Chapter 319

Besides Tangtang, the other nine students looked gloomy too, especially those who were highly recommended just now. They even saw that these ministers changed their sides one by one due to the two so-called stories told by Shen Qingling.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingling handed over Xu Qing’s paper to those who hadn’t read it. Shen Qingling had been holding Tangtang’s paper in his hands because he was reluctant to give it to others.

Shen Qingling just told two stories without declaring where he stood, but the others couldn’t. They had to air their opinions, because the Emperor was still waiting.

The Emperor looked at the overly quiet ministers below and smirked, “Have you heard the stories told by Minister Shen just now? What do you think of them?”

In front of Shen Qingling, the Emperor addressed him as Aiqing, while in front of the other ministers, the Emperor called him Minister Shen. Undoubtedly, the Emperor was reminding those ministers that Shen Qingling was the youngest minister in the court, as well as the former Number One Scholar, who was appointed by the former Emperor.

All the three men in the Shen family were important officials in the court, and Shen Qingling’s father was in the position of the prime minister. Therefore, there was no need to elaborate what it meant when Shen Qingling defended this man called Xu Qing at this point of time. Coincidentally, when the officials showed their attitudes just now, Prime Minister Shen was one of the few who said nothing. Although Prime Minister Shen usually didn’t take sides, now there was more to his silence.

The ministers below exchanged glances, believing that things wouldn’t go as the way they wanted. At least, the candidates they had previously recommended were not the ones the Emperor wanted.

As for those fence-sitters, they jumped on the bandwagon and started to recommend Xu Qing at once. They even explained why they hadn’t recommended him before. It was because they hadn’t read his paper, which sounded very reasonable.

Shen Qingling looked on coldly. Did these people treat the Emperor as an idiot by playing such tricks? Even if the Emperor didn’t call them to account now, it wouldn’t take long before he did something to them.

Meanwhile, there were more and more people recommending Xu Qing. Since some people had started it, others would follow up naturally. The reason these people were able to get into this hall was because they were all shrewd observers.

Even though he had achieved his goal, the Emperor still wasn’t happy. After listening to Shen Qingling’s story, he felt that these people were like Qin Hui too.

The Emperor did not agree with anyone. Instead, he asked Shen Qingling’s father, Prime Minister Shen, “Prime Minister Shen, what do you think?”

Prime Minister Shen stood up, got out of his seat and bowed, saying, “Your Majesty, what the ministers said makes sense. I also think Xu Qing’s paper is the best one. However, I don’t recommend Xu Qing because of the stories told by my son, but because I believe that Xu Qing is a real talent. Does anybody here know the backgrounds and ages of these ten students? As far as I know, among these ten students, only Xu Qing doesn’t come from the capital city. Besides, he is not over 18 now. He hasn’t even come of age. Such a youngster has such great insight in his paper, and I really appreciate him. Therefore, I think that Xu Qing is qualified to win the first place in the Final Imperial Examination today.”

Seemingly, Prime Minister Shen had said a lot, but if listening carefully, one would find his answer somewhat ambiguous, but it was fine to do so. However, something popped into the Emperor’s mind when Xu Qing’s family background was mentioned. Since Xu Qing came from a humble family, if the Emperor appointed him as the best scholar in the Final Imperial Examination, he could only rely on the Emperor in the future.

After hearing what Prime Minister Shen said, the Emperor couldn’t help but sigh that how similar Prime Minister Shen and Shen Qingling’s opinions were. What father and son!

After the Emperor asked Prime Minister Shen about his opinion, he asked another few ministers about their opinions. Some of them recommended Xu Qing, and naturally some recommended others. At the same time, they also disparaged Xu Qing, saying that he hadn’t followed the rules in his paper, and that his answer was irrelevant.

Shen Qingfei, who had been playing dumb, disagreed. Vocal person as he had always been, Shen Qingfei stood up and retorted, “Lord Wang, I don’t think what you said is right. I don’t remember one has to follow the rules in his paper. I wonder when the Great Xia has such a rule? If Lord Wang, you really can’t find any fault in Xu Qing’s paper, you might as well stay silent. Besides, in order to disparage Xu Qing’s paper, the reason you gave is irrational. You are embarrassing yourself by doing this, and you were saying that in front of those ten students. Save yourself some pride, Lord Wang.”

Shen Qingfei’s remark made Lord Wang’s face livid and pale at the same time. He also found it hard to retort upon Shen Qingfei, and finally, he could only sat down with rage.

Now that Shen Qingfei had stood up, the Emperor had to ask, “Aiqing, what about you? Since you don’t agree with Lord Wang, what do you think of the other nine papers?”

Shen Qingfei seemed to have got himself into trouble again. Every time Shen Qingfei said something, the Emperor would pick a hole in what he said and then ask him to explain it.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Emperor was already married, Shen Qingling would have thought that the Emperor was interested in his brother.

But later on, he understood that the reason why the Emperor liked to do this was totally because he wanted to make fun of Shen Qingfei. The Emperor enjoyed it when Shen Qingfei was embarrassed while racking his brains for an answer.

Shen Qingling could only light a candle to pay his respect to his brother in his mind. This time, he could light more candles for him. After all, Shen Qingfei was defending his future spouse now.

Of course, whether Xu Qing was a spouse or a husband, this matter required much consideration. Shen Qingling could only imagine it at the time being.

As expected, Shen Qingfei changed color when hearing the Emperor’s words. Now he looked gloomy. He was not a talkative person to begin with, but every time the Emperor asked him to say something, he had to say a lot until his mouth became dry. Shen Qingfei didn’t enjoy this feeling at all.

Shen Qingfei blamed himself for his own stupidity and then followed the Emperor’s order obediently, finding fault with the other papers.

From Shen Qingfei’s point of view, many papers were full of nonsense, especially the ones written by the first and second one in the Spring Imperial Examination. Shen Qingfei almost used the phrase “good for nothing”, and those two students turned pale. Of course, there were some good ones too. On the contrary, the papers written by the students ranking low in the Spring Imperial Examination were much better. Shen Qingfei not only pointed out the shortcomings, but he also pointed out some good qualities, which made those out of the limelight beam with joy immediately.

Shen Qingfei didn’t have any other skill in his life, but he had read many books. He was quite articulate, and his opinions were well-founded, so people found it hard to contradict him.

Therefore, when Shen Qingfei finished speaking, the hall fell silent again. This time, no one spoke again because they didn’t know how to start.

Apparently, Prime Minister Shen and his two sons would like to recommend this man called Xu Qing. It was unknown how he had built a relationship with the Shen family, and they actually took him under their wing.

Seeing that no one spoke, the Emperor felt that it was his time to speak. The Emperor said, “Now that everyone has aired his opinion, I’m going to say what I’ve seen. Someone told me that as an emperor, I can’t view things from the perspective of the ordinary people. I have to judge how to do things in a way that will benefit the people the most and is best for them. Today, I’ve got a suggestion on governance. The writer tells me in his paper how to make the country prosper while having the people live a good life as well. He also tells me how a wise emperor should treat a vocal official. He tells me how much I should trust those who protect me and the people in the country so that we can live a peaceful life.

If these twelve words are executed poorly, the situation will be ‘the people suffer no matter in the rise or fall of the country’. However, if well executed, the situation will be totally different. Once the country prospers, the people will live a happy life. Once the people prosper, the country won’t fall. The people are always the ones who love the country the most. Where there is a country, there is a home.”

“Where there is a country, there is a home.” was the last sentence in Tangtang’s paper. “Everyone is responsible for his country’s rise or fall.” His Dad had taught them so from childhood.

Therefore, his Dad had had no objection to him coming all the way to the capital city. Therefore, his Dad had had no objection to Guoguo fighting on the battlefield.

Tangtang suddenly started to smile after hearing the Emperor’s words. He didn’t disappoint his Dad’s teachings.

When the Emperor finished speaking, Tangtang suddenly stood up and walked towards the middle of the hall step by step.

The young man had just become an adult. Manhood just started to exude from his features but there was still a trace of immaturity left. The young man was in white, and his shoulders were not wide enough, but he seemed to be qualified to be the backbone already. The young man was standing upright, walking steadily step by step.

Such a small trip attracted everyone’s attention.

Tangtang went to the middle of the hall, knelt down and kowtowed. Then he got up and faced up to the Emperor, “Greetings from Xu Qing, the student, to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor.”

Tangtang kowtowed three times and then kept kneeling, remaining unmoved.

No one had ever taught him what to do, but he did well.

The Emperor was also fascinated by the image of Tangtang walking over. He hadn’t even responded when Tangtang had extended greetings to him. It was when the eunuch beside him reminded him that he came to his sense.

The Emperor coughed softly and said to Tangtang who was kneeling, “Please arise.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Tangtang expressed his gratitude and stood up.

The Emperor asked him, “Is there anything you want to say?”

Tangtang said bluntly, “I want to ask Your Majesty for something.”

“What is it? Tell me. ”

Tangtang replied, “I don’t take the Final Imperial Examination this time for the title of ‘the best scholar’ or anything like this. I just want to be a local official, in somewhere close to my home.”

“Why? Isn’t it good to be the best scholar? Or isn’t it good to be an official in the capital city?” The Emperor asked.

Tangtang shook his head. “Of course it’s great, but I have my own plan. Being a local official has its own advantages. If I’m not able to run a region, how am I qualified to be an official in the capital city? It’s not that I am not willing to be an official in the capital city. I just want to start from a local official, and then move up to capital official with my own efforts. I can affirm that as long as I’m safe and alive, I’ll come back to the capital city sooner or later.”

There was not a hint of conceit or arrogance, but he was full confidence. However, this was the most attractive trait. If Prime Minister Shen hadn’t mentioned that he was only 18, who would have thought that such a man should only be 18 and hadn’t come of age yet?

From village graduate to provincial graduate, to state graduate and finally to the Final Imperial Examination now, he was only 18 years old, but now he dared to say such ambitious words. How many people could do this at this age?