Chen Xi was all too clear about the nature of alliances; one could say they were made to be broken. However, as long as such an agreement existed and there were no significant changes in the balance of power between both parties, no one would be willing to hastily start a war.
What Chen Xi needed was just that type of buffering period, during which time he could almost completely bring Qingzhou under Liu Bei’s governance.
In the subsequent period, Chen Xi’s life did not change much, maintaining the leisure that he was accustomed to.
"Report!" A messenger appeared in the hall, kneeling halfway and spoke.
"What’s the matter?" Chen Xi asked helplessly, seeing that there went his chance for tea once again. No choice, emergencies were an inescapable reality.
"Scholars are assaulting the Library Pavilion," the messenger replied.
"Really now..." Chen Xi drank the tea in his cup and sighed, these scholars really knew how to be tiresome.
"What is Zijian doing?" Without speaking, Lub Su raised his head and glared at the messenger, saying. That place nearly holds a hundred thousand volumes of various books, you had Hua Xiong squatting there precisely to defend it, and now it’s under assault?
"General Hua is exerting effort to suppress them but the number of scholars is growing," the messenger replied calmly and confidently, one could tell he was a trusted aide of Hua Xiong, otherwise he would have been scared off by Lub Su’s scolding by now.
"This is really shameful," Lub Su said with dissatisfaction, not sure if he was more embarrassed for the people of Yuzhou or those of Mount Tai, "Zichuan, instead of leisurely drinking tea, hurry up and resolve this matter for me, this is a problem you promised to address."
"Let’s go together, these worthless ones must be divided and conquered," Chen Xi said bluntly. Trouble-makers seeking death!
"Alright, I’ve pretty much drafted the education reform program, you go fetch Fa Xiaozhi for me. As for the scholars, let them make noise for now," Lub Su flipped through his notebook, confirming that he had mostly handled the overall education issue, then turned towards the messenger and ordered, taking Fa Zheng with him, as mentioning benefits later would be easier.
"Understood," the messenger wasn’t worried about the scholars breaking into the Library Pavilion. Was he supposed to believe Hua Xiong was sleepwalking? What a joke! If the scholars clashed with the regular army, and the regular army got serious, it would only take minutes to teach the scholars what war really meant.
"Your Thousand Character Classic is quite impressive, you never mentioned it before," Lub Su changed the subject.
"Why would I mention it? This is fundamentally a primer I prepared for literacy. Admittedly, it is quite remarkable," Chen Xi said nonchalantly. The book was a classic that had withstood centuries and was still being used in the twenty-first century for literacy. He had memorized it as a child.
As for the large number of scholars attacking the Library Pavilion that Hua Xiong mentioned, it was actually just a few hundred, maybe over a thousand scholars confronting Hua Xiong, hoping to borrow books from inside. The scenery described by Chen Chi from the inside of the Library Pavilion made all the scholars yearn for it.
Of course, this scene also amused merchants from all over the world. Now, the restaurants near the Library Pavilion were filled with merchants from the Four Directions, just waiting to enjoy the spectacle. But as the number of gathered scholars increased, these merchants began to sense something else – wasn’t the number of literate people unusually high?
"Big brother, Mount Tai is truly a remarkable place, far more prosperous than our Henei and even Chang’an and Luoyang—my, my, my! The Chen Family really is blind." The youth sprawled at the window said with a face full of mockery, watching the crowds below.
"Nowadays, if we speak of prosperity, only Nanyang and this place can compete. Unfortunately, Nanyang has been declining with the sunset since the war between Yuan Cao, while this place is like the sunrise at dawn." The young scholar known as the big brother smiled as he watched his little brother scornfully observing the people below from the balcony.
"There are many kinds of Spiritual Talents here, but the most fearsome is the Spiritual Talent that circulates above the Sky Dome. I actually can’t neutralize it, which is truly unexpected." The youth’s eyes flickered with a glint as he looked up at the Heavenly Palace with a touch of curiosity, then his gaze shifted towards the direction of the Government Office and he silently withdrew his sight.
"Oh, my dear brother, can you not use your Spiritual Talent obediently? Your big brother has been worn out by your antics. You have no idea, when your full Spiritual Talent is activated, it’s simply troublesome. Do you think it’s easy for me to take you around without incident? If you continue being reckless and neutralize my Spiritual Talent, we’ll end up sleeping on the streets tonight."
The youth referred to as the big brother touched his forehead with a wry smile, truly helpless in face of his troublesome sibling. If he had a choice, he would assure himself never to bring this troublesome brother out. How could one awaken their Spiritual Talent on the road? Damn it, you’re only thirteen years old, for goodness’ sake. A thirteen-year-old kid awakening what sort of Spiritual Talent, do you even let others live?
"What’s there to be afraid of, big brother? With just a wave of your hand, countless Feudal Lords would wish to invite us with open arms," the younger brother said with a laugh, but he also heeded his brother’s words and didn’t use his Spiritual Talent to probe the scattered Spiritual Energy above the Sky Dome any longer.
"Zichuan, what’s wrong?" Lub Su asked curiously as he looked at Chen Xi.
"I don’t know why, but I just felt some strange sensations." Chen Xi said with a bit of embarrassment. Could he admit he felt someone tickling him?
"Oh, that’s the case." Lub Su nodded, not prying any further.
After a while, a messenger brought over Fa Zheng, yawning, his hair disheveled, and wearing a loose-fitting Confucian Robe.
"Zichuan, Zijing, what do you need me for? I still have a lot of work to do." Fa Zheng’s eyes, slightly bloodshot, looked at Chen Xi and Lub Su as he spoke.
"How’s the education welfare for scholars coming along? We have a preliminary template for the military welfare; you can just add on to that when the time comes." Chen Xi slightly vibrated the teapot and poured a cup of leafy tea for Fa Zheng.
"It’s coming along to a finished product." Fa Zheng, scratching his hair, said. He gulped down the cup of tea without seeming to mind the heat, chewed the tea leaves, and swallowed them before tossing his notebook to Chen Xi. "Here it is. Take a look and see if there are any issues; I think it’s quite good!"
Chen Xi handed half of it to Lub Su, then took the other half to look over. He quickly skimmed through it and ultimately concluded that Fa Zheng was indeed a miser. The welfare plan did not mention money at all; it was all societal benefits, honors, and special privileges.
Chen Xi looked at Fa Zheng oddly. How did he come up with this?
"How about it? I did well, right?" Fa Zheng looked at Chen Xi with pride.
"Indeed, it’s excellent. You’ve captured the hearts of scholars perfectly. Tell me, the welfare you’ve planned for the soldiers isn’t primarily money with honor secondary, is it?" Chen Xi nodded in agreement with Fa Zheng’s proposal.
(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote, recommend, and give monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit to read.)