Chapter 816: Chapter 816

If it were just writing an essay on the political theory of Empress Yuanzhao, Jiang Lingxi could easily write tens of thousands of words without a single hitch.

But a thesis is different.

Every argument must be well-founded with appropriate sources!

Otherwise, where do your arguments come from? The biggest taboo for a thesis is making things up out of thin air.

Even with Shen Yunqing's help in organizing the relevant historical materials, it still took her nearly a month to complete this thesis.

Of course, the results were significant, with the thesis nearing a hundred pages, almost exceeding the word limit, and even the reference section alone taking up two and a half pages.

After compressing and sending it to Professor Zhou's email, Jiang Lingxi finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, upon opening the thesis, Professor Zhou did not sleep the entire night.

The next morning when Jiang Lingxi received his call and rushed to the office, she saw Professor Zhou with bloodshot eyes and a somewhat hoarse voice.

"Jiang, have a seat. I stayed up all night reading your thesis," Professor Zhou said, holding the freshly printed, still warm paper version with trembling fingers due to excitement, "There are quite a few points I want to discuss with you face-to-face, so I specifically called you over."

"By the way, I've also invited a few professors from the history department to join the discussion. You should have some water, as you will likely answer quite a few questions later. Once everyone's here, we'll move to the next-door meeting room."

Jiang Lingxi was mentally prepared for Professor Zhou's reaction, but didn't expect him to be this eager. She nodded calmly and obediently took a disposable cup to get some water.

Halfway through drinking, the invited professors hurriedly arrived at the office.

"I heard you received a thesis with some arguments you're uncertain about. Let me have a look at it."

"Which graduate student of yours wrote it?"

"Rare to see an essay even old Zhou can't be sure about, what a sight! Haha!"

Jiang Lingxi had seen these professors before; she had even attended their lectures.

She simply didn't expect them to be so lively in private.

"Cough, everyone quiet down. Let me introduce the author of the thesis, Jiang, come here."

Jiang Lingxi put down the cup and walked over, gracefully greeting each professor one by one.

"I remember this student, haven't you attended my lectures?"

"I recall you're only a sophomore, writing a thesis already?"

"Jiang has already completed all her credits for major courses, just waiting for thesis defense to get her diploma."

"Impressive, impressive."

"Let's go, let's go to the meeting room for further discussion."

The discussion lasted most of the day.

Thankfully, Professor Zhou had marked the main outlines in the thesis beforehand, saving everyone the time of going through the entire paper.

Jiang Lingxi's task was to convince the history department's heavyweights present to agree with and accept her arguments.

Some arguments were even potentially overturning.

The intense discussions in the meeting room never stopped, practically equating to an informal thesis defense.

No, it was even more intense than a thesis defense.

The professors were all getting on in years, averaging around fifty.

Yet despite worn-out bodies, their spirits remained vigorously high.

For, the discussions were decidedly fruitful.

Historical research essentially involves deducing policies and thoughts of predecessors based on existing historical materials.

But for these so-called historians, there's no guarantee that their research on predecessors is entirely correct.

Sometimes, when your research achievements on existing materials have garnered widespread agreement, a discovery of new material might completely overturn your previous conclusions.

Moreover, contradictions arising in historical research are never few. Different people bring diverse interpretations to source materials, especially concerning policies and ideas.

The same idea could be perceived as good by some, bad by others.

Each side could reason their case intensely.

This was why Professor Zhou initially expressed concerns over Jiang Lingxi's choice of thesis topic.

An emperor's political theory essentially represents her governing philosophy, and countless people have researched this point throughout history. The breadth is wide, and there are lots of established conclusions. He truly worried the student wouldn't be able to handle it.

If it ended up unstructured, wouldn't all the effort be wasted?

Until he received Jiang Lingxi's email last night. Fresh chapters posted on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⟡𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵

Clearly structured, incisive, and on point.

Kept him staring till dawn unknowingly, sleepless all night.

He couldn't wait to finish reading, and ignored catching up on sleep before summoning the thesis author and his old pals.

Some conclusions in the thesis were too revolutionary, even negating many established conclusions from historians.

Yet they were clearly articulated, leaving him both awed and somewhat unsure of whom to believe.

So he called the thesis author to ask deeper questions, and engage in further discussions with a few friends.

Jiang Lingxi wasn't about to disappoint them.

Answering every inquiry, clarifying views, backed by solid evidence!

This question-and-answer discussion directly caused them to overlook the passage of time.

Until there were no more questions, leaving them mentally exhausted and also eyeing the student with respect.

It was truly impressive!

If it weren't already established that this thesis was written by Jiang Lingxi, a sophomore, telling them it was penned by a prominent historian, they probably wouldn't doubt it.

As Jiang Lingxi discreetly finished the 'defense' and moved to shut down her laptop, Professor Guo across from Professor Zhou took a sip to soothe his dry throat before unexpectedly speaking: "Jiang, you're about to graduate from undergraduate studies. Do you have any plans to continue? Interested in studying under me as a graduate student?"

Professor Zhou was rubbing his temples with closed eyes; the sheer volume of information from this defense was overwhelming, compounded by his sleepless night, now finally able to relax, feeling his temples pulsating.

But hearing this, he promptly opened his eyes in a glare, "Old Guo, how dare you poach here in front of me!"

"Why wouldn't I? I'm openly asking Jiang here. Jiang is a promising talent, and her thesis shows quality; wanting to enlist her is perfectly normal."

"But I am her thesis advisor, if she's to pursue graduate studies, shouldn't she choose me first, before you!"

Jiang Lingxi closed her laptop and looked up, "I…"

The words 'haven't thought of pursuing graduate study' were swallowed upon meeting the scorching gazes in front of her.

"After such a long discussion, shouldn't the professors take a break?"

Graduate study plans, can it be postponed for later?