Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 430: Reactions from all parties
Gongsun Du already knew the news about the "mysterious heavy cavalry", and the auxiliary Han forces naturally had obtained clearer intelligence even earlier.
However, compared with before, the envoys sent by the pro-Han forces were only Liu Bei, Zhang Yan, Han Sui and the "victim" Yang Feng.
The court...
Liu Xie was still furious about Bai Tu's treatment of the imperial envoy last time, and his Qi-nourishing skills, which he had practiced with great difficulty, were almost ruined. He finally managed to vent his anger behind closed doors!
Ma Teng did not show much desire to trade, and Liu Zhang was dismissive of it.
Of course, his "shit" was useless. On the surface, this guy was on good terms with the State of Chu, but six months ago, he had been doing his utmost to block the flow of horses from Yi to Jing, and vigorously cracked down on private traders from aristocratic families. The Gan family was punished for this...
It wasn't a big nuisance, but it really made Bai Tu not want to pay attention to him!
In fact, it is not impossible to use the Dian horses and Shu horses produced in Yizhou to form cavalry.
Historically, Shu had at least more cavalry than Wu, and envoys to Wu could even send horses as gifts.
However, as far as war horses are concerned, it is ultimately the second best option.
Although Dian horses and Shu horses have great endurance, they are shorter and less capable of charging than northern horses.
Being short is not suitable for forming heavy cavalry, and lacking explosive power is not suitable for forming light cavalry.
In contrast, Bai Tu prefers to ship war horses back from Youzhou by sea, even if the survival rate... is so low that it will be criticized by animal protection activists. However, in foreign trade, Chu has too many "fighting" products, and the low survival rate is just equivalent to being a little more expensive. Anyway, there is no animal protection now.
We can't think about human life in this way, but about horses... Well, Bai Tu will definitely consider it after the world is at peace and the people of Chu are well-off. That day should not be far away.
As for Shu horses and Dian horses, they are mainly used as transportation capacity in the Chu State. In fact, if they are traded normally, the demand is not small. After all, no matter how well the roads are built, the utilization rate will be too low without horses.
Bai Tu was not sure whether this was Liu Zhang's own idea or a suggestion from the court. In any case, this guy was now harming others without benefiting himself.
And Zhang Lu did not send any envoys...
After all, not to mention that there are very few cavalry in Hanzhong, no matter how strong the heavy cavalry in plate armor is, they need to exert their lethality in field battles, and Liu Zhang... is now more focused on defense, and it seems that he is just waiting for the auxiliary Han forces to free up their hands so that he can attack him from both sides!
After returning to Jinling, Bai Tu began to discuss the "Pan Zhen Qi Plan" with the six ministries, while also making final preparations for the imperial examination.
Especially the latter, which will begin in less than ten days - October 30th.
There are more than a thousand people who have qualified for the palace examination through recommendation or county examination channels!
This scale has exceeded the Ministry of Rites' initial expectations. In recent months, as the counties have compiled their reports, the Ministry of Rites has been working overtime...
Although it is called the "Palace Examination", it is actually similar in nature to the "Provincial Examination" in the Song Dynasty, or the "Meeting Examination" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is the Ministry of Rites Examination.
In the history of imperial examinations, starting from the time of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, the "Palace Examination" no longer eliminated many candidates. After all, the Palace Examination was nominally presided over by the emperor, and those who could pass the Ministry of Rites examination were already elites, and the pass rate was already very small.
At this time, being eliminated by the emperor himself in the palace examination would cause too much resentment, so basically as long as there were no major problems in the palace examination, one could at least get a Jinshi degree...
However, the palace examination of Chu State was one level above the county examination. It was hosted by the Ministry of Rites and nominally examined by "His Royal Highness the King of Chu". The county examination had just started to get serious, so it was naturally impossible not to test it more carefully.
In the Song Dynasty, the number of candidates for provincial examinations often reached several thousand, and the number of admitted candidates ranged from 100 to 200, to 500 to 600.
But you have to know that the population of Chu, although it had gradually recovered, was still restricted by the times and was only one-tenth of that of the Northern Song Dynasty - even compared with the victorious Western Han Dynasty, it was only half of that of the Northern Song Dynasty!
Moreover, even it was impossible for the per capita education level to reach the level of the Song Dynasty in just a few years.
Hence the scale of thousands of people, firstly because it was the first time, and secondly... the county examination was simple.
Fortunately, the Ministry of Rites had already announced long ago that the palace examination admissions would be quite cruel, and even at Bai Tu's request, this information could be said to be brainwashed to everyone.
After all, the candidates had never taken the imperial examination before, so it was always good to prepare themselves mentally. Bai Tu didn't want to see so many people jumping into the river in Jinling after the exam...
Moreover, the admissions were divided into three parts. One type was for those who could be celebrated with a grand banquet and could stay in Jinling to study and try out for positions in the six ministries. The second type was also fortunate, as although they were sent back to the local area, they could still be local minor officials with a salary of less than 300 stones. The third type was a consolation prize, and they could be introduced back to their hometown to take up a clerk-like position.
It is also specifically emphasized that there are also channels for promotion for those who perform outstandingly on the job.
After all... there are a large number of vacancies in the government office , most of which are clerk positions.
In order to emphasize this point, the Ministry of Personnel has specially focused on observing some outstanding officials, and will then quickly promote them as examples for the sake of publicity effect.
Although the "Pan-Qi Plan" is very important to Bai Tu, and he can't wait to collect the "Qi Tax" tomorrow, it is not something that can be rushed.
Before the imperial examination, I just need to communicate with the six ministries and be mentally prepared. The details will be discussed after the imperial examination.
As for the messengers from all sides...
Bai Tu didn't have time to meet him for the time being, so he just asked the Ministry of Rites to entertain him first. They had no complaints about this, after all, observing the imperial examination was one of their purposes of coming to Jinling!
The only exception was Cao Cao's envoy, and Bai Tu was embarrassed to leave them alone...
Although according to the values at that time, the status of a concubine was vastly different from that of a wife, even for the ruler, it was different because it involved the issue of marriage, which meant that the concubine also had her own forces behind her, but... there was an essential difference between a princess and a queen.
However, for Bai Tu, due to this reason, he would feel even more embarrassed and as if he was being a hooligan!
The only good news is that it was Liu Ye who came, not Xiahou Yuan...
Well, given the current situation, Bai Tu estimated that he would hardly have the chance to meet Xiahou Yuan for a very long time. After all, one was the King of Chu and the other was one of the top 3 military commanders of Wei. If they met, there seemed to be only two possibilities - one of them was captured.
Little did he know that at the inn, Liu Ye was also speechless...
He finally understood who Xiahou Juan was following when he secretly followed Cao Pi on his diplomatic mission!
And Xiahou Yuan doesn't have to do it secretly.
Before Liu Ye set out, he openly wanted to be his bodyguard. What could Liu Ye do? He just accepted it voluntarily!
