Chapter 172: Chaos in Xiaocheng (Part 12) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Shen Tang was skeptical: "Family background can be verified by checking ancestral origins and genealogy, literary talent can be assessed by examining literary signatures, and 'talent' can be tested with questions, but 'character' is too subjective. Everyone's values are slightly different, and the same thing done by the same person can be evaluated in two extreme ways by different people. I don't know of any assessment method that can even measure this..."
This selection method has serious problems.
The "moral character" category is obviously a loophole.
Talent can be judged by one's own abilities, but character can be judged by the examiner.
On the surface, it waving the banner of "fairness and justice," but those who implement it are not saints; anyone who isn't perfect can be exploited. When there's a benefit, who wouldn't prioritize their own people?
Relying on blood ties, working together and forming cliques, the small group will naturally grow larger and larger, and their position in the court will become more and more secure.
Human nature is greedy, and desires can expand infinitely.
The higher one's status and the greater one's power, the higher one's desires become. From the initial "it would be good to enter officialdom," it evolves into "it would be good to climb higher," then to "it would be good to reach the highest position in the court," and finally to "it would be good to have endless wealth and honor for one's descendants." The appetite will only grow bigger and bigger.
Just imagining that scene makes me think the imperial court is doomed.
As expected, the Xin Kingdom was finished.
Qi Shan: "There is a path to the mountain of books, and diligence is the way; the sea of learning is boundless, and hard work is the boat." This saying should be very familiar to Young Master Shen.
Shen Tang nodded.
She was certainly familiar with it.
Five out of ten slogans on the blackboards in school classrooms are like this. The motto is: study until you drop, or you'll die. Shen Tang's memories of school before she went to school tell her intuitively that it was incredibly boring.
"Then what?"
Shen Tang asked.
Suddenly, he thought of the fantastical setting of this world that disregarded science, and his lips twitched slightly: "Could it be—that there really are mountains of books and seas of knowledge?"
Qi Shan nodded.
Shen Tang: "..."
Why are nomination slots so precious?
Because it is not only a ticket for scholars in white robes to enter officialdom, but also a precious opportunity to enter the "sacred land of mountains and seas".
It is no exaggeration to say that it is a sacred place in the hearts of every literary scholar; with good luck, one can even undergo a complete transformation.
Qi Shan: "Otherwise, why would the Imperial Seal be so important?"
Shen Tang: "..."
The Imperial Seal is involved in all of this??
Not only do they exist, but they are also very closely connected.
As previously mentioned, the Imperial Seal was made from fragments of the Thief Star.
Each fragment of the Thief Star contains a vast and profound incantation; even the king can only excavate and copy a portion of it.
How do we get the rest out?
Naturally, it was brought out from the "Sacred Land of Mountains and Seas"!
"Under normal circumstances, a person can only enter once in their lifetime!"
Shen Tang complained, "Normally, this is for ordinary people. Those guys with cheat codes can definitely go more than once!"
Qi Shan said, "More or less, for example, Chu Wuhui."
Shen Tang: "...???"
Qi Shan explained: "A person who has entered the 'Mountain and Sea Sacred Land' will have a special mark appear on their literary monogram. With this mark, they cannot enter a second time. Their literary heart is condensed a second time, and their literary monogram is clean, so they can go again."
That's the theoretical point.
If Chu Wuhui were willing to swallow his pride...
Shen Tang: "...So, the more people, the better."
It turns out the cheater was right next to her!
"Not exactly. Opening the 'Mountain and Sea Sacred Land' consumes a lot of national fortune each time, and the more people enter, the more national fortune is needed."
Shen Tang muttered to himself inwardly—
Goodness, you have to pay an entrance fee to get in.
It wasn't free; my attempt to get it for free failed.
Shen Tang stroked her chin, curious: "Yuan Liang, what does this 'Mountain and Sea Sacred Land' you mentioned look like? Countless mountains? A vast sea?"
How are students assessed upon admission?
Hiking in the morning and swimming in the afternoon?
Do we need to bring a lot of blank paper to copy things when we go in?
Qi Shan's vision blurred for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the prefect, who was looking down, seemingly lost in thought. She pursed her lips and said, "The Holy Land has two gates, one leading to the 'Mountain of Books,' and the other to the 'Sea of Learning.' The 'Mountain of Books' stretches endlessly, and it's said to number over a thousand..."
Shen Tang was startled: "More than a thousand?"
so much?
Qi Shan continued, “Each mountaintop has a huge plaque hanging high, inscribed with either ‘Confucianism,’ ‘Legalism,’ ‘Taoism,’ or ‘Mohism’… The mountains vary in size, and most are shrouded in black and white ink, so no one knows exactly how tall they are…”
Only where predecessors have trod will the black and white aura that shrouds that place dissipate. Every blade of grass, every tree, every flower, and even the soil underfoot and the pebbles by the roadside are composed of spirit words, and the energy of heaven and earth is so dense that it turns into mist.
Every breath is a cleansing.
The higher you climb the mountain of books, the richer the energy of heaven and earth becomes.
There are too many secrets in the "Mountain and Sea Sacred Land". Even though more than two hundred years have passed and countless scholars and writers have set foot here, most of the "Book Mountains" still do not have the plaques floating on the top of the mountain lit up.
As for the "sea of learning"...
Qi Shan: "That is an ocean of words and spirits, and scholars who enter it must endure the impact of these waves. Each impact is a different 'sandbox battlefield.' Victory allows one to remain and continue battling the waves, while defeat results in expulsion. There's an interesting legend about the 'Sea of Learning,' supposedly that someone once battled the waves 66 times in a row..."
For the average student, being able to answer 12 questions is considered passing.
More than 20 is considered excellent...
Before the 66-question mark was set, the highest record was 36 questions.
That guy essentially doubled his record in one go.
It wasn't that he was particularly strong, but rather that he had incredible luck. As soon as he entered the "sea of learning," he discovered a new literary masterpiece—"There will be times when the wind and waves will be broken, and the sails will be hoisted to cross the vast ocean"—directly transforming into a ship in the "sea of learning," setting sail and riding the wind and waves.
The other scholars were either floundering in the water or being tossed about by the waves of the "sea of learning"... It's a classic case of how comparing yourself to others can be incredibly frustrating.
Shen Tang summarized thoughtfully.
"So, 'the mountain of books' is suitable for those who are methodical and steady, while 'the sea of learning' is for gamblers who want to take a chance and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle?"
When luck comes, nothing can stop it.
Braving 66 waves, we won the crown of the most turbulent.
Qi Shan said, "This is only on the surface."
The mountain of books looks stable and safe, but what is it actually like?
His expression was surprisingly calm.
"When we entered the Mountain of Books, I was with Yuanliang, but Yuanliang believed this fellow's sweet talk and was tricked into going to a secret place that no one had ever set foot in before. The three of us were trapped there, and this fellow used us as sacrifices to break the Gate of Death, and he escaped through the Gate of Life... That's when Yuanliang died. He gave me his only chance of survival, and he himself froze to death in the wind and snow..."
The prefect secretly clenched his fist.
Qi Shan said, "I can't even bear to think about it now—how a living person could die in the midst of a raging snowstorm, their body stiff as ice, impossible to warm no matter how hard you try... And all of this, Yan Cheng, do you dare say you didn't know? That was just an accident?"
|ω)
Damn it, Sogou is ripping me off again...
P.S.: I mistyped the line "There will be times when the wind and waves will break" without realizing it. My bad, it's been corrected.
P.S.: A little-known fact that might not seem very useful: there were actually about a thousand schools of thought during the Hundred Schools of Thought period...
(End of this chapter)
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