novelMigli Chapter 1490 Sun Xiucai's Answer
Chapter 1490 Sun Xiucai's Answer
Looking at the panoramic view of the examination room, he saw that the fourteenth person in the middle row—a young man in a gray long gown—was talking to the person next to him.
Zhu Qiwu scanned the data with his talent assessment technique—Name: Sun Xiucai. Status: Candidate for the special imperial examination. Literary talent: Average. Loyalty: Low. Danger level: High.
Sun Xiucai was not on the list given by Lu Wenzhao.
In other words, this person was not arranged by Zhang Shicheng; he infiltrated the group on his own.
Zhu Qiwu held the loyalty test card in his hand, not in a hurry to use it.
We're using this now, to stir up trouble. We'll check them one by one after the exams begin.
"Soup and..."
"exist."
“Go tell Mr. Bowen to keep a close eye on the fourteenth person in the very middle row. Write down who he's talking to.”
Tang He nodded, then turned and left.
Zhu Qiwu listened for a while longer, and then a number of candidates gradually entered the examination room. He scanned them one by one with his keen hearing, and found that most of them were nervously memorizing their books, some were reciting silently, and some were shaking their legs.
Then he heard a familiar voice.
"...Officials appointed by the imperial court, who receive the emperor's salary, should share the emperor's burdens. If there is a disaster, they should open granaries to distribute grain; if there is a drought, they should divert water for irrigation..."
It's Chen Zilong. The young man from Qingtian is reciting his own article.
Zhu Qiwu looked at the panoramic view of the examination room. Chen Zilong was sitting by the window with pen and ink in front of him, and his expression was very calm.
This person is extremely loyal.
Zhu Qiwu made a mental note of it.
About half an hour later, it was broad daylight. The gates of the examination hall opened, and the candidates began to enter.
Zhu Qiwu stood on the second floor, watching the candidates walk in one by one. Some stood tall and proud, some timidly walked in, and some looked around nervously.
Fang Zijing stood at the door, checking the travel permits and recommendation letters one by one.
"Next."
A young man dressed in white walked in. Zhu Qiwu recognized him as Lu Wenzhao.
As Lu Wenzhao entered the examination hall, he glanced up at the second floor. Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.
Lu Wenzhao smiled slightly and then walked into the examination room.
He was assigned to the very front, directly facing the proctor's desk.
Fang Zijing continued calling out, "Next."
Zhao Wenbin walked in. He was wearing a blue long gown today, carrying a book box, and his expression was much calmer than yesterday.
He also looked up at the second floor, cupped his hands in greeting to Zhu Qiwu, and then went inside.
Then, one by one, the fourteen people came in.
Zhu Qiwu used his keen hearing to watch their every move.
When Qian Tinggui entered, he exchanged a glance with Sun Xiucai. Neither of them said anything, but their eyes spoke volumes.
Zhu Qiwu kept this scene in his heart.
After all the candidates had entered the examination hall, the gates of the examination hall were closed. Xu Da led his personal guards to surround the hall in three layers, while Tang He led his men to patrol the hall in two layers.
Zhu Qiwu walked down the second floor and arrived at the side door of the examination room.
Liu Bowen stood inside the side door, holding a folding fan. Seeing Zhu Qiwu arrive, he whispered, "Everything is arranged. Thirty proctors, one for every ten seats. I'll personally oversee the middle row."
"Mr. Bowen, you've worked hard."
“It wasn’t hard work,” Liu Bowen said. “But you, did you bring all three things?”
"I brought them all." Zhu Qiwu pulled out loyalty test cards from his pocket. "I'll check them one by one after the first exam."
Liu Bowen nodded, then looked at the sky.
"It's time. Time to hand out the papers."
Zhu Qiwu took a deep breath and then nodded.
Fang Zijing carried a stack of exam papers into the examination room and handed them out to each seat one by one.
Zhu Qiwu stood behind the side door, using the panoramic view of the examination room to observe everyone's reactions.
Most people, after receiving the exam paper, will first flip to the last page to look at the questions for the third section, and then start answering from the beginning. This is a normal reaction.
But a few people are different.
After receiving the exam paper, Sun Xiucai immediately flipped to the third section, glanced at the third question, and then slightly curled the corner of his mouth.
The smile was faint, but Zhu Qiwu saw it.
Then there's Qian Tinggui. After receiving his exam paper, he didn't look at the questions first, but instead glanced at the people next to him. To his left sat a candidate named Liu Bancheng, and to his right sat a candidate named Zhou Heizi. Both of them were on the list that Lu Wenzhao had given him.
The three of them sat together, as if it had been arranged beforehand.
Zhu Qiwu kept all of this in mind.
The exam has begun.
The examination room was so quiet that only the scratching sound of pens slicing across paper could be heard.
Zhu Qiwu, wearing upgraded versions of his super-hearing ears, listened to each word one by one.
The first exam tested knowledge of the classics, and the question was: "If you were the magistrate of a county, and the county suffered a disaster and there wasn't enough food, what would you do?"
Most people wrote formulaic answers such as opening granaries to distribute grain, reporting to the imperial court, and reducing taxes.
However, several people wrote different versions.
Chen Zilong wrote: "First save lives, then food. If food is insufficient, prioritize the elderly and children. Then organize able-bodied men to go out and forage for food—not begging, but work-for-relief. Repair canals, build dikes, and reclaim wasteland; exchange labor for food."
Zhu Qiwu's eyes lit up when he heard these words.
This answer was even better than he had expected.
Lu Wenzhao wrote: "Disasters don't happen in a day, and neither do grain supplies. A county magistrate who waits until disaster strikes to devise a solution is unfit to be a magistrate. The real solution should be implemented before disaster strikes: repair water conservancy projects, build public granaries, and train militia. If these three things are done well, no disaster will be a threat."
Lu Wenzhao was indeed not here to take an exam, but to discuss philosophy.
Zhao Wenbin wrote: "If there isn't enough grain, then don't eat grain. There are wild vegetables in the mountains, fish in the rivers, and fruit on the trees. The people won't starve to death; they'll be scared to death. The first thing the county magistrate needs to do isn't to find grain, but to stabilize the people's hearts. Once the people's hearts are at peace, everything else will follow."
Zhu Qiwu wrote down another name.
The first exam lasted two hours.
When it was time to hand in the papers, Zhu Qiwu stood behind the side door and scanned each paper one by one with the loyalty check card.
The test card is simple: point it at a person, and the card changes color. Green means loyal, red means traitorous, and yellow means suspicious.
The first one is Chen Zilong. (Green)
The second one is Lu Wenzhao. Green.
The third one is Zhao Wenbin. (Green)
The fourth one is Fang Zijing. Green.
The fifth one is Scholar Sun.
The card turned yellow.
Zhu Qiwu paused for a moment.
Yellow. Suspicious.
It wasn't red, meaning Sun Xiucai wasn't a traitor. But it wasn't green either, meaning there was something wrong with him. Zhu Qiwu wrote down Sun Xiucai's name and continued his investigation.
The sixth one is Qian Tinggui. (Red)
Red. Traitor.
Qian Tinggui was indeed Zhang Shicheng's man.
The seventh one is Liu Bancheng. (Red)
The eighth one is Zhou Heizi. (Red)
Numbers nine through thirteen are all red.
Of the fourteen people, thirteen are red.
Only Sun Xiucai is yellow.
Zhu Qiwu carefully put away the test results, his mind racing.
Thirteen traitors, one of whom is suspicious.
Lu Wenzhao said, "Out of the fourteen men, one is not Zhang Shicheng."
That person wasn't Zhang Shicheng, but Sun Xiucai.
But Sun Xiucai is yellow, not green. This indicates that he was neither Zhu Yuanzhang's man nor Zhang Shicheng's man.
So who does he work for?
Zhu Qiwu thought for a moment and suddenly understood.
Sun Xiucai was probably a former subordinate of Chen Youliang.
Although Chen Youliang had been dead for three years, his former subordinates were still active in secret. Sun Xiucai came to take the imperial examination not for Zhang Shicheng, nor for Zhu Yuanzhang, but for Chen Youliang's former followers.
He came to take the entrance exam in order to place his own people within the organization.
And the answer he relayed—"focus on the word 'patience'"—was not Zhang Shicheng's thinking, but rather the thinking of Chen Youliang's old subordinates. Chen Youliang's old subordinates were masters of patience. They endured until their opponents made a mistake, then struck a fatal blow.
Zhu Qiwu figured all of this out, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.
Alright. All three forces are present: Zhang Shicheng's men, Chen Youliang's former subordinates, and Lu Wenzhao, a fence-sitter.
This event was even more exciting than he had imagined.
After the first exam, the candidates were allowed to rest for an hour.
Taking advantage of this time, Zhu Qiwu summoned Liu Bowen and Song Lian together.
"Mr. Bowen, Jinglian, I've roughly looked at the papers from the first exam. Several people's answers were excellent, and I've circled them. But several people's answers were exactly the same."
Liu Bowen took the list from Zhu Qiwu, looked at it, and frowned.
"Qian Tinggui, Liu Bancheng, Zhou Heizi, and Sun Xiucai. Their answers are 60% similar."
“Not 60%,” Zhu Qiwu said, “it’s 80%. Not only are their answers similar, but they even use the same allusions. This shows that they checked the answers before the exam.”
Song Lian gasped, "What should we do then? Should we disqualify them?"
“Don’t cancel it,” Zhu Qiwu said. “If we cancel it, they’ll go back and report to Zhang Shicheng that the exam questions have been leaked. That way, Zhang Shicheng will know our weaknesses. If we don’t cancel it, let them take the exam. When the results are released, none of them will pass, and they’ll be exposed.”
Liu Bowen thought for a moment and nodded.
"But what about Scholar Sun? He's not one of Zhang Shicheng's men."
“I know,” Zhu Qiwu said. “Sun Xiucai is a former subordinate of Chen Youliang. He came to take the imperial examination to place his own people in it. But he doesn’t know that we’ve already discovered him.”
"Chen Youliang's former subordinates? Weren't they already scattered?"
"They were scattered, but not killed," Zhu Qiwu said. "Chen Youliang had an advisor named Zou Tianyou. Three years ago, when Chen Youliang died, he led a group of men to Huguang. For the past few years, he's been secretly plotting, looking for an opportunity to make a comeback. Scholar Sun was very likely sent by Zou Tianyou."
Liu Bowen stopped fanning himself.
"Zou Tianyou... I've heard of him. He's Chen Youliang's most cunning strategist, even more difficult to deal with than Zhao Bulan."
"That's why I didn't disqualify Sun Xiucai," Zhu Qiwu said. "I'll let him take the exam. After it's over, I need to know how many people Zou Tianyou still has in Yingtian Prefecture."
Song Lian picked up the pen, his hand trembling slightly.
"Seventh Prince, how many things are you still hiding from us?"
The hour of rest passed quickly.
The candidates re-entered the examination room to prepare for the second exam.
The second exam was a policy essay. The question was: "If you were the strategist of the King of Wu, you would have three tasks to complete: first, defeat Zhang Shicheng; second, recruit Chen Youliang's former troops; and third, pacify the people. You could only do one at a time. Which would you choose? Why? After making your choice, how would you handle the other two tasks?"
This question was set by Zhu Qiwu and Liu Bowen together.
Zhu Qiwu stood behind the side door, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside the examination room.
Most people chose "attack Zhang Shicheng". The reasons were similar - Zhang Shicheng was the biggest threat at present, and if they didn't attack him, they couldn't do anything else.
But a few people are different.
Lu Wenzhao chose "to appease the people".
His reasoning was: "Fighting Zhang Shicheng and taking over his old troops are both wars. Wars kill people—sons, husbands, and fathers of ordinary people. The fundamental solution is to appease the people, ensure they have enough to eat, work, and hope. If the foundation is stable, we can win against anyone. If the foundation is unstable, even if we win, we can't hold the position."
After listening, Zhu Qiwu remained silent for a long time.
This answer is exactly the same as what Fourth Brother said.
Chen Zilong chose to "recruit Chen Youliang's former subordinates".
His reasoning was: "Zhang Shicheng doesn't need to be fought; he'll fall on his own. A man who thinks he's the master of the world just because he's holding onto that little bit of territory in Suzhou won't go far. But Chen Youliang's old troops are different; they're scattered all over the place, like seeds. If you don't win them over, they'll sprout and grow into new enemies. First, win over the old troops, then fight Zhang Shicheng, and finally appease the people. This order cannot be reversed."
This young man is no ordinary person.
Zhao Wenbin chose "appease the people." But his reasons differed from Lu Wenzhao's.
He said, "I chose to appease the people, not because they are the most important thing, but because I can't do the other two things. I don't know how to fight, and I don't know how to recruit people. I only know one thing—to make the people live a good life. It's better for me to do what I know than to do what I don't know."
Zhu Qiwu laughed after hearing this.
Zhao Wenbin is quite frank.
Sun Xiucai chose "fighting Zhang Shicheng." But he added, "The other two matters can be addressed after we defeat Zhang Shicheng. There's no rush to regroup the old troops. They've been scattered for three years and are no longer of any use. And there's even less of a rush to appease the people. They won't starve; they can endure more than we think."
Zhu Qiwu's eyes turned cold.
"The common people won't starve; they can endure more than we thought."
This statement was made by someone who was a former subordinate of Chen Youliang.
Because they have never treated ordinary people as human beings. In their eyes, ordinary people are just pawns; once one group dies, another will come.
Zhu Qiwu wrote down Sun Xiucai's answer.
After the second exam, there was another hour of rest.
During this break, Zhu Qiwu did not return to the side gate, but went directly to the examination room.
He walked to the front of the middle row of seats and looked at the fourteen people.
When Qian Tinggui saw Zhu Qiwu, his eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly lowered his head.
Sun Xiucai looked up at Zhu Qiwu with a calm expression.
"Young Master Qiwu, what can I do for you?"
Zhu Qiwu sat down opposite him. (End of Chapter)