Top Scholar

Chapter 510 The Emperor Arrives in Person (Bonus Chapter)
Seeing that Minister Liu clearly had something to say to the top scholar, the official next to him quickly and tactfully gave up his seat and invited Su Lu to sit down.

Unable to refuse, Su Lu could only bow in thanks and sit down.

Seeing the top scholar's humility, Liu Yu was somewhat flattered. In fact, he was quite apprehensive about inviting Su Lu up.

After all, this guy doesn't even respect Liu Jin and dared to beat up Jiao Fang. If he doesn't give me face right away, I'll just have to put up with it.

But clearly, I was overthinking it. A top student isn't a mad dog; they won't slap someone who's smiling at them.

"What wind blew the top scholar to this training ground?" Liu Yu asked with a smile, stroking his beard, equally polite.

"Reporting to the Minister, my elder brother has come to take the martial arts examination today, and I have come to watch and cheer him on," Su Lu replied with a bow.

Liu Yu asked in bewilderment, "The top scholar and Su Tanhua are already brothers who have achieved the highest honors, so why do the brothers in your family have to take the path of the martial arts examination?"

In these times, the discrimination of scholars against military men has become open. Liu Yu is still the Minister of War, and this is the examination hall for the military examinations, yet he dares to make such remarks in front of high-ranking officials of the Five Military Commands.

What's even more disheartening is that neither the speaker nor the listener seemed to think there was anything wrong with what they said...

"To be honest, my family is a military household. My elder brother has practiced martial arts since childhood, aspiring to serve on the battlefield and unwilling to waste his skills," Su Lu frankly stated.

Upon hearing this, the surrounding nobles and high-ranking officials looked at Su Lu with much warmer eyes. It was already rare for someone from a military household to pass the imperial examination, and Su Lu's willingness to disregard his background made the military officers feel even closer to him.

One of the advantages of a military household member passing the imperial examination is that he is not considered an outlier by the civil service, because the civil service is all about academic qualifications; whoever does well on the exam is the most prestigious.

The military officers considered him one of their own, and he was able to get along well with both sides...

"I see!" Although Liu Yu didn't approve of Su Lu's brother's choice, he naturally wanted to say something nice, so he praised and laughed, "Your brother is so strong and composed. Judging from his skill in archery and horsemanship, he is already an excellent choice. Taking the exam this time will be a piece of cake for him. At that time, your Su family will have 'three Jinshi from one family and two brothers who both achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination,' a glory that is unique in the current dynasty!"

"Haha, yes, yes," others chimed in with laughter.

"I appreciate your kind words, Minister." Su Lu smiled modestly, feeling confident in his own abilities.

My second brother's extraordinary bravery had already been proven in the Sichuan provincial examination. Moreover, the last two rounds of the martial arts examination were genuine tests of skill and courage, relying entirely on true ability with little human interference.

That's why the two brothers dared to come and watch the game openly.

~~
After exchanging a few more casual words, Liu Yu glanced around and everyone around him knew that the minister was about to get down to business, so they all turned and walked away discreetly.

Su Lu smiled and looked at Liu Yu, waiting for him to speak.

Sure enough, Liu Yu spoke seriously about the important matter: "Scholar, I have a question for you... The other day, I was lecturing the Emperor's students on border defense matters at the Dragon Tiger Lecture Hall. I slipped up and said some things that were meant to embellish the situation, but His Majesty saw through my lie and gave me a severe scolding."

"..." Su Lu nodded slightly. He was also present at the time and heard this Minister Liu boast shamelessly claim that the border army, under the wise leadership of the Emperor and Eunuch Liu, had won victory after victory, and that the so-called Little Prince was nothing more than a trivial matter.

Logically speaking, Zhu Houzhao only knew how to eat, drink, and be merry all day long, and had no interest in anything else. Liu Yu could probably fool him with some nice-sounding lies without being exposed.

But to everyone's surprise, the emperor actually started to focus on his duties and began to study border defense. He immediately questioned the man:

"Who are you trying to fool? You say the government army is victorious everywhere, but in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the young prince led 30,000 cavalry to besiege Lingzhou, capture Qingshui Camp, and kill Zhang Jun, the general of Xuanfu; in the first year of the Zhengde reign, in the Battle of Niuxin Mountain in Xuanfu, our army suffered over 2,100 dead, over 1,000 wounded, lost over 6,500 horses, and countless border residents were plundered. Are these trivial matters?"

"And last year, in the second year of Zhengde's reign, the little prince repeatedly raided Yansui and Ningxia, capturing more than ten cities and strongholds and abducting tens of thousands of my people! And Bu'erhai fled to Xihai—were these all false reports from the border troops? These are all new defeats since my ascension to the throne! How dare you shamelessly claim victory after victory?!"

Startled, Liu Yu quickly knelt down to explain that he had just taken up his post in the Ministry of War and was not fully familiar with the situation on the border, so he could only speak according to the script prepared by his subordinates.

As a result, Zhu Houzhao gave him a severe scolding and ordered him to rearrange the lesson and explain the actual situation of the border troubles and the countermeasures thoroughly! If he still couldn't explain it well, he was to go home!

In fact, Liu Yu had served as the governor of Datong and was extremely knowledgeable about border defense. But precisely because he was so knowledgeable, he dared not speak out… because speaking out would mean he, as the Minister of War, would have to solve the problem. But he couldn't solve it, so why would he shoot himself in the foot?
With a bitter expression, he clasped his hands and begged for guidance: "Scholar, tell me, how should I teach this lesson again? If you can give me even a hint, I will be eternally grateful and will surely repay you handsomely."

Su Lu pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Reporting to the Minister, His Majesty is worried about the affairs of the country and urgently wants a clear answer—how to stabilize the defense of the three borders at the lowest cost, without wasting the national treasury, and effectively resist the invasion of the Little Prince."

"I see..." Liu Yu nodded slowly upon hearing this, but after thinking for a moment, he smiled wryly and said, "Isn't this like wanting the horse to run fast but not wanting it to eat grass?"

"Then let's see if there are any horses like this in the world," Su Lu said with a faint smile.

Liu Yu's eyes lit up, and he suddenly understood. Su Zhuangyuan's reminder was right. The most urgent task was to quickly provide the Emperor with a satisfactory candidate for the Three Borders Commander-in-Chief... After Yang Yiqing resigned, the court had not officially appointed a successor, but had only allowed Cao Yuan to act as the commander-in-chief for a period of time.

However, this position carried immense responsibility, and the pressure of directly facing the Little Prince and Bu'erhai was simply too great. Therefore, Cao Yuan bribed Liu Jin and was transferred back to serve as Minister of Revenue. As a result, the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Three Border Regions was once again vacant.
As the Minister of War, he could perfectly shift the blame as long as he could find a suitable candidate for Governor-General of the Three Border Regions.

Liu Yu nodded gratefully and said, "I understand! Thank you for your guidance, Scholar Liu! Your words have enlightened me!"

"I was just guessing, what do I know at such a young age?" Su Lu humbly issued a disclaimer.

~~
After lunch break, the archery test began, with the range increased to 110 paces. Still, hitting three arrows was enough to advance.

Although it was only ten paces more, it made it difficult for many candidates to spot the bullseye. Because hitting the bullseye from a hundred paces away is already the standard for a master archer… Su Tai didn't dare to be careless either, concentrating intently as he drew his bow to its fullest extent, feeling the wind direction and force, and carefully aiming each arrow. In the end, he hit the bullseye ten times out of twelve, once again winning cheers from the audience!

Liu Yu couldn't help but clap his hands in praise: "Skilled in archery and horsemanship, calm and composed, this boy is worthy of being nurtured!"

“Father, Scholar Su has already left, there’s no need to put on an act anymore,” Liu Ren said speechlessly.

“I’m telling the truth, not putting on an act for anyone,” Liu Yu said calmly. “If he had been born in a chaotic era, his achievements would certainly have surpassed those of his two brothers. Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time, and can only rely on his brothers to get by…”

~~
At the end of the day's equestrian archery competition, Su Tai's score was impressively third place!

His archery skills were already incredible, but there are always people more skilled than him, and there were two even more formidable opponents ahead of him.

Xi'an's guard Zhou Shangwen made all twelve of his shots, ranking first!

Anguo from Suidewei, Shaanxi, scored only one out of twelve shots, ranking second!
"I thought Brother Anzhi was invincible, but I didn't expect there to be someone even stronger than him!" Zou Qing, the second-ranked martial arts candidate from Sichuan, also came to take the imperial examination. He ranked sixth with nine out of twelve, which is quite good.

“Hehe…” Su Tai scratched his head, unsure how to answer him.

"By the way, where's Brother Ma?" Zou Qing had a deep impression of his tenacious classmate named Ma Qianli. "Could it be that his injury hasn't healed yet?"

"His injuries have healed, but he felt his martial arts skills were insufficient, so he returned to Shaolin Temple to train. We'll talk about it in the next session," Su Tai replied in a low voice.

“That’s true, the competition for the provincial examination is much fiercer than that for the provincial examination.” Zou Qing nodded and raised his fist at Su Tai. “Let’s have another match tomorrow and see who wins this time.”

“Okay.” Su Tai also raised his fist and bumped it with his.

~~
The next day, the weather continued to be kind, with clear skies, a gentle breeze, and no clouds.

Well, there's nothing to be thankful for, because this year has been a year of severe drought; it hasn't rained more than twice. And even then, it's only dampened the ground a little, like a puppy peeing...

But the martial arts candidates were extremely excited—His Majesty the Zhengde Emperor himself had come to the western suburbs training ground to observe the examination!
This greatly compensated for their regret at not being able to call themselves "disciples of the emperor" because they had not taken the imperial examination. Therefore, when they paid homage to the emperor, the five hundred martial arts candidates all bowed and knelt in unison, their voices like thunder rolling across the training ground, all shouted at the top of their lungs with all their might:
"Long live my emperor! Long live! Long live!"

"Excellent, very spirited!" Zhu Houzhao, dressed in military attire and radiating vitality, sat on the high throne, watching with great interest the strong and vigorous soldiers on the training ground, rubbing their hands together in anticipation. Feeling his blood boiling, he said to Liu Jin, who stood beside him:
"My dear companion, this is so much fun! It's much more interesting than the imperial examination! Last time I almost died of boredom..."

"Your Majesty is right," Liu Jin said with a smile. "Moreover, these are turbulent times, and it is precisely when people are in need. Military scholars are much more useful than civil scholars."

"Ah, yes, yes, let's begin!" Zhu Houzhao waved his hand happily, feeling as comfortable as if he were at home, and said loudly, "Have a good competition, and I will reward the winner handsomely!"

"Yes!" The martial arts candidates responded in unison, their necks thick and faces flushed, as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they entered the morning competition.

The morning session, like the provincial examination, consisted of three stages, but the difficulty was increased in each stage.

The first challenge is to draw the bow with full force (15 points) three times to pass!

The candidates stood in rows and took turns receiving the hard bow. The fifteen-strength bow was 30% heavier than the twelve-strength bow used in the provincial examination, and its body was noticeably thicker.

The proctor stood to the side and shouted the order: "Open!"

The candidates nocked their arrows, pointed the arrowheads upwards, then bent their waists and pushed off the ground, drawing their bows with all their might.

"Release!" At the examiner's command, the arrow shot out with a sharp whistling sound as the bowstring pierced the air.

Before they could catch their breath, the proctor shouted again, "Start!"

By the second command, some candidates' arms were already cramping and they couldn't fully draw their bows, resulting in arrows that were noticeably shorter than those of others.

Zhu Houzhao, a connoisseur, pointed to the arena and laughed, "This bow strength is truly impressive! To draw a bow, one must draw it with force; only those who pass this test can be considered truly skilled!"

By the third time the order was given, many candidates were already at their limit. They gritted their teeth and tried to hold on, but still couldn't draw the bow. They were helped off the field by the captains and were eliminated.

When it was Su Tai's turn, he remained calm, straightened his back, braced himself, held the bow in his left hand, and strung it with his right. He pulled it to a full moon, the string resting firmly against his chin like a rock.

"put!"

He doesn't pant when releasing the string, his arms are as steady as a mountain, and the three pulls and three releases are smooth and fluid, which is no challenge for him at all!

On the viewing platform, Zhu Houzhao slapped the table and cheered: "What strength! I never realized that Su Zhuangyuan's brother was so powerful. I thought he was just a big, dumb guy!"

P.S. I'll revise it later, fulfilling my promise and asking for monthly votes!!

(End of this chapter)