Chapter 566

Song Yingxing stepped forward first.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, for this imperial examination, the questions regarding agriculture have been jointly drafted by Minister Jia Sixie and myself. Please, Your Majesty, take a look."

Agricultural questions?

Could it be that the Great Qin imperial examination would also test how to farm?

Zhang Juzheng could not hold back and stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, the imperial examination is for selecting talents for the country; it is a major matter of state. The questions should be based on Confucian classics; one must never be rash! These are the questions I have drafted."

Qin Mu did not pay attention to him, but asked the group of ministers in the hall.

"Are there any others?"

Several more people stepped out of the ranks to report.

Bao Zheng: "Your Majesty, these are the legal questions I have drafted."

Wang Yangming: "Your Majesty, these are the philosophical questions I have drafted."

Xu Guangqi: "Your Majesty, these are the astronomical and calendar questions I have drafted."

Li Shizhen: "Your Majesty, these are the medical and herbal questions I have drafted."

Shen Wansan: "Your Majesty, these are the business management questions I have drafted."

Yue Fei: "Your Majesty, these are the military strategy questions I have drafted."

Qi Jiguang: "Your Majesty, these are the military formation questions I have drafted." Zheng He: "Your Majesty, these are the navigation questions I have drafted."

Zhang Juzheng was stunned.

It turned out that he was not the only one drafting questions; everyone had participated in drafting questions for the imperial examination.

What was His Majesty trying to do?

Qin Mu straightened his body.

"Present all the questions. You all should not be idle either; discuss among yourselves how the imperial examination should be held." He began to flip through the submitted questions.

The ministers in the hall began to discuss animatedly.

"Minister Zhang is a pillar of His Majesty's court; he should know that His Majesty employs people without sticking to one pattern."

"Agriculture is the foundation of the country; is it not right to use the imperial examination to select agricultural talents?"

"Commerce is the way to enrich the country; talents in business should even more so enter the imperial court!"

"Astronomy, medicine, military strategy, battle formations... is there any one of these that is not important?"

After opening up the discussion, the ministers realized what kind of grand examination this imperial examination was.

It was a grand event for talents from all over the world with various skills!

Qin Mu finished reading the questions.

The ministers in the hall had also finished their discussion.

"The Great Qin imperial examination is to tell the people of the world that as long as one has a specialized skill, the imperial court will select and employ them!"

This voice was deafening!

The imperial examination was no longer the patent of Confucian scholars!

As the head of the hundred officials, Zhang Juzheng bore the greatest responsibility, and his thinking had to be more comprehensive.

He bowed and advised.

"Your Majesty, in this way, how should the top graduate of the imperial examination be determined? After all, those taking the exam are all answering different questions, making it difficult to evaluate." This was also a problem.

The top graduate should logically be awarded with red ribbons and ride a horse through the streets to show the people the glory of placing first in the imperial examination.

It had great propaganda significance.

If no top graduate was set, the momentum of the imperial examination would undoubtedly be much weaker.

Qin Mu smiled slightly.

Reforming the imperial examination was a problem he had thought about from the beginning.

"All subjects are divided into three major categories: literary, military, and miscellaneous. For each major category, one top graduate, one second-place graduate, and one third-place graduate will be set."

The hall was in an uproar.

According to this setting, three top graduates would be produced each time the imperial examination was held!

One time equaled three times!

Such an imperial examination was unprecedented!

The newly added military and miscellaneous subjects gave soldiers and common people more opportunities.

The cohesion produced would also be unprecedentedly strong!

Moreover, in the future, the Six Ministries would select officials according to each person's expertise, which would also avoid the appearance of incompetent officials to a greater extent.

It was truly a stroke of genius!

Zhang Juzheng quickly understood the benefits.

He bowed in submission on the spot.

"Your Majesty's thoughts are far-sighted, making me suddenly enlightened! I am willing to follow Your Majesty's guidance and assist Great Qin in becoming an unprecedentedly strong and proud empire!" Following Zhang Juzheng, the ministers bowed in unison.

In fact, it was not just the questions before them.

Qin Mu had already sent people to have Liu Bowen and Shen Kuo, who were in Tibet, draft their own questions.

They had not yet been sent back to Chang'an.

The structure of this imperial examination was absolutely beyond the imagination of the Tang monarch and ministers.

They would never have thought that the Great Qin imperial examination would not only face scholars.

Qin Mu looked at the ministers in the hall.

His heart was full of heroism.

Although these people were few in number, they concentrated talents that were rare to encounter in a hundred years.

"Yan Song!"

"I am here!"

A tall and thin young man stood out.

This person had the potential to be a treacherous minister; in history, he had controlled the Ming government for nearly twenty years.

He had abilities that others did not possess, and in some aspects, he was even stronger than Zhang Juzheng.

The young Yan Song was still a hot-blooded youth full of justice.

Qin Mu had always been very satisfied with this young Yan Song.

"There is a dangerous task; do you dare to go?"

Yan Song raised his head, his face full of generosity and indignation.

"As long as Your Majesty commands, I will not refuse even if I die!"

"You are not bad!"

Qin Mu flicked the stack of questions piled on the dragon desk.

"Great Qin has prepared so many questions for this imperial examination. It faces not only the people of Great Qin but also the people of Great Tang.

I want you to sneak into Great Tang and incite more Tang scholars to come and participate in the Great Qin imperial examination!"

Yan Song's special ability was precisely incitement.

He himself was quite literary, making it easy to resonate with scholars.

Qin Mu had already thought of this killer move before telling the Tang envoy about the imperial examination.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had already exposed the scam of the Tang imperial examination in Jiangnan a step earlier.

The emotions of the Jiangnan scholars were brewing.

Sending Yan Song to sneak into Great Tang at this time could just take advantage of this emotion of the scholars to stir up trouble.

It would guarantee that the Tang imperial court would be in a state of utter chaos.

"I accept the decree!"

Yan Song took on this heavy responsibility without hesitation.

Once this move was made, one only needed to sit and wait for scholars from all walks of life to come to Chang'an to sign up for the exam.

The Great Qin imperial examination would surely be a grand and spectacular scene! ===== CHAPTER 568 =====