CHAPTER 483: CHAPTER 477 INTERESTING

Zhao Hanzhang hurriedly went down to help the person up and said, "General Beigong, do not worry. I will handle this matter myself. You can rest assured and stay here with peace of mind."

Fu Tinghan had just drunk two cups of wine. At this moment, the wine was taking effect, and he felt a little drunk. He simply rested his head and watched her as she won people over.

However, these were indeed her heartfelt words. Zhao Hanzhang really did not regard Prince Nanyang seriously.

He was nothing but a straw bag.

But since he was backed by Prince East Sea, Zhao Hanzhang still needed to be mindful. After the welcome banquet, she summoned Geng Rong, "You still need to make a trip to Chang’an, but this time, you don’t need to take much gold and silver. Pick a few exquisite and attractive glassware from the Glass Workshop and send them to Prince Nanyang."

She said, "Just say that Beigong Chun has done me and the Yu State a great favor. There are matters in Liang Province that I cannot help with, so I can only take care of General Beigong a bit, and I ask for Prince Nanyang’s understanding."

Geng Rong understood, "Would my lady like to send a handwritten letter?"

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and nodded, "That would be good."

Zhao Hanzhang turned and went to Ji Yuan to write a letter.

Ji Yuan thought for a while and said, "I’ll write this letter on behalf of the lady; you can simply transcribe it tomorrow."

He added, "Indeed, we should write a letter to Prince Nanyang. Alas, as Prince Nanyang is the brother of Prince East Sea, and you’ve already fallen out with him, if you could ease relations through him, it would be advantageous."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Has Gou Xi returned to Yan State?"

"Yes, spring plowing has already begun."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "It’s just a few days until the recruitment exam coincides with spring plowing. Remind the border army to be cautious and strengthen patrols. Although I don’t think Prince East Sea and Gou Xi would act during this season, who knows if someone might act irrationally?"

Ji Yuan: "...Yes."

Gou Xi didn’t plan to act at this time. Yan State had already missed two years of farming seasons; if they fought again, there would be more bandits within the borders.

Moreover, he didn’t want to be enemies with Zhao Hanzhang temporarily.

However, when the news of Beigong Chun defecting to Zhao Hanzhang arrived, he couldn’t help but get anxious.

Gou Chun, even more so, burst into anger, "Brother, I’ve been saying all along that Zhao Hanzhang has a wolf’s ambition and cannot be let off easily. You wouldn’t listen to me. Now look at it; she has gained Beigong Chun and has annexed six counties of the Yu State. It will be even harder to deal with in the future."

"Yu State is right next to Yan State; what if she attacks us in Yan State?"

Gou Xi was still confident in himself, "Although she is smart, she cannot outmatch me on the battlefield."

"Even so, isn’t Prince East Sea still next to us?"

Mentioning Prince East Sea made Gou Xi’s spirits dip. Initially, he had a pretty good relationship with Prince East Sea; they could even be considered friends.

But only because a wicked person whispered a word of slander, Prince East Sea became suspicious of him, wanting to send him from Yan State to Qingzhou.

Yes, that’s right. Gou Xi now calls himself the Governor of Yan State, but just like Zhao Hanzhang, he doesn’t officially hold this title in the court.

Prince East Sea schemed by appointing himself as the Prefect of Yan State, governing Yan State, and then assigning Gou Xi as the Governor of Qingzhou, intending for him to go to Qingzhou.

Little did he expect that Gou Xi would refuse to go to Qingzhou to take office. He directly seized control of Yan State, leading all officials there to break free from Prince East Sea’s control, and then advised the emperor on relocation.

Gou Xi asked, "Has Your Majesty not yet decided to relocate the capital?"

"I’ve heard that he’s quite tempted and is having Fu Zhongshu prepare food supplies. Brother, should we give it another push?"

"Hmph, let Prince East Sea know about the emperor’s plan to relocate along with the food supply preparations, and also inform him that the emperor has secretly decreed to conquer him."

Gou Chun hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Yes, I’ll go at once."

Gou Xi pinched his thumb, his brows and eyes filled with coldness. As long as the emperor and Luoyang were in his hands, what did he have to fear?

Not Zhao Hanzhang, nor Prince East Sea.

Zhao Hanzhang knew nothing of this. She was presiding over Yu State’s first recruitment exam. The number of candidates this time and the range of knowledge involved far surpassed that of the wine test.

The exams were drafted by Zhao Hanzhang, Fu Tinghan, Ji Yuan, Zhao Ming, and others, covering common classics, history, philosophy, arithmetic, and document transcription formats, among others.

In addition to these, there were policy discussions.

This time, two policy topics were set: one was views on the current state of the world and ways to solve it; the other was on the governance strategies of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.

Both topics were very broad. Ji Yuan was very anxious about them and said to Zhao Hanzhang, "Even I find it difficult to answer these two questions. What kind of answers do you seek, my lady?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I don’t know either."

She added, "I don’t have a fixed answer; I just want to hear everyone’s views. I am quite bewildered myself."

Ji Yuan looked at her incredulously.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, "Sir, I’m speaking plainly. How could you not believe me?"

Ji Yuan stood up, "Ji Yuan is going to grade the exams."

"Go on, go on." Zhao Hanzhang also joined in the grading. Selecting talents was a big deal and could not be taken lightly.

Fu Tinghan graded the papers the fastest. He only reviewed the arithmetic papers. A glance was enough to discern right from wrong. While the grading official was still on the first question, he had already marked a whole paper with red pen, giving scores right away.

The grading official couldn’t help but glance over, hastily pointing to a spot, "Sir, although the answer is correct, this process seems unfamiliar."

"It’s just a different method of calculation, but it’s still correct," Fu Tinghan said, placing the paper aside. Seeing their difficulty, he added, "Leave it to me. You can grade the classics and history transcription exams."

The grading officials exchanged glances and agreed, moving to evaluate other papers.

The names on the papers were concealed, and since it was the first exam, neither teachers nor students had experience, so there was currently no chance of cheating. This recruitment exam was exceptionally clean.

Because it was the first time, the examinees had no experience. The variety in the papers was so wide that some of Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes teared up from laughter.

Grading exams every day became a source of joy.

Ji Yuan, however, was quite angered by some of the papers and couldn’t understand how the lady could cultivate such a disposition and even laugh about it.

Zhao Hanzhang said nonchalantly, "It’s the first time after all, and no one has experience. If sir thinks their answers are not satisfactory, leave their papers aside and have them take the exam again next year."

Ji Yuan snorted, "It’s just a waste of our time."

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t think so. She pulled out a paper Ji Yuan had discarded and said with delight, "Yet I find some papers quite interesting, like this one, which boldly suggests using beautiful men against me, while saying that women ruling won’t last because women often have a soft heart."

"But isn’t it strange? He says here that women are jealous and as vicious as a bee sting when they are vicious. This both affirms and negates himself, so how should I respond to this?"