Chapter 95
The next imperial examination? Do we have to wait that long?
The system loves to watch the fun and has been following the follow-up of the fifth prince's complaint. It was really puzzled when it saw this and wanted the host to explain it to it.
However, at this time, Chu Huan was studying with Shang Lu, and she was completely focused. She didn't even have time to appreciate the beauty's face, so how could she be distracted by these trivial matters?
The system could only suppress its curiosity and desire to complain, and waited until the class tonight was over and Chu Huan got on the carriage to go home, and then it recounted the whole process of the complaint.
The system stated its doubts and confusions in order: [I thought it was Shuntian Prefecture Governor and the other two who were trying to take advantage of you and me, but I didn't expect it was someone else.]
Chu Hua: [These three are the top bosses in their respective departments. The only cases that come to them are extremely difficult or urgent. They only come to you when they can't solve the problem themselves. Otherwise, don't they have any dignity?]
They also wanted to build a good relationship with me so they could work for their department in the future. They wouldn't bring up cases that their subordinates could solve to upset me.
The system originally thought that Chu Huan was working hard and was unaware of the situation, but it turned out that her words sounded like she knew the inside story very well?
[Then why are you still helping out? ]
Chu Huan smiled. The system had a cheat that allowed it to eat melons and gather intelligence. However, it didn't really understand humans very well.
"Tong'er, one person gets angry and makes a big deal out of things the moment they see something wrong, while the other person gets tired of it after working for a while and then quits. Which one do you think you would feel better about?"
The system responded without hesitation: [It must be the latter!]
It reacted and decided to stop doing both things. The end result was the same, but the impact was different.
The former will make people think you're impatient. If anyone dares to wrong you, you'll poke a hole in the sky to make a scene. If the emperor ever wants to assign you a mission, he might even worry that your personality will cause the mission to fail.
Although this incident was caused by the three of Shuntian Prefecture's negligence, allowing their subordinates to mix up a simple case, if you make a big deal out of it, they will be embarrassed and will inadvertently offend others. If they make things difficult for you in the future, it will be very troublesome.
[The latter can show that you have the intention to help and cover up, but their actions are too extreme and you can't stand it anymore, so you don't want to do it anymore.]
[But...] The system hesitated, feeling hesitant. [The Fifth Prince couldn't stand it anymore and helped you expose this to the Emperor. If he doesn't help, when are you going to quit?]
Chu Huan knew the system's concerns. Xiao Shatong thought she was plotting against the fifth prince, but this was purely a coincidence.
[It's just a matter of the past two days. If he doesn't help, we can still talk about it by eating melons.]
System: [Why these two days?]
Chu Huan reminded: [You came here around this time last year. What happened then?]
The system recalled that when it came, Chu Huan was disguised as a man to go to court in place of Chu Qin, and Chu Qin went to Jiangnan to investigate the embezzlement of disaster relief funds.
[Oh, I see! The rain hasn't been particularly abundant this year, and there have been reports of floods and dam breaches across the country. The national treasury has allocated a lot of money. If someone were to embezzle it at this time...]
The system chuckled, thinking that it would soon have something to eat from corruption. It was really tired of eating murder and theft and wanted to change its taste.
However, it soon thought of another question: [The court officials all know my existence, which is simply the best weapon for confiscating property. Will they still be greedy? ]
Generally speaking, corruption is committed with the hope that it will not be discovered, or that there are people protecting them and it will be alright even if it is discovered.
As long as the melon-eating system 188 exists, corrupt officials can be found right away. Will those people risk losing their heads and having their property confiscated to engage in corruption again?
Chu Hua: [Even in the capital, only officials above the ninth rank know of your existence. Some of the petty officials below the ninth rank are unaware of your existence. Those inside and outside the capital who don't know have no concerns.]
There are always people who take risks for various reasons. Perhaps a family member is seriously ill and needs money, or they're just greedy for money, or they just want to make a quick buck and run. It's unstoppable.
The system is just a string of code data. It does not have human emotions and desires such as wine, sex, money and anger.
In its view, nothing is more important than life, but obviously in the eyes of many humans, money is worth risking their lives to pursue.
The system cannot understand, so choose to let it go and let yourself go.
Do you think that once news of corruption spreads, they'll be too busy to care about you?
Chu Hua: [That's partly the reason, but isn't it more that they rely on you to investigate corruption, so we don't waste our time and energy on minor cases that others can handle?]
The system suddenly realized: [Oh right! How could I have forgotten about this? ]
It's not that the system has a bad memory, it's just that it has been investigating murders, thefts, and accidents for the past three months, and it almost turned itself into a criminal system. It almost forgot that it can also investigate corruption.
The system thought: Investigating corruption is not my job.
This question was temporarily resolved, and it immediately threw out the second one: [The Second Prince looks like a good student, but I didn't expect him to be quite good at acting in front of his father.]
If it weren't for this incident, it would have almost forgotten that the second prince was a sinister person who was labeled as such by the system.
Chu Hua: [You knew he went to the palace to file a complaint on my behalf, so you assumed everything he said and did was just to achieve his goal. But he was actually trying to gain the Emperor's favor at the same time.]
The system thought it had seen through everything, but after hearing Chu Huan's words, it became a little unsure: [Besides being considerate to your father, being sensible, and complaining for you, are there any other ways to gain favor that I haven't noticed?]
Chu Huan explained: [He was awakened by a nightmare and got up to study, showing that he seized the opportunity to study diligently. He also proved that his efforts were effective by receiving praise from his teacher. The old master is the emperor's teacher. How could the emperor not be happy that his son has received the old master's approval?]
The Fifth Prince demonstrated his progress and change through his initial nightmares and subsequent habituation. He was only ten years old, so fear was normal. The Emperor was surprised that he was no longer afraid.
He complained on my behalf, seemingly doing it for my own good, but wasn't he actually showing the emperor that he and I were closer?
The entire system is numb.
It thought that the Fifth Prince was just a little bit sinister, and after spending so much time with Chu Huan, they should have become friends.
After this analysis, how come it’s all calculations?
[The Fifth Prince is only ten years old, and a complaint can bring so many things to light. The people in the royal family are so scary!]
Chu Hua: [That's not necessarily true. This is just my personal analysis. Maybe I'm being a bit conspiratorial? Or maybe he didn't mean it?]
You can't deny that some people are born spoiled brats and complainers. Many of the things they say aren't intentional, but they can lead to consequences, some good, some bad, and some misunderstood.
I checked the system and found out, hey, it’s true.
Now that it has been exposed that it cannot detect the inner thoughts of others, all the royal officials in Dasheng are masters of confidentiality. No one will easily reveal their plans and plots to avoid being discovered by it.
As long as the Fifth Prince keeps his mouth shut, he won't know what he really thinks.
The system cursed inwardly at its scheming side, decisively giving up and moving on to the third question: [Why did the old tutor ask you to take the next imperial examination? You have to wait five years, which is too long.]
Chu Hua: [Not that long. Five years later, I'll be nineteen, and my brother will be twenty. I'll be the third place in the imperial examination. I'm still one year younger than him.]
[Also, the order of the imperial examinations is the academy examination, the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination. The academy examination is relatively easy to take, but the provincial examination is held every three years. If you have to take all of these examinations on time, you will definitely be too late to take the next imperial examination.]
Even taking part in the next imperial examination is a bit uncertain.
After all, she had a lot to learn and a lot to do, and she couldn't devote herself fully to the imperial examination.
The system looked through the information and found that it was true.
Chu Huan hasn't finished her studies yet, and if she is forced to leave in a hurry, there will probably be no good results. Moreover, Da Sheng does not allow women to take the imperial examinations now. She does not meet the internal and external conditions, so she can only wait.
But from another perspective, five years of preparation is sufficient time, and perhaps one can compete with those who have prepared for more than ten years.
System: [Come on, Sister Huan! We'll bring back the world's number one female scholar!]
Chu Huan was at a loss for words. This was too much of a compliment to her.
No matter how good her memory is, she can't catch up with others who have prepared for more than ten years or even decades in just five years and win the championship in one fell swoop.
But the system is so optimistic about her, and with the old Grand Tutor and the old Preceptor devoting themselves to teaching her, she cannot bring shame to the reputation of her two teachers.
Then let’s give it a try!
Having made up her mind, Chu Huan worked harder than ever before.
The Fifth Prince and Nangong Ling discovered that Chu Huan had become engrossed in her studies for some unknown reason, completing the homework assigned by the teacher at an excessively fast pace and exceeding the required amount. Whenever she had free time, she would look through materials such as "Three Years of Imperial Examinations and Five Years of Simulations" that she had originally prepared for Chu Qin.
That book was something that only people preparing to take the imperial examinations would read. For Nangong Ling, the fifth prince who was born into the royal family and could not take the imperial examinations, it was of no use at all and there was no need for him to waste time on it.
But with such a test-taker around them, who is always studying and reminding them of their relative laziness, they can only follow suit.
Chu Huan and Nangong Ling had not originally planned to take the imperial examination. They found it very strenuous to read and study everything, but with a spirit of "If men can do it, why can't I?" they refused to admit defeat, so they read, studied, and analyzed more, and were determined to take the exam.
The fifth prince was young and progressed slowly, so he had not learned many things. He was lucky enough to be able to answer one question on a test paper, but he did not want to lose to his two female study companions, so he had to grit his teeth and keep up.
The old Grand Tutor and the old Preceptor were happy to see this happen.
Chu Huan and Nangong Ling both have a certain foundation. It is a little early for them to learn this, but it is better to learn more than not to learn at all. These two old guys don’t know whether they can live to the next five years. They will teach as much as they can while they are still strong.
As for the fifth prince... he doesn't need to take the imperial examination, but the questions in the imperial examination are close to people's livelihood and reflect the current situation, so it would be beneficial to learn more.
The old Grand Tutor and the old Preceptor watched with amusement as the three students rolled themselves and others, trying to roll them to death if they couldn't kill them.
Roll it up!
If two teachers have been doing this for their entire lives, how can three students not do this? It doesn't make sense :)
This kind of tense and tense life of burying the head in study is too hard. The system feels tired just looking at it, and tries hard to find some interesting gossip to share with Chu Huan when she has a break.
Today too.
On the carriage from the Chu family to the merchant house, Chu Huan refused to waste time and recited silently. She would recite again after returning home from Shang Lu's class.
The system couldn't bear it any longer: [Sister Huan, take a break today. No matter how anxious you are, you need to balance work and rest, otherwise your body won't be able to handle it.]
Chu Huan felt that she was young and in good health, so taking a few years would not be a problem. After all, she had gone through junior high school, high school, college and graduate school this way.
But since the system had said so, she also wanted to give Xiaosha some face, so she immediately agreed: [Okay, I won’t carry it today.]
Jia Yi and Cai Gang, who were driving and protecting outside, both breathed a sigh of relief.
The two grown men felt tired just by watching, and were always worried that Chu Huan would fall ill at any time. They even secretly went to find the Imperial Physician and asked Chu Huan if this was okay.
The Imperial Hospital's original words were: "She is still young and has practiced martial arts for so long, so she will be fine in the short term, but it will definitely not work if she continues like this. We need to persuade her not to treat herself like a donkey."
Fortunately, the system advised her, and fortunately, Chu Huan listened to the advice, otherwise Jia Yi and Cai Gang really wouldn’t know who to ask for advice.
Sitting in the carriage was just sitting there, with nothing to do. Chu Huan felt bored instead: [Tong'er, eat some melon.]
System: [Okay, I've been waiting for you to say it. I'll tell you something happy.]
Chu Hua: [What?]
System: [That's Li Chen, the man your brother and you saved last year. He and his father, Li He, worked diligently to build the dam, and the quality was excellent. This year's flood was blocked.]
Li He and Li Chen, father and son, were unlucky for this incident, but it also caught the attention of their superiors, the emperor, and the officials. After hearing the news of the flood, many wanted to know how his dam was doing.
As you can probably guess, the dam was very effective in preventing and discharging floodwaters, and the emperor promoted Li He. Although they were still assigned to build dams elsewhere, their work remained largely unchanged, but at least they received a promotion and a raise.
Chu Hua: [Li He got promoted, where's Li Chen? ]
System: [Li Chen was previously a Juren, but due to family changes, he was unable to participate in the previous imperial examination. This is a pity. Fortunately, if a Juren from Dasheng has connections and a position happens to be vacant, he can become an official.]
If it were any other successful candidate, it might not work, but Li Chen knows how to build dams! Rather than having him wait two years for the next imperial examination, become an official after passing, and then build dams, it's better for him to go now. He can build a lot in two years.
The levees are built every year, and every year they are destroyed. If they were built better, the money spent on disaster relief could be saved. The fertile fields and crops would be good, and there would be no plagues after the floods. There would be no need to rebuild them the second and third years. No matter how the emperor and the minister of finance calculated it, they would think it was a good deal.
Compared to the huge savings and the numerous problems that would be avoided, letting Li Chen become an official as a juren wouldn't be a big deal. At most, the emperor would be criticized for favoring children from humble backgrounds.
It's just a few words from others, it's not a big deal, how could the emperor care?
The treasury of Da Sheng had been poor for so many years. The emperor and the minister of finance were very frugal with their money and tried to save as much as possible. It would be strange if they let go of such a good opportunity to save money.
Chu Huan could imagine the two of them dancing with joy.
[With such a happy event happening, did the Minister of Revenue do anything special?]
The system was stunned. It had never paid attention to this before: [Wait a moment, let me take a look.]
Ten seconds later, the system came back with a hearty laugh: [The national treasury can save so much money, the Minister of Revenue is so happy that he's almost floating on the ground. The Minister of Works sees this and thinks, hey, this is a great opportunity to ask for money!]
It seems that the Minister of Works has been humiliated, Chu Huan smiled secretly.
As expected, the system said: [The Western Rong and Northern Di are eyeing us covetously. Even though Dasheng has won a victory, we cannot let our guard down and must continue preparing for war. Furthermore, the treasury has recently been flush with money, so the Ministry of War has provided many new weapon designs.]
The Minister of Works, not knowing too well the Minister of Revenue's stingy nature, hesitated over what to say. Seeing the Minister of Revenue in a good mood, he dragged the Minister of War along to ask for money.
[Two against one, how can they lose?] Chu Huan was impressed by the fighting ability of the Minister of Revenue. If there were envoys from other countries in the future, perhaps he could let the Minister of Revenue go up and fight one against the other. His ability was incredible!
System: [Oh, who said it wasn't true?]
The Minister of Works and the Minister of War tried their best to persuade him, but the Minister of Revenue simply disagreed.
Chu Hua: ???
The national treasury has the silver and money obtained from the house searches, as well as the silver and money transported from the Western Rong by Meng Hang and others. The national treasury is definitely not short of money.
In this case, why did the Minister of Revenue still refuse to agree?
Chu Huan didn't think that the Minister of Revenue didn't see the importance of weapons and had no sense of the overall situation, unless the research process of the new weapons was not smooth, too much money was spent, and there was no hope in sight.
She wanted to ask about weapons, but felt it was not appropriate to talk about it on the road, so she lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked, and found that she was very close to home.
After returning to Qianhuaju, Chu Huan asked: [What is the new weapon of the Ministry of War?]
System: [There are many, mainly bows and muskets. The Ministry of War has experts in this area who can modify bows and arrows to increase their range.]
[As you know, firearms are very lethal, but the problem is that current technology is limited, and they are not very convenient to use, at least not as convenient as modern ones.]
That’s for sure, there have been so many years in between.
Chu Hua: [What does a bow and arrow look like?]
The system spoke point by point, and Chu Huan drew point by point. During this period, Qianhuaju and the entire Chu family were surrounded by the Jinyiwei, and all irrelevant people retreated fifty meters away.
This is the Ministry of War’s new weapon and must not be heard by ordinary people!
After a cup of tea, Chu Huan looked at the drawn bow and arrow diagram and was a little dumbfounded.
[Why does this look a bit like a compound bow? ]
System: [What compound bow?]
Chu Hua had mixed feelings: [It's... a bow and arrow that's easier to use, has a longer range, greater power, and is more destructive.]
System: [You can do it?]
Chu Huan hesitated for a moment, but finally admitted: [Yes.]
The system wanted to ask more questions, but when it saw that it was already past Chu Huan's usual bedtime, it quickly urged Chu Huan to wash up and go to bed.
Chu Huan was tired after a long day and had a heavy workload tomorrow, so she didn't think about it anymore. She washed up and fell into bed.
On the contrary, after the report was urgently delivered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the emperor and his officials could no longer sleep and started arguing with each other.
"Is there really such a bow and arrow?"
"She doesn't speak without thinking."
"Compound bow, Dasheng must have it!"
"Chu Huan has such talent, she must come to the Ministry of War!"
"What's the point of going to the Ministry of War? At most, they can provide a blueprint. To make a compound bow, you should go to the Ministry of Industry!"
"She should be from our Ministry of Industry!"
"What do you mean your Ministry of Industry? She's from our Ministry of Revenue!"
"Ministry of Revenue? She has such outstanding ability in solving cases, she must be from our Ministry of Justice!"
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