Chapter 358 The Exam Begins

No matter what the people of the world thought about the imperial examination in Chang'an, the imperial examination finally started.

In the early morning of that day, Lu Bu brought Cai Yong, Yang Biao, Xun You, Zhong Yao and other officials who were responsible for the examination or review. There were as many as 200 officials participating in the review of the files. Lu Bu would be able to All the people who were qualified to review were found, including counselors such as Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and Li Ru.

"The time is up, candidates are entering!" Following Lu Bu's order, the eunuch standing at the main entrance of the examination room shouted loudly: "Candidates please bring your own number plates and find the examination room with the same characters as your own number plates. In the future, For half a month, you will live in this examination room. There are special kitchen workers and doctors in the examination room. You can ask for food and water at any time, but you are not allowed to leave the examination room without permission. Anyone who leaves the examination room without permission will be deemed to have automatically given up the examination. If you need any help during the exam, you can seek help from the nearby invigilators.”

Shi Yuan and Yuan Zhi looked at the number plates in their hands, but they never knew what symbol it was. Even though they had extraordinary experience, they didn't know what the symbol represented.

The examination room is very spacious, each one is about two feet tall vertically and horizontally. There are also beds inside, so you can rest on them when you are tired, but the space for activities is definitely not large.

Between every two examination rooms, there is a soldier standing, which adds a bit of a military atmosphere to the examination room.

It was the first time for everyone to see this kind of formation test, and they unconsciously felt a little nervous.

"So neat!" Pang Tong looked at the examination room and couldn't help but praise.

Although the examination rooms in this examination room are set up separately, they are arranged like soldiers lined up. No matter which direction you look at, they are all in the same line. Coupled with the rows of soldiers, it makes people feel uncomfortable.

It's like being in a prison.

As he walked, he observed and looked at the corresponding positions of everyone, and gradually realized that the so-called characters on the test card should be numbers, and his 94 should represent the ninety-fourth test room.

"Yuan Zhi, I'm here. I wish you good luck." Pang Tong smiled at Xu Shu beside him.

Xu Shu nodded. His number plate was 1049. Judging from the pattern, he was probably further back. He walked for a long time before he found his position.

Pang Tong entered the examination room and looked at the surrounding furnishings. There was no shortage of pens, inks, paper and inkstones, as well as a tea stove and a small bag of tea. He was quite well prepared.

Despite the strict prison-like structure, the examination room alone was very comfortable. Pang Tong couldn't help but lie down on the soft couch and sleep for a while. It was quite comfortable.

"Sir," a guard came to the door and called to Pang Tong.

"But the scientific examination is about to start?" Pang Tong turned over and looked at the other person and asked.

"Yes, this is the topic of this scientific examination. There are a few things that you need to pay attention to." The soldier handed a roll of paper to Pang Tong.

"Please tell me." Pang Tong smiled.

"At the beginning of this scientific examination, no one is allowed to leave the examination room. There will be people on duty outside the door day and night. If you need anything, including pouring buckets, washing, and eating, you can tell me and others. If you don't tell me, Master , we will deliver meals every day at Chen hour, noon hour, and You hour. In addition, after each article is written, it can be submitted. Someone will copy it in front of the master. After the master confirms that it is correct, he will add the master's trademark here and use the paper. To avoid fraud, we will print the brand number on the manuscript. If you feel there is something wrong on the day when the results are released, you can directly submit the manuscript to expose it. "

The soldiers had obviously received special guidance. After explaining the rules of the scientific examination in detail, they said to Pang Tong: "Master, is there anything you don't understand?"

"No more, that's good." Pang Tong had to sigh. At least in terms of preventing fraud, Lu Bu had blocked almost all roads. He didn't know whether new methods of fraud would appear in the future, but for this scientific examination Judging from the rules, unless Lu Bu personally gives someone his left arm, anyone who wants to cheat in this scientific examination is almost a fool's errand.

As for whether Lu Bu would cheat, if he did, then the imperial examination would become a joke. Just looking at the scale of this imperial examination, Pang Tong knew that the imperial examination must be highly valued by Lu Bu, and he could not break his promise.

The general bowed after hearing this and was about to leave. Pang Tong suddenly thought of something and stopped him: "Wait a minute."

"What other orders do you have, Master?" the soldier asked doubtfully.

"Can I bring people in here? I saw someone brought a slave just now." Pang Tong asked with a frown.

"Each person can bring a companion." The soldier nodded and said, "But few people actually bring a book boy in."

Who are the people who come here to take the scientific examination? They are either academy students or ordinary people from poor families who come from all over the country to seek a future. Of course, occasionally heirs from aristocratic families come to participate, but the proportion is not high. Those who can take care of the book boys are basically these people.

As for whether these people will help their own masters to cheat... There is no rule that people of low birth status cannot participate in this scientific examination. If you really have this ability, you can just participate in the scientific examination directly. If you can't even see this, then there is no need to worry about the other party. He has the ability to help his son win the ranking.

It can be regarded as giving some privileges to some people, but in fact this privilege has little effect.

"Thank you." Pang Tong nodded and then opened the examination paper.

There are not many words in the title. The first article is about how to enrich the country; the second article is about how to enrich the people. The two articles seem to be similar, but when you think about it carefully, they seem to be different. It goes without saying that the country is rich. The national treasury has money, but how to enrich the people. The topic of wealth is rarely debated.

Judging from what I saw and heard during this visit to Guanzhong, the people here are obviously not nobles, but real common people. How to make the people rich?

This debate topic of Pang Tongjue is very interesting. I look at the third question, how to strengthen the country?

This is another issue that seems to be similar but is very different. The country is rich and the people are rich, but if these two conditions are met, it may not necessarily be a powerful country. It must have enough force to deter all parties.

The fourth article is about the calculation of military expenses for marching and fighting. Taking the Battle of Nanyang as an example, it asks whether there is a more economical way to reduce the loss of food and grass between the enemy and ourselves in the Battle of Nanyang.

The fifth article takes the Battle of Zhongmou as an example and asks how Yuan Shao can be forced to retreat when there are insufficient troops.

The sixth article is about the restoration of Han Xin's last stand. If you were to deal with Han Xin at that time, how would you defeat Han Xin?

This is interesting!

Pang Tong had already started thinking about how to deal with Han Xin if he faced Han Xin.

This test question is interesting and does not set any limits. It just throws out an issue and lets you write about it. As for how to judge the final result, it depends on the person responsible for checking and reviewing the test paper.

In addition to these six questions, there are three more questions, but they are specific to people's livelihood, such as the Yellow River suddenly bursting its banks, how to resettle the people, and how to solve the problem of the bursting of the banks.

How to manage a barren county to get rid of poverty.

But what really caught Pound's attention was the last question.

Guanzhong prospered due to trade. However, the Silk Road gradually developed, and traders had more and more property in their hands. However, traders only wanted short-term profits and had no concern for family and country. Although they could prosper a country, they could also destroy it. How should we use trade.

"Good question!" Pang Tong couldn't help but praise, stroking his hands.

When he came to Guanzhong, he had already noticed this. The merchants in Guanzhong were prosperous. There were endless merchants from various countries along the Silk Road, and there were more and more Han merchants. Although this made Guanzhong rich and prosperous as it is now, everything could not be done too much. Pang Tong realized at that time that if Shang was allowed to develop on its own, it might become a bigger cancer in the world in the future.

I thought Lu Bu didn't notice this, but now it seems that I have underestimated Lu Bu. He has already noticed this and started to make arrangements.

"Sir, please keep your voice down. No noise is allowed during the scientific examination!" The soldier pushed the door in and said solemnly to Pang Tong.

"This is what I'm saying. Thank you, General, for reminding me." Pang Tong's eyes flashed and he asked the soldiers, "I have one more thing to ask."

"Sir, please speak." The soldier said with a salute.

"Is there an order for handing in papers?" Pang Tong asked.

"No, you can write whatever you want, as long as you indicate which question it is." The soldier shook his head and said.

"That's good!" Pang Tong decided to write down what he was most interested in first. He has this kind of character. This question is actually new to most people. After all, in everyone's minds, business is the top. There is no way to show off, so wealthy merchants from all over the world are trying to get rid of wealthy merchants and join the ranks of scholars. How many people will pay attention to this wealthy merchant?

In an instant, Pang Tong had many thoughts in his mind. He immediately spread out a piece of paper, picked up a pen and started writing quickly. He wrote more than a thousand words eloquently before he finished.

Basically, his views on business and how to govern it have been written clearly.

"General, please help me copy it." Pang Tong opened the door and said to the soldiers outside.

"So fast?" The soldiers were a little surprised. It had only been half a day and it was not yet noon.

Pang Tong smiled and said nothing.

The soldier nodded and asked someone to come over who was specialized in copying. Then he said to Pang Tong: "Sir, don't come out again next time. Just ring this bell and I will come in."

"Okay!" Pang Tong nodded, but did not continue writing. He wrote more than a thousand words in one breath. After relaxing, his energy suddenly drained. Anyway, he had half a month to finish these questions, so he immediately answered The general asked, "When will we have lunch?"

"It's almost done. I'm going to go get lunch with the young master. I wonder if the young master has any taboos?" the soldier asked.

"That's not true." Pang Tong shook his head. He actually brought dry food, but on the first day, he was also curious about the meals prepared by the court for the candidates.

The soldier agreed and then closed the door and went to get the food. He came back after a while. Along with a scent, the soldier came in with a tray, a plate of fried vegetables, a plate of fried meat, a portion of rice and a grilled fish. The aroma alone was amazing. Couldn't help but swallow.

"Is this the meal provided by the imperial court?" Pang Tong said in surprise.

"This is to select talents for the country. Naturally, we cannot starve the future pillars of the imperial court." The soldier nodded and said: "Young master, if you don't have enough, please let me know. As long as you can eat, you can keep eating."

"That's enough, thank you." Pang Tong shook his head, suddenly looking forward to meeting Lu Bu in the future...