If Yan’s policies could make Yan’s people live more prosperously than Great Zhou’s people, he believed Bai Qingyan would truly dare to lead Great Zhou to merge with Yan.

But if Great Zhou’s policies were truly superior to Yan’s, Murong Yan truly couldn’t have the same courage as Bai Qingyan to lead Yan to merge with Great Zhou.

Initially, Xiao Rongyan wanted to unify the world because of his mother’s dying wish…

Later, he witnessed the constant warfare between nations, whether due to rulers’ selfish desires or fighting over land and people, resulting in nine out of ten households being empty, creating more orphans and widows, and increasing chaos and displacement. Only then did he understand his mother’s reasons for wanting to unify the world, so he resolved to complete world unification in his lifetime and return a peaceful and prosperous age to the people.

Now, Bai Qingyan was also working toward a peaceful and prosperous age, also wanting to unify the world, but she was willing to compete with Yan in national policies, determining victory and defeat, discussing success and failure, using this to avoid warfare, avoid soldiers shedding blood, and avoid people suffering from displacement and hardship.

Or perhaps, Bai Qingyan simply had the confidence that in competing on governmental achievements… The Great Zhou would win!

But regardless, the Murong family’s desire to unify the world still had its target on that supreme throne.

Xiao Rongyan also understood in his heart that if they truly went to war with Great Zhou, seizing territory… determining who would rule the world through victory and defeat would inevitably cause soldiers to shed blood and people to be displaced.

But this was also Xiao Rongyan’s original intention of stopping war through war.

After all, asking the Murong family to give up the imperial throne and bow down for the sake of the world’s people… he didn’t have such magnanimity.

Li Zhijie, who was also disguised as a Great Zhou scholar hidden in the crowd, tightly gripped his iron-ribbed fan. He looked in Bai Qingyan’s direction, not showing his usual smile for a long time.

Bai Qingyan knew that envoys from various nations were in the capital, yet she openly and honestly declared her intention to unify the world in Great Zhou’s Imperial Academy, using this to establish a clear goal for Great Zhou’s students, making them strive and work hard for it. This would unite people’s hearts, and thus, any measures in her new policies that affected or harmed the interests of Great Zhou students and aristocratic families could give way because of this goal of world unification.

Li Zhijie suddenly thought of an idiom: the great way is simple…

In their Xi Liang, to reform and change laws, their Xi Liang Empress’s faction… was still painstakingly scheming and maneuvering with aristocratic families and prominent clans, trying every means to gain the people’s support. But Bai Qingyan used the most open and straightforward method, informing the Imperial Academy students and Great Zhou’s people of the national policy and grand strategy, making the entire nation rise and work hard for this goal.

However, the methods the Great Zhou could use, Xi Liang could not.

Because Xi Liang didn’t have the Great Zhou’s confidence and strength. Xi Liang was now barely managing to preserve the nation… rather than being able to compete with the Great Zhou and the Great Yan for dominance over the central plains.

Thus, Li Zhijie understood even more clearly that a battle between Xi Liang and the Rong Di was unavoidable!

Either Xi Liang would destroy the Rong Di, and from then on could barely form a three-way balance with Great Zhou and Great Yan.

Or the Rong Di would destroy Xi Liang, and from then on, the Rong Di could barely maintain a three-way balance with Great Zhou and Great Yan.

Thinking of this, Li Zhijie dared not delay and turned to leave…

“Your Highness, aren’t we waiting for it to end?” Li Zhijie’s subordinate asked.

“No, go see Minister Liu Rushi… bring generous gifts!” Li Zhijie thought for a moment, then turned to tell his subordinate, “Take the generous gifts we previously prepared for that wealthy merchant Xiao Rongyan and bring them all to Minister Liu!”

“Yes!” Li Zhijie’s subordinate clasped his hands in acknowledgment.

Li Zhijie looked back once more toward Bai Qingyan’s direction before hurriedly departing with his subordinates.

At this time, Old Master Guan Yongchong was also in the crowd. He wore a hood… looking at his direct disciple whom he was proud of, with nothing but gentle smiles between his brows.

Once, Old Master Guan Yongchong, like these students, believed that… men and women should each perform their duties, and women’s minds and temperament belonged in the inner quarters. But later, his old friend Bai Weiting brought his granddaughter before him, asking him to teach his granddaughter literature.

Yet this granddaughter of his old friend did better than anyone else. Her words after returning from the battlefield… demonstrated such broad-mindedness that even he, her teacher, admitted he was inferior.

So it wasn’t that women were naturally inferior to men, but that women and men received different educations, which limited women’s horizons and restricted women’s hearts and minds.

If all women in the Great Zhou could enter schools to study, how many women like Bai Qingyan would be cultivated? Just as Bai Qingyan said… when youth strive diligently and our generation seeks strength, why worry that family and nation cannot prosper? Why worry that the world cannot be unified?

World unification…

Bai Weiting had said this many times and prepared for this matter his entire life, unwavering until death.

Old Master Guan Yongchong’s eyes grew somewhat moist. What his old friend couldn’t accomplish might… be achieved in his granddaughter’s hands. He hoped he could live longer to see the day of world unification.

Old Master Guan Yongchong turned around, and the young servant beside him quickly supported him as they prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, just as Old Master Guan Yongchong walked out of the crowd, he saw Wei’s great scholar, Old Master Min Qianqiu, standing under the pagoda tree with his hands behind his back, smiling.

Old Master Min Qianqiu smiled and performed a deep bow toward Old Master Guan Yongchong, who quickly returned the courtesy with a smile.

From within the Talent Recruitment Hall, another student spoke to Bai Qingyan: “May I ask Your Majesty, why encourage widows to remarry? A woman’s chastity is a virtue. Which family can accept their descendants following their mother to remarry and become another family’s descendants? Which children would be willing to separate from their mothers? Therefore, I believe this new law goes against human ethics and should not be implemented…”

Hearing the respectful inquiry from within the Talent Recruitment Hall, the two old men looked at each other and smiled.

Old Master Guan Yongchong, being Bai Qingyan’s teacher, naturally never doubted his student. He believed Bai Qingyan would convince these students, so he departed with Old Master Min Qianqiu to find a quiet place to reminisce about old times.

Bai Qingjue had long noticed Old Master Guan Yongchong but had been sitting beside Bai Qingyan without mentioning it.

He knew that the students had invited Old Master Guan Yongchong to come so that he could rebuke Bai Qingyan as her teacher, and he had indeed worried for his elder sister.

Now seeing Old Master Guan Yongchong depart, he knew that… his elder sister had perhaps even convinced Old Master Guan Yongchong.

When Bai Qingyan emerged from the Imperial Academy, it was just past the hour of Wei.

The Imperial Academy’s Chancellor led the Imperial Academy students all the way to see Bai Qingyan out of the academy. Bai Qingyan told the Chancellor, “Starting next month, add another course for the Imperial Academy students. I will arrange for important court officials to come and lecture and discuss national politics with the students. These students will all be pillars of the nation in the future. Having them engage with these matters early will benefit their future entry into official service and contribution to the Kingdom.”

Using current politics to discuss with Imperial Academy students might yield even more and better national policies and strategies.