Absurdity in the Pursuit of Office

Sang Hongyang had brought extremely important information.

For most people, the most they could take from it was not to get "too clever" during the third round of recruiting talented men.

But Zhang Xuezhou had gained an additional, important insight.

"These bamboo slips with coins tucked inside will definitely be sent to His Majesty for inspection, and the applicants may even end up blacklisted from officialdom. But whether he sees the ones without coins will still be a matter of luck. After all, His Majesty's priority in the third round is establishing his authority, not recruiting talent!"

Tucking in banliang coins was bound to fail, but whether an application without them would be selected was another matter.

Zhang Xuezhou had originally been full of confidence, but after two failed submissions in a row, he no longer had quite so much.

Even if he didn't submit a single bamboo strip, everyone else was applying for office with rolls upon rolls of bamboo slips. Why would his be the one chosen?

"I can't do anything uncertain, and I can't do anything illegal, but I still have to meet the relevant conditions. I need to strike a balance!"

Zhang Xuezhou thought for a while and finally decided he still had to do what needed doing.

He had to make sure his application for office reached the new emperor's desk.

That meant he had to include no money while making others mistakenly think he had.

"But this could easily make me look calculating!"

Zhang Xuezhou's first thought was to leave a single banliang coin sticking out, but whether he tucked in one coin or a hundred, he would be violating the new emperor's taboo.

Then he considered carving the words "money inside" on the bamboo slips, but that wouldn't be honest.

If he tucked