Start Being a Vassal King Today - Chapter 247

[Chapter 247 Official Examination]

“How’s the preparation for the official exam?”

Zhao Xu asked immediately as soon as Liu Fu arrived in the study.

“The examination room is ready, and we are just waiting for His Highness’s paper.” Speaking of the official examination, Liu Fu’s spirit rose again.

“Here are the papers. Take them and ask someone to copy them. The exam will start in three days.” Zhao Xu pointed to the three papers on the desk. These are the exam questions he personally wrote.

The government office has notified the four counties about the official examination.

Scholars who want to take the official examination have been waiting in Yancheng.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Liu Fu was overjoyed. He picked up the paper on the table, glanced at it, and was immediately dumbfounded.

“If you successfully pass the official examination and become a new official in Yanzhou, but the old officials of the government often make things difficult for you, exclude you, and think that you are not effective, what should you do?” Liu Fu read again.

“People gathered to riot in a certain county. If you were the local county magistrate, how would you deal with it?”

“…”

Liu Fu read every sentence, and in the end he became more and more guilty.

Because he can’t guarantee that he can answer the questions on the paper correctly.

“Your Highness, this paper?” Liu Fu swallowed.

Da Song has never held an examination to select officials, so of course they can’t say wrong about this paper.

Moreover, the test paper issued by King Yan is indeed very sharp.

The questions on the paper are indeed the problems that officials often encounter, and they really consider the official’s handling methods.

Putting down the first paper, the two looked at the second paper.

This test paper lists arithmetic problems.

A gentleman has six arts, rites, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and mathematics.

Among them, number is numerology, which is also something that scholars must master. In their view, this is indeed a must.

But when it came to the third paper, they were dumbfounded again.

There are only a few questions on it, leaving a large blank space.

The first question is: What should officials be in awe of?

“If you stretch out your hand, you will be caught. Let’s talk about the management of commercial bribery.” Liu Fu read this sentence, and suddenly felt guilty. Why does this question seem to be aimed at commercial firms?

“Yanzhou is full of wastes and needs to be rejuvenated. How can we manage Yanzhou to make Yanzhou prosperous?”

“…”

After reading all three papers, Liu Fu was stunned for a long time.

Although these questions are weird, they can feel that these are indeed real questions for testing officials.

When it comes to poetry, historical books and classics are not as real as the titles on the papers.

“If you don’t have any comments, you can take it back. Be careful not to reveal the topic.” Zhao Xu looked at Liu Fu with a half-smile.

Regardless of whether he objected or not, he just came up with this topic.

This is what he picked out from the vast sea of questions in his mind, which is close to the modern official examination.

The specific administrative capabilities of the officials in the first test are all based on the test questions that may arise after they take office.

The second is numerology. Officials are responsible for measuring fields, calculating taxes and other matters, and numerology must also be reliable.

And the third is the overall situation of the examiner.

In his opinion, if he can pass these three papers, he can basically be a qualified official.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Liu Fu replied yes, and at the same time mourned silently for the scholars who participated in the official examination.

…

“There are still three days.”

In the East City of Yancheng, Liu Fu returned to the government office and posted the notice of the official examination in the East City, and a large number of scholars were immediately attracted.

After the news of the official examination spread in Yanzhou, all the scholars in Yanzhou were encouraged.

For them, this is an opportunity to change their destiny.

In the past, they had no choice but to join the rich family and be their first disciples.

Only by flattering and flattering and being appreciated by the powerful clan can they get the chance to be elected and serve in the yamen.

But even so, not everyone can be a doorman.

You even have to use money to buy the qualifications of a doorman.

But now, King Yan gave them a fair chance.

They no longer need to be humble, no longer need to flatter anyone.

You can enter the officialdom of Yanzhou only by your own ability.

“After waiting for so long, I thought it was just a farce, but I didn’t expect King Yan to come for real.” Before the announcement, a young scholar was very energetic.

“The King of Yan has always followed his word. Brother Li, I hope we can serve as officials under His Highness King Yan this time.” A short scholar beside him flushed with excitement.

“I have to say that we are really lucky. The King of Yan is not a good king of Dasong. If we can serve under the command of King Yan, we will definitely work hard and do our best.” Another scholar said with emotion.

… Just when the scholars were discussing excitedly,   a

sneer said: “Huh, idiots are dreaming, you two still want to go to high school because of your shabby status. How many books do you have in your home?”

Wearing a starched and whitish coarse cloth shirt, he looked very down and out.

There are several well-dressed scholars standing beside the brocade-clothed scholar.

At this time, he burst out laughing.

In their view, these poor scholars have not read many books, and they cannot compete with them at all.

Naturally, I despise it to the extreme.

Most of the scholars gathered in front of the notice were dressed simply.

When they heard this, they all glared at these Jinyi scholars.

Some of them recognized Young Master Jinyi and taunted him, “Shen Xi, what are you proud of? Your father was also poor before, but after being a dog for a wealthy family for a few years, it became a mess?”

“That’s right. When the current Yanzhou is dominated by the Yuan family? His Royal Highness Yan Wang will not let you enter the mansion as an official just because he sees you wearing brocade clothes.

” Ignore him.”

“…”

When everyone said something to each other, Young Master Jin Yi couldn’t hold back his face immediately.

He rolled up his sleeves, and shouted to the first scholar who mocked him, “You’re looking for a fight!”

After saying that, he raised his fist and rushed over.

In the past, these scholars from poor families would have to walk around when they saw these brocade-clothed scholars.

But now under the rule of King Yan, there is no one to protect them.

The poor scholar immediately refused, and a group of wind rushed over to help fight, and there was a mess before the notice.

…

three days later.

In front of a courtyard less than 300 meters away from the palace.

Scholars from poor families in Yanzhou formed a long line.

According to the contents of the notice, they prepared pen and ink.

In front of the gate of the courtyard, a group of royal soldiers guarded on both sides.

The atmosphere of the official examination thus became serious.

After all the scholars participating in the examination entered the courtyard, Zhao Xu and Liu Fu rode over.

“Gongyuan.”

Zhao Xu read a sentence on the plaque in front of the courtyard.

He asked Liu Fu to hang up these two words.

In contemporary ancient times, the word Gongyuan specifically referred to the place of the imperial examination, so he simply used it directly.

“Have all the people brought by Mi Guozhang entered the examination room?” Zhao Xu asked after entering the Gong Yuan.

“They all came in. According to His Highness, they were not given special treatment, and they were mixed with other scholars for the exam.” Liu Fu said.

Zhao Xu nodded. The purpose of his coming to the Tribute Court this time is to show the importance he attaches to this official examination.

Because it broke the old system of selecting officials in the Central Plains dynasty of this world.

From then on, the children of poor families in Yanzhou will be able to change their destiny through the examination and realize the leap of class.

Instead of being like a pool of stagnant water like before.

This is the same as the contemporary college entrance examination, which gives ordinary people the opportunity to jump over the dragon’s gate.

Otherwise, how can the children of ordinary people compare to the children of wealthy families, the children of powerful families, and the children of wealthy businessmen.

At the same time, this is digging Yuan Li’s corner.

Since he wooed the powerful clan to fight against him, he wooed the common people to deal with Yuan Li.

As the saying goes, you come and I go.

“Well, after this official examination, the lack of officials in Ping County and Liao County will probably be filled.” Zhao Xu said.

According to Liu Fu, there were about 3,000 scholars participating in the official examination this time.

However, Yanzhou lacked more than a thousand officials.

The two talked all the way to the examination area.

After walking around the examination room, Zhao Xu came to the examiner’s resting room in the examination room.

The exam will last a whole day, and scholars are required to bring their own dry food, and fill their stomachs by themselves when they are hungry at noon.

But before noon, some scholars handed in their papers and left.

“What kind of paper is this? Nothing in the Classics and History Collection is tested. Isn’t this a mess?” Several scholars came out of the examination room and complained.

“That’s right, the poems and songs are not tested, and they are some confusing topics.”

“Forget it, nothing, it seems that King Yan didn’t intend to select officials, but he was playing us.”

“…”

Complaining, the three scholars shook their heads and left with a sigh.

After noon, more scholars left, and most of them frowned, as if they were not very satisfied with the exam.

In the evening, with three bells ringing, the official examination officially ended.

The examiners sent the test papers to the room where Zhao Xu stayed.

At this time, Zhao Xu took out the answers to the examination papers from his pocket, and said to the officials, “Stay in this room for the past few days, don’t go out, and someone will serve you for food and drink, and correct all these papers.”

Beidi was even more serious than before . Powerful, eyeing Yanzhou.

At present, only when the government affairs system is established will it be convenient for the next construction of Fengtu.

Three days later…

the closed gate of the Gongyuan was opened by the guarding soldiers.

The invigilating officer came out exhausted.

In the past few days, they have been correcting the papers day and night.

Now this voluminous business is at last completed.

But for them, participating in the official examination is not without benefits.

At least by correcting the papers, they checked the answers given to him by King Yan countless times.

So I have a deep understanding of King Yan’s governance philosophy.

It will be of great benefit to their careers in the future.

Liu Fu had already been waiting in front of the door.

The King of Yan only gave them three days to make corrections.

Taking the soldiers into the Gongyuan, he sent more than a thousand qualified papers directly to the palace.

“Your Highness, these papers are arranged from high to low.” Liu Fu rubbed his hands and said.

Next, just publish the list, and these more than a thousand people can enter the officialdom of Yanzhou and serve the King of Yan.

Zhao Xu nodded and picked up the first paper.

He was taken aback by the name above, but he was a little familiar with this name.

It seems to be a scholar brought by Mi Zhuang, who gave him advice at the last banquet.

It’s called Zhu Tuo.

He scored very high on the administrative ability test on his paper. He is worthy of being a county magistrate. He is very experienced in various problems faced by an official, and his answers are not bad.

He also scored high in mathematics.

The 100-point paper got about 80 points.

The last paper is about the official’s overall view.

On the question of how to make Yanzhou rich, Zhu Tuo’s answer made his eyes shine.

On the examination paper, he proposed mercantilism and regarded industry and commerce as the foundation of Yanzhou.

It is said that the Central Plains Dynasty has had a surplus of food in the south since ancient times, while the output in the north was insufficient.

Especially in Yanzhou, the northernmost part of the Great Song Dynasty, relying on farming can only be self-sufficient, not rich.

He was very satisfied with Zhu Tuo’s answer, and his answer was very close to the answer on the test paper.

It is really rare for Zhu Tuo to have such thoughts in the feudal society of Dasong.

But this seems to make sense.

In fact, there are clear-headed people in every era. They can see the crisis facing their country and try to change.

But their voices simply cannot shake the stubborn conservative forces.

Gently putting down Zhu Tuo’s paper, Zhao Xu said to Liu Fu: “This time the official examination is too correct. If you just push the official like before, how can I see their different thoughts through the paper?”

” What His Highness said is very true, more than 3,000 people have 3,000 ideas, which can best reflect their talents. When His Highness proposed the official examination at that time, the lower officials believed that this is the way to select talents, otherwise it is just pushing officials. It is inevitable that there will be more people who are trying to catch fame.”

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, and then looked at the next paper.

This person’s name was Du Wan, and he had never heard of it.

But just because I haven’t heard of it, it means that among the humble scholars are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Among the three papers, Du Wan’s numeracy was almost perfect.

However, although the test questions on administrative ability are good, they tend to be bookish and generally correct, but they are not as rigorous as Zhu Tuo’s answers, and he seems to be a scholar with no experience in being an official.

In the third volume, he also put forward the statement that commerce and trade are the most important, followed by farming.

However, he also proposed that commerce and trade should develop without affecting farming, so as to ensure the abundance of grain and grass in Yanzhou.

“Not bad.” Zhao Xu turned the page again.

The next five people are Zhang Lang, Su Hai, Fang Yuanhao, Sima Dong, and Li Taian.

There are gaps in the scores of these seven people, but they are basically not big.

“This Sima Dong is also one of the scholars brought by Mi Guozhang, and the other three are all poor scholars from Yanzhou. It can be seen that Yanzhou still has talents.” Liu Fu squeezed his sweat secretly.

In his heart, he was very eager to have some outstanding scholars among the humble scholars in Yanzhou.

In this way, this proves the necessity of the official examination.

Otherwise, most of the people on the list are from Mi Guozhang, the necessity of the official examination will be lacking, and the selection will make sense.

“Well, that’s true, but you can’t just look at the test papers. In this way, those who rank high, like Zhu Tuo, who have experience as a county magistrate can be given the post of county magistrate, and those who have no experience as an official will be given the post of county magistrate first. Nian county magistrate, as for the others, the government will arrange it by itself, and the list will be posted in the past few days to indicate their position,” Zhao Xu said in a deep voice.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Liu Fu replied.

After the official examination was over, he was finally able to fill in the official gap that he had been having headaches for a long time.

A few more days passed.

The list of official high schools was pasted on the wooden sign in Yancheng East City with red paper.

Scholars flocked to get the news.

“Who is this Zhu Tuo? He is actually the number one in the list, and he is directly qualified to be the governor of Yan County.”

Before the announcement, the jealous eyes of a group of scholars turned red.

At this time, Zhu Tuo was also in the crowd, and beside him were the scholars who came to Yan County this time.

Immediately, several scholars bowed their hands to him, “Congratulations to Brother Zhu for his high school, it’s time to call Zhu Junshou from now on.”

Zhu Tuo’s eyes were slightly red, and a kind of excitement of a virtuous minister meeting a wise master spread in his heart.

But what made him even more happy to cry was that this official examination was not a farce.

King Yan really took his official position with his talent.

“Brother Du, you are number two on the list, magistrate of Fengling County, Shanggu County.”

Zhu Tuo was in a rush of emotion when a scholar beside him suddenly shouted.

These are two plainly dressed scholars with patches all over their clothes.

The scholar called Brother Du was already in tears at this time.

After exhausting his family wealth, he studied hard for more than ten years, and he could only rely on copying books for a living.

His relatives and neighbors ridiculed him for being useless as a scholar.

But now he turned from a poor scholar into a county magistrate overnight.

Tightly holding his companion’s hand, Du Wan nodded viciously, looked up at the sky and said, “Thank you His Highness King Yan for your kindness. In this life, I can only repay it with my own life.

” The seventy-eighth place, judged by Luan County.” At this time, Du Wan’s companion cheered, “Brother Du, we can really be officials under King Yan together.”

Du Wan looked and found Lei Hang name.

The two looked at each other and laughed.

As more and more scholars find their names.

Before the announcement, there was crying in the laughter, and laughter in the crying.

The high school students cheered, while those who failed the exam sighed.

For them, though, one thing is certain.

On the land of King Yan, they can really pass the official examination and become officials of the palace.

This gives them hope.

The official exam is held every year. If they fail this time, they will try their best to pass the exam next time.

Some well-informed scholars also learned that King Yan established three major schools: the Science and Technology School, the Government Affairs School, and the Military School.

These three halls will recruit students, and King Yan will teach them some things in person.

But they also heard that the conditions for entering the school are harsh.

(end of this chapter)