Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 32 Zhaowu Order (Part )
Those who are brave and valiant have outstanding martial virtues and their prestige spreads far and wide!
Yang Jian issued the Zhaowu Order not only to fill the power vacancy left after the removal of Wang Yi's followers, but also had a far-reaching ambition. It was to prepare for the future conquest of the south and the north, and intended to select talents for the country in the name of Zhaowu.

It is said that there are often tigers and leopards lying in the deep mountains, and there are often unicorns hiding in the fields. Yang Jian also hoped to select a few pillars of talent who could shoulder important responsibilities from the military examination, so that they could be used by the country and protect the country.

Seeing Yang Lin's brows furrowed slightly, Yang Jian said in a deep voice, "Uncle, you are the person I respect and trust the most. I cannot trust anyone else to preside over the military examination. The military examination is a matter of great importance to the country and concerns the military fortune of the Sui Dynasty. Only if you personally preside over the examination can I rest assured."

Yang Lin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Since Your Majesty trusts me and has entrusted me with the important task of the military examination, I will do my utmost to find several talented generals for the Great Sui Dynasty and help it pacify the north and south as soon as possible."

Yang Jian sighed softly and said with emotion, "Now that my uncle is the chief examiner, I feel relieved. In today's world, the divine artifact has changed hands several times, and the aristocratic families, relying on their family knowledge, each have their own thoughts and are difficult to rely on. Looking across the world, the only person I can truly trust is you, my uncle!"

"This military exam is also an experiment by the court. If it proves successful, we might hold a civil exam in the future. Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, there have been no commoners in the upper ranks, and no gentry in the lower ranks. Now that I'm here, it's time to change that. Having too many aristocratic families is not a good thing after all."

As for the aristocratic families, Yang Jian had to both use them and guard against them. The aristocratic families had deep roots and complex connections, and had huge networks of power both inside and outside the court. It was not wise to suppress them suddenly.

Yang Lin nodded and said, "These aristocratic families have accumulated a wealth of resources over hundreds of years and should not be underestimated. Moreover, they control a large amount of land, population, and wealth in the local area. If we act rashly against them, we will be retaliated by them. We must proceed slowly and not rush into anything."

Yang Jian narrowed his eyes, hiding the cruelty in them, and said slowly, "That's why I want to try and see if I can use this to win over the children of poor families and make them serve me. I just don't believe that there are no talented people in poor families."

"Wang Meng of the Former Qin Dynasty also came from a humble family, yet he was also a talented assistant to the king, assisting Fu Jian in achieving great success. I don't expect to attract a talent like Wang Meng, but it would be a great blessing for the country to have talents like Deng Qiang and Zhang Hao."

Deng Qiang and Zhang Hao were both famous generals of the Former Qin Dynasty. They were both from humble backgrounds. Deng Qiang was upright, good at fighting, and had the courage of ten thousand men. Zhang Hao was strong and powerful, and could pull ten oxen backwards. Both of them had outstanding achievements.

Yang Jian sneered, "Once the military examinations are complete and the best candidates have been chosen, we will begin preparations for the southern expedition. The Chen State in the south of the Yangtze River is isolated and unambitious, so it's time for us to hunt it down."

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"I, bearing the mandate of Heaven, have inherited the great responsibility of governing the Sui Dynasty. I have governed the northern territories, and my rule is gradually flourishing. However, the Southern Chen conflict remains unsettled, wars still rage, and the borderlands are often disturbed. In these troubled times, I seek to strengthen my army and secure my state, in order to achieve unification. This is a task for which I truly rely on brave and courageous men.

I hereby issue the Zhaowu Order, calling upon all heroes from across the land. Regardless of birthplace or origin, whether you are a noble or aspiring to serve your country, or a commoner with exceptional martial arts skills, all may respond to the call and come, show your abilities and compete with each other. Those who possess extraordinary talents will be considered pillars of the nation."

In the official office of the Dingzi Library in the Secretariat, Lü Shang stared at the notice on the desk for a long time, and sighed, "Once this notice is issued, I'm afraid both the north and the south will be shocked. Selecting talents for the country, regardless of background, and opening up a path for the virtuous, will surely bring about a surge of military talent from all over the world."

"The warriors of the world,"

There seemed to be a faint light flickering in Lu Shang's eyes. After preliminary measurements and contemplation, the twenty-four gods of Huangting had been nurtured to a certain degree.

At this point, Lü Shang was terrifyingly strong. His original body had been completely transformed, and he had undergone the Yanfu martial arts training of flesh, tendons, membranes, bones, internal organs, and marrow, along with a cleansing of blood. Finally, he comprehended the Huangting Concentration of Body and Spirit, cultivating the Twenty-Four Huangting Divines. He felt as if he had reached the pinnacle of the True Person, and with one more step, he would reach the pinnacle of humanity, becoming known as the Great Man of the Wilderness, and the Yanfu as the Human Immortal.

In reality, Lü Shang was more interested in the orthodox path of the Golden Elixir than martial arts, starting with nourishing essence, refining qi, concentrating the spirit, harmonizing the dragon and tiger, drawing from the Kan and filling the Li, and finally reaching the path of the Celestial Immortal. However, Lü Shang didn't know why. Although he possessed the twelve chapters of the Golden Flower Secret and felt deeply enriched after reading each one, he simply couldn't grasp the key to cultivation.

This made Lu Shang realize that his talent for cultivation was completely incomparable to his talent for martial arts. Without the guidance of an immortal, he would have to cultivate alone. Unless he found a fairy mountain and secluded himself there to study the secrets of the precious scriptures for thirty to fifty years, he might achieve some success.

But he really didn't want to hide in the mountains like this.

You know, thirty years later is the era of Journey to the West. By the time of Journey to the West, Lu Shang, who has wasted thirty years in the mountains and forests, may not even be able to perfect the stage of reconciling the dragon and the tiger. Qingfeng Mingyue in Journey to the West is an even more powerful figure to him.

If he practiced the martial arts of immortals in this way, with Lu Shang's talent in martial arts and the fact that he had some eccentric talents, he dared to comprehend the Jinhua secret and turn it into martial arts. After thirty years of hard work, even if he could not cultivate the ultimate power in his imagination and shatter the vacuum, he would certainly have achieved great achievements that were not inferior to those of the Pure Yang Immortal.

In this way, Lu Shang had the confidence to participate in the Journey to the West. He wanted to see whether there were so many so-called conspiracy theories about the Journey to the West.

When it comes to martial arts training, Lu Shang always has an inexplicable confidence.

"I just don't know what the quality of the warriors in the world is. I really want to come down and weigh them!"

Of course, Lu Shang knew that there were many strong men in the world of Jambudvīpa, and there was no shortage of fierce and powerful men in the southern continent alone.

But he was more confident that with his current martial arts strength, unless he could find Li Yuanba from more than 20 years later to fight him, other martial artists would basically not be able to withstand more than three moves in front of him.

Li Yuanba had the power that could defeat the four elephants, and after Lu Shang cultivated the twenty-four gods, he also had the power that could defeat the four elephants.

This power is so ferocious that it is a bit exaggerated to say that he will kill gods and Buddhas if they stand in his way, and he hates that the sky has no handle and the earth has no handle. But if you give Lu Shang a handy weapon, a decent set of armor, and a good horse, he can move freely among the 100,000-strong army.

"Martial Arts Field,"

Looking at the letter of admission, Lu Shang nodded thoughtfully. It was not impossible for him to participate. If he could come out on top in the martial arts examination, Yang Jian would surely look upon him with new eyes.

As a relative of the emperor, shouldn't he be able to ask for a reward from the emperor?
Lu Shang had been coveting the "Eight Horses of King Mu" painting for a long time. Although he could play with it from time to time, it was a royal collection after all. Without Yang Jian's permission, Lu Shang did not want to steal it privately.

(End of this chapter)