Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 915 Liu He's Book
"Oh, Wang Situ, I can't help but be impatient."

A minister shouted.

"Your Majesty has now established the Imperial College. From now on, all the people in the world can study there. Then officials will be selected directly from the Imperial College. The so-called disciples and former officials, and the so-called selection of talented people, will all become a thing of the past. By then, the foundation of our family will be gone."

"Yes, although the Imperial College was established long ago in our Han Dynasty, in the past few years, due to the incidents of Chen Ji, Feng Fang and others, the students of the Imperial College have left one after another. But now if Your Majesty just rebuilds the original Imperial College, it would be fine. Unfortunately, this Imperial College is very different from the previous one, so we must be on guard."

"Yes, in the past, all students of the Imperial College had to be recommended by local officials of the prefectures, counties, and counties. Only young people who were smart, studious, and hardworking from all over the country could enter the Imperial College to study and were called Imperial Academy students. Because of this, these Imperial Academy students were almost all children of noble families like us, and rarely came from ordinary people's families. They were one of the right ways for the younger generation of noble families to study, visit friends, and become officials."

"In the past, the number of places for admission to the Imperial College every year was extremely precious, and was no less than that for the places for talented and filial people. It was an important asset for our families to rely on each other. But now, Your Majesty has opened the Imperial College directly to everyone. Anyone who meets the age requirements can come to Luoyang and study at the Imperial College. Then, every year, the examination will be conducted, and the outstanding people will be selected to directly serve as officials in the court. This is equivalent to completely taking away the power to educate disciples, cultivate talents, and recommend officials from us. Isn't this destroying our lifeline?"

"I think your majesty's intention is not to just have one Imperial College. If the Imperial College has achieved something, your majesty will definitely do the same and open the imperial schools in all prefectures and counties. If that happens, there will be no place for us among the scholars in the world."

All the ministers were in tears, as if their loved ones had died and they were heartbroken.

"Wang Situ, at this critical moment of the life and death of the nobles, on behalf of all the nobles in the world, we beg Situ to make the decision."

Many ministers knelt down in unison and kept making requests to Wang Yun.

Wang Yun also had a gloomy expression. He looked at those people who were kowtowing and did not speak for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly muttered to himself: "Do you think His Majesty really has so many books?"

This sudden question surprised everyone, but someone quickly reacted.

"Situ's question reminds us. To build a university of this scale, books and famous teachers are indispensable. Now that Xun, Lu, Zhong, Cui, Cai, etc. are all loyal to Your Majesty, it should not be difficult to find a famous teacher. But it is not easy to collect hundreds of thousands of books."

"Yes. There are many families in the court who are loyal to Your Majesty. However, even if all the books in their homes were contributed, and after selecting the best and eliminating the duplicate books, I am afraid it would still be difficult to collect all these books."

Wang Yun narrowed his eyes and tapped the carpet under his seat with his fingers. "If we rely on purchasing hundreds of thousands of books, I'm afraid it will cost tens of billions of money, and it will take at least a year or two to buy them all. But so far, I have never heard that Your Majesty has sent people to buy all kinds of books. But seeing that Your Majesty is so confident, it doesn't seem like he is joking. This is strange..."

At this time, a servant from the mansion suddenly ran over and said, "Master, here comes a eunuch named Gong, who is asking to see you outside the mansion."

Wang Yun was shocked, and hurriedly stood up and said, "Hurry up and invite him in."

After the servant left, a minister came over and asked, "Eunuch Gong is the eunuch who personally serves as the emperor's scribe. He came here suddenly. I'm afraid he has an imperial decree to pass on."

Wang Yun nodded slightly: "Yes, I think so. However, if the eunuch sees us and reports to His Majesty, we are afraid that we will arouse the emperor's suspicion. Please leave for a while."

The ministers had no objection and immediately retreated to the back hall.

Soon, Gong Saner came in escorted by several imperial guards. Wang Yun personally stood up, took a few steps forward and bowed.

"Eunuch Gong, you are so honored to be here. I wonder if you have any advice for me?"

Gong San'er smiled with her signature smile: "How dare I say the word 'teach me' to Situ Yan? But His Majesty has an order, ordering me to come and tell Situ Yan."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yun straightened his expression and knelt down to listen to the decree: "This old minister respectfully wishes the Lord good health."

Gong Saner took the imperial edict from the imperial guards behind him, walked around Wang Yun, and went to the main hall.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, declares: Cao Cao of Yuzhou has reported rebellion, spread rumors, and misled people, causing scholars all over the country to become alienated from the court, and students of the Imperial College have withdrawn one after another. In order to recruit talents for the court, for the sake of the people of the world, and for the sake of our ancestors, I will reopen the Imperial College so that all people have a place to study and scholars have a chance to serve the country. However, the original collection of the Imperial College is less than 20,000 books, which is really not up to the task. Minister Wang Yun is loyal to the country and is also the father-in-law of the court. He is well-known throughout the country. I hope you will understand my intention and donate more books to help solve the urgent problem. I will be very happy. I decree this."

"I accept your command and thank you." Wang Yun raised his hands above his head, took the imperial edict, and then stood up.

"You have worked hard on the journey, so why don't you have a drink before you go?" Gong San'er declined, "Thank you for your kindness, Situ. I have to go back to the palace to do some work, so I won't stay any longer. His Majesty said that this book presentation is extremely important. I think you are the only one in the court who can handle it. Please don't let His Majesty down."

"Please report back to Your Majesty. I have received the grace of the state for generations, and I will do my best to repay Your Majesty."

"In this case, I will take my leave."

Gong San'er turned and left. Wang Yun watched him walk away and shouted, "Come out, everyone."

All the ministers who were hiding in the back hall ran out, but this time, their faces showed a sense of joy and even pride.

"As expected, if Your Majesty wants to rebuild the Imperial College, he still has to rely on us."

"I was wondering how Your Majesty got those hundreds of thousands of books. It turns out that you want us to present them to you."

"Situ, in your opinion, should we present this book or not?"

Wang Yun raised his head three points, walked slowly back to his seat, stroked his beard, and looked indifferent.

"Well... since His Majesty has issued an order, how can we, as Han officials, not obey it?"

The ministers looked at each other, not knowing what Situ Wang was planning.

"But if we submit the books as ordered, then Your Majesty will be able to collect all the books needed for the Imperial College in a short period of time. If we do this, won't we be shooting ourselves in the foot?"

"Yeah, it's fine if I just suffer a loss, but I have to swallow my anger. It's really frustrating."

"Wang Situ, you need to give me some rules."

Wang Yun glanced at them and said, "My family, Wang of Taiyuan, has been greatly favored by the emperor. Since your majesty has issued an order, I, an old minister, have made up my mind. To help build the Imperial College, my family will donate 20,000 books to do our best."

"This... Wang Situ, what do you mean?"

The ministers all became a little anxious.

"You have already donated books, so if we...if we don't donate, wouldn't it be inappropriate?"

Wang Yun said as if it was a matter of course: "Of course. Donating books to build a school is a great achievement, why not? But..."

As soon as everyone heard the word "but", they immediately became excited.

"But what?"

Wang Yun smiled and said, "Establishing the Imperial College is a top priority for the country and must be done with caution. As ministers, we should share your worries. The books in your mansions have their own merits and demerits. I am afraid that if you donate some books that are not suitable for students to read, wouldn't it ruin your majesty's great cause?"

The ministers also thought it made sense: "So what Situ meant was..."

Wang Yun said, "I think it would be better if we all drew up a list of books together, and all the officials and family members would select books from the library in the palace according to this list, and then present them to the court. In this way, we can be loyal to our duties and complete your majesty's tasks, and you can save your majesty from having to select books again, which would be too much trouble. Isn't it the best of both worlds?"

The ministers' eyes lit up: "Great! When the time comes, most of the books we present will be the same. It may seem like there are a lot of books, but in fact, there are still only tens of thousands of volumes in total. Let's see how the Imperial College can run it."

"That's right. Even if your majesty is dissatisfied, he can't do anything to you or me. Situ is indeed very thoughtful."

(End of this chapter)