Tiger Owl

Chapter 325 Those who wish take the bait

Chen Qun left completely bewildered, but knowing the value of that thread-bound book, he carefully put it away, saying it was his collection and he wouldn't easily show it to others. Gan Ning couldn't help but curse inwardly; he hoped Chen Qun would help him promote printing technology and thread-bound books, not keep it to himself.

There was no other way but to promote it, it had to be done slowly. But what Gan Ning didn't expect was that it was the major temples that made printing and thread-bound books so popular. Originally, the biggest use of woodblock printing was to print classics from past dynasties, textbooks for scholars, and Buddhist scriptures.

At first, scholars were somewhat resistant to printed books, believing that handwritten books had more warmth and allowed them to appreciate the calligrapher's handwriting.

However, major temples discovered this treasure, and within a month, they had pre-ordered 100,000 sets of the Diamond Sutra alone.

As the monks chanted the Diamond Sutra in thread-bound form, the reputation of woodblock-printed thread-bound books began to spread among the pilgrims.

However, Gan Ning has temporarily put aside woodblock printing, and he is preparing to promote another major project, which is the imperial examination system.

The idea of ​​holding the imperial examination had existed since he first proposed the slogan "regardless of social status, only the talented should be promoted," but at that time, holding the imperial examination was far from being feasible.

The essence of the imperial examination system was a subversion of the Nine-Rank System and a challenge to the aristocratic society. Now, the aristocratic families control the upper class, powerful landlords and aristocratic families coexist, and powerful people across the country are vying for supremacy. They are extremely eager for talent, and most rulers are almost entirely meritocratic and want to obtain the most outstanding talents. At this time, it is like the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, an era of competition for talent, where outstanding talents will have the opportunity to stand out.

At this time, discussing the imperial examination was not very meaningful. However, with the unification of the country, social stability, and the arrival of an era of order, the era of talent competition was replaced by the Sui and Tang Dynasties' era of order. What the Sui and Tang rulers wanted was stability, not fairness, let alone justice.

The imperial examination system during the Sui and Tang dynasties was not fair; it was more of a balancing mechanism. Culture was controlled by prestigious families, and the talents selected through the imperial examinations still came from these families. The imperial examination system was essentially a way to balance the distribution of interests among these families.

Gan Ning's intention in establishing the imperial examination system was neither to select the best nor to maintain balance, but rather to attract talent. He aimed to use the imperial examination as a talent-attracting tool to draw talent from the north to Western Chu, which was exactly the same as poaching craftsmen, only safer. Poaching craftsmen involved a coordinated effort, while the imperial examination allowed those who were willing to take the bait to do so.

Inside the military and political council hall, everyone listened to Gan Ning's idea with stunned silence, but at the same time, they were moved. They did not realize that this was a system, but rather that it was a strategy, a means of attracting talent.

Lu Fan said with delight, "This strategy is excellent. It attracts talent openly and fairly, and the examinations are fair and open. This will be very attractive to scholars from the north and Jiangdong. They won't have to worry about not being able to compete with the local strongmen. I fully support Lord Chu's plan."

Lü Fan completely regarded Gan Ning's imperial examination system as a strategy. He continued, "I understand Jiangdong. The major families in Jiangdong are not loyal to Cao Cao or the court. They are only loyal to themselves. This time, Cao Cao was forced to reach a ceasefire agreement with us, which has a huge impact on Jiangdong. I believe that all the families in Jiangdong are watching and thinking. Our introduction of the imperial examination at this time is a timely rain for the Jiangdong families. It gives them an opportunity to choose a way out. The secret selection of the Jiangdong families will be of great benefit to our future conquest of Jiangdong."

Lu Fan's words resonated with everyone; the imperial examination system was indeed an excellent strategy for attracting talent from Jiangdong.

Gan Ning smiled without saying a word. Although everyone had misunderstood and regarded the imperial examination system as a strategy, Gan Ning did not intend to clarify. There was no road in the world, but as more people walked on it, a road was formed. The same was true for the imperial examination. When everyone gradually got used to it and gradually accepted it, it naturally became a system.

At this moment, Lu Su smiled and said, "Has the Duke of Chu considered implementing the imperial examination system in the army to select talented individuals?"

Gan Ning smiled and shook his head. “In peacetime, we could hold military examinations in the army, but there’s no need for that now. The battlefield is the best testing ground, and military merit is the test result. I would rather have a soldier with mediocre martial arts skills but who is brave in battle than a general with superb martial arts skills but who is afraid to fight.” Lu Su nodded. “Lord Chu is right. The battlefield is the testing ground, and military merit is the result. I was narrow-minded.”

Seeing that everyone agreed to the imperial examination, Gan Ning smiled and said, "Let's make it official. The imperial examination will be held in Chaisang this September to recruit talents from all over the country. I'll leave the drafting of the specific examination plan to you, Military Advisor Lü."

The main focus of the first autumn imperial examination was to recruit talented people from Jiangdong, and Lü Fan was the most suitable person to do so.

Just as Chaisang began preparing for the autumn imperial examination, Chen Qun returned to Yecheng, bringing back the results of the marriage negotiations.

Cao Cao was quite annoyed by his daughter's willfulness. The essence of the marriage alliance was a political transaction, and his daughter actually wanted to treat it as a normal concubine. What was the point of the marriage alliance then?
Frustrated as I was, I couldn't carry out any of the elaborate ceremonies without my daughter's cooperation.

After a long silence, he asked, "What is Gan Ning's attitude?"

Chen Qun smiled wryly and said, "Gan Ning's attitude is the same as Miss's. Miss wants to integrate into the family, while Gan Ning is unwilling to see anyone overstep their bounds."

At this point, Chen Qun advised again: "Prime Minister, the young lady is actually worried that her future life will be difficult. She will be dissatisfied with her husband, disliked by the first wife, and ostracized by the other wives and concubines. Then every day will be like a year. I think Gan Ning's suggestion is right. We can arrange for Madam Du to go to Chaisang to send her daughter off to get married. We can promote the dowry. This way, we won't hurt the young lady, and it will also be humane."

Cao Cao stood with his hands behind his back for a long time and said, "I don't care about Chaisang. We must hold a grand wedding in Yecheng and send our daughter off to her wedding in a big way. As for where she is, it doesn't really matter. As long as everyone in the world thinks she is in the wedding procession, that's enough."

Chen Qun suddenly understood Cao Cao's thoughts. Cao Jie's hostage situation in Chaisang was actually very humiliating for Cao Cao, but he had no choice. He used abnormal means to gain Gan Ning's trust. He didn't want others to know about the shame of this hostage, so he wanted to make a big show of the marriage so that everyone would think that the young lady was getting married normally.

Chen Qun remained silent. After all, marrying off one's daughter was a private matter, and it was best for an outsider like him not to interfere.

At this moment, Cao Cao opened the gift box that Gan Ning had sent, and he was stunned. The box was full of books. He picked up the top book and looked at it closely. It was the "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases". Cao Cao knew that this was Zhang Zhongjing's hard work, which had finally been completed.

But the important thing now is not the "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases", but what these booklets are, and how the characters inside were printed.

Cao Cao flipped through the book and was completely stunned. He had no idea what it was.
"Prime Minister, these are books, printed books."

"books?"

Cao Cao slowly flipped through the pages, a tidal wave of emotions surging within him.

(End of this chapter)