Tang Dynasty: Consort Wu? Your Majesty, please address her as the Crown Prince's Consort.

Upon hearing this, the others also gathered around with curious expressions.

Fang Xuanling looked closely at the contents of the exam paper and became more and more surprised.

The essay topic for this year's imperial examination is "The Way of Civil and Military Affairs".

The exam paper read as follows:

"To establish an enterprise, one must employ military force; to maintain it, one must employ civil administration," as the ancients said. However, the unity of military and agricultural affairs, and the combined use of both military and civil means, lead to the complete virtue of good governance!

(Ahem! Many, many words omitted here!)

In general, the gist of it is that most people used to say that starting a business relies on martial arts and governing a country relies on civil administration, but he said that both martial arts and civil administration should be used together, with civil administration as the flesh and civil administration as the bones and muscles. Having only military force without civil administration is the act of a tyrant, and is a waste of resources and a warmonger.

Having only civil administration but no military power makes one a spineless coward, a weak and easily bullied piece of meat in the eyes of outsiders.

The way of both civil and military affairs involves a balance of tension and relaxation, and a balance between external and internal approaches.

Without the deterrent force of military might, a country cannot be stable.

Without the governance of scholars, the people cannot prosper.

Both literary and martial arts are indispensable.

……

"Excellent! Well said! This man is exceptionally talented, possessing the qualities of a prime minister!"

Looking at the contents of the exam paper, Du Ruhui couldn't help but show excitement.

The others nodded in agreement.

Many people agree with the idea that entrepreneurship should be based on military force, while governance should be based on civil administration.

Moreover, the candidates who participated in the imperial examinations were scholars, so they would subjectively be more inclined to emphasize the importance of civil administration.

It's rare to find a candidate who believes in both academics and physical skills.

Although Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others were also scholars, they all came from that era of war and turmoil. Therefore, even though they were civil officials, they clearly understood the importance of military strength for a country.

So-called Confucianism often relies on military force and cavalry when dealing with internal affairs and external threats.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Changsun Wuji couldn't help but smile slightly.

"What do you think? I believe this person deserves a top-tier ranking!"

The others couldn't help but nod in agreement when they heard Changsun Wuji's words.

This essay is impeccable in terms of its literary style, handwriting, and central idea; it is only right that it should be ranked first.

At that moment, Du Ruhui, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but sigh.

"Sigh! I wonder which family this person comes from. He's really lucky."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

This article is rich in classical allusions; one could never write such an article without extensive reading.

Children from ordinary poor families simply cannot accumulate such wealth, because they simply do not have the money to buy so many books.

Therefore, everyone present assumed that this person must be from a prominent family.

Everyone knows why His Majesty sent them to grade the papers this time.

To put it bluntly, the goal is to ensure fairness in this year's imperial examinations and prevent powerful families from having any opportunity to manipulate the process.

Even so, students from aristocratic families actually do better than those from poor families.

This is a difference in cultural heritage and resources.

The grading of papers proceeded smoothly, while Li Shimin and Li Chengqian were extremely busy.

Liangyi Hall.

"Damn it! Who the hell is this? Reporting this kind of thing—the neighbor's brother and sister-in-law—to me? Are they crazy? Deduct their wages! Deduct their wages!!"

Li Shimin was nearly driven mad by the mountain of memorials piled up before him.

In the past, the memorials sent to him had been screened by Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, but now they had gone to grade papers.

This led to even the most trivial matters being brought to the emperor's desk.

He couldn't help but wave weakly at the crescent moon and say:

"Go! Send these memorials to the Crown Prince's Palace!"

Upon hearing this, Canyue hesitated for a moment before offering a reminder:

"Your Majesty! This is the third batch sent to the Eastern Palace today! His Highness the Crown Prince..."

However, before Canyue could finish speaking, Li Shimin quickly interrupted her.

"So what! If it weren't for this rebellious son, would I be so busy?"

Heaven knows how I've managed to get through these past few days! I haven't even been to the inner palace in ages!

If he doesn't approve these memorials, who will?

Seeing His Majesty's matter-of-fact demeanor, Canyue silently mourned for His Highness.

……

The Eastern Palace!

"My dear brother~ Look at these memorials. You are the Prince of Wei of our great Tang Dynasty. Now is the time when the Tang Dynasty needs you. Approving these memorials is a good start. Do a good job, and if you do well, I will arrange four marriages for you next month!"

Seeing Li Chengqian's fawning expression, Li Tai was completely dumbfounded.

He was lying comfortably in the Prince of Wei's residence when Xue Rengui and Yang Zaixing rushed in, carried him to the East Palace.

God knows how scared he was when the two strong men were holding him up. The guards of the Prince of Wei's mansion were nothing but paper in front of those two beasts.

He thought Li Chengqian was finally going to lose his temper and start the Xuanwu Gate instance ahead of schedule!

He glanced at Li Chengqian, then at the mountain of memorials, and Li Tai immediately became displeased.

"No! I'm already planning to go and assume my fiefdom, why should I approve your memorials?! If I don't approve, then go ahead and kill me!"

Seeing the chubby boy's tough look, Li Chengqian couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

Wow~ Is this chubby kid so tough now?

He couldn't help but look at Li Tai, tilting his head and making a cracking sound from the knuckles in his hand.

Are you sure you don't want to approve it?

Li Tai couldn't help but swallow hard when he saw the dangerous look in Li Chengqian's eyes.

"I...I approve! I will approve it immediately!"

When Li Tai was halfway through his sentence, he suddenly saw Li Chengqian's fist almost swinging out in a wide arc.

Such a horrifying scene made him change his mind.

This was definitely not because he was afraid of being beaten; he simply enjoyed reviewing memorials.

Yes! That's right, that's exactly it.

Meanwhile, Yao Guangxiao and Zhang Heng, standing to the side, couldn't help but look at Li Tai with a hint of sympathy in their eyes.

They were all in the same boat, and even those who were 100% loyal couldn't help but feel a sense of bewilderment at Li Tai, as if they were all in the same boat.

Especially Zhang Heng.

Who would understand? The results of the imperial examinations weren't even out yet, and he was already doing the work of a prime minister, without even a salary.

Look at those dark circles under his eyes; he didn't have them even after taking the exam for three days straight.

Perhaps he was just too busy, because even Du He was pulled over by Li Chengqian.

Of course, it was somewhat difficult for Du He to handle these memorials, but there were still things he could do, for example...

Write the character "准" for Li Chengqian!

Li Chengqian brought over a reclining chair with two bamboo baskets on either side.

Li Chengqian lay on his recliner and read the memorials that Zhang Heng and the others had processed. If he thought they were feasible, he simply threw them into the bamboo basket on his left.

This is where Du He's important role becomes apparent.

He would take out a memorial from the bamboo basket on the left and write a small "Approved" under the comments.

Du He truly lived up to his reputation as the son of a prime minister, writing the character "准" (zhun) both quickly and well.

He truly deserves to be Li Chengqian's "right-hand man".

Hmm! How can this not be considered a right-hand man?