The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Lu Zhi received the thick manuscript in the duty room in the back hall of the Yangzhou government office.

When the gray sparrow carrying the message landed on the windowsill, he was bent over his desk reviewing the last account of losses in the canal transport.

He disassembled the copper tube, took out the manuscript, and turned the pages one by one by the candlelight on the desk.

When he saw the sentence in the general outline, "This method is not the private possession of one family or school, but a public learning jointly created by five families," the vermilion pen in his hand suddenly stopped.

He looked up at the deep night outside the window and remained silent for a long time.

The evening drum of Yangzhou Prefecture had long since sounded, and only the rustling of the night wind through the banana leaves remained outside the duty room, but at this moment, his heart was stirred with a turmoil even greater than the night wind.

Dharma Gate!

When he was the magistrate of Jiangdu, some prominent families sent people to contact him.

It was a middle-class family in Yangzhou, and he still remembers the name of the head of the family.

The manager who was sent was extremely polite and humble.

We have long admired Lord Lu's fair judgments and his advocacy for the people. My master is willing to help you overcome your limitations, and we only ask that you be lenient with the salt and iron taxes in the future.

He did not agree.

Later, two other companies came one after another, offering similar conditions, all asking him to make an exception for a certain case.

They offered to place their family members in certain positions and speak on their behalf at crucial moments. He politely declined them all.

He came from a poor family and knew all too well what the Dharma meant to a scholar from a humble background.

That was the key to his official career, the only ladder to climb higher.

But he knew even better how much he had paid to preserve his innocence.

During those years in the back office of the Jiangdu County Government, he was suppressed by his superiors, resulting in consistently mediocre performance evaluations and a distant prospect of promotion. He couldn't even scrape together enough money to give gifts to his superiors during holidays.

He has endured all these years with gritted teeth, not so that one day he could sell himself to some powerful family.

But those powerful families won't give up just because you refuse.

They have patience, they have time, and they can make you suddenly discover something in a moment when you are isolated and helpless.

It turns out that everyone around you already has the method, but you are still stuck at the peak of the third rank.

Lu Zhi also tried to create his own method.

He had already begun to try it when he was the magistrate of Jiangdu.

After reviewing the lawsuits and checking the accounts, he sat alone in the empty duty room, repeatedly pondering what he had learned by the light of a solitary lamp.

He meticulously organized every complex case he had handled, every tax account he had calculated, and every document he had written to encourage agriculture over the years, attempting to extract a complete set of governance principles from them.

He believed that the way to govern was the key.

Fair judgments, equitable taxation, and pragmatic encouragement of agriculture—aren't these all manifestations of uprightness and integrity?

But every time he summarized these insights on paper, he always felt that something was missing. Although those insights were real, they were always scattered.

Like a pile of shining pearls, they can't find the thread to string them together.

He now understood what that wire was.

It is the theoretical foundation.

Creating a new school of thought is not the same as writing policy essays.

Policy essays only require presenting viewpoints, while legal methods require constructing a complete system from theory to practice.

His understanding of classical studies was inferior to that of Ma Rong, and he was unable to extract a systematic theoretical framework from the classics.

His reasoning in Neo-Confucianism was not as profound as Huang Gan's, and he was unable to distill specific experiences into universal principles.

His summary of practice is not as good as Zhen Dexiu's, and he is unable to transform personal insights into a replicable teaching system.

His grasp of the fundamentals is not as good as Ouyang Shoudao's, and he cannot use the simplest language to help the most ordinary students understand the most profound principles.

He was ultimately lacking in skill on his own.

Now His Highness has handed over the Five Paths of Enlightenment to him.

He lowered his head and continued to flip through the manuscript, reading from the general outline to the details, from the mental techniques and formulas to the meridian circulation routes, becoming more and more amazed as he read.

These five gentlemen integrated classical studies, Neo-Confucianism, practical learning, and local academies into one, creating a complete system of teachings that did not rely on any family lineage through the accumulation of knowledge over two generations.

His Highness sent this method to him, Xu Jie, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wang Anshi, Yao Guangxiao, and Su Shi at the same time, the meaning of which couldn't be clearer.

Use it to build our own team.

He gently placed the manuscript on the table, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.

This method is used to cultivate direct descendants, each of whom will be able to open their own school in the future.

To cultivate batches of young officials from humble backgrounds who possess the necessary skills.

These officials would enter the various departments of the Six Ministries and local prefectures, becoming the backbone supporting the entire system.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, Xu Jie also opened the same manuscript in the office of the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner.

The spring rain outside the window had just stopped, and water was still dripping from the eaves, but he was completely unaware of it, simply holding the manuscript and reading it word by word.

He and Lu Zhi were both Jinshi graduates in the same year, and they had both experienced ups and downs in their respective local posts for many years, so he knew all too well the weight of the Dharma.

When he was serving as an imperial censor in Jiangxi, some prominent families came to contact him.

At that time, he had just been demoted to Jiangxi and held a lowly official position. No one took him seriously. But after he solved his first case and investigated his first corrupt official, a powerful family sent people to him.

Unlike Lu Zhi, he did not refuse outright.

A blunt refusal would make enemies, so he simply smiled and said that he was not very talented and was afraid of disappointing his teacher, and then politely invited the other party back.

It wasn't that he didn't want to break through; it was that he was all too aware of the price behind these aristocratic families giving away their methods for free.

Every favor owed today will become an IOU that can be redeemed at any time in the future, and he doesn't want his career to be held hostage by any IOU.

He had also secretly tried to create his own methods.

During the years he was demoted while serving as the Supervising Censor of Jiangxi, he repeatedly summarized his experience as an official.

Be patient, conceal your abilities, observe everyone's weaknesses from the shadows, and then wait patiently for the opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

He called this set of insights "The Way of Hidden Edge".

However, he also discovered that this set of principles was too personal. It suited his personality, Xu Jie, and his experience as an official in both his past and present lives, but it was difficult to pass on to others.

His students tried to endure it using his methods, but ended up being taken advantage of and crushed.

His subordinates tried to learn from his ability to conceal his talents, but they ended up hiding them so well that they even missed out on promotion opportunities.

He then realized that Hidden Edge was not a magic trick, but a talent, an instinct he had honed in countless adversities, and it could not be taught to others.

What he lacks is not personal insight, but a theoretical framework that can transform personal insight into universal principles.

Now His Highness has presented this framework to him.

He turned to the last page of the manuscript and saw the line written by Ouyang Shoudao himself.

"This method can be passed on to anyone; there is no need to become a disciple of a prestigious family or swear allegiance to anyone."

He remained silent for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

He fought with Duan Xi for several months and secretly clashed with Li Shaoyuan several times.

My deepest feeling is that there are too few people I can use.

The Provincial Surveillance Commission is largely staffed by Duan Xi's former subordinates.

Although the young constables he promoted were loyal, their cultivation levels were too low, not even reaching the third rank.

Now that he has this method, he can select those who have struggled at the bottom of society for many years from Jiangxi.

He trained those impoverished officials who lacked the necessary skills to advance, transforming them into a loyal inner circle belonging only to the Ninth Prince and to Xu Jie himself.

He spread out a blank sheet of Xuan paper, picked up his brush, and wrote a short reply to Lu Zhi: "The Dharma has been received."

"Since we both serve His Highness, we should use this method as a foundation to each establish schools in Jiangxi and Yangzhou to cultivate scholars from humble backgrounds."

"When the time is right, we will promote this method to all the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan, so that more poor scholars who have no other way to enter the country will have a legitimate path to advancement."