SEHE Chapter 151

The Path of Officialdom

In the sixth year of Qingning, the twelve-year-old Emperor Xiang ascended the throne and changed the era name to Wucheng.

In the summer of the first year of Wucheng, the imperial examinations that had been postponed due to the late emperor’s death began in full swing.

In the pavilion, Pei Yanci accompanied the young emperor. Beside the rattan couch were vases of flowers and books, while fruits and sweet cream desserts were arranged on ice mountains.

Additional palace attendants served at their side—one driving away mosquitoes, two serving tea, and three wielding fans.

Though Gu Yisui appeared thin and small, with only the build of an eight or nine-year-old child, his withered sallow hair had not yet been properly nourished. Wearing the hastily tailored dragon robe, he looked like a monkey performing tricks on the street.

He clutched a bowl of cherry dumpling ice cream, eating one spoonful after another until white cream ringed his mouth, while his ears took in Pei Yanci’s report.

“Previously, when Anjing fell, nearly half of those scholars from the Imperial Academy died or were injured, yet they were still of great help. This shows that those who protect the nation need not necessarily be military men—literati can be both civil and martial. In that case, military generals being literate is not unreasonable either. If they are well-versed in military strategy, astronomy, and geography, we will surely become more prosperous and powerful.”

“Aren’t we already fighting with Great Xi? We’ve already captured their emperor.” These past few days, Gu Yisui had been cramming knowledge about the previous dynasty’s affairs, and Pei Yanci had naturally become his Grand Preceptor.

“Popular indignation can inspire fighting spirit and can be used for charging into battle, but we still need commanders who can direct troops skillfully. What we’re cultivating is precisely this type of person.”

“You mean we want to cultivate commanders?” After receiving confirmation, he swallowed the ice cream in his mouth and asked hesitantly, “Roughly how much silver will it cost?”

Only after taking office did Gu Yisui discover that the national treasury had been depleted for five or six years.

If they hadn’t slaughtered Minister Zheng and his corrupt faction—that fat parasite—at the beginning of the year and filled part of the accounts, his enthronement ceremony would likely have been mocked by the entire realm and by posterity.

He also realized that the amount of silver needed to manage a country was enough to drown him.

Pei Yanci produced a memorial that already detailed the specific regulations.

“Our military generals can also be cultivated from within our system. Even sons from farming families have naturally better physical constitutions than children from aristocratic families. Generals built up bit by bit through military merit are too difficult to cultivate—it takes decades to produce even one divine general like Jiang Yi who can lead troops. Therefore, this minister wishes to thoroughly reform the Imperial Academy’s curriculum. The Six Arts cultivate gentlemen, but the Imperial Academy has too many students. We can appropriately shift some student quotas to military students.”

Pei Yanci laid out several career paths for officials.

Weak scholars were the Imperial Academy’s most traditional path. They studied at the Imperial Academy, were well-versed in Confucian classics, could cite extensively from various sources, and were the talents the court needed most.

Besides this, he added engineering and agriculture specifically to cultivate talent for the Ministry of Works, building on the existing foundations of mathematics and law.

While reforming the Imperial Academy, the Educational Affairs Bureau would also supervise official schools and private academies across the land to follow suit with reforms. Starting from village schools and township schools teaching literacy, they would add basic mathematics and law, and more importantly, include these subjects in the selection content beginning with the children’s examinations.

At the Imperial Academy level, they would screen for both well-rounded talents and outstanding specialists for further cultivation. In this way, they would mobilize the entire nation’s resources to ensure that students graduating from the Imperial Academy became the most excellent talents.

Even if they were only commoners.

Gu Yisui listened to his logical analysis, but when the final cost was reported, he let out a shrill scream.

“You’re saying it requires seven million taels per year! Isn’t that a bit too much?”

“Your Majesty, where do you feel it’s excessive?” Pei Yanci asked warmly with an air of good-natured negotiation.

Gu Yisui instinctively glanced at the person waiting by the pavilion’s edge, hoping they might speak up and help him out of this predicament.

His imperial mother constantly admonished him to be frugal, that governing a country was like running a household—save where you can. The educational measures that worked fine before should still work now; why must they spend this wasteful sum on reforms?

“That… Pei Qing…” Gu Yisui said awkwardly, “Look, things have been this way for so many years, and Great Yu under Father Emperor wasn’t bad. It’s not as you say—we’re not in such urgent need of reform, are we?”

“Reform is essential,” Pei Yanci stated decisively. “As for the reasons, Your Majesty may listen as I explain slowly.”

The salt and iron smuggling case and the chaos of Anjing’s fall were like a fig leaf. Before this, the entire realm had spoken admiringly of the prosperous age created by Emperor Xiaoming and felt nothing but pride.

Little did they know that the process of turning from prosperity to decline was always slow and lengthy, even more so for a great nation like Great Yu.

From the perspective of those who came after, compressing dozens or hundreds of years of history into a short passage, they could see at a glance and point out that Emperor Xiaoming spent enormous sums supporting Daoist priests, that the court had long been corrupt and rotten with rampant embezzlement. Even though Heaven blessed Great Yu without natural disasters, the common people still lived hand to mouth. They were oppressed by heavy taxes, corvée labor, and the exploitation of aristocratic families seizing land until they couldn’t breathe. While it was difficult to earn money, prices that rose higher each day made even eating one more mouthful of rice a luxury.

These were the rotting bones and hidden abscesses behind the prosperity, concealed beneath the beautiful skin of Tangxi Zhui, that once illustrious and powerful eunuch.

For people living through this long period of decline, their understanding of the entire society’s development process always came with serious lag.

They could see past glories but couldn’t foresee the future landscape.

Everyone understood the principle of being vigilant in times of peace, yet people were always easily deceived by the magnificent appearances before their eyes.

Pei Yanci methodically broke down the reasoning and explained it to him in detail. Gu Yisui grasped it quickly, nodding continuously.

“Pei Qing, rest assured. Whatever you wish to do, go ahead and do it freely. Zhen will support you.”

Without Pei Yanci, he would still be keeping his imperial mother company in the Cold Palace. How could he have the fine clothes and exquisite food of today?

“Many thanks, Your Majesty.”

“Chancellor Pei, Your Majesty, so you’re here. This minister had quite a time searching for you.”

A beauty emerged from among the red flowers and green willows, hair half-bound, with pale misty mountains painted on both eyelids and brow tips. The upturned corner of the right eye was adorned with several delicate peach blossoms that complemented the peach blossoms at the hem of the silver-gray robe.

The fragrant, soft, and sweet wind of Jiangnan had also blown to Anjing—naturally a scene of romantic indulgence.

Gu Yisui shrank his head.

Tangxi Zhui’s beauty was androgynous and devastatingly gorgeous, but the aura emanating from him was sinister and fierce enough to send chills down one’s spine, like poisonous, thorny oleander. Clearly not someone to provoke.

“What matter brings you to Zhen?”

He set down his spoon. Under those alluring yet unfathomable eyes, it seemed that whatever he said or did would be wrong.

Moreover, he now controlled the Elu Bureau again. Even Father Emperor couldn’t suppress him—what ability did he himself have to restrain such a person?

“The Minister of Revenue has some matters to discuss with Chancellor Pei.”

“Oh, then Pei Qing, you attend to business first.” Gu Yisui hastily dismissed them.

“This minister takes his leave.” Pei Yanci bowed and had just left the pavilion when his hand was quietly grasped by the person walking alongside him.

“What are you doing? There are others watching.” He felt somewhat unaccustomed, his ears quietly reddening as he shot him a reproachful glance. “Didn’t we agree on what time you’d return to the residence? Why did you get out of bed?”

Less than ten days had passed since the late emperor’s funeral, and the whip wounds inflicted by Gu Jiuqing showed no signs of healing. If he rashly got up and walked around like this, he would surely aggravate his injuries.

“That little brat is completely tactless, doesn’t understand anything, yet keeps pestering you with questions. He should just agree to everything you say.” Tangxi Zhui complained jealously. “And you haven’t even noticed—it’s nearly dark.”

“Even if he doesn’t understand but insists on listening, his heart is in the right place.” Pei Yanci smiled warmly on his face, yet without emotion.

One simply couldn’t know whether what was currently visible was truly the real him.

“If you had directly taken that position back then, I would be the one standing before the throne now.”

Pei Yanci laughed. “You lack that bit of authority before the throne?”

“It depends on whether the all-powerful Chancellor Daren is willing to give it.”

“If you ask, how could I have reason to refuse?”

Pei Yanci smiled indulgently.

How could he not want that position? It was just that the time was still not ripe.

Internally, though it seemed more than half the court officials supported him, if he dared to usurp the throne, those Gu family ministers who supported him would be the first to jump out and stab him.

Externally, Jiang Yi was currently leading hundreds of thousands of troops against Great Xi, while military authority in Anjing rested in the hands of Gu Wanchong and Peng Chulang. Though his relationship with both men was good, it wasn’t good enough to launch a palace coup.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“The Ministry of Revenue. Since you’re here, perfect—help me hold the fort. They’ll definitely nod like chickens pecking rice and won’t dare disagree.” Their ten fingers intertwined, arms pressing closer together. Pei Yanci smiled brightly and cheerfully, pinching his cheek. “This face is really useful.”

Tangxi Zhui lowered his head and turned slightly to make it more convenient for him to pinch. “Be careful I don’t complain to the young emperor that you’re enslaving a gravely wounded court official.”

Pei Yanci, taking advantage of no one around the Imperial Garden, stood on tiptoe and quickly planted a kiss on his face.

“This Chancellor hopes Chief Overseer Tangxi has some self-awareness—you are this Chancellor’s spouse. Even if it’s the emperor, he cannot extend his hand into family matters.”

Tangxi Zhui laughed sinisterly, as if he wanted to bite off a piece of his flesh. “Is there any benefit?”

“I’ll help your Elu Bureau recruit soldiers and buy horses. Also, Xu Xiangqian’s military authority—I’ll give that to you too.”

For a brief moment, through those crescent moon eyes, Tangxi Zhui seemed to see a cold, harsh blade suspended at his neck.

He knows?

The next moment, looking more carefully, he saw nothing.

Pei Yanci looked at him as always, stars brilliant in his eyes, the galaxy flowing.

“Good.” Tangxi Zhui also responded with a smile.

Just now he had thought Pei Yanci would follow up by saying, “Anyway, Xu Xiangqian is already under your control, so his army is also your troops.”

After the chaos of Anjing’s fall, it seemed everyone tacitly reached a consensus—those troops they had gathered into their hands, they all “forgot” to return to the Military Command Office.

The Military Command system was unknowingly beginning to collapse.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Seeing the two depart, Gu Yisui scooped another large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

“Your Majesty.” Li Ren’an, who had been waiting at the pavilion’s edge, raised his hand to dismiss the attending servants and frowned disapprovingly. “How have you already forgotten what this servant just reminded you of last night?”

“Zhen remembers.” Gu Yisui said with difficulty. “But Zhen sees that Pei Qing doesn’t seem to be the great villain you described. Could you have misunderstood him?”

Li Ren’an said urgently, “Your Majesty, you cannot judge people by appearances.”

“Without him, there would be no Zhen today.”

“Everyone in the court knows that he put Your Majesty on this throne to make the front court even more chaotic. Once the Regent Prince and Prince Qi have slaughtered each other more brutally, he can reap the fisherman’s profit. At that time, Your Majesty won’t have even the slightest chance of survival.”

“Really?” Gu Yisui’s resolve wavered.

“If he wants to sit in that position, how could he tolerate the Gu family? He will certainly eliminate you completely.” Li Ren’an said, “You are of the Gu family. Aside from the Gu family, everyone else harbors ill intentions toward you. You must not trust them.”

“But Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother have always been like fire and water. Would they be willing to reconcile and sit down to help Zhen?”

“In this servant’s opinion, actually the most suitable person to rely heavily upon should be the Eldest Princess.”

Gu Yisui was even more puzzled.

“The Eldest Princess is Your Majesty’s imperial sister. She both bears the surname Gu and is a woman. No matter how great her ambition, she won’t raise a wolf that will turn on you and harm Your Majesty. You may freely delegate some authority to her.”

“If she has ambition, that would be easy to handle. I just fear that Imperial Elder Sister has absolutely no interest in these governmental affairs.” Gu Yisui said. Having just ascended the throne a few days ago, he was already tormented by these boring and tedious political matters, suffering from headaches.

“Right. Didn’t we capture her son?”

“Yes.” Li Ren’an’s heart skipped a beat.

“You go find her. If Imperial Elder Sister doesn’t agree, use her son’s life to threaten her.” Gu Yisui nodded in self-approval, his obedient smile containing innocent cruelty. “If she disobeys once, chop off one of his fingers to send her. That way she won’t dare disobey.”

He felt he was finally beginning to have the bearing of an emperor.

“Half a month from now is Imperial Mother’s birthday. We must prepare a grand banquet, understand?”

Li Ren’an wanted to say more but ultimately held it back. “Yes.”