Zhao Hanzhang quickly went down to help him up. “General Beigong need not worry. I will resolve this matter myself. You just settle in with peace of mind.”

Fu Tinghan had just drunk two cups of wine. Now as the alcohol took effect, he felt somewhat tipsy. He propped his head up and watched her win people’s hearts.

However, this was indeed her sincere sentiment. Zhao Hanzhang truly hadn’t taken the Prince of Nanyang seriously.

He was just a worthless fool.

But he was backed by Prince Donghai, so Zhao Hanzhang still had to be somewhat mindful. After the welcoming banquet ended, she called Gengrong over. “You still need to make a trip to Chang’an, but this time you don’t need to bring so much gold and silver. Go to the glass workshop and select some exquisite and beautiful pieces of glassware to send to the Prince of Nanyang.”

She said, “Tell him that Beigong Chun has shown great kindness to me and Yuzhou. Xiliang has troubles, but I can’t help Xiliang, so I can only take care of General Beigong. That’s why I invited him to Yuzhou as a guest. Please ask the Prince of Nanyang for his understanding.”

Gengrong understood. “Should the Governor write a letter in your own hand?”

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and nodded. “That would be good too.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately went to find Ji Yuan to write the letter.

Ji Yuan considered it and said, “Let me write this letter for you, Young Lady. Tomorrow you can copy it.”

He continued, “We really should write a letter to the Prince of Nanyang. Alas, the Prince of Nanyang is the younger brother of Prince Donghai. You’ve already fallen out with Prince Donghai. If we could ease relations with Prince Donghai through him, that would be good.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Has Gou Xi returned to Yanzhou?”

“Yes, spring plowing has already begun.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “In another two days it will be the recruitment examination. With spring plowing coinciding, have the border troops be more vigilant and strengthen patrols. Although I don’t think Prince Donghai and Gou Xi would make a move at this time, who knows if someone might be foolish enough?”

Ji Yuan: “…Yes.”

Gou Xi hadn’t thought of making a move at this time. Yanzhou had also missed two years of farming. If they continued fighting, the bandits within the territory would only increase.

Moreover, he temporarily didn’t want to be enemies with Zhao Hanzhang.

But when news of Beigong Chun pledging allegiance to Zhao Hanzhang reached him, he still couldn’t help but become agitated.

Gou Chun was even more so, directly losing his temper. “Elder brother, I said long ago that Zhao Hanzhang has the ambition of a wolf. We shouldn’t have let her off easily. You just wouldn’t listen to me. Now look—she’s gained Beigong Chun and taken control of the six commanderies of Yuzhou. In the future, she’ll be even harder to deal with.”

“Yuzhou is right next to Yanzhou. What if she attacks our Yanzhou?”

Gou Xi was quite confident in himself. “Although she’s clever, she still can’t beat me on the battlefield.”

“That may be so, but isn’t there still Prince Donghai beside her?”

Speaking of Prince Donghai, Gou Xi’s mood soured. At first, he and Prince Donghai had a decent relationship—the two could even be called friends.

But Prince Donghai, just because some slanderer whispered a few words, became suspicious of him and wanted to drive him from Yanzhou to Qingzhou.

Yes, that’s right. Gou Xi now claimed to be the Inspector of Yanzhou, but like Zhao Hanzhang, he didn’t actually hold this official position in the court.

Prince Donghai had manipulated things—appointing himself as the Governor of Yanzhou to control Yanzhou, then appointing Gou Xi as Inspector of Qingzhou, wanting him to go govern Qingzhou.

Who would have thought that Gou Xi wouldn’t go take up his post in Qingzhou at all? He directly occupied Yanzhou, leading all the officials of Yanzhou to break away from Prince Donghai’s control, then petitioned the Emperor to relocate the capital.

Gou Xi asked, “Has His Majesty still not made up his mind to relocate the capital?”

“I heard he’s quite moved and is having Minister Fu prepare provisions. Elder brother, should we give it another push?”

“Hmph. Tell Prince Donghai about the Emperor preparing provisions to relocate the capital, and also tell him that the Emperor has sent me secret edicts to suppress him.”

Gou Chun was stunned for a moment, then agreed. “Yes, I’ll go at once.”

Gou Xi pinched his thumb, his eyes and brows full of coldness. As long as the Emperor and Luoyang were in his hands, what did he have to fear?

Not just Zhao Hanzhang—he wasn’t even afraid of Prince Donghai.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know any of this. She was absorbed in encouraging agriculture and sericulture, training troops, and farming. She presided over Yuzhou’s first recruitment examination. The number of examinees this time was large, and the scope of knowledge covered far exceeded what the talent assessment banquet could compare to.

The test papers were questions selected by Zhao Hanzhang, Fu Tinghan, Ji Yuan, Zhao Ming, and others after they had composed them together. They covered commonly seen classics, history, philosophers and literary collections, arithmetic, and the format for transcribing official documents.

Beyond this, there were policy essays.

This time, two policy essay topics were given: first, views on the current situation of the realm and methods to resolve it; second, views on the governing strategies of the Confucian, Daoist, and Legalist schools.

Both topics were very broad. Ji Yuan was quite nervous about these two questions and asked Zhao Hanzhang, “Even I would find it difficult to answer these two questions. Young Lady, what kind of answer are you hoping to receive?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “I don’t know either.”

She continued, “I don’t have a fixed answer. I just want to hear everyone’s views. My own heart is quite confused as well.”

Ji Yuan looked at her with complete disbelief.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed. “Sir, what I’m saying is clearly the truth. How can you not believe me?”

Ji Yuan stood up. “Yuan will go grade papers now.”

“Go ahead, go ahead.” Zhao Hanzhang was also grading papers. Selecting talent was a major matter that couldn’t be taken lightly.

Fu Tinghan graded papers the fastest. He was currently only reviewing arithmetic papers. With a single glance, he could tell right from wrong. The grading officials beside him were just starting on the first problem when he had already finished marking an entire paper with his red brush and given a score.

The grading official couldn’t help but glance over and point to one section. “Young Master, this answer is correct, but this process seems unprecedented.”

“It’s just a different calculation method, also correct,” Fu Tinghan set the paper aside. Seeing them struggling so much, he said, “Leave these to me. You all go grade the classics, history, philosophers and literary collections that they memorized.”

The grading officials exchanged glances and agreed, going to grade the other papers.

The papers had all been anonymized. Moreover, since it was the first examination, both teachers and students lacked experience, so there was currently no possibility of cheating. This recruitment examination was very clean.

Also because it was the first time, the examinees had no experience, resulting in all sorts of papers with various answers that brought tears to Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes.

Every day of paper grading was a source of joy.

However, Ji Yuan was quite angered by some papers and completely couldn’t understand how the Young Lady had cultivated such composure that she could even laugh.

Zhao Hanzhang said nonchalantly, “It’s the first time, after all. Everyone lacks experience. If you think they answered poorly, sir, just fail their papers. Have them try again next year.”

Ji Yuan huffed. “They’re merely wasting our time.”

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t think so. She pulled out a paper that Ji Yuan had tossed aside and said happily, “I actually find some papers quite interesting. For instance, this one brazenly writes about using a handsome man strategy on me, and also says that women in power will never last long because women have a tendency to be softhearted.”

“But it’s truly strange—in the same paper, he writes that women are jealous, and when vicious, they’re like a wasp’s stinger. He’s both right and wrong about this—what am I supposed to do?”

Ji Yuan really couldn’t grasp what was interesting about it. “If you don’t like it, Young Lady, just fail him.”

“No,” Zhao Hanzhang placed the paper on the acceptable pile and smiled. “Although his views are somewhat biased, some of his insights and strategies aren’t bad.”

“Such as?”

“Since he knows a handsome man strategy can be used on me, naturally he knows this strategy can also be used on others,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “People in this world seek nothing more than money, power, fame, and beauty. At least one of these four can scratch an itch in someone’s heart.”

Ji Yuan asked Zhao Hanzhang, “Then what does Young Lady seek?”

Zhao Hanzhang tilted her head and thought for a moment. “I seek all four.”

So those with money, power, or fame could all come find her. As long as there was profit to be gained, she would mostly cooperate.

Ji Yuan: “What about beauty…”

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him. “Isn’t Tinghan the beauty?”

Ji Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhao Hanzhang, “Young Master Fu’s reputation is currently not prominent because I’ve deliberately suppressed it. You and I both know that he greatly aids your great enterprise, so I hope you and the young master are devoted to each other, unshakeable in your affection, your love…”

“Alright, alright,” Zhao Hanzhang stopped him. “Sir, do I seem so fickle in your eyes? I’m clearly a devoted person.”

Ji Yuan sighed. “I also want to believe you, Young Lady, but…”

He looked Zhao Hanzhang up and down, his meaning quite clear.

Her behavior really didn’t seem like that of a devoted person. Moreover, she not only knew about him reducing Fu Tinghan’s external reputation but had also helped cover up many traces, making it so that aside from insiders, outsiders hardly heard of Fu Tinghan’s name.

In the current era where making a name for oneself was the path to survival and securing a future, Zhao Hanzhang’s actions were tantamount to suppressing Fu Tinghan.

Although Fu Tinghan seemed perfectly content with this, Ji Yuan still felt quite guilty.

Among the scholars of this world, who didn’t want to soar to great heights and become famous throughout the realm?

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know Ji Yuan’s thoughts and only insisted, “I am a devoted person, truly!”

Ji Yuan helplessly chose to believe her. “Very well, you’re always right, Young Lady. Then this person…”

“Accept him,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “Since he’s skilled in this area, perhaps we can use him in the future.”

Zhao Hanzhang removed the anonymizing paper. The name written on it was Tan Jize. She smiled and set the paper aside.

After the grading ended, everyone removed the anonymizing papers and recorded each person’s name and score in order, selecting the best for acceptance.

This task was handled by Ji Yuan. After the scores were announced, Zhao Hanzhang would meet with them, essentially an interview where everyone could see each other and have at least a general impression of one another.

The Personnel Department had already submitted reports of needed positions. They were just waiting for this batch of people to be hired before assigning them.

Because it was the first time, both sides were somewhat nervous. On the day results were posted, Zhao Hanzhang woke up early, changed her attire, and ran to find Ji Yuan to go watch the excitement together.

Ji Yuan said wearily, “Young Lady, if you need something, go find Young Master. I won’t go.”

He had been busy for several months straight, and these past days especially had been sleepless nights due to the recruitment examination. He could finally rest for one night and really didn’t want to move.

Zhao Hanzhang could only run to find Fu Tinghan.

Fu Tinghan went with her. The two stood at a street corner watching the scholars crowding forward, and couldn’t help but exchange a smile.

Fu Tinghan said, “Congratulations.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled with curved eyes. “This is the result of our joint efforts.”

This time, Yuzhou selected quite a few people. There were many sons and daughters from aristocratic families, and also scholars from humble backgrounds, though due to educational level differences, most of those accepted were still aristocratic sons and daughters.

This time, only five women were accepted through the recruitment examination, yet Zhao Hanzhang felt quite gratified.

This showed that social customs were quietly changing. Everyone had tacitly accepted that women could also serve as officials and compete for advancement in this sea of bureaucracy.

The list was posted. This time, a total of forty-eight people were accepted. The number might not sound large, but for Yuzhou province, even the biennial talent assessments couldn’t select this many people.

Moreover, not everyone could take office immediately after being assessed. Even if assessed, they still needed to spend time seeking positions—unlike in Yuzhou, where it seemed one could take office immediately after passing the examination.

Indeed, they could fill vacancies immediately after passing.

Once the list was posted, Zhao Hanzhang held a banquet at the Regional Inspector’s mansion to personally meet with them.

This time there was no examination. Zhao Hanzhang only discussed with them the character that officials serving under her should possess—commonly called professional ethics.

After discussing professional ethics, they discussed life aspirations.

As for the customs of Dajin’s bureaucracy, she was powerless to change them, but she believed she could control the customs of Yuzhou’s bureaucracy.

With this selection filling so many vacancies with officials she had chosen herself, if she still couldn’t turn the customs around, then she needn’t continue as Regional Inspector.

After the banquet ended and the scholars thanked Zhao Hanzhang and returned to their respective places, they couldn’t help but gather together. “I didn’t notice this morning, but among those accepted this time, there are actually many scholars from humble backgrounds. I remember quite a few Zhao clan descendants and their relatives by marriage also took the examination this year, yet not many were accepted. What’s her intention?”

“Doesn’t want to be controlled by the Zhao clan?”

“Isn’t it a bit late to say she doesn’t want to be controlled by the Zhao clan?”

“Don’t change the subject. She doesn’t use the talent assessment system but selects people through examination. Doesn’t that make family background and reputation completely useless?”

But most people were more concerned with what Zhao Hanzhang had particularly emphasized about fulfilling one’s duties in one’s position. Someone sighed, “Dajin is finally going to change.”

“This isn’t change—it’s practically changing the heavens.”

Meanwhile, those who hadn’t participated in the recruitment examination but had only come to observe also discerned some implications and remarked, “Zhao Hanzhang’s ambitions are not small.”

“Who knows who came up with this talent selection method for her?”

“I’m more impressed by her determination to rectify the bureaucracy.”

“In any case, Yuzhou’s heavens are going to change. If she succeeds in this, I fear the heavens of all Dajin will change too.”

What they didn’t know was that Dajin’s heavens were already changing.

While Zhao Hanzhang was immersed in encouraging agriculture and sericulture, training troops and farming, Luoyang’s heavens had changed.

Due to Gou Xi’s persistent sowing of discord, a conflict erupted between the Emperor and Prince Donghai—and this time it wasn’t covert but overt.

Prince Donghai, having just discovered that the Emperor had secretly ordered Gou Xi to suppress him, was heartbroken and immediately mobilized his troops to leave.

He was going to return to Donghai Commandery. When he left, he actually took twenty thousand troops directly with him. Even Wang Yan was following Prince Donghai, not to mention the accompanying common people.

The number reached thirty thousand people. More than half of Luoyang city’s population was leaving with him.

When the Emperor heard the news, his face turned pale. He had no choice but to go personally to persuade him to stay. But Prince Donghai’s heart was already broken. He felt he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to Dajin, yet the Emperor never trusted him and instead colluded with the outsider Gou Xi to harm him.

Why should he continue staying in Luoyang?

Didn’t he want to escape his control? He’d like to see what the Emperor could accomplish after he left!

The Emperor, seeing he couldn’t retain him, couldn’t help but say, “If Your Highness must leave, at least leave some people to guard Luoyang and the palace?”

Prince Donghai sneered. “Why would you still need my people? Doesn’t His Majesty have twenty thousand troops?”

The Emperor’s face turned deathly pale.

—