T/N: So sorry for the wait! It’s our busy season at work and it’s brutal this year.

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Inside the hall, fires burned brightly in their braziers.

Clad in crimson-purple robes, Chu Jiubian rose from within the ranks of the vassal kings, each wearing their ceremonial court robes, and strode to the center of the grand hall. He then ascended a single step, taking his place on the same raised platform as Qin Xiao.

Chu Jiubian turned to look out at the crowd of students below.

Students of every other subject had already begun their exams. Only the agriculture students remained sitting motionless in their seats, their gazes cast slightly downward, not daring to lift them.

Seated in the very first row was none other than Zhang Er, who was ranked third overall in the current standings.

Information regarding these students had long since been sent to the palace, so Chu Jiubian knew these people like he knew the back of his hand.

Take Zhang Er for example. This man was a commoner through and through, and his family could even be described as impoverished.

Yet he truly was a master farmer. His family’s land yielded the highest output each year, but the reason his family still went hungry was that back during his father’s generation, a wealthy elite surnamed Qiu, hailing from the county seat, had seized the vast majority of their family’s farmland and left them with a mere three or four mu of land.

It all began when Zhang Er’s father, taking advantage of the off-season, went to work as a day laborer in Lord Qiu’s estate.

Lord Qiu, knowing that the Zhang family were skilled farmers and that their land was fertile enough to yield a massive quantity of the finest grain each year, began to harbor malicious designs.

Taking advantage of Father Zhang’s illiteracy, he used what was said to be a short-term labor contract to trick him into affixing his thumbprint to several documents.

Those documents stated that the Zhang family had voluntarily surrendered their land to Lord Qiu, and had even agreed to cultivate his fields for oppressively meager wages.

This land was precisely that which had previously belonged to the Zhang family.

During the first year, Zhang Er’s father remained ignorant and diligently farmed alongside his family.

However, shortly after the crops were harvested, Lord Qiu suddenly arrived with a troop of guards and several donkey carts, and forcibly seized a vast quantity of the Zhang family’s grain.

The villagers dared not provoke the Qiu family,  yet neither could the head of the Zhang family allow his loved ones to be bullied in such a manner. So immediately after Lord Qiu departed, he took Zhang Er’s father and grandfather, along with some elders with status and capability, to the county seat.

The group then proceeded to the magistrate’s office to beat the drum and petition for justice.

Zhang Er’s father was given twenty strokes with a heavy plank, and only then was his group allowed an audience with the magistrate to present their petition.

The magistrate summoned Lord Qiu, and in the main hall, both sides took turns presenting their version of events.

Lord Qiu had in his possession a written contract bearing the thumbprint of Zhang Er’s father, which stated in plain terms that the land in question had been voluntarily gifted by the Zhang family to Lord Qiu, and that they had agreed to farm it for him on a long-term basis for very low wages.

As things stood, the most they could claim was that Lord Qiu had merely fallen behind on paying the Zhang family.

The terms were set down in black and white, and even if the county magistrate had wished to help the Zhang family, he would have been powerless to do so. But given that the magistrate was already in league with Lord Qiu, the matter was quietly glossed over, with the sole stipulation that Lord Qiu settle the wages owed to the Zhang family.

In a casual gesture, Lord Qiu handed over the wages, which amounted to only a few dozen coins.

Thus, in the end, the Zhang family received nothing more than those few dozen coins and twenty strokes of the plank.

In the eyes of the nobles and powerful elites, so-called justice and law amounted to nothing in the end.

This was not the first instance, and it was certainly not the last. The wealthy landowners throughout Great Ning had almost all risen through such means.

The common people found themselves with no one to turn to for help, and had no choice but to endure being exploited day in and day out.

Those like Zhang Er, however, who were both capable and ambitious, fared slightly better.

In a mere dozen or so years, he was accompanied by his older brother to farm, do odd jobs, and occasionally venture into the mountains to hunt, which allowed them to expand their previous three or four mu of land to its current size of seven mu. Then, after the Imperial Court instated the Imperial Examinations, he resolutely sold three mu of land to raise the necessary funds and embarked on his own journey to take the exams.

When news of his success in the exams reached the county seat some time ago, the aging county magistrate and Lord Qiu were both thrown into a panic.

Yet they dared not move against him in response. After all, back when the first round of Imperial Examinations began, officials from the palace had arrived to issue a dire warning: no one was permitted to lay a hand on these scholars, and the penalty for doing so would be an unmerciful execution.

They trampled the local community under their feet, yet when confronted with representatives from the palace, they naturally dared not breathe a word. All they could do was pray that those they had once oppressed would fail in their endeavor.

But the very thing they feared most became reality. Hadn’t this Zhang Er just climbed straight to the top?

Chu Jiubian didn’t send anyone to deal with Lord Qiu or the county magistrate.

In a matter such as this, it was better to allow Zhang Er to take his revenge personally.

And during the Palace Examination today, the questions Chu Jiubian posed to these agriculture students had much to do with such a topic.

He even used the same ‘land’ and the same ‘people.’

“All agriculture students, please step forward.” Chu Jiubian wore no expression on his face, his appearance distant and aloof, but his tone was somewhat gentler than usual.

These students were seeing Chu Jiubian for the first time, and with the knowledge that he was Grand Tutor Chu, the very man who had proposed these Imperial Examinations in the first place, they naturally felt a deep reverence toward him.

The dozen or so people stepped forward and came to a stop a few meters away from Chu Jiubian. All of them kept their heads lowered and didn’t dare look him directly in the face.

Behind them stood the sixty-five tables and chairs, along with the other students already answering their problems.

Built into the Palace Examinations was a procedure wherein the Emperor and high-ranking officials would verbally pose questions to the students, so everyone was mentally prepared and had also been privately informed.

From start to finish, these agriculture students had faced examinations conducted entirely in such a “question-and-answer” format, and were naturally very familiar with the procedure. As the first group to step forward, they managed to maintain a remarkably composed demeanor that belied their inner nervousness.

With the exception of the students, the eyes of everyone else within the hall fell upon those dozen or so able-bodied farmers.

Even wearing fine, proper attire, they looked nothing like high-ranking officials or the wealthy elite, nor even military officers. Their weathered skin and coarse, sun-bleached hair gave them an unmistakably rustic and weather-beaten look that was obvious at first glance.

Such were the lowly common folk.

Chu Jiubian: “For this round of the examinations, I will pose two questions for you.”

“The first question: what, in your view, constitutes the ‘people?’”

“The second question: what constitutes the ‘land?’”

He didn’t use any lofty language, and instead spoke in plain, easy-to-understand terms.

The students understood perfectly well, but weighed the matter inwardly, certain that the Grand Tutor was not seeking the most obvious of answers.

Zhang Er also furrowed his brow in thought.

Throughout the examination process, the questions asked by the examiners were all about the process of farming, such as cultivating crops and controlling disease in the plants. However, they also included supplementary questions such as “what would you do if your land was maliciously encroached upon?”

The supplementary questions didn’t give them many points, but Zhang Er had managed to figure out the trick of it.

He felt that Grand Tutor Chu might have been dropping hints to these agriculture students from the very beginning, and that they were to reflect upon the relationship between ordinary commoners like themselves and the wealthy landowners in regard to land.

At present, his suspicions were confirmed when he heard the two questions posed by the Grand Tutor.

He had long since formulated a plan for these two problems, but considering the previous problems given to the Classical Studies, Mathematics, and Criminal Justice students, he felt that he ought to present a more comprehensive response.

“I’ll give you an incense stick’s time to think. After that, you may present to me your answers,” said Chu Jiubian.

The students agreed in unison.

For the span of one incense stick’s time, the hall remained hushed, the silence broken only by the occasional rustle of fabric, the grinding of ink, and the turning of pages.

Chu Jiubian stood just where he was, his gaze sweeping down upon everyone present from on high.

Today’s Imperial Examination was not just for the purpose of elevating the names of these scholars. He also sought to convey to these powerful noble families and vassal kings that the ruler currently seated on the throne was no longer the incompetent Chengzong nor the ineffectual Yingzong, and that Bai Lihong and Qin Xiao were no longer as isolated and helpless as they had been when they first secured the throne.

At this moment in time, they possessed the capability and necessary capital to make enemies of these people.

They intended to put pressure on these powerful families and vassal kings, to bring them into close proximity and force them to action. Only when they were anxious would more mistakes be made.

Of course, if they were to truly take up arms and rebel, Chu Jiubian would get exactly what he wanted.

Qin Xiao rose from his seat and took a step toward Chu Jiubian, but didn’t close the distance between them.

The two of them stood nearly three meters apart, clad in identical deep crimson-purple robes. One appeared stern and imposing, while the other seemed detached and aloof.

Two steps behind them, Bai Lihong sat cutely on the Dragon Throne, his clear, bright eyes gazing out over the crowd below.

Minister of Revenue Su Sheng raised his eyes and suddenly felt disoriented as he took in this scene.

He thought back to that early morning with its ceaseless drizzle.

When the palace gates slowly parted, the long blades of the Imperial Guards rose and fell, and the heads of those two noble sons rolled across the ground.

Amidst the lingering scent of blood, he had stood along with the other officials below the long steps outside Fengtian Hall. And, as he gazed upward, he beheld a scene almost identical to the one before him now.

The only difference was that this time, Qin Xiao and Chu Jiubian were accompanied by the young Emperor and had their sharp edges on display ever so slightly. This was also their first true declaration of war against the noble families. 

And this time, Chu Jiubian and company were preparing to make their move.

Minister of Personnel Xiao Huaiguan swept his clouded gaze over the two figures standing atop the steps, then slowly looked away.

For a rare, fleeting moment, his mind was clear.

He recalled the conversation he’d had with Family Head Xiao Yao some time ago, when the other man had nearly killed himself to escape his addiction to mandala and impressed upon him how addictive the substance truly was.

But Xiao Huaiguan paid him no mind. He felt that he had little time left anyway, and after consuming the substance, he felt remarkably invigorated in comparison to his previous feeble and decrepit state.

But now…..

He looked toward Jiannan-wang, clad in his princely ceremonial robes. The young man sat with an upright posture, but he was even more frail than Anhuai-wang sitting beside him.

How could such frail shoulders bear the weight of the Xiao family’s future?

How could they possibly bear the weight of the entirety of Great Ning?

Xiao Huaiguan ponderously turned his gaze toward the young scholars once more, somewhat dazed.

Among those people, he seemed to see his younger self.

He had been just as high-spirited as them back then, clashing head-on against the young Wang Zhiyuan in the Imperial Court.

He and Wang Zhiyuan had been at odds, intent on crushing each other, but at some point that he couldn’t quite remember, they had deviated from their original goals.

But that wasn’t right either.

Perhaps, from the very beginning, they had been nothing like these students.

Their mouths spoke of the common people and the nation, but their hearts and eyes contained only themselves, as well as the families and glory at their backs.

His throat bobbed, and a tingling sensation slowly welled up in his chest.

His mind drifted again.

Xiao Huaiguan didn’t have the wherewithal to contemplate the matter further. Instead, he drew an unknown object from his sleeve and pushed it between his lips.

A peculiar taste diffused in his mouth, and he closed his eyes on a deep exhale.

An incense stick of time passed quickly, and as the first rays of dawn streamed from the horizon into the great hall, an agriculture student stepped half a pace forward and bowed, saying: “Answering Your Majesty and the Grand Tutor, this student is ready to answer.”

His voice broke the pervading hush once more.

Chu Jiubian nodded: “Please speak.”

The student was indeed well-prepared, and spoke eloquently: “This student is from the countryside, and possesses no understanding of grand principles. But this student understands that the millions upon millions of common people in Great Ning are all citizens of our nation.”

“And what they trod beneath their feet and hold in their hearts, what grows the food that fills their stomachs, is the land.”

This student was still somewhat nervous, his voice trembling as he spoke, but his delivery became smoother as he went on.

“Just as there are differences between the people, some high and some low, some good and some bad, so too does the land vary in quality. Good land…..”

He was most familiar with the land, after all, and thus chose it as his focal point. This was a clever move.

His words were plain-spoken and easy to understand, and although he tried his best to infuse his word choices with the air of a scholar, his speech still sounded “coarse” to the ears of these powerful, educated people.

Yet their hearts hung like heavy weights in their chests. They seemed to have understood something, but at the same time, they couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

This feeling only grew after the next dozen or so students took turns giving their answers.

Their expressions were solemn as they gazed upon these agriculture students, scarcely able to believe that before now, they had been nothing more than ordinary commoners who worked with their faces to the soil and their backs to the sky.

Although these people’s word choices might be disorganized and crude, the content of those words embodied simple, easy-to-understand principles.

Principles that those of them in the audience didn’t seem to have truly grasped.

For example, what that student said in the beginning: “Just as there are differences between the people, some high and some low, some good and some bad.” But while the land was easy to understand, people were not.

The land could be used to grow food in various ways for a bountiful harvest.

That was not the case for people.

Those with power and influence would only grow in power, but no matter how the common people strove upward, it remained exceedingly difficult for them to transcend the boundaries of class.

At last, Chu Jiubian turned his gaze toward Zhang Er, who had remained silent this entire time.

Zhang Er stepped forward at that moment and said: “Answering Your Majesty and My Lord. This student feels that the ‘people’ refers to himself, and that the ‘land’ is his very roots.”

Chu Jiubian raised an eyebrow.

The students who went first seemed to have been influenced by the first student, and trended toward placing a greater emphasis on topics such as farming methods.

For agriculture students, this couldn’t really be considered as going off-topic.

But these words from Zhang Er were something entirely different, and he could only wonder what this scholar who had scored third place overall in the Imperial Examinations would say next.

It was unknown if he had understood what Chu Jiubian was trying to tell them in the supplementary questions he posed during the previous rounds of the examination

As it turned out, Zhang Er had grasped it perfectly.

He began: “This student’s hometown is Zhangma Village in Anchang County, Sui’an Prefecture. My family comes from generations of farmers, rooted in the soil and seeking nothing more than basic sustenance. But during this student’s early childhood, his father was deceived by a local despot, Boss Qiu…..”

Zhang Er referred to himself in every sentence he uttered, but it was as he had said from the beginning – he was the ‘people,’ and the people were him.

And as he spoke of himself, was he not also speaking of the millions of common people just like him throughout Great Ning who were struggling to survive?

He claimed that the land was his roots, but that those roots had been maliciously severed and seized.

Almost everyone present had a claim to intelligence, so they naturally grasped the underlying meaning in his words.

This Zhang Er was not just speaking out to find justice for the wrongs committed against himself, but also as a voice of indignation on behalf of all the common people suffering in this world. This was exactly what Chu Jiubian and his faction had wanted to hear.

They sought to use the voices of the common people to initiate the process of redistributing the land.

Land was not only the very roots of the common people, but also one of the foundations propping up all of the wealthy and powerful families.

If these “roots” were returned to the common people, those noble families would suffer a devastating blow. But they nonetheless found themselves unable to resist this trend, because this was the will of the people.

Should the remarks delivered during today’s Palace Examination be spread outside, the common people would unite with unprecedented solidarity in order to reclaim what rightfully belonged to them.

At this moment, these powerful and influential people finally realized what they had failed to grasp earlier, a piece of common sense that should have already been engraved in their bones: never underestimate the common people.

While they spoke lofty words about the “hearts of the people,” they were much more concerned about their own reputations, and used this to seize the moral high ground while manipulating the common people into attacking their political enemies.

Now, they finally had a clear understanding of what their predecessors called the “common aspirations of the people.”

The common people possessed ideals and aspirations just the same as everyone else. They were living, breathing human beings made of flesh and blood, just like these privileged elites!

They too would rise up in pursuit of their own interests.

The looks everyone sent toward Chu Jiubian grew increasingly deep and complex, with a hint of awe.

This was the mind of a god. He never instilled the idea of “suppressing the powerful families” in the minds of the common people, but simply guided them step by step to decide for themselves who their enemies were.

Minister of War Lu Youwei lowered his eyes and clenched his fists tightly, the faint sense of urgency within him surging in intensity.

It was time to act.

Many others shared this opinion, including several of the vassal kings seated at the very front.

Huguang-wang and Dongjiang-wang wore solemn expressions.

They were different from these powerful noble families, in that they governed their own fiefdoms and understood very well how powerful the common people truly were.

But they saw clearly now that the standing of the Imperial Family in the hearts of the common people had begun to rise very noticeably. Once the content of today’s Palace Examination got out, the common people would hold the Imperial Court in even higher esteem and trust it even more.

This was truly unfavorable for the vassal kings.

It was no longer possible for them to stand by while the Imperial Court won over the hearts of the common people. If things continued in this direction, they would never again have the opportunity to lay claim to that supreme Imperial Throne.

They wouldn’t even be able to hold onto their positions as vassal kings.

Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao didn’t seem like magnanimous people who would tolerate the continued existence of the vassal kings, and would inevitably find a way to move against them.

In that case, they ought to quickly devise their own plans.

Of course, the expression of Minister of Justice Qiu Heng was even grimmer than those of these outsiders.

The “Boss Qiu” whom Zhang Er spoke of was a member of his own clan. Although they had long since become so distantly related that they were practically strangers, they still fell within the scope of the same family.

Although the other party’s actions didn’t involve the branch of the Qiu family in the capital, if Qin Xiao and Chu Jiubian were to grasp this opportunity, their Qiu family would be the first to stick their heads out! They would be punished as a warning to others!

The Qiu family had already lost their control over the waterway system, and if they were to be dragged down by this affair as well, losing more in the process…..

Qiu Heng’s brow furrowed.

They could no longer afford to wait. They must prepare in advance to completely sever ties with Chu Jiubian’s faction.

When he was done with his speech, Zhang Er bowed deeply and said: “This student has concluded his response.”

Chu Jiubian swept his gaze over the grim expressions in the audience, and the corners of his lips quirked up ever so slightly as he said: “Very good.”

Once the agriculture students retook their seats, the needlework and medicine students submitted their work. Xiao Xiangzi and Xiao Yuzi placed them on trays and brought them for Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao to inspect first.

Qin Xiao paced over to Chu Jiubian’s side. Without needing to speak a word, the two of them worked in tandem to determine the rankings and place the works in the proper order.

Finally, Hong Fu handed these arranged trays up to Bai Lihong, letting him be the one to determine the final rankings.

The engineering and mathematics students soon finished their examinations as well, and their rankings were established.

After receiving the blueprint drawings from the engineering students, Chu Jiubian looked toward Yan Rui again.

Having been tasked with modifying the existing plow, he had actually designed a curved-shaft plow, demonstrating a truly extraordinary talent.

No wonder he and Situ Zhaoyao were already on such good terms. They really did seem to have a lot in common.

Next came the criminal justice students.

These students all came from well-off families, and were likewise educated.

The most eye-catching among them was a middle-aged man named Gu Fang. He was tall, slender, and bearded, and his refined and delicate features gave him the unmistakable air of a scholar.

But his eyes were exceptionally dark and keen, exuding a sense of pressure when looked at directly.

Chu Jiubian recalled that this man originated from Chuanxi Prefecture, and was the legitimate second son of a scholarly family residing in the fiefdom of Pingxi-wang Bai Lizheng.

He had an older brother above him and a younger brother below, yet he was the most favored son.

His family had urged him to serve under Bai Lizheng, which would benefit the clan greatly. But he stubbornly insisted on heading to the capital for the Imperial Examinations, to become a dignified official through his own merits and serve the common people.

Unable to stop him, his family members could only send a group of guards along with him.

This man had caused quite a stir when he first arrived in the capital.

And the answers he submitted were indeed to Qin Xiao and Chu Jiubian’s liking.

The law must be applied harshly in times of turmoil. Although the current times didn’t quite qualify as such, petty crooks prowled the streets and the powerful and privileged ran rampant. Thus, only the harshest measures could compel these individuals to behave.

Among the other students’ papers, there were no objections to how the mandala case was handled, and it was unanimously agreed upon that Qin Xiao had every right to simply cut down the offenders.

But this was only because the “correct answer” had already been established. Therefore, in order to avoid offending Qin Xiao, the students had no choice but to answer in such a way, even if some among them might actually believe that Qin Xiao had gone too far.

And when faced with the question of how to handle corrupt officials, the other students gave fairly conservative answers.

The sole exception was Gu Fang, who despite his mild-mannered and easygoing appearance, arrived at the conclusion that “the law does not discriminate, and corrupt officials all deserve to be executed.”

Qin Xiao looked toward the assembled students and asked: “Where is Scholar Gu?”

Hearing this, Gu Fang rose to his feet.

His seat was in the third row, and he bowed toward the front from a distance: “This student is here.”

Holding the exam paper, Qin Xiao asked: “This lord sees that you’ve written ‘the law does not discriminate.’ What should be done if a member of your own family commits a capital offense?”

Gu Fang said: “It should be handled impartially.”

He then added: “Rest assured, this student will keep his household in check and ensure that they don’t stir up trouble.”

His demeanor was solemn, and he didn’t seem to be speaking casually.

Qin Xiao swept his gaze over everyone present, then asked with a smile: “Then if the noble families, officials, and vassal kings within the court secretly harbor rebellious intentions, what should be done with them?”

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat when they heard this.

They had only just begun contemplating rebellion, and Qin Xiao calling them out directly made them uneasy.

Gu Fang didn’t hesitate in the slightest: “Kill them without mercy.”

“Good.” Qin Xiao handed the exam paper to Hong Fu and instructed him to deliver it to Bai Lihong.

Such words from Gu Fang caused everyone to send him sidelong glances.

Zhen Mingzhao, the Minister of Dali Temple, as well as his son, Deputy Minister Zhen Fu, looked upon him with even more complexity in their gazes.

Ever since Chu Jiubian established ‘criminal justice’ as one of the examination subjects, they knew full well that it was aimed at their Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice.

This Gu Fang’s words were simply radical, and he was likely the kind of person with incorruptible integrity.

If this man truly intended to interfere in criminal justice matters, this father and son would certainly find their hands tied at every turn.

Minister Zhen couldn’t help but look toward Minister of Revenue Su Sheng, his father-in-law, who was sitting up front.

The Zhen family had long been inextricably linked to the Su family, and everything came down to what path they chose to take from today onward.

Once Gu Fang finished his response and took his seat, only the students in the classics discipline remained.

Their task was a simple economic development question, and the students submitted their answers quickly, handing in their exam papers as soon as Gu Fang sat down.

Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao read through them swiftly and discovered that the thoughts of these scholars were quite profound, with quite a bit of insight into the “mind of the emperor.”

There were fifteen of them in total, and not a single one of them kept their answer confined solely to the topic of economic development.

Instead, they supplemented the ‘economy’ with the current state of Great Ning, not only posing suggestions for economic growth, but describing the changes that would take place in Great Ning once that growth was achieved.

Each of their answers was very satisfactory.

But as expected, the most outstanding among them were the two great scholars Tan Ji and Yan Jinsheng, as well as the previously top-ranked Lu Yao and Tan Yuzhu.

The two great scholars answered in great detail, and the methods they proposed were highly feasible.

Yet Tan Yuzhu’s mind was more agile, and just as in the previous rounds of exams, her perspective was consistently unique.

Everyone else was discussing Great Ning’s economic system and proposing ways to increase internal development, but Tan Yuzhu wrote about the opening of trade routes.

This aligned perfectly with Chu Jiubian’s own thoughts.

“Tan Yuzhu,” said Chu Jiubian. “Please answer one more question.”

This wasn’t the first time he and Qin Xiao had added supplementary questions, so Tan Yuzhu wasn’t surprised in the least to be called upon.

Everyone turned to look at the fair, graceful woman as she rose calmly to her feet. She bowed deeply and said: “This student is here. Please state your question, My Lord.”

Her voice was clear and bright, her posture straight and firm. Her face was entirely composed, not betraying a hint of stage fright.

Chu Jiubian: “If you were ordered to go to the northern frontier and engage in trade with the Jurchen tribes, how would you proceed?”

Tan Yuzhu’s heart moved.

With the Imperial Court in turmoil, war was certain to erupt.

Under these circumstances, border security was the most important matter of all. So the Grand Tutor was not merely presenting a hypothesis. He genuinely intended to trade with the Jurchens and maintain peace for the time being.

And if she answered well, this responsibility might just fall to her.

Tan Yuzhu’s eyes lit up, and she spoke after briefly gathering her thoughts: “This student would establish a chamber of commerce in a city on the northern border and sell domestic goods such as silk, porcelain, foodstuffs, and tea to the Jurchens. Then, the proceeds would be used to purchase from them furs, horses, ginseng…..”

“The common people too would be able to sell their wares at the marketplace during monthly trade days, and those with surplus funds may even purchase goods from the Jurchen citizens…..”

“In the future, tariffs can also be enforced to ensure a suitable trade environment.”

Tan Yuzhu spoke with confidence and composure, her words painting a clear picture of the Northeast’s flourishing development.

She also cut herself off, refraining from publicly disclosing the details of her methods.

Like this, no one would be able to contend with her if Grand Tutor Chu did end up handing this matter over to her.

Of course, she did leave one point unspoken, something that Qin Xiao, Chu Jiubian, and other members of the court understood very well.

The Jurchen tribes had not fully united at this point in time, and it would be no exaggeration to describe them as a mound of loose sand.

At this juncture, Great Ning engaging in trade with them would not only improve the border economy, but also accelerate their integration.

The culture of Great Ning would gradually permeate into the Jurchen tribes and transform them.

If things continued to develop along this path, the Jurchen tribes would feel a sense of affinity toward Great Ning, and when the time came, Great Ning would be able to assimilate them without sacrificing a single soldier.

The powerful figures able to grasp this point grew increasingly astonished at the capability of these students.

Especially since this one was a woman, and her ability to form such insights was far superior to some of the unruly young masters in their own households.

Even those officials who were proud of their own intelligence felt their cheeks grow warm as they gazed at that slender figure.

If they were to answer this question themselves, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to rival the answer this teenaged girl provided.

The vassal kings also began to formulate calculations of their own.

The Jurchen tribes were indeed a force they had previously overlooked. They were situated in the Northeast and blocked off by Northern Zhili, so it was difficult for the vassal kings to make contact with them under normal circumstances.

However, should something go wrong on the Jurchen side that proved the Northeast Army to be as “powerless and useless” as the Northwest Army before it, then the nearby Northern Zhili would have no choice but to dispatch Qin Xiao to the battlefield once again.

And then, the capital would be left empty.

When Qin Xiao personally led an expedition to the Northwest before, neither the vassal kings nor the noble families had considered moving against the capital. They were so intent on eliminating Qin Xiao that they missed the opportunity to take the capital undefended.

But if they were given another opportunity, whether or not Qin Xiao returned victorious once more, they would first launch an assault on the vulnerable capital.

With the armies of the vassal kings outside and the noble families collaborating with them from within, even if Chu Jiubian did possess heavenly abilities, there was no way he could contend with them all. It would be impressive enough if he was even able to preserve Bai Lihong’s life.

Huguang-wang Bai Liyue cast a profound look toward Dongjiang-wang Bai Lihe next to him.

Their eyes met, then parted simultaneously.

The two brothers had always been at odds, but at this moment, they seemed to have reached some sort of mutual understanding.

Standing atop the high platform, Qin Xiao and Chu Jiubian naturally took in the responses from everyone below.

Sure enough, there was a reaction.

But this was by no means the end.

Chu Jiubian looked toward the young man who had thus far remained quietly in his seat, and said: “Lu Zicheng.”

Lu Yao had already made his preparations, and rose before bowing: “This student is here.”

“This official saw that you touched upon the national policies of Great Ning in your examination paper, but didn’t elaborate upon them,” Chu Jiubian said. “This is likely due to time constraints and limited paper, but this official is rather curious to hear your thoughts on the matter. Please elaborate on a detail or two.”

Lu Yao’s exam paper was eloquent and voluminous.

Chu Jiubian had asked him to address economic matters, but instead of limiting his focus, he had branched off into many issues that needed to be addressed across various domains, integrating all of these concepts into a cohesive whole.

For example, he extended his discussion of the economy into the livelihoods of the common people, then to land, to tax policy, and to the noble families and the governance of the Imperial Court. He also touched upon the policy of keeping the common people ignorant, reforms to the Imperial Examination system, and finally turned back to education, national policy, and similar topics.

It could be said that he included everything from politics and the economy to culture and technology.

It was only due to the time constraint that these passages were so brief, but even so, it was enough to allow a glimpse into the deep ravines of his heart.

Even Chu Jiubian, who had already known of his abilities, was taken aback.

If Chu Jiubian hadn’t already seen the prosperity of later generations and witnessed the rise and fall of history, he never could have imagined that someone was capable of such advanced and expansive thinking.

Lu Yao was someone with exceptional talent.

If this was a different setting, such a person would definitely be a protagonist who was capable of altering the entire course of the dynasty’s future!

If Chu Jiubian was astonished, then Qin Xiao, who wasn’t entirely familiar with Lu Yao’s ability, was even more so.

Qin Xiao gazed at the exam paper with a slight furrow to his brow, and read through the entire policy essay again.

With its literary flair and refined word choice, this was an essay that could be read and appreciated many times over. Were it to be published, it could be imagined how the scholars of the world would react.

Even these court officials had realized just what kind of monster Qin Xiao and Chu Jiubian had unleashed during these Imperial Examinations.

But it wasn’t entirely Lu Yao’s intellect that stunned Qin Xiao so. It was the fact that so many of the viewpoints and developmental strategies discussed in this policy essay were almost identical to those Chu Jiubian had raised to him at one point or another!

Chu Jiubian was dead set on fairness during these examinations, so Qin Xiao didn’t believe that he would have leaked the exam question to Lu Yao.

While he was amazed by the insight Lu Yao possessed at such a young age, he was even more impressed by how exceptional Chu Jiubian truly was.

This was for one simple reason – compared to what Lu Yao had written in his policy essay, the concepts Chu Jiubian had conveyed to them during their conversations were even richer and more advanced.

Although Chu Jiubian always claimed that his unique ideas and insights were all things he had observed in the immortal realm, it was his ability to integrate these concepts with Great Ning’s current state and devise a flawless plan of development that was his greatest strength.

Qin Xiao handed the essay to Hong Fu and instructed him to deliver it to Bai Lihong.

Bai Lihong had reviewed Lu Yao’s paper from the previous exam, and felt that this person wrote exceptionally well.

When he was handed this new exam paper now, he immediately set about reading it.

But Lu Yao had already begun to answer Xiansheng’s question down below, and Bai Lihong was unable to spare a thought for the essay as he pricked up his ears to listen to what Lu Yao had to say.

Lu Yao had already prepared a mental draft of the full essay as he was writing it, having anticipated that Chu Jiubian would call upon him. 

He needed to demonstrate his ability today, not just to elevate his own name and have a better chance of entering officialdom in the future, nor to deter these powerful figures and vassal kings, but to ensure that his words would influence the common people of Great Ning.

So what he needed now was not subtlety, but to aim the point of his sword directly at those powerful figures and vassal kings.

Thus, under the eyes of the crowd, he spoke: “The economic development of Great Ning is fraught with flaws from top to bottom. This student believes that this is generally due to land taxation, and even more so the scourge of the noble families annexing the land!”

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T/N: I would not do well in an exam that requires public speaking. What a nightmare!

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Chapter 83 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 85