After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Chapter 1180 - 1162: Guessing the Exam Topics

In the third month, when the prescribed mourning period ended, Fu Tinghan came down from the mountain, and during this time Zhao Hanzhang had also met quite a few water-control specialists who came to Luoyang seeking posts, as well as those recommended from various places.

Very few of them satisfied her enough to be entrusted with water control in the Water Department and in the counties along the Yellow River, but she basically did not let anyone slip by; she assigned them all to various posts.

At the same time, this year’s autumn provincial round of the Talent Recruitment Exam (the state exam) had also concluded, and these students who sat the exam in Si Province planned to stay in Luoyang until next February to take the national round of the Talent Recruitment Exam.

Because a large number of students had moved into Luoyang, the streets grew even livelier, and the cultural atmosphere of Luoyang became all the more intense.

The new edition of the official gazette came out, and some students immediately spent money to buy a copy, then everyone crowded together to read it.

This was an agreement among poor students: one copy of the paper cost two cents; a day or two didn’t feel like much, but if you bought it every day, it would be around sixty cents a month, which was still a hefty expense.

So they grouped up in threes and fives and agreed to buy the paper together—this one would buy it today, that one tomorrow—and then they would all read it together.

Not only the official gazette, it was the same with other papers as well—oh, except for those papers that specialized in street gossip and all kinds of little anecdotes and poems. Those, they could hear recited by storytellers if they just lingered a bit longer in the teahouses.

The storytellers in teahouses and restaurants most loved to read that kind of paper to their audience, and only then the official gazette.

There was no helping it; the official gazette was sometimes simply too dull. It was filled with newly issued or revised government decrees, or various proposals and essays by court officials, or else dialogues between the Little Emperor and Zhao Hanzhang, and even Zhao Hanzhang’s speeches.

The vast majority of people found this boring; only some scholars cared deeply about it and would read each issue of the gazette over and over again.

Today was no exception.

As soon as they unfolded the gazette, Fang Ming exclaimed, "Minister Fu has returned to court."

The others immediately crowded closer to look. "Where?"

"Here." Fang Ming pointed at the few small characters at the bottom. "The Great General orders Minister Fu to proceed to the Yellow River to manage water control. And here as well: Fu Chang is appointed Chief Clerk of Henan County, responsible specifically for the governance of the Yellow River within Henan County."

Fang Ming frowned. "Strange, doesn’t Henan County already have a Chief Clerk?"

"Then there’ll be two Chief Clerks," someone said. "One in charge of general administration, and one in charge specifically of flood control."

"But the post of Minister of Water Department is still vacant. Since the Great General wants to make heavy use of the Fu Family, and the Fu Family truly does know water control, why not appoint one of them as Minister of Water Department?"

"Look here." Someone else pointed to the lower section on the other side of the gazette. "Cao Ping is appointed Minister of Water Department, Shi Chun and Liu Yi are appointed Assistant Ministers of Water Department, to work together with Fu Tinghan and Fu Chang on water management."

"Cao Ping? Wasn’t he building docks in Qingzhou and Guangzhou? The Great General actually summoned even him back. It seems the situation of the Yellow River is very serious. The main task for the second half of this year and the first half of next year will be water control. What do you think—will next spring’s national exam test water governance?"

"It’s possible. This announcement recruiting water-control talent has been posted in the gazette for an entire month without being taken down. The Great General seems to greatly admire Mr. Fu’s methods of water control. Tell me, should we study Mr. Fu’s water-control methods as well? If we can memorize his treatise on water management, then even if we fail the national exam next year, we’ll have another path open to us."

"You think others haven’t thought of that? I’m afraid people have long since tried. But aside from one letter ’To Yang Jun’, which is the most famous and circulates on the market, all of Mr. Fu’s early writings are simply nowhere to be found; the ones you see on the market are obviously fake."

Ah, indeed—works of literature that involve controversy and political struggle are easily taken up for discussion, then spread far and wide, and they also attract people’s desire to read;

whereas a whole series of technical essays such as treatises on water control—aside from water-administration staff and those interested in water management—who would go read such pieces and study them in depth?

This is also one of the reasons why so much technical knowledge is hard to pass down.

At the very least, the scholars of Luoyang had searched for a month and still could not find the essay that Zhao Hanzhang required to be memorized in full.

Alas, it was a pity that the Fu Mansion had kept its gates shut in mourning and accepted no visiting cards; there was no chance at all to ask them to help obtain and copy the essay.

"I just find it strange. This requirement from the Great General seems somewhat inconsistent with the earlier content about recruiting water-control talent."

"There’s no way anyone would dare add to it privately. This gazette is visible to all, and it’s been out for so long. Clearly, this is exactly what the Great General said herself."

"Then what do you think the Great General’s requirement means—is she extolling Mr. Fu’s method and process of water control, or the result?" Fang Ming said. "If it’s the process, she could simply make the treatise public; why make us go to such lengths? So her emphasis must be on the result. What she’s trying to tell us may be that she can overlook the process of water management, as long as the result is achieved."

"Mr. Fu controlled the waters in Yu State, so that Yu State and Yan State have been free of flooding for twenty years. That’s obviously an excellent outcome. The Great General is prompting us to consider: are there any other good strategies in water control that can cause the waters to rest exactly where they should?"

Once Fang Ming put it that way, everyone felt his inference was on point, and they spun around in excitement. "So next spring’s exam really might test water governance. She urgently needs talent in water control and is indeed reminding us."

Xi Lan, who had been silent all this time, said, "It’s not just water governance. You’re all overlooking one thing."

"What?"

Xi Lan pointed at another name on the announcement. "Look—who is this Water Administration Extraordinary Minister?"

"Liu Yi? Which worthy gentleman is that?"

As soon as he said this, someone mocked him. "You don’t even know who Liu Yi is? Then do you know the former King of Beihai of the Xiongnu Kingdom?"

Only after the words left his mouth did the man react, and he shuddered. "The Great General actually uses Xiongnu to manage water?"

"Not just water management. I just skimmed through the gazettes from June of this year to today, and my memory did not fail me. Starting from June, the Great General began appointing Xiongnu, Di people, and Jie people."

He laid out the issues he remembered. The offices they held ranged from military posts to Livestock Official, and then to the Ministry of Agriculture and Imperial Censor; what surprised him most was that among them there was even one who held office in the Ministry of Rites.

Xi Lan said, "The Great General seems not to shy away from using barbarians as officials."

Fang Ming was unconcerned. "The north is now pacified, the Xiongnu have submitted, and even Shi Le has surrendered. To placate the two peoples, it is only right to let them participate in governance. Judging by these men, they all seem to have real talent and learning, and their ranks are not high. This shows the Great General’s sense of fairness."

"Nowadays most talent is selected through the Talent Recruitment Exams. We Han Clan have been studying since childhood; we possess more books and more inherited learning than the barbarians. We read Han characters and write in Han characters. Are we really afraid we won’t outdo them in the Talent Recruitment Exams?" Fang Ming said. "If even this is something to fret over, then in my view there’s no need to enter officialdom at all. Better to retire to the mountains, find a plot of land, and proclaim oneself the foremost talent under heaven."

Xi Lan said, "Brother Fang, there’s no need to mock me. I am not opposed to barbarians entering the court. What I mean is: might next spring’s exam test the statutes concerning the Minister of Diplomacy?"

The Minister of Diplomacy is an official title; of course, it is now called the Grand Minister of Rites, in charge of the state’s dealings with vassal states and various minority powers. And this year, besides appointing barbarians as officials, Zhao Hanzhang also incorporated Cheng Country.

Li Xiong, King of Cheng Country, is a Di clansman; Xi Lan believed that this topic was also highly likely to appear.