Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 927: Scholars Defection
After Huangfu Han and Lu Zhi talked to this point, looking at the books in front of them with the fragrance of ink, the scholars no longer had any reason to doubt them.

The attention of most scholars was focused on those paper books. How could they have the energy to count how many volumes there were?

However, just because they didn't think this way didn't mean that everyone shared the same idea, and dozens of people stood up together.

"Of course I have to count them. If there's one missing, hmm..."

These dozens of scholars looked at Huangfu Han and Lu Zhi provocatively, but found that the two were also looking at them with a rather amusing smile.

Thousands of scholars looked at the dozens of people, then looked at the books in front of them, and fell into hesitation for a moment. Although Huangfu Han and Lu Zhi had made an agreement before, they were not afraid of them at all, but that was because they didn't want to stay in the Imperial College at all, so they naturally didn't care about the bet.

But now it is different. With so many new paper books in front of them, including many out-of-print ancient books that are extremely hard to find on the market, the status of this library in the minds of many scholars has instantly risen to an unattainable level.

At this moment, these scholars had only one thought in their minds, that is, they must stay in the Imperial College! Not to mention staying to do odd jobs, even if they were asked to clean the toilets, they would never leave the gate of the Imperial College.

The dozens of people were originally full of confidence and wanted to call on everyone to take inventory of the library, but at this time they found that none of them moved, just stood there, neither speaking nor taking any action, and they suddenly became anxious.

"What are you doing? Why don't you do anything?"

"Hehe..." Lu Zhihe's old but powerful voice suddenly sounded.

"Everyone..." He also walked to the center of the bookshelves and said, "If you want to inspect the library, just go ahead now. This old man and my nephew Huangfu will never stop you. However, you can read these books, but you cannot damage them, and you cannot take them out of the library. Otherwise, the guards in the library will not care whose children or nephews you are."

As soon as he finished speaking, fully armed guards appeared from the corners of every floor and blocked all the staircases. Their eyes flashed with cold light as they stared at the scholars, making them shudder.

"Oh, right." Lu Zhi seemed to remember something: "His Majesty ordered that today is the day for the Imperial College to re-enroll. Now there is still half an hour before the end of the examination. If you want to take the exam, you may still have time to go to the examination place now..."

As soon as he said this, thousands of scholars' eyes lit up.

Just when many scholars were eager to try and were preparing to go downstairs to take the exam, the dozens of scholars who had called on everyone to inspect the library hurriedly stepped forward and stopped them.

"Where are you going?"

"You need to check the library carefully to prevent them from deceiving students. Isn't this what we agreed on beforehand? How can you just give up and fall for their scheme to sow discord?"

After hearing their words, the expressions of those thousands of scholars suddenly became a little unnatural.

"You...you should not accuse good people. When did we ever say such things?"

"Don't talk nonsense. We have long admired the reputation of the Imperial College. How could we be secretly colluding with you?"

"That's right. Mr. Lu is a famous scholar in the Han Dynasty. He said there are more than 400,000 books, so he must be right. Why bother to check?"

"Your Majesty has devoted all his energy and efforts to the Imperial College. I don't know how much time, energy, money and food you have spent on planning and preparing for these 400,000-plus paper books. This is a great feat that shows how much your Majesty values ​​scholars. With such a sage king above us, what more could we ask for?"

"You guys dared to cause trouble in the Imperial College, questioning His Majesty and Lord Lu. You are really guilty of a heinous crime. Lord Lu, I don't know them. Please don't drive me out with them."

"Not bad, not bad. We don't know these dozens of people."

These thousands of people turned against each other so quickly that everyone, whether it was the dozens of people or Huangfu Han and Lu Zhi, were dumbfounded.

"My goodness, young people nowadays are much more shameless than an old guy like me."

Lu Zhi said in surprise, and Huangfu Han couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth slightly.

The dozens of people were so angry at these replies that they were completely speechless: "How could you...how could you..."

"Alright, alright." Huangfu Han stopped them. "This is the Imperial College's library. It's such an important place. How can you quarrel and shout here? Those who want to take the exam, please leave now and take the test. If you pass the test, you can enter the school. For those who fail the test, the promise between me and Lord Lu will also stand. As long as you are willing to do odd jobs, you can stay in the Imperial College. If anyone wants to count the number of books in the collection, please do so."

Thousands of scholars looked at each other, and after a brief silence, these thousands of people all ran at almost the same time.

"Hurry up... If you can't make it in time for the test, you can only do odd jobs..."

"Even if I have to do odd jobs, I will stay in this Imperial College. No one can persuade me to leave..."

"Please make way. I am the nephew of the Chief Justice Zhong Yuanchang. Let me pass first..."

"What's wrong with the court judge? I'm the cousin of the Minister of Works Cui Gong, so I should go first..."

"Xun Wenruo and I are close friends from the same hometown..."

Thousands of scholars no longer cared about etiquette and dignity at this moment, and they were just like country folk going to a market, pushing and shoving each other, making the four doors of the library shake.

Lu Zhi hurriedly shouted, "Everyone, please be careful. The Imperial College has a clear rule that if a student destroys any of the Imperial College's property, credits will be deducted. When the credits are deducted by 12 points, the student will be automatically expelled from the academy and will not be allowed to enroll again within two years."

"Wow..."

His words caused thousands of people to move away from the gate, and some even raised their feet higher when running outside, for fear of damaging the threshold.

However, the four doors were spacious enough after all. Even though they walked out so cautiously, these thousands of people ran out in a very short time, leaving only the dozens of people who led the commotion.

"You guys...are spineless, really spineless!"

Lu Zhi and Huangfu Han looked at them with malicious expressions, which made them feel cold all over.

"What are you going to do?"

"We are all law-abiding Han Chinese. You must not act recklessly."

Lu Zhi smiled and said, "Don't worry. This is the Imperial Academy, not the Supreme Court. I have no right or interest to ask whether you are law-abiding or not. I just wonder if you still want to inspect this library?" He had a seemingly harmless old face, but none of these scholars dared to really regard him as a kind and benevolent old man. After all, the reputation of this Left Cavalry General was earned through his military achievements. Under his old hands, he had written countless beautiful articles, and his hands were stained with the blood of countless people.

"No... no need. The Imperial College has a rich collection of books and an astonishing background. I... I will not examine it..."

"Yes... yes, I will take my leave now..."

Lu Zhi pretended to be surprised: "Oh, you guys are not going to take the entrance examination?"

"Is that not necessary? We are not very talented and knowledgeable, and I am afraid that we will tarnish the reputation of the Imperial College. So... we will take our leave now."

After saying that, the dozens of people looked at the guards who were as motionless as statues in fear, and ran down the stairs quickly along the wall. After reaching the first floor, they hurriedly saluted Lu Zhi and Huangfu Han, and ran out at full speed.

After watching them run away, a trace of disgust suddenly appeared on Huangfu Han's face.

"Hmph, a few clowns have soiled my library. Now I have to clean it up again."

Lu Zhi looked at him and said, "My dear nephew, these are books. Students will always have to read them. Sooner or later, they will get dirty. Are you going to clean them this time?"

Huangfu Han said three words coldly: "I am happy to do so."

Lu Zhi curled his lips and said, "Yes, I remember the day when you hurried into the palace to meet the emperor and asked to be the guard of the library. Tsk tsk tsk... Who would have thought that you, Huangfu Han, who looked as cold as ice, would actually have that side of crying and wailing..."

Huangfu Han's face turned cold, and he said with a bit of gnashing teeth: "I have to clean up the library. Lord Lu, please go slowly. I'm sorry I can't see you off."

After saying that, he turned around and left. Lu Zhi looked at his back, smiled and shook his head: "Yizhen, Yizhen, your nephew is really interesting. Your Majesty agreed to send him to guard the library, which is really wise to use people."

And right at the gate of the Imperial College, dozens of scholars ran out of the gate and left in different directions.

Just after they walked away, Man Chong slowly walked out from a corner of the street next to the Imperial College. His eyes stared at the dozens of people like an eagle staring at its prey.

"Follow these people, see where they go, and then come back to report."

"Yes." Dozens of officers in plain clothes flashed and disappeared into the street.

Man Chong's face was cold: "You dare to destroy your majesty's plan and disrupt the legal system of our Han Dynasty. No matter who is behind you, I, Man Chong, will definitely find you out and bring you to justice."

In the harem of the imperial palace, Liu He was in the Queen's Changqiu Palace, eating the fruit peeled by Zhang Yu, instructing Liu Zheng on his martial arts, and playing with Liu Qian.

"Little girl... come, come to your father's side..."

He squatted on the ground and waved at Liu Qian who was about ten steps away. Liu Qian walked over with his chubby legs, laughing.

"Father... my daughter wants to eat... she wants to eat this..."

She pointed to a peach on the table. Liu He held her in his arms, peeled the peach for her personally, and fed her bite by bite.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is a little partial. Normally, you ask me to peel the fruit for you when you eat it yourself. It's a rare occasion that you do it yourself, but you only give it to your daughter."

"Haha, okay, okay, I'll cut one for you and Zheng'er as well."

After saying that, he really started peeling the second peach.

Zhang Yu sat down next to him and said, "Your Majesty is in a very good mood today."

Liu He said, "Of course. The reopening of the Imperial College was a great success. Now the Imperial College has become a place where scholars in Luoyang are vying to enroll. There are no less than 100,000 scholars gathered in the city, and most of them have never been enrolled. Once the paper book came out, the scholars who originally disdained the Imperial College and even had hatred for it are now racking their brains and using all means to go there to study. With just a few pieces of paper and a few books, the hearts of the gentry in the world are in my hands. How can I not be happy?"

"Your Majesty, are you so busy being happy that you forgot to reward those who have made contributions?"

Zhang Yu's words made Liu He a little puzzled: "Those who have made contributions? Lu Zigan, Huangfu Qingleng, and the Zhen family who are responsible for printing books, everyone will be rewarded, so who has been left out?"

Zhang Yu's face suddenly became somewhat resentful: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? In order to rush to produce these more than 400,000 paper books, you emptied all the money that I had saved for several years, and did not even leave a penny for me."

"Ah...this..." Liu He was unable to refute for a moment.

The birthday gift that Zhang Yu presented to her that day from Zhen Yi was ten paper books.

These books were all made using the improved papermaking and printing techniques recorded in the book "Records of Divine Works" that Liu He gave to Zhen Yi. Zhen Yi hired thousands of skilled craftsmen and devoted several years to studying the book. It was not until a year ago that he mastered all the techniques recorded in it and published the ten books.

It was precisely because of these ten books that Liu He immediately made up his mind to reopen the Imperial College.

However, both papermaking and printing require a large number of manpower and consume countless money and grain. Now that the national treasury has reorganized its military, it really cannot come up with too much money and grain to prepare for this matter. Liu He had no choice but to turn his attention to Zhang Yu's inner court.

After several years of Zhang Yu's frugality and diligence, the silk woven in the palace and the embroidered patterns became increasingly exquisite, and the prices in the market also continued to rise. Therefore, over the years, the inner court had accumulated a huge fortune of about 10 billion coins.

Liu He used the 1 billion coins, and with the help of the three major merchants, Zhen, Su, and Zhang, each contributed another 500 million, raising a total of 2.5 billion coins, and finally managed to produce these 420,000 paper books.

Now that Zhang Yu was bringing up old matters, Liu He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for a moment.

"Well... Hehe, Yu'er, you and I have been married for many years, why do we have to be so fussy?"

"That won't do." Zhang Yu curled her lips and said, "As the saying goes, brothers should also settle accounts clearly. Besides, this is a full 1 billion yuan. Your Majesty must return it to me."

"Okay, okay." Liu He smiled bitterly. "But don't worry, Yu'er. I won't spend this money in vain. It won't be long before I get it back several times, or even dozens of times. Especially those who opposed me in the Imperial College and in this tax reform, and those who pretended to obey the court but secretly disobeyed it, I will make them bleed a lot, and earn back the food and wages for the future military operations in Yuzhou..."

Liu He was full of confidence. Zhang Yu looked at his expression and smiled.

(End of this chapter)