FIMA Ch61: The End

In the winter of Yongjia’s twenty-fourth year.

Yongjia Emperor fell seriously ill again. After his health improved slightly in the spring, he finally decreed the establishment of the crown prince.

In the autumn of the twenty-fifth year, Yongjia Emperor passed away.

The fifth prince ascended the throne as emperor, changing the era name to Qinghe.

With a new emperor came new officials, and Gu Siyuan was promoted to the position of Deputy Minister of the Dali Temple.

During his time at Dali Temple, Gu Siyuan was meticulous in administering justice, eradicating wrongful convictions, and compiled the “Case Handling Compendium” for distribution across the nation, serving as a guide for local officials in adjudicating cases.

A few years later, Gu Siyuan was promoted to the Ministry of Justice, overseeing the country’s judicial and penal matters. He supervised the revision of the “Great Zhou Code,” incorporating the essence of previous laws and adding civil and economic laws. This was then disseminated nationwide, requiring local officials to appoint individuals to recite and explain the laws to each household.

During this period, a particularly surprising event occurred: Xie Changyue managed to purchase a basket of sweet potatoes from a Western merchant without any prior knowledge.

Gu Siyuan was deeply impressed by this.

With some guidance, Xie Changyue successfully cultivated this crop and was astonished by its yield.

This unattractive food turned out to have a yield more than double that of corn.

Xie Changyue presented this to Emperor Qinghe, resulting in his title being elevated from County Lord Changming to County Duke Changming.

Lord Gu could once again happily enjoy being a kept man and, to ensure fairness, made sure Xie Changyue thoroughly experienced his “hard food” that night.

Poor Xie Changyue, the grain-delivering immortal in the eyes of the common people, could only cry with his beautiful eyes turning red, then pitifully reach out his slender, fair arms to tightly hug the person on top of him.

The next day, our newly appointed Duke Changming still had trembling legs and a sore waist, being supported by servants all the way to the palace to express his gratitude for the decree.

After returning home, remembering the gazes of those people along the way, Xie Changyue threw a tantrum, angrily pouncing on Gu Siyuan, wanting to bite this dog of a man to death.

Then, Gu Siyuan pinned him down in a few moves, coldly saying a few words in a low voice into his ear, and Xie Changyue was once again completely smitten by his husband, snuggling in his arms and acting coquettish.

Wang Xu, having known the two for over ten years, had moved from anger to helplessness, to habit, to ignoring the constant flirting regardless of the occasion between the shameless couple.

In the end, he could only secretly swear to record all their shameless daily antics and let future generations ridicule them forever.

In the following years, during the Qinghe reign, the administration was simple and clear, officials were honest, the nation was prosperous, and the people lived in harmony.

At the age of thirty-five, Gu Siyuan submitted a memorial requesting to resign and return home.

This shocked the court, inside and out, as everyone knew how highly Gu Siyuan was regarded by the emperor. In a few more years, he was certain to enter the cabinet and become the prime minister, not only becoming the first ever six-time top scorer but also the youngest prime minister in history. How could he give up his career at this time?

Emperor Qinghe himself was even more reluctant, repeatedly holding back Gu Siyuan’s resignation memorial.

It wasn’t until Gu Siyuan himself entered the palace several times and had lengthy conversations with him that he was finally allowed to return home.

Gu Siyuan and Xie Changyue took Xie Er and Mu Xia back to Huangyang Village, finding the place greatly changed with many familiar faces already passed away.

Old Master and Madam Gu were still alive, but they were also very frail.

They also met Gu Zhen after a long time.

Gu Zhen was only a few months older than Gu Siyuan, but he looked much older now.

On the day Shen Changhuan was executed, Gu Zhen had gone to the capital specially, bringing food and wine to see him off.

However, that meeting was evidently unpleasant.

Whatever Shen Changhuan had said, it had left Gu Zhen increasingly dispirited ever since.

If it weren’t for the village elders insisting he teach the village children to read and write, and the pleas of his mother, Li Xiangtao, Gu Zhen’s heart and soul might have already died with Shen Changhuan.

After that, he continued living in a daze.

After returning to the village, Gu Siyuan immediately started a major construction project to build the Yuanchang Academy by the Anning River.

On the opening day of the academy, leveraging his fame as the six-time top scorer and retired high-ranking official, he instantly attracted students from several surrounding counties.

However, the academy only accepted peasant children, not the offspring of wealthy or aristocratic families. Additionally, Gu Siyuan supported Xie Changyue in opening a literacy class for boys and girls.

Of course, such actions were both praised and criticized.

But did Gu Siyuan care? Naturally, he didn’t.

At the same time, Gu Siyuan resumed his old official duties, writing and compiling books.

When word of this spread, scholars across the land eagerly awaited the publication, planning to buy and study them immediately.

However, when the books were finally released, with titles like “30-Day Guide to County Exams,” “Three-Year Preparation for Prefecture Exams,” “County Exam Point-by-Point Analysis,” “County Exam Practice,” “Fifty-Eight Sets of Provincial Exam Papers,”…

It was simply a disgrace to literature!

This was blatantly insulting the classics and belittling the books of sages, a crime worthy of death!

However, when the peasant students of Yuanchang Academy received a set each and achieved a 90% pass rate in the next county exam, although they continued to criticize openly, they privately owned almost a copy each.

In the subsequent prefecture and provincial exams, these books continued to play a significant role.

The civil service exams, regarded by scholars as both a monstrous challenge and a sacred ladder, turned out to have shortcuts.

At this point, the amount of abuse Gu Siyuan received increased.

Not only from scholars but also from the upper echelons.

While ancient people often said, “Rise from the fields to enter the emperor’s court in a day,” in reality, the right to education and civil service exams had always been in the hands of a few.

Because books were too expensive, because of selfish hoarding, no matter how diligent and hardworking a poor child was, without access to certain books, without the opportunity to read them, how could they pass the exams?

So, in such a huge disparity between rich and poor, exam-oriented education was the most admirable, and this was the only way to narrow the gap with aristocratic children.

Under these circumstances, more and more people were willing to learn to read and write, and public enlightenment increased.

Naturally, this made the so-called upper classes and elite scholars both resentful and fearful.

Everything progressed in an orderly manner.

As more students from Yuanchang Academy succeeded, Gu Siyuan’s influence grew.

While writing books, Gu Siyuan also did not forget to engage in various inventions and creations, significantly improving the living standards of the people of the Great Zhou dynasty.

One winter.

It snowed heavily again.

Xie Changyue, as usual, stood under the plum tree in the courtyard, asking Gu Siyuan to paint him.

Once the painting was done, it still displayed the same disharmony, with the noble and aloof red plum and the beautiful and cunning young man.

Xie Changyue happily held the painting in his arms.

Meanwhile, Gu Siyuan tightly embraced him, grateful that he had never neglected exercise, as he still had the strength to hold his little husband.

Thinking this way, the two slowly closed their eyes.

…

Afterward, time flew by.

Hundreds of years passed quickly, ushering in the prosperous and equal 21st century, where everyone had the right to a full meal and an education.

“The thin page you turn over in your hand is their grand and turbulent life.”

In Professor B’s history class, the young professor wearing glasses had a serious expression on his face.

Hearing this, for some reason, all the students in the class fell into an inexplicable sadness.

At this moment, there was a light laugh. “However, we can’t finish talking about today’s subject in just one page. Everyone is very familiar with him, and he is often trending online. He once caused quite a stir with a not-so-small joke.”

Saying this, the professor picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the three big characters “Gu Siyuan” on the blackboard.

Immediately, the classroom became lively.

“Ah, great, today we’re talking about my idol!”

“Haha, so it’s about our great ‘time traveler.'”

“No wonder he said there was a joke. Now I remember and I want to laugh too.”

“Hahaha…”

The professor stared at the students below, reminding them, “If you don’t want to make jokes, you should read more books. Otherwise, you might one day say something like ‘Where did Gu Siyuan, this nobody, come from? How does he buy so many trending topics every day? Can he even afford the marketing fees?'”

“Okay,” the students responded in unison.

The professor continued to introduce, “Gu Siyuan is a famous inventor, political scientist, jurist, educator, and calligrapher in our country’s history. Everyone is naturally familiar with his feat of being the first person to top all six subjects in the imperial examination. Law students probably have a deeper understanding of the ‘Compilation of Cases’ and ‘Great Zhou Code’ that he oversaw.”

“What people talk about the most should be the period when he resigned and returned home to establish an academy, writing those imperial examination books, which had a huge impact on the education system of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the entire feudal society, and even influence us today.”

“Not only that, the cement he made, the smoother official roads he built, allowed people to both read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles. His improved weaving machine and rice hulling machine allowed women and children to earn more than the men at home, greatly enhancing their social status. His improved power ships and muskets increased the Great Zhou Dynasty’s naval capabilities and opened a window for foreign trade…”

The professor’s voice echoed in their ears.

Until the bell rang, everyone was still immersed in the magnificent life of Gu Siyuan.

The professor sighed, picked up the textbook, and smiled, “I won’t drag the class out. I originally wanted to continue talking about Gu Siyuan’s spouse, Xie Changyue, but unfortunately, time is up.”

“Ah!” The classroom erupted in a long sigh.

“Ah, why did the class end so quickly? I still want to listen.”

“For the first time, I don’t want the class to end. I really like Gu Siyuan and his spouse, their divine love story!”

“Yeah, Xie Changyue is also amazing. The first half of his life was full of ups and downs, and then he met Mr. Gu. The two of them are a perfect match, producing corn and sweet potatoes that fed countless people.”

“And in an era where men had multiple wives, the two of them could stay together as a pair for life. How rare is that!”

“Yeah, Mr. Gu spent his life writing and inventing serious things. The only time he entertained himself was when he painted pictures for his spouse.”

“Hahaha. Speaking of paintings, I want to laugh again. Maybe it was because of love, but every time Mr. Gu painted Xie Changyue so vividly, it ruined the whole painting’s artistic conception. When the paintings were first unearthed, they were even considered imitations…”

“Hahaha, his reputation was ruined. Always buying trending topics and marketing himself, Gu Siyuan, the fake painting lover…”