci Shu Tang is still as beautiful as ever. However, this time when he returned, there was a fully armed guard squad by his side. Just this alone was enough to make him feel that the past two years had not been wasted, at least it gave him some confidence. He could see the difference in how people from his family looked at him, but he didn't care. To him, it was like watching a farce, and no matter how his "elders" plotted against him, he remained unmoved. In his eyes, these people may have had some kind of kinship or blood relation with him, but that didn't evoke any sympathy from him. For him, since he had already set foot in this era, if his "relatives" got in his way, he wouldn't hesitate to strike - not recognizing one's relatives is the unbreakable rule for survival in a chaotic world.

  "But can I really do it?!" Tan Yanqin blew out the candle and sat alone in the dark study, bathed in the soft moonlight, thinking to himself. He could brutally kill hundreds of bandits, but later, when he had to kill hundreds of strangers with whom he had no connection, would he still be able to bring himself to do it?!

  Tan Yanqing did not know the answer, but he was very clear that his father was extremely proud of him - when he learned that he had dealt with the bandits in eastern Fujian with an iron fist, he wrote a letter praising his son for being worthy of the style of Zuo Zongtang. Zuo Zongtang was a deceased old friend whom the old man admired very much. Unfortunately, due to his own personality, the old man could not bring himself to do the same thing and had been a good man all his life. He had reached this official position without making any enemies, which was unique in the Qing court.

  According to Tan Sitong's understanding of the old man, he was a person who would sacrifice everything for the sake of his family. This kind of person Tan Sitong had only seen in past lives or in movies. However, from the old man's words and actions, it could be seen that even if the gentle and courteous old man were to do something outrageous, he would not have any unexpected consequences. This was also the deep reason why Tan Sitong was extremely obedient to the old man - if Tan Sitong had acted in the same way as he did during the Hundred Days' Reform, without Empress Dowager Cixi's intervention, the old man himself would have taken care of him. As long as the old man did not lose control of the situation, Tan Sitong could not think about being able to choose his own life according to his own will. This logic was so simple that it made Tan Sitong think of Empress Dowager Cixi's actions.

  "Now I'm just another version of Guangxu, if you want to gain more freedom, then first coax the old man into a good mood!" Tan Yankai said to himself.

  Although Tan Zhonglin was not as famous as the leading figures of his time, and even in Tan Yankai's memory before birth, he didn't know that there was such a Qing dynasty governor. Perhaps due to close contact, his reverence for the old man was truly heartfelt. In comparison, as long as it didn't harm the family, the old man seemed very open-minded, this attitude of openness could even surpass that of the famous Yangwu figures known by Tan Yankai at the same time. The key is that Empress Dowager Cixi was very conservative during this period, so the old man was not enthusiastic about foreign affairs, and the things Tan Yankai did under his nose were still within the scope of tolerance. He was also delighted to see his son learn new skills.

  Tan Yanqian sat alone for a while, then lit the candle again, picked up a book and started reading. In his opinion, nothing could be compared to the imperial examination he was facing. Although Tan Yanqian wrote "On Encouraging Learning" which was publicly praised by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, even local officials had to have a copy in hand, in his hometown of Hunan, he was famous for a time, and there were countless people who wanted to see this child prodigy. After hearing that he returned to Hunan to take part in the imperial examination, someone came to visit him every day, but Tan Yanqian uniformly dispatched people to block them, except for special local officials, he did not see anyone.

  Having read three hundred Tang poems, one can recite them even if they don't know how to compose poetry. Tan Yanqian didn't have much confidence in the county exam, but at least his "Exhortation to Study" could let the Hunan education official weigh his own worth. If he had to rely on his true abilities to compete with countless scholars for the honor of being a jinshi, he really wouldn't be confident. However, he was good at memorization - his memory had been exceptional even in his previous life, but compared to now, it was abnormal. Tan Yanqian was like a book-reading machine, finishing one book in tens of minutes, and the number of books he had read was already terrifying. He wanted to rely on his vast background knowledge to impress the examiner with his extensive references during the exam.

  As long as he can grasp a few main themes and not write anything too out of line, he can produce a flowery eight-legged essay in a very short time. Of course, this is only the county examination, and the final decision is still up to the provincial education commissioner. The theme of this article depends on which education commissioner is in charge of the exam, and what kind of tune they sing when crossing the mountain. If it's a conservative one, they will naturally praise Confucius' stinky feet; if it's an open-minded one, they will talk about reform and innovation, strengthening the country and enriching the people...

  This year, the person in charge of the Hunan provincial examination that Tan Xiangyun participated in is Jiang Biao, the educational commissioner of Hunan. Tan Zhonglin had only heard of this person and was not clear about his background, but his father-in-law, Fang Ruyi, was very familiar with him. Perhaps because of his father-in-law's experience, he did not have Tan Xiangyun's courage and good fortune. His father-in-law had been in the Hanlin Academy for many years and later served as the educational commissioner of Gansu and had a close relationship with the Hanlin Academy. Before serving as the surveillance commissioner and governor, he was also a well-known figure in the Qing government. According to his father-in-law's description, Jiang Biao was very young, having passed the imperial examination in Guangxu 15 (1889) at the age of 33, and it was considered extremely fortunate for him to be appointed as the educational commissioner of a province this year. Most importantly, Jiang Biao had a close relationship with Zhang Zhidong, the governor-general of Hubei and Hunan.