My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!

Chapter 154 - 103 Targeted Everywhere_2

Li Nuo took advantage of the situation and lay down on his wife's legs.

His wife's legs were long and straight; due to her martial arts training, they were smooth with not a trace of excess fat and served as a firm yet comfortable pillow.

There was a calm silence inside the carriage when Song Jiaren broke it, saying, "It's strange that the Imperial Examination tests for driving but not horse riding..."

Li Nuo, laying on her legs, briefly explained to her.

After all, the Six Arts, which are part of the Imperial Examination, serve the ruling class.

Speaking of comfort, riding in a carriage definitely surpasses riding a horse.

When an official travels, subordinates cannot simply ride on a horse with them.

Not to mention the lack of protection from the elements and the discomfort of a bumpy ride.

It's not just in Daxia, but in another world too, leaders are chauffeured in cars, not on motorcycles.

Song Jiaren nodded her head, and then as if she remembered something, she looked down at him and asked, "Didn't you not know this?"

Li Nuo paused, then touched his forehead and said, "I just remembered, I had read it in a book before. My head is a bit dizzy, I'll take a nap first..."

...

When they returned to the Song Residence, Li Nuo still hadn't recovered much strength.

Song Jiaren helped Li Nuo out of the carriage.

By coincidence, another carriage was parked in front of the Song Residence.

The curtain of the carriage opened, revealing the Dean of Qingfeng Academy, Tang Xian, and four gentlemen.

Upon seeing this scene, Mr. Chen was slightly surprised and immediately jumped down from his carriage, showing concern as he said, "Mr. Li, what's wrong?"

Mr. Chen, who was over sixty, could still hop on and off his carriage, but eighteen-year-old Li Nuo needed his wife to help him down.

Li Nuo managed a weak smile and said, "It's nothing serious, just that my body is still a bit weak today, I'm afraid I won't be able to teach."

The other gentlemen also got off their carriages.

"No worries about the lecture, Mr. Li's health is more important!"

"You must really take good care of yourself..."

"Weren't you much better a few days ago? How come it's gotten serious again?"

Song Jiaren silently lowered her head.

Feeling somewhat ashamed as the old gentlemen admonished him to take care of his health, Li Nuo turned to the middle-aged man and changed the subject, "Dean Tang, I don't know if the gentlemen have mentioned it to you, but I'd like to join Qingfeng Academy."

Tang Xian looked troubled, sighed, and said, "I'm actually here about that, Mr. Li. To be frank, your admission was already arranged, but then some complications arose..."

Li Nuo blinked in confusion, "What complications?"

...

Academies crowded the Chang'an Academy, among them Qingfeng, Yunmeng, Beixi, and East Mountain, the Four Great Academies, were directly managed by the Imperial College.

Every March, the court held a selection exam called the Spring Examination.

Students who excelled in the Spring Examination were allowed to study at one of the Four Great Academies, availing the best educational resources.

Even if not admitted to the Four Great Academies, as long as they met certain criteria in the Spring Examination, they could enter private academies, albeit at a tuition tenfold higher than the Great Academies.

Only by passing the Spring Examination did one qualify to participate in the Imperial Examination.

This year's Spring Examination had already passed.

However, the Spring Examination was not the only way to enter the Four Great Academies.

Besides the Spring Examination, these academies also had a quota for special admissions.

People like the impoverished Han Zhuo, and Zhou Hao who had been harmed by Li Yuan, were admitted through this quota.

Furthermore, if one was willing to pay a hefty amount of silver, exceptions could be made at the academies.

Reliant solely on the annual subsidies from the court, academies could not sustain operations; each academy had similar revenue-generating methods.

Nobles spent substantial silver to have their children "gilded" by entering these academies.

For the nobles, this amount of silver was trivial, but it enabled the academies to afford teachers' salaries, buy students' ink and paint, build equestrian and shooting ranges, and let less affluent students practice Horse Riding and Shooting...

Song Yu and his friends, except for Zhou Yu who was specially recruited through Horse Riding, all entered Yunmeng Academy by paying hefty fees.

Their goal was not the Imperial Examination, but to join the military selection after being "gilded" in the academy.

Previously, the court would not prevent these revenue practices.

However, these methods were abolished just a day ago.

From now on, entering an academy required passing the court's examination.

The Four Great Academies no longer had the privilege of special admissions, and the nobles could no longer pay silver to have their children "gilded."

Everything seemed fairer, but in reality, it was a further monopolization of the Imperial Examination by the upper scholarly families.

The Spring Examination would test all aspects of the Six Arts.

Those from poor families could hardly master all the Six Arts; their entry into the academies depended entirely on special admissions.

The Four Great Academies would recruit students skilled in mathematics or the Book Department, spending the next few years using academy resources to familiarize them with the Horse Riding, Shooting, and Music Departments...

In a few years, diligent students from poor backgrounds could catch up with a decade's worth of the nobles' children's accumulation.

The Spring Examination began in mid-March.

The Imperial Examination finished in early March.

With the reforms, Li Nuo wouldn't be able to make it to the next Imperial Examination.

Dean Tang sighed and said, "These changes have actually been driven by the nobles. Although poor students can't match the children of the wealthy who have studied the Six Arts from an early age during the Spring Examination, their resilient nature is something the wealthy's children can't match. Often, in just a few years, they catch up in all subjects and take up many places among the Advanced Scholars..."

In Daxia, if one wanted to become a civil servant, the Imperial Examination was the only way.

In recent years, Daxia's nobles and famous families had been gradually pushing the reform of the examination system, aiming to monopolize officialdom.