The imperial examinations were the cradle of the Great Zhou's officials. Li Mu guessed that the opposing powers of the Great Zhou wouldn't let go of this opportunity. However, he didn't expect the Demon Sect to be so brazen.
It was a pity that they had gone through so much trouble to open up a path and send the spy to the Divine Capital, only to lose in an unexpected way.
Spies were suspected because they were too handsome. After this matter, it was likely that the several demonic path sects would change their bad habit of judging people by their appearance. The more handsome and beautiful a spy was, the easier it was to arouse suspicion and the easier it was to be exposed.
Of course, this wasn't necessarily a good thing for the imperial court. If the Demon Sect changed their habit of judging people by their appearance, it would be more difficult for the imperial court to find the spy.
The investigation by Cui Ming and the Ministry of Justice made Li Mu realize that the Demon Sect's infiltration of the Great Zhou court had reached a level where they would stop at nothing.
This power that covered the entire Ancestral State was like a terrorist organization, stirring up storms in various countries.
The Great Zhou seemed powerful, but the imperial court was divided internally by the new party and the old party. Apart from internal troubles, there were also many external troubles. The Ghost Realm and the Demon Nation wanted to leave Youdu and the Wilderness, and the Dragon Race didn't want to stay in the dark depths of the sea forever. The surrounding countries seemed to be subservient, but they were probably already disloyal behind the scenes. They were happy to see the Great Zhou wither away and collapse …
In addition to the Demon Sect's invasion, this prosperous country was already riddled with holes.
The empress had probably realized this long ago. She didn't want to be the empress, but she had no choice but to sit in that position.
In the entire Great Zhou, she was the only one who could convince everyone to sit in that position.
Once she gave up, the new party and the old party would inevitably cause an even greater dispute. When that time came, with internal and external troubles, the Great Zhou's empire might come to an end. She would also become the last empress in the history of the Great Zhou.
The Empress definitely did not want to become the ruler of a fallen country, so she was facing a dilemma.
Li Mu sat at the stone table in the courtyard and looked at the Empress, who was watering the flowers in the garden with Xiao Bai. He thought to himself, the pressure of the rise and fall of the country is all on her shoulders. It's not strange that she would develop inner demons or split personalities.
He had to pay more attention to the Imperial Examinations. Only by passing the Imperial Examinations would he be qualified to share some of the Empress's burden.
Amidst the tense atmosphere in Shen 'du, the first imperial examination in the history of Great Zhou arrived as scheduled.
This was also the first time in history that the imperial court had bypassed the four academies and had the power to choose officials.
The Imperial Examinations system had taken the Secretariat more than a month to come up with. The examinees had to complete the four subjects within three days.
Out of the four subjects, the first three were liberal arts. They were mathematics, criminal law, and policy. The last subject was martial arts, which tested the examinees' cultivation.
Among them, the first three subjects were the most important. The cultivation level of the martial arts was only used as a reference. Apart from the 36 prefectures, which required officials with profound cultivation, most of the positions in the imperial court did not have any requirements for the officials' cultivation level or cultivation level.
The questions for the mathematics subject were set by the Ministry of Revenue. The criminal law subject was set by the Ministry of Justice. As for policy, the questions were set by the head of the Secretariat and the six officials of the Secretariat.
A month ago, the Ministry of Works had built the examination hall in Shen 'du at the fastest speed possible. The examination hall could accommodate thousands of examinees.
This morning, the first mathematics exam was held.
In the examination hall, officials from various departments of the imperial court took turns to invigilate the exam. None of the invigilators' cultivation was lower than the fourth realm. There were many fifth and sixth realm heads of the Secretariat who personally guarded the examination hall.
Under such circumstances, no one could cheat.
In a certain room in the examination hall, Li Mu received the mathematics exam paper for the first subject.
He had fought hard to make mathematics a compulsory subject and a separate subject. Back then, he had even quarreled with a few officials of the Secretariat because of this.
Those officials of the Secretariat thought that mathematics was a side subject and should not have a separate subject. In the end, Li Mu persuaded them with reason and emotion, and they were finally convinced.
This mathematics exam paper was as simple as it could get for Li Mu. The Minister of Revenue had set the questions according to his outline. Although the format and numbers had been changed, the essence was still the same.
In terms of mathematics attainments, Li Mu could dominate the Great Zhou.
There were a lot of questions in mathematics. Even Li Mu took almost an hour to finish the entire paper. Then, he put the paper into a paper bag and sealed it with a Fu-lu.
The Minister of Revenue personally set the questions for the first subject of mathematics.
During the mathematics exam, he patrolled the examination hall. According to his estimation, out of the thousands of examinees, not many could finish all the questions in four hours.
However, after only an hour, he saw someone leave the examination hall after handing in their papers.
He recognized Li Mu and looked at his back as he left. He said disdainfully, "You're just relying on His Majesty's favor to jump up and down in the imperial court. When faced with a test of real ability, you have to show your true colors."
Liu Yi was beside him and asked, "Minister, are you talking about Li Mu?"
The Minister of Revenue said, "Who else could it be? My exam paper is difficult for an ordinary person to answer in four hours. He left in an hour. I'm afraid he didn't calculate much."
Liu Yi shook his head and said, "Minister, do you know who came up with the mathematics exam paper?"
The Minister of Revenue asked, "Isn't it your minister?"
Liu Yi said, "It's Lord Li."
The Minister of Revenue was stunned for a moment. He then asked, "You mean to say that the exam paper I received was written by him? He came up with the mathematics exam paper himself?"
Liu Yi nodded and said, "You can understand it that way."
The Minister of Revenue frowned and said, "How can that be?"
Liu Yi said, "Minister, you don't have to doubt the fairness of the mathematics exam. Lord Li's attainments in mathematics are probably unmatched in the entire Great Zhou. Otherwise, the Secretariat wouldn't have let him write the mathematics exam paper. With Lord Li's ability, he doesn't need to prove himself in the imperial examination …"
During the month in the Secretariat, Liu Yi and the others had a deep understanding of Li Mu.
Other people's impression of him might be that he was a hothead who cursed the heavens and the earth, but the six officials of the Secretariat of the Central Secretariat knew very well that Li Mu was not only proficient in mathematics and criminal law, but also often had unique opinions when it came to political affairs.
He didn't need to use the imperial examination to prove his ability. This was because the imperial examination used his ability as a blueprint to select talents.
The imperial examination lasted for three days. The first day tested mathematics in the morning, criminal law in the afternoon, policy on the second day, and cultivation on the last day.
Mathematics was very simple for Li Mu. However, the criminal law exam was different.
Criminal law was one of the four subjects of the imperial examination. It was extremely important. After receiving the exam paper, Li Mu knew that the person who came up with the questions was something.
There wasn't a single question in the entire exam paper that tested the original text of the Law of the Great Zhou. All of the questions on criminal law were based on case studies. Moreover, they weren't simple cases. The cases involved were often more complicated. Sometimes, there would be discussions on law and morality. Li Mu often had to think for a long time before he could write down many of the questions.
When he was leaving after the exam, Li Mu happened to meet the director of the Ministry of Justice and asked him a question.
According to the director of the Ministry of Justice, the questions on criminal law were set by the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, Zhou Zhong. This was the same as Li Mu's guess. Only he could come up with such strange questions.
The policy questions on the second day were much simpler for him.
This subject was about how to govern a country. The students of the three great academies were very good at this. The policy questions were set by the Secretariat. During that month, Li Mu and the six officials of the Secretariat discussed it countless times.
Other than the criminal law exam, the other two subjects were basically the same as the questions that Li Mu came up with and answered by himself.
In the future, if he was short on money, he could write a few sets of mock exam papers and set up a pre-imperial examination class. Those who were qualified to receive education and could participate in the imperial examination were mostly rich people. A few sets of exam papers would allow him to make a lot of money. This was much faster than opening a shop. It was a completely cost-free business …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
