In the twenty-third year of the Kaiyuan era, a celadon teacup smashed beside Li Yan's feet in the Imperial College.
“Someone from a poor family dares to lecture us on policy?” The young master of the Boling Cui clan overturned his desk, and ink soaked half a volume of the Rites of Zhou.
But when Li Yan wiped the tea from his face and touched the yellowed policy paper with his fingertips, the eloquence of Zhuge Liang's “Longzhong Plan,” the strategy of Fang Xuanling's “Plan to Pacify the Borders,” and the incisive arguments of Lu Zhi's “Memorial on Equalizing Taxes” suddenly surged through his mind like a river!
[Ding! The Policy Essays Become Sages System has activated. Essays by illustrious historical ministers have been loaded. Use writing to turn the tide and gather literary energy to become a sage!] The next day, he wrote “A Plan to Reform the Imperial Examinations.” The ink was barely dry when golden light pierced the heavens. Even the Imperial College professor trembled as he ran his hand over the pages. “If this plan is implemented, students from humble families... will bring down the aristocratic clans!”
