It was their first time encountering a new type of imperial examination. The candidates were slightly uncomfortable and were trying their best to get used to it.
Before the examination started, they looked at their seats first.
Each person had a single room, and the exam table and chairs could be adjusted to different heights.
There was a small tea table next to it to prevent the papers from getting wet when drinking tea.
The fill-in-the-blank questions and arithmetic questions were directly printed on the papers. The questions were written on the first page of the current affairs policy paper. The following pages were divided into pages, at most ten pages.
If a wrong word was written on a page or the paper was dirty, they could ask for a new paper with the same number.
In addition, they had to write a poem and an essay. There was enough time, four days.
There was no toilet in the single room, nor was there a place to sleep.
There was a person from the 16th guard standing next to the single room. The guard changed every two hours.
If a candidate wanted to sleep, they would find an invigilator to seal the papers. The 16th guard would take them to the temporary dormitory and the toilet.
When they went to the canteen to eat, it was still a single room. They were not allowed to talk to others.
The candidates were satisfied. The conditions were too good, but the questions were a bit difficult.
Why was there a need to test arithmetic? Wasn't this the Xiucai subject?
"Mo Jie, are you confident?" Yesterday, Meng Haoran and Wang Wei returned to Zhuangzi from Lantian County. Today, they were taking the examination. Meng Haoran was full of ambition.
He felt that he had reached the peak of his life. His wife and child came over and he wrote a letter to his father, but he had not received a reply yet.
His wife was given an imperial edict to follow him to Lantian County. Every ten days, his son would be sent to Lantian County to stay for two days, or he would bring his wife back for a day.
He had an official position, but he still needed a scholarly title.
When he got the A rank, who would dare to not let his wife enter the family tree?
Meng Haoran was competing with his father. He had become more capable and could support his wife and child. He did not need to be given money.
Wang Wei did not compete with others. He was more conflicted now. He liked Buddhism.
Li Yi did not like it. Li Yi required officials to do their jobs well. Even if they were in charge of religion, they had to use their position to enlighten the people.
They had to persuade the people to believe in the Chinese civilization, to recognize the bright history, and to love their country.
Obviously, if he continued to focus on other things, Li Yi would lose his official position.
"It's not easy to be an official!" Wang Wei gave Meng Haoran answer.
"He has too many things to do every day. When he's at home, he doesn't seem to be very busy."
Meng Haoran felt tired. The Magistrate had been busy all day.
Things like bonded goods, new arrivals, temporary warehouse loan approval, whose horses and cows are sick, the ground is muddy at the beginning of spring, so we need to cover it with sand …
Everything was under the control of the county deputy. The registrar and the county deputy were in charge of the details. Whoever lost a chicken was under the county deputy's control, but the county deputy had to keep a record.
"They purposely left the work to us. Didn't they say that we could stay at the Li Family Zhuangzi for one more day when we were on break?"
Wang Wei had long since figured out where the problem lay. He and Meng Haoran had worked together for more than two decades. The first time, Meng Haoran's wife and children went over, and the second time, Meng Haoran came back.
"It must be Gangrou's arrangement. After a tiring day, I can sleep soundly at night." Meng Haoran didn't think that doing more work was a bad thing.
He was learning. He was tired because he was not familiar with it. Others would know how to deal with it just by looking at it.
He needed to think, think, and ask, and ask, which took up an hour.
Wang Wei nodded gently, "When I wasn't an official, I thought it was easy to be an official. Now that I'm an official, I realize that it's just like what my family said, it's hard to be a good official."
Meng Haoran agreed. He suddenly thought of something, "If Gangrou is the county deputy of Lantian County, will he be tired?"
"It's not like I haven't seen him along the way. He always comes up with good ideas that are suitable for each county.
If he's the county deputy, I don't think he'll be tired. He'll find a few people, teach them how to deal with things, and then gather them to him.
Can the two of us find someone to teach us? We're not familiar enough.
It's a pity that it's not easy to meet His Majesty after becoming an official. Every time he comes back, he's not allowed to enter the small room for dinner. "
Wang Wei didn't think that Li Yi would deal with trivial matters by himself. At the same time, he knew why Li Yi and His Majesty were so serious about acting.
When he wasn't an official, His Majesty would look for him and Meng Haoran to talk about poetry.
After becoming an official, it was basically impossible to meet unless there was an urgent matter or His Majesty wanted to talk about poetry and summoned him alone.
With a different identity, the degree of closeness would also change.
Li Yi was smart. He didn't want to be an official with real power and didn't go through the formalities of meeting His Majesty.
Both sides only had brotherly love, but there was no etiquette between monarch and minister.
"Mo Jie, our exam rooms are next to each other, right here." Meng Haoran found his seat, next to Wang Wei's.
The other examinees also found their numbers. The exam room was arranged in two rows.
There was a door at the back. If they wanted to go out, they had to tell the sixteen guards and the inspector to go to the back and not pass in front of other examinees.
On the opposite side, there was a curtain to separate the examinees who should be facing each other. Both sides couldn't even make eye contact.
…
Li Longji was still watching. Perhaps in the eyes of others, these examinees were just examinees.
What he saw was the future of the Tang dynasty, a group of officials who knew more about current affairs.
In this way, they could break the monopoly of the aristocratic families and big clans. The poor people knew about the world, and if they were taught well, they would be given more positions in the officialdom.
Li Longji looked at the examinees and asked casually, "Is there a change in the imperial examination method? Will there be more gossip?"
The chancellors and other officials looked at each other. Why did His Majesty suddenly ask such a thing?
After a few breaths, they couldn't not speak. Lu Huaishen was considered a member of an aristocratic family, so he responded.
"Your Majesty, since the Winged Knights took charge, the lives of the people in the imperial capital have become more stable.
The Li Family Zhuangzi didn't show off their military prowess. They only provided money and technology, so the lives of the people have improved.
Therefore, the imperial court's talent selection plan is supported by the people from all sides. "
After Lu Huaishen finished speaking, he looked left and right. Everyone nodded, and some even gave him a thumbs up.
Li Longji understood. The Winged Knights scared the others so much that they didn't dare to speak. The Li Family Zhuangzi's weapons were too awesome. Everyone didn't even have the thought of getting rid of the emperor's evil side!
Therefore, you can rest assured and do it. We all support you. After all, there was only one head. If it fell, it couldn't grow back.
"I am very relieved. Everyone has contributed to the enlightening of the people." Li Longji praised the officials without any hypocrisy.
"It's all thanks to Your Majesty's benevolence." The officials all said the same thing.
Li Longji was very happy, regardless of whether it was true or not.
He felt good about himself. He was indeed benevolent. He didn't kill anyone and even gave subsidies to the officials. He paid for it himself.
Looking at the current Chang 'an City, people didn't close their doors at night and didn't pick up lost things on the road.
Families opened their doors and windows on the street and did small business. There were also businesses in the square, and it was very prosperous.
The patrolling team was constantly on the move. People who wanted to commit crimes couldn't find a chance.
In the past, there were people who stole and robbed because they didn't have money. They didn't steal or rob. If they couldn't find a job, they would starve to death.
This was especially true for people who had children at home. If their relatives fell ill, they would be short of money. If they had money, they would live. If they didn't, they would die.
Now that they were sick, it was easy to take care of them. If they really didn't have money, they could go to the Li Family Zhuangzi and ask for medicine.
If they couldn't find a job, the Li Family Zhuangzi would always arrange jobs for a large group of people.
I don't even care about the city gate. Whoever has the ability can fight their way in.
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