Top Scholar

Chapter 162 No Effort Is Wasted
Su Tai stared wide-eyed at him, looking naive, and said, "I know you?"

"Brother Hao, it's me! Don't you recognize me?" The girl walked quickly to Su Tai, her face full of excitement.

"You are..." Su Tai looked at the girl with a confused expression. She was wearing a brightly colored and patterned gold-embroidered short blouse. The ruby ​​pendant on her forehead swayed slightly with her movements, which made her fair skin and noble aura even more striking, making people dare not look directly at her.

"I'm She Yunluo! Remember me now?" The girl pointed to her straight nose. Her lips curled up, her eyes brimming with joy, as delicate and beautiful as a newly blossoming camellia. "I've been looking for you so hard!"

"No..." Su Tai still looked adorable, scratching the back of his head: "I really can't remember."

"Ah..." The girl never expected that her long-awaited reunion would turn out to be a one-sided affair.

Yes, there were barbers back then.

At this moment, the steward came out from the flower hall and smiled at Su Tai, saying, "My master invites you, brave man."

"Yes, that's right." Su Tai nodded quickly and said apologetically to the girl, "I think you might have mistaken me for someone else."

After saying that, he followed the steward into the flower hall, leaving She Yunluo bewildered in the wind.

~~
In the flower hall.

Magistrate Lu, his face pale, beckoned to Su Tai: "Come quickly and pay your respects to the Military Commissioner."

Su Tai didn't hesitate; he immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Hehe, brave warrior, please rise!" Huang Ke, also known as Huang Bingxian, was over fifty years old, yet he still stood ramrod straight and spoke in a loud voice. He wore a casual Songjiang robe and had the appearance of a lean scholar. But beneath his two sword-like eyebrows, his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, exuding an aura of authority that could intimidate military leaders and chieftains.

"Yes." Su Tai then got up and stood in front of the military commissioner.

Huang Ke looked him over with great interest. That year, the family's living conditions improved a lot. Su Tai not only had enough to eat, but also had oil in his belly, and he even grew taller. His broad shoulders almost covered half of the door.

"Well done, truly impressive! Are you the brave warrior who captured the bandit leader Qi San alive and broke his arms?" Huang Ke asked with a smile, "What's your name? How old are you?"

"Yes, sir," Su Tai nodded and said in a deep voice, "My name is Su Tai, and I'm seventeen years old after the New Year."

"Not even eighteen yet?" Huang Ke was slightly surprised, thinking to herself that he looked much older than his age. She then burst into laughter, "Excellent! Truly, heroes have always emerged from among the young!"

“Actually…” Su Tai couldn’t accept it calmly and said the truth: “I didn’t even enter the village. I just picked up a stray dog ​​outside.”

"Haha, what a good kid who doesn't take credit!" Huang Ke said happily upon hearing this. "This is very important in the military. If he doesn't shirk responsibility, he will be a good officer."

After a pause, he asked Su Tai, "Would your family be willing for you to join the army?"

“I’m willing.” Su Tai nodded and said, “My family has always been military households. When my uncle retires, I will take over his post.”

"Who are you?" Huang Ke asked.

“It’s a hereditary banner officer position, but my grandfather and my uncle both started as junior banner officers,” Su Tai said.

"That's normal," Huang Ke laughed. "If the hereditary commandership was held by a thousand-household commander, and the hereditary commandership was held by a commander, wouldn't that create chaos?"

"Yes." Su Tai nodded.

“His uncle is only forty-three, and it will be a long time before he can join the army.” Magistrate Lu hurriedly said with a smile, “He will be over thirty by then, what a waste of such a good talent.”

“Indeed.” Huang Ke nodded and asked, “Then what is Magistrate Lu’s opinion?”

“Reporting to the Military Commissioner, I believe he should be sent to the Luzhou Martial Arts Academy to pursue the path of military examinations.” Magistrate Lu then cupped his hands and said, “This was also requested by Commander Ma, who asked me to do so.”

As Commander Ma said, the lack of entrance exams for martial arts schools directly cut off the possibility of ordinary people enrolling. Apart from those who inherited their positions as attendants, there were only two paths: recommendation from the garrison or recommendation from local officials.

In fact, both Commander Ma and Magistrate Lu had written letters of recommendation, which would have been sufficient, but Magistrate Lu specifically asked Magistrate Huang for help. This was partly to ensure a safer outcome, and partly to ensure that Su Tai would receive some preferential treatment after enrolling in school.

Furthermore, after making a contribution, it's good to make a small request to your boss that you can do for them. This will make your boss feel more comfortable... especially since it's a request that will leave a good impression on your boss.

So Su Lu was absolutely right: keep learning, there's a lot to learn...

"Good, you are a competent official." Sure enough, Huang Bingxian praised, "Commander Ma is responsible, does not seek credit, and cherishes talent. Such a commander should not retire early." Huang Ke sighed and instructed his servants to write down the name 'Ma Shijia'.

"On behalf of Commander Ma, I thank you, Your Excellency!" Magistrate Lu hurriedly bowed and said.

Huang Ke then asked Su Tai, "Have you studied at a local school? How many characters do you know?"

“I studied for three years but couldn’t understand it, so I started working at the age of ten.” Su Tai emphasized with sincerity. “I recognize most of the characters, but I can only write the simple ones.” “Studying martial arts like this must be very difficult.” Huang Ke frowned slightly and said, “The martial arts examination not only tests martial arts skills, but also requires excellence in both literature and martial arts.”

“Yes.” Magistrate Lu echoed, “The martial arts provincial examination also consists of three sessions. The first session is a written test on policy essays, which, in addition to the Seven Military Classics, also tests the principles of the Four Books. The second and third sessions are the practical martial arts tests.”

"Moreover, the regulations of the sixth year of the Hongzhi reign stipulated that 'strategy must come first, then archery and horsemanship; those who fail in strategy are not allowed to try archery and horsemanship.'" Huang Ke looked at Su Tai with sympathy and said, "Although you don't have to use the eight-legged essay, you still can't pass the first round if you don't understand the Four Books, and you won't have a place to use your martial arts skills."

“The Four Books are easy to understand…” Su Tai said in a muffled voice, “My brother explained them to me from beginning to end, and I feel much clearer-headed than before.”

"That's not bad." Huang Ke smiled and didn't take it seriously, assuming that the boy was trying his best to make amends.

"You may not know this, but his brother is named Su Lu. He is a famous child prodigy in this county. The old gentlemen all say that Su Lu is a very good teacher!" Magistrate Lu hurriedly helped Su Tai out, and took the opportunity to promote his own prized student.

"Really?" Huang Ke finally became interested. "Then I'll have to test him."

"Please ask the military magistrate to set the questions," Magistrate Lu hurriedly said, then instructed Su Tai: "Answer carefully. If you know the answer, say you know it; if you don't, say you don't."

"Yes." Su Tai nodded, perking up his ears.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you anything too difficult." Huang Ke then smiled and said, "I happen to have been the deputy chief examiner of the martial arts provincial examination, so I'll ask you a few simple questions based on the question-setting logic... For example, 'The commander of the three armies can be captured,' what is the next line?"

“A man’s will cannot be taken away!” Su Tai replied loudly.

"Mencius said, 'A country is not secured by the dangers of mountains and streams,' so what is it secured by?" Huang Ke asked again.

"It depends on people! Because favorable timing is not as important as favorable location, and favorable location is not as important as favorable people!" Su Tai answered without hesitation.

"Good." Huang Ke nodded approvingly, it seemed Magistrate Lu hadn't been exaggerating. He then asked, "The Great Learning talks about 'rectifying the mind and making the will sincere.' If you were leading ten soldiers, how would you get them to be of one mind?"

“You have to show sincerity first,” Su Tai said matter-of-factly. “You have to do what you ask of them, keep your promises, and be fair in your dealings. Just like you have to lead an ox by the nose, if you’re crooked, the whole group will go astray.”

"Not bad, not bad." Huang Ke nodded and asked again, "Your reasoning isn't just something you've heard; it seems like you've put it into practice."

“I manage about ten people in the clan’s winery,” Su Tai hurriedly explained.

"Good, good." Huang Ke said approvingly, "I'll ask you one last question, it's a bit difficult... Don't worry if you don't answer it well, I will still write a recommendation letter for you."

"Yes," Su Tai replied hurriedly in a deep voice.

"Confucius said that to govern a country, one must have sufficient food and sufficient soldiers. If you were to guard a village, would you prioritize food or weapons?" Huang Ke asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Lu sighed inwardly. Everyone said that Huang Bingxian was difficult to deal with, and it was really true... Why make things so difficult for a child who hadn't received much education?
The question itself is riddled with pitfalls and smacks of a fallacy of equivocation. Even a learned person might not be able to explain the reasoning clearly…

Sure enough, Su Tai frowned, and after a long pause, whispered, "I remember Su Lu saying that this passage is about Zigong asking Confucius how to govern a country. Confucius said that as long as there is sufficient food, adequate military preparedness, and the trust of the people, that's enough." Su Tai scratched the back of his head and said:
"So it's not just about having enough soldiers and food, but also about gaining the trust of the people."

"Haha, that's right, but that's how the question was set..." Huang Ke laughed, "This is actually a question from the Shandong Martial Arts Examination last time. You can answer it."

"I remember... Zigong asked, 'If there's really no other way but to remove one thing, what should we do?' Confucius said, 'Remove the military equipment first.'" Su Tai replied.
"If one thing must be removed, then remove grain. For if the people's trust is lost, the state will perish."

“But this is the principle of governing a country, not guarding a village. Because a country is too large, it won't perish just because a city falls. A village is too small; if the people are gone, the village is gone.” As he spoke, his gaze gradually hardened.

"Without food, we'll starve; without weapons, we'll be killed by the enemy. Therefore, we can't afford to lose either; losing either will mean certain death!"

"Hahaha, excellent!" Huang Ke clapped his hands and praised, "You answered so well! Many people who passed the martial arts exam back then didn't answer as well as you!"

Huang Bingxian stood up, walked to Su Tai, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Su Tai, I underestimated you! You will surely become a great general in the future. I am honored to recommend you to the martial arts academy!"

"Hurry up and thank the military governor!" Magistrate Lu said hastily.

"Thank you, Military Commissioner!" Su Tai was about to bow again, but Huang Ke stopped him, saying, "No need. A brave man should not bend over too much, lest he lose his heroic spirit."

After saying this, he instructed the steward to bring a waist knife with an ebony sheath and a copper hilt.

Huang Ke took it, pressed the spring to draw the sword from its sheath, and it turned out to be a finely forged patterned steel sword. The blade was like a pool of autumn water, so dazzling that Su Tai's eyes were momentarily blinded.

"This was a gift from a famous swordsmith in Shandong when I left," Huang Ke nodded in satisfaction, returning the sword to its sheath. "He knew I didn't like anything fancy, so the sheath is very simple, but this sword is anything but simple. You'll see once you use it!"

He then handed the waist knife to Su Tai, saying, "Here you go. Study hard at the martial arts academy and use this knife to fight for the country as soon as possible!"

Su Tai hurriedly took the knife with both hands, nodded emphatically, and said, "I'll remember it!"

(End of this chapter)