<< Options open to the failed sage:
become a eunuch. this encourages other students. >>
Not necessarily. I believe becoming a eunuch was quite a sought after privelage in China, because it meant you got to work in the palaces of exarchs and other such luminaries without having to pass any exams first*. While this is an entirely plausible fate for a failed mandarin, it isn't a particularly terrible one since at least it means a regular salary and accomodation, not to mention the possibility of bribes etc. You would have to work as a servant and be treated like dirt whenever you left the palace (eunuchs were officially the lowest of all social castes - though even that may not be true in Kralorela) but you did get to be near important people and could potentially exert quite a bit of behind-the-scenes influence. Obviously, the latter tended to piss the Mandarins off, since they felt that influencing affairs of state was really their job.
Not only would men volunteer themselves or their sons for castration, they actually had to pay quite a bit for the privelage. Indeed, the doctor might then attempt to bribe you further by refusing to hand your severed goolies over - and you needed to be able to present them at your job interview.
Forward the impeccable Kralori Army!
Trotsky
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