Five days later, the highly anticipated public recruitment of scholars finally kicked off in Jingzhou. This exam included a total of 105,000 scholars, from all counties all over the world, and even candidates from Liaodong. Although only one person was admitted out of twenty people, only a hundred people could pass the second official exam, it still aroused the great enthusiasm of the scholars, and everyone had hope for themselves.

This was rare and precious in the Han Dynasty, where family status and reputation were used as the criteria for selecting officials. It was so rare and so valuable that every scholar who took the exam treated this opportunity with the greatest enthusiasm and the most rigorous attitude.

There is no place in Xiangyang that can accommodate 100,000 people to refer to at the same time. In addition to the academy and the library, even the government officials of the prefecture yamen also used it. In addition, several large sword halls and academies were temporarily requisitioned by the government as examination rooms.

In fact, in the Han Dynasty, paper was far from popular and very expensive. Most of the books were still bamboo slips, which led to a very narrow spread of culture. Most of them were centered on the gentry of various counties, including children of aristocratic families and scholars who depended on the gentry. This also led to the uneven quality of scholars. Many scholars even came to take the exam only after reading one book of the Analects.

This is completely different from the fact that more than 100,000 people took the imperial examinations in the Tang and Song dynasties.

This time, the Cui family of Boling came to take the exam, but most of them came at their own expense. Cui Si was the only scholar who came to take the exam on behalf of the family. He was the nephew of Cui Zhouping and the direct descendant of the Cui family. This time, he came to Jingzhou to look for opportunities with the family's trust.

Before leaving, the head of the family and several elders of the family talked with him earnestly, and it still echoed in his mind. Liu Jing's strong rise had already vaguely competed with Cao Cao.

More importantly, Liu Jing is a direct royal family. If he seizes the world, the Han Dynasty will inevitably revival. So whether the Cui family can gain its due status in the revival of the Han Dynasty that is likely to come is a major event that the Cui family must face.

Against this background, Choi Si represented the Choi family in this exam, and he was bound to win.

Before dawn, Cui Si went out. He was at the home court of Jingzhou Academy. He was less than a mile away from the inn where he stayed. Although it was not yet dawn, the streets were filled with scholars who came to Jingzhou Academy to refer to. Many scholars were carrying lanterns, dotted with stars, and shining with the sky, which was particularly spectacular.

"Brother Zhaoyuan!"

As soon as Cui Si walked to the front of the gate, he heard someone calling him behind him. When he turned around, Xun Zhi ran quickly with a bookcase on his back. A young scholar was following him. The two of them ran forward. Xun Zhi smiled and said, "I just went to your inn and asked, and I said you just left, so I'll chase you all the way!"

Choi Si apologized and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know if my brother will come!"

"It's okay! I'm just passing by the inn."

At this time, Cui Si nodded to the scholar next to him again. The scholar was also present when they were drinking together that day, but Cui Si forgot his name. The young scholar smiled and said, "I am Deng Hong in Nanyang, do you still remember Brother Cui?"

Cui Si slapped her forehead and smiled, "Yes, you are Deng Wenzhong. I remembered it. A guy who is very good at drinking."

The three of them laughed together. At this time, the dull bell sound came from afar. This was to inform the scholars to enter the examination room. The three of them met the examination room. Cui Si and Deng Hong were both in the examination room B, while Xun Zhi was in the examination room Ding. Xun Zhi bowed and smiled, "Then I will say goodbye to the two brothers first. We will have a party to have a drink at noon, so we can meet up at Zhaoyuan's inn!"

"No problem!"

Choi Si bowed and said, "I wish my brother a smooth exam first and the top high school ranking!"

"Each each other! Each other! Everyone passed the exam!"

Xun Zhi smiled and went to the Ding exam room ahead. Cui Si and Deng Hong walked into the B exam room together.

The examination room was in a hall that could accommodate 3,000 people. There were three thousand small tables and a mat. Each person sent a piece of paper and his own pen and ink. There was also a bamboo basket next to the table, with a bucket of rice, a hundred Chu coins and a thick hemp blanket. This was the travel expenses and souvenirs for each candidate to return home in Jingzhou. The hemp blanket came from Hanzhong, and there were hundreds of thousands of hemp blankets in the Nanzheng warehouse, which was just a souvenir for the scholars.

There were whispers in the examination room, and the scholars were rumbling through the basket excitedly. Even if they failed the exam, they did not come in vain and went back with some gains.

At this time, an examiner shouted loudly on the platform: "Please be quiet for everyone!"

The scholars all calmed down, and the hall of thousands of people was silent. The examiner shouted loudly: "The basket beside everyone is the return trip fee given to everyone by Liu Zhoumu. The blanket can be used to mat or cover in winter. It is very practical and is a wish of Liu Zhoumu. Thank you for coming to Jingzhou for taking the exam."

At this time, the scholars burst into applause, the examiner waved his hand, and calmed everyone down. He continued: "About today's exam, there are five questions in total. I will announce the questions, involving "The Analects of Confucius", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The University", "Guanzi" and "Han Feizi". The test is real talent and knowledge, but there is only one piece of paper. Everyone should use it for simplicity. After filling in the name, hometown and exam number on the paper, use the note next to it to paste it, be careful not to have any problems. If the name is leaked, it will be invalid!"

The examiner's words burst into thunder in everyone's heart. It was not a question of being misleading names, but the books involved. "The Analects of Confucius", "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning", belonging to the category of the Four Books and have little problem.

The key is that the last two books, "Guanzi" and "Han Feizi", have made many people feel overwhelmed, especially "Guanzi", which is very remote and many people have never read it. Unexpectedly, it became one of the five questions in the exam.

"Everyone is quiet. I will announce the first question below. Please listen carefully. I will only say it three times in total!"

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The exam was only half a day, and at noon, the scholars came out of the examination room one after another. Everyone looked solemn and walked in a hurry, and seemed to be in a heavy mood. Obviously, the exam questions were much more difficult than they thought, and many candidates had decided to go back to pack their luggage and return home.

There is really a big gap between scholars. Some people are well-educated, while others only read a few books and then claim to be scholars to take the exam.

"Brother Cui, how did you do in the exam?" Xun Zhi asked impatiently as soon as he met.

"I think it's pretty good, at least I've answered it. As for whether it fits the examiner's appetite, I don't know. How did my brother do in the exam?"

Xun Zhi laughed, "I think it's very good. Actually, I know that Liu Jing also admires the Legalists, so I specially studied several books of the Legalists repeatedly. Unexpectedly, I really got the exam of "Guanzi" and "Han Feizi". I'm very glad!"

At this time, Deng Hong sighed, "I answered all the previous questions very well, but unfortunately I can't remember "Guanzi" completely and haven't finished it. I guess I will fail."

Cui Si patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't worry! I know that you will definitely achieve something in Jingzhou."

Xun Zhi clapped his hands and shouted, "Don't think about it after the exam. Let's cross the river to Fancheng to drink!"

"Drink! Drink!" The three of them laughed together, walked out of the inn, hired a mule cart, and drove towards Fancheng on the other side of the Han River.

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The first round of examinations is just a college entrance examination. Those who pass the exam can go to Jingzhou Academy and Yizhou Academy to enjoy the government’s money and food subsidies, and also support their families. This alone makes scholars from all over the world flock to them.

As for the second round of official exams, since less than a hundred admitted candidates, this is undoubtedly a car and a cup of salary for a huge number of candidates. Many candidates do not expect to pass the official exam. They are all waiting for the first round of the results in ten days.

After the academy exam, wealthy candidates went to Jingzhou in groups of three or five, but some aristocratic families with clear goals were still studying Legalism and preparing for the second round of official exams.

In a flash, eight days passed, and there were only two days left before the first round of the release. Liu Jing and dozens of senior officials of the General's Mansion were discussing the final release list.

"Jiang joined the army, please tell everyone about the situation first!" Liu Jing said to Jiang Wan with a smile.

Jiang Wan nodded and said to everyone: "There were 105,480 candidates in this exam, and there were 8,500 copies of the scrapped papers. The main ones were all caused by the name. Some were not confused, resulting in the name leakage, and some were too strict and stuck in the name. The other nearly 100,000 candidates had a big gap. Nearly 20,000 candidates only answered the "Analects of Confucius". Less than 10,000 candidates answered the four questions, and only more than 2,000 people answered the five questions. The main question of "Guanzi" has stumped most candidates."

Liu Jing frowned and said, "There are actually eight thousand scraps?"

"Yes! Many people take the exam for fame for the first time, so there are many problems. According to regulations, those who open their names must be invalidated."

Liu Jing didn't say anything else, and turned to Fei Guan and asked, "I wonder how many scholars the academy in Bashu can accept?"

The General Cavalry Office was not only the former senior officials of Jingzhou, but also appointed many people from Yizhou, such as Dong He, Fei Guan, Fei Yi, Fa Zheng, Yin Jing, Liu Ba, Li Hui, Peng Yi and others. Dong He served as the position of Sima. This is the third senior official second only to the military advisor and the chief secretary. He is in charge of the prison laws of Jingzhou and Yizhou. This is also the right thing that Liu Jing likes Dong He.

Fei Guan served as the post of Zhizhong and also served as a Yizhou Bianjia. Yizhou academic administration is under his jurisdiction. Fei Guan stood up and said, "In addition to Yizhou Academy, each county also has its own county schools. In the past, they recruited children from Bashu, but now they can also recruit students from other states. I have estimated that they can recruit about 3,000 students, but I have a word to say."

"Mr. Fei said it bluntly!"

Fei Guan said slowly: "Recruiting five or six thousand scholars to study in the academy and providing them with money and food is undoubtedly to support them. This seems a bit unfair. I hope they can do some things and cannot be idle. The whole family relies on the government to support them."

There was a lot of discussion in the lobby, and most people agreed with Fei Guan’s opinion. The huge amount of money and food consumed by five or six thousand people a year was a heavy burden on the government, and everyone asked for reform.

At this time, Xu Shu, who was sitting beside him, smiled and said, "This is indeed necessary to improve. We will come up with a plan, such as letting scholars copy books, taking turns to second as civil servants in various counties, going to military positions and serving as civilians, teaching in schools, and providing disaster relief, etc. In short, scholars have many uses. Although they are not working in the fields, they also have places to use their skills."

Liu Jing smiled and said to everyone: "The use of scholars will be discussed specifically next time. The results will be released tomorrow. Please confirm the list!"
Chapter completed!