Chapter 64 The Imperial Examination Begins and Ends
The current situation of the Northern Kingdom is very different from that of the previous Bian Kingdom.
With the Bian Kingdom as a precedent, the other countries would never allow the Northern Kingdom to become part of the support system for Jingchang no matter what they said.
If Shen Zhiwei really conquered the Northern Kingdom, then she would have taken over four of the nine provinces, essentially conquering half of the empire. How could they fight Shen Zhiwei in the future? They might as well just open the city gates and surrender once the entire army arrived.
So that group of people would never stand by and watch the North lose.
Now Anguo has begun to unite with the Northern Kingdom, and Yunning and other countries have begun to contact the Northern Kingdom. Sending troops to the Northern Kingdom under various excuses is the choice of these princes. They choose to help the Northern Kingdom and curb Jingchang from continuing to grow stronger.
Shen Zhiwei was not afraid of this threat. What coalition or no coalition? Can one plus one really be greater than two?
It would be good if it can be no less than one.
It is impossible for Hu Youan to be defeated, but it is absolutely impossible for him to directly conquer the Northern Kingdom as originally planned. In fact, even if those coalition forces did not join the war, the probability of completely conquering the Northern Kingdom is not very high.
Shen Zhiwei had never thought about getting rid of the problem once and for all from the beginning; she just wanted to take as much as she could.
That's right, she called this act of conquering cities and territories "cannibalism," just like a silkworm eating mulberry leaves, devouring them bit by bit from the edge until they are all eaten up.
But her speed in attacking cities was much faster than her speed in nibbling away at them.
Shen Zhiwei gave Hu Youan an order that the next step was to train the troops. He didn't have to think about capturing the city, but only needed to focus on defending the existing city. Then he would accumulate experience in leading troops, learn the Northern Kingdom's methods of leading troops, observe their ways of defending the city, exert pressure, and if necessary, reveal the news of the peace talks to the Northern Kingdom and bring Yunzi and others over.
At the same time, let the Northern Kingdom and several other countries be more honest and stop thinking of using such shameless methods as detaining people to deal with Jingchang. Don't think that because domestic conflicts are prominent, you can deliberately start wars and divert conflicts.
Aren’t you afraid that if a war really breaks out, you won’t be able to control it and end up destroying the entire country?
After receiving Shen Zhiwei's order, Hu Youan quickly called Chiwei over. Chiwei was closer to her, so she planned to retreat to the rear and leave the battlefield to Chiwei.
When Chiwei arrived, he took the order directly without asking any questions. Hu Youan led some personal soldiers back to Yongming City to meet Gui Yang.
She handed the king's order to Gui Yang, and then said something to her.
"The North Country can't be conquered."
Even without the king's order, Hu Youan had no intention of continuing to fight to the death. The people of the Northern Kingdom were now aroused, and everyone started fighting the war to protect the country.
The soldiers of Bian State were far less loyal to their country than those of Northern State. Previously, Bian State attached great importance to culture and education and despised military affairs, which led to the rapid decline of its military strength. The situation of Northern State was just the opposite. Culture and education were important, but on the real battlefield, they were not so important.
But the current situation in the Northern Kingdom is that it is difficult to die and it is difficult to live. I believe that King Yue of the North must be feeling very uncomfortable now.
Gui Yang expressed deep regret over this outcome. He said, "Yang has already recruited many people to spread the song in the capital of the Northern Kingdom. They will inevitably put all the natural and man-made disasters on the head of the Northern King Yue. Will this not destroy the Northern Kingdom?"
"It can be destroyed, but it's not necessary. The loss will be too great, and it will be easily taken away by others."
Hu Youan didn't say that even without the pressure of public opinion, she could lead the troops to destroy the Northern Kingdom, but what would happen after that?
The Northern King's personality is such that he would never submit to the emperor like the new king of Bian State. If he insists on resisting to the end, as long as the Northern State still has an army left, the Northern State will not be considered completely destroyed, not to mention that the Northern State still has many outstanding generals who are very capable of leading troops in battle and have strong family power.
Once the Northern Kingdom is conquered, the families of those generals will have to be eliminated, which will inevitably lead to another dispute. When the Northern Kingdom is unstable, An Guo will take advantage of the situation.
Moreover, spending too much energy and consuming too many troops in the Northern Kingdom will damage Jingchang's strength.
Hu Youan said to Gui Yang as if giving her a warning: "Put Jingchang first in everything. Don't be too greedy and rush into anything."
Gui Yang was startled, and his originally irritated expression instantly calmed down. He smiled gently, bowed to Hu Youan, and thanked him, "Thank you for your guidance, General Zhonglang. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have been in great trouble."
Hu Youan pursed her lips when she saw that Gui Yang understood. She was not good at speaking, and she didn't like to talk or use her brain on weekdays. However, she had cooperated with Gui Yang several times, and the cooperation was quite pleasant, so she didn't want her partner to become an impulsive fool.
She warned, "I understand the county governor's thoughts. As an outsider, I want to remind him that Wen Tao may not necessarily become the Prime Minister. She already controls most of Jingchang's education and culture. The academy is full of her confidants, and most of the officials in Biandi are her classmates. If she serves in the same court as the Grand Tutor and becomes the Prime Minister, the threat will be too great."
Gui Yang was really anxious. He also felt that the king had given Wen Tao too much power, so he was worried that the position of Prime Minister would also become Wen Tao's.
Because his eyes were blocked by something he cared about, he didn't see the problem with Wen Tao.
Now, after being pointed out by Hu Youan, an outsider, he suddenly realized this.
Just like Gui Yang and Wen Tao would recommend talents to the king because of Hu Youan's outstanding performance, Wen Tao is now too outstanding and it will be extremely difficult for her to make further progress. Gui Yang is not the only one who opposes her.
It can even be said that it is difficult for Wen Tao to keep her position as Dazai.
Shen Zhiwei was also thinking about Wen Tao’s matter.
Wen Tao is really working too hard.
There were too many things to do. There was a war going on outside, Jingchang was doing infrastructure construction, the affairs of the academy and the imperial examinations were very complicated, and some villages in the north of Jingchang were also affected by the snowstorm. As the prime minister, Wen Tao had to help Shen Zhiwei with disaster relief.
Shen Zhiwei watched Wen Tao busying around every day and felt that Wen Tao would not be able to survive until the time of forming a cabinet.
Moreover, more than one person told Shen Zhiwei that Wen Tao now had too much power.
Yanxia even hinted to Shen Zhiwei that the father and daughter of the Wen family were now officials in the same court, one was the Grand Tutor and the other was the Prime Minister, while Wen Tao's teacher was still in charge of the academy, and her classmates controlled most of the Bian area. It was really too dangerous.
Today, the power of the Wen family is almost greater than that of the former Prince of Bian.
Have to be on guard.
"It is said that Wen Tao holds enormous power, and I also want to find someone to share some of it. You have seen that the Prime Minister is so busy that his eyes are dark blue. He is much busier than me, the emperor. But among all the officials in the court, who can share the Prime Minister's worries?"
Shen Zhiwei asked the question sincerely, not to refute the question raised by Yanxia.
Yanxia had been with the king for many days and knew his temperament well. She knew that the king would not be dissatisfied with such a sentence.
She knew that the king really wanted her to give some advice.
"The king has previously divided the country into six departments. Perhaps the ministers of all six departments can help."
"They? They still haven't figured out what they're supposed to do, and their subordinates don't understand either. They've been arguing in court every day these past two days, and it's really annoying to me."
As soon as Shen Zhiwei mentioned the court meeting, an irritable look appeared on his face.
In the past, Jingchang was relatively small, with few officials and few things to do. Court meetings were held once every five days, and grand court meetings were even rarer.
Later, as Shen Zhiwei's territory gradually expanded, court meetings were shortened to once every two days, and grand court meetings were once every five days. Shen Zhiwei's workload increased exponentially, and there were so many memorials that he could not see the end of them at a glance.
If Shen Zhiwei had not formed a secretariat of female officials in the harem and let the female officials share some of the work, she would have been busy to death just reviewing memorials every day.
However, power cannot be given without any checks and balances. Since the female officials have obtained power, there must be people in the court to check and balance them.
Shen Zhiwei felt that the Prime Minister's cabinet was a force to check and balance the female officials. Female officials were actually like eunuchs. Court officials and eunuchs were in opposition. This was what emperors of all dynasties had done. A balance must be achieved between the two. Only as a third party could the emperor keep the power firmly in his hands.
Because the cabinet has not yet been formed, the current officials are simply unable to check and balance the female officials. Wen Tao is responsible for the entire cabinet alone, so it would be strange if she is not busy.
Yanxia didn't know who to choose for a moment. Looking around the court, there were really few officials who could be used.
The remaining officials in Jingchang were not very capable. The people they recommended later had just taken office not long ago. Shen Zhiwei dared to use them, but the court officials did not dare to use them, fearing that they were spies from other countries.
This is really a dilemma. We cannot allow Wen Tao's power to expand, but we cannot find someone who can share power with her.
"Perhaps we can find one after this imperial examination. Officials who pass the imperial examination are the most reliable to employ."
Shen Zhiwei could only pin his hopes on the imperial examination.
Winter gradually passed, and the war paused with the arrival of spring breeze. Farmers began to work in the fields, all things in the world revived, and Jingchang City fell into an even more bustling and prosperous life.
After a winter of selection, the number of people who finally participated in the imperial examination reached as many as 500.
Five hundred people is actually a drop in the bucket, but it is better than nothing, and this is the first year. With the successful case of the first year, the number of candidates in the second year should increase. In a few years, when the students trained by Jingchang Academy graduate, Shen Zhiwei will not have to be so short of staff as he is now.
When you conquer the territory later, you don’t have to worry about killing the original nobles and having no one to take over the management position.
Shen Zhiwei sat in the main hall, looking towards the palace gate. She was waiting for the first imperial examination to end, for the candidates to leave, and for the test papers to be sealed and sent to the palace.
Wen Tao, who had lost a lot of weight due to being busy, and her colleagues were waiting in the main hall. Except for the invigilator Changzi, the Grand Tutor and the Minister of Personnel, everyone else was waiting for the papers to be graded.
The results of this imperial examination are related to the future of the entire court, so of course they will be extremely attentive.
The exam lasted for three days, starting with entering in the early morning of the first day and ending in the early morning of the fourth day. Because there were not as many exam subjects as in later generations, there was only this one exam.
For today's students, an exam of this intensity does not put any pressure on them. Today's students like to travel and study everywhere. Even though there is chaos and war outside, students dare to travel and study. They all have martial arts skills and are good at wielding swords and have very strong physical fitness.
After waiting for half an hour, Shen Zhiwei looked at a stack of memorials before the officials from the examination hall followed the palace guards into the hall. The guards carried in two sealed boxes and placed them in the hall.
"My dear ministers, please begin marking the papers. Do not leave the palace for the next two days until all the papers have been marked."
"Your Majesty, I obey your command."
The ministers had long known that they could not go out during this period. In fact, since the beginning of winter, they did not dare to communicate with anyone privately, for fear of being accused of fraud. Shen Zhiwei had said before that if anyone dared to cheat, she would chop off the heads of their entire family.
The crime of genocide is tantamount to treason, and they dare not test the king's mercy in this regard.
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