You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 182 Results of the Scientific Expedition
The news that King Zhou Zhi of Shu and the three powerful families had rebelled and usurped the throne and were executed shocked the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

This caused quite a stir, especially among aristocratic and wealthy families.

The Yuan family and the Zheng family are both among the seven great families of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and are the leaders of all the powerful families in the world.

The Yuan family of Runan was the head of the seven great families of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

None of the powerful and influential families in the land could have imagined that such deeply rooted and enormous families as the Yuan and Zheng families would be wiped out by the imperial court and become a thing of the past.

It truly shocked everyone.

In total, four of the seven great families of the Great Zhou Dynasty have been exterminated by the imperial court, leaving only three.

However, before the powerful families and noble clans of the land could recover from this shocking news, another message from the imperial court stirred up waves among them.

That was the imperial examination held by the court. Even without local recommendation or examination, one could still participate in the examination.

This move by the imperial court directly changed the attitudes of the powerful and wealthy families across the land.

Isn't the imperial court trying to take away the interests of the powerful families in the land by doing this?

It should be noted that nearly 80% of the officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty came from powerful and influential families.

Therefore, the power of recommendation and appointment in various localities was almost entirely controlled by powerful and influential families.

But now, the imperial court is allowing students without local recommendation to participate in this imperial examination. Isn't this just another way of depriving these aristocratic families of their right to be recommended?

If such an imperial examination system were established, then students from poor families would no longer need to rely on their aristocratic or wealthy families.

In this way, students from poor families who enter officialdom may become rivals to those from powerful and wealthy families who would otherwise suppress them.

This is not good news for the powerful and wealthy families of the world.

Therefore, after receiving the imperial court's rules for this imperial examination, all the powerful and wealthy families in the country ordered their sons and disciples to give up this examination.

This was a silent counterattack by powerful and influential families across the land against the imperial court's dissatisfaction with this year's imperial examination.

After all, it's rare for a child from a poor family to achieve great success.

Eighty percent of the talented people in the world come from prominent and wealthy families.

If the students from aristocratic families do not participate in the imperial examinations, the outcome of this examination for the imperial court is predictable.

With the absence of students from aristocratic families participating in the imperial examinations, the number of students taking the exams this time was significantly reduced.

……

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen was cultivating the Emperor's Conferring of Gods Technique.

After purging the court and eliminating powerful families like the Yuan family of Runan, Zhou Chen felt that his imperial fortune had increased significantly, and he was cultivating the Emperor's Conferring God Technique more than twice as fast as before.

"Click."

A cracking sound came from Zhou Chen's body.

Zhou Chen's aura gradually rose, as if he had broken through some kind of shackle and was heading straight for the peak.

"call."

He exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Zhou Chen opened his eyes, and beams of light shot out.

"Peak of a third-grade Grandmaster?"

Feeling the power emanating from within his body, Zhou Chen was slightly taken aback.

Zhou Chen never expected that this cultivation would not only allow him to break through to the third-grade Grandmaster realm, but also allow him to break through to the peak of the third-grade Grandmaster realm.

This was truly unexpected for Zhou Chen.

With his current strength, he should be considered a master in the outside world!

Zhou Chen thought to himself.

"His Majesty."

"Minister Du, the Eighth Prince, and the Minister of War are requesting an audience outside the palace."

At this moment, a palace eunuch came in to report.

"Let them in."

Zhou Chen knew that the imperial examinations had ended, and these three people had probably come to report the results.

Zhou Chen got up and walked out of the inner hall, sitting on the dragon throne.

moment.

Du Ruhui, the Eighth Prince Zhou Xian, and the Minister of War entered.

"I have met His Majesty."

After Du Ruhui and the other two entered, they bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen looked up at Du Ruhui and the other two; "The results of the scientific expedition should be out by now!"

"how?"

How many talented people are available?

Zhou Chen didn't waste any words and asked directly.

Du Ruhui, the Eighth Prince Zhou Xian, and the Minister of War exchanged glances.

Du Ruhui stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the list selected by the three of us based on the results of this imperial examination."

"Your Majesty, please review this."

Du Ruhui produced a memorial to the throne.

The Minister of War stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have brought the examination papers of the top three candidates into the palace for Your Majesty to review."

After saying that, the Minister of War took out three examination papers.

Zhou Chen, sitting on the dragon throne, glanced at the eunuchs and guards beside him.

The eunuchs immediately went down to take the memorial from Du Ruhui and the three examination papers from the Minister of War, and handed them to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen first looked at the three papers from the top three scorers.

In Zhou Chen's opinion, those who can rank in the top three are definitely not ordinary talents.

However, after Zhou Chen finished reading the papers of the top three students, his brows furrowed.

The top three papers did not reveal any extraordinary talent for governing the country, as Zhou Chen had imagined.

On the contrary, judging from the content of the exam paper, the talents of the top three can only be considered average.

Zhou Chen frowned as he put down the three exam papers and then looked at Du Ruhui's memorial.

After reading Du Ruhui's memorial, Zhou Chen's brows furrowed even more.

Because the number of capable personnel selected from the scientific expedition was far less than Zhou Chen had anticipated.

Furthermore, Zhou Chen was somewhat disappointed with the top three exam papers.

The Great Zhou Dynasty, with its vast land and rivers, even in its decline, surely couldn't possibly fail to select a few decent talents!
Filled with doubt, Zhou Chen looked at Du Ruhui and the other two; "What's going on?"

"The papers of the top three candidates in the imperial examination were quite ordinary to me; they had nothing outstanding about them."

"And why are there still fewer than a hundred capable people selected from scientific expeditions?"

"Has the talent pool in our Great Zhou Dynasty withered to such an extent that only a mere hundred people across this vast land can pass the imperial examinations?"

Zhou Chen looked at Du Ruhui and the other two with a puzzled expression and asked.

Du Ruhui and the other two gave a bitter smile to their hearts.

The Eighth Prince, Zhou Xian, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, almost all the candidates for this imperial examination are from poor families; students from aristocratic families have basically not participated."

The Eighth Prince, Zhou Xian, recounted the details of the imperial examination.

After listening to what the Eighth Prince Zhou Xian had to say, Zhou Chen's gaze darkened slightly.

The fact that aristocratic families did not participate in this imperial examination is clearly a silent counterattack by these powerful clans against the court's decision.

It's likely that the powerful and wealthy families have all recognized the impact of this imperial examination on their clans.

Zhou Chen thought silently.

Zhou Chen's reform of the imperial examination system was originally intended to be a touchstone.

Zhou Chen wanted to test the reaction of the powerful families in the world and see how much resistance there would be.

To Zhou Chen's surprise, this probing attack would elicit such a fierce counterattack from the powerful families of the world.

It seems that reforming the imperial examination system requires careful planning.

Zhou Chen looked up at Du Ruhui and the other two; "Let's send all the capable people selected in this imperial examination to the local areas!"

"The top three will all be sent to Shu and the four northern prefectures."

"There are many vacant official positions in the four northern prefectures and Shu region. Fill these vacancies as soon as possible."

Zhou Chen said.

Although the imperial court had already sent some officials to the four northern prefectures, there were still quite a few vacancies.

Zhou Chen then assigned all the capable individuals selected from this scientific expedition to local positions to fill the vacancies.

Although these people are of average talent and not particularly gifted, they should be able to govern a region without much trouble after being trained in local areas for a period of time.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Du Ruhui bowed and said. Although Fang Xuanling, the Minister of Personnel, had returned, Du Ruhui had been in charge of this matter for some time.

Currently, Du Ruhui is still in charge.

After finishing this matter, Zhou Chen looked at the Minister of War and asked, "Li Yuan, how are the compensations being handled for the soldiers of the Divine Martial Guard who died fighting for the Great Zhou?"

Zhou Chen had already issued an imperial edict regarding this matter to Xun Yu and Li Yuan, the Minister of War.

"Your Majesty, according to the casualty figures reported by the Divine Martial Guard, I have already dispatched personnel from the Ministry of War to verify the numbers and have begun distributing compensation according to the list."

The Minister of War bowed and reported on the situation regarding the relief and compensation for the Shenwu Guard.

After listening to the Minister of War's report, Zhou Chen nodded. "Your Ministry of War must thoroughly investigate for me and not miss a single person."

"Your Ministry of War must also supervise the officials and generals below, and ensure that the pensions of the soldiers who shed blood for the Great Zhou are not withheld."

"Once discovered, have him arrested and severely punished."

Zhou Chen said sternly.

Throughout history, many generals have embezzled the pensions they were supposed to provide to their soldiers.

Zhou Chen did not want this kind of thing to happen to the Divine Martial Guard.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Minister of War bowed and accepted the order.

Then, Du Ruhui and the other two reported some more things and left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

……

After Du Ruhui and the others left, Zhou Chen began to think about the imperial examination.

Zhou Chen knew that if he wanted to revitalize the Great Zhou Dynasty, the first thing he had to do was reform the imperial examination system and stop continuing the previous recommendation system.

We must not allow powerful families to control the path to officialdom through such words.

Otherwise, not only would many talented people be overlooked, but the powerful families of the world would also corrupt the Great Zhou.

However, judging from the silent counterattack of the aristocratic families after this test of the imperial examination, Zhou Chen knew that reforming the imperial examination and breaking the monopoly of power held by the aristocratic families would not be so easy.

"It seems that to solve this problem, we have to dig up the roots of the powerful families and defeat them one by one."

Zhou Chen thought to himself, his eyes flickering.

……

Northern Xinjiang.

Zhenbeicheng.

A horse-drawn carriage slowly entered Zhenbei City.

"Is this Zhenbei City?"

The carriage curtain was lifted, and Jia Xu surveyed the largest city in the northern frontier.

After several days of arduous travel, Jia Xu finally arrived at his final destination today.

As for why Jia Xu came to Zhenbei City in the northern frontier.

Their purpose is self-evident and cannot be more obvious.

Jia Xu came for the title of Marquis of Zhenbei.

This is also Jia Xu's next task.

Zhou Chen knew that to resolve the border issues, he couldn't resort to force; he had to rely on strategy and ingenuity.

Otherwise, if force is used, even if the Marquis of Zhenbei is suppressed, it will weaken the overall military strength of the surrounding areas.

At that time, it would give foreign tribes outside the pass an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Not worth the candle.

Therefore, Zhou Chen sent Jia Xu to the northern frontier.

Zhou Chen believed that with Jia Xu's cunning and ruthless methods, taking down the Marquis of Zhenbei shouldn't be too difficult.

"Mr. Jia, shall we find an inn to rest for a while?"

A burly man driving the carriage asked.

"No need, let's go directly to your stronghold." Jia Xu shook his head.

This is, after all, Zhenbei City, the territory of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Who knows how many of the Marquis of Zhenbei's spies are in this city?

Especially the inn, there are definitely spies of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Jia Xu had to be more cautious and decided it was safer to go directly to the Eastern Depot's stronghold.

"Yes, Mr. Jia."

The burly man driving the carriage nodded.

This burly man driving the carriage was no ordinary coachman, but a guard from the Eastern Depot.

Zhou Chen sent Jia Xu to the northern frontier to deal with the Marquis of Zhenbei, naturally enlisting the assistance of the Eastern Depot.

The Eastern Depot also had its own secret stronghold in Zhenbei City.

The burly man drove the carriage through several main streets before finally stopping in an inconspicuous courtyard.

The burly man driving the carriage glanced around, jumped off the carriage, and went forward to knock on the gate of the courtyard.

Soon, the courtyard gate was opened.

The burly man driving the carriage immediately took out a token from the Eastern Depot and showed it to the person who opened the door.

The person who opened the door nodded after looking at the token in the driver's hand.

After confirming the identity of the person who opened the door, the burly coachman turned to Jia Xu inside the carriage and whispered, "Mr. Jia, we've arrived."

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu lifted the carriage curtain and got off the carriage.

Jia Xu said nothing and walked directly into the courtyard.

The burly man driving the carriage also went inside.

The person who opened the door waved three times towards the distance.

A figure walked over from not far away, got into a carriage, and drove the carriage towards the courtyard not far away.

……

night.

In a secret room within the courtyard of the Eastern Depot's stronghold.

Jia Xu sat in the main seat.

Three figures sat below.

These three figures were none other than Cao Xing, Hou Cheng, and Hao Meng, whom Zhou Chen had sent to infiltrate the Zhenbei Army.

As for Song Xian and Cheng Lian, they went to the Western Liang army.

Jia Xu glanced at Cao Xing and the other two and said, "You have just read His Majesty's decree. From now on, we will have to rely on the three generals."

Cao Xing and the other two immediately stood up and said, "Mr. Jia, please give us any instructions. We will obey your orders."

The imperial edict instructed Cao Xing and the other two to follow Jia Xu's orders.

Therefore, Cao Xing and the other two stood up respectfully and listened to Jia Xu's orders.

"Please sit down, all of you!"

"Tell me about your situation in the Zhenbei Army during this period."

"And what do you know about the main generals of the Zhenbei Army?"

Jia Xu looked at Cao Xing and the other two and said.

Jia Xu knew that if he wanted to take down the Marquis of Zhenbei without much fighting, he could only start from within.

Only by attacking from within can we take down the Marquis of Zhenbei at a very low cost.

Jia Xu did not believe that the generals of the Zhenbei Army were all of one mind and loyal to the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Moreover, everyone has weaknesses. Even if the generals of the Zhenbei Army are all of one mind, as long as their weaknesses are found, none of them can escape Jia Xu's grasp.

After all, when it comes to the ability to manipulate people's hearts, almost no one can compare to Jia Xu, the cunning strategist.

"Yes, Mr. Jia."

After Cao Xing and the other two sat down, they began to recount their experiences in the Zhenbei Army and what they had learned during that time.

It should be noted that during this period, Cao Xing and his two companions had been entertaining the generals of the Zhenbei Army with food and drink every day.

None of this was in vain.

Although Cao Xing and the other two did not learn much about the Zhenbei Army from these generals.

However, Cao Xing and the other two had a basic understanding of the generals' hobbies and temperaments.

These are exactly what Jia Xu needs.

Only by understanding the hobbies and temperaments of these generals can their weaknesses be identified.

(End of this chapter)