Chapter 196: I, Lu Xiangsheng, Will Surely Be Famous

The three of them, Song Yingxing and the others, knew full well that under these conditions, taking the Imperial Academy examination worked in their favor—there was no denying that.

But not every aspect was favorable.

Song Yingxing glanced at Zhang Yu, his gaze burning like a torch, and said with extraordinary firmness: "Though we've failed the jinshi examination several times, this time we will definitely get into the Academy."

"Once we're in the Academy, we can promote our scholarship together, let more people across the realm know our Guanzhong Learning, and make it a leading school of thought in the world."

This time Zhang Yu said nothing more, because this was not only Song Yingxing's ideal—it was also his and Song Yingsheng's ideal.

Though this ideal might not necessarily be realized, the three of them had always been striving for it. Zhang Yu didn't truly want to dampen Song Yingxing's spirits, so when support was called for, he gave it.

"But there's one thing I don't quite understand—how will the martial arts examination work?" Zhang Yu asked, somewhat puzzled.

The Song brothers both remained silent.

"Could it be testing military strategy?" Zhang Yu looked at the two men and voiced the doubt in his heart.

The three exchanged glances, and in the end their eyes settled on Song Yingsheng.

When it came to military strategy, Song Yingsheng was the one who excelled; Song Yingxing and Zhang Yu were both lacking. So the two of them wanted to hear Song Yingsheng's view.

"If it only tested military strategy, how could that be called martial learning?" Song Yingsheng said with a furrowed brow.

"Since it's called martial learning, it should test archery and horsemanship. That will likely be no small challenge for us. You both know—we're probably not up to it." Song Yingsheng said with a calm expression.

Song Yingxing and Zhang Yu both nodded upon hearing this.

This they had to admit—though they weren't bookworms who only buried their heads in reading, they were not skilled at archery and horsemanship.

The Six Arts of the gentleman had by now nearly become a joke, which made the three of them feel somewhat ashamed. It seemed their own efforts had fallen short.

"Find some time to practice—at least don't embarrass ourselves at the examination. Getting a high score doesn't matter." Zhang Yu looked at the two men and said: "Since this time there are three subjects tested, no one can be skilled at all of them. Being good at two is already commendable. So our hopes are still quite high."

The three exchanged glances, effectively reaching an agreement.

Though the court was in turmoil, with all sorts of people saying all sorts of things and every kind of situation arising, one thing no one could change was that whatever the court decided was being implemented, and no one could stop it.

The Imperial Household Department had already selected its premises, and the office's signboard had been hung. Taikang Earl reported for duty at the Imperial Household Department every day, and Wang An from within the palace had also come out.

Powers that had once been scattered began to be consolidated. For instance, the Eight Bureaus' operations outside the palace, and other departments within the palace, were all now placed under Wang An's name.

This was the initial consolidation. Though there were some personnel changes, most were still the original staff. But everyone worked with great speed, and no one dared to shirk or play tricks.

Fang Zhenghua had already begun compiling the new personnel roster. Under such circumstances, everyone knew this was an opportunity. If one could accomplish real results, promotion might follow.

Of course, opportunity also meant danger—if one performed poorly anywhere, one would be eliminated. So everyone worked quite diligently.

Operations outside the palace were also beginning to be placed under the Imperial Household Department, such as the imperial estates and factories like the Indigo Works.

The Imperial Household Department was growing rapidly, though it would still take time to present itself to the outside world.

Under these circumstances, the Grand Secretariat also produced its list of recommended candidates for the position of Imperial Household Department Minister.

The names on the Grand Secretariat's recommended list truly took Zhu Youxiao by surprise.

Looking at the several names on the list in his hand, Zhu Youxiao hesitated.

Why him of all people?

Though the Grand Secretariat had recommended several people, that wasn't the real story—the one ranked first was the one the Grand Secretariat most supported. In most cases, the others were just there to make up the numbers.

Of course, it was possible Zhu Youxiao wouldn't like the person ranked first, in which case the Grand Secretariat would choose someone else. But the person ranked first still represented the Grand Secretariat's stance.

Zhu Youxiao truly hadn't expected that the person ranked first on the Grand Secretariat's recommendation would be him—Zhu Tongmeng.

This was something Zhu Youxiao had never anticipated. People in the Censorate knew something about it too; they had originally assumed that even if it wasn't Cui Chengxiu, someone else would come to the Imperial Household Department as Minister.

But Zhu Tongmeng had never been within Zhu Youxiao's range of choices. Why would the Grand Secretariat support him?

Still, Zhu Tongmeng was actually quite an interesting fellow. The first person to submit a routine memorial opposing the Donglin Faction and their lectures was none other than this Zhu Tongmeng—he had also opposed the Donglin Academy.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze swept across the faces of the four Grand Secretaries. Seeing them all sitting there with unruffled, knowing expressions, he knew he wouldn't get anything out of them—these old fellows wouldn't say a word.

Setting down the list in his hand, Zhu Youxiao said expressionlessly: "Then let him come. We'll choose Zhu Tongmeng."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The four Grand Secretaries acknowledged in unison, then took their leave.

Watching the four men's retreating backs, Zhu Youxiao felt some hesitation.

He had originally expected the Grand Secretariat to experience some conflict, since the four men might well support different candidates; but the result caught him completely off guard—the four of them had reached a consensus with remarkable ease.

Turning his head to look at Chen Hong standing not far away, Zhu Youxiao beckoned to him.

Quickly coming before Zhu Youxiao, Chen Hong bowed and said: "Your Majesty."

"Go and make inquiries—find out how this list was put together." As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao handed the list to Chen Hong, then turned and walked back.

The choice of Zhu Tongmeng wasn't unacceptable, but Zhu Youxiao needed to get to the bottom of this matter. If he didn't understand what was going on, he wouldn't feel at ease.

Sitting in his chair, Zhu Youxiao gazed expressionlessly at the empty hall, then finally gave a self-deprecating smile.

People said emperors were prone to suspicion. In his previous life, Zhu Youxiao had thought that was somewhat exaggerated, but now he had caught the affliction himself—he couldn't rest until he understood everything.

Letting out a soft sigh, Zhu Youxiao said with some helplessness: "There are truly too many people in this world who want to deceive me."

In the capital, the greatest storm was naturally the matter of the Academy.

After all the arguing and opposition, many people discovered it was useless, so they began trying to stop people from taking the examination.

This sentiment was fairly strong among the literati. But some refused to believe the hype—for instance, those who studied Guanzhong Learning, or people from other minor schools of thought.

This time, the rise of Chen Kedao's Taizhou School was seen by many schools as a ray of hope, so they prepared to try their luck at the Academy—what if they succeeded?

Would their own school then become a leading school of thought?

So they simply ignored those who tried to stop people from taking the Academy examination.

Of course, not everyone went with that intention. More people simply wanted to get things done.

Among them were quite a few from military families, and others from families of meritorious nobles and imperial relatives.

They couldn't care less about what those people outside were saying—all they wanted was to get into the Academy.

This group was rather unusual, and one person among them was currently being dissuaded.

"Jiandou, this time it's plainly factional strife among the court officials. Why must you get involved?"

"We all know how things stand. That big case the court had a few days ago—wasn't that their doing too? Look at the people who took office after those men fell—what sort of people are they?"

"It's Xu Guangqi! Shen Tingyun! What does this show? It shows that this Imperial Academy is not so simple—they're using the Imperial Academy to cultivate their own people. Those who previously attacked the Donglin lectures and academies must have been their people too."

"They want to use the Imperial Academy to cultivate their own people, while striking down other officials at court so they can't cultivate talent. This is outright factional strife—we really don't need to step into this mess!"

"With your learning, passing the jinshi exam is no difficulty. When the time comes, the court will naturally assign you an official post, and you can serve in the provinces. Why insist on wading into this muddy water?"

"You need to understand: if you enter the Imperial Academy now, you'll never wash off the mark of the Imperial Academy for the rest of your life, nor the mark of being Xu Guangqi and Shen Tingyun's man. You may not accept it, but that's the fact."

"These people may seem to have great momentum, but they don't have many people. If you truly come out of the Imperial Academy and go elsewhere, I'm afraid you'll find every step difficult."

The one called Jiandou was a young man. He raised his head, looked at the speaker, and slowly said: "But don't you think the Imperial Academy suits me better? Look at what they tested this time—the Four Books, the Five Classics, mathematics, and martial arts."

"I'm a juren, so the Four Books and Five Classics are certainly no problem. You yourself said I could pass the jinshi exam, so you must believe I have no issue there. I may not be the best, but I certainly won't be the worst."

"Mathematics—I've studied it over the years too; you know how good my mathematics is. Martial arts—from childhood to now, bow, saber, stone, horse archery, foot archery—what am I lacking? From a young age I've loved practicing martial arts, all for the day I can serve my country."

"The Imperial Academy may be a new thing, something Shen Tingyun and his lot cooked up, but it's a path. With all three subjects combined, I'm bound to rank among the top—this is my opportunity."

"If I can do it, I, Lu Xiangsheng, will surely make a name for myself across the realm! Perhaps I could even place first, and then even His Majesty would take notice! And even if I don't do well this time, if I can rank near the top, I can still take the imperial examinations."

"Besides, you said it yourself—those in power now are Xu Guangqi and Shen Tingyun. How do you know the next imperial examination won't have their people as chief examiners? Then you won't escape anyway. Rather than that, better to go try the Imperial Academy now."

Finally, Lu Xiangsheng looked at the man, his brows and eyes gentle as he smiled and said: "Liu Xian, I know your abilities. Come try it with me."

The man called Liu Xian looked at Lu Xiangsheng, and after a long moment gave a helpless bitter smile and shook his head, saying: "I, Liu Runeng, will be ruined by you sooner or later. Fine, I'll go with you!"