You have truly caused me great suffering!

The rise of an empire can be achieved by many people.

However, the salvation of an empire requires the virtuous sons of families who uphold loyalty and filial piety.

Therefore, Chen Shao attached great importance to the cultivation of the sons of the meritorious officials who quelled the rebellion.

He taught his ministers and subordinates how to educate their children through his words and deeds.

If anyone commits a crime, Chen Shao will punish them severely to prevent them from going astray.

For this reason, after the founding of the Great Jing Dynasty, there was no large-scale phenomenon of arrogant and spoiled young men bullying the good and kind.

Occasionally, such incidents would occur, but they were quickly suppressed, and Guangyuantang also played a significant role in suppressing them.

Moreover, many of the sons of meritorious officials were also very outstanding and participated in many of the wars that led to the founding of the nation.

Chen Shao was unusually happy to see Yang Geng at the Jiying Hall today.

He was impressed by this person because he was the heir of a duke, but he dressed very simply in his daily life.

Logically speaking, the rewards I gave to the Duke of Anguo's family were enough for them to live comfortably for generations, but this young man chose not to rely on his family's wealth and instead wanted to work hard on his own.

What a promising talent! He deserves to be nurtured!

If you were to say that he got into the written exam, there might be a slight possibility that he got in through connections, but here he is definitely a person of genuine talent.

Because letting others in would render the imperial examination meaningless, as you would personally filter out all the mediocre candidates.

Just then, the emperor approached.

Yang Geng took a deep breath and, right under Chen Shao's nose, began his operation.

He first presented a water-powered armillary sphere, which could automatically shift the positions of the stars according to the seasons and could also use water power to drive gears and automatically strike a chime to tell the time each day.

A person from the Engineering Institute said from the side, "Your Majesty, the Engineering Institute already has this instrument, and it is extremely accurate."

Judging from the extremely fine gears, Chen Shao nodded, clearly approving of the technology.

Moreover, this is almost the prototype of a watch, and it is only a matter of time before pocket watches are created based on this.

Then there was a pile of cork next to him, and Yang Geng began to carefully nail it together. It took him about fifteen minutes to make a one-foot-long Fujian-style ship model.

Then they started placing iron blocks on top, which could support a weight of ten pounds without tipping over.

Chen Shao's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

He patted Yang Geng on the shoulder and gave him a relatively high score.

The imperial examination at the Jiying Hall lasted for three full days.

Then another day passed, and the results were summarized.

On the fourth day, the imperial court began to post the results.

The top three in the civil service examination:

First-class scholar in the civil service examination:
The top scholar was Li Yi, a native of Yangzhou, who was appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy.

Second place: Zhang Jiucheng, a native of Hangzhou, a disciple of a great Neo-Confucian scholar, was appointed as a judge of the Court of Judicial Review;
Third-ranking scholar: Zheng Hao, a native of Bianliang, was appointed as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue.

Master of Craftsmanship:

The top scholar, Chen Daqi, independently developed a new gunpowder formula with immense power. He was awarded the title of Junior Assistant Director of the Arsenal and bestowed with a purple robe and a silver fish-shaped pouch.

Second place: Xu Shuwei, author of "Song of One Hundred Symptoms of Typhoid Fever" and "Universal Relief Prescriptions", which translated the articles of "Treatise on Typhoid Fever" into mnemonic rhymes for easy dissemination, and was appointed as a medical officer of the Hanlin Academy;

Yang Geng, the third-ranked scholar, participated in the research and development of flintlock muskets, made a waterborne armillary sphere, and modified the Dajingfu ship to enhance its transportation capacity. He was appointed as the director of the Engineering Institute.

Other scholars were also granted titles and honors in other places.

The imperial examinations concluded successfully, and Chen Shao was very satisfied, hosting another grand banquet for his officials.

Furthermore, it was set up in the countryside on the outskirts of the city, so that the common people could also witness the demeanor of the newly appointed scholars.

This time, scholars from foreign lands were specially invited to be told to take this as an example and study hard.

Chen Shao stayed with them for a short while before rushing back to the capital. These scholars could rest for a few days, but Chen Shao didn't have time.

Springtime is a rare time for the emperor to stay in the capital palace, and officials frequently come to see him, whether they have something to say or not.

Chen Shao also needs to make sure he tells everyone he needs to tell and learns everything he needs to know this spring.

Then he went to Zhongshan Mountain Resort to continue refining and improving his team and system.

The days spent at the Summer Palace and Hot Spring Palace will never be so carefree again.

He needs to start grooming a successor and educating the princes.

Sure enough, as soon as he returned to the palace, someone from the Imperial Household Department came to report that Qu Duan, who had returned from Japan, had come to pay his respects. Qu Duan was about to go to Liaodong to become the marshal of one of the armies that would attack the northern deserts.

Now, the Great Jing is fighting on two fronts, with the battles on the north and south routes being quite different.

The north is crystal clear: how many people were killed, how many livestock were plundered, how many tribes surrendered, and how many tribes are still resisting.

The south seemed to be a never-ending battleground, with significantly more spoils than the north, and the conquered territories were all useful.

It's either a port, or densely forested, or has mines and spices.
The imperial court spent a lot of money and grain on this battle, but miraculously, it was able to recover the losses very quickly.

It's illogical that they didn't lose anything, and the soldiers on the front lines made a fortune, but because it happened so far ago, there's no way to investigate.

In short, as long as the result is good, that's fine.

It seems that the plan I set for myself will be delayed for several years before it can be completed.

The country of Jianyi is not easy to destroy.

After Qu Duan entered the Funing Hall, he bowed respectfully. Chen Shao looked at him, and he looked at Chen Shao in return.

Chen Shao thought that Qu Da had gotten very tanned from being overseas for the past few years, which meant he must have been exposed to the sea breeze quite a bit.

In Qu Duan's eyes, His Majesty was still as handsome as ever, with a rosy complexion and excellent health.

"Regarding the situation in the northern desert, I sent you some reports earlier. Have you read them?"

Qu Duan sat on the bench and hurriedly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Majesty, I have seen it all by heart. Your Majesty need not worry about those few scoundrels in the northern desert. I will surely sweep them away and annihilate them all."

Chen Shao glanced at him, but didn't say anything.

The difficulty in clearing out the northern deserts lies not in winning battles, but in the fact that the Tartars there are more elusive.

This time, we need to reclaim the 'North Sea,' which is Lake Baikal, and we also need to fight our way to the coldest places.

If they're willing to go to the Arctic, then I really won't chase after them.
They're ruthless, they deserve to live. Let's wait until our descendants meet them again in a few hundred years.

Who knows, maybe some people will end up visiting their igloos.

Furthermore, Siberia is a territory that must be designated as one's own, even if one does not send anyone there.

It will be easy to develop in the future.

The tribes above had to submit, but Chen Shao made an exception and allowed a tributary system of rule here because it was simply too cold.

It's unlikely that anyone would be willing to go.

In fact, once people leave Youyan (modern-day Beijing and Hebei), it becomes very difficult for them to migrate and settle down. Nowadays, no Han Chinese in the Central Plains are willing to migrate.

Once we keep them under control, we can manage them when the conditions are right and the productivity of future generations catches up.

But if other forces try to get involved, they will all die.

Chen Shao glanced at Qu Duan and then instructed, "Do not attack Shiwei and Bohai without cause. They are now my vassal states and have always been quite obedient."

This composer is notorious for acting first and asking questions later.

Chen Shao had no intention of eliminating these fishing and hunting peoples; as long as they submitted, they would be his subjects.

These peoples are relatively resistant to cold, and as long as trade is conducted, they can use the spoils from their hunting of sea creatures to exchange for grain and coal from the Central Plains.

Soon afterward, they naturally found themselves inseparable from the Central Plains.

I can modify it myself slowly.

If Qu Da were to act impulsively and kill all these people, or force them to move further north...

Chen Shao really couldn't find anyone to replace their ecological niche.

No matter how favorable the immigration policy is, it's impossible to fool people into going to this icy, snowy far north.

Current productivity is simply insufficient to support the development of this land, and there's no use in being anxious.

After seeing Qu Duan off, Chen Shao got up and paced around the hall. The new imperial examination had indeed been held once.

This made Chen Shao extremely excited, but also a little nervous, fearing that something might go wrong later.

He hoped this would go very smoothly and become a permanent policy.

This is tantamount to overturning deeply ingrained traditional thinking that has been in place for thousands of years.

Although Chen Shaowu's prestige was backing him, no one could say for sure whether things would go smoothly.

At this time, the names of the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), whether from the humanities or the crafts, were submitted, awaiting the Ministry of Personnel's decision on their official positions and entry into officialdom.

"Send an order to the Ministry of Personnel: once the list is finalized, report it immediately." (End of Chapter)