Chapter 318

As to the test question set by the Emperor, those students who had never heard of it before naturally didn’t know how to answer it.

In fact, this test question was very easy, but very difficult at the same time. It was easy because these twelve words could be understood literally. It was a straightforward test question.

But meanwhile, that was why it was difficult. Just because it was a blunt question, and could be understood very easily, many students didn’t dare to answer it, because they were afraid that any carelessness would incur the loss of their heads.

Seeing that the students were hesitant to answer the question, the Emperor seemed to have read their mind and said, “Everyone, feel free to answer the question. I won’t blame anyone.”

As soon as the Emperor said this, several students who had already got the answer in their mind started to write. Only one or two students were still hesitating, and undoubtedly, Tangtang was the first one to start to write.

Tangtang had known the meaning of this sentence when he was very young. It was Xu Ran who had told him about it. When talking of these topics, Xu Ran had never shied away from making his opinions known. He had also asked the twins to speak out their mind.

They had been young back then, so he and Guoguo had understood its meaning literally. Rise, meant prosperity, while fall, collapse. No matter in which kind of situation, it was always the people who were suffering.

Even though the Emperor was full of talent and ideas, he couldn’t take care of everything in this world. He was at the peak, but couldn’t see far enough. Therefore, he couldn’t see all the hardships of the people in the world. His Dad had said that he had two favorite emperors. One was Kangxi, the other Qianlong. They liked traveling incognito to inspect people’s life.

Tangtang had no idea who were Kangxi or Qianlong, but his Dad had liked them, and told them many stories about the two. He and Guoguo had used to enjoy the stories, and also remembered a lot of them.

Tangtang remembered what his Dad had said. The reason why a good emperor was a good emperor was because he could win people’s heart and think for the people, and that was what a good emperor should do.

A wise emperor would make both political and military achievements.

Water could carry a boat, while it could also overturn it. Thus, water was the most critical factor.

Tangtang did not answer this question straighforward. Instead, he gave two examples. One of them was about how the emperor chose the right person for the job. It was the story his Dad had told him before, which was about Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty and Wei Zheng. Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty praised Weizheng as the mirror.

The other example was another story told by his Dad before. It was about a man called Qin Hui. Although these two people were both prime ministers, they made totally different choices. To put it generally, one of them made the nation rise, while the other fall. Meanwhile, Tangtang also analyzed the people’s lives respectively.

When Tangtang finished writing, he put down his writing brush. Seeing that the students around him were still busy answering the question, Tangtang wanted to check his answer again. If he found anything wrong, he could correct it.

But the Emperor, who had been paying attention to these students, had naturally seen Tangtang stop writing. He broke the silence, “Someone has actually finished writing. Hand it in and let me see it!”

Another person was also staring at Tangtang, and that was Shen Qingling. When seeing Tangtang stop writing, Shen Qingling couldn’t hold himself back and was eager to read Tangtang’s answer. Now he heard the Emperor’s order, Shen Qingling stood up and took the initiative to play the eunuch’s role, fetching Tangtang’s paper for the Emperor.

When Shen Qingling caught sight of the two names in the examples on the paper, he couldn’t calm himself down even more. He wished he could read Tangtang’s answer carefully at once.

However, Shen Qingling also realized that the Final Imperial Examination hadn’t finished yet, so he managed to hold himself back. When Shen Qingling passed the paper to the eunuch beside the Emperor, he was a little reluctant. The eunuch tried hard to take the paper over.

The Emperor, who had been staring at Shen Qingling, also noticed his abnormal behavior. Suddenly, he became more expectant. This was the first time he had ever seen his minister of Ministry of Works behaving like this.

The Emperor looked at the name on the test paper. It was Xu Qing. He thought to himself. Indeed, it was him. Only this person was able to make his minister behave abnormally.

Since the Emperor only had one test paper at hand, he read it very carefully. When he started reading, he thought the writer was quite bold. There was a little discrepancy between his question and this answer. To put it bluntly, it was an irrelevant answer.

However, when the Emperor finished reading, he understood why Xu Qing answered the question this way. Apparently, his style of writing was better than those papers that only elaborated the meaning of the twelve words, despite its unconventionality.

Nevertheless, this little flaw was completely ignored by the Emperor. He showed a satisfied smile, and then asked the eunuch to pass the paper over to the former examiners of the Spring Imperial Examination.

There were several examiners for the Spring Imperial Examination. They read the paper one by one, and had various expressions. Some were satisfied, others disdainful. But no matter what kind of face they put on, Xu Qing sat upright on his seat and acted as if he knew nothing, looking composed.

Both the Emperor and Shen Qingling, who had been staring at him, were content with his behavior.

When Tangtang’s test paper was read by every examiner, the other students had also finished writing. They handed in their papers one by one.

This time, the Emperor didn’t show any expression anymore, as if he didn’t want anyone else to read his mind at all.

When the Emperor finished reading one paper, he passed it to the examiner, and then went on to the next paper.

Tangtang’s test paper was passed round among the officials. Finally, it went into Shen Qingling’s hands. He couldn’t wait to start reading its contents.

Shen Qingling had previously seen the names of Wei Zheng and Qin Hui, so he had got a rough idea of the contents. Now that he finished reading it, his guess was confirmed. Shen Qingling had always doubted whether Tangtang came from the same place as him, but he never had the chance to ask. This time, Shen Qingling thought to himself, he wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Shen Qingling held his test paper and wouldn’t let go, so many people failed to read it.

There were just ten students, so people finished reading their test papers soon. When the Emperor finished reading, he waited a moment till the officials had done reading. When almost everyone finished reading, the Emperor said, “Each of you have read these test papers. Please speak out your mind. Who do you think is qualified to win the first place?”

The two people who had previously ranked ahead of Tangtang in the Spring Imperial Examination had strong family backgrounds. One of them was the son of the minister of Ministry of Revenue, while the other was the son of a prince. These two, according to Shen Qingling, were equally matched, and they had many supporters among the officials. The two were most recommended. Then came the fourth and the fifth, but the name Xu Qing was hardly mentioned.

It wasn’t that no one recommended him, but there were not that many. Among the examiners, only three of them recommended his work. The others either hadn’t read his paper or had long taken his side.

The Emperor’s face darkened once he heard what these people said.

The Emperor was the first one to read these ten papers. No matter they were good or bad, he had read them all. The one he liked the most was naturally Xu Qing’s, while the rest of the students filled the whole article with the elaboration of those twelve words, but never offered any constructive suggestion. Many of the papers didn’t even involve a bit of suggestions, and neither the first nor the second one had done a good job in their papers.

The more the Emperor thought about it, the angrier he became. Just as he was about to pound the desk and fly into a rage, someone had already stepped forward ahead of him.

Shen Qingling walked to the middle of the hall and knelt down. “Your Majesty, I have something to say.”

When the Emperor saw Shen Qingling leaving his seat, he let out a sigh of relief. He knew that Shen Qingling must have come out to help Xu Qing.

The Emperor raised his hand, “Please speak out freely.”

Shen Qingling kept kneeling and didn’t move, saying, “Your Majesty, please allow me to tell everybody here a story.”

The Emperor said, “If you have something to say, get up and say it.”

Shen Qingling stood up, looked around and then began slowly, “Today, I’m telling a story about an evil minister, who almost ruined the whole country. His name is Qin Hui. He was a prime minister, but a treacherous one…”

It was not difficult for Shen Qingling to tell the story of Qin Hui, because it was in the textbook of junior high school. Even if he was not familiar with it, he could remember it roughly.

It was hard for people to love Qin Hui, because he didn’t care about the people. All he had in mind was his personal gains. He was also a coward.

Perhaps the only thing that was appreciated on him by people was how differently he was remembered by the later generations since he had gone down in history as a symbol of infamy. People had also kept those loyal officials that had been murdered by him in mind.

Looking solemn, Shen Qingling told the story very carefully, while those who had previously been dismissive of Xu Qing’s test paper changed their mind after hearing the story told by Shen Qingling.

They didn’t know who Qin Hui was, but Qin Hui had indeed committed some monstrous crimes, and he absolutely deserved to be beheaded. Besides, Shen Qingling told the story in a metaphorical language, which made those guilty ones even more guilty.

However, Shen Qingling didn’t stop when he finished Qin Hui’s story. He bowed to the Emperor again, “Your Majesty, after the story of an evil minister, could I tell another story of a loyal minister?”

Since Shen Qingling asked, the Emperor had no reason to let him stop. He waved his hand and said, “Please go on.”

Hence, Shen Qingling started to tell another story. It was about a minister called Wei Zheng, who was praised as the mirror by Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty. He was an outspoken person ,even in front of the Emperor. He was one of the most powerful officials in the Tang Dynasty.

This time, just like before, Shen Qingling told the story very carefully with a solemn face. This story was about another minister, a loyal one, so the atmosphere among the officials became harmonious, but the students sitting there looked gloomy.

Tangtang looked gloomy because he wondered why Shen Qingling knew about those stories. Tangtang had never read them in books, and only heard them from his Dad. Later, he had known that his Dad had come from a place very far away, so far that he could no longer go back. Therefore, these stories had never happened in this world, but how come Shen Qingling knew about them? Could it be that Shen Qingling, just like his Dad, also came from somewhere very far away?

While Tangtang was wondering, Shen Qingling had already finished what he wanted to say. Then he sat back to his seat and remained silent, playing the role of a human background plate.

However, the pond rippled due to his two stories.