[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

"That's right! Study hard!" Fusu patted Chen Ping on the shoulder, took out a token from his sleeve, and tossed it to him. "This is a token for the palace library. With this token, as long as it's not a confidential document or map, you can borrow and copy it at will. No one will dare to stop you."

Looking at the token that Fusu had casually tossed onto him, Chen Ping's hands began to tremble slightly.

Although I don't understand why Fusu suddenly made me study, this situation is clearly a good thing.

What is the Palace Library? After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he copied the books of the six kingdoms into Qin script and moved them all into the Xianyang Palace for storage. The original texts written in the scripts of the six kingdoms and other miscellaneous scripts were burned to ashes.

Therefore, many books have become out of print in the general public and can only be found in the Xianyang Palace.

The fact that the eldest son is sending him to study in the palace library is definitely a sign that he is about to be given an important position!

Chen Ping gripped the token tightly, knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "Thank you so much for your kindness, Young Master. I will cherish this opportunity."

Fusu knelt down on one knee beside Chen Ping, looking at Chen Ping who was still kneeling with his upper body on the ground. He patted Chen Ping's shoulder and said, "Study hard and come back with first place."

Hearing Fusu's words, Chen Ping was overjoyed even more. This was clearly a suggestion to take the exam, and then...

That's right! Regarding the matter of eliminating retainers, Fusu, Chen Ping, and Xiao He came up with the idea of ​​holding a large-scale examination. They set a set of questions for all ambitious people to take the test. Those who passed would pass, and those who failed would be blacklisted. No one could pass by being a mere pretender.

Originally, the plan was simply to select a retainer, but suddenly someone had a sudden inspiration and said, "Your Majesty has repeatedly issued edicts to recruit talents from various countries, but very few of these talented individuals who come to Xianyang are fortunate enough to meet Your Majesty. So what's the use of issuing such edicts?"

There is a Chinese saying that goes, "It is difficult for children from poor families to become successful." But this is not necessarily true. It is not that children from poor families cannot become successful; it is just that it is difficult for them to do so in peacetime.

Take the Qin state as an example. In the past, there were many people in Qin who rose to prominence by persuading the King of Qin. But back then, Qin was incredibly weak among the powerful states. It was a country that anyone could mock and trample on. If a talented person was willing to serve you, that would be a good thing. Why would you have so much nonsense and pick and choose? When you're starving, who cares if the tofu pudding is from Xianyang, the zongzi is sweet, or the mooncake is made with five kinds of nuts?

But things are different now. The seven kingdoms are now unified, the world is at peace, and there are plenty of officials in the court.

People have selfish desires, and these officials were no exception, especially Li Si. He was capable, but his selfishness was immense.

Back then, Li Si served as a retainer under Lü Buwei for several years without any prospects for advancement. If it weren't for Li Si's clever scheme to gain fame and then attach himself to Ying Zheng, he would probably still be guarding a warehouse somewhere.

Therefore, how could such a person tolerate another person copying his path?

We must strike! We must strike with all our might!

However, conducting national examinations is different. No matter how long Li Si's whip is, he cannot catch all the fish in his net and block others from ascending to the heavens.

"Oh, by the way... if you can get first place, there might be a surprise gift package." Fu Su looked at Chen Ping with a cold smile, and said with a very ferocious expression and an absolutely unkind tone: "This surprise gift package is... maybe we can become relatives."

"Relatives...relatives..." Chen Ping was first startled, then overjoyed, his face flushed slightly, and his voice became melodious like a young girl's, "Young Master...you...you knew?"

"Do I look like such a stupid person?" Fusu rolled his eyes at Chen Ping. He was so handsome, but he turned out to be a fool. He didn't know what Hehua saw in him. "Actually, this is what Father said. Sigh... You know, Father has always loved Hehua the most and couldn't bear to let her get married. But a daughter should stay at home until she's old enough to get married. Hehua has reached the age to get married, and he can't keep her for many more years."

As Fusu spoke, he glanced at Chen Ping, who was looking at him intently. He continued, "You know, Father loves Hehua so much that he wants to marry her off to a good man. But most of the noble sons in the court have this or that problem. Father has looked around and feels that none of them are good enough for Hehua. He's currently troubled by this, and then this good opportunity came along. So... Father plans to use this examination as an opportunity to choose a good one for Hehua."

“This is your chance, you know? If you get first place, Hehua will be yours even if it wasn’t originally yours.” Fusu patted Chen Ping on the shoulder again. “To avoid suspicion, don’t come looking for me recently, understand? Okay, you can go now.”

Holding the token, Chen Ping left the house in a daze. According to the man Fu Su sent to follow him, Mr. Chen almost lost his footing and fell off the carriage when he got on. Fortunately, the people around him caught him in time, otherwise he would have given up on the exam altogether.

"With such a weak ability to withstand pressure, how can he be worthy of being a brother-in-law?"

Inevitably, Fusu will complain to Hehua again, and take the opportunity to criticize Chen Ping, hoping that Hehua will pull back from the brink and continue to stay at home as his lovely little sister.

"Doesn't this... prove even more that he cares about me, which is why he's so infatuated with me?" Hehua said shyly.

Fusu raised his head, glanced at Hehua silently, thought for a moment, and decided it was best not to say anything.

What's there to say about a woman who's obsessed with love? Her IQ is never online; at best, it's a negative five. Of course, before she's in a relationship, her IQ isn't much higher either; it's just not negative.

Luckily, she has such a clever and brave brother, otherwise she would have... hehe.

As his younger siblings grew up, Fusu gained a deeper understanding of the phrase "eldest brother is like father"—heartbroken as if he were dead, his scumbag father only cared about giving birth but not raising his children, where was justice?

Fusu, who had a history of slapping faces countless times and was known as the "Prince of Slapping Faces in Qin," stomped his foot angrily, covered in pink bubbles, and muttered, "Studying is so hard, shouldn't we send some tonics over? Baozhu likes to eat so much, she must know a lot about tonics. I'll go ask her later what kind of tonics I should stew." He then covered his swollen face and left in tears.

Father, Mother, Son, Sister is bullying me, please come and comfort me.

After rolling around twice in Ying Zheng and Mi Ji's arms, and then rolling around twice in the arms of the little dumpling who could already roll around, Xiao He presented the simple process and plan for this exam.

At the grand court assembly, Zhao Gao read aloud the contents of Xiao He's memorial in a particularly melodious voice.

Regardless of which side they were sitting on, everyone present, with expressions ranging from joy to anger to surprise or something else entirely unreadable, was internally screaming things like, "Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! The world is about to change! The world is about to change! The world is about to change!"

After Zhao Gao finished reading, Ying Zheng looked at the crowd with varying expressions but generally stiff movements and asked with a smile, "What do you all think?"

As a seasoned politician, Ying Zheng's political wisdom far surpassed that of Fusu.

Fusu only saw the advantages of "recruiting talents through examinations," but Ying Zheng, who had ruled the country for many years, knew that sometimes what was beneficial to the country was not necessarily beneficial to his subjects.

Just like when the world was first unified, all the meritorious officials except Li Si said that the "feudal system" was good. But was the "feudal system" really beneficial to the country? It's a huge joke. Even a blind person knows that the "feudal system" only harmed the interests of the Qin Dynasty and enriched their own pockets.

The same applies to exams now. Whether they are commoners or nobles, everyone had to take exams back then. From now on, these people will no longer be able to use their privileges to prevent talented people from reaching the emperor's ears, nor will they be able to use their privileges to send their children to their doorsteps. Isn't this cutting off people's path to wealth?

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their entire family.

Ying Zheng knew that this matter, like the prefecture-county system, could only be handled by him, the founding emperor, and absolutely could not be done by the next generation, otherwise these ministers might not be so obedient.

Among the ministers, Li Si, though driven by personal motives, best understood Ying Zheng's heart. Furthermore, he had deep affection for the Qin Dynasty and always considered its interests. Otherwise, he wouldn't have opposed the "feudal system." After all, as the most meritorious civil official, given his contributions, being granted land and territory wouldn't be a dream for him.

Therefore, after his initial surprise, Li Si quickly understood Ying Zheng's thoughts and said, "I think it's worth a try."

The civil officials have dealt with Li Si, and even if others have opinions, they haven't figured out how to say them yet. They're afraid that if they say something wrong, they'll be going against all the poor scholars in the world, which would be a sure way to get a sack put in their pockets on the street.

As for the military officers... what does this have to do with them? This isn't the Song Dynasty or other dynasties that valued civil affairs over military matters. As long as the Qin Dynasty's military merit system remains unchanged, being a soldier is definitely a good job. These military officers must be bored to let their sons pursue a cultural path.

Therefore, everyone was happy, and Ying Zheng happily pointed at Li Si, saying, "This matter is to be handled by the Prime Minister, with Xiao He assisting."

If it were anything else, Ying Zheng would definitely bring out his brat to show off, saying, "Look! This is my son's idea, isn't it great?" But since such words would offend people, Ying Zheng decided that before the great momentum was established, it was better to let the brat keep his achievements hidden, so as not to let villains cause trouble and hinder the brat's future path of progress.

Besides, didn't that brat say that Chen Ping also wants to take the exam? He's been studying so hard these past few days that he's been working himself to the bone at home. To avoid any suspicion, we definitely can't let him take it.

Su'er is really too naughty. I clearly said, "If Chen Ping's grades are good, I will choose him as my son-in-law in the name of a talented young unmarried man." How did it become that only the first place winner gets this opportunity in this brat's mouth? He really trusts Chen Ping a lot!

However, I like this idea. If you want to marry my daughter, the difficulty should be even higher.