Chapter 294

Her second statement cut off any excuse Tian Feng had planned to offer in response.

Moreover, since Qiao Yan had chosen Chen Ji, who was one of the Nine Ministers, no matter how he advanced in the court, he would never surpass Chen Ji’s position anytime soon, which technically got him into the “system.”

Tian Feng replied, “I just feel that my experience is still lacking, and my contributions aren’t significant enough for Your Honor to see me in a different light.”

Qiao Yan shook her head, “What you’re saying is just false modesty. While I’ve outlined the general direction of these assessment documents, the nuances and difficulties in each detail were meticulously discussed and deliberated by you and Mr. Yuan Fang. You genuinely care about making the right decisions for the talented, which is quite rare.”

Honestly, because of Tian Feng, Qiao Yan hoped other families would send their spies to her side too.

Such people would definitely need to put in at least seventy or eighty percent of their effort to avoid being caught slacking off.

In a situation like this, no one would complain about having too few people on their side.

Especially since Qiao Yan also had plans for external expansion this year.

Too bad, there weren’t many fools out there like Yuan Shao.

After a moment of internal sighing, her gaze returned to Tian Feng.

Despite Qiao Yan’s praise, he looked a bit uncomfortable.

But this was just the tip of the iceberg because Qiao Yan’s next statement was something Tian Feng was even less eager to discuss.

“Speaking of which, it’s been two and a half years since you moved from Ji Province to Bingzhou and now to Chang’an. Are your family members from Ji Province still unwilling to settle down here with you?”

Tian Feng’s expression froze for a moment. “They…”

“I’ve heard you’ve sent your monthly salary back a few times and have sent greetings, and that they even sent you New Year gifts and greetings. But living separated like this—it’s not a good situation.”

As Qiao Yan spoke, she cast a sympathetic glance at Tian Feng. “Your son visited you in Chang’an during the first year of Jian’an. Upon returning, he even got extra gifts from Fengxiao, but he hasn’t come back since then. I initially thought about writing to chastise him for being unfilial, but upon reflection, I feel it might not all be his fault.”

“It’s understandable, moving families is never easy. It’s much easier to relocate someone from nearby than from Ji Province, which is so far away. You need a more stable position, a proper residence for your family to settle down. Isn’t that right?”

Tian Feng: “…”

What could he say? He certainly couldn’t mention that the person Guo Jia mistook for his son was actually Yuan Shao’s and wasn’t going to live in Chang’an, being held as a hostage there.

Of course, Yuan Shao would never let Tian Feng’s family come over, fearing that after so much time, his undercover might turn traitor in the end.

He could only hesitantly answer with, “Yes.”

Then Qiao Yan added, “Given the current circumstances, with natural disasters looming ahead, I’m not optimistic about the preventive measures in Ji Province. If you can see clearly, you should persuade them now. No matter how difficult it is to leave home, life preservation takes precedence.”

“And thankfully, there’s a valid reason to officially appoint you. As I mentioned before, after the talent selection in early April, I’ll reward you sufficiently under the pretense of the court gaining talent. By then, your family shouldn’t refuse to make a choice, right?”

Even though Qiao Yan’s tone was gentle, simply inquiring about the situation of her subordinate being separated from family, Tian Feng couldn’t shake off the feeling of an underlying threat.

But then it struck him that despite what Qiao Yan said, it was already Jian’an year, and willing talents had mostly been scooped up by various factions. Those still waiting for a chance to rise through this assessment were mostly stuck in Hongwen Hall.

These folks couldn’t be called talentless, but they definitely didn’t fit the definition of great talent.

If it truly ended up promoting him because of such candidates, that would hardly hold water.

Tian Feng quickly replied, “Your Honor’s goodwill is noted, but please, consider your positions. Don’t give me special treatment based solely on Yuan Feng’s family situation.”

Qiao Yan smiled, “Of course, if there’s any issue with this assessment, I’ll hold you accountable. This matter is of utmost significance, so don’t let your guard down with me.”

She paused, then added, “By the way, I have an idea. Before you arrange for the exam papers to be printed, let’s plan this next.”

She handed a different sheet of paper to Tian Feng, saying, “Take a look at this.”

Tian Feng stood up to take it and noticed there weren’t many words on it, but the content was crucial, detailing considerations for the April exam’s formatting.

Everything else seemed unremarkable, except one particular point.

On the right side of the exam paper, a vertical line separated the names and origins into a distinct area, and written above that line was a term—“binding line.”

Tian Feng had a vague guess in mind but still turned to Qiao Yan and asked, “What is this?”

“After the assessment, we will hide the names of the collected papers in this way before grading them.”

Qiao Yan’s eyes sparkled with interest as she continued explaining, “Most of the participants for this selection have lived in Chang’an for quite some time, so naturally, I’ve heard some idle gossip about them, both good and bad. Fistfights and some written disrespect are not uncommon.”

“Chang’an is quite tolerant, so these actions haven’t violated any severe penalties, but if grading is affected, that could lead to trouble.”

Tian Feng: “…”

“This person is as sharp-tongued as they come, with prose that’s downright beautiful—quite rare in this day and age. Even if their personal morals are lacking, there’s no need to harshly criticize them; the same goes for everyone else. If we were to miss out on a talent just because of a few impressions from months ago, it would be a flaw in this selection process.”

“I’ve thought it over and I still believe we should simply stick names on these people, disregarding who the respondents are, and just look at their talents—that would be the best approach.”

Had Qiao Yan’s idea of anonymous names been proposed among the common folks who had also learned a thing or two, or during a generally peaceful era where some were afraid of being replaced by lower-ranking people and wanted to use connections, there might have been opposition.

But she’s bringing this up at a time like this, and her reasoning fits the current situation to a tee.

This small relaxation of standards concerning a talent’s character, as long as it doesn’t break the law, clearly showcases the open-mindedness of our Grand Marshal.

Who would dare oppose such innovation?

Moreover, as Tian Feng observed, Qiao Yan’s establishment of this system is not just to prevent bias from past impressions messing with evaluations, but also to promote competition within this assessment.

Now everyone is stripped of their names; no familial connections to lean on. The only criterion for judging on that paper is strength—who has the skills and who is merely seeking fame can be distinguished easily.

This move undoubtedly fits right into what the scholars of the Han Dynasty crave!

So is there a chance that some who originally had no intention of participating will be drawn in by this unique rule, looking to test their own skills?

Qiao Yan added, “Furthermore, I’ve petitioned the Son of Heaven for approval. Those who pass this evaluation can take positions suited to them for a month. If they find that the ideals of our Chang’an court don’t align with theirs, they can leave at any time—with the court covering their travel expenses. During this time, they won’t be exposed to sensitive core secrets here, and they can learn about settling down afterward.”

“If there are no objections to the anonymity in assessments, I will have someone quickly post the announcement.”

Tian Feng listened to Qiao Yan’s eloquence, and even from an enemy’s perspective, he found himself impressed. As he thought of the scholars who might be selected to enter the court, he felt his prospects dimming.

Could it be that after this April assessment, he really would end up getting a position and a pay raise, and become an official of Chang’an?

If that happened, would he really have to bring his family here for settling down? Would he have to let Lord Ming send Yuan Xi over in his Yuan Xi identity?

With such worries on his mind, Tian Feng relayed Qiao Yan’s two additional clarifications about the examination to Chen Ji.

When Chen Ji heard, he couldn’t grasp the complexity of Tian Feng’s emotions in that moment, so he clapped his hands in praise, “The Grand Marshal truly lives up to the title! Under such settings, if we still allow talented individuals to slip through our fingers, it would only be my fault.”

The noble spirit esteemed by the Han Dynasty left no room for any objections to Qiao Yan’s proposed fairness.

For this batch of scholars, whose overall abilities might not stack up to those who joined the court earlier, and whose familial backgrounds were relatively equal, this evaluation method undoubtedly allowed the outstanding ones to shine, and invisibly raised their worth.

Considering they all thought they would be the winning ones, they were thankful to Qiao Yan and barely had time to express it.

But was the significance of this anonymous assessment merely this?

Qiao Yan, hearing reactions to the posted rules, couldn’t help but show a subtle smile.

The ones now participating in the selection are all scholars who originally met the literacy and schooling criteria, but in the future… that might not be the case!

But such thoughts didn’t need to be spoken in this joyous atmosphere.

“I don’t see this as all good news,” Cheng Yu couldn’t help but comment, “Tian Yuanhao is really in for a tough time; he’s now worried this exam might select a great talent, and he’ll actually be rewarded by the lord for setting the questions.”

Qiao Yan arched an eyebrow, “Does Mr. Zhongde think I’m just saying this without grounds? If I hadn’t learned in advance that some people were considering entering the exam, why would I have made such a promise?”

So the current situation really was Tian Feng fearing what might happen!

Due to the lack of manpower, the question setters are also responsible for grading the papers, and so amidst his anxiety, he faced the pile of answer sheets.

The handwriting… let’s not even get into that.

For these scholars today, the words written on paper are their faces.

While not everyone needs to write as beautifully as Wei Ji, Zhang Zhi, or Cai Yong, the least they could do is make their writing flow smoothly with clear layouts. In that case, it’s really about the level they display through their answers.

Halfway through grading the papers, Tian Feng came across one that made his heart skip a beat.

Some of the statements in this paper sounded a bit naive, but it didn’t detract from the “extraordinary” vibe coming through every line. If they preferred going about livelihood management in an unusual way, it might be a bit worrying, but what if this was about military strategy?

Now that would be a real prodigy!

Tian Feng was tempted to rate this piece slightly lower, thinking maybe it could redirect this talent elsewhere. But that would betray his conscience. Besides, Qiao Yan had already considered the chance for personal bias interference in the decision-making—

Each answer sheet must go through four people for scoring, to remove the most outlandish one and calculate the average.

If Tian Feng were to pass any inappropriate judgment, it might even land him in trouble.

Indeed, after he assigned a normal score and sent it to Xun You for review, he saw the latter exclaim “Good!” after reading several lines.

Xun You was known for his reserve, but this was clearly a talented individual.

Before Tian Feng could lament about this talent slipping into Qiao Yan’s hands, he heard Chen Ji slam the table, only to realize he’d accidentally slammed his leg and winced in pain.

Tian Feng turned cautiously to ask, “What did you find that’s so brilliant?”

“You won’t believe it! Look at this answer sheet, it’s clear this person arrived at just the right time.” Chen Ji couldn’t contain his delight, “Do you remember the Grand Marshal instructed us at Hongwen Hall to seek out talented individuals with economic skills? Here’s one!”

Great news! Fantastic news!

Tian Feng took the paper, noticing this person had eloquently addressed the issues of management during droughts and locust plagues, detailing measures to stabilize grain prices and avoid barter interference in currency systems.

This was not just an economic talent; they were practically a pragmatic genius!

Thus, these two standout papers drew eager gazes from the graders once their anonymity labels were removed.

“Fufeng Fa Zheng…”

This was the answer sheet from the one who excelled in strategic thinking.

Fa Zheng’s name wasn’t remarkable yet, but his great-grandfather had once been the Prefect of Nanjun, his grandfather a highly respected gentleman known for his integrity, and his father had served as an aide in the ministerial office. Once Fa Zheng’s background was revealed, it laid bare why he’d want to participate in this assessment.

Fa Zheng’s proud and lofty demeanor was clearly passed down, as he had no intention of flaunting himself as someone’s grandchild or son to catch attention in Chang’an. At just nineteen, he didn’t want his age to affect judgments on his capability.

Qiao Yan’s decision to anonymize names hit the nail right on the head for him.

He likely thought this was the perfect opportunity to prove his worth!

Meanwhile, the answer sheet showcasing exceptional economic talent presented its author to the crowd.

“You’re not mistaken,” Xun You replied, “The lord invited him two years ago, but he not only refused to come; he also used visiting friends as an excuse to run off to Jiaozhou, seemingly scared of being dragged to Chang’an.”

Hearing this backstory and glancing at Liu Ba’s response on this answer sheet, Chen Ji chuckled, “What’s this called?”

As Qiao Yan had just arrived, she chimed in, “This is aptly named: when the phoenix comes, it finds a forest of parasol trees.”

How could Chang’an not be considered a forest of parasol trees now!

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