Chapter 590

Chapter 590: Technology Tree

Lin Jiang’s actions in the Datong court caused a big stir, but at first, nobody dared to adopt Lin Jiang’s children as their own because they were afraid he might regret it.

If in a few years, Lin Jiang suddenly marries and has children, what will happen? Wouldn’t the family who adopted Lin Jiang’s children face extinction?

Lin Jiang felt helpless about this, so he continued to make up stories. He told the ministers that in his childhood, he had a magical encounter in the mountains with an immortal who taught him many skills. After the immortal left, Lin Jiang came down from the mountains and had a successful career in Zhong State for over ten years.

Despite the passing years, Lin Jiang’s desire to seek immortality never faded. That’s why he avoided marriage and having children, as he didn’t want any attachments on Earth.

Lin Jiang spoke earnestly and provided many details, talking about things from the time of cultivating immortality. Eventually, the ministers believed him, but who knows if they really did. Soon after, twenty-eight five or six-year-old children appeared in the palace.

Lin Jiang had previously told them that these children were not yet his heirs. There was only one throne, and he didn’t need so many heirs. For now, these children were considered Lin Jiang’s disciples. When he was ready to leave Datong Country to seek immortality, he would choose his heirs.

Lin Jiang cared greatly for these children, providing them with the best teachers and personally teaching them every day to broaden their horizons.

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In the year 3888 of the Xia calendar, Lin Jiang officially established the imperial examination system in the Datong court. It judged people based on merit rather than background, promoting officials based on their achievements.

The imperial examination system was not created casually, it was a very complex thing. What subjects were tested in the imperial examination system, and what it covered, all had particular rules. If exams always tested the ideas of a certain historical figure, it might favor only that person’s views. Failing to understand these things clearly could lead to trouble easily. That’s why Lin Jiang took so many years to announce the imperial examination system.

Lin Jiang’s imperial examination system mainly emphasized Confucianism and Legalism. In the future of Datong Country, it would focus on using culture to govern military affairs. However, it wouldn’t be like the situations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where military generals were treated like animals. In the Datong Dynasty, using culture to govern military matters meant that scholars needed to have high martial arts and military skills. In simple terms, they needed to be talented both in literary and martial arts, capable of leading troops on horseback and governing people when off the horse.

The following year, the Datong Dynasty started organizing county-level exams in various regions. Each province had a quota, and those who met the requirements were called scholars. Scholars could be exempted from labor but not from taxes. Lin Jiang had already set a rule that no matter what title one held, taxes could not be exempted.

The year after, township exams were held. Those who passed were called graduates. The basic treatment for graduates was the same as scholars, but graduates had the advantage of being eligible for official appointments. Starting from the junior official position, Lin Jiang also opened up opportunities for junior officials to be promoted, gradually breaking down some of the corruption within this group.

Three years later, in the 3,891st year of the Xia calendar, the imperial examination began. There were over 6,000 graduates from 51 provinces participating. Lin Jiang only accepted 600 of them as successful candidates. With the title of successful candidate, they could start their official careers from county-level positions.

The 600 successful candidates took the palace examination again, determining the top three scorers: the champion, the second-place winner, and the third-place winner. Their starting point for official careers would be higher, most likely beginning their careers within the court. Since they were truly elite, starting their training from the beginning would be a waste of time.

The significance of the imperial examination system goes without saying. Its existence ensures a certain degree of social mobility and helps to prevent the monopolization of certain things by aristocratic families. It holds strong progressive value, especially considering that Lin Jiang’s system was unlike that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Ten years after the Great Harmony Dynasty’s recovery, war broke out again, with a million troops heading north to fight the Demon Human. Additionally, a navy of ten thousand men sailed upstream on the Qing River for battle.

Over these ten years, the Zhou Dynasty had given up on eradicating the Demon Human. They only engaged in minor skirmishes with the Demon Human at Lingyun Mountain. The real battles against the Demon Human were fought by remnants of the Qing River Legion from the Immortal Kingdom and the Great Wall Legion.

In this battle, Lin Jiang didn’t want to defeat all the Demon Humans immediately. He wanted to take small steps and see if the warriors could fight the Demon Humans without him joining the fight.

Lin Jiang sent out almost all of his Martial Saints, a total of forty-six. These Martial Saints were his pride and joy, trained by him for many years.

Twenty-eight disciples who had the potential to become successors also joined the army. They would become junior officers and prove themselves in battle. Without the courage to fight, they wouldn’t be fit to be emperors.

Despite sending millions of people to war, Datong Country was still growing stronger. The momentum of the dynasty persisted, not yet reaching its peak.

The Datong Army had a million soldiers, and adding the thirty thousand Qing River Legion soldiers made it a total of one million three hundred thousand troops. Divided into different paths, each group had its own leader. Some faced defeat, some achieved victory, but overall, Lin Jiang ordered them to retreat and secure strategic points, covering territory equivalent to two or three prefectures.

Lin Jiang carefully examined the reports from different messengers. The Datong Army didn’t back down and made no major mistakes in command, but battling the Demon Humans led to heavy casualties.

In the past, they could conquer the eighteen provinces of the North easily. Lin Jiang played a significant role, as even the Demon Human Martial Saints, powerful as they were, were no match for him. But facing the rest of the Datong Army, they were still formidable opponents.

"The gap in quantity and quality of Martial Arts Masters can no longer be filled by national strength. We need to rely on technology."

After reading all the reports, Lin Jiang sighed heavily. There were many Demon Human Martial Saints, with over a hundred that could be counted. There were even more hidden inside Demon City, possibly two or three times the known number.

In Lin Jiang’s mind, during the peak of the Great Wei, there were only about a hundred Martial Saints, plus the Immortal Kingdom, they were just about equal to them, even if they could wipe out all the Demon Humans south of Qing River, but what about north of Qing River?

Zhong State, You State, Liang State, North State, such vast territories, if in a few hundred or a thousand years, the Datong Country weakened, and Lin Jiang didn’t wake up, what to do?

So Lin Jiang needs a permanent solution, that is to completely eliminate the Demon Humans, so technological support is needed.

Actually, Lin Jiang doesn’t like bringing the technology tree to modern times, because there are many things in modern times that Lin Jiang doesn’t like, such as various chaotic ideologies, making most people become practical and selfish, like marriage, modern people don’t pay much attention to love anymore, it’s more about benefits, Lin Jiang has not married for thousands of years, also because of these thoughts haunting, after all, he has seen many terrible examples, he is afraid too.

Therefore, in the many awakenings before, Lin Jiang didn’t casually choose the technology tree, because he was afraid of choosing wrong.

But now, Lin Jiang can only bravely choose the technology tree, without choosing the technology tree, even if Lin Jiang goes into battle himself, he doesn’t know when it will end.

After much thought, Lin Jiang finally decided to activate the gunpowder technology tree, he found craftsmen, explained the concept to them, and had them replicate the specific products.

The gunpowder recipe doesn’t need much research, Lin Jiang remembered the details. It mainly involves equipment, and it will take some time to produce in quantity. Lin Jiang’s design skips the matchlock spear and moves into the snaphance era. As for cannons, they are front-loaded or rifled cannons, but Lin Jiang demands a large caliber. One shot from it is unstoppable even for a Martial Saint.

If these two weapons can be mass-produced, then the doomsday for Demon Humans is near, especially with the large-caliber snaphance, soldiers with a bit stronger physique can handle it, then Lin Jiang won’t need to spend years training soldiers, a qualified soldier only needs to be trained for two to three months, then they can be continuously sent to the battlefield, with a base of nearly a billion people in Datong Country, which force can resist?