Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 152 Zhang Heng's Examination Paper: Genius is merely the threshold to seeing me
The southwest direction is only a few dozen miles away from the battlefield.

The mission's fleet, which had been taking refuge in Qingshui Port for many days, was now sailing at night in a double column with its sails fully extended, using the five-masted hulled ship as its flagship and lead ship.

Whoosh whoosh.
As if that wasn't enough, the artist Luo Wenlong used his magic brush to continuously draw in the air, causing the entire ship to accelerate to its theoretical speed limit.

Up to 10 sections!

That's 18.52 km/h, which is faster than a person jogging, it's simply incredible.

"Lord Luo, you ordered the fleet to set sail without saying a word, and after drifting at sea for most of the day, you suddenly headed towards the East China Sea Kingdom at night. What are you trying to do?"
As the deputy envoy, shouldn't I be qualified to know?

Deputy Envoy Jiang Wenyuan rushed to the door and questioned him urgently.

Luo Wenlong remained silent with a cold expression, refusing to answer his question. He simply waved to the guards beside him, who were already clad in armor and ready for battle.

The guards stepped forward and instantly surrounded Jiang Wenyuan.

To quell external threats, we must first secure internal stability. Now that our allies in Pinghu Port have taken action, there is no need to keep these restless, gentry-like figures causing trouble.

Jiang Wenyuan was startled and shouted sternly:

"What are you trying to do? I am the deputy envoy of the mission personally appointed by His Majesty. What right do you, Luo Wenlong, have to arrest me?"

Luo Wenlong remained expressionless.
"Upon investigation, it has been found that Deputy Envoy Jiang Wenyuan harbored bandits, accepted bribes, colluded with the enemy, and conspired with the bandit leader Mao Haifeng! He shall be detained for the time being, and I will personally request His Majesty's decision later!"
"Guards, seize him for me!"

Previously, Luo Wenlong had not made any move against Jiang Wenyuan and his Qingliu faction.

On the one hand, it was to avoid alerting the enemy and letting Mao Haifeng notice the unusual behavior of the Tongmu people;
On the other hand, there were concerns; as long as one wanted to remain in the court, it was impossible to kill a colleague in private.

The "official air" is there, both a protection and a shackle, and not everyone can break through it.

He didn't dare to ambush the axemen and kill them directly. Instead, he planned to first put the [Divine Lock] on the Qingliu faction to seal their supernatural abilities and put them under house arrest.

Once we have killed Mao Haifeng, the "Black Kirin," and obtained direct evidence, we will report to the imperial court and convict him of treason.

"absurd!"

Jiang Wenyuan was almost laughing in anger. Luo Wenlong hadn't changed a single word and had pinned the charge of accusing Governor-General Hu Ruzhen of colluding with the Prince of Jinghai on him.

They simply changed the name of Prince Jinghai to Mao Haifeng.

But he really can't withstand scrutiny!

On the surface, they were ordered by the imperial court to come and appease the merchants and pirates in the East China Sea, but in reality, they were tasked by the Qingliu faction to sabotage the peace talks.

In their eyes, the interests of the faction were far more important than the interests of the country and the emperor.

Wang Bengu did frame Hu Ruzhen, but Luo Wenlong genuinely did not frame him this time.

Although Jiang Wenyuan didn't know where things went wrong and such confidential information was accidentally leaked, how could he dare to surrender and await the Emperor's judgment?
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the 500-strong warship [Jinjiang], where his troops were stationed, was being approached by Li Jingjiang, a centurion [General of the Tower Ship], who was preparing to capture people.

I was extremely anxious.

Not daring to hold back any longer, he pulled out a roll of yellowed paper.

All those who have taken the imperial examinations are very familiar with this; it is an old examination paper.

"You want to take me? Not so easy!"

You accuse me of accepting bribes and colluding with the enemy; I accuse you, Luo Wenlong, of colluding with the enemy! I will personally submit a memorial to impeach you!

Before Luo Wenlong could react, he threw the treasure that his teacher, Grand Secretary Xu, had lent him over his head, and it automatically unfolded into a long scroll.

Even after hundreds of years, the inscriptions on it remain deeply engraved, with octagonal corners gleaming. The strong fragrance of ink and paper made the surrounding guards take a step back.

When they finally realized what was happening and drew their swords to rush over, they found that there seemed to be an invisible threshold in front of them, and no matter how they tried to step over it or jump over it, they couldn't get past it.

Jiang Wenyuan, however, calmly retreated, easily passing through the encirclement of a large number of guards, and jumped onto his 500-ton warship.

Even Li Jingjiang, the commander of the Qianzong (a military unit), could not stop them.

Moreover, when the exam paper floated from above Jiang Wenyuan's head to above the entire warship...

The surrounding ships that wanted to approach were also met with an invisible threshold, just like the guards, and could not move an inch.

Although Luo Wenlong did not possess any special skills such as "Rare Goods for Sale" or "Listening to Thunder," he immediately saw the words "First Place in First Class: Zhang Heng" written on the side of the exam paper.

He immediately recognized the talisman's identity—[Treasure of the Province: Zhang Heng's Examination Paper]!
I couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:
"It is Zhang Heng, who surpassed Zhang Ziping, the top scholar in the imperial examination for thousands of years."
His exam paper should have been kept in the examination hall, but it was secretly taken out by you Qingliu people?
"You have abused your public power for private gain. What is your punishment?" Later generations often held prejudices against the imperial examination system, which lasted for more than a thousand years, believing that it produced a group of bookworms who could only recite classical Chinese texts and compose poems.

In fact, it was precisely this group of bureaucrats cultivated by the imperial examination system who were able to simultaneously handle the interpretation of Confucian classics, policy design, military deployment, and fiscal and tax reform.

It was able to pass on its traditions during times of chaos and compile classics during times of prosperity, allowing the cultural lineage of China to remain intact amidst multiple divisions, and even assimilating foreign ethnic groups in the process.

There are certainly bookworms, but there is no shortage of pragmatic politicians who apply their knowledge to practical matters and integrate theory with practice.

Moreover, this relatively fair upward mobility channel was unique in the world for a considerable period of time.

The idea of ​​rising from humble beginnings to high office is a romantic notion of civilization.

Those preparing for the exam not only need to memorize hundreds of thousands of words from the Four Books and Five Classics, but also need to remember the relevant annotations and model essays by famous scholars. They must interpret specific sentences and words from the Four Books and Five Classics by combining the rhythm of poetry with current events and politics, and by citing classical allusions.

That's why The Scholars said, "A person who is good at the eight-legged essay can write poetry or prose as he pleases, and he can write any kind of essay with ease."

At most, only two or three hundred people were selected for the imperial examinations every three years. Those who could stand out under such a system were at least outstanding individuals who were adept at using the system!
The prestige of being the top scholar is self-evident.

The most prestigious of these was the imperial examination held in the second year of the Jiayou era of the Northern Song Dynasty, presided over by Ouyang Xiu, which is hailed as the first list of top candidates in the millennium of imperial examinations.

This list includes twenty-four prominent figures who deserve separate biographies in historical records. Among them, nine became prime ministers, three were included in the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Prose, and one was Zhang Zai, who uttered the "Four Sentences of Hengqu".

Even though these twenty-four people were so talented, not one of them made it into the top three in the palace examination.

The person who truly earned the title of first-place scholar was Zhang Heng.

Su Dongpo commented: "No one in the next hundred years can match this person's talent; genius is merely the threshold to his level."

Why is he far less famous than Su Shi and others?
Perhaps it was because he remained in his post and was not exiled to Lingnan?
In many ways, the literature of China was actually the literature of exiled officials. To put it bluntly, whether it was the graceful school or the bold school, their influence was far less than that of the exiled school.

Against this backdrop, Zhang Heng's examination paper naturally became famous throughout history and was well-known to scholars and literati.

The most basic skill required for this test is something even many young children who have just started learning to write know:

Geniuses are merely the threshold to my understanding; I absolutely exclude idiots!

To be qualified to approach the owner of Zhang Heng's examination papers, one must at least possess a reputation for being a "genius" widely recognized by many.

Just then, an examination paper that suppressed the Dragon and Tiger List for a thousand years hung above the five hundred-ton battle ship, easily resisting the approach of everyone present.

This means everyone is an idiot.

Even Luo Wenlong and Li Jingjiang, both fifth-rank officials in their early thirties, were no exception; in the eyes of that exam paper, they were far from being geniuses.

General Li Jingjiang, the commander of the warship, refused to believe in evil and was unwilling to give up. He stood at the bow of the ship, making hand seals and chanting incantations:

"The wind blows from the left, the train travels on the right. Illuminating the three realms, transforming into a red city. The eight trigrams are at the bottom, spreading out in all directions. Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

He opened his mouth and spat out a hundred-foot-long beam of light, which transformed into thick chains and a continuous network of city walls, binding all his fleet together in an attempt to surround the Jinjiang ship in the center.

This "General of the Tower Ship" possesses spiritual power that is all connected to "Liancheng," and he cultivates a unique and extraordinary skill called the "Xialou Liancheng Curse."

The more ships a fleet has, the more low-grade "Ship Generals" who can assist in its operations, and the stronger the combined fleet will be.

A fleet of hundreds of large ships could easily rampage across rivers and seas, violently crushing reefs.

Jiang Wenyuan, however, took the initiative to launch the Literary Ascension Technique.

Reciting famous verses full of literary elegance evokes a response from the Daoist spirit:
"I departed from Baidi City amidst colorful clouds at dawn, and returned to Jiangling a thousand miles away in a single day. The cries of monkeys on both banks could not be silenced, yet my light boat had already passed countless mountains!"

Colorful clouds and the cries of monkeys surrounded the warship, which suddenly accelerated beyond its theoretical speed and sped toward the main battlefield amidst the chaos.

"No one on my side would leak information; it must be a problem on Mao Haifeng's side."

Our mentor's mission absolutely cannot fail; we must use Mao Haifeng's strength to set things right!
We "honorable ministers" who offend the emperor may at worst be demoted, flogged, forced to cultivate our reputation, and reinstated. But if we are abandoned by the upright officials, we will find ourselves unable to move an inch in the Great Zhao, and life will be worse than death.

Jiang Wenyuan couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the consequences of failure.

He gripped the military treatise in his arms tightly.

Luo Wenlong and Li Jingjiang, whose faces were equally grim, quickly activated their special skills together:
"We must give chase! We can't let them regroup!"

(End of this chapter)