The winter sun broke through the clouds and the morning mist gradually dissipated.
On the eighth day of October, the only imperial examination in the history of the Wu Dynasty with a scale of 180,000 participants officially kicked off.
On top of the giant Buddha statue in Hanling Temple, Fu Xiaoguan and Fan Tianning looked down at the sea of examinees below and said with a smile, "You see, no one is omnipotent. If I had anticipated this scenario earlier, I would have held the exam simultaneously in all states."
Fan Tianning's eyes were full of shock!
Firstly, the sheer number of students taking the exam simultaneously was unprecedented. Secondly, Fu Xiaoguan had so easily abolished the five-hundred-year-old recommendation system and truly achieved a system whereby officials were recruited solely through the imperial examination system!
The Fan State also relied mainly on recommendations from aristocratic families. His father, the current emperor of the Fan State, was well aware of the drawbacks and had even mentioned several times the need to reform the imperial examination system. However, his father was now in his old age, and he still could not get rid of this bad habit.
The reason for this is, of course, the huge resistance in the court - this will cut off the interests of those aristocratic families and even their foundation!
They will inevitably resist strongly, and even civil unrest is very likely to occur.
But what about the Wu Dynasty?
Nothing happened!
Even the seven thousand-year-old sects of the Wu Dynasty mentioned by my father might give the little emperor Fu Xiaoguan a hard time. What did he drink?
He did not resort to violence against the Seven Sects, but three of them have now left, two have directly surrendered to him, and one, the Han clan, is still struggling to survive.
Compared with the Sima family, the Wang family and the weavings imported from the Yu Dynasty, the Han family's weavings were like dead leaves in the autumn wind, and it was only a matter of time before they were swept into the dust.
"I still remember that spring two years ago, when you were still Fu Xiaoguan,"
Fu Xiaoguan turned around and glared at Fan Tianning: "I am also Fu Xiaoguan now!"
"No!" Fan Tianning shook his head firmly. "You are now Emperor Dezong! Two years ago in the spring, we were also in this square. You won the first prize in the Three-Day Literary Contest. At that time, I admired your literary talent very much, and now..."
Fan Tianning laughed at himself: "In fact, everyone in the world has been deceived by you. What you are really good at is not poetry and prose, but the way to govern the country!"
"It hasn't even been a year since I ascended the throne! It hasn't even been a year yet! The Wu Dynasty is changing rapidly."
"This time I came here via the Wu Dynasty's Five Western Provinces. The road from Hexi Province to Guanyun City is about to be opened. I originally thought that even after the roads to the Five Western Provinces and the Six Northern Xiao Provinces were all opened, these two most impoverished provinces of the Wu Dynasty would not change much, because these two places are too poor, and you don't have so many talented people available."
"I thought your focus should be on the Southern Seven States, the Southern Cang Eight States, the six northeastern provinces, and even the Chi Lechuan Autonomous Region. But now it seems I was wrong. You want the Wu Dynasty to flourish in all directions."
Fan Tianning pointed to the 180,000 students below. Among these students, there were people ranging from fifteen or sixteen years old to fifty or sixty years old.
"You gave them hope! Even if you failed the entrance exam, you've already inspired students across the country to study. From now on, the Wu Dynasty will flourish in literature! This is infinitely better than the literary gathering Emperor Wen once held."
Fu Xiaoguan touched his nose and felt very embarrassed... How could I have thought so much?
People who make up stories with their imaginations are so scary!
"By the way, where did that little monk go? Why didn't he come with you this time?"
"Ku Chan? He went to the Chi Le Chuan Autonomous Region last year. He did send me a few letters."
Fu Xiaoguan was a little surprised, "Why didn't he come to see me when he went there last year?"
Fan Tianning smiled and said, "He was originally going to Yuxiu City to look for you, but he got lost and ran to Green Flag Province. You can't guess who he met in Green Flag Province."
"who?"
"Peng Yuyan!"
"..." Fu Xiaoguan widened his eyes. Why was the wife of Yu Chunqiu, the general of the Southern Frontier Army, going to Green Flag State?
"Ku Chan said in the letter that Peng Yuyan was extremely disappointed with Emperor Xuan... It was that incident where Emperor Xuan intended to kill you. Madam Peng is quite remarkable. She left General Yu and went to Jinling, taking her three children with her to the Chi Le Chuan Autonomous Region. She also stumbled upon Green Banner Prefecture and happened to encounter a tribe called the Wanyan clan."
"She saved the Wanyan tribe. Ku Chan said that on the day he arrived, the remnants of the barbarian army were trying to rob the tribe's cattle and sheep. Madam Peng, along with her two sons, three of them, killed sixty of the barbarian soldiers."
"That's it. They stayed in that tribe, and Ku Chan thought about it and decided to stay there as well to preach. That's basically it."
Fu Xiaoguan let out a long sigh. Mrs. Peng is definitely a talented person!
Her attainments in both civil and military strategy are extremely high. If such a person could be used by oneself...
"Don't try to target Madam Peng. She's unlikely to return. However... Ku Chan says her two sons are both top-tier second-rate masters, well-versed in military tactics and highly skilled in military strategy," Fan Tianning said, looking at Fu Xiaoguan and smiling. "You could try to target her sons."
"Hehe." Fu Xiaoguan's eyes were curved with joy. The Wu Dynasty's military had expanded too much, and he needed a large number of generals!
"Ku Chan is begging for alms in Green Banner Province. The last letter he wrote to me was in August. He said that if he could beg for alms for another two years, he would be able to build the first temple in Green Banner Province. I wanted to give him some financial support, but he refused, and the Imperial Master also rejected my offer."
"By the way, last year a middle-aged monk came to Nalanda Monastery. His Buddhist name was Master Biqi, and he spoke with a Wu Dynasty accent. He was a bit strange, and I didn't see him having a deep understanding of Buddhism. But lately, my father has been visiting Nalanda Monastery frequently, and he would chat with Master Biqi for a long time."
Fu Xiaoguan didn't take it seriously. "Old people always seek psychological support. The Fan Kingdom originally advocated Buddhism. Your father went to chat with a monk of similar age, perhaps to relieve the depression of the past."
"Perhaps... Your Majesty, when can you visit the Kingdom of Fan?"
"Actually, I really want to go. There's a manor in your Fan Kingdom that my father once bought, and I don't even know what it looks like." Fu Xiaoguan took a deep breath and looked out the window. "Hey... you've seen the situation now. How can I leave?"
"Reform and opening up has just begun, and there's still a long way to go to establish a market economy. Next, we'll have to officially open international trade with each other, and draft various legal provisions... I won't hide it from you, I'm planning to go overseas next year. Tell me, how can I find the time to go to Fan Country?"
"I'll probably have to wait until the first five-year plan is completed before I'll have some free time."
"Well, okay..." Fan Tianning did not mention that he would marry Xue Yuyan, the fifth daughter of the Xue family, in March next year.
After the marriage, he will be granted the title of prince, and now he has heard that his fiefdom is very likely to be in Yunzhou of Fan State - across the river from Hexizhou, one of the five states in the western region of Wu Dynasty!
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