Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

To keep her quiet, Bai Su handed her her money pouch.

"My lord, you will always be the only one in my heart..."

Liu Ji smiled sweetly, as if the tears in the corners of her eyes had never existed. She blew Bai Su a kiss, then turned and headed towards the gambling den in Xianyang.

After all, she had been busy with the imperial examinations these past two days and hadn't been able to gamble for a while; her hands were itching to try her luck.

Bai Su, whose eyelids were twitching, was left behind. If it weren't for important business today, she would definitely have taken good care of her.

Let's see if she dares to be so cheeky in front of me again.

The next day.

above the hall.

All the civil and military officials stood in their positions, with Hu Yi and Fu Su standing at the front of the procession.

Even Bai Su, unusually, did not slack off or miss the meeting, and stood obediently in the position of a civil official. From a distance, he did indeed have a somewhat dignified aura.

Despite her high position, Zheng Jie glanced at Bai Su and then looked away.

Where are the scholars?

Li Si stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, several scholars who have passed the imperial examination are waiting outside the main hall."

Zhengjie nodded slightly, her expression languid, and said, "Let them in."

Soon, led by the envoy, the scholars entered the hall in small groups.

The leader among them was Chen Ping, the top student in the high school this time.

She wore a light green ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her jet-black hair was tied up high and adorned with a simple hairpin, and she did indeed have the air of someone from a scholarly family.

Chen Ping stepped forward a few steps, cupped his hands and said, "Chen Ping, a native of Youxiang in Wei, greets Your Majesty."

The other scholars also bowed in greeting.

Zheng Jie nodded gently and said with a smile, "Oh, another person from Wei? My Great Xia and Wei really have a connection. First it was Shang Yang, then Zhang Yi, Gongsun Yan, Fan Sui, and now Chen Ping."

It has to be said that the State of Wei was truly a talent hub. Wei cultivated talent, which was then used by the State of Xia, and ultimately helped Xia unify the world step by step. Thinking about it now, it's quite interesting.

Chen Ping showed no stage fright and humbly cupped her hands, saying, "Your Majesty flatters me. I am but a humble countrywoman. How can I be compared to those sages of the past?"

Zheng Jie nodded secretly. This Chen Ping was calm and composed. At such a young age, he was not nervous at all in this kind of situation. He was indeed a talented person.

Bai Su stood in the crowd, watching Chen Ping talk to Sister Zheng with great interest.

Chen Ping naturally didn't notice him.

No matter how clever she was, she could never have imagined that the man who had approached her yesterday was the very man she had been longing for.

The Empress pondered for a moment and said, "As the saying goes, heroes are not defined by their origins. Zhang Yi of Wei was just a persuader, yet he still became the prime minister of our Great Xia. If you are talented, I will certainly not let you down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The scholars inside the hall all bowed and expressed their gratitude.

The Empress Dowager spoke up, "I have prepared a question for you all as the topic of the palace examination. I would like to hear your insightful opinions."

After saying that, he used a brush to write a few words on the rice paper.

The envoy respectfully picked up the Xuan paper and approached the scholars. Everyone looked up and saw that several words were written on it.

How to make a country strong?

The group exchanged bewildered glances. His Majesty was asking them to share their views on governing the country, in order to observe their abilities.

After a moment's thought, Chen Ping cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, if you want to make the country strong, you must first make it rich. Without stable tax revenue and grain production, it is impossible to support an army in the long run."

"Without a strong army, it is impossible to establish a stable order. It may appear strong on the surface, but in reality, it is like cherry blossoms, beautiful but short-lived, and will soon wither away."

"However, excessive emphasis on the military will lead to the depletion of national strength and disintegration due to warlike tendencies."

"Therefore, if we want to make our country strong and prosperous in the long run, we must take agriculture as the foundation, have enough food to stabilize the world, and take commerce as a supplement to increase tax revenue and replenish the national treasury to meet unforeseen needs. As long as we can pay attention to these two points, we can make our people rich and our country strong."

Zhengjie nodded gently and couldn't help but say, "Taking agriculture as the foundation and commerce as a supplement, your view is quite similar to someone else's."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but glance at Bai Su in the crowd.

I remember when Bai Su first proposed this policy, he even had a debate with a group of Confucian scholars in the court before finally establishing it as a national policy of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Under the policies proposed by Bai Su, the treasury of Great Xia has become increasingly abundant.

Although the benefits of using commerce as a secondary business are now fully apparent, it's not surprising that she would raise this point. However, the fact that she can offer her own insights based on these facts shows that she is no ordinary person.

The remaining scholars also offered their own opinions, but most of them were either impractical or lacked substance.

It was entirely Chen Ping's outstanding performance.

After a long pause, Zhengjie looked at Fusu and Hu Yi and asked, "What are your thoughts on this?"

After pondering for a long time, Fu Su said, "In my opinion, Your Highness, we should use Confucianism as the outward appearance and law as the foundation in order to strengthen the country."

Zhengjie glanced at her and couldn't help but ask, "Tell me about it."

Fu Su said, "My mother unified the six kingdoms, standardized the writing system, and brought the people of the six kingdoms under the territory of the Great Xia. She used Legalism to make everyone from nobles to merchants and farmers work for the empire."

"A unified prefecture-county system has been established, but only the imperial court has a unified ideology. The people are still very loose and lack a unified ideology. They are still individuals and clans."

“In a country governed by law, the use of harsh punishments to intimidate people will only inspire fear, not much agreement.”

"Only by educating people with propriety, establishing a moral compass based on goodness among rulers and subjects, superiors and inferiors, elders and juniors, nobles and commoners, governing the country by law, managing the people's bodies so that they do not commit crimes, and restraining their minds with the inherent goodness of human nature."

"In this way, a unified ideology will be established from the county level down to the common people, and the court's appeal will be greatly enhanced."

"In this way, the world will be at peace, there will be few wars, the population will increase, and the country will become stronger."

Zhengjie nodded slightly. Although she didn't say anything on the surface, she couldn't help but secretly admire Fusu.

After experiencing so many setbacks, Fusu has matured considerably. He is no longer as blindly devoted to Confucianism as before, and thus no longer abandons the fundamental principle of ruling the Great Xia Dynasty by law.

Instead, they put forward their own ideas and made improvements based on the rule of law.

It must be said that although Fu Su's methods are still somewhat immature, he has already shown some of the demeanor of a crown prince.

After pondering for a long time, Zhengjie looked down at Hu Yu with her phoenix eyes: "Yu'er, what about you?"

A layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on Hu Yu's fair forehead. What kind of insight did she have?

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she hurriedly said, "Mother... Mother, my mouth is a little sore and I can't speak very well. I just told Bai Su the answer, so let him explain it to you."

After saying that, she looked at Bai Su in the crowd with pleading eyes.

Zheng Jie paused for a moment, then looked at Bai Su with a puzzled expression and asked, "Are you asked to answer?"

Bai Su could only shake her head helplessly and walk out.

Chen Pi noticed that everyone's gaze was directed behind him.

She couldn't help but look in the direction everyone was looking.

Suddenly, his gaze froze.

Before her eyes fell a tall, handsome young man who was smiling and nodding at her.

"Miss Chen...we meet again."

Chen Ping was immediately dumbfounded, his lips parted in a daze, his mind going completely blank.

Memories of last night suddenly surfaced in my mind.

"A true man should be like the Grand Chancellor, Bai Su, or Lord Bai, who can bring peace to the world with his pen and pacify the universe on horseback. Only such a man, who is skilled in both literature and martial arts, is the man who truly captures my heart."

"Hmph, at least you have some self-awareness. Even ten of you wouldn't be worth a single hair on Lord Bai's head."

"A man like Lord Bai, what woman in the world wouldn't be moved? You shouldn't overthink it."

Yesterday's careless remarks left her completely bewildered and so embarrassed that she wished she could smash her head into the ground and disappear into it.

Looking at Bai Su's smiling face, her fair face flushed red, and her body trembled involuntarily.

Oh God, just kill me.

It's so embarrassing.

Chapter 287 My body and soul have become his shape

The atmosphere inside the hall suddenly became somewhat strange.

Upon seeing Bai Su, Chen Ping lost all his composure. His lips parted slightly, his eyes trembled, and he looked as if he wanted to turn and run away, which immediately aroused the curiosity of many officials in the court.

Everyone glanced at Bai Su and Chen Ping, and couldn't help but think to themselves.

Does the Grand Master know this newly crowned leader?

Chen Ping's fair and pretty face was as red as if it were dripping blood.

The thought of how she had confessed her admiration and how much she wanted to curry favor with him in front of him yesterday made her want to die.

If there were a pillar in front of her, she would definitely run into it without hesitation.

It's so shameful.

However, she is a smart person after all.

Although still somewhat ashamed, she had roughly guessed what had happened.

Although it is unclear why the powerful Grand Chancellor would care about such a lowly scholar as her.

However, one thing is obvious: Bai Su deliberately said that after hearing her thoughts, and she foolishly revealed her entire plan to Bai Su in front of him.

This... Lord Bai's personality is just too awful.

They're practically making fun of her on purpose.

Seeing the strange atmosphere between the two, Zheng Jie couldn't help but ask, "Do you two know each other before?"

Bai Su stroked her chin and said, "I know him."

Chen Ping instinctively replied, "I don't know him."

In an instant, the court fell silent, and everyone's gazes became even more peculiar.

Even Zheng Jie couldn't help but raise her delicate eyebrows slightly and glance at Bai Su with her phoenix eyes.

It seems to be saying, "You scoundrel, you've only been gone two days and you've already hooked up with another woman."