Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 722 - 686: Jiang Wan, the Late Bloomer

The progress of the plans that Chen Xi had initially made was least advanced for Jian Yong; while the others had accomplished numerous significant deeds, each person idly chatting around that table possessed their own renown—only Jian Yong’s results had yet to materialize.

Consequently, Jian Yong sometimes felt embarrassed to appear with Chen Xi and the rest, but fortunately for him, his sense of humor and easygoing personality kept any dark thoughts at bay, and he remained cheerfully unconcerned day to day.

Nevertheless, things had started to shape up, and coupled with the fact that Liu Yan, despite being celebrated throughout the land, still felt somewhat uneasy and often lent a hand.

After all, the task of inventing paper had been forcefully assigned to him by Chen Xi, and claiming such a celestial feat for himself was unthinkable for someone as self-aware as Liu Yan; therefore, he too wished to accomplish real work, as the halo that came with papermaking was too heavy for his slender shoulders!

This is why Liu Yan teamed up with Jian Yong; of course, there were hardly a few in the land who knew that the well-established bamboo paper was not something Liu Yan had created—Chen Xi kept this matter extremely confidential.

Although average in other aspects, Liu Yan had strong connections; with his efforts, many Great Confucian Scholars joined this project to trace the origins, and all of them were full of drive.

The Great Confucian Scholars knew what it meant to succeed in this endeavor—they would be remembered by posterity like the Various Masters if they succeeded, pioneering their own school of thought. Since people are driven by desires, how could these scholars not be motivated by such thoughts?

However, as things stood, the group of Great Confucian Scholars following Jian Yong had deduced the script from clerical script to small seal script and then entered the phase of large seal script. But upon reaching this phase, the scholars themselves split internally as regional scripts began to diverge.

Actually, they had already diverged during the small seal script phase, but at least those characters looked somewhat similar, each character having only dozens of variant forms. As for the large seal script phase, it was certainly more problematic.

Despite their initial disdain for the legal system of the Qin Dynasty, as they continued their research, they inevitably admired the audacity of the Qin Emperor, praising his decision to unify the characters—it was just too crucial!

The dilemma for Jian Yong now lay in the direction of their research. Although they had found some clues, these clues were based on the myth of Cangjie creating characters—cough, cough, cough—don’t laugh; it was far better than having no leads at all.

The situation was such that Jian Yong was diligently working on his plan. As for the elimination of variant characters and the creation of a comprehensive dictionary, those were no longer issues. Regarding the phonetic annotations, there was actually a system for annotating Chinese characters.

These achievements were actually quite astounding, but they paled in comparison to the superheroes he was surrounded by. Being teammates with superheroes, one would feel embarrassed without reaching the level of a monster, so Jian Yong endured.

Now, Jian Yong’s aspiration was to either complete the entire project of unifying the script and pronunciation or wait until after his death to publish his unfinished work. He couldn’t bear the humiliation of releasing it during his lifetime.

This was the so-called pressure. When you befriend monsters, as long as you can withstand the pressure and keep pace with the others, you might unknowingly outstrip many, because you’re focused on the few leading the way.

"Gong Yan, through our journey together, I’ve come to see your strategic depth. You wouldn’t mind me acting as your presenter, would you?" asked Jian Yong with a smile to Jiang Wan.

Along the journey, even Jian Yong, who initially thought Jiangh Wan was just a mediocre person, gradually discovered another side of him. Jiangh Wan was indeed a versatile talent. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as broadly and intensely knowledgeable as Chen Xi and Li Youu, but he was definitely a person of ability and worth introducing.

"It is indeed my wish, but I dare not ask for it," Jiangh Wan said with a smile.

Throughout the journey, Jiangh Wan was not blind to the fact that although Jian Yong was not very famous among the old ministers from the initial generation at Mount Tai, his familiarity with language, writing, and various local customs was so impressive that Jiangh Wan couldn’t help but conclude that perhaps it wasn’t that Jian Yong lacked prominence, but rather that his teammates were too strong and overshadowed his brilliance.

Being a late bloomer himself, Jiangh Wan had only due respect for geniuses. However, for those who kept striving diligently just like him, he felt a supportive camaraderie, ready to progress together.

"What’s there to fear?" Jian Yong said with a laugh, "Geniuses, apart from their innate intelligence, also achieve success by finding the right path and working hard. I’ve never believed in someone being born with knowledge. At most, it means I haven’t seen their efforts; it doesn’t mean they haven’t made any."

As he spoke, Jian Yong strode toward the felt tent, "Zichuan, long time no see. I want to introduce someone to you. This is a real talent from Jingzhou. Though he’s not very impressive now, I believe there will come a day when he will astonish the world."

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"Jiangh Gongyan of Lingling pays respect to Marquis Chen and the general," Jiangh Wan stepped in and immediately recognized Chen Xi seated in the place of honor.

"Jiangh Gongyan of Lingling?" Chen Xi raised an eyebrow, instantly recognizing who the man was, "Xianhe, if you ensure this, then I won’t make a special inspection. Gong Yan, would you be willing to join the army?"

It wasn’t that Chen Xi looked down on Jiangh Wan or anything, but his status now was not as casual as it was when Mount Tai was first established.

Back then, he could freely engage in discussions with newcomers like Lub Su, tossing aside formalities without a care. Now, even if he did the same, the only ones daring to follow would be those old men who had essentially achieved fame and success. Anyone else with sense would never show any disrespect. Only familiar faces could step out of the norms to enjoy a good rapport with Chen Xi. Others lacked the courage and the standing to do so.

With a smile, Jian Yong appreciated the face that Chen Xi gave him, then turned to look at Jiangh Wan, "Gong Yan, would you be willing to join the army?"

"With the regard shown by Marquis Chen and Mr. Jian, it is indeed an honor. However, my expertise lies more in the administration and evaluation of political affairs. Though I’m not completely ignorant about military matters, compared to the likes of Marquis Chen, such knowledge is far from adequate. It would be better for me to choose an official position that I can truly fulfill, rather than disappoint the generous expectations of Mr. Jian and Marquis Chen," Jiangh Wan inwardly sighed but still made the wisest choice.

Jiangh Wan had never expected Chen Xi to offer him a chance to join the army. After all, joining the army meant being granted an official position directly. He had braced himself to first take on the role of a low-ranking official to gain experience.

Jiangh Wan truly intended to rise from the grassroots level to a high position. With the clear politics of Mount Tai and Liu Xuande valuing both talent and virtue, Jiangh Wan was confident that by starting a political career now, in thirty years’ time, a place among the Nine Ministers would surely be his.

Jiangh Wan had never aspired to become a prime minister; his goal was the Nine Ministers. This ambition was lofty enough, and for this very aim, Jiangh Wan had been working hard. It wasn’t until the day he truly became one of the Nine Ministers that he realized he had underestimated himself. Jiangh Wan, a late bloomer, indeed!(To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)