The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The air inside the examination cells of the examination hall was filled with a sour smell.

It was a mixture of the stench of not having showered for three days, the smell of leftover food from the previous night, and the hormonal turmoil of the test-takers.

This was the final and toughest part of the prefectural examination—the policy essay.

The question, though only six characters long, carries immense weight: 【Question: How to enrich the nation and strengthen its military?】

As soon as the question was posed, a sigh of despair echoed through the cell.

This was the most troublesome problem for the Song Dynasty! Since its founding, in order to prevent the separatist rule of regional warlords at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty had always adhered to the policy of "strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches". As a result, the number of soldiers increased, but their fighting capacity was shattered; although the national treasury was full of money, it was all used to support redundant soldiers and officials.

Everyone knows this is an illness, but who dares to prescribe a remedy haphazardly on the exam paper? Writing something superficially is like scratching an itch through a boot; writing something profound is like making irresponsible remarks about politics, which could cost you your head!

Most candidates were nervously grinding their ink, preparing to write some platitudes about "self-cultivation, frugality, and love for the people" to get by.

Su Shi, the only one in room number seven of the "Heavenly" section, grinned from ear to ear as he looked at the question.

"Hey, sir, you're amazing."

As Su Shi ground the ink, he silently kowtowed to Jiang Lin in his heart.

This question is practically running right into the Jiang Family Academy's trap!

……

[Flashback]

Late at night two weeks ago, in the academy's lecture hall.

Jiang Lin drew a huge circle on the blackboard with the character "钱" (money) written in the middle.

"Zizhan, you must remember this."

Jiang Lin tapped the blackboard, his expression serious. "The problem with the Great Song Dynasty has never been a lack of money, but rather that the money has died in the warehouse."

"The core of a wealthy nation is not 'saving,' but 'spending.' To turn stagnant money into flowing water, through infrastructure, trade, and consumption, one coin can circulate in the market ten times and thus have the effect of ten coins. This is called—the velocity of money."

"As for a strong army..."

Jiang Lin sneered, "It's better to raise 100,000 heavily armed special forces soldiers than a million beggar soldiers who can't even kill a pig. The key to a strong army is quality, not quantity. Save the money you would have spent on feeding useless soldiers and give your elite troops the best armor and the best meat. That's the way to build a strong army."

"Sir, this theory is too radical. Will the examiners accept it?" Su Zhe asked with some concern.

Jiang Lin glanced at him and said calmly, "If the examiner is mediocre, he naturally won't accept it. But if he is a powerful regional official who can govern a region, he will only feel that he has met a kindred spirit sooner."

"Remember, if you're going to write, write it thoroughly. Don't be afraid of pain; the Great Song Dynasty's ailments require surgery."

……

[End of flashback]

Su Shi took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

Since the master said he wanted to use a scalpel, then I will be the scalpel!

He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and without the slightest hesitation, began to write with thunderous force:

"The greatest calamity in the world lies in the accumulation of poverty and weakness. However, poverty is not due to a lack of wealth, but rather to the stagnation of wealth; weakness is not due to a lack of soldiers, but rather to the overabundance of soldiers."

This is like pointing directly at a patient's nose and saying: You're not weak, you're blocked!

Su Shi's writing was as if divinely inspired.

He began by discussing "enriching the nation." He abandoned the traditional policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" and instead talked extensively about "facilitating trade and benefiting industry." He used Jiang Linjiao's "multiplier effect" principle (of course, in classical Chinese) to demonstrate how national investment in large-scale water conservancy and road projects could drive the flow of wealth among the people.

He then discussed "strengthening the army." He sharply criticized the current "local militia" system, suggesting the reduction of the old and weak and the implementation of a "volunteer army" to build up an elite force. He even proposed a prototype of a "military-industrial complex"—allowing civilian craftsmen to bid for arms production, with the best performing being eliminated, so that state-run workshops would no longer produce piles of scrap metal.

This writing resulted in a lengthy piece of nearly ten thousand words.

Su Shi was sweating profusely as he wrote, yet he felt exhilarated. This was not merely an article; it was the culmination of the wisdom of two generations, including Su Shi and Jiang Lin (although Jiang Lin was only a few years older than him), and a most heartfelt roar against the times.

As the sun set and the bugle sounded, Su Shi had just finished writing the last character.

He put down his pen and looked at the long scroll with its ink still wet, feeling as if all the pent-up emotions in his heart had been released.

"Sir, if this paper is submitted and fails, it will be a loss for the Song Dynasty, not for me."

……

Three days later, in the examination room.

Chief Examiner Han was almost sick of looking at it.

He looked through hundreds of examination papers, and they were all the same: "advising the emperor to spend less money" and "advising the people to have more children and farm." These clichés gave him a headache.

"It's land reclamation again... and cost-cutting measures again... Don't these scholars have any other tricks up their sleeves besides wanting everyone to tighten their belts?"

Lord Han threw a test paper into the wastebasket and took a sip of his now-cold tea.

"grown ups."

At this moment, Wang, the examiner who had become "Su Shi's personal cheerleader," walked over with a test paper in his hand.

This time he didn't shout or yell. Instead, he walked very slowly, his expression unusually solemn, as if he were holding the Imperial Seal of the State, or a thunderbolt that could explode at any moment.

"Lord Han, you'd better sit down and read this exam paper carefully."

Lord Han glanced at him: "It's that Su Shi again?"

"Exactly."

Lord Han took the exam paper and snorted coldly: "This kid is good at poetry, but enriching the country and strengthening the army is a national policy. I don't believe that a mere boy like him can..."

Before he finished speaking, his gaze fell on the first paragraph.

"When wealth stagnates, blood dries up; when soldiers are overworked, energy is depleted."

Lord Han's pupils suddenly contracted.

He sat up straight, his previously nonchalant expression vanishing instantly, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.

The examination room was eerily quiet, with only the rustling sound of Lord Han turning the pages.

The more he looked, the more rapid his breathing became.

This is not just an article; it is an extremely detailed and logically rigorous "White Paper on the Reforms of the Great Song Dynasty"!

Especially when he saw the statement "using commerce to support war and using industry to strengthen the army," Lord Han felt a surge of electricity rush from his tailbone to the top of his head.

"Wonderful...wonderful!"

Lord Han slammed his hand on the table and stood up. This time he really stood up, not even bothering to pick up the chair that had fallen over.

He pointed at the examination paper, his fingers trembling, his eyes red-rimmed: "This principle of 'national prosperity through the circulation of wealth'—I worked in the Ministry of Revenue for ten years and still couldn't grasp it, yet this young man, barely twenty, has revealed it in a single sentence!"

"And this policy of reducing redundant troops, though somewhat radical, hits the nail on the head every time! Excellent! Excellent!"

The examiners around were terrified and quickly gathered around.

"My lord, this article...is it...not taboo?"

"taboo?"

Lord Han laughed loudly, his laughter tinged with madness, "If it can save the Song Dynasty, what does breaking some taboos matter! If this article can be presented to the Emperor, even if I'm punished for negligence, I'll accept it!"

He whirled around, staring intently at Invigilator Wang, his gaze frighteningly intense:

"This Su Shi is destined for greatness! No, not just greatness, he is the backbone of the Song Dynasty!"

"Anyone who dares to challenge me for first place, I'll fight them to the death!"

Invigilator Wang wiped the sweat from his brow and whispered a reminder, "Sir, there are two other papers that are also quite good, one by Zeng Gong and the other by Su Zhe..."

"Those are all steamed buns from the same pot! Line up at the front!"

With a wave of his hand, Lord Han settled the matter.

……

Outside the examination hall, there is the Jiang family's bookstore.

Qian Duoduo was directing his employees to take out the pre-printed "good news" and display it. Although the list hadn't been released yet, he had a blind faith in his boss.

"Shopkeeper, it's already printed? What if it doesn't win?" the shop assistant asked, somewhat worried.

"Didn't win?"

Qian Duoduo sneered, pointing towards the examination hall, "Unless the examiners are blind. The students our teachers teach aren't there to take the exam; they're there to lecture the examiners!"

"Get the firecrackers ready, buy the largest size!"

Qian Duoduo's eyes gleamed with greed. "Once the results are out, our 'Top Scholar Paper' and 'Top Scholar Ink' are going to go up in price again!"

……

Finally, the results were released.

On this day, the entire city of Runzhou was deserted.

The notice board at the entrance of the examination hall was surrounded by layers of people. Countless eyes were fixed on the yellow notice that was about to be posted.

"It's out! It's out!"

With a shout from the bailiff, a huge yellow notice was unfurled.

The crowd erupted in excitement, everyone pushing and shoving to see which talented person would emerge victorious.

The scholar standing at the very front nearly dropped his chin to his feet the moment he saw the name at the top of the list.

Immediately following was a thunderous exclamation:

"First place: Su Shi, Jiang Family Academy!"

"Second place: Zeng Gong, Jiang Family Academy!"

"Third place: Su Zhe, Jiang Family Academy!"

boom--!

The crowd erupted in uproar.

This isn't just shocking, it's horrifying!

Sweeping the top three spots in the county exam is one thing, but that's just Runzhou's own little pond. The prefectural exam, however, is a battleground for the entire Jiangnan East Circuit! So many talented scholars from Suzhou and Hangzhou, and they were all trampled underfoot?

In the corner, Zhao Yuanji, who had provoked them at the restaurant earlier, looked at the list, his face ashen, as if his soul had been ripped out.

"If Zhou Yu was born, why was Zhuge Liang also born..."

He muttered to himself, finally understanding why the fat man eating the pancake had said "the greatest sound is silent." The man wasn't competing with him at all; he was using a technique of overwhelming force.

On the carriage, outside the crowd.

Su Shi was lifting the carriage curtain, looking at the yellow notice, and laughing like a 300-pound child.

"Sir! You've won! You've won all the tests!"

Jiang Lin remained lying in the carriage, holding the unfinished book in his hand, without even lifting his eyelids.

"What's the panic?"

Jiang Lin yawned, his voice lazy and calm:

"Isn't this standard procedure? Go back and tell Qian Duoduo to add extra dishes tonight; I want braised lion's head meatballs."

The carriage slowly drove away from the bustling crowd, concealing its merits and fame.