Chapter Thirty-Nine: Examination and Competition

  "It is precisely this type of horse that has a tall and sturdy build, extremely strong power, swift as the wind, good at short-distance sprinting, with loading and impact capabilities far surpassing those of northern horses. However, in terms of endurance and stamina, it loses to northern horses. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Heavenly Horse 'was born from heavenly horses', after high-speed galloping, its shoulders slowly bulge up, and sweat like blood flows out, hence the name 'Sweat-Blooded Precious Horse'. Su Double Treasure's article is a detailed account of this famous horse."

  "Has Old Su ever seen this horse?" Liu Ze hastily asked.

  "The Western Regions and Youzhou are separated by thousands of miles, the road is far away, and there are also Xiongnu and horse thieves robbing us. We merchants should not risk our lives to try our luck. There is also a rumor that Dayuan has been destroyed by the Xiongnu, and the Dayuan horses have become extinct. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find any trace of the Akhal-Teke horses in the world again." Su Shuang just kept shaking his head.

  At this point, everyone couldn't help but sigh. When settling the bill, Liu Ze insisted on giving an extra 30% of the money and said: "Friends are friends, business is business, no matter what, we can't let you two bosses lose money doing business. From now on, if you two bosses have good horses, you must reserve them for me first."

  Su and Zhang reluctantly accepted it, repeatedly saying: "That's it, that's it."

  After bidding farewell to Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping, Liu Ze led the fifty Uighur horses straight to Quyang. The production of the kiln factory in Quyang was going on smoothly, and during the time Liu Ze left, many more porcelain pieces were fired from the kilns. Since all the workers hired by Liu Ze were skilled craftsmen who specialized in making porcelain in Quyang, they quickly mastered the techniques for producing blue-and-white porcelain, and most of their products met the standards set by Liu Ze earlier, except for a small number of defective ones. Liu Ze ordered his men to pack up the qualified products and transport them to Luoyang, while commanding that all the defective pieces be destroyed and buried on the spot.

  Everyone was puzzled by this, these defective products were just some irregular shapes or uneven colors or slight cracks, which did not affect the use, and could be left for self-use or sold at a low price. After all, these defective products were also made with a lot of manpower and material resources. But Liu Ze smiled and didn't say anything, and even if he explained it, others might not understand. From then on, the kiln factory had an unwritten rule: only produce high-quality regular products, and all substandard products would be destroyed and not allowed to enter the market.

  The spring in Fenghuang Valley is exceptionally colorful, with green mountains, green trees, and a riot of wildflowers. The mountain springs are crystal clear, and everything is filled with the vibrant atmosphere of new life. As Liu Ze walked through the lush grass that was just tall enough to tickle his horse's hooves, he felt extremely happy, even a little impatient. Now that the New Year had passed, these children must have grown another year older, surely they should be taller and stronger by now?

  The sentry at the gate saw Liu Ze's carriage from a distance and hastily went in to report. Before long, Guan Hai led all personnel to line up outside the camp, forming two neat rows, welcoming them on both sides of the road.

  Liu Ze smiled and waved his hand, amidst the thunderous cheers of "Good Master", he slowly rode into the valley.

  Liu Ze said to Guan Hai: "You're being too loud, I'm not a guest, why make such a big fuss?"

  "The lord is our breadwinner and has a debt of gratitude towards us, we have no choice but to show him the utmost respect."

  Liu Ze smiled and didn't say much more. He handed over the fifty Wuhuan horses to Guan Hai, saying: "Guan, equip all these horses with horse gear immediately. Start selecting qualified personnel for cavalry training right away. For now, everyone will take turns riding these horses, but later on, a large batch of good horses will arrive."

  Guan Hai saw these Wuhuan horses and was extremely excited, repeatedly praising the good horses. He immediately arranged for people to take care of the horses. Afterwards, he accompanied Liu Ze on an inspection tour of the camp and gave a detailed report to Liu Ze about the situation in Fenghuang Valley over the past few months.

  In the past few months, many children have been purchased from Youzhou, Bingzhou and Jizhou, most of whom are around 12 or 13 years old. Following the principle of selecting the best and eliminating the worst, these children were selected with relatively strict standards. After several months of intensive training, most of them passed the initial assessment, and some showed talent in certain areas. A small number of refugees with skills such as carpentry, blacksmithing, tailoring, and cooking have also been recruited. The ironworks, woodworking shop, and tailor's shop have all been established. The training of the Boy Scouts has entered a new phase, with greater difficulty and intensity.

  In the valley, Liu Ze carefully inspected the facilities in the camp, kitchen, dormitory, training ground, and gave full affirmation to Guan Hai's work, also put forward some suggestions for improvement. Guan Hai recorded Liu Ze's opinions one by one, and then implemented the improvements. Then it was lunchtime, Liu Ze and everyone sat outdoors and had lunch together.

  "After lunch, Liu Ze said to Guan Hai: 'Three days later, I have decided to conduct a comprehensive assessment. Firstly, to test the results of our training over the past half year, and secondly, to carry out a selection of the superior and inferior. This assessment will cover all aspects, not just martial arts but also literature. The winners will be divided into three groups: those who excel in both literature and martial arts will form one group, those who are exceptional in martial arts will form another group, and those who excel in literature will form a third group. Our future training will focus on these areas. As for those who are eliminated, they will also be divided into several groups. Those who are eloquent and agile can go to Luoyang Fuyuan Village as an apprentice, while those who are diligent and hardworking can go to the blacksmith or carpentry shop to learn a trade, or become a horse groomer. In short, we must ensure that everyone is utilized according to their abilities, and each person excels in their respective role.'"

  "What about those who are eliminated and must be some incompetent and lazy ones, who usually just mix and eat rice, what to do with these useless people?"

  "Anyone of this kind will be given a fare to return home, I don't have Mr. Nan here, and I won't tolerate any fake or deceitful people. A person can excel in both character and learning, or stand out in one particular aspect, such people are the cream of the crop among humans. Among the multitude of ordinary people, although most are mediocre, those who work hard, persevere, and take on responsibilities can also develop a special skill, this is the foundation for establishing oneself and securing a stable life in chaotic times. If there are lazy, incompetent, useless, and idle people who want to gain without effort, I can only say sorry, my place is not a charity or a nursing home, every meal I provide is not free, it requires them to exchange with their talent, hard work, sweat, and even blood, the law of survival of the fittest is both the natural order and social norm."

  Guan Hai nodded and said, "What the master says is absolutely right. Usually, there are some mediocre and incompetent people who just go through the motions to make a living. Even if I were to whip them, it would be of no use. It's really like trying to prop up a wall with rotten mud. Now that the master has made a decision, we can follow the rules from now on."

  Under the host of Liu Ze, under the supervision of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others, this assessment went very smoothly. Liu Ze established this assessment in an open, fair and just manner, conducting a comprehensive and multi-subject assessment.

  Martial arts assessment is divided into physical fitness, strength and wrestling aspects, including 400-meter short-distance sprint, 20-mile long-distance loaded run, javelin throwing, archery, lifting large stones, and arena combat etc.

  The assessment in the literary aspect is relatively simpler, and only some subjects such as character recognition and arithmetic are tested. The reason why it's simple is mainly because these children were mostly illiterate due to poverty before, although they followed the teacher to learn for half a year, but after all, what they learned was limited, if the test was too difficult, many people might not be able to answer. However, later Liu Ze thought about it and added an essay section, with no limit on topics or styles, allowing them to write freely.

  The assessment lasted for over a dozen days, with each day's events being diverse and exciting. The final event, the arena battle, pushed this assessment to its climax. On the arena, the children fought fiercely, while the audience below watched in a trance-like state until the final champion was produced. This assessment can be said to have come to an end, with the curtain falling.

  Watching Guan Hai carrying in several large bundles of bamboo slips, Liu Ze slightly furrowed his brow. Although the invention of papermaking had been invented during the Western Han dynasty and improved upon by Cai Lun of the Eastern Han, paper was still relatively expensive and not widely available nationwide. Except for the capital city Luoyang and major states and counties where paper was sold, small places like Quyang were hard to come by, and people still used rough and cumbersome bamboo slips for writing.

  Liu Ze secretly thought to himself, the next step should be to set up a papermaking workshop. This was not for the purpose of making money. The reason why papermaking was listed as one of the four great inventions was that paper played an extremely important role in the spread of civilization. Cheap and lightweight paper provided convenience for people's writing, allowing culture to spread quickly. The invention and application of paper made books lighter and easier to carry, laying the foundation for the emergence of printing later on. From then on, "erudite" became an outdated term. In fact, being erudite didn't mean having that many words.

  Guan Hai burst into the room and shouted in a loud voice: "Master, the results of the assessment are out!"