Chapter 72

Under this topic, there is a brief introduction.

The Kingdom of Raging Waves has stood for two hundred years and has been a kingdom for a hundred years.

Since the Dragon Emperor unified the human world, countless kingdoms have risen and fallen, the longest lasting no more than five or six hundred years, and the shortest less than a few decades.

So, according to what you see, how many more years can the Kingdom of Raging Waves, ruled by the Ji family, exist? For what reason will the kingdom fall?

"King Ji is really unique," Lan Ling said with a sigh after reading the topic.

Such an essay question would not even be allowed to be discussed in other countries. Although there has never been a kingdom that lasted a thousand years, every king of every kingdom now claims that their family's rule will last for generations.

But King Ji straightforwardly asks all the students how many more years his Kingdom of Raging Waves can last.

Lan Ling clearly felt that this essay was really, really difficult, but if done well, it could be very impressive.

The entire exam time is only three hours, and this is truly a test of skill.

To get a high score, your opinion must be different from that of most students. As the saying goes, truth is in the hands of the few, and this saying itself is a truth.

Moreover, it is very difficult to grasp the scale of this essay.

For example, if you write that the Kingdom of Raging Waves will last a thousand years, you are just fooling the king. But if you say it will only last a hundred years, you are cursing the Kingdom of Raging Waves.

Then, Lan Ling realized a deeper meaning in this question. It is not just asking how many more years the Kingdom of Raging Waves can last.

More importantly, it is asking what the biggest problem facing the Kingdom of Raging Waves is now, and what the biggest problem will be in the next few decades or a hundred years.

This requires a very high level of political insight and wisdom to see clearly and write clearly.

The highest realm of this essay is to ask the candidates what methods can be used to extend the life of the Kingdom of Raging Waves in the next crisis of destruction.

This is a very large topic, and to write it completely, even tens of thousands of words would not be enough. It is not something that can fit into an essay, so Lan Ling only needs a starting point, and then break through from this point to write a sharp and concise essay.

He needs to write something very, very stunning, very, very shocking, something that will make people's eyes widen and be enough to awaken and shock the king's heart to get a high score.

Because he needs to win the noble knight medal and enter the top ten. He cannot fail in any exam. Even one failure would completely ruin everything.

Being excellent is not enough; he must be unparalleled and unique.

Lan Ling closed his eyes and began to rack his brain to plan.

After a full hour, he finished his planning.

His starting point is something that has never existed in the entire Flame Dragon Continent, the concept of party strife, which will be a new term for this world.

The title of his essay is: Party Strife Misleads the Country, Party Strife Destroys the Country.

Thinking of this starting point, Lan Ling was very excited, and his writing flowed like a fountain.

In the past three thousand years, no human kingdom on the Flame Dragon Continent has ever had true party strife. Because all countries over the past few thousand years have adopted the feudal system, with the nobility holding all the power.

The civilian elite class, or the literary and martial class, only began to rise in the past few decades.

The trend of the rise of the civilian elite was led by the Kingdom of Raging Waves, especially by King Ji. It was only in the past few years that a large number of civilian elites entered the upper ranks of the military, provincial and county officials, and even high-ranking officials in the cabinet.

So the rise of the civilian elite has only been less than twenty years so far.

Now, the number of civilian elites is still small, so they are in a relatively scarce state. The positions and power vacated by the nobility, suppressed by King Ji, are enough to be distributed to these civilian elites.

However, the elite will also reproduce, and in the future, there will be more and more civilian elites. When the power and positions are not enough to be distributed, and the king no longer has enough power to give these civilian elites, they will certainly form parties for their own interests and use the power of their parties to seek greater power.

In ancient Chinese dynasties, after the imperial examination system, the history of the aristocracy monopolizing state power was completely ended. A large number of literati and scholars took the stage and co-governed the country with the royal family.

Then, party strife inevitably appeared. The Niu-Li party strife in the Tang Dynasty, the new and old party strife in the Song Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty, party strife reached its peak, with the eunuch party, the Donglin party, and the Zhe party fighting to the death, directly leading to the complete destruction of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, once party strife appears, the country's strength will be greatly consumed.

If it were other kingdoms, it might be better, but the Kingdom of Raging Waves is in a very dangerous geographical location, surviving in the gap between the barbarians and the Flame Empire, where not advancing means retreating. If all levels of the kingdom unite, they can not only protect the country but also continuously expand and strengthen it.

But once party strife appears and internal consumption occurs, the speed of destruction will far exceed imagination.

In the essay, Lan Ling boldly speculates that the Kingdom of Raging Waves will have three party strifes.

The first party strife will be between the noble class and the civilian elite, which will occur within ten years.

With the tacit approval and manipulation of the royal family, the civilian elite class will certainly continuously squeeze the space of the noble class and take power from the noble class. In this first party strife, the royal family can benefit and will not face a major crisis.

And within a maximum of two or three decades, this party strife will have a result, and the noble class will certainly be completely defeated. Because the nobility is becoming more and more corrupt, like a setting sun in the west, while the civilian elite is a new force, like a rising sun in the east.

After the first party strife, the noble class will become a complete shell, and the civilian elite will enjoy the power of the kingdom, and this class will completely transform into the literary and martial class.

The literary and martial class, which enjoys the power of the kingdom, is also a case of not advancing means retreating. When they can no longer get more power from the royal family, they will certainly target the royal family as their next goal, and hollowing out the royal family will become their absolute political correctness.

Therefore, the second party strife will be the struggle between the literary and martial class and the royal family.

This struggle will bring great harm to the Kingdom of Raging Waves and will not have a clear winner.

Because the royal family holds the moral high ground, once the literary and martial class forms parties, they will have power, and this power will no longer come from the royal family.

So, this second party strife will basically have no winner. Or, before a winner can be determined, the Kingdom of Raging Waves will be destroyed.

The third party strife will be the internal party strife within the literary and martial class, the struggle between the literary and martial classes, and even the struggle between different factions within the literary and martial classes.

Moreover, the third party strife will occur simultaneously with the second party strife.

If the Kingdom of Raging Waves does not fall in the second party strife, it will certainly fall in the third party strife.

So, in the end, Lan Ling draws the final conclusion.

The Kingdom of Raging Waves has only a hundred years of national fortune and will certainly be destroyed by party strife.

Finally, he should have written a way to solve this dilemma, but Lan Ling was not so naive and ended with four heavy words: "This situation has no solution."

After writing two thousand words, Lan Ling finally completed this essay on the destruction of the country by party strife.

At this point, there was only half an hour left before the exam ended. Lan Ling read his article from beginning to end, finding the language concise and the theme clear and sharp, with a conclusion that was shocking.

The entire essay could be called a wake-up call.

Whether in terms of insight or wisdom, it was the best of the best. Because Lan Ling had two thousand years of history on Earth to reference, and several dynasties' tragedies had completely verified his views.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang"

The bell rang, signaling the end of the second exam.

Twenty mentors came one by one to collect everyone's papers, then gathered them together and handed them to the examiners for grading.

The grading of the second exam's essay was not so simple and would take two full days to complete. Because there was no correct answer, a lot of time was needed to deliberate and discuss.

After the exam, Lan Ling returned directly to the Tian Shui Earl's residence. The next day was a break, and the third exam, in the arts, would continue the day after tomorrow.

Moreover, the results of the second exam would be given before the third exam.

Upon returning home, Suo Ning Bing immediately asked, "Little brother, what was today's essay topic?"

Lan Ling replied, "How much longer can the Kingdom of Raging Waves last?"

Hearing this topic, Suo Ning Bing was stunned, looking very incredulous.

"Our King Ji is really full of personality," Lan Ling said with a smile.

Suo Ning Bing said, "But this essay is very difficult. It not only tests courage but also wisdom and insight. For me to write it, it would be very hard to make it impressive."

Suo Ning Bing is a talented woman who had prepared many essays for Lan Ling's second exam and was very confident in her talent.

However, the topic of how much longer the Kingdom of Raging Waves can last is indeed quite large and deep.

"How did you write it?" Suo Ning Bing asked.

Lan Ling said, "The Kingdom of Raging Waves will certainly be destroyed by party strife within a hundred years, and it is irredeemable."

Upon hearing this, Suo Ning Bing was stunned.

Then, Lan Ling recited his article, very clearly and concisely.

The first party strife, the second party strife, the third party strife, and then the Kingdom of Raging Waves will fall.

After listening, Suo Ning Bing looked at Lan Ling for a long time, her beautiful eyes filled with amazement, and she murmured, "Little brother, you are truly a genius. This essay will shock everyone."

As one of the main examiners sent by the royal family, Zhi Ning also began the long process of grading the essays.

She is a proud and picky person. So, every time she picked up an essay, she would frown after reading less than a hundred words and almost impatiently throw it aside.

Because these essays were really too vague and unbearable to read.

While grading, Zhi Ning looked forward to seeing Suo Lun's essay, eager to see how ignorant, shallow, and terrible it would be.

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