Awaken Chapter 33

Ankoku.

With the appearance of the House Monarch’s betting question.

The eyes of the crowd fell on the white paper.

Xu Qingnian was a little surprised, he didn’t expect the question that Fu Jun had bet on to be almost the same as what his teacher had guessed.

It seemed that his own teacher had something.

“The question of An Guo? It fits the current scenario.”

“The Great Wei Dynasty has been in power for more than seven hundred years, and Emperor Wu has made seven expeditions, but he is still unable to return to Heaven, and the country is shaking.

“If the title is “An Guo”, I think the north is still not very peaceful.”

As the crowd recited the words, they looked at the word “An Guo” and felt a lot of emotions in their hearts.

The literati of all generations are all about cultivating one’s body and family, ruling the country and pacifying the world.

If the country is not at peace, how can there be a prosperous world?

If there is no prosperous world, how can one study?

“Gentlemen, this is the question that my father guessed, and I have invited you all here today to talk about it.”

“Of course, we will not know until the examinations begin, so my father is only guessing.”

“Everyone here, those who have ideas can speak up, talk freely without words and exchange with each other.”

Li Xin spoke up, pointing to the white paper and said.

In the seating area, Wang Ru took a sip of fruit wine and pressed his voice to speak with Xu Qingnian.

“Li Xin gongzi is also going to take the prefectural examination, this question is eight or nine, the prefect has used his heart, ponder over it.”

Wang Ru pressed his voice to remind Xu Qingnian to listen and ponder with his heart.

Xu Qingnian nodded, and understood the main purpose of this banquet.

“The sons of the prefectural ruler are all taking part in the prefectural examination, it seems that His Majesty really cares about this prefectural examination.”

“Speaking out the betting questions for everyone’s reference is nothing more than a test and an expansion of thinking.”

“The ancients weren’t fools.”

Xu Qingnian instantly judged some information in his mind.

Li Xin invited everyone to dinner, beautifully saying that Fu Jun was betting on the questions to give everyone a heads up, the main purpose of which was to verify the self questions, as well as expand their thinking.

I think Li Xin should have written the corresponding essay to see if everyone’s thinking is the same, or preferably from it.

After taking a sip of fruit wine, Xu Qingnian didn’t say much, he had some thoughts on the topic, but he didn’t know if it was good or not, so he listened to what everyone had to say first.

“Sir Li, gentlemen, the topic of An Guo, I do have some insights.”

Someone spoke up.

Those who could come to this banquet were all, of course, dignified people who had studied for a few years, so it would naturally be good if they could make a splash.

As he spoke, the crowd nodded their heads, and Li Xin even smiled, “Please speak, Sir Xun, we are all eager to listen.”

The latter, wearing a green and grey robe, put his wine cup down and looked at the crowd.

“The so-called An Guo, its meaning is to stabilise the country.”

“However, Emperor Wu has made seven northern expeditions, but he has hated the Han Sea, the chaos on the border, and the barbarians in the north, who have always been eyeing our Great Wei.”

“If the barbarians are not eliminated and the border is uncertain, how can the country be settled?”

“Therefore, in my opinion, if the government exams are really on the topic of securing the country, its core is outside.”

He spoke out, his words were clear and precise, full of emotion, full of anger at the chaos on the frontier and the scourge of the barbarians.

As his voice fell, many people nodded their heads, all in approval.

“What Duke Xun said is extremely true, and Li also thinks in the same way, how can the country be stable if there is not only foreign chaos.”

“The shame of Jingcheng is still in front of us, and the hatred of the barbarians is in our hearts.”

Li Xin sighed with emotion as he approved of what the other man had said.

And with him leading the endors*ment, the voices of the crowd gradually rang out.

“En, if the barbarians are not eliminated, what will be the peace of the country, and if the frontiers are uncertain, there will be no talk of a prosperous world.”

“Yes, in the reign of Emperor Wu, if it had not been for a great snowfall, the barbarians would have been exterminated long ago, and it is really hard to feel at peace.”

“If the scourge of the barbarians can be eradicated, it will be a blessing for Wei.

“It is unheard of for a woman to be an emperor since ancient times, to open up the primordial of all the elephants, to open up the wonders of the ages, and I don’t know if it will ever be equal.”

The crowd was talking, perhaps because they had drunk a lot of wine, and the words they said were becoming more and more unrestrained, and the scale was getting bigger and bigger.

Xu Qingnian hurriedly coughed and lifted his gla*s of wine and said.

“Gentlemen, the shame of the Great Wei is still in our hearts, but we should not be depressed, we should remember the shame, serve the country, share the worries of the king and benefit the people, come, let’s drink together.”

Xu Qingnian shouted out.

If they were allowed to continue talking, they would probably start spewing the emperor as they talked.

In case the matter reached the emperor’s ears, it would be a problem if they were implicated for no reason.

No matter what the emperor’s character was, whether he could listen to advice or not, if he wanted to live well, he should not die.

When Xu Qingnian said these words, the crowd was infected and raised their gla*ses to drink together.

However, Xu Qingnian was a little surprised.

When it came to the emperor, it seemed that people didn’t particularly care, especially Li Xin, who was supposedly the son of the ruler and had even more regard for this thing, but there was no sign of stopping it.

I suppose it was because the literati were more free with their words.

But in any case, Xu Qingnian was more cautious, lest trouble come out of his mouth.

After the drinking.

The crowd continued to talk around the topic of An Guo.

But most of the talk was about foreign invasion.

Xu Qingnian was silent, just listening carefully, but inwardly he had his own thoughts.

What the people said made sense.

But Xu Qingnian felt that this was not what they meant.

After all, if this was really what they meant, then the emperor should not be the emperor at all.

There was a saying that to revive the outside world, one must first secure the inside.

Even if the barbarians were to kill Jingcheng again, he would not be able to destroy the country.

The layout of the war front, the people’s hearts, the distribution of resources, and the governance of the country and the family, which of these cannot give the barbarians a headache?

Would killing alone help?

It is definitely useless.

That is why [settling the country], is definitely not a border issue.

A hundred useless is a scholar, and for a scholar to talk about the history of war is nothing but a bunch of horseSh*t on paper.

If you don’t go to the battlefield, if you don’t understand the real war, everything you talk about is bullSh*t.

So the emperor should not be so stupid as to let a group of scholarly men talk about war.

This An Guo.

It should be …… Economy.

Hmm.

Economic issues.

For a country, external problems are less important than internal problems, and as a lesson from history, most countries break down because of internal problems.

And this internal is just two.

The court and the people.

The feudal lords, powerful officials and parties are the roots of the imperial court.

The economy, agriculture and livelihood are the source of the people.

It is not the turn of a group of scholars to dictate the affairs of the imperial court; a battle of that level could play a group of people to death with their toes.

So if the emperor takes the title of ‘peace and state’.

The root of it should be ‘to rule the country in peace’.

How to make the country peaceful and keep the people well-fed and well-drunk.

Once the people are well-fed and well-drunk, there will be much less strife and the people will have great trust in the state.

To take the simplest example, if the people are not well fed and clothed, what does it matter to me if foreigners come in? If the people are not well fed and clothed, what does it matter to me if foreigners come in?

But if the people have enough to eat and drink, and they have the money to go to the bar to listen to music, and if there is a war, who will not be angry?

I’m having a good time every day, and you’re here to ruin my happy life? I will fight with you.

That’s why the strategy for peace.

The source of the people should be the people, the source of the people should be food, oil and salt, and all of this should be silver.

In layman’s terms it is.

Copper plates.

Xu Qingnian is sure of the direction in his heart, but does not say it openly; he is a scholar, but not a saint.

What is the point of saying it? To show off his ability? And then get the questions copied?

You can always say good things, it doesn’t cost anything.

It’s not necessary to make a show of it.

It’s not necessary to make a scene.

At the banquet.

When Xu Qingnian returned to his senses, he found that the crowd was somewhat miserable, originally it was still lively, suddenly the picture changed all of a sudden.

“The shame of the country is still fresh in our minds, we, the scholars, can only study hard but cannot contribute to the country, it is really a shame.”

“Yes, the prosperity of the world cannot be separated from the sacrifices of our forefathers, the barbarians in the north are worse than pigs and dogs.”

“One day, when I can join the Ministry of War and go to the North to conquer the war, I will kill the barbarians to the end.”

The conversation gradually began to bash the barbarians in the North.

Xu Qingnian had read many books at Zhou Ling’s house, and among them were references to the barbarians in the North.

The barbarians in the North were a thorn in the hearts of the people of Great Wei, stinging the people of the world every moment.

The barbarians were naturally suited to be martial artists, strong in body and with their own sinews and veins, a racial advantage.

It is an indisputable fact that ten Wei soldiers cannot defeat one barbarian.

The good thing is that what God gives you in terms of physical talent, he weakens in terms of intelligence, and most barbarians are of average intelligence.

When they invaded Great Wei, burning and looting were minor matters, the focus was on some inhumane abuses.

The shame of Jingcheng was not just to hit near Kyoto.

Rather, they were killing the people of the Central Plains by all sorts of inhumane methods.

That was the real point of anger.

This was what the Great Wei had wanted to do most since it was founded, to sweep away the barbarians, unify the northern forces, then bide its time and suppress the borders in one fell swoop, completing an unprecedented unification.

But nine generations of kings have failed to do so, and this generation is actually even more difficult to achieve.

The most promising was still Emperor Wu, only to lose.

“The crimes of the barbarians are too numerous to be written down, and in this situation I really want to write a poem to vent my hatred, but I don’t have enough writing and ink to do so.”

“Is there anyone present who would like to write a poem?”

Li Xin opened his mouth, he wanted to write a poem after denouncing the barbarians, but unfortunately he was not cultured enough, so he looked at the crowd.

At this moment, the scene fell silent.

It was not that no one knew how to write a poem, but it was just that it was a bit difficult to write a poem all of a sudden.

Xu Qingnian sat at the bottom of the room, he took a sip of wine and understood how everyone felt.

After all, if you have read for a few years, you can write essays, but poetry is different.

If you say the wrong thing, it will be a joke, and it will ruin your reputation.

I can understand that.

But just then, someone suddenly looked at Xu Qingnian and couldn’t help but get up and laugh.

“Sir Li, I heard that Chen Xinghe, brother Chen is extremely good at poetry, but it seems that brother Chen is not here, but his senior brother Xu Qingnian is here, why don’t you ask brother Qingnian to recite a poem?”

This man opened his mouth.

His face was full of smiles as he looked at Xu Qingnian and said so.

In just an instant, all the eyes of the crowd gathered.

Xu Qingnian was a little confused.

Ha?

Let me write a poem?

I don’t know how to compose anything, do you?

Also, I don’t think I’ve ever offended you, have I?

No, I even praised you just now, but I didn’t expect you to treat me like this?

I’ll remember your name and never praise you again.

Xu Qingnian was a bit confused, he had been drinking well and suddenly asked himself to compose a poem?

He wouldn’t do it.

The poem he wrote was a disgrace to himself, so he wouldn’t do it.