Zhang Fei pinched a jujube out of his bowl and burst into laughter.
"White stones with red veins, words written on a turtle's belly. And this counts as an auspicious omen? Why don't we see a qilin showing up too?"
Zhang Fei did not say this without reason.
The Han dynasty revered Confucian scholars, and according to tradition, Confucius himself laid down his brush forever after witnessing the death of a qilin. For the Han, the qilin was the highest tier of all auspicious signs.
In the sixth year of Yuanshuo during Emperor Wu of Han's reign, a qilin was reportedly sighted during the western hunt. Emperor Wu composed the "Song of the White Qilin" to commemorate it, changed the era name to Yuanshou, and established the Qilin Pavilion.
After that, records of qilin sightings appeared in nearly every generation. And as far as Zhang Fei knew, once the world fell into chaos, these qilin somehow became busier and busier.
A qilin appeared in Yuan Shao's Hebei. Another appeared in Yuan Shu's Shouchun. Dong Zhuo saw one. Liu Biao and Liu Yan both saw one too.
Of course, by now Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and the others no longer believed in auspicious omens at all.
Zhang Fei's mindset was simple.
If your so called auspicious omen has the guts, bring it out and let it bump heads with the light screen.
After all, if one were to rank auspicious signs, what could possibly compare to this light screen?
And this light screen kept telling them to study, to believe in science, and to heap praise upon the common people.
All of this gave Zhang Fei the confidence to look down upon these so called "auspicious omens" with an amused, mocking gaze.
Unfortunately, such casual mockery of the qilin darkened Liu Bei's face until it looked like the bottom of a pot. He immediately flicked a jujube with pinpoint accuracy, striking Yide squarely on the head and cutting his laughter short.
Fa Zheng, who had been bent over recording the contents of the light screen, froze for a moment. He thought to himself that if General Yide kept joking like this, would it not make all the former Han emperors look rather…
Shaking his head, Fa Zheng lowered it again and continued recording with seriousness.
When Xu Shu had arrived earlier, Fa Zheng had known his own qualifications could not compare. And after returning, Xu Shu had gone straight to the front lines in Jingzhou to clash with Cao's forces, without a word of complaint.
Now Lu Su had come as well. He had the reputation of a great talent of Jiangdong. But Fa Zheng was no longer the obscure nobody he once was.
Just thinking of leading an army past his old home in Fufeng, seeing the looks of disbelief in the eyes of his fellow townsmen, filled Fa Zheng with fighting spirit.
He, Fa Zheng, a great talent of Fufeng, had to compete properly with this great talent of Jiangdong, no matter what.
Watching the affairs of Wu Zhou unfold, Liu Bei also noted everything down in his heart as a warning.
Such promotion without regard for background could, if the person truly possessed great ability, become a story praised through the ages, achieving the effect of buying horse bones for a thousand gold.
But if one promoted someone like Lai Junchen, a cruel official of that sort, then it would naturally lead to petty villains running rampant in the halls, with jackals and wolves filling the court and countryside.
The difference between the two, Liu Bei understood clearly, lay in the imperial examination.
Thinking this way, Liu Bei instead felt a sense of anticipation.
Once Chang'an was stabilized, the examinations could be opened.
Not long ago, Yuanzhi had written to say that the Cao bandit had once again issued a call for talent in Ye City last month.
If it came to other matters, Liu Bei had confidence in competing with Cao Cao. As for literary flair, he would admit defeat. He truly was inferior there.
Issuing a call for talent as well would inevitably seem like following behind others.
Then it would be better to wait for this year's Chang'an examinations, and use them as a counterattack to that call for talent.
"Liu Bei also recalled what Kongming had said several months earlier, when he presented a preliminary outline of the examination system after careful deliberation."
"Mencius once said that even the keen eyed Li Lou and the skillful craftsman Gongshu Zi still required rules and compasses in order to form squares and circles."
"The way of governing the state lies in drawing close to worthy ministers and keeping petty men at a distance. The selection of worthy ministers can rely on the imperial examinations. This is the rule of a well ordered age."
As for why later generations, despite possessing such a powerful tool as the imperial examinations, still indulged in the old disasters of previous dynasties, Kongming had also discussed this with him at length, leaving Liu Bei greatly enlightened.
According to Kongming, rules were made for people to use. Whether they became ingenious masterpieces or ugly hackwork depended entirely on the human heart.
The imperial examinations were the same. If the Way did not flourish and the ruler was not clear minded, then even the most advanced system would be like a bright pearl cast into the hands of a fool, utterly useless.
Seeing Liu Bei lost in surging thoughts, a look of lofty confidence on his face, Kongming shook his head slightly.
The lord still has not come down from the excitement of securing Chang'an.
Nearby, Lu Su, who was still listening to Pang Tong explain the summary of the light screen, suddenly recalled his first meeting with Sun Zhongmou, and could not help but sigh inwardly.
Such bearing of a great ruler. How could it ever have come to this…
[Lightscreen]
[As the cruel officials and the members of the Wu clan swept through the court like rabid dogs, purging nearly all forces loyal to the Li Tang, the old woman finally began sharpening her knives and playing the game of balance.
Faced with these two blades, the cruel officials and the Wu clan, Wu Zetian barely needed to hesitate. The first thing she broke was the Wu clan.
After all, the old woman knew perfectly well that the cruel officials existed to be her dogs. The Wu clan only played the role of dogs as a temporary measure. In the end, they wanted to become the legitimate imperial house of Wu Zhou.
To achieve this goal, the Wu clan took on nearly all the dirty work that even the cruel officials dared not touch.
For example, Wu Chengsi, who was particularly active at the time.
In 688, the Prince of Yue, Li Zhen, rose in rebellion against Wu together with his son, the Prince of Langya, Li Chong. Wu Chengsi personally led troops to "pacify the rebellion" and captured the father and son in Luoyang.
At the time, the old woman was already plotting to change the state name. To eliminate future troubles, she simply found a pretext and had the father and son, along with Li Yuanjia and Li Lingkui, four men in total, executed together.
Among these four, Li Zhen was the biological son of Er Feng. Li Chong was his grandson. Li Yuanjia and Li Lingkui were both sons of Li Yuan, and brothers of Er Feng. In name, they were both the old woman's uncles by marriage and her elder uncles at the same time. One could only say it was very complicated.
On the eve of changing the state name in 690, Wu Chengsi, seeking merit, directly fabricated charges of rebellion against Prince Ze, Li Shangjin. While escorting him to Luoyang, he strangled him to death, and then slaughtered the entire Prince Ze's household. Without stopping, he repeated the same method, killing Prince Nan'an, Li Ying, and twelve others.
Among them, Li Shangjin was Li Zhi's biological son. Li Ying and the others were either grandsons or great grandsons of Li Yuan, belonging to collateral branches of the imperial clan.
After putting in so much effort, surely he could ask his aunt for the crown prince position of Wu Zhou, right?
Unfortunately for Wu Chengsi, after the change of state name he was enfeoffed as Prince of Wei and entered the chancellery, while the crown prince remained Li Dan. Oh no, Wu Dan.
Thus in 691, Wu Chengsi directly pressured his aunt, instigating several hundred people in Luoyang to submit memorials requesting that he be made crown prince. This naturally went nowhere amid the Li Tang supporters at court.
So Wu Chengsi simply turned his spear around and ordered Lai Junchen to massively arrest and slaughter those ministers who opposed him.
Wu Chengsi's aggressive attitude aroused the old woman's vigilance. To prevent the dog from jumping the wall before it was time to cook it, two months later Wu Zetian moved with lightning speed and stripped every member of the Wu clan who held chancellor positions.
There is, however, another speculation that the old woman was not unwilling to make Wu Chengsi crown prince, but did not dare to.
It is known that Wu Chengsi's style name was Fengxian, and that the Wu clan itself hailed from Bingzhou, people who had grown up listening to the stories of the Lu Bu, Marquis of Wen of Bingzhou.
It is also known that if Wu Chengsi were established as crown prince, he would have to formally recognize Wu Zetian as his mother.
Thus the uploader speculates that every time the old woman saw Wu Chengsi's style name, she felt a little uneasy in her heart.
Could it be that I would end up becoming Dong Zhuo?
Of course, the above is purely unreliable speculation. Whether it was true or false, only the old woman herself knew.
After the Wu clan was abolished, Wu Chengsi lay low for a period of time. But staring at the throne, he found it irresistibly tempting, and so he changed his angle of attack.
In September of 693, Wu Chengsi led five thousand people in submitting a memorial honoring Wu Zetian as the Golden Wheel Sacred Divine Emperor. In May of the following year, he led twenty six thousand people in honoring her as the Transcending Antiquity Golden Wheel Radiant Divine Emperor.
Wu Zetian happily accepted both titles and proclaimed a general amnesty across the realm both times.
And to prevent Wu Chengsi from giving rise to any dangerous thoughts like some sort of Xuanwu Gate incident, Wu Zetian also announced to the world at the same time.
I have grown new teeth again. This is an auspicious sign sent by Heaven. From today onward, the era name is changed to Changshou.
A sixty nine year old woman growing new teeth could only be described as a biological miracle.
And the meaning behind it was perfectly clear.
I am not Li Yuan, staying in the palace and only knowing how to produce sons.
Your aunt's body is still tough and sturdy.]