Huang Chengyan is a smart person, but he only vaguely senses that Liu Bei has a conspiracy, and he can't figure out where Liu Bei's conspiracy is, but now Ma Yun said that she has understood Liu Bei's conspiracy, which made Cai Yue look stunned, and couldn't help asking: "Madam, do you really understand Liu Bei's conspiracy?" ”

Ma Yun nodded and said, "Well, you go back and tell Mr. Huang, thank you for his reminder, I already know about Liu Bei's conspiracy." ”

Cai Yue thought for a while, and then said, "Then ...... about tomorrow's exam?"

Ma Yun waved her hand and said, "Mr. Cai is solely responsible for tomorrow's exam, and it will be fair and just." If the people mentioned by Mr. Huang are really talented, I will not embarrass them. Since the rules have been formulated, they cannot be broken, not anyone, including me and Lord Liu! ”

After all, Liu Xin and Ma Yun are from later generations, and they take it for granted that who will be the future successor of the Liu family is naturally designated by themselves. But the information revealed by Huang Chengyan reminded him that as long as Liu Xin really sat in that position, family affairs would become state affairs, and he would have the right to speak in civil and military affairs.

Liu Bei is now involved with Liu Bang all day long, obviously trying to help Liu Bang fight for the position of heir, but Liu Bei himself is just a peripheral figure, he can't speak at all, if he wants to make a difference in Liu Bang's affairs, he must win the support of others. The problem is that these people who are in power now, whether they are martial arts or women, are Liu Xin's cronies, and it is impossible to support him, so Liu Bei needs to secretly develop his own power, and this liberal arts exam is an excellent opportunity.

The liberal arts exam is different from the previous engineering exams and martial arts exams. According to the previously announced examination rules, this year's liberal arts examination will select 50 talents to enrich various positions, and the number of people selected is much more than the unrestricted engineering and martial arts examinations. These talents selected through examinations, the outstanding ones will directly enter the six ministries, and the most unfortunate will also be entrusted to the position of county order. Liu Bei has been in frequent contact with those literati recently, and introduced them to Liu Bang, just so that after these literati pass the exam, they can speak for Liu Bang in the future.

Ma Yun didn't care about Liu Bei's small actions, even if those literati who mingled with him all day long could pass the exam, but their positions would eventually be arranged by Tian Feng, and when the time came, they would just find a remote place for them to be a county magistrate, and they wouldn't be able to make a big deal.

The next morning, the liberal arts exam began at Xiangyang Academy. In the past month, Xiangyang Academy has made sufficient preparations, and all candidates have been limited to food and accommodation in the academy, and they have also undergone strict searches when entering the academy. It's summer, and the candidates don't have much to wear, so it's even more difficult to bring them on, which is the main reason why the exam is scheduled for this time. The outside of the academy has been surrounded by the most elite Flying Tiger guards, and it is impossible for any candidate to contact the outside world before handing in the papers, so that a fair result can be obtained.

The chief examiner, Cai Yong, raised his eyes and looked at the candidates below, and said in a deep voice: "Hair rolls!" ”

In order not to leak the exam questions, all the exam papers were written by Cai Yong himself overnight, and he did not borrow others. Fortunately, there are only two policy topics on each exam paper, "The Rise and Fall of the World, the Responsibility of the Husband" and "The Family and the Country", otherwise the old ancestors would be really tired to death.

After getting the exam papers, many literati who were kind to Liu Bei were dumbfounded, like You Heng, who are usually best at all kinds of poetry and songs, and occasionally criticize current affairs and are full of complaints, these two topics can be said to be not to their appetite at all. The results of the exam can be imagined, even a famous person like You Heng has fallen off the list, but there are two people's names that still appear at the top of the list.

These two people are Zhuge Jin and Pang Tong, one of them is the nephew of Pang Degong, and the other is a famous person who took refuge in Jingzhou, but they have one thing in common, they have been in close contact with Liu Bei recently. According to Hwang's proposal, neither man should be elected.

However, on the one hand, Cai Yong did not know Huang Chengyan's proposal, and on the other hand, Cai Yong judged the test paper purely out of public interest. Besides, in order to ensure the fairness of the test results, the names of the candidates on all the test papers were sealed with seals, and then copied by the scribe to the blank sweep and handed over to Cai Yong for personal review. Even if he knew Huang Chengyan's proposal, and Cai Yong also made several people who were friends with Liu Bei fall off the list, he didn't know who these test papers belonged to before he opened the seal.

Ma Yun handed over the list of candidates who had passed the exam to Professor Fu, and asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Fu, in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?" ”

The first and second places in that list were Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin, and they couldn't help frowning and said: "If you follow this list, Pang Tong will be the champion of liberal arts this year." The subordinates thought that Huang Chengyan's words would rather be believed than not, and Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin should be crossed off the list! ”

Ma Yun shook his head and said: "The imperial examination is for the selection of talents for the Han Dynasty, if the first two are removed at will, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of the scholars of the world, will anyone still believe in such an examination in the future?" ”

He hesitated, "Is this how they are entrusted with a heavy responsibility?" ”

Last year's champion of liberal arts was Jia Xu, who was entrusted with an important task not long after, and now he has been officially appointed as the protector of the Western Regions, which can be regarded as a big man who stands alone. Since there are ready-made examples there, if Pang Tong is the champion of liberal arts this year, there is no reason not to entrust him with a heavy responsibility.

Ma Yun laughed and said: "No one has said that the champion will definitely be reused, whether it is a mule or a horse, it must be pulled out and yo-yo." In this way, the list will be published according to Mr. Cai's draft, and all the candidates who pass will be sent to the local government to serve as county magistrates. Remember, send Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin far away, well, just send them to the south of Yizhou. ”

Just because of Ma Yun's words, Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin were sent to Yizhou County, where the Han barbarians lived together, and the power of the barbarians far exceeded the power of the Han people, just handling the relationship with the tribes was enough for them to have a headache. Moreover, the difficulty of Shu Road is difficult to go to the blue sky, and it is not easy for the two of them to go back or have any contact with Liu Bei.

How did he not understand the joints, he also laughed, and praised: "Madame's hand is really clever, I'm afraid even the lord can't think of it." ”

At this time, Liu Xin, who was far away in Seoul, also made an important decision not to send an embassy to the Great Qin Empire for the time being.

When Cai He came to Seoul, he also carried a letter from Ma Yun with him. It was Ma Yun who reminded Liu Xin in the letter that he must be cautious about sending a mission to Rome. Although Ma Yun didn't know much about the situation in Rome, she had always heard of gladiators and the Colosseum, and she also knew that the Roman Empire at this time must still be in a very strong period, and it was extremely aggressive. Therefore, Ma Yun felt that it was not appropriate to move lightly when he did not know much about Rome, especially not to let Rome know that the Han Dynasty was in a state of division.

Liu Xin may not listen to other people's opinions, but he can't help but consider Ma Yun's opinions carefully, and this consideration is a full four days before Liu Xin made this decision. He sent someone to call Cai He over, and asked with a smile: "Cai He, how is the business doing in the past two days?" ”

Cai He couldn't help but frown when he heard Liu Xin mention business, and said again and again: "Sister, don't say it, this trip to the Western Regions is really worth it, and the income is about to catch up with the profits of our Cai family for half a year." The goods I brought have almost been sold, and I will leave for Xiangyang tomorrow to let my eldest brother organize another batch of goods to come over. ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I still have things for you to do." I now appoint you as the envoy of the Han Dynasty to envoy several countries on my behalf. ”

Cai He was stunned for a moment and said, "Sister-in-law, I, I have to rush back." Counting the time, the academy will soon reopen. ”

Liu Xin laughed and said, "You don't have to go back to the academy, I will announce now that you have graduated early." ”

Cai He didn't believe his ears, and asked repeatedly, "Sister-in-law, what did you say?" Did I graduate early? ”

Liu Xin Zhengse said: "Yes, you graduated early." From now on, as my plenipotentiary, you will be sent to the four countries of Dawan, Kangju, Wusun, and Guishan. The Dawan King Mozhiti has already signed the Shule Treaty with me, and you are only going there to pay a courtesy visit. And to go to the other three countries, you have to try to reach an agreement with them to allow my Han's caravan to pass freely. Cai He, do you have the confidence to complete this task? ”

Cai He straightened his chest and said loudly: "Please rest assured, sister-in-law, I promise to complete the task!" ”

Liu Xin patted Cai He's shoulder, deliberately frowned, and asked, "What should you call me?" ”

Cai He smiled embarrassedly and said, "Please rest assured, my subordinates promise to complete the task!" ”

Liu Xin nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then you can go and prepare now, the people you need will be selected from the Fifth Legion, and when you come back, I will give you a formal appointment." As for the Cai family's caravan, you don't have to worry, I will take them back to Yumen Pass with me. ”

Cai He couldn't hold back the joy in his heart, answered the promise, and hurriedly ran to the military camp outside the city to select his entourage. Liu Xin also let out a long breath, it seems that the establishment of the academy to cultivate his own talents, this path is still correct. Cai He, such an incompetent person in history, after eight years of academy study, is now able to stand alone, the only thing lacking is experience, it seems that this kind of education method of Xiangyang Academy will need to be promoted throughout the Han Dynasty in the future.

It will take some time to build the two fortresses of Seoul and Uzberi and Turugert, and Liu Xin is no longer willing to wait. Cai He passed through the Uzberi Pass with the newly formed mission, and Liu Xin also handed over all the places to Huang Zhong and embarked on the road back to his hometown.