My name is Wei Qing, and I want to fight the Xiongnu.

Uncle Cao?

Liu Yangxin didn't know how to respond. "I call him my great-grandfather, and you call him my uncle, so what should I call you? My great-grandfather?"

Forget it, let's just each say our own thing and pretend we don't know.

Liu Yangxin said, "Helping Zhongqing get into the Imperial Academy is simple, but I don't know which method Zhongqing wishes to use to enter the Imperial Academy?"

The Imperial Academy has a history of 450 years since its establishment, and during these 450 years, it has been constantly adjusted in accordance with changes in policies.

Xiao He initially built the Imperial Academy in the hope of cultivating a group of strong individuals to fight against the Xiongnu barbarians who repeatedly invaded the human world.

Because the powerful figures of the human race in the past, such as Liu Bang, Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and Cao Can, all attained eternal life within the human realm. Once they left the human realm, their strength plummeted. They were capable of protecting the human realm, but they were incapable of invading the Xiongnu barbarian territory.

To address this situation, the academy initially recruited only geniuses, and all resources were provided free of charge by the Great Han Dynasty. As long as you were talented enough, it didn't matter how low your birth or how poor your family was.

At that time, the Han Dynasty had a simple idea: to use resources to create a group of strong people, invade the Xiongnu barbarian territory, slaughter the Xiongnu barbarians, and completely eliminate the threat to the human world.

The various schools of thought also sent their most outstanding students to the Imperial Academy for further study, not for fame or fortune, but to avenge their past humiliations and destroy the Xiongnu.

Later, Emperor Gao was seriously injured and sealed himself in a small world, thus losing his power.

Subsequently, the human race began a policy of marriage alliances with the Xiongnu barbarians, which eased the conflict between the two races, and the value of the Imperial Academy was repeatedly reduced.

The Taihan Dynasty no longer provides the Imperial Academy with resources as generously as before.

As relations between the two groups gradually warmed up and entered a honeymoon period, the Imperial Academy once again underwent reforms.

It was precisely because of this reform that Xiao He and Cao Can parted ways.

The Imperial Academy was open to the Xiongnu barbarians!

From then on, the Imperial Academy not only recruited human geniuses, but also accepted geniuses and nobles sent by barbarians.

Cao Can believed that Xiao He was inviting trouble, while Xiao He believed that knowing oneself and one's enemy is the key to victory.

Neither side could convince the other, and in the end, Empress Lü sided with Xiao He.

In a fit of anger, Cao Shen resigned from his position as prime minister and has lived in seclusion in Pingyang County ever since.

The various schools of thought no longer sent all their geniuses to the Imperial Academy without reservation, as they had done before.

There's no need for that anymore. Even geniuses need a lot of resources to grow.

In the past, among the various schools of thought, apart from Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Legalism, and Military Strategy, which were the most powerful, other schools had limited resources and could only rely on the Imperial Academy.

After a century of recuperation, the resources of many schools of thought are no longer as scarce as they were at the beginning of the Han Dynasty. In addition, the Imperial Academy no longer provides unlimited resources to geniuses. Even if these schools of thought still send geniuses to the Imperial Academy for further study, they no longer send the most outstanding ones, which has caused the status of the Imperial Academy to decline again and again.

Until two hundred years ago, Xiao He reformed the Imperial Academy again, not only recruiting geniuses from the Xiongnu barbarian tribe, but also allowing other small tribes to send their geniuses to study at the Imperial Academy if they wished.

In this world, besides the human and barbarian races, there is Wiman Joseon in the northeast, the Thirty-Six Realms of the Western Regions and the various tribes of the Western Qiang in the west, the Nanyue and Minyue regions in the south, and the Dongying region in the east.

When the Qin Dynasty collapsed, many human races, in order to protect themselves, conquered these small realms and proclaimed themselves kings. For example, the King of Nanyue in the Nanyue realm was Zhao Tuo during the Qin Dynasty. The King of Joseon was Wei Man, a man from the Yan state. When the Qin Dynasty collapsed, he led his troops into the Joseon realm, overthrew Gija Joseon, and established himself as king.

These numerous small tribes sought survival in the gaps between the Han and Xiongnu peoples. Due to the power of the Xiongnu barbarians, tribes such as the Thirty-Six Realms of the Western Regions, the various tribes of the Western Qiang, and the Korean region all submitted to the Xiongnu barbarians.

A fan-shaped barrier forms between the human realm and the Xiongnu barbarian realm. In a sense, this barrier could be considered the Chang'an of the Xiongnu barbarian realm.

Xiao He decided to open the Imperial Academy to many minor realms in order to better win over these minor realms.

They attempted to dismantle the Great Wall of the Xiongnu barbarians through this gentle approach of appeasement.

Even if it fails, we can still obtain a lot of information about the smaller worlds, which will prepare us to wipe them out by force later.

As the saying goes, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Xiao He's idea not only brought a lot of resources and income to the Imperial Academy and won over some small clans, but it also created a lot of internal conflicts.

This caused the Imperial Academy to remain a small court, with internal factions fighting against each other and constantly hindering each other.

On the surface, the human race is divided into factions such as the Lü clan, the Liu clan, the peace faction, the faction that studies all races, and even the various schools of thought are not harmonious.

The Confucian school was the most powerful, but it also made the most enemies. The Mohist school and the Confucian school were irreconcilable enemies. The Gongshu school and the Mohist school were sometimes enemies and sometimes friends. The Daoist and Legalist schools also rose to prominence and were eyeing the Confucian, Daoist and Mohist schools covetously.

As for the military strategists, nine and a half out of ten are advocates of war.

The reason is simple: if there is no war, how can military strategists demonstrate their value?

However, because the pro-peace faction was in power, the pro-war faction had no room to survive within the Imperial Academy.

The geniuses of the military school also disliked the atmosphere of the Imperial Academy. They either stayed within their families or schools, or dropped out to join the army.

This was true for the human race, and the Xiongnu barbarian tribe was also constantly fighting amongst themselves.

In the past, internal battles among the Xiongnu tribes were commonplace. Now, the princes of the two tribes collided. One thought of how the other tribe had killed his father a few years ago, while the other thought of how his sister had been captured and enslaved by the other tribe. Yet, they were still able to sit down and drink together.

The fact that he didn't draw his sword and kill the other person on the spot shows that he was exercising great restraint.

In short, the Imperial Academy is chaotic, extremely chaotic.

But it is precisely because of this chaos that it provides opportunities for people to take advantage of it.

The reason Liu Yangxin asked Wei Qing how he wanted to enter the Imperial Academy was to ask Wei Qing what kind of identity he wanted to enter the Imperial Academy.

Chapter Six: Feigning Conversion, Then Repenting?

Which method? What's the difference?

Wei Qing chewed on some pastries, not quite understanding Liu Yangxin's meaning. He hadn't gone to the Imperial Academy to study.

If it were truly for the purpose of studying, I wouldn't have chosen Taiyuan Academy.

Liu Yangxin didn't know if Cao Can had introduced the Imperial Academy to Wei Qing, so he simply explained it from the beginning without getting tired of it: "The difference is huge. For example, as a princess, I am qualified to arrange for one of my own people to study at the Imperial Academy. But doing so would undoubtedly tell others that you, Zhongqing, are my people, Liu Yangxin's people. In this way, my opponents would consciously target you."

Conversely, your actions at the academy will also affect my situation and reputation in Chang'an. If you offend someone at the academy, I will have to deal with a series of subsequent troubles for you. Therefore, whatever you want to do at the academy, you must inform me in advance, and you can only do it after I, or even after my approval.”

Wei Qing understood; Liu Yangxin was not alone, as a princess, she had a wide network of connections.

Even if there are things she is willing to support him to do, if the powerful figures behind him weigh the pros and cons and forbid him from doing them, then in the end he can only choose to give up.

Joining any faction means that while you enjoy its resources, you will also be subject to its constraints.

Wei Qing felt that although Liu Yangxin had put all his intelligence points into his appearance, he was still quite good to him.

Putting aside the fact that she gave him a jade pendant after they had just met, and that he had a close relationship with Uncle Cao, he couldn't let her get away with it.

Wei Qing said, "I might offend a lot of people while I'm at the Imperial Academy, and I don't want to implicate Your Highness because of it."

Liu Yangxin was not surprised; the more talented someone is, the stronger their ability to cause trouble becomes.

Chang'an is not short of well-behaved children who never cause trouble. Not to mention they would actively cause trouble, even if trouble came knocking on their door, they would all retreat into their shells, showing that they would endure being beaten and scolded without ever fighting back.

When things are going well, this kind of person speaks and acts with great confidence and reason.

If the situation turns unfavorable, they instantly become mute.

Given the current state of the Han Dynasty, no matter how many more talented people there are, it won't change anything.

What Liu Yangxin valued most about Wei Qing was his ability to stir up trouble.

Hopefully, his appearance will awaken some people.

Liu Yangxin then said, "Since that's the case, let's try a different approach: enter the Imperial Academy as a member of a different race."

"An alien race?"

Liu Yangxin clapped his hands and said, "That's right. The Imperial Academy not only recruits talented students from the Xiongnu barbarian tribe, but also students from other races, as long as they have money and connections, can be admitted."

"But I am not of a different race."

Liu Yangxin shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. There are many small worlds around the human realm. After the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, many small worlds controlled by humans broke away from the human realm and became independent. They have become nominally different races, but they are no different from humans in appearance."

I can arrange for you to become a member of another race first. As long as you use that identity, spending more money to enter the Imperial Academy won't be a big problem. If you cause trouble at the Imperial Academy, it will only affect the other races in the smaller realms.

"I control several such small territories, and operating them isn't difficult; it just requires spending more money."

After listening to Liu Yangxin's explanation, Wei Qing knew that the nobles in Chang'an must have arranged this kind of thing quite often.

They're probably very familiar with the route, so there shouldn't be any unexpected problems.

As long as I nod my head, I believe Liu Yangxin will solve even the money problem.

But Wei Qing still resolutely chose to refuse. He said solemnly, "Your Highness, perhaps in the eyes of some nobles, slaves are not human, let alone belong to the human race. That is them, not me."

The Xiongnu barbarians repeatedly trampled on the human world, but if you really look into it, did the Xiongnu barbarians ever cause me any loss?

No, never.

On the contrary, it was I who repeatedly provoked the Xiongnu barbarians.

Why? Am I sick? Or do I have a violent streak, and I can't stand not killing a few Xiongnu barbarians?

No, none of those!

I have personally witnessed how they slaughtered the human race, how they plundered the human race's scarce resources, and how they whipped and raped their fellow human beings. That is why I wanted to kill the Xiongnu barbarians.

Ultimately, the most fundamental reason can be summed up in four words: I am a human.

If I were no longer human, I could easily choose to remain indifferent and not concern myself with such matters.

Even more extreme, they turned to the Xiongnu barbarians.

Perhaps in Your Highness's eyes, temporarily converting to a different race is merely a stopgap measure, but in my view, what difference is there between this so-called stopgap measure and feigning conversion only to later regret it?

Wei Qing's words made Liu Yangxin feel ashamed.

In Liu Yangxin's memory, Wei Qing was talented but lacked social skills, so when they talked, he unconsciously regarded him as a naive and ignorant young man.

But after hearing Wei Qing's remarks, I realized how terribly wrong I had been.

Indeed, if he hadn't been born a human, why would Wei Qing have fought to the death with the Xiongnu barbarians?

Wouldn't it be better to just join the Xiongnu barbarians and become a superior person?

It should be noted that the Xiongnu barbarians mentioned by Wei Qing were referred to as the Xiongnu Holy Clan in the Imperial Academy.

Don't even mention killing seven or eight Xiongnu shamans. Given the Xiongnu barbarian nature of respecting the strong, Wei Qing would have been accepted and even treated with great courtesy if he had joined the barbarians.

Why stay among humans and be a lowly slave?

How could Wei Qing, who had dealt with the Xiongnu barbarians for many years, really not understand all of the above?

It's nothing more than dismissing it with disdain.

To say that he was admitted to the Imperial Academy as a member of a different race is an insult to Wei Qing.

At this point, Liu Yangxin seemed to understand why Cao Can valued this young man so highly.