According to historical records, there have been more than 800 civil and military champions in the history of China since the first liberal arts champion in the five years of Tang Wude. In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination subjects were varied, with more than 50 subjects, so the gold content of the champion was extremely high. Wu Zhuangyuan was born during the reign of Wu Zetian. His main subjects are weight bearing, equestrian and archery. The champion of Wu is far less than the champion of Wen, after all, the whole world wants to enter the official career.
Zheng Guan took the imperial examination at the age of thirty-one. With his brilliant and profound thoughts, he defeated his competitors, moved the examiner and became the champion of liberal arts. As the old saying goes, "thirty-year-old Ming Jing, fifty-year-old scholar" also shows how talented Zheng Guanying was. Five years later, Wu Zetian set up a martial arts exam in the world. At the age of 36, Zheng Guan beat the candidates of the same period and won the first place in martial arts. In the same year, he was promoted to a doctor.
I don't know why there are few records of Zheng Guan in later generations, even the year of birth and death, leaving only a good reputation as the top scholar in Wu Wen. Did he die of jealousy, or did he get tired of officialdom and choose to live in seclusion in the mountains, or did he have some mysterious mission to erase his life? These have become historical mysteries, and we can only expect more historical materials to be unearthed to solve them.