In a waiting hall in the outer corridor of the governing office, Zhang Yu was dressed in the traditional scholar Tianxia attire, quietly waiting there.
In such a large space, he was the only one sitting there.
In the great hall outside, there was the sound of hurried footsteps from far to near. Then the door of the waiting hall was pushed open. A young official, at most twenty years of age, walked in. Looking at him, he raised his hands in greeting, "Zhang Canzhi, the officials invite you to enter the hall for a chat. Please follow me."
Zhang Yu stood up, raising his hands in greeting, "Thank you for your trouble."
"I don't dare."
The young official said politely, taking a step to the side, giving way to the position of the door. He said seriously, "Please."
Zhang Yu walked out from the waiting hall, the young official leading the way in front.
The governing office was the largest building in the inner city platform. The internal space was extremely vast. The two walked along the empty corridor for half an hour before stopping in front of a large door.
The young official said at this time, "Zhang Canzhi, if you go in from here, you will reach the outer corridor of the meeting hall. After you receive the public inquiry here, keep walking forward and you will enter the meeting hall. It is not convenient for me to enter, so I will stop here."
Zhang Yu nodded, then pushed open the door and walked in. After walking for a while, what appeared in front of him was a corridor. On the two sides were rows of stone seats in the shape of stairs. At this time, there were thirty or so people sitting on them. There were both men and women. Their clothes were relatively simple and plain, with some places even patched up. But they were all very clean and ironed very neatly.
Many of the people here were not old, but many of their faces were weathered. The joints of their hands that were exposed outside were thick and full of calluses. The bones of their bodies were more or less deformed, but their muscles were relatively sturdy. It could be seen that the majority of the people here made a living through physical labor.
These thirty or so people were mostly people from the lowest level of the protectorate. But they could not be underestimated because of their status. To a certain extent, they decided the result of today's scholar selection.
Anyone who came to participate in the scholar selection would go through three inquiries: the government inquiry, the school inquiry and the people's inquiry.
If he failed to pass any of the three inquiries, then he would have no fate with the scholar selection.
Of the three inquiries, the "people's inquiry" was to talk to these people from the bottom of the society.
These people would try to ask him some questions, or ask him some questions that they were concerned about. His answers would determine their perception and judgment of him.
In the past, many scholars who participated in the scholar selection could easily pass the "Learning Inquiry" and the "Imperial Inquiry", but they couldn't pass the "Popular Inquiry".
There was no other reason other than the fact that these people from the bottom had developed a sense of resistance and disgust towards them.
In fact, these judgments were often very subjective, so if one did not have a great reputation among the people for a long time, it would be very difficult to pass the selection.
Furthermore, these people were not afraid of offending anyone. From the moment they were selected as interrogators, they were under the protection of the Viceroy.
If anyone tried to sway them or threaten them, they could report it directly to the government through a specific channel. At that time, the Governor would come forward to uphold justice for them.
However, it was impossible to say that everyone present was completely unaffected by certain wishes. However, the Viceroy Manor only needed to maintain the minimum level of fairness. Whether or not they could pass in the end would depend on themselves. This was also a test that they had to go through.
At this time, Zhang Yu's arrival also caused these people to discuss softly.
"Look, look! This is Zhang Canzhi! The one who killed EsGod at the dock! "
"Is that him? I've been hearing about him in the newspapers recently. It seems like he has done a lot of good things. "
"I heard that he saved a lot of people and even made a large aboriginal tribe of 100,000 people in the south obediently put down their weapons and come crying and shouting to learn our Tianxia language. This has greatly increased the prestige of our Viceroy Manor!"
"Some people in the Viceroy Manor are very bad. They often tell lies to deceive people, but not all of them are true …"
"He's really good-looking."
"Yes, one look and you can tell that he's a good person."
A middle-aged man with white hair sitting in the middle frowned. He stood up and said loudly, "Everyone, listen to me."
He seemed to have some prestige in the crowd, and the voices gradually quieted down.
The middle-aged man cupped his hands toward Zhang Yu and said, "Zhang Canzhi, can I ask you a few questions?"
Zhang Yu raised his hand and returned the greeting. "Please ask."
The middle-aged man looked around and said, "We've heard of your past achievements. If they're true, we'll be very impressed. But to be honest, that's too far away from us. Just now …"
He pointed in the direction of the meeting hall. "Those three young people who just passed by, they have all taken up positions in the local areas and helped us do a lot of good things. I even saw one of them personally chop firewood for us, start a fire, carry water, and dig a well for us. Whether or not he was just putting on an act, at least he did it. However, I want to ask, what have you done for us?"
Someone muttered, "Zhang Canzhi has done a lot of big things."
The middle-aged man immediately retorted, "What is a big thing? What is a small matter? Is anything that happens to us a small matter? Aren't we all citizens of the protectorate? "
He turned his head and looked at Zhang Yu. "Zhang Canzhi, what do you think?"
Zhang Yu nodded and agreed. "The foundation of the protectorate lies in the three million citizens within its territory. Since ancient times, civil affairs have never been a small matter."
"Isn't that right? Even Zhang Canzhi admits that this is no small matter."
The middle-aged man looked around and seemed to have won a battle. His morale was even higher. He then looked at Zhang Yu and stared at him. "Then, Zhang Canzhi, what have you done? Can you tell us?"
Zhang Yu pondered for a moment before replying, "I haven't done any administrative work like the previous few, but I've written quite a few articles in the newspapers. I believe that I've helped quite a few people in the protectorate manor."
The middle-aged man frowned. "Write articles?" He shook his head and said, "Zhang Canzhi, we can't understand articles. What does that have to do with us?"
Zhang Yu calmly said, "The words used in my articles are relatively simple. Anyone who is literate can understand them. Moreover, the things I write are mostly related to the people's livelihood. I believe that everyone here has read them."
The middle-aged man was somewhat puzzled. "Zhang Canzhi, why are you so sure that we have all read your articles?"
Zhang Yu stretched out his hand and motioned to a servant waiting at the side. The servant immediately understood and handed over a pen and paper. He held the pen in his hand and wrote a few words on the white paper. Then he put down the pen and raised his head to look at the person sitting at the table. He said, "When you write articles, your usual pen name is' Tao Sheng '. In the past, many of your articles have been published in the newspapers. The most recent article was about Xia Li.
"What?"
The middle-aged man was shocked. He looked at him with wide eyes and said, "You, you... you are Tao Sheng?"
There was a burst of exclamations from the seats. Many people involuntarily stood up and looked at him with excitement and disbelief.
Among them, many were engaged in weaving, mining, and port transportation. Day after day of hard work caused their bodies to be in serious condition. However, since Tao Sheng's article about Xia Li appeared, many people's illnesses were not only alleviated, but also gradually recovered their health.
After the publication of Xia Li and the breathing method, it was no exaggeration to say that it benefited thousands of people in the Protectorate. Among them, the ones who benefited the most were them. Therefore, they were very grateful to Tao Sheng for spreading the breathing method.
However, they did not know who Tao Sheng was.
In their imagination, they thought that it might be a knowledgeable elder. They never imagined that it would be this young scholar standing in front of them.
At this time, the servant brought up a piece of paper for everyone to look at.
There were four words written on it. The two words "Xia Li" were slightly larger at the top. The two words "Tao Sheng" were slightly smaller at the bottom. Regardless of whether it was the style of the words or the transition, it was exactly the same as the words at the top and bottom of the newspaper.
At this point, there was no one who did not believe it.
The middle-aged man's face suddenly revealed an expression of shame. He looked at Zhang Yu and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. In the end, he only straightened his body and put his hands together, performing an incomparably standard Xia Li greeting.
The people sitting in the seats also stood up one after another. Everyone used the Xia Li greeting they had learned from the newspaper or from their friends, sincerely bowing to him.
Zhang Yu stood where he was. He raised his sleeves, put his hands together, and bowed seriously.
Then, he put down his hands and walked through the corridor under everyone's gaze, toward the hall at the end of the corridor.
When the guards at the end of the corridor saw him walk over, there was an additional trace of respect in their eyes. Originally, they would not open the door until someone came to the door. However, the two of them were a step ahead and pushed open the door they were guarding. They even nodded seriously to their colleagues behind them.
When the guards in the corridor saw them acting this way, they exchanged glances with each other before turning around and forcefully pushing open the two thick and heavy doors inwards.
In the Great Council Hall, someone had already reported from the side corridor that the last candidate had passed through the corridor of the outer hall, and was now heading toward the main hall. At the same time, the recorded speech was sent up for Kuang and Yu, two elders to look over.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. This was the last High Scholar to be selected. Once this High Scholar arrives, the results should be known.
At this time, a muffled sound came from the door of the hall. Then, it slowly opened inwards.
Yang Ying's eyes lit up. She said joyfully, "Teacher is here!"
At the edge of the meeting hall near the door, three young people with tall and straight figures were sitting there. They were the candidates chosen by the three academies. At this moment, the three of them unconsciously straightened their bodies and looked in the direction of the door, preparing to seriously size up their opponent.
As the door opened, on the seats, whether it was the soldiers of Tianxia, the government officials, or even the Magistrate An Youting, they all turned to look.
Only to see that behind the door, there were many long corridors extending into the distance. One could faintly see a young man wearing Tianxia's robes. He seemed to be shrouded in a jade light. He was walking slowly from the distance with steady steps.
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