Under Xu Qingyan's constant waving of the fan, the time for half a stick of incense soon came.
In the end, there were only three masters who were able to find the correct key within half a stick of incense!
The first person is Niu Fude. This person once served as an errand under the governor of Liaodong. He is the only one among the masters who is proficient in military strategy. When looking for the key to open the lock, Niu Fude appeared to be very organized. Under Xu Qingyan's constant interference,
He still looked calm and calm, and through inductive analysis by category, looking for patterns, he quickly found the correct key. In addition, although he was the first person to successfully unlock the lock, he did not show too much emotion after unlocking it.
Looking excited, he just stood aside and quietly observed the performance of others, with some scrutiny and criticism in his eyes.
Obviously, this person not only found the correct key in the shortest time, but also discovered the true purpose of Zhao Junchen's assessment. So after Niu Fude completed the assessment, he also took the opportunity to observe the performance of the others. After all, these people
They will be his colleagues in the future, and it will also be of great benefit to Niu Fude to know something about him in advance.
The second person's name was Ouyang Bo. He was young, about thirty-seven or eighteen years old, and looked quite capable. Facing Zhao Junchen's assessment, Ouyang Bo did not rush to take action, but carefully considered it for a moment.
It seemed that he was looking for the best way. After he found the right way, his movements were extremely agile and capable. He was not the fastest person to think of the right way, but after he thought of the right way, he was the fastest to complete it.
Obviously, Ouyang Bo is a person who makes decisions before acting. Once he has made a decision in his mind, he will resolutely implement it. Such a person is not only cautious and conscientious, but also has a persevering personality and full of self-confidence.
The third person is named Li Chuanwen. This person is the most respected figure by Su Xiqing. He has a very high reputation. He has been used by two governors successively and has extremely rich experience. At the same time, he is also the oldest among all the masters. Now he is
He was nearly sixty years old, and he was regarded as the ancestor of the master class. He was already retired, but Su Xiqing visited the thatched cottage three times and promised huge profits, so it was not easy to invite him to Zhao Junchen.
However, although Li Chuanwen is older, his mind is still sharp and his temperament is much calmer than the other masters. After encountering Xu Qingyan's interference, he was the only one whose expression did not change. And he soon became
After finding the correct method, after summarizing, he carefully tried every key that might be correct, without missing any possibility. In addition, his grasp of time was also extremely accurate. His movements seemed steady and slow, but when
After he tried every possible correct key, it happened to be the time when half a stick of incense was finished!
In fact, Li Chuanwen was very lucky. When he tried to open the lock, the third key he encountered was the correct key. He successfully opened the lock. It can be said that Li Chuanwen opened the lock earlier than Niu Fude.
However, Li Chuanwen had no intention of competing for the first place. Instead, he tried all the remaining keys to prevent the second correct key from appearing. Although it turned out that this was unnecessary. However, Li Chuanwen was cautious and steady, and did not strive for credit.
, still makes Zhao Junchen feel extremely amazed!
It can be said that Niu Fude, Ouyang Bo, and Li Chuanwen all performed outstandingly in this test. Their advantages in ability, temperament, scheming, etc. were also fully displayed. If loyalty can be guaranteed, their appearance will be a great help to Zhao.
It is undoubtedly a great help to Junchen!
Then, when the time for burning incense was about to end, more than a dozen masters completed the assessment one after another. The abilities, temperaments, scheming, etc. of these masters were inferior to those of Niu Fude, Ouyang Bo, and Li Chuanwen. However,
They are also rare talents. If nothing else happens, they will be the backbone of Zhao Junchen's staff team in the future!
As for the remaining masters who did not complete the assessment within the agreed time, they more or less showed some disadvantages, or their personalities were not calm enough, or their work was not serious enough, or their observation skills were not meticulous enough. These people are not enough
By entrusting them with important tasks, their status under Zhao Junchen will become even more marginalized in the future.
However, when the time for a stick of incense was about to end, a sudden accident caught everyone's attention.
Among the thirty-seven masters, the oldest and highest-status person is naturally Li Chuanwen, while the youngest and most junior person is named Li Lun, who is only twenty-nine years old now.
In fact, Li Lun is Li Chuanwen's only son. Although he has very little qualifications, he is naturally intelligent, quick-witted and thoughtful, and he also has the true legacy of Li Chuanwen!
Originally, Li Chuanwen did not want Li Lun to inherit his career and become a master, but hoped that Li Lun could obtain a meritorious service and enter an official career in a serious manner. After all, the position of a master was really embarrassing, half-official, half-citizen, and sandwiched between officials and civilians.
There is not much oil and water in between, and it is easy to get angry from both sides. It is not a good way out.
However, although Li Lun was smart and proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, he was not very good at eight-legged prose, and his calligraphy was crooked and unsightly. As a result, Li Lun's imperial examination path was naturally met with repeated defeats.
However, when Li Lun was twenty-nine years old, that is, this year, Li Chuanwen finally accepted his fate and no longer forced Li Lun to obtain a meritorious title. He planned to let Li Lun inherit the family business and become a master like himself. This would at least ensure that he would become a master.
No worries about food and clothing.
At this time, Su Xiqing appeared, but Su Xiqing's target was naturally not Li Lun, but the reputable Li Chuanwen, who wanted to invite Li Chuanwen to assist Zhao Junchen! Unfortunately, Li Chuanwen was old and had been retired for many years.
I planned to go into the muddy waters of officialdom again, so I firmly rejected Su Xiqing's invitation.
After being frustrated many times, Su Xiqing finally decided on Li Lun.
In order to invite Li Chuanwen to come out, Su Xiqing asked Zhao Junchen for instructions and solemnly made a promise to Li Chuanwen. If Li Chuanwen was willing to come out to assist Zhao Junchen, then Zhao Junchen would also promote Li Lun. When the time was right, he would also recommend Li Lun to enter the Imperial Academy.
Let Li Lun become a supervisor!
It was this promise that moved Li Chuanwen. In the end, for the sake of Li Lun's future, Li Chuanwen finally changed his mind and decided to assist Zhao Junchen. Otherwise, with Li Chuanwen's qualifications, even if Zhao Junchen personally invited him, he might not be able to succeed.
I pity the hearts of parents in the world.
So, Li Lun followed Li Chuanwen to the Zhao family's ancestral home, and also became a staff member hired by Zhao Junchen, and also accepted Zhao Junchen's assessment!
In addition, because Li Lun was the youngest, Zhao Junchen paid special attention to Li Lun. During the assessment, Zhao Junchen also paid close attention to Li Lun's performance.
At the beginning, Li Lun's performance was also very satisfactory to Zhao Junchen. His mind was very smart and alert. Among the thirty-seven masters, he was almost the first one to find the correct method. His movements were capable and his expression
Calm and not disturbed too much by Xu Qingyan!
Logically speaking, Li Lun should be the fourth master to complete the assessment within the time of half a stick of incense. Even in the worst case, one stick of incense is enough time for him to complete the assessment.
However, the time for half a stick of incense has passed, and Li Lun has not completed the assessment! The time for one stick of incense is about to end, and Li Lun still has not completed the assessment!
Such an abnormal situation also attracted the attention of Zhao Junchen. Under Zhao Junchen's careful observation, he found that Li Lun's method was undoubtedly correct. Li Lun also carefully tried every possible key more than once. It can be said that
Li Lun did everything he was supposed to do and made no mistakes. However, Li Lun just couldn't open the lock.
Seeing that the time for burning incense was about to end, Li Lun's expression remained calm and his expression became more focused. However, his increasingly frowning brows and the thin sweat on his forehead still showed that Li Lun was becoming increasingly anxious.
Observing Li Lun's performance, Zhao Junchen suddenly thought of a possibility, turned to Xiao Wenxuan and asked: "Wenxuan, are you sure that the keys assigned to Li Lun were not wrong? Could it be that there was a mistake in the busy schedule, and those hundred keys
Didn’t you put the correct key in there?”
After hearing Zhao Junchen's question, Xiao Wenxuan did not dare to neglect. After taking two steps forward, he carefully observed all the keys in front of Li Lun.
After a moment, Xiao Wenxuan's expression changed slightly, and he turned to Zhao Junchen and said: "My subordinates were not well prepared and did not check carefully. As you may have guessed, Li Lun was not assigned the correct key. He got it."
The one hundred keys were all wrong! It seems that there were too many keys, and the people below made an omission when distributing the keys. However, the subordinate, as the person in charge, neither noticed this in time nor checked in detail.
, there has been such a big mistake, please punish me."
Zhao Junchen shook his head helplessly and glanced at the incense burner.
At this time, there was only a little bit of fragrance left in the incense burner. Seeing that time was coming to an end, there was no way to make up for it.
However, at this moment, Li Lun suddenly stood up, left his desk and chair, turned and walked towards the flower bed next to him.
Then, Li Lun picked a stone from the flower bed, placed the lock on the ground, picked up the stone and hit the lock hard!
With a "Peng" sound, the lock was smashed open!
At the same time, the fine incense in the incense burner was completely burned out!
Such a loud noise naturally attracted everyone's attention!
Under the attention of everyone, Li Lun's expression remained calm and he said slowly: "Master Zhao's question was to find the key to open the lock. Now I finally opened the lock, and the key... is this!"
While speaking, Li Lun raised the stone in his hand.
Seeing Li Lun's unexpected performance, Zhao Junchen not only did not feel angry because of Li Lun's behavior of breaking the rules, but laughed and said: "That's right... He is a talent who dares to break the rules!"