Chapter 1919 - Background Check and Physical Examination
Wu Ming slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Brother Yuan's guidance is excellent! I was truly confused! In vain have I read so many Australian books!"
Zeng Juan was still puzzled and asked: "What do you mean...?"
Yuan Shuzhi explained: "Ajuan, do you remember how one of the essay questions was about factions?"
Zeng Juan nodded: "Yes, there was such a question, something about the Eunuch Party and Donglin..."
"That's exactly it!" Wu Ming understood. "Since ancient times, courts have been most wary of factions, yet factions have never been eradicated—especially those formed by examination classmates and cohort-mates. Since the late Wanli reign of the current... Pseudo-Ming dynasty, factional struggles have grown more severe by the day. Court ministers have often been implicated, and some have even lost their lives because of it. Since the Australians made this an examination topic, how could they not understand the harm it causes? So this chief examiner really cannot be paid respects to."
Yuan Shuzhi nodded: "Before the Senate descended upon Lingao, I heard this is the first time they've held civil service examinations. As the saying goes, a new dynasty brings new atmosphere, and taboos in these matters will certainly be stricter than in the Pseudo-Ming. Brother Wu must not overlook this."
"I see now." Zeng Juan was still young and hadn't developed this mindset of "reading the materials to gauge the political wind." But from the exchange between Yuan Shuzhi and Senior Wu, he realized that "being an official" was no simple matter.
A few days after receiving the appointment notices, two naturalized citizen cadres in Australian clothing arrived. Both wore stern, unsmiling expressions and carried canvas bags. Entering the door, they first displayed their credentials, identifying themselves as being from the "Fifth Office of the Senate Cadre Department," there to conduct external political review investigations.
This "Fifth Office of the Cadre Department" was actually a cover for the Political Security Bureau's Review Office. Because the Political Security Bureau's name proved somewhat imposing and might frighten naturalized citizens and commoners, when conducting cadre reviews they used the "Fifth Office" cover.
Once inside, the two thoroughly investigated the three generations of ancestry for both Zeng Juan and Yuan Shuzhi, not overlooking even the smallest details. Yuan Shuzhi and Zeng Juan had heard that before receiving their official appointments, successful candidates traditionally had to submit three-generation genealogies to the Ministry of Personnel, so they weren't surprised.
The cadre said with a severe expression: "You must answer all questions on this form truthfully. You must be absolutely loyal and honest with the government and the Senate. If you don't know or aren't clear about something, honestly say you don't know or aren't clear. Don't fill in anything randomly—we will separately verify all this information. If any problems are discovered, you will both be held responsible. Understand?!"
Both hastily nodded in agreement. The investigation began with examining their three generations of ancestry.
Zeng Juan came from a family of modest urbanites. For generations, his family had been in the incense and candle business. Though the candle workshop was small, it had been operating for several generations—a well-established "old brand." They were the type of cautious commoners who feared a falling leaf might strike their heads, naturally with no history of crimes or misdemeanors.
When the investigation turned to Yuan Shuzhi, he seemed somewhat nervous. This old Yuan was not a native-born "Guangzhou person." His ancestral family had originally farmed in the countryside of Nanhai County, with some land holdings. Yuan Shuzhi's childhood had been quite comfortable. Unfortunately, his grandfather fell seriously ill in later years, bedridden for many years. To pay for treatment, much of the family's land was pawned and sold. After his death, to hold a dignified funeral befitting filial devotion, Yuan Shuzhi's father and two uncles pawned and sold additional family land to give the grandfather a grand burial. After the funeral, the family had fallen into decline. Yuan Shuzhi's father could only move to the city to learn a trade, working as a shop assistant. From then on, they settled in the city and became "urbanites."
As for what happened after that, Yuan Shuzhi didn't dare go into excessive detail, because he had once been processed by the police station for theft. Fortunately, his parents had passed away years ago, so he fabricated some details to get through.
After questioning the three generations, they investigated "family members," "financial situation," "social relationships"... questioning every detail. For some sections, they even required the names and addresses of "witnesses." This made both of them anxious—what was all this for?
Only after the entire questioning was complete did they have them sign and stamp their personal seals on the back of the review form, indicating full acknowledgment of the form's contents.
The cadres stored away the forms, then took out a notebook and asked Zeng Juan: "Do you know Wu Ming?"
"Yes, yes." Zeng Juan nodded hurriedly. "He was my senior at the academy."
"Very familiar? Are you friends?"
"Friends might be too strong a word—after all, he's much older than us. But he's been very friendly and helpful to us juniors."
The cadre asked several more questions, mostly about Wu Ming's background and social connections. Some questions were quite personally detailed. Zeng Juan secretly worried—what had happened to Senior Wu? Had he just passed the examination only to attract the Australians' suspicion? Though concerned for him in his heart, he didn't dare show it on his face, following the principle of saying what he knew and saying he didn't know what he didn't know.
"Very good," the cadre said. "Don't worry, this is our standard political review procedure. It's not that we distrust or suspect anyone. To prevent bad elements from infiltrating our ranks, we must strictly examine people at the point of entry."
Both hastily voiced agreement that the Senate was wise and such examination was absolutely necessary.
"Go for your physical examination tomorrow." The cadre filled in a date on the physical examination notice and stamped it.
The next day, Zeng Juan and Yuan Shuzhi set out together from the city, heading toward the Big World. Their destination was the Guangzhou Health Clinic, temporarily located in the Big World—Lin Motian's Guangzhou Medical School Affiliated Hospital was still in preparation, so this served as a temporary facility.
It was currently the New Year period according to the new calendar. Few people were on the streets. The two walked at a leisurely pace, exiting through the Great East Gate toward the Big World.
They had long heard about Australian medicine: some said Australian doctors were divine healers whose remedies cured all ailments; others said these Australian physicians were no different from butchers, constantly wielding knives. However, their medical skills were indeed immediately effective. Only the consultation and medicine prices were expensive, beyond what ordinary people could afford. Unable to discern truth from rumor, the two could only wait until the examination day to experience it for themselves.
The health clinic only occupied a dozen or so rooms of various sizes in the Big World. With several dozen examinees arriving, it felt somewhat crowded. Lin Motian was on site overseeing operations, directing the seconded health police to maintain order.
"Look, these are the Australian doctors..."
"Why are there women too?"
"These are the ones who assist the patients and help the doctors—they're called 'nurses'..."
"They're all quite pretty, and those skirts are nice too!"
"Australian women's clothing is most captivating... Heavens, I'm having impure thoughts again."
This physical examination was organized by Lin Motian, with all physicians being interns from Lingao. They lacked experience as independent practitioners, but were more than capable of conducting basic physical examinations. Moreover, the health department's testing equipment was rudimentary, with examinations mainly consisting of palpation, auscultation, and visual observation.
The examination's main purpose was to screen out those with infectious diseases and venereal diseases. Unfortunately, both types of diseases were extremely widespread at the time. Tuberculosis was strongly correlated with malnutrition and proved very common among the lower classes. As for venereal diseases, Guangzhou was the earliest point of entry for syphilis, and infection rates ran quite high.
Lin Motian observed these prospective civil servants—old and young, dressed in various styles—gathering in groups of twos and threes, evaluating the health clinic and the doctors and nurses, completely ignoring the large character for "Quiet" on the wall. He frowned slightly and ordered:
"Shi Jiemei, take some people to guide them through the physical examination!"
This Shi Jiemei was a senior nurse in the health department who had served as head nurse in Sanya for many years. She had been transferred to Guangzhou to serve as chief nurse of the newly established Medical School Affiliated Hospital.
She had no patience whatsoever for these newly recruited native cadres. Looking at the chattering natives making a scene, she erupted: "What are you doing?! What are you doing?! Do you think this is a vegetable market? You're supposedly newly recruited civil servants—can't you stop acting like country bumpkins gawking at Australian sights?!"
Most of these people did care about face. Being scolded by a woman made them all feel humiliated, yet they dared not protest, so they could only quiet down and wait for the examination.
Only then did Shi Jiemei assign work: "Little Liu, take this group to internal medicine! Little Niu, take these few to dermatology..."
Yuan Shuzhi and Zeng Juan first underwent several simple procedures—height, weight, blood pressure, and such. This made Yuan Shuzhi feel strange, as if he were a pig about to be slaughtered: first weighed, then—chop...
The vision test became quite challenging. Teaching this group of "country bumpkins" to point in different directions for the letter E proved difficult for everyone. However, this examination came with a benefit: those with nearsightedness were each given a pair of Australian black-framed glasses, made with tortoiseshell frames—the standard Great Song cadre style.
"Come back in three days with this slip to pick up your glasses!"
Since the Australians arrived, glasses were no longer a rarity. But for ordinary scholars, they remained too expensive. Yuan Shuzhi was also nearsighted. After receiving his glasses slip, he cherished it dearly, thinking that the Senate was truly wonderful to have such benefits!
When it came to the internal medicine examination, some native cadres made a fuss. The reason was that the examiner was a female doctor. Several native scholars, observing a young woman palpating the exposed bellies of men, felt the cropped-hairs must be utterly depraved—a woman openly touching so many men's bodies in broad daylight! As the saying went, men and women should not touch hands when passing objects. Even holding hands was taboo, let alone lying face-up having one's belly examined by a woman—utterly obscene! Some refused the internal medicine examination.
This made the female doctor quite displeased, but she said nothing, simply wearing an expression that said "I'm just quietly watching you fools."
That's when Head Nurse Shi began to roar: "You bunch of feudal remnants and reactionaries! I don't know how you infiltrated our cadre ranks. Our Senate has always advocated equality between men and women—State Councilor Ma said 'women can hold up half the sky.' The sister doctor examining you is exceptional—an outstanding medical graduate recognized by the Elders. If you don't want the examination, fine—don't become Great Song civil servants either."
These native pedants seemed to have grown accustomed to this formidable nurse's scolding. One by one, like pigs awaiting slaughter, they lined up and mounted the examination table as if approaching the executioner's block.
(End of Chapter)