A poem finished, the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Every scholar and minister present was shaken by Jiang Chen's poem encouraging learning.

The short four lines, with unremarkable wording, made them feel a kind of emperor's ambition that swallowed the universe!

They couldn't help but want to obey, to follow, to be driven by Jiang Chen, even to die for him!

At this moment, even Mei Wenshi was momentarily lost in thought.

He looked at Jiang Chen, his experienced eyes flashing with appreciation, then quickly turning to regret, and finally solidifying into determination.

There was no turning back once the arrow was released!

Since he had chosen the Jiang Zuo King, he shouldn't have any unnecessary thoughts.

Taking one last glance at Jiang Chen, Mei Wenshi withdrew his gaze.

His expression was calm, but several poisonous schemes floated through his mind. His experienced eyes flickered, and he sighed inwardly,

"Your Majesty, after so many years as ruler and subject, I never truly understood you!"

"In that case, let this old man test your mettle and see if you are truly a great leader!"

Thinking this, Mei Wenshi lowered his head, hiding his face in the shadows.

At this time, the crowd had recovered from their shock.

They looked at Jiang Chen with admiration, some more emotional scholars even shedding tears, vowing on the spot to forever be loyal to Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen smiled and nodded, but his heart remained calm.

As the Son of Heaven, he had heard too many such declarations; his ears were already calloused.

After saying a few simple polite words to rally the people,

Jiang Chen picked up the still-wet ink on the rice paper and said faintly, "Shi Ping, I want this poem encouraging learning, and the deeds of Minister Song, to spread throughout the Wei Dynasty. Can you do it?"

When he said the word "deeds," Jiang Chen deliberately emphasized his tone.

Shi Ping naturally understood, cupping his fist and saying, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will draft an official document and publish the events of today's imperial examination in the Dibao (official gazette). Within seven days, it will spread throughout the country."

Jiang Chen frowned: "The Dibao is used to publish my edicts and court policies. Only officials and their confidants can see it. I want all the people of Wei to know!"

Shi Ping frowned, thinking for a moment, and said, "Your Majesty, if you want all the people in the world to know about this, you can only post imperial notices for nationwide announcement... However, wouldn't this be a bit wasteful? The price of paper and subsequent maintenance would all be a considerable expense!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Mei Wenshi to the side, somewhat tempted.

Privately, he really wanted to take on this task and make this old thing suffer.

However, the cost of printing the Dibao and the imperial notice was indeed high.

When it came to money, he had to be careful to avoid future troubles.

Jiang Chen knew Shi Ping's little thoughts too well.

He knew that he didn't want to get involved with money, fearing being schemed against by Mei Wenshi, the Minister of Revenue.

Immediately, he raised his eyelids and said, "Minister Shi, the national treasury expenses are the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. Why are you, the Minister of Rites, worrying about this?"

Hearing this, Shi Ping showed an embarrassed smile, and was about to bow and apologize.

But he heard Jiang Chen say again: "Both the imperial notice and the Dibao must be issued. You will personally supervise this matter. Within seven days, I want to see results. It must be completed!"

After speaking, without waiting for Shi Ping to react, Jiang Chen looked at Mei Wenshi again.

His tone was gentle, but his eyes held no warmth, and he said, "Minister Mei, you are the Minister of Revenue. This matter will cost a lot, and you need to supervise it more... Don't let me down!"

Hearing this, the veins on Mei Wenshi's forehead twitched violently, and his blood surged.

This damn emperor was trying to kill him with humiliation!

Once the imperial notice and Dibao were posted, the Mei family's reputation would definitely be swept away.

The officials and nobles of the same rank would laugh at Mei Wenshi for taking off the shoes of a lowly commoner, and the lower-class peddlers would think of him as a fool with no eyes, unable to recognize talent!

Mei Wenshi could already imagine the mocking faces of his old opponents.

But, no matter how humiliating, as a subject, he could not refuse!

His hands clenched tightly in his sleeves, he lowered his head and said, "This subject will definitely complete it."

This was the sentence Jiang Chen was waiting for, and he immediately laughed loudly: "Good, Minister Mei is straightforward."

"Then I will wait for your good news, but let's get this straight first. If you mess up this matter, I will be very angry, and the consequences will be very serious!"

The corner of Mei Wenshi's eye twitched, and he promised again: "This humble subject will certainly not disappoint Your Majesty."

Jiang Chen said nothing.

He just looked at his livid face and nodded in satisfaction.

The ruler and his subject reached an agreement.

At this time, the surrounding officials also reacted, and they all cast sympathetic glances at Mei Wenshi.

His Majesty's move was really ruthless!

Publicly humiliating Mei Wenshi was one thing, but he even had him handle this matter personally. What kind of feud was this?!

Moreover, Song Xun was the number one scholar of the Wei Dynasty and would inevitably be recorded in history. Wouldn't Mei Wenshi and Zhang Liping also be recorded and stink for ten thousand years?

Thinking of this, all the courtiers couldn't help but shudder.

Secretly vowing that they would never easily provoke His Majesty in the future!

However, the scholars present could not see through this struggle.

They were even moved because Jiang Chen wanted to issue imperial notices and the Dibao, thinking that he was a wise ruler who cared about the people.

A king who didn't care about background and was willing to sacrifice his own interests to encourage the people and enlighten the people was worthy of their sworn allegiance!

Evening.

After completing the riding on the imperial steps and touring the inner city,

The imperial examination officially ended.

Jiang Chen had returned to the Hall of Diligent Governance early.

He left the miscellaneous affairs of the previous dynasty to the Prime Minister and Shi Ping.

Of course, he did not forget about Mei Wenshi having to lead the horse for Song Xun, and he specifically found a team of Imperial Guards to supervise the whole process.

Although he really wanted to go and see the excitement in person.

However, the state and local examination corruption case was still waiting for him to deal with, so he could only give up regrettably.

For those corrupt officials and those who dared to ignore his will, Jiang Chen's attitude was only one, kill!

But at the moment, his power was not yet fully developed, and there were still shortcomings in his hands.

He could only suppress the impulse in his heart, catch a few typical ones to behead, and punish the rest. He couldn't carry out a large-scale purge.

However, just because he couldn't kill now didn't mean he couldn't kill later!

He had already remembered all these blind things in his heart.

Once he had dealt with the Mei family, he could settle the score in the autumn!

Clutching the thick stack of names in his hand, Jiang Chen sneered a few times.

Afterwards, he placed the list on the bookshelf next to him, so that he could read it at any time.

Then he shifted his gaze and picked up the memorial presented by Shi Ping.

It was a list.

Inside were the life stories of the poor scholars in the capital.

All of them were people who had failed in this imperial examination.

Jiang Chen planned to cultivate them and send them to the grassroots level of the court, or to the army to serve as supervisors.

They were all talents with innocent backgrounds and could not be wasted.

After dealing with government affairs for a long time,

Jiang Chen was also a little tired and prepared to go to Consort Shu to take a look.

There were many interesting things about today's imperial examination, and Yun'er would definitely be interested.

A beautiful face as gentle as water appeared in his mind, and Jiang Chen's mouth curled into a gentle smile.

Just as he stepped out of the hall, the dark guard suddenly came to report...