Chapter 611

The Taichang Temple Guest House.

Because the Japanese mission caused a disturbance on the street, they were ordered to leave the capital and were expelled from the country.

Li Er was quite satisfied with this matter.

He was afraid that Japan would reach some agreement with Great Qin.

Now it was good; the door to Great Qin was completely closed, and Japan could give up. From now on, Japan would only be able to accept the various conditions offered by Great Tang, with no room left for maneuver.

Li Er hypocritically sought out Ono no Imoko.

"Japanese Envoy, I have a travel permit here that can allow you to travel through Great Tang territory without obstruction. Your mission has not been completed; why not go to Jin Ling and take a look?"

Li Er expressed the goodwill of Great Tang.

Ono no Imoko also had no other choice; the mission of his embassy had not been completed. At present, he could only pin his hopes on Great Tang.

Otherwise, if he returned to Japan like this, he would surely be thrown into the sea by Empress Suiko to feed the fish.

"Many thanks, Tang Envoy! I promise here that our friendship will last for all eternity!"

"Mm, last for eternity, last for eternity, go on!"

Li Er was beaming with joy; this trip to Chang'an had finally yielded some gains.

In his casual chat with Ono no Imoko, Li Er already knew that Japan had little land and poor people, all supplies were very scarce, and there were not many cattle.

Moreover, the Japanese couldn't even cast copper coins, and were almost no different from primitive people.

The only redeeming feature was that they were rich in silver mines, and silver was somewhat overflowing.

Thus, the plan to trade goods for silver was born. They could even sell Great Tang copper coins to the Japanese in exchange for large amounts of silver.

The Japanese's love for copper coins exceeded Li Er's estimates.

A big business deal was right before his eyes.

If it weren't for Qin Mu acting so disgusted with the Japanese, how could this big business deal have fallen into the lap of Great Tang?

Li Er sent off the Japanese mission, his mood very good.

Together with Fang Xuanling, he went to the palace to observe the ceremony.

Today was the final day of the imperial examination, the palace examination.

The Taiji Hall.

Three hundred scholars who had passed the preliminary examination stood nervously and excitedly in the square outside the main hall.

It was the first time any of them had stepped into the imperial palace.

This meant they would soon be able to become officials!

Above the main hall.

Qin Mu issued the questions and let the scholars answer them one by one.

What made Li Er vomit blood was that the question for the palace examination was actually asking the students to state the ten advantages of Great Qin compared to Great Tang!

This question... was so infuriating!

Fang Xuanling stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, this question publicly disparages our Great Tang, which is an insult to our Great Tang envoys. I implore Your Majesty to withdraw it." Li Er also followed and stepped out, expressing his dissatisfaction with this question.

Publicly insulting people was going a bit too far!

Qin Mu, however, had no intention of withdrawing it.

"Minister Fang, Old Li, when the imperial court employs people, shouldn't it employ patriotic subjects? Shouldn't they have some understanding of the court's strategy?" Fang Xuanling and Old Li looked at each other.

Why did these words sound so reasonable!

"This... yes!"

Qin Mu smiled slightly.

"Withdrawing it is impossible. If you really can't stand to hear it, you can become officials of Great Qin. Once you change your stance, you will be very happy."

What else could Fang Xuanling and Old Li say?

"Your Majesty, there is no need; we will endure it."

Soon, the students went up to the hall one by one to answer the questions.

These students seemed to particularly enjoy comparing Great Qin and Great Tang. This question completely hyped them up!

The ten advantages of Great Qin were described in all sorts of ways!

"Your Majesty, Great Qin's territory is vast, twice the size of Great Tang; its population is numerous, twice that of Great Tang!"

"Your Majesty, the Qin Army is skilled in battle, fierce as tigers; the Tang Army is skilled in battle, but like a pack of dogs—barking when they win, and fleeing in disarray when they lose."

These were considered relatively normal answers.

There were also those who said—

"Your Majesty, Great Qin treats its commoners well, values its commoners, and has none of those powerful noble families who act like tyrants. Great Tang is the opposite."

"Your Majesty, Great Qin's political decrees are clear, executed decisively, and there is absolutely no favoritism or corruption. Great Tang is the opposite; when judging cases, they first consider the noble families, and only then the Tang law."

These words made Li Er and Fang Xuanling break out in a cold sweat.

There were even some bizarre ones—

"Your Majesty is wise and martial, admired by ten thousand, and one person is better than the entire Great Tang nation. In the eyes of this commoner, Great Tang is just like dog shit!"

"Your Majesty, Princess Changle was depressed in Great Tang, but in the Great Qin harem, she sings every day and even released an album, leading the people to sing along! This shows that Great Qin is far superior to Great Tang!"

"Your Majesty, Great Qin's imperial examination is fair; Great Tang's imperial examination is just fooling us scholars. In the long run, Great Qin will surely prosper, and Great Tang will surely decline!"

More than three hundred students, each saying ten points.

That made over three thousand points in total!

Most of them were repetitive, but there were also some novel and unique viewpoints.

All in all, after this whole session, Li Er felt like he had almost been brainwashed!

Deep in his heart, he wondered, had Great Tang really become so hopeless? He looked at Fang Xuanling, who also had a look of total collapse on his face.

It seemed he also had deep doubts about Great Tang.

Li Er whispered to Fang Xuanling.

"Xuanling, is my Li Tang really as unbearable as they say?"

Fang Xuanling gave a start.

He could temporarily lose confidence, but Li Er could not.

If even Li Er lost confidence, Great Tang would be finished!

"Old Li, I understand; this is a psychological warfare tactic by the Great Qin Emperor. You must not fall for it!"

A psychological warfare tactic?

Li Er's spirit lifted slightly.

But in the blink of an eye, he was deflated again; most of what those candidates said were facts!

Seeing that Li Er seemed to have been hit too hard, to the point of losing all confidence.

He could only continue to persuade him.

"Old Li, think about it: if you hadn't come to Great Qin, would you have heard about so many shortcomings? This is an opportunity given to you by Heaven, allowing you to lead Great Tang to eradicate its ills and rebuild its glory!"

Put this way, Li Er felt a little better.

Great Tang was not as good as Great Qin; this point no longer needed to be said. After listening to this palace examination, Li Er was much more clear-headed.

Only by being determined to eradicate the ills and strive for prosperity would there be hope.

Once he reached this thought, Li Er finally regained a bit of confidence.

The palace examination ended.

Qin Mu and several ministers evaluated the performance of the most outstanding candidates.

Finally, three Top Graduates, three Second Place, and three Third Place were selected.