Zhang Yangquan personally graded the results of the general examination, with Qin Lingjun helping.
Except for a few generals who stayed on the front line, most generals participated, about a hundred people.
Zhang Yangquan, the marking officer, was particularly relaxed, because nearly 80% of the generals handed in a blank paper, and some even wrote their names wrong.
Among the remaining 20%, the situation is also terrible. Half of them write in cursive handwriting, and their answers are often incorrect.
After Zhang Yangquan reviewed all the papers, only three people passed!
One is Xu Baisheng, the other is Boar, and the last one is Bian Yuanheng. Even Li Er is a few points short of passing.
Zhang Yangquan started grading the papers at chen o'clock in the morning. Now that the sun has reached the zenith, he finally finished the review and couldn't help but stretch a long way.
"Husband, I know you want to train them, but isn't it too early? It will be too late for them to learn when you conquer the world in the future!"
Qin Lingjun on the side said while sorting out the test papers.
Zhang Yangquan leaned back in his chair and said with a smile: "The sooner you learn this kind of thing, the better. Every word you learn now will be beneficial to them in the future!"
Qin Lingjun neatly stacked the test papers on the corner of the table and said, "Even so, we shouldn't call Xu Baisheng back. Isn't the Jiqing victory over yet?"
Zhang Yangquan rummaged around on his desk, found an official document, and handed it to Qin Lingjun.
"Look at this?"
Qin Lingjun reached out and took it. After looking at it for a while, her eyes lit up.
"Chen Ye wants to surrender first?"
Zhang Yangquan nodded: "He is not the only one. Many officials in Jiqing have begun to find a way out for themselves. Now that the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been determined, the Yuan army has no possibility of turning defeat into victory. Surrender is their only way to survive!"
Qin Lingjun sat at the corner of the table, read the letter back and forth for a while, and suddenly said: "Chen Ye asked us to give him a month first. Is it possible that he is delaying the time on purpose?"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "What good will delaying time do to him? Now that the Yuan soldiers are trapped in Jiqing, the longer the time is delayed, the more beneficial it will be to us!"
Qin Lingjun nodded and handed the letter back to Zhang Yangquan.
"What do you think of Xu Baisheng?"
Zhang Yangquan folded the letter, put it back on the desk, and said: "He agreed to wait for a month. Regardless of whether Chen Yexian succeeded or not, after one month he felt that it would be easier to conquer Jiqing!"
Qin Lingjun asked again: "What is Liu Bowen's opinion?"
"He also supports the peaceful capture of Jiqing. Jiqing has the official directory of the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, household registration and field account books. It would be a pity if these things were destroyed in the war!"
Qin Lingjun said: "That's true."
After a pause, she continued: "The imperial examination will be held in nine days. Didn't you say you want to revise the test questions from the Imperial College? How are the revisions going?"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Most of the poems and Mingjing sections follow their original titles, with only policy theory changed. In addition, two more subjects have been added."
Qin Lingjun wondered: "Which two?"
Zhang Yangquan said: "One is arithmetic and the other is physical studies!"
Qin Lingjun was startled for a moment and said, "I know arithmetic, but what is physical education?"
"Horse riding, archery, and running!"
Qin Lingjun stared at him closely: "Are you serious? I only heard about horse riding and archery passing the martial arts examination, and running is unheard of. Those scholars won't make a fuss when they know about it?"
Zhang Yangquan raised his head and said: "I don't require all literati to practice good martial arts, but at least they must have a good body. The culture of literati only knowing how to recite poems and compose poems should be changed!"
Qin Lingjun smiled and said: "It's not easy to change. How are you going to convince those officials? They won't obediently agree!"
Zhang Yangquan tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Do you think all officials will object?"
"Uncle Guo probably won't object. As for other literati, I can't say for sure. Not everyone can accept your weird ideas!"
Zhang Yangquan said calmly: "Whether they accept it or not, in short, the questions in this imperial examination must be according to my wishes!"
He called a personal guard and handed over an official document wrapped in brown paper on the table.
"Bring it to the left and right prime ministers, tell them they are imperial examination questions, and make three thousand copies immediately!"
The personal guards have gone to take orders.
……
After the General Manager's Office was changed to Zhongshu Province, Guo Niansheng robbed Zhang Yangquan's study and used it as his left prime minister's office, leaving the original deputy general manager's office to Lu Liangzuo.
The southern scholar circles have mixed opinions on Lu Liangzuo's appointment as the Right Prime Minister of Jiangdu Army.
For Lu Liangzuo, compared with the previous praise, this is already a great loss.
However, after Jiangdu's army captured Jiangdong, public opinion began to change. There were fewer and fewer people who belittled him, and more and more people praised him.
Unknowingly, his reputation in the scholar circles has tended to surpass that of Yang Weizhen, and more and more people come to Jiangdu to visit him.
Of course Lu Liangzuo knew the reason.
The southern scholars claimed to be hermits, indifferent to fame and wealth, and scornful of officialdom. However, deep down in their hearts, they actually concealed a passionate desire for an official career.
There are only a small number of true hermits in the world. Most people live in seclusion because they want to enter officialdom but cannot.
They disguise themselves with disdain and contempt to protect their broken hearts.
Those who belittled Lu Liangzuo were exactly this group of people. They were envious and jealous of him, so they slandered him.
However, as Jiangdu's army became stronger and stronger, they could no longer hold back their eagerness for a career and couldn't help but want to join in.
And the most convenient shortcut to enter Jiangdu officialdom is Lu Liangzuo!
Deep down in his heart, Lu Liangzuo was very disdainful of this group of people, but he had to recruit them enthusiastically and keep them in the mansion as Qing guests.
Because he knew very well that the purpose of the King of Chu in asking him to be the Right Prime Minister was not to value his talent, but to value the southern scholars he represented.
If he cannot maintain his reputation and status among the scholars, the King of Chu will replace him with someone else.
In order to stabilize his current position, Lu Liangzuo has always wanted to develop his own power in Jiangdu officialdom.
However, every time he recommended talents to the King of Chu, they were not reused. On the contrary, when Liu Bowen occasionally mentioned a name, the King of Chu would ask questions with special interest.
Lu Liangzuo had no choice but to wait silently for the opportunity. When he learned that the King of Chu wanted to hold the imperial examination, he immediately realized that the opportunity had come.
That morning, when Guo Niansheng brought over the imperial examination papers that had been corrected by the King of Chu, Lu Liangzuo couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his heart, because the imperial examination questions that had been revised by the King of Chu were very detrimental to the literati in his house.
"Lv Gong, why don't you say anything? If you have no objection, I will send it directly to the Imperial College!" Guo Niansheng said.
Lu Liangzuo said calmly: "Prime Minister Zuo, I think this matter is of great importance, and we should immediately hold a 'pingzhang meeting' to discuss this matter!"
The Pingzhang meeting is the highest-level meeting of Zhongshu Province. Only the left and right prime ministers and Pingzhang political affairs can participate. Every meeting is for the purpose of making decisions on the most important matters.
Precisely because Pingzhang has the highest decision-making power on political affairs, it has been called half of the prime minister since the Tang Dynasty, and Pingzhang assembly is also called prime minister assembly!
Guo Niansheng smiled and said: "This is an exam question set by the king himself. As long as we pass it, why waste time debating it?"
Lu Liangzuo said seriously: "Prime Minister Zuo, you should also know the importance of this imperial examination. Most of the officials in the forty-eight counties will be from this batch of officials admitted by the imperial examination. How can we be careless?"
Both the left and right prime ministers have the right to hold general meetings. Although Guo Niansheng is the left prime minister, he cannot object and can only say: "Well, let's discuss it!"
Lu Liangzuo immediately issued a summons order, and several civil servants rushed to inform the four major political affairs.