Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 323 Du Xi: Kneeling before the "beam" is not as good as striking the "bell," and striking the "bell" is not as good as firing "Cai"!
"Zixu, the list of candidates for the civil service examination and the answer sheet for the policy test."

Liu Bian's voice broke the silence in the hall, and his gaze fell on Du Xi, who was buried in his documents not far away.

Upon hearing this, Du Xi's shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly, as if his thoughts had been disturbed. He raised his head in a slightly flustered manner and hurriedly replied, "Yes!"

Immediately, Du Xi swiftly and accurately retrieved the list of candidates for the Spring Examination, the examination papers, and the record of the examination questions and answers written by the assistant clerk from the mountain of documents.

The scribes were responsible for organizing and archiving documents, but there were also differences in rank among the scribes, including the secretary scribes who were in charge of writing memorials and official documents.

Liu Bian's personal secretary was Hu Zhao, who was only twenty-five years old.

Having good handwriting is the most basic skill for a clerk.

The two most accomplished calligraphers of the time were Liang Hu, the Minister of Personnel, and Cai Yong, the Grand Master of Works.

Both were skilled in clerical script. Liang Hu was famous for his official script "eight-part script", while Cai Yong created the elegant and lively artistic script "flying white script".

Both Liang Hu and Cai Yong commented that among the officials of the Imperial Secretariat, Hu Zhao and Zhong Yao were the best calligraphers, describing them as "Hu is fat and Zhong is thin," meaning that Hu Zhao's characters were more bold and expansive, while Zhong Yao's characters were more graceful and delicate.

Besides his exceptional calligraphy skills, Hu Zhao was a man of few words and rarely spoke of confidential matters, a quality that was extremely important to his close advisors.

However, Mao Jie and He Qia were no less capable than Hu Zhao in this regard. In other words, for the cabinet ministers selected to enter the Attendant-in-Ordinary, secrecy was essentially just a basic requirement.

The reason why Hu Zhao stood out was... because Hu Zhao's courtesy name was Kongming.

The Prime Minister's charm was truly irresistible; Hu Zhao... could be considered a case of Liu Bian extending his affection to Hu Zhao.

At this moment, Du Xi, who was organizing documents at the desk, was only twenty-three years old. As Liu Bian's confidential secretary, he was responsible for organizing and archiving the documents that Liu Bian reviewed daily, and prioritizing the most important matters to be presented to the emperor.

What Liu Bian admired most about Du Xi was his outspoken and sincere heart.

Du Xi was born into the prestigious Du family of Dingling, Yingchuan. Du Xi also had a famous grandfather, who was the protagonist of the story "Enduring death for a moment to wait for Du Gen".

Back then, Du Gen angered Empress Dowager Deng by submitting a memorial opposing her long-term control of the court. She ordered him to be put in a silk bag and killed in the main hall.

The executioner in charge knew that Du Gen was a loyal subject, so he secretly ordered the executioners to show mercy. After Du Gen was "executed", he was thrown into a mass grave near Mangshan on the outskirts of Luoyang.

Empress Dowager Deng sent people to examine Du Gen's body, but Du Gen was lying in the mass grave pretending to be dead. His wounds were festering and his eye sockets were infested with maggots. The visitors reported the situation to Empress Dowager Deng, who then believed that Du Gen was dead. He was able to escape and hide in an tavern in Yicheng Mountain as a bartender.

Of course, this is just the official explanation.

When the emperor asked Du Xi about his grandfather Du Gen's deeds, Du Xi frankly admitted without any hesitation that many of them were false.

According to his father's private account, Du Gen had anticipated the consequences of submitting the memorial and secretly bribed the poker master, "summoning the poker master to secretly conspire with him, so that the poker player would not exert force," thus narrowly escaping death.

As for the tragic situation of "maggots growing in the eyes," according to Fa Zhen, an 87-year-old remonstrating official who is a living fossil of the court, he visited Du Gen when he was in his twenties.

His reputation for integrity is indeed true, but he has a dignified appearance and bright, piercing eyes. He does not have the horrifying scars of "maggots growing in his eyes" as rumored, which is clearly a misconception.

It was Du Xi's frankness in not exaggerating the good or concealing the bad that earned him Liu Bian's deep trust.

It was definitely not because during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Imperial Academy student Fan Qin believed He Yong's false accusation and publicly slandered Lu Zhi for treason, but was refuted by Du Xi and left speechless. Enraged, he attacked Du Xi, but ended up being beaten unconscious by Du Xi in self-defense (see Chapter 70)!

It wasn't because Du Xi was engaged to Cai Yuan's younger sister, Cai Jin!

Absolutely not!

Ahem… One afternoon during a break, Cai Yuan brought her younger sister, Cai Jin, who was of marriageable age, to the palace for an audience, hoping that Emperor Liu Bian could offer guidance on her sister's marriage. It wasn't that Cai Yuan wanted the emperor to find a prominent family for her to marry into the Cai clan of Xiangyang. Having faced the loss of both parents at a young age and the marriage of her elder sister, she had to shoulder the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings and the entire family as the second eldest sister, much like a mother figure to her. However, Cai Yuan also valued her family above all else; otherwise, she wouldn't have entered the palace as an older single woman.

Therefore, Cai Yuan was particularly concerned about the marriages of her younger brother and sister.

Cai Mao's wife was the daughter of Zhang Wen, the Minister of the Imperial Stud, and Cai Mao's aunt, making her his cousin.

As for her younger sister Cai Jin's marriage, Cai Yuan was worried that the frequent marriages between the Cai clan of Xiangyang and high-ranking families might be seen as forming cliques, which would arouse the emperor's displeasure. Therefore, she only asked the emperor to find a suitable young man of average appearance and character.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bian half-jokingly and half-seriously stated that all the young talents in the Imperial Secretariat were of excellent character and appearance, and outstanding in ability, and that Cai Jin could choose any one at will.

Cai Jin happened to run into Du Xi, who had been on night duty at the Imperial Palace the previous night and was only arriving at the palace in the afternoon to check in for his shift.

Although there were no explicit rules regarding appearance for those recommended for the position of "filial piety and incorruptibility," a dignified appearance was a basic requirement, and those who were ugly should not even dream of being recommended.

Du Xi was handsome and elegant, naturally possessing both good looks and talent, which is why he caught Cai Jin's eye.

After making some inquiries, it was confirmed that Du Xi had only taken a concubine in his hometown of Dingling, and the position of his principal wife was still vacant, with no marriage contract. Cai Jin then secretly fell in love with him and became attached to Du Xi.

Du Xi, on the other hand, wasn't too keen on joining the ministry.

He's not Director Qi. With the power and influence of the Du family in Yingchuan, there's no need for him to rely on kneeling to marry a Cai woman to rise to power.

Cai Jin also lacked the influence of Teacher Liang.

If it weren't for the fact that the Cai family of Xiangyang were related to the emperor through marriage, this marriage would have been considered a step up for the Cai family.

In fact, Cai Yuan did feel that this marriage was a step up for her, and she took the initiative to voice her opposition.

But fate is a mysterious thing. Sometimes it's like a turtle seeing a green bean. Du Xi and Cai Jin, who married late, just happened to fall in love with each other.

Liu Bian was pleased with this rare occurrence that was almost a "free love" relationship. After Cai Yuan asked her uncle-in-law, Zhang Wen, the Minister of the Imperial Stud, to finalize the marriage between Du Xi and Cai Jin with Du Xi's father, Liu Bian was naturally willing to help his future brother-in-law.

Otherwise, if I see that little girl Cai Jin again in the future, I'm afraid she'll complain about me a bit.

Of course, the fear of being criticized by his sister-in-law was just a joke.

The reason Du Xi was favored ultimately lay in his talent and his rare sincerity.

If he were mediocre and incompetent, Liu Bian would at most best grant him a nominal title and allow him to live a life of honor, but would never entrust him with any important responsibilities.

With the ambition to govern the country and bring peace to the world, the talent to shoulder heavy responsibilities, and a loyal and sincere heart, Liu Bian was naturally happy to support his lofty aspirations.

As Liu Bian watched as promising young talents such as Du Ji, Mao Jie, Sun Shao, and Xin Ping emerged like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, a smile of satisfaction unconsciously crept onto his lips.

In particular, many prefectures and kingdoms recommended candidates for the civil service examination in the spring. Liu Bian found several familiar names among them, and what pleased him most was that several rare talents from the imperial clan were among them.

Among the talented members of the imperial clan, the one who most interested Liu Bian was a member of the Liu clan from Xiang County, the capital of Pei State, who was recommended by Tian Feng, the chancellor of Pei State, as a candidate for the civil service examination.

Talent and learning were secondary; it was his identity that truly intrigued Liu Bian.

"A descendant of the Scraping Soup Master?"

(2220 words)
(End of this chapter)