On the afternoon of October 12, 1905, led by Mr. Gu Hongming, Chen Ke walked into the auditorium of the Imperial University of Peking. Quite a few people were already waiting there. Chen Tianhua was very smart in his actions; he had already entered the auditorium ahead of time and sat in the last row. Seeing the two enter, almost all the other students turned their heads to look at Chen Ke.

"That's the Chen Ke who wrote the book?" There was surprise, astonishment, and also disdain in these whispers.

Everyone was a cultured person, so their voices weren't loud. Thus, Chen Ke heard the following faint whispers very clearly.

"So young and he can write stuff like that? I don't quite believe it."

"The book is actually full of errors."

As the saying goes, literati tend to scorn each other. Chen Ke had heard those lectures on television, and he himself used to mock the television while listening. He didn't care about such treatment at all. He still wore his habitual smile on his face, looking at the students on both sides. Gu Hongming gave a brief introduction of Chen Ke, and then let Chen Ke go up to the stage to lecture.

One result caused by the popularization of compulsory education is that the ages of students are almost the same. The longer compulsory education is popularized, the smaller the age difference among students in the same grade. Chen Ke had long been accustomed to such a situation in the 21st century. He started school a bit early, and the result was that missing one step meant missing every step. From primary school on, his age was either the youngest or second youngest in the class, and this ranking didn't change until he entered university. In the auditorium of the Imperial University of Peking, Chen Ke looked at the students below; the age gap among everyone made Chen Ke quite unaccustomed. There were people from their 20s to their 30s, and there were even a few "older men" who he couldn't tell if they were students or teachers; they looked to be over 40 no matter how one looked at them. The Imperial University of Peking was converted from the former Imperial College (Guozijian) in the capital, so it shouldn't be strange for there to be some older students here.

Chen Ke scanned the students below again. There were about fifty people, and their appearances gave Chen Ke a favorable impression. More than sixty percent of these people had short hair. Those wearing queues were mixed among them, and surprisingly, they didn't look annoying. "Hello everyone, my name is Chen Ke. I have some humble personal opinions coming here today, and I ask everyone to correct me." Chen Ke's opening remarks were quite standard.

However, the people below were not polite. Those who could study at the Imperial University of Peking were all elites from various places. Everyone considered themselves extraordinary. A young man about the same age as Chen Ke stood up; he had short hair and wore a Western-style suit. "Mr. Chen, I have read your book. Actually, everyone here today has also read it. After reading Mr. Chen's book, I have a question. I wonder how Mr. Chen views the Imperial Examination."

On September 2, 1905, a group of high officials including Yuan Shikai, Governor-General of Zhili; Zhao Erxun, General of Shengjing; Zhang Zhidong, Governor-General of Huguang; Zhou Fu, Governor-General of Liangjiang; Cen Chunxuan, Governor-General of Liangguang; and Duanfang, Governor of Hunan, jointly submitted a memorial to the court. They explicitly proposed: The national situation is in imminent danger, and a moment is worth a thousand gold. "To remedy the current difficulties, we must start by promoting schools; and to promote schools, we must start by stopping the Imperial Examination." They fiercely requested to "act with lightning speed" to "abolish the Imperial Examination." Facing the joint petition of these pivotal provincial officials from both north and south, the court could no longer treat it lightly. On that very day, September 2, an edict was issued in the name of the Guangxu Emperor, announcing to the whole world: "All provincial and metropolitan examinations are to be stopped." The release of this edict announced the end of the ancient Chinese Imperial Examination system.

Chen Ke didn't know why this young man would think of asking this question. Seeing the few people sitting next to him looking at him with burning gazes, Chen Ke felt that this question couldn't be easily answered and finished with. He asked, "In my book, I hold the Imperial Examination system in high esteem. If this brother has read my book, you should know that."

"Hmph." Chen Ke heard someone sneer. The faces of most students didn't show much appreciation for Chen Ke.

"Let me do a small survey. How many people support the abolition of the Imperial Examination? Please raise your hands."

The students looked at Chen Ke, but no one stated their position. Chen Ke felt strange. "Could it be that these people all support the Imperial Examination?" he thought strangely.

The young man who had stood up raised his hand. Only then did people follow suit one after another. In the end, out of more than 50 people, more than 40 raised their hands in agreement. It seemed that those people refused to state their position just now simply because they thought highly of themselves and didn't quite buy into this young guy, Chen Ke.

"Please put your hands down. And this brother, please sit down too," Chen Ke said.

When the venue returned to its original state, Chen Ke then asked, "Who supports the Imperial Examination? Please raise your hands."

A scattered seven or eight people raised their hands. Looking at their expressions, they were quite agitated. It seemed their attitude supporting the Imperial Examination was very firm.

"We are all scholars. As the saying goes, family affairs, state affairs, world affairs—we care about everything. If we talk about the pros and cons of the Imperial Examination itself, I think everyone has their own reasoning. But what I want to talk about today is my book, so I cannot help but talk about things on the political level. From a political perspective, I oppose the abolition of the Imperial Examination."

With a buzz, various reactions erupted below. Some people showed disdain on their faces, while others had the excited look of "meeting a comrade."

"It seems Mr. Chen likes Eight-Legged Essays very much?" the young man from before said mockingly.

"This brother, I don't know the curriculum of the University. I want to ask, has this brother learned mathematics?"

"I have," the young man said with an obvious targeting tone.

Chen Ke didn't reply. He turned around, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote rapidly on the blackboard. Everyone looked; they were all simple math problems, such as 1+1=?, 4×(?)=16. Such simple questions were naturally child's play for these students of the Imperial University of Peking. Someone had already laughed quietly. "Are these questions testing children?"

As Chen Ke wrote more and more, the mocking sounds obviously increased. But as the whispering discussions below continued, the various sarcastic sounds gradually decreased.

Chen Ke turned back. Many people below already understood Chen Ke's meaning, and their expressions became solemn.

"Selecting officials through Eight-Legged Essays indeed no longer fits modern trends and needs. However, standardized testing will never be outdated." Chen Ke pointed to the questions on the blackboard and said.

These students were not unlearned, incompetent people. The content Chen Ke wrote on the blackboard was simple, but Chen Ke wasn't intending to test everyone anyway. The key to these things was the classification of exam questions. Fill-in-the-blank questions, single-choice questions, multiple-choice questions, essay questions, and large calculation questions. Chen Ke briefly wrote out the exam papers of his own era.

"I have to explain to everyone first, I have only seen a tiny bit of Eight-Legged Essays. I myself can't write Eight-Legged Essays at all." Chen Ke didn't want to pretend to know what he didn't. "But, I have always believed that without rules, nothing can be accomplished. The Eight-Legged Essay, at any rate, counts as a standardized testing mode. What I value is this kind of thing."

Hearing these words, the area below the stage immediately boiled over. Some supported Chen Ke, and some opposed him. It looked like those supporting Chen Ke actually held a slight advantage.

"Mr. Chen, these are all courses in new-style schools. What do they have to do with the Imperial Examination?" that young man continued to ask.

"The court is abolishing the Imperial Examination now. I will say bluntly, it is digging its own grave," Chen Ke replied, tit-for-tat. As soon as these words came out, the audience below instantly fell silent. Chen Ke calmly put down the chalk in his hand and clapped the chalk dust off his fingers.

"No matter what you say about the Imperial Examination having this problem or that problem, the significance of the Imperial Examination system itself lies in providing a relatively fair promotion model. Even if various forms of cheating emerge one after another, the majority of those who obtain titles through various levels of the Imperial Examination are still ordinary scholars. I think everyone has to admit this point, right?"

No one opposed. Everyone looked at Chen Ke with their own emotions, wanting to see what exactly Chen Ke meant.

"So, abolishing the Imperial Examination and advocating for new-style schools—do we want to maintain this fairness? If we want to maintain fairness, we can largely increase the content of the Imperial Examination. Mathematics, physics, chemistry—these subjects can all be gradually added to the Imperial Examination. If it is to increase the number of educated people, then can't new-style schools be incorporated into the Imperial Examination system? Overturning the Imperial Examination—I do not agree with it."

"What does this have to do with the court digging its own grave, as Mr. Chen said?" another brother, who looked over forty, asked with a frown. It seemed he didn't quite understand Chen Ke's rather drifting statement.

Chen Ke turned around and picked up the chalk again, realizing that his affectation of calmness just now was quite superfluous. But he couldn't care about that much now. Chen Ke rapidly wrote a line of large characters: "A true king enriches the people; a hegemon enriches the scholar-officials; a barely surviving state enriches the grandees; a doomed state enriches its coffers and fills its storehouses." The people below were all scholars and knew these were words from *Xunzi — Regulations of a King*. Many quick-witted people were already nodding slowly.

"In the world today, we simply cannot talk about enriching the people. To pay indemnities, the court has been working hard to enrich its coffers and fill its storehouses. This is already extremely dangerous. Back then, because of the Opium War, the court increased taxes greatly to pay indemnities. As a result, there was an immediate response from the populace—the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rose up in rebellion. Zeng Guofan led the Xiang Army to fight fiercely with the Taiping Army, burning, killing, and looting, which actually enriched the Xiang Army of Hunan. This can be counted as enriching the scholar-officials. Finally, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was destroyed. What about the Westernization Movement? It enriched the Westernization faction, which can be counted as enriching the grandees. The court also looked like it had a Tongzhi Restoration. Now that the Imperial Examination is abolished, whether it's the grandees or the scholar-officials, the promotion opportunities that were originally institutionally fair are gone. If mathematics and physics were added to the Imperial Examination, although those scholars would feel that taking the exam became much harder, at least there would be something to hope for. To pass, they would inevitably have to study new knowledge, and the court's new-style schools could take advantage of the situation to be implemented. Now, tossing the Imperial Examination completely aside—how will those scholars see it? What will they think? The Imperial Examination was originally thousands of troops crossing a single-log bridge; those who passed were the minority. Having set up new-style education, the court hasn't added a single official position. Moreover, with new-style education being implemented so suddenly, it is tantamount to cutting off the path of those scholars. Those who can study are not poor people. They have extremely close relationships with the gentry everywhere. Now, to pay indemnities, the court has already offended the common people. If it offends the scholars thoroughly too, those it can rely on are merely these grandees, that is, the officials. In the Gengzi year (1900), the Mutual Protection of Southeast China even came out. Can the court rely on these provincial officials of the world?"

Chen Ke's words were resonant. For a moment, among the teachers and students who came to listen to the lecture, no one could immediately stand up to refute him. After a long pause, someone finally asked, "Isn't this about implementing New Policies and establishing a constitution?"

"There is a saying in my hometown: No one gets up early without profit. Who are the main promoters of the constitution? Aren't they the officials of the Southeast and the gentry everywhere? Why do they want a constitution? Isn't one of the important reasons because the court wants to enrich its coffers and fill its storehouses, and they can't stand it? If the constitution is successfully established, these people still won't be able to defeat the foreigners, and not a single copper of the money to be compensated will be less. If the gentry hold power, they certainly won't be willing to pay a copper more; instead, they will try every means to pay less. With foreigners pressing like tigers and wolves, this money will ultimately be transferred to the heads of the common people. Since some people have read my book, perhaps everyone has read that in the late Ming dynasty, the tea tax in the south actually had a case where only 12 taels were paid in a year. It was like this back then, and it will be like this now. What result will come from oppressing the common people too much? Everyone is a knowledgeable and talented person; I don't need to say more."

No one uttered another sound. Those who could get into the Imperial University of Peking were sensible people; the crowd knew Chen Ke wasn't talking nonsense. The look in everyone's eyes when looking at Chen Ke no longer held any slight. Originally, these people's evaluation of Chen Ke's book was about the same as that of Mr. Yan Fu and Mr. Ma Xiangbo; they all felt Chen Ke's theories were very "domineering." Quite a few people felt Chen Ke was a "mad scholar." The student who asked the question originally wanted to discuss the issue of Eight-Legged Essays with Chen Ke. But Chen Ke's focus was simply not on small details, but discussing from the perspective of national trends, and his analysis was very profound. Although there were still people who remained unconvinced, they dared not say anything easily anymore.

"If everyone has no other questions, I will start the lecture." Seeing no one jumping out to speak again, Chen Ke's expression returned to his usual gentle and cultivated appearance.

After the lecture that day, Mr. Gu Hongming insisted on treating Chen Ke to dinner.

"Wenqing's words are sharp; you are worthy of being Yan Jidao's disciple," Mr. Gu said at the dinner table.

Yan Fu had stated clearly his master-disciple relationship with Chen Ke in this letter, and Mr. Gu Hongming didn't suspect it.

"Wenqing, I actually didn't tell that you understand court politics so well."

"Mr. Gu, I spoke a bit without taboo today. Thinking about it now, I regret it very much. If I have brought inconvenience to Mr. Gu, please tell me directly."

"Wenqing, what you said about the Eight-Legged Essay today was all words of a veteran statesman planning for the country. What the court lacks now is precisely people like you who can see the problems and are steady and reliable. Everyone's mind is full of partisan strife, acting for quick success and instant benefits. I originally didn't think that much either, but after listening to Wenqing's explanation, the more I think about it, the more afraid I am. The court is now riding a tiger and finding it hard to get off; the New Policies must be implemented. What views does Wenqing have on the New Policies?"

"Mr. Gu, Calamities from Heaven can be withstood; calamities brought by oneself are unforgivable. Regarding the New Policies, it's still what I said today: the court is simply digging its own grave. No matter how the New Policies are conducted, it is a struggle for benefits between the court, the gentry, and the provincial officials. Looking at it now, no matter which side gains the advantage, those who suffer will inevitably be the common people. Once the hearts of the people in this world are lost, we just wait for those two people."

Hearing these words, Gu Hongming frowned and didn't make a sound. Chen Ke wasn't polite either and ate heartily. Only when he was half full did he hear Mr. Gu ask, "Wenqing writes books and establishes theories; presumably, you think the New Policy constructed in your book can save the country and the people."

"Yes," Chen Ke answered decisively.

"Wenqing, Jidao said in his letter to me that he wrote a letter to Yuan Weiting, introducing you to see him. As the Minister of Beiyang, Yuan Weiting is also a smart person. I was thinking, could Wenqing write an article about the New Policies? I will personally take you to see Yuan Weiting."

"This is not easy to write. It will take some days to finish."

"It doesn't matter. You come to the school to lecture in the afternoon, and you can write during other times."

"Then after I finish writing, Mr. Gu, you must correct it for me."

"Naturally."

After the meal, Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua returned to their residence together.

"Wenqing, you being so straightforward was outside my expectations."

Chen Ke didn't take up this topic; he was concerned about something else. "Xingtai, what reaction do you think the students had to my class?"

"I think the reaction was not bad. What's wrong, Wenqing? Are you planning to develop comrades at the Imperial University of Peking?"

"For the Imperial University of Peking, I am Jiang Taigong fishing—those willing to take the hook. I don't have that much time to spend on them either. On the contrary, the Westernization faction needs to be befriended well. After the Gengzi year, the strength of the Westernization factions was greatly damaged. They are most dissatisfied with the court, so they can be developed."

"What does Wenqing plan to do specifically?"

The two talked as they walked. It was October, and it got dark early. By the time the two returned to their residence, the sky was completely dark. Raising a hand to feel for the lock, he felt nothing. Chen Ke was startled. Could it be that the place he lived in had been burgled? Pushing open the room door, he saw lights on in both the main room and the wing room. Several figures were cast on the paper windows. Hearing the sound, a tall figure stood up first. Chen Ke breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, he saw Wu Xingchen walk out of the main hall. Chen Ke closed the courtyard gate and turned back. On the stone steps in front of the main room, besides Wu Xingchen, there were several other people. One of them was actually Pang Zi.

Everyone exchanged greetings and went back inside the house. There was a pile of wine and meat on the table in the room, but it hadn't been moved much; it seemed everyone had just started the banquet. Chen Ke didn't expect Wu Xingchen to actually bring Pang Zi to Beijing. While he was guessing Pang Zi's intention, he saw Pang Zi stand up and pour wine for Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua, then held his own cup. "Two Mr. Chens, I didn't entertain you well in Xingtai. This cup of wine is to apologize to you two."

Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua hurriedly stood up holding their wine. Everyone clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp. Only then did they sit down.

"Wenqing, you and Brother Pang are both straight-tempered. Especially you—your words are just unpleasant to hear. Brother Pang talked about your affairs, and I feel everyone shouldn't have parted on such bad terms. Brother Pang also feels quite regretful. Look, he made a special trip to Beijing to apologize to you."

Hearing these words, Chen Ke quickly stood up and poured wine for Pang Zi and the others. He raised his wine cup. "I speak just like this. For where I offended Brother Pang, I must ask Brother Pang to forgive me."

Everyone also stood up, said a few polite words, and then everyone drained their wine.

After sitting down again, Pang Zi said, "Mr. Chen, regarding that matter you mentioned last time—after you left, I thought about it many times. And Brother Wu also talked to me specifically. Brother Wu reasoned a lot, and I think it's very correct, but there are still many places I don't quite understand. Coming to the capital this time, I came specifically to ask Mr. Chen for advice."

"Brother Pang, I don't understand your situation. I wonder if Brother Pang can tell me about your situation first. If I don't even know the basic situation, what I say will definitely be incorrect."

Hearing these words, Pang Zi's eyes flashed, and a vigilant look was very obvious. "Regarding me, I wonder what exactly Mr. Chen wants to know?"

Chen Ke didn't care about Pang Zi's expression at all. He said calmly, "Brother Wu hasn't said how you two met. This has to be talked about first, right?"