Thief Emperor

Chapter 565 Wait for me to come back
The Jinling Literary Festival had only been held for its second year, but it had already attracted so many scholars. Li Yun was of course very happy.

The reason why it went so smoothly was not only because he spent a huge sum of money to buy horse bones last year and spread the reputation of the Jinling Literary Society, but more importantly, it was what he had done in the past few years when he was in charge of Jiangdong.

Ordinary people have little awareness of what is happening at the upper level, and it can even be said that they know nothing about it, but they must have deep feelings about the changes that have taken place in their own lives.

Over the past few years, although Li Yun did not have the ability to make the people of Jiangdong rich and turn it into a paradise on earth, the prefectures and counties under his rule actually managed to reduce taxes, and apart from conscription, he hardly troubled the people.

Even conscription is voluntary.

These things are real.

The people of the western part of Jiangnan who had just returned might still have a vague impression of Li Yun, but the people of the eastern part of Jiangnan had already recognized Li Yun.

Their active participation in the Jinling Literary Conference shows that these people's recognition of Li Yun has surpassed that of the Wu Zhou court, otherwise they would not have risked "rebellion" to attend this literary conference.

After seeing the current situation in Jinling City, Li Yun also attached great importance to this literary gathering.

This literary gathering is very different from the one last year.

Last year's event was more like buying a horse's bones with a fortune. Anyone who came to participate in the literary gathering, as long as he had some talent, was kept to do the work.

Even so, in the end, only a few dozen people actually became officials.

The number of participants in this literary gathering is definitely more than ten times that of last year. Even if only 300 people are selected from them, the quality should be far better than last year.

Three hundred scholars can basically fill most of the vacancies in the current Jiangdong small court and completely build up this small court.

In other words, the person elected this year is likely to become Li Yun’s political cornerstone for a long time in the future.

In the next ten days, Li Yun and Du Qian, together with Mr. Tao Wenyuan from Lizheng Academy in Beijing and a group of students from Lizheng Academy, decided on the test questions together.

It is still divided into six departments, including the Agricultural Department.

However, this year, Li Yun added one more course, which is current affairs, allowing these scholars to write about their views on current affairs, and they can write freely.

The case files of these candidates were finally roughly sorted out by Tao Wenyuan and others, and then carefully reviewed by Li Yun and Du Qian.

However, Tao Wenyuan and the students of Lizheng Academy all studied orthodox Confucianism, and some of their ideas were completely different from what Li Yun had in mind.

Their review standards are naturally different from Li Yun's, so this matter cannot be entirely left to them.

Li Yun, Du Qian, and Zhuo Guangrui will randomly check the answer sheets of those who failed to be selected to see if there are any fish that have slipped through the net.

In other words, Li Yun will be very busy for the next half month or even more than half a month.

But even so, Li Yun knew very well that the authority to mark the imperial examination papers would ultimately be in the hands of these scholars.

After all, he, Li Yun, is only one person.

However, he still wanted to make the examination questions as practical as possible, and to make the officials who would be selected in the future as practical and capable as possible.

In this way, when this group of people grow up to the level of scientific examination examiners in the future, the people they bring with them will also be more pragmatic.

At least that's the case for Li Yun's generation.

As for what the future will be like, whether it will turn into empty talk or profound discussions, Li Yun cannot think that far ahead, nor can he manage that far ahead.

By the end of February, the topic of this Jinling Literary Meeting was basically decided. Li Yun personally sealed it in Li Garden and waited until the day when the imperial examination officially began before sending someone to the examination venue.

…………

At the end of February, the Jinling Literary Festival was held as scheduled.

Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui went to Li Garden in person and brought the questions from Li Garden to the examination room, while Li Yun himself just watched them go away silently without following them.

Xue Yun'er held her son's hand, stood beside Li Yun, and whispered, "My husband has been busy with this for more than half a month, and he doesn't go to bed until midnight every day. Why is it that when the time comes, he leaves everything to others?"

Li Yun looked at his wife and said with a smile: "This matter is very important to our family, but it is best to let them handle it themselves. In this way, if there is a problem, I can check and ask questions. If I have to handle everything personally."

"If something goes wrong, it's hard to investigate, as it makes you look incompetent."

Li Yun bent down, picked up the child, and said with a smile: "Besides, I don't have to go over there, Lao Jiu is watching over him for me."

Xue Yun'er was stunned for a long time before she came back to her senses. She looked at Li Yun and chuckled, "Who did you learn all this from, my husband? You don't look like a thief at all."

"Isn't this simple?"

Li Yun held his son in one hand and held Xue Yun'er's hand with the other, and said with a smile: "After working in this position for a while, many things will naturally become clear to you. Madam, you should do the same in the future. Madam, you can be a spectator or a referee of the trivial matters in Jinling City, but you don't have to really stand on anyone's side."

Xue Yun'er turned her head to look at her husband, and was a little dazed for a moment, but she quickly came to her senses and asked softly: "My husband, since you have figured out that you don't have to do anything personally, why do you want to lead the troops yourself?" After a few days, Li Yun would simply deal with the affairs of the literary meeting and prepare to leave Jinling for the north.

Almost everyone in the upper circles of Jinling City already knew about this matter, and Xue Yun'er certainly couldn't be kept in the dark.

Li Yun held her hand and smiled, "So we can't be rigid. Some things should be handed over to them, and some things are better for me to do myself. Madam, haven't you heard that the most important affairs of a country are sacrifice and war."

"I am going north for both sacrifice and war."

Mr. Li said softly, "Only the name and the tool can't be borrowed from others."

At this time, Li had been in a high position for a long time and had developed a different aura. After saying this, he seemed even more extraordinary.

Xue Yun'er looked at Li Yun, her eyes curved into crescents with pride.

But she still said coquettishly: "The thieves on Cangshan Mountain have learned to speak in a flowery way now."

Li Yun smiled and said, "The thieves on Cangshan Mountain have learned to read."

At this moment, Li Yun's eldest son, Li Yuan, is almost two years old and can speak some simple words. He is held in Li Yun's arms, blinking his eyes and looking at his tall father with great curiosity.

A family of three walked slowly into the depths of Li Garden.

…………

In early March, the Jinling Literary Festival finally came to an end.

After this busy literary meeting, Mr. Tao from Jizheng Academy fell seriously ill and was lying in bed, too tired to get up.

Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui also took two days off before they could barely rest.

But no matter what, this literary gathering ended successfully, and the next step is to mark the papers and announce the results.

With Li Yun's attention and the full participation of Jiusi, there is basically no possibility of cheating in this second literary gathering.

Moreover, although the Jinling Literary Society is called a literary society, it does not actually examine poetry, songs or essays. Most of the examinations are on new topics, and quite a few are considered questions.

There won't be many people studying these questions during this period, so it can be said that the possibility of cheating is blocked at the source.

However, the next selection will most likely be three years later. Three years later... the situation should be very different from now. By that time, Li Yun will probably have to spend a lot of energy on anti-cheating.

On the fourth day of March, Du Qian arrived at Li Garden with a thick stack of documents. After entering Li Yun's study, he bowed his head and saluted, then smiled bitterly and said, "Too many, too many."

"Sir, there must be more than 10,000 people participating in the literary gathering this year. It's really scary."

In another world, when the imperial examinations of the Ming and Qing dynasties matured, the scale of the candidates for reference was probably similar.

However, this round of examinations in Jiangdong did not have any entry threshold, which meant that one did not need to be a juren, so a large number of people came.

There was not even enough space in Jinling City for them to take the exam, so many people participated in this literary gathering in the Jinling government office or even in the military camps outside the city.

Li Yun looked at the document he brought over and said with a smile, "Brother Du, what are you holding?"

"register."

Du Qian smiled bitterly and said, "This is the list of participants for this meeting. I had someone compile it and put it here to prevent any problems."

Li Yun thought about it, then nodded and said with a smile: "How long will it take to select the winners of this literary gathering?"

Du Qian thought about it seriously and said in a deep voice: "It will probably take more than half a month. There are more than 10,000 people, and they are of varying quality."

“It takes a long time to select.”

He looked at Li Yun, thinking, "Is the leader going north?"

"Yes."

Li Yun picked up a document from the table and handed it to Du Qian, saying softly, "The weather has warmed up, and the Khitans' attacks have become more fierce. This is the letter for help that General Xiao just sent."

Li Yun said silently: "What I mean is that Brother Du and Mr. Tao should handle the affairs of the literary meeting first, and pick out 300 people for me and let them wait in Jinling."

"Other things."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank his tea, his voice calm.

"We'll talk about it when I get back."

(End of this chapter)