Chapter 9: Reforming the Imperial Examinations, an Old Friend Arrives

Li Er suddenly laughed aloud and said, "Excellent!"

He then looked toward Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and the others, asking, "What do you all think?"

Facing the inquiry from Emperor Li Er, Fang Xuanling said slowly, "If it is truly as the Imperial Son-in-Law says, this matter is feasible!"

Du Ruhui also stood up and said, "Your subject feels this matter is acceptable, though it will simply require time."

"I request that Your Majesty reopen the imperial examinations."

"I request that Your Majesty reopen the imperial examinations."

Regarding this, Su Liang chuckled and said, "Hehe, do you lords think that simply reopening the imperial examinations is enough?"

Everyone was confused; was the Imperial Son-in-Law's original intention not to reopen the imperial examinations?

Emperor Li Er was also quite puzzled by this and could not help but ask, "What does my virtuous son-in-law mean by this?"

Su Liang smiled disdainfully and said, "Not only must we reopen the imperial examinations, we must also reform them!"

"Since ancient times, only scholars could become officials. Why then can farmers, artisans, and merchants not become officials?"

Without waiting for the others to speak, Su Liang continued.

"If a farmer cultivates high-yield crops, what should Your Majesty do? If an artisan invents something beneficial to the people and the country, what should Your Majesty do?"

"For this, Your Majesty only bestows a little gold and silver; why not recognize talent and bestow an appropriate official rank?"

Li Shimin looked at Su Liang and asked, "You not only want to provide a path of advancement for scholars from humble backgrounds, but you also want farmers and artisans to have a path of advancement?"

"That is correct, but it is not just farmers and artisans; there are also merchants," Su Liang continued. "As the saying goes, every trade has its master; different people excel at different things."

"Most farmers are illiterate. Even if they have the experience summarized by their predecessors, the imperial court lacks a perfect method of dissemination, causing good planting techniques to fail to spread widely, and thus crop yields can never increase significantly."

"Artisans have low status, their creations do not receive the rewards they deserve, and the people are unwilling to accept new things, so slowly, artisans lose their spirit of innovation. In this way, excellent artisan techniques cannot be spread, and development will stagnate."

"Although merchants resell goods for profit, who in this world does not love wealth? Among merchants, there are inevitably those who care for the world. When there was a great drought in the north and the people had no grain, there were merchants who traveled thousands of miles to bring grain from the south and sell it to the people at a fair price."

"Anyone who is beneficial to the people and the country may enter the court to serve as an official!"

Emperor Li Er thirsted for talent and knew how to use it well; how could he not understand the meaning in Su Liang's words?

Anything that benefited the country and the people was always placed first by Li Er.

"Then, how do you intend to do this?" Emperor Li Er stared at Su Liang.

This topic was very serious, and everyone remained silent.

"We ought to reform the imperial examinations!"

"Furthermore, we need to establish an Agricultural Academy, an Engineering Academy, and a Business Academy."

Meeting Emperor Li Er's burning gaze, Su Liang remained humble yet confident and continued to speak slowly.

"In this way, the Agricultural Academy can spread good planting techniques, the Engineering Academy can spread good artisan techniques, and the Business Academy can spread good merchant principles."

"From now on, everyone in the world will be secure in their roles, and our Great Tang will flourish day by day!"

After speaking, Su Liang picked up a cup of wine and drank it in one gulp.

He then stood up, took off his outer garment, leaped into Furong Lake, and swam while laughing heartily. It was almost September, yet the weather in Changancheng was still so sweltering.

He left the others on the bank, silent and speechless.

A moment later.

Li Er looked at the group and said, "What do you all think?"

Du Ruhui said in a deep voice, "The Imperial Son-in-Law has great talent to be able to think of such a good method! If this can be done, it is indeed as the Imperial Son-in-Law said: from now on, everyone in the world will be secure in their roles, and our Great Tang will flourish day by day!"

"Actually, the Imperial Son-in-Law's original intention may not necessarily be to recruit farmers, artisans, and merchants as officials. Your Majesty could allow students, while studying the Four Books and Five Classics, to choose to study knowledge they are interested in, and then assign them to other academies."

If Su Liang were here now, he would definitely exclaim that this was great talent; as expected of the "Fang's planning and Du's decision" Du Gong, this was clearly the modern division of arts and sciences!

Subsequently, Du Ruhui turned his head to look at Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaiyu and said, "Are the two young heirs not also fond of the merchant's way? Wei Zheng's eldest son, Wei Shuyu, is very fond of farming and works in the fields all day long."

Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaiyu were too lazy to pay attention and just kept eating and drinking; it was better for children not to interrupt the affairs of adults.

"Your subject feels that what the Imperial Son-in-Law said is absolutely correct, and I also support the reform," Zhangsun Wuji suddenly said; his own son was also fond of the merchant's way.

"Indeed, what the Imperial Son-in-Law said is very reasonable," Fang Xuanling also chimed in.

"I think so too!" Cheng Yaojin, who was to the side, said carelessly. Seeing his own son earning quite a bit of silver following Su Liang, he figured whatever the Imperial Son-in-Law said was right.

Empress Zhangsun and Princess Changle, who were to the side, also just kept eating and drinking, not disturbing them.

"The reform of the imperial examinations cannot be rushed; the details still need to be discussed slowly, and it needs to be pushed forward steadily."

Emperor Li Er looked at everyone and said, then laughed aloud: "Tonight I have obtained a good strategy and am very happy. Everyone, let us not stop until we are drunk, hahaha!"

At this moment, Su Liang had already returned to the bank after a swim. Hearing what they said, he could not help but laugh inwardly: "Hehe, they are teachable!"

Seeing Su Liang come ashore, everyone could not help but stare at him intently.

Just now, when Su Liang went into the water, everyone had not seen clearly.

They saw that Su Liang was wearing a vest on his upper body and a pair of loose shorts on his lower body.

They were quite curious about this strange attire.

Su Liang saw the group like this and felt relieved; his attire at this moment was indeed somewhat different from the Great Tang.

Not only was the vest different, but the shorts were even more so.

He then looked at Li Er and said, "Come, Your Majesty, let me show you a good thing."

Without waiting for the others to react, he pulled Li Er away. Halfway there, he turned his head and instructed Ruyan and Yu'er to also take Empress Zhangsun and Princess Changle to bathe.

Ruyan and Yu'er naturally understood their young master's meaning.

Everyone was speechless, not knowing what Su Liang was up to this time.

A moment later.

Su Liang brought Li Er to the bedroom.

He took out several pieces of clothing and introduced them to Li Er one by one.

"This is underwear; it is soft, comfortable, and elastic. It is relatively tight and wearing it inside can relieve embarrassment."

"Underwear comes in briefs and boxers; they are the same, it all depends on personal preference."

"These are shorts; they can be worn outside the underwear and are relatively cool."

"This is a vest; it is soft, comfortable, and elastic."

"As for underwear, I prefer wearing boxers; briefs are a bit tight."

"Your Majesty, would you like to bathe and change to try them?"

Half an hour later.

Emperor Li Er walked to the lakeside, beaming. Not only were the new clothes very comfortable, but Su Liang also told him that the Empress would give him a surprise tonight.

Thinking of the new clothes on his body, and then thinking of Guanyinbi, he was immediately excited.

Not long after, Empress Zhangsun and Princess Changle had also arrived. It had to be said that women of any era were the same; they were truly slow. At this moment, the two of them had just accepted new things and were both blushing.

After everyone was seated again, there was another round of gluttonous eating and drinking.

At this moment, Su Liang found the food tasteless; he was tired of eating all of these.

If only there were beer and crayfish; he could brew the beer himself.

As for the crayfish... he could ask the system.

The system had so many sweet potatoes and potatoes, so it should be able to provide crayfish too.

Su Liang immediately communicated with the system: "System, system, come out quickly."

A moment later, the system's voice finally sounded in his mind.

System: "May I ask what the host needs?"

Su Liang: "System, what do I need to do to have crayfish?"

System: "Ding: Detecting the host's situation... Task is being generated..."

"System issues task: Detected that the host now has a fief. The host must develop a career in the fief and complete three industries to complete the task."

"Task completion reward: One thousand catties of crayfish."

Su Liang: "Damn, this works too? System, I love you to death."

System: "Host, please show some self-respect!"

Su Liang was speechless.

A moment later.

Su Liang looked at Li Er and asked, "Your Majesty, where is my fief?"

Li Er was puzzled by this, thinking to himself when this kid started caring about such things; the reward had been issued twenty days ago, and he hadn't asked a single question. Could it be... After thinking for a moment, he said, "The fief is in Lantian County, fifty miles southeast of Changancheng. I arranged this specifically, as it is closer to your Furong Garden. The Ministry of Revenue has almost finished the negotiations, and you can go take a look in a few days."

Hearing this, everyone knew very well that this Imperial Son-in-Law was likely going to stir up trouble.

Hearing Li Er say this, Su Liang suddenly laughed aloud: "Hahaha, Your Majesty, don't be modest. As for whether it's close or not, doesn't Your Majesty know about Lantian County? Since ancient times, Lantian County has had beautiful mountains and rivers, and many scholars, poets, and high-ranking officials have resided in Lantian, purchasing villas and building manors. I understand Your Majesty's intentions."

Li Er looked at Su Liang with disdain and said, "As long as you know, kid. Just don't forget your father-in-law when you have good things in the future."

"Yes, yes, yes." Su Liang said "yes" three times in a row, then looked at Ruyan and said, "Ruyan, go get my salt-making method and sugar-making method and present them to His Majesty."

Li Er looked at Su Liang in confusion and said, "What salt-making method and sugar-making method?"

Everyone looked at Su Liang with burning eyes, as if they wanted to eat him; anything from Su Liang's hands must be extraordinary.

Su Liang looked at this bunch of ignorant people, scratched his head awkwardly, and said, "The salt-making method is just to make coarse salt finer, without the bitter taste, and saltier; the sugar-making method is also just to make cane sugar finer and sweeter."

"Hehe..." Li Er sneered, then said, "Then hurry up and bring that salt and sugar; let us see it first."

Su Liang was helpless and looked at Yu'er, saying, "Yu'er, go to the kitchen and get some salt and sugar."

A moment later.

Ruyan brought the salt and sugar production methods, and Yu'er also brought the sugar and salt.

After tasting them, everyone praised them endlessly, and one by one they were dancing with joy, happy like children.

Su Liang was speechless at this and shook his head slightly.

It lasted until midnight.

Only then did everyone leave one after another, and just like last time, they were carried away while lying down.

During the banquet, they even scavenged quite a few good things from Su Liang.

Things like Drunken Tang, underwear, and underpants; they even took away most of the salt and sugar.

There was no helping it; Drunken Tang was not yet for sale outside, Su Liang’s restaurant and distillery had not yet opened, and as for underwear and underpants, they were nowhere to be found outside, only here at Su Liang’s place.

Seeing everyone acting rowdy under the influence of alcohol, Su Liang also felt quite a headache.

It seemed it would be better to brew beer sooner.

Otherwise, there was no telling when Wei Zheng might show up at his door.

That Wei Zheng, once he started nagging, was exactly like the Tang Monk in A Chinese Odyssey.

After this night, it rained heavily for several days in a row, and Su Liang spent a few more leisurely days in the Furong Garden, sleeping under the same covers every day.

At the same time, he was also calculating how to develop his career in his fief.

Nowadays, the outside world could be described as undergoing earth-shaking changes; not only was the imperial examination reopened, but it was also reformed, and the Nongxue Academy, Gongxue Academy, and Shangxue Academy were established. The imperial court’s actions unsurprisingly encountered resistance from the aristocratic families, but Li Er’s will to push forward was very firm, and the families dared not rebel openly.

Several days later, in the inner courtyard of Furong Garden.

Yu'er came running over in a hurry, shouting as she ran, "Young Master, Young Master."

Su Liang followed the sound and asked, "What is it? What happened? Why are you so flustered?"

Yu'er was panting for breath and said, "Young Master... Young Master, Uncle Fu and the others have arrived."

Shortly after, two people entered the inner courtyard of Furong Garden; they were none other than Uncle Fu and his youngest son, Erhu.

Uncle Fu, whose original name was Chen Fu, was the steward of the Su residence in Jiangning and had watched Su Liang grow up. Uncle Fu had two sons, the eldest Chen Dahu and the second Chen Erhu; Dahu had perished five years ago along with Su Liang's father.

Seeing this, Su Liang hurried to welcome them and couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Fu, why did only the two of you come? Where are Aunt Fu and Sister Xiaoying?"

Seeing the Young Master he hadn't seen in five years, Uncle Fu’s eyes were teary; he wiped away his tears and said, "Your Aunt Fu passed away two years ago, and since Dahu and Xiaoying didn't leave behind any offspring, and Xiaoying is still young, I couldn't bear to see her live as a widow, so I let her remarry."

Su Liang couldn't help but sigh, "Good, good, good. It is enough that you have come; Sister Xiaoying deserves to live her own life. From now on, you will live here in Furong Garden."

He then looked at Erhu, patted his shoulder, and said, "Good lad, have you kept up with your martial arts these past few years? Come, spar a few moves with your Young Master."

"Alright!" Seeing his Young Master was in high spirits, Erhu also took a stance.

The two immediately wrestled together, and in a moment, they both tumbled to the ground...

Ruyan and Yu'er both had black lines on their foreheads; where was their Young Master’s dashing and elegant demeanor? The way the two were fighting was exactly like... exactly like ruffians!

Uncle Fu, meanwhile, watched the two of them with a happy smile.