Chapter 238: Posting the Results

Three days later...

The tightly shut gates of the Gongyuan were opened by the guarding soldiers.

The officials in charge of invigilation walked out, looking exhausted.

For these past few days, they had been grading papers day and night.

Now, this vast and complex task was finally completed.

However, for them, participating in this Official Examination was not without its benefits.

At the very least, through grading the papers, they had checked the answers provided by Yan Wang countless times.

Consequently, they had gained a profound understanding of Yan Wang's governance philosophy.

This would be of great benefit to their future official careers.

Liu Fu had been waiting in front of the gate for a long time.

Yan Wang had only given them three days to grade the papers.

Leading the soldiers into the Gongyuan, he sent the more than two thousand passing papers directly to the Prince's Mansion.

"Your Highness, these papers are arranged from highest score to lowest," Liu Fu said, rubbing his hands together.

Next, they only needed to post the results, and these two thousand-plus people could enter the Yanzhou officialdom to serve Yan Wang.

Zhao Xu nodded and picked up the first paper.

The name on it made him pause; he was actually somewhat familiar with this name.

It seemed to be a scholar brought by Mi Zhuang, who had even offered him advice at the last banquet.

His name was Zhu Tuo.

On his paper, he scored very high on the administrative ability test; as expected of someone who had served as a County Magistrate, he was very experienced with the various problems faced in officialdom and his answers were quite accurate.

His score in mathematics was similarly high.

Out of a hundred points, he scored around eighty.

The final paper tested an official's big-picture perspective.

On the question of how to make Yanzhou prosperous, Zhu Tuo's answer made his eyes light up.

On the exam paper, he proposed mercantilism, making industry and commerce the foundation of Yanzhou.

He stated that since ancient times, the Central Plains dynasties had surplus grain in the south and insufficient production in the north.

Especially in a place like Yanzhou, at the northernmost end of the Great Song, relying on farming could only lead to self-sufficiency, not prosperity.

He was very satisfied with this answer from Zhu Tuo, and his answer was also very close to the one on the answer key.

For Zhu Tuo to have such thoughts was indeed rare in this feudal society of the Great Song.

However, this also seemed to be within reason.

In fact, every era had clear-headed people who could see the crises facing their country and attempted to reform.

But their voices were fundamentally unable to shake the stubborn conservative forces.

Gently putting down Zhu Tuo's paper, Zhao Xu said to Liu Fu, "This Official Examination was held exactly right. If it were still just recommending officials like before, how could I have seen their different ideas through their papers?"

"Your Highness is absolutely right. Eight thousand people have eight thousand ideas, which best reflects their talents. When Your Highness first proposed the Official Examination, I was convinced that this is the way to select talent; otherwise, just by recommending officials, it is inevitable that many would be fame-seeking hypocrites."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and looked at the next paper.

This person's name was Du Wan, and he had never heard of him.

But precisely because he had not heard of him, it showed that there were hidden talents among these scholars from humble backgrounds.

Among the three papers, Du Wan's mathematics was almost a perfect score.

But although the administrative ability test was not bad,

it was limited to the idealism of a scholar; it was generally correct, but not as rigorous as Zhu Tuo's answer, and he seemed to be a scholar without experience in holding office.

And on the third paper, he also proposed that commerce and trade should be the priority, with farming being secondary.

However, he also proposed that commerce and trade should be developed without affecting farming, to ensure the abundance of grain and fodder in Yanzhou.

"Not bad." Zhao Xu flipped to the next one.

The next five people were Zhang Lang, Su Hai, Fang Yuanhao, Sima Dong, and Li Tai'an.

There were differences in the scores of these seven people, but they were generally small.

"This Sima Dong is also among the scholars brought by Imperial Father-in-law Mi, while the other three are scholars from humble backgrounds in Yanzhou. It shows that Yanzhou still has talent," Liu Fu thought, breaking into a cold sweat.

In his heart, he was very eager for some outstanding individuals to emerge from the scholars of humble backgrounds in Yanzhou.

In this way, it would prove the necessity of the Official Examination.

Otherwise, if most of those on the list came from Imperial Father-in-law Mi's side, the necessity of the Official Examination would be lacking, and the recommendation system would have been justified instead.

"Hmm, that is indeed the case. However, we cannot just look at the papers. Let's do this: for those ranked higher, like those with experience as a County Magistrate such as Zhu Tuo, they can be given the position of Commandery Governor; those without experience in holding office will serve as County Magistrates for two years first. As for the others, the Government Office will arrange them. Post the list in these few days and specify their positions," Zhao Xu said, pondering.

"Yes, Your Highness," Liu Fu replied.

With the Official Examination over, the shortage of officials that had been giving him a headache could finally be filled.

A few more days passed.

On the wooden board standing in the Dong Shi of Yancheng, the list of those who passed the Official Examination was posted on red paper.

Scholars who received the news swarmed over.

"Who is this Zhu Tuo? He is actually the top of the list, directly qualified to be the Yan Commandery Governor."

In front of the notice, a group of scholars were so jealous their eyes turned red.

At this time, Zhu Tuo was also in the crowd, accompanied by the scholars who had come to Yan Commandery with him this time.

Immediately, several scholars bowed to him, "Congratulations to Brother Zhu for passing the exam. From now on, we should call you Governor Zhu."

Zhu Tuo's eyes were slightly red; an emotion of excitement at a virtuous minister meeting a wise lord spread in his heart.

But what made him even happier and want to shed tears was that this Official Examination was not a farce.

Yan Wang is truly selecting officials based on talent.

"Brother Du, you are ranked second; you are the County Magistrate of Fengling County, Shanggu Commandery."

Zhu Tuo was feeling surging emotions when a scholar beside him suddenly shouted aloud.

These were two scholars dressed in simple clothing, their garments covered in patches.

The scholar addressed as Brother Du was already streaming with tears at this moment.

Having exhausted his family wealth and studied diligently for over ten years, he had been so destitute that he could only rely on copying books for a living.

His relatives and neighbors had all mocked him, saying that a scholar is useless.

Yet now, in the span of a single night, he had transformed from a poor scholar into a County Magistrate.

Gripping his companion's hand tightly, Du Wan nodded fiercely, looked up at the sky, and said, "I thank His Highness Yan Wang for his great kindness; in this life, I have only my own life to repay him."

"I passed too, ranked seventy-eighth, as the Assistant Magistrate of Dai Xian," his companion cheered, "Brother Du, we can truly serve as officials under Yan Wang together."

Du Wan looked over and indeed found the name of Lei Hang.

The two looked at each other and laughed heartily.

As more and more scholars found their names.

Before the notice, laughter began to be mixed with sobbing, and sobbing mixed with laughter.

Those who passed cheered and jumped for joy, while those who failed sighed in despair.

However, for them, one thing was certain.

In Yanzhou, they could truly become officials of the Prince's Mansion by passing the Official Examination.

This gave them hope.

The Official Examination is held every year; if they did not pass this time, they would certainly strive to pass the next.

Furthermore, some well-informed scholars learned that Yan Wang was going to establish the Three Great Academies: the Technology Academy, the Government Academy, and the Military Academy.

These Three Great Academies would all recruit students, and inside them, Yan Wang would personally teach them certain things.

However, they also heard that the conditions for entering the academies were harsh.

Entering the academies meant that they might lose some of their freedom.

And they must keep secret the things they learned within the academies.