Chapter 361: Chapter 221: The Frightened He Lianfang_2
He Lianfang thought of the phrase "a mind as sharp as a demon." People often said he had a mind as sharp as a demon, but compared to this child Zhao Yao, he was just a minor witch, while Zhao Yao was the true Great Witch.
What shocked He Lianfang the most wasn’t Zhao Yao’s nearly supernatural intelligence, but his clarity of thought. Even though he was only six years old, he had the sophistication and composure of a sixty-year-old, with a rationality that could see through everything.
If it were anyone else who came up with the idea of the imperial examination, they would rush to tell the emperor, thus gaining official positions and titles, and earning the gratitude of scholars across the land.
Scholars across the land would be grateful to him for a lifetime. And not only them, but future generations of scholars would also feel thankful.
For all scholars, the imperial examination Zhao Yao came up with was their hope for study and their chance to change their destiny. As long as the imperial examination continued, they would have the opportunity to change their fate.
Moreover, their purpose in studying was not to become literati, nor to become a Saint, but to live a good life and change the fate of their family. However, for the current scholars, not all of them had the opportunity to become officials. But with the imperial examination, each of them had a chance; as long as they did well in the exams, they could become officials.
They didn’t need an excellent family background, nor did they need to curry favor with anyone; they just needed to study hard and take the exams, and they would have a chance to become officials. Most importantly, everyone was treated equally; no matter their background, if they didn’t perform well in the exams, they couldn’t become officials, not even if they were noble or from a noble family.
Once the imperial examination was implemented, Zhao Yao would be like rebirth parents to the scholars of the world. However, for the noble families and aristocrats, they couldn’t recommend their people to be officials, which harmed their interests. They would harbor resentment towards Zhao Yao.
"So, I can’t say it now." Zhao Yao also wanted to tell the emperor about the imperial examination sooner, allowing children from humble backgrounds to enter the court and break the monopoly of noble families. But he was just a child and wasn’t so noble as to risk his own life for the sake of all scholars. He still had his mother, and if he died, the blow to his mother would be devastating; she might soon follow him.
For now, he just wanted to live well and grow up safely to become a prince and go to his fiefdom. Once he got to his fiefdom, he would definitely implement the imperial examination. But for now, he would just forget it.
"Let’s put the matter of the imperial examination aside for now and bring it up when the time is right." After hearing Zhao Yao talk about the imperial examination, He Lianfang had made up his mind. The matter of the imperial examination had to be used at the "cutting edge," allowing Zhao Yao to "make a name for himself in one battle." This way, he could help Zhao Yao ascend to power in the future.
Zhao Yao nodded like a little chicken pecking rice, "Hmm, that’s exactly what I plan to do."
"Tell me, do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?" Zhao Zheng found his youngest son truly astonishing. He feared this boy might be hiding other things in his heart.
"What tricks?" Zhao Yao asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
"Aside from the imperial examination, do you have anything else you haven’t mentioned?" He Lianfang narrowed his eyes slightly, staring sharply at Zhao Yao. "You’ve got a lot of tricks hidden in your belly, so speak honestly."
Well... it seemed Second Uncle genuinely had the ability to see through people.
Seeing Zhao Yao’s hesitant and evasive manner, He Lianfang knew he had guessed right.
This kid really did have more tricks up his sleeve.
"Speak."
Zhao Yao thought to himself that he had many secrets hidden in his heart, and he couldn’t reveal them all. However, there was one thing he could speak of now.
"Second Uncle, actually I have some different ideas regarding the training of soldiers."
Training soldiers?
He Lianfang raised an eyebrow slightly, asking with interest, "What ideas?"
"Here’s how it is..." Zhao Yao detailed the training methods he had seen in his dreams of Zhao Yao and others to He Lianfang.
The training methods Zhao Yao described were unheard of and unseen by He Lianfang. At first, they sounded absurd, but the more he listened, the better they seemed.
"Second Uncle, what do you think?" He thought the training methods from Zhao Yao’s dream world were very good.
He Lianfang was twice astonished by Zhao Yao, nearly losing his composure, but he managed to remain stable.
"The methods you mentioned are excellent. I will have Dahua Village Manor employ these methods to train soldiers." Having spent half his life leading troops, he had personally trained soldiers before, but compared to the methods Zhao Yao described, his ways seemed inadequate.