"Okay, everyone, please be patient. Vice Dean Chen Ying is compiling the list and will announce it shortly. Everyone did well in this assessment."
On the third day after the academy opened, Shen Yuan appeared at the outermost ceremonial hall of the academy with dark circles under his eyes. The new Yin-Yang Academy used the site of the former Liuzhou Academy. The outer ceremonial hall was where several prefects and education officials had given speeches. It was a large building that could accommodate more than 300 people.
At this time, at Chen Qing's invitation, there were more than 30 lecturers, and more than 360 students of all ages who signed up, making the hall of the academy a little crowded.
Because Gu Beiquan and his companions were former officials and held the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), even though they arrived late, some young scholars still voluntarily gave up their front-row seats for them. At this moment, Shen Yuan arrived late, and Gu Beiquan spotted him from afar, quickly waving, "Brother Shen, over here!"
He glanced at a young scholar beside him, and seeing that the man did not cooperate, he frowned and said, "Excuse me, student, please move aside."
The scholar choked on his words, but dared not refute them for a moment. Among scholars, official rank was of utmost importance. Although the others had been dismissed from their posts, they were still Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), while he was merely a Xiucai (a lower-level scholar). How could he dare to go against a Jinshi official?
Although I felt uncomfortable, I silently stood up.
However, Shen Yuan, who was in the distance, was not very impressed. He frowned and glanced at Gu Beiquan and the others, but was not willing to come over and join them. Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure and quickly went forward.
" Cui Yang?"
"Hey, Brother Shen?" A child of about ten years old turned around, and a happy smile appeared on his face when he saw Shen Yuan: "Brother Shen, you didn't get a seat either?"
"Ah, I stayed up late reading last night, and it was really hard to get up this morning," Shen Yuan said with a gentle smile, his eyes unusually devoid of their previous arrogance. He walked directly over and said, " Cui Yang, your theory about the Three Elements of Investigation and Establishment of Yang that you proposed yesterday was quite interesting, but after thinking about it, I feel that the algorithm could be improved. What do you think?"
When the child heard the other person mention things related to the study of natural philosophy, his face immediately became extremely serious. He listened intently until the other person finished speaking, then suddenly realized, "Brother Shen is truly amazing! This makes my argument even more valid. Alas!" He looked around anxiously, "It's a pity we don't have paper and pen; we should have written it down."
"It's alright." Shen Yuan's smile became even gentler. "I'll explain it to you again when we go to the library later."
"Alright, alright, thank you for your trouble, Brother Shen!"
"We're all classmates, what's the trouble?"
Seeing that Shen Yuan ignored them and was chatting animatedly with a child, Gu Beiquan and the others in the distance immediately turned ugly. Those who were about to offer them seats suppressed a laugh; they'd tried to win him over, only to be met with a cold shoulder.
" Brother Gu, what do you think?"
"Ignore him!" Gu Beiquan waved his hand with a dark expression and said to the Human Dao around him, "This Shen Yuan is obsessed. He spends all his time in the library. He got a job classifying books, and he really treats it like a treasure. He's supposed to be from a noble family, but he's a disgrace."
"Yeah, he actually had such a lively discussion with a child. Our top scorer still has a childlike heart," someone nearby couldn't help but mock.
Because of the distance, Shen Yuan didn't hear Gu Beiquan and the others' low taunts. But even if he had, he probably wouldn't have bothered to pay attention. In his eyes, the value of this child was far greater than that of Gu Beiquan and the others!
At first, in the library, he was somewhat disgusted by these ordinary people who could share resources with him, but after getting to know them a little, he changed his mind.
Those selected by Chen Ying for the library were all exceptionally talented, especially in the fields of divination and astronomy. They possessed ingenious thinking, and when combined with the Daoist scriptures in the library, they often produced remarkable effects, solving numerous problems in magical formations. Even he himself was ashamed of his own inferiority.
From that moment on, he knew that the ten people who joined the cabinet would surely become the outstanding array masters that Chen Ying had mentioned, and they would all be on the same path from now on!
Even among sorcerers, interpersonal relationships are necessary. These youngsters have extremely high potential; they might very well become the new sorcerer class in Liuzhou in the future, far superior to Gu Beiquan and his bunch of idiots.
"Now, please have Vice Dean Chen Ying announce the list."
After the old master gave a long and eloquent opening speech, he finally got to the point, and all the students immediately became tense.
The situation in Liuzhou was different. Scholars like them were not favored. Here, joining the army was highly valued. Anyone with a decent physique would see their status rise dramatically once they were drafted into the army. Not only would they receive generous military pay, but they could also quickly accumulate good fortune for their relatives in the Underworld. On the other hand, scholars like them were at a disadvantage when competing with strong men to join the army, and they couldn't take off their long gowns to farm in Great Azure Mountain. For the past few months, they had been living the most stifled lives.
Seeing that the prefect had finally opened the academy and was willing to give scholars some status, everyone naturally wanted to stay. After all, who wouldn't want to have their own house in the main city and eat meat every day? Who would want to sleep in a communal dormitory with newly arrived refugees on North Street?
In particular, some scholars with official titles were looked down upon by the women in North Street. If they didn't get a place in the academy this time, they might really have to go to Great Azure Mountain to farm.
Of course, there were exceptions among the crowd; for example, Gu Beiquan and others did not seem particularly nervous.
In their view, they were scholars with the title of Jinshi, belonging to the legitimate scholar class. If Chen Qing wanted to appoint scholars to govern Liuzhou, he could not bypass them.
Chen Ying was still dressed in white, and without any makeup, she still looked pretty and charming, but her complexion was a little poor, and like Shen Yuan and the others, her eye circles were obviously a bit heavy.
"Ahem," Chen Ying stood on the high platform, took out a list, and said directly, "The new Liuzhou Academy Heaven Academy divided into four academies: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. There are 369 examinees this time. Fifty students will be admitted to the Heaven Academy, specializing in arithmetic and formations. Applicants must be in the top 50 in arithmetic and in the top 100 in physics. Those who wish to enter the Heaven Academy will register with Master Cheng later. Fifty students will be admitted to the Earth Academy, specializing in physics and talismans. Applicants must be in the top 100 in arithmetic and in the top 50 in physics. Those who wish to enter the Earth Academy will register with Master Bai!"
" The Mystic Academy is recruiting eighty people this time, mainly studying the principles of Yin and Yang in divination. Applicants must be in the top fifty in Yin-Yang studies and in the top one hundred in physics and arithmetic. The Yellow Academy is recruiting one hundred people, mainly studying medicine, geology, and agriculture. The research focus is on applying divination techniques to medicine, agriculture, astrology, river management, and other related fields. In principle, this academy requires applicants to be in the top one hundred in divination and physics. However, if applicants have special expertise, such as in agriculture, medicine, or astronomy and geography, the requirements for divination and physics may be relaxed. Those interested can register with Master Lü!"
"Now, let's announce the rankings of the exam results."
Afterwards, as the results for each subject were released, most students were either happy or worried. However, some students who had already achieved academic success became restless after seeing the rankings announced, and they all stood up and said, "Sir, we have some questions!"
"Speak!" Chen Ying nodded.
"Students and others are looking at this list. Why haven't they noticed the assessment results?"
"Of course there are," Chen Ying said, looking at the other person. "The academy is mainly recruiting students to study the Daoist canon placed in the academy by the prefect. Understanding basic characters is a basic requirement, but it is not the focus of this academy. If you have excellent grades in this area, you can get some extra points, but it will not be included in the main ranking score."
Upon hearing this, the group of students exchanged pale-faced glances. "Does Your Excellency mean that grades aren't important?"
"I didn't say that," Chen Ying shook her head. "I only said that the academy's admissions are mainly based on the doctrines I just announced. The classics and policy questions are political and economic in nature, which don't align with the academy's needs. After all, our academy isn't for training scholars for the imperial examinations."
"Isn't this unfair to us?"
"What's unfair about it?" Chen Ying frowned. "It's a merit-based selection process, and everyone takes the same exam. How can it be unfair? You didn't pass simply because you weren't good at it. How is that unfair?"
A group of students immediately blushed with suppressed rage. "Absurd! What kind of academy in this world focuses on trivial matters like investigating things and calculating calculus, while neglecting the fundamental principles of the Way? What is the point of such an academy?"
"You'll understand its meaning in the future!" Chen Ying simply didn't bother to explain.
Even Gu Beiquan and the others sitting in the front row couldn't sit still anymore, because when they saw the list, they realized that they were almost all ranked in the bottom fifty!
Is Chen Qing serious?
" Brother Gu, look," several people around them said, turning to look at Gu Beiquan.
Gu Beiquan's expression was incredibly complex, a mixture of dark anger, embarrassment, and disbelief.
Gu Beiquan came from a scholarly family in the capital and was not entirely ignorant of sorcerers. Upon hearing Chen Ying's introduction of the four great academies, he immediately understood that this academy, called the Yin-Yang Academy, truly intended to train sorcerers.
He couldn't help but stand up and ask, " Lord Chen, has the imperial court approved the Liuzhou Academy's training of sorcerers?"
"That's natural," Chen Ying said coldly.
Having spent so much time with Chen Qing, she's now learned to say certain things without thinking.
"Uh..." Gu Beiquan's expression immediately turned puzzled. He had always thought that Chen Qing was using the guise of a sorcerer, but in reality, he just wanted to lure scholars to serve him and manage the prefecture. But if that were the case, how could the classics and the Four Books be used as supplementary learning?
"My lord, doesn't the academy need to cultivate political and economic talents to govern the country?"
Chen Ying rolled her eyes at him. "This academy is the Yin-Yang Academy. Since you all come from a background of studying the classics, do you not know what Yin and Yang are? As for the political and economic scholars you mentioned, there will be opportunities in the future, but this academy does not focus on that. If you don't pass the exam, you should leave early and not delay other students from registering."
"You!!" Gu Beiquan's face turned ashen with rage. He stood up and pointed at the other party, saying, "How dare you treat a scholar of the nation with such disrespect! What is Chen Qing trying to do? He has made Liuzhou a place of universal wrath and resentment, with warriors in power. Does he intend to drive us scholars out of Liuzhou?"