After completing this milestone of [Little Three Excellences].

Lin Qianxuan's learning ability has truly increased significantly.

The learning ability at the peak of humanity.

Whether it's physical matters or some knowledge, he learns quickly and easily.

This allows Lin Qianxuan to venture into more industries and understand various aspects of things.

And his reputation as a prodigy is becoming more prominent at this time.

In the academy and in the county town, Lin Qianxuan has gained substantial favor.

As for his family, he also has the qualification to make some decisions, and his parents listen to his arrangements.

His elder brother Xu Yi, who is three years older than him, almost completely obeys him.

Lin Qianxuan has nothing much to say to Xu Yi, just tells him to study well in the academy, as long as he can recognize a few more words and understand right from wrong, it will be enough.

When it's time to play, just let him play to his heart's content.

With the end of the Little Three Excellences exam, the next time he will take the exam is to challenge the Great Three Excellences milestone.

It will be about three years later, when Lin Qianxuan turns nine.

With such a long wait, Lin Qianxuan certainly can't stay idle.

He begins to explore various fields.

Not just woodworking.

But also cooking, martial arts, archery, weaving, medicine, horse riding, farming, plant breeding, doing business.....

Everything he can encounter, he will try his hand at it.

Don't ask why, just say it's the unity of knowledge and action.

Of course, learning broadly is one thing, but he still focuses on certain areas based on the environment.

For example, Lin Qianxuan now focuses on several things, such as combat, archery, sword techniques, farming, medicine, and crafts.

The first three can all be defined as martial arts.

The last three are what he prepares for technological advancement in farming.

He learned that in the more southern areas, there are some disturbances, and the problems are severe. Now the court is a bit bloated and difficult to operate, making it hard to address these issues.

Now Lin Qianxuan is taking precautions.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Qianxuan is already seven years old.

At this time, he is already one and a half meters tall, with well-proportioned muscles, stronger than an adult male, and his development is quite remarkable.

From two hundred paces away, he holds his modified bow and shoots an arrow, easily hitting the bullseye.

[Tip: For the ten thousandth time, you hit the bullseye from two hundred paces away, earning the "One in a Thousand" level milestone [Two Hundred Paces Piercing Willow].]

[Two Hundred Paces Piercing Willow: Arrows shot within two hundred paces are guaranteed to hit the target. (Note: It won't work beyond two hundred paces.)]

Lin Qianxuan blinked. This was the first time he completed a milestone without increasing any attributes.

The effect seems a bit outrageous.

Lin Qianxuan turned around, closed his eyes, drew his bow, and nocked an arrow, aiming at the target behind him in his mind.

He didn't use much force, and the speed of the arrow wasn't very fast.

Swish~!

The arrow flew out, turned around, headed for the target, and accurately hit the bullseye, then just bounced off and fell to the ground.

"Although it's bound to hit, the power is still the same as what I launched, it seems to automatically avoid obstacles, might end up as a pile of fragments hitting the object if shattered. What if the target moves beyond two hundred paces after being aimed at within two hundred paces?"

Lin Qianxuan tried another arrow and moved the target out of the two hundred paces range after the arrow was launched.

When the target left his shooting range, the arrow seemed to lose its target, directly losing momentum and falling to the ground according to Lin Qianxuan's shooting trajectory.

Then Lin Qianxuan tried shooting multiple arrows with a single bow, and the effect was the same.

Seeing the result, Lin Qianxuan nodded slightly.

This way, his bow and arrow could be used in many different scenarios, increasing their lethality and threat significantly.

Putting away his bow and arrow, Lin Qianxuan went to the adjacent courtyard.

There he had some vegetables and agricultural plants he was cultivating.

After observing the growth to ensure there were no issues, Lin Qianxuan recorded the growth conditions and then rode his horse straight to the academy.

Don't be fooled by his age of only seven now, but thanks to the help of several senior brothers, he actually holds shares in many industries, and he even runs a few restaurants himself, where the exclusive dishes earn him quite a bit of money.

So Lin Qianxuan has already moved out to live independently.

Mainly because he doesn't feel comfortable at home.

Xu Wang and Wang Cui have been very close recently, and Wang Cui is pregnant.

He will soon have a younger brother or sister.

Upon arriving at the academy, Lin Qianxuan headed straight for Zhu Junhao's courtyard, encountering many academy students and teachers along the way.

"Junior Brother Xu Zhi!"

"Senior Brother Gao!"

"Brother Zhi!"

"Senior Sister He..."

"Young Friend Xu!"

"Lecturer Liu...."

Everyone who saw Lin Qianxuan greeted him actively, and Lin Qianxuan responded to each one of them.

Relatively speaking, Lin Qianxuan's identity and status now are actually higher than theirs.

After all, he already has a title.

He has somewhat entered the system.

These students have not even passed one round of exams, not even considered formal scholars.

Lin Qianxuan finally reached the outside of Zhu Junhao's small courtyard, where several armed guards stood at the gate.

Upon seeing Lin Qianxuan, they nearly stopped him until a clerk in a blue robe urgently said, "This is the young master's junior brother."

"Master Feng." Lin Qianxuan cupped his hands to Feng Mingqian.

"No need for such courtesy!" Feng Mingqian replied with a smile, "Lord Du is inside playing chess with Old Headmaster Zhu!"

Lin Qianxuan nodded slightly, then stepped inside.

In the courtyard, two people were playing chess in the pavilion.

One was Zhu Junhao, the other was a middle-aged man around fifty years old, with a national character face and a long beard, dressed in black.

This man's name was Du Fuchen, the prefect of Xiaojiang Prefecture.

Considered the most capable among the many students of Zhu Junhao today.

To put it simply, his position is equivalent to that of a mayor.

Xiaojiang Prefecture has rich reserves of silver and salt mines.

Within the court, he is also considered to be very influential.

Before he was appointed, taxes in Xiaojiang Prefecture barely reached one to two percent annually; it was only after he took office and managed extravagantly that the court received nearly thirty percent in taxes.

Yes, only thirty percent; seventy percent belongs to the aristocratic families.

To have these thirty percent enter the national treasury depends on the favor of several senior officials in the court.

Even so, Du Fuchen is quite capable.

He has no family backing but has a good father-in-law and a kind godfather.

Yes, his father-in-law belongs to a military general family; currently, his brother-in-law guards the frontier with actual military power in hand.

And his godfather is the current Prime Minister Wang Shouping.

After Lin Qianxuan arrived, he stood quietly beside Zhu Junhao, silently watching the chess game.

Zhu Junhao, indeed, was old, gradually losing control of the game to Du Fuchen.

"This move is rather risky, how have you lost your composure?" Zhu Junhao said in a low voice.

"Student... is old, if I don't fight now, I fear there won't be another chance!" Du Fuchen replied.

After a long silence, Zhu Junhao said, "Stay for a meal before you leave."

"Hmm." Du Fuchen nodded, then looked at Lin Qianxuan, saying, "Ah, Brother Xu is here."

Only then did Lin Qianxuan perform the etiquette, saying, "Teacher, Brother Du."

Counting carefully, Lin Qianxuan had only met Du Fuchen three times: once at the teacher's banquet, once at the prefecture exam, and this was the third time.

He received the news in advance and only then rushed to the academy today.

Otherwise, he should have gone to the countryside to check his experimental fields.

"Don't be fooled by your junior's young age; your junior's chess skills are far better than mine. You two play a game." Zhu Junhao suggested.

"Please go easy on me, Brother Du." Lin Qianxuan said.

"You are too modest, Brother Xu. Who doesn't know your title as the little prodigy unrivaled in chess? I've heard that not only at Yimin Academy but even at Qishan Academy, there is no one who can match you!" Du Fuchen laughed.

"I just won by luck a move and a half." Lin Qianxuan said humbly.

The two then started a conversation while playing chess.

Although Du Fuchen was old, he was fierce and aggressive in chess, absolutely not backing down in any contestable position.

On the other hand, despite Lin Qianxuan's youth, his moves were exceptionally steady, constantly planning the outcomes of several moves ahead, avoiding direct confrontation whenever possible.

Every move was well thought out before it was placed.

By the end of the game, though Du Fuchen played exhilaratingly, he lost by one move to Lin Qianxuan.

No more, no less, just a single move.

It seemed evenly matched, but it must be noted that Lin Qianxuan wins at most by two moves against everyone, and in the past half-year, he has consistently won only by one move.

[Hint: Your hundredth game with someone winning by one move earns you the "One in a Hundred" level milestone [Win by One Move].]

[Win by One Move: Chess skill +1. (Note: Winning by only one move is sufficient.)]

"Youth can indeed be heroic!" Du Fuchen exclaimed.

During the review, Du Fuchen was as puzzled as Zhu Junhao had been.

"Brother Xu, why didn't you break through when I clearly made such a big mistake?" Du Fuchen asked.

"But I would also reveal a flaw," Lin Qianxuan replied, "The result is already destined to win, why take additional risks?"

"That doesn't sound like something a young person would say." Du Fuchen shook his head.

"I am no ordinary youth." Lin Qianxuan said.

"True, Brother Xu, you are indeed extraordinary. Given another twenty years... no, ten years of time, you will certainly accomplish a cause that will astonish us all." Du Fuchen smiled.

"Thank you for the auspicious words, Brother." Lin Qianxuan performed the etiquette.

After playing chess, chatting briefly, and eating a meal together, Du Fuchen left.

Before leaving, he left Lin Qianxuan a token, telling him that if he encountered an unsolvable problem, he could seek help from him in Xiaojiang Prefecture.

This was akin to a gesture of support.

Zhu Junhao had sent the message for Lin Qianxuan to come precisely because of this.

However, now Zhu Junhao did not want Lin Qianxuan to assist Du Fuchen.

"Your senior's plan is not a small matter. It is better for you not to disturb him." Zhu Junhao said to Lin Qianxuan.

"Can he still rebel?" Lin Qianxuan casually said.

"Watch your words! Do not lose respect! How are you becoming increasingly unrestrained lately?" Zhu Junhao frowned, chastising Lin Qianxuan, then added, "But what he intends to do is even more difficult than... He is tasked with reforming commercial laws in Xiaojiang Prefecture..."

Lin Qianxuan was indifferent to Zhu Junhao's reprimand.

With certain strength obtained, in such a feudal society of cold weapons devoid of extraordinary abilities, Lin Qianxuan felt completely unthreatened, thus behaving increasingly according to his whims.

Frankly speaking, at worst, he could retreat to the mountains for a dozen years; with the attributes blessed by milestones, when he returned, he might as well break through the entire army directly; he could even become a founding ancestor if he wished!

"That's indeed somewhat easier than rebelling." Lin Qianxuan nodded.

Changing commercial laws, severing the roots of the great aristocratic families; indeed, such things are more difficult than rebelling.

Rebellion only requires support from most aristocratic families.

On the other hand, reform would almost certainly face opposition from all vested interests.

It must be recognized that currently, aristocratic families are the key to governing this country.

The words of the current emperor barely hold sway in locales; it requires the aristocratic families' endorsement to be effective.

When officials govern locally, how much tax they can collect into the national treasury is also determined by the local aristocratic families.

The term "local emperor" is not just idle talk.

The further outside the capital, the less control the court has.

In fact, they can even force the court into compromise.

This is the situation in Yong Country right now.

The system is overly large and cumbersome, information travels slowly, like a several hundred-pound heavyweight struggling to move even a step.

Now wanting to lose weight? Wanting to diet?

Honestly, it's a bit late!

Only surgery can cut it down!

Without societal turmoil and cleansing, it's impossible to build a better mechanism again.

Du Fuchen's attempt at legal reform touches too many interests; even starting locally, he cannot succeed. The final outcome can only be his failure, abandonment by those above, and his family's ruin.

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