Kyoto Tribute Academy.
Upon seeing Zhou Renming’s article, Xu Qingnian’s complexion, changed slightly.
[A Strong Nation Policy – Respect the Saints and Be Strong, Disdain the Saints and Decline]
This is the beginning of Zhou Renming’s article.
The lines are sprawling and the content of the article, in general, says nothing more than that if the country wants to be strong, it must have faith, and that faith, is the saint.
Zhu Sheng!
By respecting Zhu Sheng, everyone would be virtuous, benevolent and moral, and in this way, everyone in Great Wei would move upwards.
If the examiner had been from Zhu Sheng’s lineage, he might have seen this essay and given it a merit rating no matter what.
But the examiner was Xu Qingnian.
Still, Xu Qingnian was not going to target certain people, as the examiner, he had to be fair.
Xu Qingnian also respected Zhu Sheng.
But the problem was that this kind of article, which was devoid of any nourishment, was full of praise about how good Confucianism was, how good Zhu Sheng was, and how much of Zhu Sheng’s lineage there was.
And the article is full of inexplicable sarcasm, both inside and outside, about how the country will decline if everyone does not respect the saints, and how it is morally corrupt for one person to disrespect the saints.
And it gives examples of how those who respect Zhu Sheng have contributed to the country after becoming officials.
And what did those who did not respect Zhu Sheng do to harm the country when they became officials?
The article is not very clever, but it doesn’t point to one’s own nose or anything like that.
Let’s just say that it was purely a disgusting article.
At that moment, after reading the last word, Xu Qingnian lifted his brush and commented on it directly.
[Inferior]
It was just one word, representing Xu Qingnian’s meaning.
And then, it was put aside and left unattended.
There were a total of three exams in the imperial examinations.
If there was a single bad grade, you basically wouldn’t be able to win the examination.
Of course, if the next two exams are A-grade, you can be admitted.
After Xu Qingnian put pen to paper, Zhou Renming kept his eyes on it. He looked calm and seemed to have guessed what Xu Qingnian would do.
It was at this point that one of the examination papers was presented.
When Xu Qingnian had the time, she read the papers one by one, and after reading them, she would basically give them a fair evaluation.
Good is good, or not good.
Even after another hour or so, Xu Qingnian saw Chen Xinghe’s essay.
Xu Qingnian was also somewhat interested in Chen Xinghe’s article.
He watched it carefully.
[A Strong Country Policy – The People Are Rich and the Country Is Strong]
This was Chen Xinghe’s policy, which began with the people, and the entire article was also centred on the people, arguing that if Great Wei wanted to truly move towards the path of a strong nation, it was necessary to feed the people and let them live in peace and prosperity.
Only after the people are well and healthy will they have the labour force and productivity to drive Great Wei to develop faster and move towards the path of a strong state.
Chen Xinghe’s article, not very good, but not bad either, got to the point, but it was not suitable for the current Great Wei.
Overall, however, it is not bad, and Xu Qingnian gives it a rating.
B moderate.
The article is rated, A B C D inferior, and then subdivided into upper, middle and lower.
If you can get three B-mediums, you will have no problem getting a lift, but if you are unlucky and all your contemporaries are high achievers, then forget it.
Xu Qingnian was fair and did not add points because Chen Xinghe was his senior brother.
It is how it is, that is how it is.
So be it.
Another two hours later.
The bell for the end of the imperial examinations rang out.
The bell rang out.
All the examiners went down and collected the examination papers from all the candidates.
Most of them looked a little nervous, they had finished writing long ago and had been looking at them over and over again.
There were also some who had not yet finished writing but did not dare to say anything more, after all, the bell rang and the examination papers had to be collected, no delay was allowed.
If you resist, you are considered to have given up the examination.
“Tomorrow at dawn, the second cla*s of the examination, all candidates go back to rest well.”
At this moment, Wang Xinzhi’s voice rang out, informing the crowd to come for the second examination hall tomorrow.
Very much waiting for the crowd of candidates to leave.
The crowd also began to get busy approving these examination papers.
This was the imperial examinations of the Great Wei, and the examiners could either approve them on the spot, or choose to collect the examination papers and approve them centrally.
After all, if the essays were extremely good, various visions would appear, and if they were quite good, they would naturally be read by great scholars.
It was night.
Xu Qingnian sat in the courtyard, looking at the examination papers.
It was three minutes past the ugly hour.
Xu Qingnian had finished reading all the examination papers.
As they were examination papers, he naturally had to read them carefully and give some notes and exchange opinions with the other examiners.
From these thousands of examination papers, Xu Qingnian felt more and more that Yu Yi was not a simple person, and he also knew one thing.
The attitude of the world’s scholars towards Zhu Sheng.
As the saying goes, a glimpse of a spot reveals the whole picture. In these 1,000 examination papers, except for a few people, basically everyone had more or less brought the saint in their essays.
The reverence for Zhu Sheng was already deep-rooted.
It was not a bad thing for the readers to venerate the saint, but Xu Qingnian was keenly aware of it.
These readers, rather than simply venerating the saint, treated the saint as faith, a deep-rooted faith, and in their eyes the saint transcended everything and was supreme.
It is clear from some of the content of the article that the world’s scholars have fallen into a kind of ‘fanaticism’ and ‘faith’ towards Zhu Sheng.
Thinking about it carefully, Xu Qingnian gradually realised what the reason was.
It was indisputable and unquestionable that the sage was indeed superior, and the fact that the scholars revered the sage was a sign of respect for the teacher and the Tao.
As for the sage himself, he wanted his learning, his central idea, to spread and for everyone to understand his ideas, thus building a world full of holy spirit.
This is the idea of every generation of saints.
But this is only the idea of the saints.
But the saint’s disciples did not think so, and because they had followed him, they somehow developed a kind of ‘vanity’ a kind of ‘pride’ from their hearts.
When the saint pa*ses away, they too are transformed into the saint’s spokesmen in the world.
And in order to secure power and to continue to be the spokesperson of the saints, they constantly brainwash the future generations, brainwashing the future generations of readers.
The idea of ‘the supremacy of the saints’ was inculcated from childhood, and you had to memorise every word of the saints, and every book of the saints.
In order to make the readers obedient, they needed the a*sistance of the court, and the imperial examinations became the greatest competition to secure their position.
It doesn’t matter if the scholar is sincere in his studies or not, but do you want to be an official? Did you want to get ahead? Do you want to live a good life?
If so, you had to study and take the imperial examinations, the content of which was basically controlled by the Zhu Sheng lineage.
You should know what to study next, right?
This is the internal status stabilisation, the restriction of the students through the imperial examinations.
And external status is the most straightforward method, the division of cla*ses and the suppression of deviants.
Internally, it was the imperial examinations that secured the position, externally it was the division of cla*ses. It is very simple.
When the saint was not dead, his status might not have been so high, but after his death, his status was infinitely elevated and inculcated generation after generation.
The saints did those things, the saints said those things, and then glorified the saints. In fact, the saints also had tempers and desires, only they knew how to restrain them and understood reason.
But as the saints died, their disciples, began to mythologize the saints, that the saints had not made the slightest mistake, that the saints had once stood inside the snow and ice for the sake of learning how to do so.
Some were true, some were false, and some were not even known to be true or false by the Zhu Sheng lineage itself.
But as long as there is constant propaganda, constant mythology, generation after generation pa*ses, who will remember if it is true or not?
Especially if the other side is a saint, do you dare to question it?
It’s not impossible to question if you must, but the question is, what qualifications do you have to question? At the very least, you should be at the half-saint level, right?
But if you did have a half-saint status, you wouldn’t question it, so it creates a kind of ‘unresolved’ closed loop.
And what is the greatest benefit of a mythical saint?
The status of the Zhu Sheng lineage is pulling higher and higher, and the literati are increasingly respecting the Zhu Sheng lineage, so what do the other readers think?
Who wouldn’t want to be the man of the hour at the banquet?
Moreover, the Zhu Sheng lineage knew how to solidify people’s hearts even better, as they gathered together to help each other and put on an act of benevolence and solidarity.
It is just like the reasoning of retail investors and bankers.
Retailers, if they coalesce into a group, can easily F**k over the bankers, but the problem is that hearts and minds are not united, especially when even if someone says that they are going to F**k the bankers and lead the charge, most people are still on the sidelines.
So they are easily crushed by the banker.
And once the bookmakers took shape, it was a snowballing development.
More and more readers, joined the Zhu Sheng lineage, and as soon as they joined the Zhu Sheng lineage, they could get a boost in status.
In the future, when you attend a banquet or go out, you can say “I am a disciple of Zhu Sheng”, do you have any style?
If you perform well, you can even come to the Great Wei Palace of Literature for a lesson, and if you know a little bit about people and the world, you may be able to study under a great Confucian.
Who else would be able to handle that?
So the people of the Zhu Sheng lineage, as long as these things are done, the next thing is to wait for time to ferment.
Five hundred years is enough time.
It was even redundant.
Naturally, the Zhu Sheng lineage became the largest group of scholars in the world.
Whoever infringed on their interests would be met with a collective crusade by the world’s scholars.
Anyone who has read a little bit of Capitalism will understand this truth.
This is the reason why Xu Qingnian is hated by the world’s scholars.
It is not that the world’s readers are brainless and are at the mercy of others, but that the world’s readers are all about their own interests.
As for the saying that the readers have a hugely righteous spirit, it is reasonable to say that they should be clear about right and wrong.
Then in the opposite sentence, what is meant by right and wrong?
Who would feel that they have done wrong?
From the standpoint of the Great Wei Palace of Literature, did the Great Wei Palace of Literature do wrong?
Xu Qingnian angrily disliked the Great Confucian, although it is true that Yan Ru did something wrong and was too strict with the law, but the question is whether it is right or wrong for a junior to angrily dislike an elder?
From Xu Qingnian’s point of view, it was wrong.
But from Yan Lei’s point of view, there was nothing wrong with him in this matter.
Because there was no explicit rule that said he could not do so.
And Xu Qingnian was challenging the Great Wei Palace of Literature step by step, establishing the School of the Heart and creating a new school of thought.
Although the school of the heart has been average up to now, the problem is that everyone is pushing Zhu Sheng, and not only are you not pushing Zhu Sheng and not joining us, but you are also creating a new thing?
Don’t you even look at what kind of goods you are?
From this moment onwards, Xu Qingnian was already somewhat poorly remembered in the hearts of the world’s scholars.
As a result, Xu Qingnian even took control of the court, and when the Palace of Literature made a move, Xu Qingnian not only defused it perfectly, but also made the Palace of Literature suffer defeat every time.
Can the world’s scholars be comfortable?
Coupled with the displeasure of their innate first impression, then they became increasingly upset with Xu Qingnian.
So when the Palace of Literature asked them to target Xu Qingnian, they immediately agreed.
What is this called? It was called eradicating dissidents.
Of course there were also great scholars who did not get involved, but by not getting involved, it did not mean that they approved of Xu Qingnian, but rather that they did not infringe on their own interests.
These great scholars no longer had any interests to speak of, and either wanted to spend the rest of their lives in peace and quiet, or had their own ideals and ambitions.
Such people, on the other hand, often have a great reputation in the Palace of Literature, but do not have any real power.
They are the ones that the Palace of Literature takes out to promote itself, but these great scholars have no say in how the Palace of Literature develops and how it develops, at most they can give some advice, but the ultimate power is still in the hands of those people.
Inside the study.
Xu Qingnian looked at the oil lamp and candle flame, and he gradually understood these truths.
It sounded a bit unbelievable, but in reality this was the world of adults, where interests determined everything and the buttocks determined the head.
And any power that has reached this level will develop in this way.
Looking at the Palace of Literature as an industry, many things became clear all of a sudden.
As the Palace of Literature gets better and better, and its status gets higher and higher, then the Zhu Sheng lineage that joins the Palace of Literature forces naturally gets higher and higher.
So-and-so country controls the military power, the king of the country is incredibly strong and does not respect Confucianism, right?
I can’t beat you, but with a decree from the Palace of Literature, the scholars of the Zhu Sheng lineage in the world will not be able to scold you.
Ninety percent of the world’s scholars are from the Zhu Sheng lineage, while the remaining ten percent are completely idealistic and unwilling to engage in any struggle.
Therefore, the Palace of Literature represents the world’s scholars.
Having determined their camp and set their direction, then everything is much simpler.
Define the purpose, focus on the interests, and do what you need to do.
For a moment.
A sigh of relief rang out.
This time, Xu Qingnian had understood what Her Majesty meant.
She was not asking herself to take control of the examinations, but to understand what was going on in the Palace of Literature, and what was going on with the world’s readers.
If she told herself these things, she would not believe them, but when she is in charge of the examination, she will understand many of the truths.
Looking outside at the night.
Xu Qingnian pushed open the door of his room and was left alone for a while.
Under the moonlight.
Xu Qingnian inexplicably felt a little ridiculous.
The Confucianists of the world!
In the end, they are all just a group of mortals.
They are only favoured by heaven.
The Zhu Sheng lineage could not have formed in such a large scale without the blessings of heaven, time, location and people.
The unique favour of Confucianism, becoming a reader and increasing the Yang power between heaven and earth.
It just so happened that a Zhu Sheng appeared and became a golden sign to draw in the world’s readers. I am only afraid that Zhu Sheng himself could not have imagined that five hundred years after his death, he would become like this.
People and, the Zhu Sheng lineage are all first-cla*s human masters, ah, seemingly simple means, but perfectly executed.
Of course this could not be separated from the inevitable laws of nature.
Just like a dynasty, once established, and with no more natural or man-made disasters or foreign enemies, it will expand rapidly, yet it will surely give rise to corrupt and clean officials.
This is essential.
But there is one thing that Xu Qingnian is extraordinarily clear about.
Between heaven and earth, all things naturally follow the laws of nature, where Yin flourishes and Yang declines.
There is no immortal dynasty, nor is there an eternal existence.
When a dynasty, for the most part, is made up of corrupt officials, then that dynasty is about to come to its end.
And when a power like the Palace of Literature is full of people whose minds revolve around profit, then that power, too, is about to come to its end.
What is lacking is just one person, or one thing.
Buildings do not suddenly fall, but when they do, it is extremely quick.
The Zhu Sheng lineage.
It was the end of the road.
Looking at the moonlight.
Xu Qingnian was silent for a long time.
Until dawn.
The second examination of the imperial examination had come.
Xu Qingnian walked out of the courtyard and slowly made his way to the main examination venue, just like yesterday.
Only he had taken back the original test questions and replaced them with a new one.
At the main examination venue, the candidates participating in the examinations had already settled down.
Wang Xinzhi and the others had come early, and Xu Qingnian had come at a pinch.
“We pay our respects to Lord Xu.”
At this moment, the candidates as well as the other examiners paid their respects towards Xu Qingnian, but Zhou Renming’s group continued to sit there, not even standing up.
They seemed to feel that they had defeated Xu Qingnian yesterday, so they were even more inexplicably arrogant today than they had been yesterday.
Xu Qingnian didn’t even give them a glance.
He just nodded and handed the test questions to Wang Xinzhi.
Immediately afterwards, he returned to his seat as the examiner.
Taking the test questions.
Wang Xinzhi didn’t even look at them, but looked to the crowd of candidates and said.
“The subject examination begins, all candidates prepare.”
After saying this, the crowd returned to their seats.
And Wang Xinzhi also went to the bell, and after having someone ring the bell, he slowly unfolded the white paper in his hand.
Only the next moment.
When Wang Xinzhi saw the test questions, his face changed.
Wang Xinzhi turned his gaze towards Xu Qingnian.
However, Xu Qingnian looked incomparably calm, and for a moment, Wang Xinzhi sighed and then slowly spoke.
“Great Wei Dynasty, the second year of Wuchang, the second test question of the imperial examination.”
“The Harm of the Palace of Literature.”
Wang Xinzhi almost stiffly spoke out the test question.
In an instant, as the test question was spoken, all the examiners’ faces instantly changed drastically, and the students were also in an uproar in an instant.
In particular, Zhou Renming and the others’ faces instantly became incomparably ugly.
Only yesterday they had said that the Zhu Sheng lineage was good and sarcastically accused Xu Qingnian of disrespecting the saints, but as a result, Xu Qingnian’s test question today almost trampled Zhu Sheng underfoot.
In reality, Xu Qingnian’s test question was aimed at the Palace of Literature, but in their eyes, Xu Qingnian was targeting the saints.
“Xu Qingnian, you scorn my saint in such a way, you are truly daring.”
The blood in Zhou Renming’s body gushed directly to his head as he roared loudly and angrily, accusing Xu Qingnian of such an act.
The sound of his anger was tremendous.
The main examination platform.
Xu Qingnian’s eyes did not have any anger in them, but only spoke slowly.
“The examination hall is noisy, expelled, deprived of merit, and not allowed to take the exam again for three years.”
Xu Qingnian’s voice was calm.
People like Zhou Renming, whom Xu Qingnian didn’t want to deal with at all, didn’t even have the seventh rank, and were shouting here.
If he was not the chief examiner, he, Zhou Renming, would end up in a miserable situation.
But he was the chief examiner himself, and everything was done according to the rules.
“Xu Qingnian, you are treacherous to slander the sage in such a way.”
“If you expel me, I, Zhou Renming, will not even take the examination today.”
“People like you, who disrespect the saints and disrespect their elders, are guilty beyond pardon.”
Zhou Renming roared in anger, he did not care about being expelled, he had already stopped thinking about the imperial examination after writing that kind of essay yesterday.
Right now he just wanted to scold, to scold Xu Qingnian, to say all the words that were in his heart.
“Someone.”
“Take the candidate, Zhou Renming, into custody. He has defied the imperial examinations and disrespected the Confucianism, adding to his crime.
Xu Qingnian spoke indifferently.
Since the other party was determined to die, Xu Qingnian would not give him the chance.
“Xu Qingnian, how dare you?”
“I am a scholar of the Great Wei, I have merit and have not committed a serious crime, according to the laws of the Great Wei, you cannot kill me.”
When Zhou Renming heard these words, a look of panic was evident in his eyes, but he still said so with his neck held high.
But the guards inside the tribute courtyard, who had already come over, directly detained him without any hint of mercy at all.
And in the eyes of these guards, what was a mere candidate? Xu Qingnian even dared to kill the Great Confucian of Heaven and Earth, this man really had a problem with his brain.
“Fine, your merit is gone, Lord Wang, please ask someone to go to the Ministry of Officials and have this man’s merit dismissed.”
Xu Qingnian spoke, his tone incomparably calm.
As soon as this was said, Zhou Renming wanted to yell something, but the guard who came over to seize him was not stupid.
He slapped Zhou Renming directly on the face, shutting him up instantly.
The next moment, Zhou Renming was detained.
The rest of the people looked at each other in disbelief, even the readers who had followed Zhou Renming along with them were inexplicably scared at this moment.
“If you feel that there are problems with the test questions, you may put down your pen and be considered to have abandoned the examination.”
“This is the right of you all.”
“Also, if you make any more noise, treat them all the same.”
Xu Qingnian’s voice was slightly cold.
He did not make a move yesterday because he did not want to bother with such things, there was no need to mess with a dog barking a few times.
But today, the dog has already bitten itself, Xu Qingnian does not believe in the theory that does it still bite back.
Xu Qingnian will not bite back, just kill it.
However, after Xu Qingnian said this, all the scholars looked at me and I looked at you, but most of them still participated in the imperial examinations honestly.
Although they were reading sage books, the problem was that they cared more about their career path.
But there was also a group of readers who got up and left, though not as deadly as Zhou Renming.
These were the people who had actually been brainwashed to succeed in reading.
Xu Qingnian did not care about these people and continued to wait quietly.
A few hours later.
It was Yu Yi who was the first to finish writing the examination paper, and Xu Qingnian looked at it carefully.
Within the essay, Yu Yi’s thoughts once again coincided with his own, arguing that the harm of the Palace of Literature was that readers were no longer readers, but people who chased status and power.
He argues that the harm of the Palace of Literature lies in the fact that readers are no longer readers, but people who pursue status and power.
If this article was shown to the Great Wei Palace of Literature, the great scholars of the Palace would probably explode.
Retracting his gaze, Xu Qingnian looked at Yu Yi.
The latter felt Xu Qingnian’s gaze and immediately lifted his head, then arched his hand towards Xu Qingnian.
It was just respect.
“This son, great talent.”
Xu Qingnian wrote down Excellent on the examination paper.
Excellent was a rating that exceeded A. Only the chief examiner could write excellent, the rest of the examiners could only cla*sify A, B, C, D.
After a few hours had pa*sed.
Someone came and it was Wang Xinzhi who was approached.
After a while, Wang Xinzhi walked in with a frown on his face and came to himself, somewhat wanting to say something but not doing so.
Xu Qingnian had roughly guessed what was going on.
“Lord Wang, did someone approach you and ask you to plead with me to bypa*s Zhou Renming?”
Xu Qingnian asked.
“En, but I refused.”
Wang Xinzhi gave his answer and did not hide anything.
“If Lord Wang pleads for mercy, I can let him off the hook.”
Xu Qingnian did not want to compromise Wang Xinzhi’s face as he opened his mouth like this, after all, a Zhou Renming was just a pawn, being used as a pawn, silly.
“No.”
Wang Xinzhi shook his head, and then spoke, “If you don’t kill one Zhou Renming, there will be thousands and thousands of Zhou Renming in the future, this kind of person, death is not enough.”
Wang Xinzhi said in a cold tone.
If it was just some trivial matter, he would indeed plead for mercy, in the examination hall of the imperial examinations, he also dared to do this, then there was nothing to discuss.
Hearing Wang Xinzhi’s reply, Xu Qingnian didn’t say anything else.
That was it, the imperial examination was over.
Xu Qingnian was like yesterday.
But late that night, when Xu Qingnian had finished approving all the examination papers, Wang Xinzhi came.
“Shouren.”
When they met in private, Wang Xinzhi did not address Xu Qingnian as his lord.
“Lord Wang.”
Xu Qingnian was polite.
“What do you plan to do after the examination tomorrow?”
Wang Xinzhi was straightforward and asked.
“Go back to study.”
Xu Qingnian replied.
“Shouren, after the examination tomorrow, go to the Great Wei Palace of Literature, the Twelve Books of Zhu Sheng, you must read them carefully.”
“It will definitely be helpful to you.”
Wang Xinzhi stated the purpose of his visit to Xu Qingnian.
He knew what Xu Qingnian had been thinking about recently, so he deliberately came over to give a reminder.
Once this was said, Xu Qingnian nodded and sort of understood what Wang Xinzhi had come to find himself for.
“Good.”
Xu Qingnian nodded her head.
And Wang Xinzhi continued to speak.
“Can you see any talents in the imperial examinations this time?”
Wang Xinzhi asked Xu Qingnian.
“There are a few, but not many.”
“I wonder how it compares to the past?”
Xu Qingnian gave his answer, and at the same time was curious to ask.
After all, Wang Xinzhi had presided over the imperial examinations more times than himself.
“The first imperial examination of the new dynasty, not very good, compared to the past, it’s much worse.”
“To be more precise, it is getting worse and worse, this year this Yu Yi is extremely good, his essay is sharp, a bit of your shadow, only too much sharpness is not good either, without your ability, if so sharp, there is a lot of trouble.”
Wang Xinzhi gave a reply.
Then, he continued to speak.
“I have read Yu Yi’s essay, and I understand why you came up with this question.”
“Yes, since the death of Zhu Sheng, the Palace of Literature has gotten worse and worse, a few hundred years earlier was fine, but today, the Palace has put preaching and receiving aside, and all its thoughts are on how to secure the position of the Palace of Literature.”
“They didn’t do this when the saints were around, and when the saints are not around, they are afraid that their position will not be secure.”
“Readers do not have the appearance of being readers, and this is the current environment.”
“Shouren, I respect Zhu Sheng, not the Palace of Literature, I hope you will become a saint soon and return a clear sky to the readers.”
“If there is any place that I need to go, just ask.”
“In a few years’ time, I will also have to retire to my hometown.”
Wang Xinzhi lamented.
He was also aware of how the Great Wei Palace of Literature had changed over the years, so he couldn’t help but feel a lot of emotion.
“Lord Wang has spoken highly of you, you are still fit and healthy, it will not be a problem for you to serve for another twenty years.”
Xu Qingnian said so.
And Wang Xinzhi shook his head and said with a somewhat bitter smile.
“When you reach this position, no one would be willing to come down, but Great Wei needs new people now, a generation doing the work of a generation.”
“The Great Wei dynasty has gone through the war of the Northern Expedition, the country is shaken, the dynasty is in the midst of a storm, what we are doing is to make the country stable.”
“The rest is for you young people to do.”
“It may be a bad thing or a good thing when the Wen Palace secedes, and after these two years, when Great Wei is completely stable, we will also leave one after another.”
“The Great Wei Dynasty is in the hands of you young people.”
Wang Xinzhi did not accept Xu Qingnian’s consolation, but instead stated the facts very seriously.
Xu Qingnian did not say anything after listening.
After a while, Wang Xinzhi left.
Looking at the departing Wang Xinzhi.
For a moment, Xu Qingnian became even more silent.
Time pa*sed slowly.
The third day.
Xu Qingnian still conducted the examination.
And the examination questions for the third day.
[The Way of Being an Official]
Xu Qingnian’s test questions were not some scripture essay, but rather brought out the current situation of the ills of Great Wei and allowed the candidates to play.
The test was not about knowledge, but about ideas.
The third day.
It was still Yu Yi who had the best essay, but surprisingly, his own senior brother, also wrote a not bad essay.
Xu Qingnian also did not avoid suspicion and marked it straight away as superior.
It was all the way up to the Shenshu time.
The examination was over.
Ten days later, the results of the examination were announced.
However, on this day, Xu Qingnian did not approve the examination papers, leaving it to Wang Xinzhi and the others for approval.
After the candidates had left.
After a while, Xu Qingnian was alone, walking towards the Great Wei Palace of Literature.
He was going to look at the Twelve Sacred Books of the Zhu Sheng.
Because he himself had almost no clue about the Sacred Dao, it was ultimately difficult to work behind closed doors.
Taking a look at what others had done might give himself some insight.
Once again, he approached the Great Wei Palace of Literature.
Xu Qingnian was not the least bit embarra*sed, but on the contrary, he was extremely relaxed.
And as Xu Qingnian arrived at the Great Wei Palace of Literature, for a moment, the Great Wei Palace of Literature became even quieter.
Almost everyone looked at Xu Qingnian with incomparably complicated eyes, but no one dared to say anything, nor did anyone dare to show any expressions.
Soon, a figure appeared.
“I, Hua Xinyun, pay my respects to Xu Ru.”
Hua Xinyun’s appearance caused Xu Qingnian to be somewhat surprised.
This person was really a bit odd, from the very first appearance, Xu Qingnian thought that this person would find himself in trouble.
What he did not expect was that not only had Hua Xingyun not sought trouble with him, but he had been working honestly and had not offended himself, and Xu Qingnian had even heard that Hua Xingyun would defend his reputation outside.
This time, Hua Xinyun would also participate in the examination.
However, it was not expected that Hua Xinyun did not participate.
However, Xu Qingnian could tell at a glance that Hua Xingyun had already established his reputation as a sixth-ranked Confucian.
When he first saw him, it was only a clear intention.
“Brother Hua is polite, Xu does not like such rules.”
Xu Qingnian spoke, smiling slightly.
“Xu Ru has spoken highly of you, Xu Ru, are you here today for the Twelve Sacred Books?”
Hua Xinyun inquired.
“En.”
Xu Qingnian nodded, and the latter did not say much as he directly led Xu Qingnian to the Great Wei Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
Various gazes were cast along the way, and as Xu Qingnian entered the Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
Voices only gradually rang out.
“Xu Qingnian scorns the saints like this, can he read the Twelve Sacred Books?”
“Such disrespect for the saints, how can he still have the face to read the Twelve Sacred Books?”
“Only those who are sincere in heart can read the Twelve Holy Books, Xu Qingnian cannot read them.”
Some voices rang out, not much and not too loud, just some small chatter.
Inside the Great Wei Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
With Hua Xinyun leading the way, Xu Qingnian arrived at the top of the Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
On the top of the pavilion, there were twelve stone tablets, and on top of them lay the golden Holy Book.
“Xu Ru, these are the twelve books of the Vermilion Saint, I cannot stay here for long, my junior will wait below.”
Hua Xinyun was extremely polite.
And Xu Qingnian nodded, then came to the first stone tablet and directly picked up the sacred booklet.
In an instant, a vast aura filled the air, and a wisp of holy might pressed in.
However, as Xu Qingnian released his own Hao Rang Qi, the Holy Book quieted down.
This was the original manuscript Holy Book, which could not be viewed by anyone other than the Great Confucians. Some of the Great Wei Palace of Literature’s proper Confucian scholars or seventh-ranked Confucian scholars with clear intent could only view it through the excerpts of the Great Confucians of Heaven and Earth.
After getting the Holy Book.
Xu Qingnian flipped it open directly and read the holy words.
In an instant.
A magnificent sound resounded in his mind, these were the words of Zhu Sheng.
It expounded on the way of heaven and earth, the way of nature, the way of the human race, and the way of all things.
Almost instantly, Xu Qingnian fell into a state of epiphany.
He listened with rapt attention.
Even though Xu Qingnian had great talent in all the ages, he was still inadequate in the face of the saints.
The mysteries of heaven, earth and the universe, the laws of nature in all things.
When these truths appear, one is inexplicably elevated, as if everything seems less important.
This is the holy dao.
Xu Qingnian quietly perceived it.
And at that very moment, the Haozheng Qi around him gradually diffused.
An hour later.
Xu Qingnian put down the first book of the holy words and picked up the second book of the holy words.
His mind was not distracted, and he was reading the sacred words carefully.
Book by book, he read them.
Book by book, he read.
Gradually, the Vast Aura around him grew thicker and thicker.
No, it was the entire Hidden Scripture Pavilion that was suffused with an unparalleled Vast Aura.
Another hour.
After Xu Qingnian got the third Holy Book to read.
Suddenly, the entire Hidden Scripture Pavilion resounded with the sound of a chanting scripture.
The rushing purple Vast Righteousness Qi also exploded at this moment.
Boom!
The purple Qi rushed into the sky, and the commotion in the Hidden Scripture Pavilion instantly drew all the Confucian students in the entire Palace of Literature to cast their eyes to look.
“What’s happening?”
“Why is the Hidden Scripture Pavilion like this?”
“Isn’t Xu Qingnian in the Hidden Scripture Pavilion? Is this a vision he made?”
“Good grief, why does Xu Qingnian’s visit to the Hidden Scripture Pavilion attract such a spectacle?”
The Confucian students were shocked, but more than that, they were jealous.
“Xu Qingnian is having an epiphany, I guessed it right, the Twelve Holy Books, written by the saints themselves, have a miraculous effect on those with excellent talent, no matter what, no one can question Xu Qingnian’s talent, these Twelve Holy Books, I’m afraid they only mean a lot to him.”
A great Confucian spoke up and looked at the Hidden Scripture Pavilion and said so.
“It’s a pity that he is not from the Zhu Sheng lineage, otherwise, the Zhu Sheng lineage would have flourished for another five hundred years.”
A great scholar also spoke up, not shocked by this scene, but regretting that Xu Qingnian was not of the Zhu Sheng lineage.
The light of the Hidden Scripture Pavilion grew more and more fiery.
The hundred-foot purple aura drew many people in the capital of Great Wei to stop and look at it.
As time pa*sed little by little.
The purple qi became more and more terrifying.
Three hundred feet.
Five hundred feet.
A thousand feet.
Straight into the clouds.
Boom boom boom!
At this moment, the Great Wei Palace of Literature trembled.
Inside the Hidden Scripture Pavilion, Xu Qingnian had also seen the ninth book.
The sound of chanting scriptures was heard throughout the Great Wei Palace of Literature at first, but now this chanting sound reached the entire Great Wei Kyoto.
Above the dome of the sky, a cloud of talent emerged.
The entire Great Wei Palace of Literature blazed with light.
In the end, the holy images all began to resonate.
The visions also became more and more magnificent.
The sound of chanting scriptures also grew louder and louder.
And when Xu Qingnian picked up the tenth book to read.
Boom!
A terrifyingly vast Qi coalesced in the middle of the Palace of Literature, creating a holy image.
But it was not the holy image of Zhu Sheng.
Rather, it was Xu Qingnian’s holy image.
“Look guys, this imaginary image doesn’t look like Xu Qingnian?”
“Hiss! It really does look like that.”
“What’s going on here? Is it possible that Xu Qingnian is going to become a saint?”
“So good that he’s going to become a saint?”
“How is that possible?”
“He’s looking at the Twelve Holy Books and understanding the Way of the Saints, this is about to become a half-saint.”
“It’s possible, extremely possible.”
That one voice rang out.
The Confucian students were shocked, not only them, but also the whole of Kyoto.
The Great Wei Imperial Palace.
Everyone watched the vision.
The empress even walked straight out of the great hall and turned her gaze towards the Great Wei Palace of Literature.
The gazes of the six ministries of Great Wei, the State Dukes, the Marquis’s House, the powerful and noble people, also looked at the Great Wei Palace of Literature with dead eyes at this moment.
The vision was becoming more and more terrifying.
The light was also becoming more and more fiery.
The mighty qi was like a vast ocean, flooding the whole of Great Wei’s Kyoto.
The sound of chanting scriptures was even resounding for ten thousand miles.
This was indeed a sign of sainthood.
In the middle of the Ministry of Justice.
Chen Zhengru clenched his fist to death, hoping that Xu Qingnian would thus become a saint.
If Xu Qingnian became a saint.
It could turn the tide in an instant.
In the Ministry of Rites, Wang Xinzhi’s eyes were also full of expectation.
The eyes of countless people in the entire Wei capital were filled with anticipation.
But there were also those who looked nervous.
Not wanting Xu Qingnian to become a saint.
Book Eleven.
Book twelve.
Finally.
Xu Qingnian picked up the twelfth book of holy words.
This time, it only took Xu Qingnian half an hour to finish reading this book.
When Zhu Sheng’s twelve books, all of them were read by Xu Qingnian.
In an instant.
Xu Qingnian stood in the Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
Countless thoughts floated in his mind.
The figure of Zhu Sheng also appeared in his mind, recounting the way of the saints.
Boom boom boom!
Light rushed into the sky.
It plunged straight into the clouds.
It illuminated the whole of Great Wei’s Kyoto completely and utterly.
A fierce wind swept through the capital of Great Wei.
Between heaven and earth.
The incomparable holy intent grew stronger and stronger.
And the holy image in the Palace of Literature.
It was also becoming more and more solid.
At this moment, the Palace of Literature was in chaos, and the faces of many great scholars were tense.
The faces of Cao Ru and Fang Ru were extremely ugly.
They had never imagined that Xu Qingnian could really use the Twelve Holy Books to comprehend the Holy Dao.
But at that very moment.
An incomparably grand voice rang out.
“Scorn the Saint!”
“Do not become a saint!”
