Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 384: A hidden dragon in the abyss soars into the sky!
East Palace.

Officials in the hall left one after another.

Not far outside the palace, Yang Jing and Zhao Mian were walking together.

The two of them looked calm as they walked and talked. Yang Jing said, "Brother Zhao, do you think Xia Zhibai's suggestion will really work?"

Zhao Mian hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"This is not something we can decide, but if Your Highness insists on changing it, the chances of success will be greater."

"Do you think His Highness supports this change?" Yang Jing was a little surprised.

Zhao Mian nodded, and said with a complicated expression: "Your Highness has been very close to Xia Zhibai in the past two years, and has been greatly influenced by Xia Zhibai. To be fair, many of Xia Zhibai's views are indeed shocking, even a little exaggerated and bizarre, but if you really think about it carefully, they are not without reason."

"He thinks about things from a completely different perspective than officials like me."

“Maybe this is the real reason why he is the top scorer.”

“It’s not what we call talent.”

"It's this unusual perspective. You can learn from others' experience. Your Majesty and Your Highness, compared to listening to our clichés, I'm afraid you would be more willing to listen to Xia Zhibai's unique remarks, and then use them as a reference, and make some corresponding corrections to Ming Dynasty policies."

"You also know that my father-in-law is a Hanlin scholar."

As he said this, Zhao Mian gave a bitter smile, looking quite helpless.

He said slowly: "Recently, my father-in-law actually had some conflicts with Xia Zhibai, but my father-in-law was stubborn and refused to admit his mistakes. In the end, he was driven out by Xia Zhibai. Now he lies at home in depression."

"To be honest."

"When Xia Zhibai faces some difficult issues, his perspective is always different from ours. Compared with Xia Zhibai, he seems to be able to bring the knowledge in the book to life, while we seem to be reading dead books and using 'dead' knowledge. As far as I know, many of the viewpoints proposed by Xia Zhibai are beyond our understanding and knowledge."

"But they can still justify themselves and even give a grand explanation."

"I'm not as good as that!!!"

Yang Jing nodded.

He felt the same way.

Xia Zhibai is a man with a very flexible mind, as flexible as an old monster who has lived for who knows how many years. He can give alternative explanations for the same thing, and those explanations do make sense if you think about them carefully. More importantly, many of the things he proposed can actually be realized in the end.

This is really too exaggerated.

Everyone can say some unorthodox and unconventional words, but to put what they said into practice one by one, looking around the court, I am afraid that few people have such ability, but Xia Zhibai can do it. From the high-yield grain during the imperial examinations to the novel weapons sent from Peking some time ago, and the steam engine and so on, each one of them seems impossible to do, but they have all been realized one by one.

Yang Jing said: "If that's the case, you and I should prepare early."

Zhao Mian nodded seriously and said, "It should be so, but the court is unlikely to make such a big move so quickly. But if it really starts to change direction, it will definitely be very fast. We don't have a deep foundation in the court. If something goes wrong, I'm afraid we will not be able to escape punishment. We must always pay attention."

"It's just that Xia Zhibai's words this time are still too general."

“I don’t seek to understand it.”

Zhao Mian sighed, looking quite depressed.

He had seldom doubted his own intelligence in the past, but today he suddenly began to doubt it.

Because it's too hard to understand.

It was a completely new thing that was forced into their minds, forcing them to listen. However, after a burst of confusion, their brains felt empty again, and they felt they couldn't make sense of it. They could only listen to it hastily, not even knowing where to put their strength.

Yang Jing laughed.

He said, "You are really confused because you are in the know." "You and I don't seek to understand it, but we can find someone to help us."

"Although Xia Zhibai is a bit aloof, he is not unkind. If we take the initiative to ask him, how could he just turn away and not see us?"

"The master is a teacher."

"Besides, he was the top scorer in our class."

"We are not as good as him. What's the problem with taking the initiative to ask for advice?"

"You sometimes mix too much personal feelings into your father-in-law's affairs. Don't get involved too much, otherwise it will easily drag you down. You should even be tougher when necessary. You are loyal to His Majesty."

Zhao Mian nodded.

He sighed and said, "Thank you, Brother Yang, for your comfort. I understand."

"It won't get in the way."

"The last time I met my father-in-law, I made my position clear. My official position is higher than Xia Zhibai's, but in essence, Your Majesty is deliberately suppressing Xia Zhibai. Once Xia Zhibai gets a high position, with Xia Zhibai's talent, I'm afraid he will soar to the sky. I have a feeling that Xia Zhibai may not be suppressed anymore."

"He puts forward more and more opinions, which are becoming more and more meticulous and detailed."

"This is something that neither you nor I can compare to."

"finally."

"The court can only rely on him."

"I am afraid that by then, he will have the power of Prime Minister even though he is not Prime Minister in name only."

"But I'm quite curious about what kind of world Xia Zhibai has conceived in his mind, and what kind of world he will transform it into. If we can see it in our lifetime, it will not be in vain to come to this world." Zhao Mian smiled heartily, and his smile was very frank.

If Xia Zhibai's talent was only slightly higher than his, he would indeed feel jealous and resentful, but Xia Zhibai's talent was obviously far higher than theirs, and they could hardly even compare to him. Given such a huge talent gap, he no longer had any jealousy, only admiration and respect.

Yang Jing looked at Zhao Mian in surprise.

He thought Zhao Mian would be depressed, but he was not. Instead, Zhao Mian was very excited, even more optimistic than him. He even looked forward to the scene of Xia Zhibai being reused. He was more optimistic than him and thought highly of him.

He jokingly said, "Xia Zhibai doesn't have a very good reputation among scholars like me."

Zhao Mian said indifferently: "It's just an empty name."

"If he really cared about fame, he would have been famous long ago with what he did for the world, but Xia Zhibai never promoted it, and even disdained to do so. This kind of person has lofty ambitions, even higher than you and I can imagine."

"perhaps."

"What Xia Zhibai said outside the Fengtian Palace was true."

"He will really become the top scholar of Tiance!"

The snowflakes are falling.

The figures outside the East Palace became increasingly sparse, and finally disappeared under the white snow.

The departure of the officials did not mean the disappearance of the wind and snow. The words that Xia Zhibai said to them in public always lingered in their minds, making them think about them from time to time. Many officials even went to check the history books.

However, under the cover of heavy snow, the East Palace meeting seemed to have become quiet over time.

And a week later.

A quarrel between His Majesty and the Crown Prince once again drew everyone's attention back.

(End of this chapter)