At the beginning, his wife came to him, and he became rich by selling kidney treasures.

Wen Yan sat up from the couch and said, "I called you here because I have a question I want to ask you about."

"What's the problem?" Ren Hao sat up straight.

"Should we fight or make peace with the ancient Wei now?" Wen Yan asked undecidedly.

Destroying the Wei River to divert Wei water and flood the ancient Wei army of 700,000 to lift the siege of Zhanshen Pass seemed like a great victory, but in fact it was a lose-lose situation for both sides.

Although the 700,000-strong army of the ancient Wei Dynasty was completely wiped out, the water of the Wei River flooded large tracts of fields and crops, counties and prefectures, leaving the people homeless and greatly increasing the burden on the national treasury.

Similarly, during the time when Ren Hao wandered to the Western Regions, a major event also occurred in ancient Wei.

That is, the ancient Wei emperor died suddenly, and he did not appoint a crown prince during his lifetime, which led to infighting among his own family for the throne. But in the end, the prince supported by Changsheng Hou Zhang Wenyuan seized power and became the Wei Shao Emperor.

Not long after the young emperor ascended the throne, Baiqi in the east took advantage of the young emperor's unstable foundation and finally began to launch a large-scale attack on the ancient Wei without any more forbearance.

Emperor Shao of Wei transferred Zhang Wenyuan, Marquis of Changsheng, to the east to deal with Bai Qi. At the same time, he sent envoys to ask for peace with ancient Han, hoping that ancient Han would return the captured military advisor Pang Hui.

There was a fierce debate in the court about whether to advocate war or peace. The ministers of various departments, led by Zhao Ping'an, all demanded war, believing that this was a godsend opportunity that should not be missed.

While the Wei army was transferred to the east to suppress Bai Qi, all the troops were gathered to the north to attack Wei and reunite the world.

However, the Ministry of Revenue headed by Ren Hao strongly demanded peace, as the national treasury was already unable to pay and support the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, we should take advantage of the time when ancient Wei is suppressing Bai Qi and unable to deal with ancient Han to carry out reforms and recuperate.

As for the aristocratic family headed by Censor Chen, they maintained a neutral attitude and no one supported them.

Due to Ren Hao's absence, Wen Yan found it difficult to make up her mind, and she was also angry before, so it has been delayed until now.

and so.

"Mr. Ren, what do you think?" Wen Yan asked.

"Your Majesty, I also think that we should temporarily make peace with the ancient Wei, so that the people can recuperate and plan for the next Northern Expedition." Ren Hao said thoughtfully.

Due to the continuous wars with the ancient Wei, the ancient Han people had already been left with six out of ten houses empty, with no able-bodied men left in the families.

If we do not take this opportunity to recuperate and instead muster all our forces to march north, we will incur the wrath of God and the resentment of the people.

Even if we can unify the world by then, others will still reap the benefits.

For example, King Linnan, who has always been eyeing the entire world.

"Your Majesty, for the sake of the greater good, we must make peace with the ancient Wei. We must not let the King of Linnan take advantage of the opportunity to take over Confucius and eventually seize the entire world."

"Of course this is only temporary. Once we have recuperated, it will be time for the decisive battle with Ancient Wei." Ren Hao emphasized.

"Okay, I'll do as you say." Wen Yan nodded and made up her mind not to give King Linnan any chance to take advantage of her.

After discussing this matter, Wen Yan asked about further reforms. What she needed to solve most now was the collusion and factionalism among officials in the court.

The official system of ancient China was a recommendation system controlled by the Three Dukes and the Ministry of Personnel.

The original meaning of the recommendation system was to appoint virtuous and talented people, but with the change of dynasties, the recommendation system has lost its original meaning. It is no longer about appointing virtuous and talented people, but has become a corrupt system that paves the way for future generations or allows officials to collude with each other and form cliques.

The drunkard sits in the hall, and no one cares about the loyal and honest people outside the door.

"Your Majesty, if you want to prevent this from happening, you can establish an imperial examination system that coexists with the recommendation system." Ren Hao gave his opinion.

The reason why the imperial examination system had to coexist with the recommendation system was because reforms could not be rushed, but could only be done slowly, like boiling a frog in warm water.

If the recommendation system were abolished at once, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction within the court.

But if the two systems coexist, it will greatly reduce the dissatisfaction in the court and allow the imperial examination system to be implemented.

Once the imperial examination system is fully implemented and most of the court ministers are replaced, the recommendation system can be completely abolished.

"Minister Ren, what is the imperial examination system?" Wen Yan asked in confusion.

"This so-called imperial examination system is to set some test questions and let the talented people in the world take the test. The talented ones will be elected, and the untalented ones will give way." Ren Hao gave a simple introduction.

"Ah."

"This is a very good move, and it pleases me very much." Wen Yan nodded with satisfaction.

Ren Hao then proposed: "I suggest that Your Majesty open schools in the counties and hire teachers to teach people to read and write, and offer miscellaneous studies, mathematics, Confucianism, and the study of the Eight Trigrams and astrology, as well as lift the ban on some of the subjects taught by alchemists."

"Studying is a personal activity. Why should it be elevated to the level of being opened by the imperial court?"

"Do you know how many counties there are in ancient Han? If we open all of them as you said, it will be a very large expense."

"This amount of expenditure is enough for a northern expedition against the ancient Wei." Wen Yan said in confusion.

"Your Majesty, there are many diverse academic disciplines in the world. If the imperial examination system is implemented, it will be disadvantageous for the test papers of talented scholars. If the topics are selected from unpopular academic disciplines, it will only benefit the talented scholars who specialize in these academic disciplines, but not other talented scholars." Ren Hao explained to Wen Yan.

Miscellaneous studies and mathematics are the two most widely used subjects.

It is understandable that Wen Yan took these two subjects as subjects for the imperial examination.

As for Confucianism, Bagua astrology, and the studies of alchemists?

Isn't this pure nonsense, teaching people how to be a pedantic scholar or a liar?

"Confucianism, I can understand it."

"But what's the use of the Bagua astrology and the alchemist's learning you mentioned?"

"Aren't these two academic disciplines both about cheating and deceiving people?" Wen Yan asked in confusion.

Wen Yan hated Confucianism. As for the Bagua astrology and the studies of alchemy, he had even less favor for them. They were all fraudulent and deceptive.

"Your Majesty, although there are some fraudulent practices in Bagua astrology and the studies of alchemists, there is also a lot of knowledge in them and they should not be generalized." Ren Hao explained to Wen Yan.

Bagua astrology is more than just fortune-telling. The stars, years, months, dates, times and geography that are familiar to the people all come from Bagua astrology.

Bagua astrology is the forerunner of future astronomy, geography, and fortune-telling metaphysics.

As for the learning of alchemists, it is even more amazing. Although the learning of alchemists has been used in the wrong place in this era, pursuing the so-called art of turning stones into gold or immortality, the alchemists have promoted the progress of world civilization through repeated failures.

It can be said that alchemists are pioneers in world exploration and the originators of future chemistry and science.

Ren Hao insisted on including the Bagua astrology and the studies of alchemy in order to promote the progress and development of the world. He wanted to give up the task as soon as possible in the future.

"Well, I agree with the view that Bagua astrology and alchemy cannot be lumped together."

"But what's the use of Confucianism? Confucian scholars are everywhere in the world. I don't need so many Confucian scholars to write Records of the Grand Historian." Wen Yan asked.