Chapter 121: The Imperial Examination Ends

First, about the Liao Kingdom.

According to the various information Yang Wenyuan had learned, the entire Great Zhou had no intention of starting a war.

Even when the Liao army came knocking on the pass a few years ago and the old Marquis of Pingyang died as a result, none of the dignitaries in the court clamored to fight back.

Even Yang Yuqing himself.

Even though he hated the Liao Kingdom for suddenly declaring war and killing his brother, he actually did not have much intention of fighting against the Liao Kingdom.

One reason is because of the alliance signed by the previous emperor with the Liao Kingdom. The Zhou and Liao agreed to be brother countries. The Great Zhou provided the Liao Kingdom with an annual tribute of 10 taels of silver and 20 pieces of silk, and agreed that the two countries would not easily start a war.

For the wealthy and prosperous Zhou Dynasty, a mere 10 taels of silver and 20 rolls of silk a year was not a big deal.

All we need to do is reward those "country bumpkins" with some money, and we can avoid starting a war. It is really a very cost-effective deal.

This was also the reason why the old Marquis of Pingyang could safely transfer the children of the Yang family to the border of the Liao Kingdom, and no one objected.

Both countries have been stable for so many years.

Usually they are just some small-scale micro-battles, which is a good place to hone your own skills no matter how you look at it.

But who knew that the Liao emperor would suddenly send out a large army to attack the Yang family, a tough nut to crack.

Yang Wenyuan speculated that the Liao Kingdom might have felt that the Great Zhou was too obedient and that the annual tribute was too little, so they wanted to take the opportunity to blackmail the Great Zhou and raise the protection fee.

As a result, they lost a tooth to the Yang family, and in the end failed to rob successfully, so they had to withdraw in disgrace.

Logically speaking, the Great Zhou could be considered to have won this battle.

However, as far as Yang Wenyuan knew, the annual tribute paid by the Great Zhou to the Liao Kingdom today was not reduced in any way, and they still acted like good brothers.

Secondly, the current emperor is old and the position of crown prince is still undecided, so it is not the right time to cause trouble.

The third is that the Great Zhou was somewhat frightened by the defeat it suffered back then.

These years have been a long period of peace.

Based on the principle of "strong trunk and weak branches, supporting each other inside and outside", the most elite troops of the Great Zhou are all around Bianliang. However, the emperor now has a serious lack of security and will never transfer the troops of Bianliang to the front line.

Therefore, since it was determined that "their own main force" would not go out, no one in the Great Zhou wanted to go to war with the Liao Kingdom.

Four...

It was because the Great Zhou was thinking of going to war with Western Xia!

Yes, you read it right, the Great Zhou wanted to show off its muscles against the Western Xia.

Although the Great Zhou had suffered from "Liao phobia" since the previous emperor, the Great Zhou, which had recovered in recent years, was still eager to take on the Western Xia.

If I can't defeat the Liao Kingdom, can I still defeat you, Xixia? !

It just so happened that the Liao Kingdom and the Great Zhou had just started a war, which caused the Western Xia to also be eyeing Lingzhou of the Great Zhou.

Although the Liao Dynasty made a lot of noise but did little, the Western Xia was no joke.

Seeing that the neighboring Liao Kingdom collected so much annual tribute from the Great Zhou for no reason, and then seeing that it only received so little "annual gift" every year, Xixia was of course not happy!

I also want!
The title is not important, you have to pay enough!

In fact, the Great Zhou did not care much about giving the same annual gift to Western Xia. After all, compared with the trade with Western Xia, such a small amount of money was not much.

But compared to being unable to defeat the Liao Kingdom.

Your Xixia is such a small place, and you asked for money and I gave it to you. Don't you care about the reputation of our Great Zhou?

Therefore, the top leaders of the Great Zhou have already reached the same intention.

Since you, Xixia, want to fight, then fight!
It’s just right to use your Xixia to train troops!

That’s right, the Great Zhou still has some martial ethics.

The bigwigs in the army all wanted to train their troops with Xixia first to test their strength. If they didn't get bogged down in the quagmire of war, they would consider sending troops to Liao. Besides, Lingzhou was the horse breeding ground of Dazhou.

Originally, there were not many places in the Great Zhou that were suitable for raising war horses, and the output of war horses was limited, so the Zhou had to purchase war horses from Western Xia at high prices every year.

If Lingzhou were to be lost now, the day of the Great Zhou's rise would probably have to be postponed indefinitely.

Yang Wenyuan's cousin Yang Wenyan was stationed in Lingzhou under the command of Ningyuan Hou Gu Yankai. He was equivalent to the vanguard soldiers, and more troops were preparing to go to Lingzhou later.

Therefore, when Yang Wenyuan looked at the question in front of him, his thoughts were clear as day.

As Yang Wenyuan wrote, some doubts arose in his mind.

Could this be the reward the emperor had promised?

After all, given Yang Wenyuan's background, it would not be difficult to get the correct answer as long as he read more news on this subject.

In fact, Yang Wenyuan was overthinking this.

After all, this is not a palace examination, and it is not worth it for the emperor to set the questions himself.

The reason why these questions are asked.

In fact, the court was sending out a signal.

After all, if a war were to go to war with Western Xia, it would certainly not be accomplished overnight, so the court would express its attitude in all aspects.

Perhaps in the court reports these days, there will be more and more information about the relationship between Western Xia and Lingzhou, such as Western Xia's provocations on the border and its obvious rebellious intentions.

First, unify the internal voices of the Great Zhou Dynasty and highlight the justice and inevitability of the war.

It was only natural that the Great Zhou would "helplessly defend and counterattack".

Even if the next tax is heavier, it will not arouse too much public indignation in the face of national justice.

Yang Wenyuan wrote down the answer in an eloquent manner.

Another three days and two nights.

Stop writing and close the paper.

The third scene, poetry.

Yang Wenyuan: Finally reached the comfort zone!
In the imperial examination, one had to write a work that conformed to the rhythm and rules of poetry according to the requirements of the topic, and one could not write as casually as usual.

?

It feels so familiar...

Composition essay?

The test question is: Now it is August, please start with August and write a poem, and then there are requirements for rhyme.

Yang Wenyuan thought for a long time, then added ink and began to write.

With the completion of the last stroke, this autumn examination officially came to an end.

The dusty Imperial Examination Hall was opened again, and a group of exhausted candidates rushed out of the narrow examination rooms. Exhausted both mentally and physically, they had completely lost their former literary demeanor.

When Yang Wenyuan walked out of the gate, he saw Yang Yuqing and Madam Chen waiting not far away. Yang Ruijin was already waiting in the carriage.

Yang Wenyuan walked forward. Yang Yuqing saw that Yang Wenyuan was in good spirits. He looked at Qi Heng next to him, who had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he would fall down if touched. He couldn't help but nodded.

"Not bad, it seems that your martial arts training was not in vain, you are quite energetic!"

Madam Chen scolded Yang Yuqing, and quickly gave an apologetic look to Princess Pingning, whose face was already dark, and then urged:
"Let's go, let's send Wenyuan home first and let him eat and wash up early."

After getting on the carriage, Madam Chen looked at Yang Wenyuan with pity and said with a hint of heartache:
"Look, Wenyuan has been in the Imperial Examination Hall for so many days and has lost weight. It's obvious that he didn't sleep well."

Yang Yuqing rubbed his waist slightly and looked at Yang Wenyuan again.

Aren’t the examination rooms in the Imperial Examination Hall very secluded?
How come this kid seems to be in better spirits than me?
(End of this chapter)