Top Scholar

Chapter 508 My Second Brother is Skilled in Both Literature and Martial Arts!
"But as you've heard from Chief Minister Li, the Ming army is rotten to the core! The only ones who can fight are the border troops, but they have to guard the north and can't be withdrawn at all!" Zhu Shou sighed softly as he looked at Shichahai, which was gradually returning to darkness.

“No.” Su Lu shook his head decisively. “If you’ve ever played chess, you’ll understand. Once you’re about to be checkmated, the ‘rook’ has to retreat to defend its home base, right? The border troops are like the ‘rook’ of our Great Ming. If a rebellion breaks out in the capital region, wouldn’t we have to call them back?”

"Even under the emperor's nose, chaos can ensue?" Zhu Shou raised an eyebrow and asked rhetorically.

“It is precisely because it is under the emperor’s nose that trouble is most likely to occur!” Su Lu’s voice was low, but every word struck Zhu Shou’s heart.

“Last year, when I went to the capital to take the imperial examination, I encountered several bandits blocking my way in Beizhili. The most recent group was in Bazhou, which is only about 100 miles from the capital! They were called bandits, but they were just a group of starving people. Bandits would not rob people on the road during the New Year!”

"Why is this happening?" Zhu Shou was hit with another blow, but fortunately he was already somewhat used to it.

“I asked my fellow students from Shuntian Prefecture, and they said that Beizhili, which is close to the capital, has suffered a lot... The people’s fields have been seized by the imperial estates, the imperial horse administration has forced people to sell their children, and the secret police are robbing and extorting everywhere. There is no way to survive at home, and they can only flee as refugees. They are almost forming a force! The men of Hebei are inherently fierce, so what is so strange about them really causing trouble?”

He paused, then continued, "If chaos truly breaks out in the prefectures of Beizhi, the capital will be immediately shaken! At that point, who will care about the north? Border troops will definitely have to be transferred back from Xuanda and Jiliao to provide reinforcements. This is a matter of course; there is no other possibility!"

"Even if the three major battalions of the Beijing Garrison are reduced to half their original strength, they still have more than 200,000 soldiers, right? Isn't that enough to suppress the bandits?" Zhu Shou frowned.

“But the Grand Secretary also made it clear that the three major battalions are understaffed and underpaid, and their training is lacking. They can only guard the city. If they cause trouble two or three hundred miles away from the capital, we are still helpless. We still have to send border troops in,” Su Lu said.

"We won't be without a solution!" Zhu Shou slammed his hand on the railing and said in a deep voice, "If we don't have a capable army, we'll select men from the Beijing Garrison and train a strong and capable army!"

"What if we don't have money?" Su Lu asked.

"The Emperor has some money—two hundred thousand taels—originally intended for building ships for you. Now it seems it can only be used as a temporary measure; the shipbuilding will have to wait!" Zhu Shou said in a deep voice.

"Let's go to the martial arts tournament and try out some people!"

~~
The following day, April 9th, the first session of the Zhengde 3rd year martial arts examination began as scheduled.

Although the imperial court has drafted new regulations for the military examination based on the civil and palace examinations, the new regulations will be implemented from the next session onwards, while the undergraduate examination will still follow the old system... The first session is the civil examination, and only those who pass are allowed to enter the subsequent sessions.

The civil service examination was still held at the Shuntian Examination Hall. The military examination was far less grand than the civil service examination, which was regarded as a grand ceremony for selecting talents. The imperial court only appointed two Hanlin scholars as chief examiners, assisted by four supervising secretaries and principal officials of the six ministries as co-examiners, and two censors as supervisors.

The examiners had already entered the examination hall to prepare the test questions and await the arrival of the eight hundred martial arts candidates from the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Although the military examination was not highly regarded by the imperial court, the Su family regarded it as a top priority, allowing Su Tai to enjoy the same treatment as the civil examination.

A day in advance, his father and brothers had prepared his exam basket and exam supplies for him. Qiu Ge'er even gave him his own top-ranking scholar's writing brush and ink... Well, now anything Su Lu has ever used can be prefixed with 'top scholar'.

Su Youcai got up early to prepare food for Su Tai's exam... The written exam only lasted one day, and they could leave after dark, so only one lunch needed to be prepared. But Xia Ge'er had a big appetite, and one meal was equivalent to Su Lu's entire exam.

When Su Tai got up at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), the family sat down to have breakfast and then offered incense to the ancestral portraits. After they finished, Su Man patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "The ancestors will surely bless you."

"Our ancestors even managed the military examinations?" Su Youcai asked in surprise.

"I should have no problem passing the written exam," Su Man said confidently. His faith in the ancestral relics had now risen to the level of religious devotion.

"Let's go!" Su Lu picked up his second brother's exam basket and called out. The family then surrounded Su Tai and marched out the door with great pride and high spirits.

Even Zhu Zihe came to join in the fun and send off the examinees. He was Su Man's brother-in-law and Su Lu's adopted son, so he was able to send them off!

The group arrived at Gongyuan Street under the stars and moon, where the street was already crowded with people seeing off the examinees. The families of the martial arts candidates were all proper mid- to high-ranking military officers, each one standing tall and imposing.

But when everyone caught a glimpse of the procession behind Su Tai, they couldn't help but show their awe and stepped aside to make way for him.

"Who is this big guy? He actually has the top two scholars personally escorting him to the exam!" someone exclaimed in a low voice, their eyes darting back and forth between Su Man, Su Lu, and Su Tai.

"My God, this is too exaggerated!" Others echoed, their tone full of awe.

Seeing that he was being completely ignored, Zhu Zihe couldn't help but say sourly, "My Yellow Armor Scholarship is only one rank lower than my brother-in-law's, and nobody even recognizes me!"

Unfortunately, only the top three scholars could enjoy the honor of being praised on the imperial street. He was just one of those three, so he couldn't become a household name or be known by everyone.

"Impressive, impressive!" Everyone exclaimed in admiration, now even more curious about the tall man's identity. After Su Tai took the exam basket and entered the arena, Zhu Zihe stretched and deliberately shouted, "Let's go back to the Dragon Tiger Classroom for class!"

There's nothing I can do; he's only eighteen, the age when he likes to pretend.

"I took the day off today to accompany my child to the exam," Su Man said, shaking her head.

“Me too.” Su Lu nodded and smiled at Zhu Zihe, “You can go back by yourself.”

"Is it too late for me to ask for leave now?" Zhu Zihe asked, looking at the teaching assistant in the class.

"It's too late, and there's no need for so many people to accompany us." Su Lu waved his hand and shooed him away.

After Zhu Zihe left, Su Man nodded to Su Lu and his son, then carried his bundle and headed towards the alley next to the examination hall.

Su Lu and his son watched their eldest grandson leave with solemn expressions. Although they didn't know exactly what he had prayed for, it was undeniably effective! And with his prayers being answered repeatedly, who would dare to take it lightly?

Su Man arrived at the Kui Xing Inn near the examination hall. His family had stayed here before during the provincial examination, and it cost a full twenty taels of silver for ten days! Don't complain about the price, because the owner gave him a 50% discount since Su Lu was the top scholar in the provincial examination!
But now, the same room only costs thirty coins a day, and it even includes a meal... This is the price right after the civil service exam ends. Although many people come to take the martial arts exam, it only lasts one day, so no one comes to stay!
What is the supply and demand relationship in a market economy? This is it!

Su Man asked the waiter to bring in a basin of clean water, told him not to disturb her anymore, and then bolted the door from the inside.

He then washed and dried his hands before opening the sandalwood box he carried with him and taking out the blue brick wrapped in red silk.

Su Man first lit incense, then respectfully kowtowed three times before unwrapping the red silk, picking up the warm-patterned blue brick, his eyes devout and resolute.

The third-ranked scholar thought to himself, "Who would have thought that this piece of green brick would be the turning point in the fate of my Su family?"

When my mother brought it back from Guanyin Mountain, I didn't think much of it. Who knew it would bless my brother and me, one becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination and the other the third? This isn't just an ancestral relic; it's practically an embodiment of our ancestors!
He's got boundless magical power, okay?
Taking a deep breath, Su Man carefully picked up the blue brick, slowly raised it with both hands, and silently counted and prayed:

"one two Three……"

~~
It was getting light much earlier than it had been two months ago. By the time Su Tai finished the process and entered the lane, the sun was already up.

He stared in disbelief at the cramped examination cells. He couldn't believe that his brothers were taking the exam in such tiny pigeonholes. This was utterly disrespectful to the scholars.

Urged on by the candidates behind him, he lifted the number board and sat down in the cramped cell. The cell was so narrow that he could touch the walls with his outstretched arm. He thought of Chun-ge and Qiu-ge, who had been taking the exam there for nine days, and in the dead of winter no less; he wondered how they had managed to endure it.
Only after the exam papers were handed out did Su Tai stop feeling sorry for his brother. He unfolded the paper and saw three questions right there in front of him—

The Four Books mean "the brave are not afraid".

The strategy section of the Seven Military Classics is titled "Sun Tzu's Treatise on Deception and Reality in Border Affairs."

The policy of current affairs was "a policy for the reorganization of the Beijing garrison".

The questions were fairly standard, even quite simple. At least for Su Tai, they weren't difficult, and his brothers had covered the topics in their pre-exam training for him.

He took a deep breath, concentrated on conceiving the meaning of the first chapter of the Four Books, and after a moment, picked up his brush and wrote in a simple yet powerful style on the draft paper:
'Courage is not the bravado of a common man, but the courage born of understanding righteousness. For the true nature of courage lies in the distinction between what is righteous and what is unrighteous, not merely in the triumph of brute force…'

"The strength of a common man is driven by momentary impulse; the strength of one who understands righteousness stands firm on the eternal principles of morality. Impulsiveness is easily exhausted, but moral principles endure; this is how courage is distinguished from inferiority..."

After establishing his principles at the outset, he proceeded to elaborate on his arguments, the core of which was to distinguish between "reckless courage" and "true courage"—the brashness of the common people, indulging in momentary pleasure, is not true courage; true courage lies in those who understand right and wrong, discern what is right and wrong, and act bravely for the sake of their families, country, and people.

The text further cites the story of "Zilu asking about courage" to elevate the meaning to "drawing a strong bow and wielding a large sword are the form of courage; knowing loyalty and righteousness and guarding the territory are the soul of courage!"

An average military officer who could clearly explain the principles and write a proper eight-legged essay was already quite remarkable, but Su Tai even managed to elevate it further, demonstrating the principle of "one is influenced by one's company." Spending all day following the top scholars (Zhuangyuan and Tanhua) – how could his writing skills not improve?
After finishing writing a section on the Four Books, Su Tai took a short rest, took out two large meat pies from his examination basket, wolfed them down with some tea from a tin can, wiped his mouth, and continued to conceive his essay on the Military Classics.

Over the years, he has thoroughly studied military strategy and naturally knows the core essence of "Sun Tzu's Art of War: The Art of War"—that is, "to subdue the enemy without being subdued by them," which means to seize the initiative on the battlefield, to use one's own strength to attack the enemy's weaknesses, and to use one's own weaknesses to lure the enemy into making a mistake.

But Qiu Ge'er told him that scholars don't like straightforwardness, so there has to be some flair. So Su Tai used examples from border defense to illustrate his point—the Mongol cavalry's high mobility was real, but their lack of supplies was a facade; the Ming Dynasty's numerous border forts were real, but its dispersed forces were a facade.

The text then proposes a strategy: first, send spies to gather intelligence; then, employ the tactic of "concentrating troops in fortresses," concentrating forces at strategic strongholds, implementing a scorched-earth policy, and "luring the enemy into a trap," preventing the Mongols from resupplying and deterring them from advancing too far. Once the Mongols are exhausted and out of supplies, a pursuit can then be launched, allowing the enemy to "strike at the enemy's weakness with their strength." The entire text is logically rigorous, and every word is closely aligned with practical border defense practices!
P.S. There are still two more chapters to go, including the bonus chapter. Don't worry, I won't sleep until I finish writing... Please vote for me!
(End of this chapter)