Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

Writing poems won't save the country.

Huang Chao took a deep breath and looked at the most crucial question.

Policy discussion.

[The people are starving, and refugees are everywhere. Yet the Great Yan Dynasty remains prosperous, but the national treasury has no surplus grain. This is the basis for our strategy.]

Huang Chao stared at the line of text, his pupils slightly contracting.

He did not start writing immediately.

This is his old habit.

Before putting pen to paper, thoroughly digest the topic in your mind, extracting its underlying meaning, and then begin writing.

Of course, it was precisely this habit that caused him to fail the exam repeatedly for twenty years.

It's not that his writing was bad, but rather that it was too profound; some examiners couldn't even understand it.

Given his sharp tongue, it's no surprise he failed the exam.

Was the imperial examination only about testing academic talent? It also involved interpersonal relationships and social skills.

Even if you write a beautifully written essay, you will still fail if you don't consider the examiner's preferences.

However, none of the students knew that this time was different. Chen Shao had clearly told the chief examiner, Shen Qingci, to dismiss all those who avoided the real issues, evaded the real issues, flattered others, and lacked their own opinions.

Huang Chao did not want to curry favor with any of the examiners.

If there was truly one person worth flattering, it was Chen Shao.

In other words, in this world, he only cared about the emperor.

Huang Chao closed his eyes and began to ponder his strategy.

Grain, national treasury, displaced people, prosperity...

These words kept replaying in his mind.

He recalled the discussions among the candidates before they entered the examination hall.

Northern Expedition, Northern Expedition, it's all about the Northern Expedition.

Naive.

ridiculous.

How could Chen Shao make such a trivial matter the final strategy?

Yes, compared to the overall situation of the Great Yan Dynasty, the Northern Expedition was a minor matter.

The most important thing is to make the country strong.

When it comes to theoretical discussions, they each have their strengths.

But this question... is really too difficult. For a test taker, it requires seeing through the essential problems facing the entire Great Yan Dynasty.

"The Great Yan Dynasty remained prosperous, yet the national treasury was empty."

The single word "but" is enough to express the emperor's anger.

Why is there no surplus grain?

The Great Yan Dynasty enjoyed three hundred years of peace. How could such a super empire be reduced to this state by a single, poorly prepared Battle of Shuangmu?

Why not?

The common people don't have it, and the powerful families dare not accept it.

The land in the Great Yan Dynasty is limited, and the amount of food it can produce is also limited.

The powerful families owned 70% of the land and provided shelter for more than half of the population.

These fields do not pay taxes to the imperial court, and these people do not serve the imperial court.

The imperial court's tax base was largely devoured by powerful families.

The people's taxes have already been collected by 70%; collecting any more would be a matter of life and death.

When people are gone, the land becomes barren, and taxes decrease.

This is an endless loop.

This is definitely not an economic question about how to protect food or how to reduce consumption and increase revenue.

Rather, it is a political trend, and Chen Shao's policy direction for the foreseeable future.

His Majesty did not ask how to store grain, but how to snatch grain from the mouths of powerful families.

wrong.

It's not just about food.

Huang Chao suddenly opened his eyes, a thin layer of sweat seeping from his back.

It's about population!

The reason why powerful families are powerful is because they have people under their control.

Hundreds and thousands of households, ostensibly servants and tenants, were in reality the private army and tax base of powerful families.

For every person less registered in the imperial court, there is one more private dependent of a prominent family.

As one side weakens while the other grows stronger, the imperial court becomes increasingly hollow, while powerful clans become increasingly powerful.

and so.

To solve the food problem, we must first solve the population problem.

To solve the population problem, we must compete with powerful families for people.

Huang Chao's hands were trembling slightly.

He was so excited.

He had long felt that these aristocratic families were parasites on society.

Without eliminating them, the country will never become strong.

This is something he's always dreamed of.

He picked up his pen and dipped it in thick ink.

The pen tip hovered above the paper, pausing for three breaths.

Then, the pen fell like the wind.

"I have heard that the people are the foundation of the state, and food is the most important thing for the people. However, the great calamity of today is not due to the lack of arable land or the unfavorable weather, but because the registered households are not established and the population is not accurate."

"Powerful families provide protection, private relatives run rampant, wealthy clans merge hundreds of households into one, while poor commoners register only one person out of a thousand..."

"The people know nothing of the imperial court, only of powerful local lords; the soldiers are not loyal to His Majesty, but only to the Eastern Lord..."

"Your Majesty, I respectfully present three strategies, known as the Three Methods of Military Farming, for your consideration."

"..."

"..."

"When the master dares not trust his servant, and the servant dares not rely on his master, the foundation of the powerful will crumble without being attacked."

As Huang Chao wrote, his palms were dry, but beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.

This is no longer a strategy discussion.

This is a declaration of war.

It was a declaration of war against the entire powerful clans of the Great Yan Dynasty.

He paused for a moment.

Looking back, I have already written over a thousand words.

It's too late to change it now.

These words are too radical and bold, and they might cause him to fail the exam again.

"Why."

Huang Chao could imagine the examiner's expression changing drastically and him almost collapsing when he held his essay.

"So what if I failed?"

"Life is all about the thrill of battle!"

"Write it first, who cares about the consequences!"

With that thought in mind, he didn't hesitate any longer and began to write furiously.

"The key to the three strategies I have proposed lies not in the land, but in the people; not in the struggle for land, but in the struggle for power."

"Aristocratic families rely on population as their foundation, and the imperial court should also rely on population as its foundation."

"When the court has capable people, taxes are sufficient and the army is strong; when powerful families lose capable people, they will weaken themselves without being reduced."

"When this balance is achieved, Your Majesty's decrees will be effective throughout the land, the imperial granaries will be overflowing, and the national treasury will be filled without any effort to replenish it."

As he finished writing the last word, Huang Chao threw down his pen and looked outside.

The sunlight was already setting in the west, shining obliquely into the room and falling on the still-wet ink on the characters, reflecting a faint golden light.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Huang Chao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This time it wasn't self-deprecation, nor a bitter smile, but a feeling of relief!

If he had laughed like that in any other examination hall, he would have been beaten out by the Imperial Guards and charged with disturbing the examination hall.

But this time was different; not only did no one hold anyone accountable.

Instead, a member of the Imperial Guard walked in, carrying a food box.

"Student, take a break, lunch is ready."

"They even provide meals?"

Huang Chao was shocked; this year's imperial examination was too amazing!

In the past, we had to bring our own food or cook it ourselves.

He carefully opened the food box.

Holy crap!

The food in the lunchbox was the best he had ever eaten in his life.

It's like a dream.

He still couldn't believe it: "What is this?"

The Imperial Guard smiled.

"His Majesty has specially decreed that a few lucky candidates be randomly selected for this special imperial examination, and meals will be provided for them. You are one of them."

"Of course, don't even think about cheating. This exam is very strict; they're just providing meals."

......

When Huang Chao walked out of the examination hall, it was already getting dark.

The long street in front of the examination hall was crowded with candidates who had handed in their papers first. They gathered in twos and threes, discussing this year's policy essay topics loudly.

Some are happy, some are sad.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, this year's policy essays are simply agonizing! I wrote about eliminating redundant officials, cutting salaries, and using the saved money to aid the displaced. I feel my writing is inadequate. What about you?"

Such people are generally self-deprecating Versailles.

He says his writing is bad, but he's actually telling others:

Look how awesome my answer was!

"Cut off redundant officials? Wouldn't that offend the entire court? If you submit this article, it probably won't even be worthy of being copied. What I wrote is about protecting granaries and preventing pests, starting with storage techniques and proceeding steadily."

This is a typical example of a poor student.

Feeling he had performed exceptionally well, he couldn't help but show off.

"The art of warehousing? Your vision is too narrow."

"The question is clearly why the national treasury is empty, and you answer how to prevent rice weevils. What's the difference between that and being asked why you're hungry and saying you should chew your food slowly?"

"What I wrote is the method of establishing merchant settlements! By opening merchant settlements on the border, merchants can transport grain in exchange for salt permits. This will not increase the burden on the people, but will also replenish the granaries on the border. It is a win-win situation."

"The method of merchant settlement is not bad, but have you considered the old system of salt and iron monopolies? If you let merchants handle salt certificates, the people in the Ministry of Revenue will be the first to jump up and curse you."

"Let them criticize. It's a policy discussion, after all, it's about everyone expressing their own opinions."