Chapter 1146: The Temple

Shortly after Wen Hui returned home, an official came to inform him that he had been selected to participate in next year's imperial exam. At present, Liu Bei's government held annual imperial exams, though they focused on governance rather than poetry or essays.

The simplest way to describe it was that the candidates would take the exam the next day, and the test would consist of unprocessed administrative tasks taken directly from Lu Su's desk. The candidates would have to transcribe the content, and then three random tasks would be selected for each individual. After passing this, they would be assigned a county or district to write a policy proposal for.

At this level, cheating was nearly impossible. If anyone managed to cheat, it would be considered a skill in itself. Chen Xi had no intention of making things difficult for them. But up until now, Chen Xi had yet to see anyone capable of cheating under such circumstances.

In fact, even if someone drew an exam from Lu Su's tasks, regardless of how they performed, they were almost guaranteed to receive a rank equivalent to a 600-stone official. Typically, they just needed to address some minor issues in the counties and districts.

Of course, very few managed to attain such high-level positions. Liu Bei would personally pay attention to those who managed to hold a stable position in the counties. As for those who made it all the way to Lu Su’s tasks, only Zhuge Liang, out of boredom, had taken the exam once. He was unlucky and drew an impossible task.

Zhuge Liang abandoned the task immediately. It wasn’t that he couldn’t write a policy proposal, but he realized that within the one-hour time limit, any proposal he wrote would be riddled with errors. After that incident, Lu Xun began to quietly immerse himself in study, preparing to take the exam in a few years.

However, when Chen Xi heard about this, he secretly prepared a final policy proposal question. He knew that for individuals like Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun, three high-difficulty governance tasks would be trivial. It would be a waste not to highlight their extraordinary talents.

Thus, the policy proposal question he prepared concerned the "Prosperity of the Nation over a Hundred Years." As for whether there would be bias or favoritism involved—that was precisely what such things were for.

Naturally, when Lu Su and Li You saw the question, they were taken aback. "What kind of question is this? No matter where you start, it's a problem!" But they were eager to watch the spectacle unfold.

"When will we be able to organize a proper imperial exam?" Chen Xi thought helplessly. There simply weren’t enough people, and those with true talent were far too few.

Originally, Chen Xi was supposed to spend time before the New Year visiting and paying respects to the heads of the various academies, such as Wang Lie, Huang Chengyan, Guan Ning, and Zheng Xuan. However, this year, those visits were completely out of the question.

Leaders like Wang Lie, Huang Chengyan, Guan Ning, and Zheng Xuan were currently engaged in fierce debates in Taishan. Even though the Huang, Lu, and Zheng families had moved to Ye City, these scholars were still locked in heated arguments with Jian Yong.

The matter of merging different philosophical schools had been resolved. With "Yi" (易, the Book of Changes) standing as a shield in front, and now the addition of the yin-yang taiji symbol, there was no longer any dispute. People had come to understand that their ancestors were far more formidable than they had realized.

Of course, some noble families had begun shamelessly fabricating even earlier family lineages. Even though some noble houses already had records dating back to the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties—regardless of their authenticity—it was still a mark of prestige. However, suddenly discovering the remnants of the Yu dynasty made these families realize they could push their history back even further, perhaps by an additional two thousand years.

But this wasn't a significant matter. Right now, these scholars had stopped debating etymology and had begun arguing over the legitimacy of governance. The location where the Yu dynasty relics were found didn’t match the traditional sites of Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, sparking this new debate.

This presented an opportunity to challenge the orthodoxy. People from Jizhou had never imagined that one day, they would be able to claim the mantle of legitimate governance. Now was the perfect time to argue for it!

Liu Bei had already relocated to Ye City. If they succeeded in securing the claim of legitimacy, Jizhou would become the imperial capital. Nothing was more prestigious than being the capital, so the scholars of Jizhou, armed with the Yu dynasty relics, launched a fierce debate. Etymology took a backseat, and the various schools of thought stepped aside as they battled to make Jizhou the new imperial capital.

If the previous arguments had been about philosophy and tradition, this new battle was purely one of interests. These scholars were passionately engaged in the fight, which finally gave Jian Yong a bit of relief. If they had continued to drag him into the fray, he wouldn’t have been able to cope.

Jian Yong had thought his oratory skills were already impressive, but after facing the collective force of the nation’s most renowned scholars, he quickly realized that he was at best among the top five. He had no idea where this group of people had come from.

Some of them were already well into their twilight years, while others had even been rumored to have died a few years ago. Yet here they were, very much alive. It was as if they had been brought to the surface by a deep-sea explosion, like fish after a blast.

However, after such intense debates, the legitimacy of the taiji symbol was no longer in doubt. No one could argue against it after so much of the nation's ancient knowledge had been lost during the Qin dynasty’s book burnings.

Meanwhile, shameless families continued to claim the works of their ancestors without any hesitation. Of course, there were many noble families who still cared about preserving their honor and maintaining a certain level of decorum.

"Present this document to Lord Liu," Jian Yong said with a smile to Wang Xiu. Although Jian Yong’s official position was almost equivalent to Wang Xiu’s, Wang Xiu never dared act arrogantly in front of him. Jian Yong had countless supporters in Liu Bei’s administration, and his contributions in uncovering the origins of the written language were undeniable.

Wang Xiu flipped through the document on the origin of characters, which clearly detailed the pronunciation and origins of each word, where it was first used, and its transformations, starting from the earliest oracle bone script.

"Congratulations, Jian Gong, on this tremendous achievement!" Wang Xiu said, his face lighting up with joy as he read.

"This is not solely my achievement," Jian Yong said, shaking his head slightly. "Zishu, please oversee the collection of the classics. The library in Taishan will remain as it is."

Wang Xiu looked at Jian Yong’s calm demeanor and felt deep admiration. Despite such a monumental accomplishment, Jian Yong remained unflustered. Truly, he was one of the original founding members. What Wang Xiu didn’t know was that Jian Yong was actually rather reluctant to claim this achievement solely for himself, to the point that he considered declining the honor entirely.

"I will remember your instructions," Wang Xiu replied solemnly.

"Have Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing, and Attendant Qu already left for Ye City?" Jian Yong inquired.

"I’ve already dispatched fifty heavily armored crossbowmen to escort the three of them to Ye City," Wang Xiu nodded. He knew that if something happened to him, he could be replaced immediately. But if anything happened to those three, the entire administration would likely go mad.

They were living legends—officials who were being honored with temples in their lifetimes. Although it was unlikely they would encounter danger on the road, Wang Xiu believed they needed to be treated with the utmost care.

"Hey, there’s a temple ahead. How about we stop and rest for a while?" Qu Qi, leaning out of the carriage window, spotted a temple with a plaque bearing Hua Tuo’s name and suggested they take a break.

"You can go if you want. We still have work to do," Hua Tuo replied without even looking up as he continued massaging Zhou Tai’s muscles, ensuring that Zhou wouldn’t experience any issues after lying unconscious for so long.

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