Yongjing thirty-three years, mid-March!

Luoyang Duanmen.

The gongs and drums are noisy, and firecrackers are blasting.

This day is the day when the imperial court convenes the Golden Palace once every three years.

On this day, the Emperor of Dayu would hand-pick the number one scholar in civil and military affairs, as well as the second and third best candidates. After the six people thanked Tian En, they would ride out of Duanmen on royal horses and wear red flowers, and cross the street to show off in front of others.

This triennial event brings all the wealthy people and ladies in the city to the streets of Tianjin, hoping to catch the talent of the top civil and military scholar.

Above the Golden Palace, Emperor Dayu, who was nearly sixty years old, looked at the political question paper in his hand, raised his head and laughed: "My son is blessed!"

He handed the answer sheet to Luo Kangrui, who had been crowned Prince of Dayu.

Luo Kangrui looked at the eloquent article of more than a thousand words in his hand, took a breath and said: "This, this is really written by someone who just graduated from university..."

After the establishment of Dayu, Luo Youdu had been making corresponding reforms in the imperial examination.

With the development of the economy, the popularization of sweet potatoes and corn, the warming of the climate, and the submission of the South China Sea countries, the people of Dayu have almost solved the problem of food and clothing, and compulsory primary school education has become mandatory.

As early as fifteen years ago, Dayu canceled the provincial examinations and general examinations in the imperial examinations, only retained the provincial examinations and palace examinations of the Ministry of Rites, and began to adopt a diploma assessment system.

Those without a university diploma are not allowed to take part in the imperial examination.

People who have graduated from university can work as local officials with their diplomas. Those with excellent grades can also be promoted to officials after passing the examination, while retaining the right to take scientific examinations for minor officials...

Graduating from university is not difficult for educated people. Although the provincial examination is mainly about administration, it only covers some common basic questions. The palace examination is different. The emperor personally sets the questions and tests current affairs and even university level examinations. Direction. Ordinary bachelors find it difficult to deal with basic administration, let alone emergencies such as current affairs and major strategies and directions.

Therefore, few top picks are fresh college students, and many are junior officials who have traveled or even have many years of grassroots experience.

Luo Youdu leaned back to make himself more comfortable: "As a father, I was a little moved when I first read this article, but when I saw the name, I felt relieved."

Luo Kangrui looked at the name of the volume: Fan Zhongyan!

"Is it him?" Luo Kangrui heard this name and said, "A talented scholar from Heluo University?"

Heluo University is the original Imperial College.

The Imperial College also carried out reforms and took charge of the world's universities and was no longer responsible for education. The Imperial College moved to Luoyang and was renamed Heluo University.

The literary style of Yu Dynasty was popular and the political system was loose. Even ordinary people could discuss current affairs, joke about Emperor Luo's preference for sisters, and gossip about Xiao Chuo, the first female official in Yu Dynasty, who was pregnant before marriage. , without any guilt.

Students who are full of ambition can go to the memorial hall to discuss matters or publish their speeches in newspapers, which are all within the rules of etiquette.

In order to encourage academic freedom, the imperial court even established a new institution to encourage academic discussion and publication of research.

Fan Zhongyan's article has also been published in newspapers. Luo Kangrui has read his article and remembers this good person, but he didn't expect it to be so great.

The topic given by Luo Youdu in this imperial examination was "fixing the border", how to stabilize the border.

The territory of Dayu is the most vast in ancient and modern times, and its management is naturally extremely complicated.

The east and south directions are the most stable. Dayu's navy is invincible in the world and has absolute control. In the north, there are only a few scattered horse thieves who are not convinced by Wang Hua, which is not a climate.

The Dingxi Protectorate in the West, also known as the Dashi area, has always had problems.

In recent years, Dayu has been promoting the Chinese style of eating, and the effect is very remarkable.

However, the old food laws are deeply rooted and have deep historical problems. The old nobility of the food system is also intertwined and has a tendency to be stubborn. The Catholic Church also secretly stirs up troubles from time to time.

Solving all these problems will not happen overnight.

The Dingxi Protectorate can only be said to be relatively stable...

Dingbian mainly refers to the Dingxi Protectorate.

Faced with this problem, Fan Zhongyan wrote down his own suggestions in detail. In view of the characteristics of the western region, which is vast, sparsely populated, and difficult terrain, he built fortresses and beacon piers in key places, forming a strategy centered on Baghdad and echoed by fortresses.

System, ethnic minorities along the border, sincere unity, generous benefits, strict reward and punishment conventions, so that they can return to Yu with peace of mind...

He wrote a thousand words eloquently, every word was precise and logical, and he also covered both military and political aspects. He did not look like a newcomer at all.

This is not surprising to Luo Youdu. When Fan Zhongyan first published an article in Di Bao, he noticed his idol, the famous Fan Wenzheng. But he felt strange at the time and sent someone to find out.

Does he have the same name and surname? Is he the sage in his memory who was both civil and military through the ages?

After all, in his memory, Fan Zhongyan had a rough youth and was a Han Confucian, not a son of an official. He sent someone to investigate and found out the reason.

Historically, Fan Zhongyan had a miserable childhood. His father Fan Yong died early, and his mother Mrs. Xie was poor and helpless. She had to hold the two-year-old Fan Zhongyan in her arms and marry Zhu Wenhan from Changshan, Zizhou. Fan Zhongyan also changed his surname to Zhu Shuo. Han Chuang studied hard.

After that, he took part in the imperial examination under the name of "Zhu Shuo" and was admitted to the Cai Qi Ranking. He became a Jinshi from a "Han Confucian" and later restored his name to Fan Zhongyan.

Now Fan Zhongyan's father, Fan Yong, surrendered with Qian Chu from Wuyue and was put in high regard by Luo Youdu. Perhaps it was because of his great ambitions, or maybe the Yu court attached great importance to science and the advancement of medical skills. In short, Fan Yong is living well now and is firmly in an important position. Mrs. Xie naturally

There was no remarriage, and Fan Zhongyan did not change his surname. He received a good education at an early age and was admitted to Heluo University.

Compared with those from poor families who immersed themselves in studying the books of sages and sages, the biggest advantage of the children of officials is that they can be exposed to administrative affairs early.

Whether it is the first-hand information from the imperial court or the official methods taught by his father Fan Yong, these are things that ordinary people from poor families cannot come into contact with early.

Fan Zhongyan's talent and potential are astonishing, and his personal abilities are ranked among the best in the entire history of China. Now he has received a good education by accident, and has been exposed to administrative affairs in advance. The time to realize his talent is far longer than history.

Without any hesitation, Luo Youdu wrote the word "number one scholar" on Fan Zhongyan's paper.

He hand-picked the first, second, and third best candidates for Jinshi, and then picked up the paper beside him and started reading.

This is Wu Ke’s answer sheet.

The martial arts examination system was founded in the Wu Zhou Dynasty, but in fact, neither the Wu Zhou Dynasty nor the Tang Dynasty paid much attention to the martial arts examinations. Over the past hundreds of years, only Guo Ziyi became famous through martial arts examinations. And Guo Ziyi did not rely on the martial arts champion

The rise of Wu Zhuangyuan only allowed him to get a minor official from the ninth rank...

The martial style prevailed in the Yu Dynasty, and both civil and military forces were promoted.

Emperor Luo felt that the number one scholar Wen was suffering from horse hoof disease and that he could see all the elegance and elegance of flowers in Chang'an in one day, while the number one scholar Wu was not taken seriously, which meant that he was favoring one over the other. As early as twenty years ago, he decided to publish the rankings for the number one scholar civil and military on the same day, and to boast about it on the same day.

In front of people, share the grand occasion.

The martial arts exam is similar to the literary exam. The literary exam is based on the understanding of culture, the Four Books and the Five Classics, mathematics, and physics, while the martial arts exam is horse shooting, infantry shooting, flat shooting, carbine, weight-bearing, and wrestling. But the last step, after all, is

It’s time to get back to the point.

The core of the literary test in the imperial examination is political discussion, and the core of the martial arts test is military strategy.

Even if he is as brave as Lu Bu and fails in military strategy, he will not be able to win the title of Military Champion.

Looking at the answer sheets one after another, Luo Youdu couldn't help but nod. With the expansion of compulsory education in primary schools, Dayu's literacy rate has been effectively improved. Wufu is no longer like Shi Shouxin, who can't read a few big characters, just read the imperial edict.

The letter must also be dated.

It doesn't matter whether the answer is good or bad, as long as the writing is clear, the logic is sound, and you can explain a thing or two.

After reading for most of the time, Luo Youdu yawned and felt a little exhausted. He took out an answer sheet and glanced at it, feeling refreshed.

Such beautiful words.

The literacy rate of warriors has increased, but expecting them to write beautiful handwriting is a bit too much, so grading has become a torment.

Suddenly a neat and beautiful answer sheet came to me, and it felt like a village where there was a bright future.

Glancing at the name, a smile appeared in Luo Youdu's eyes again. It turned out to be him...

Zhong Shiheng!

I didn’t expect that there would be such a number one figure in this year’s martial arts competition, which is an unexpected surprise.

Luo Youdu looked at Zhong Shiheng's answer sheet and said, "Zhong Shiheng, do you know what the other results were like?"

Luo Youdu has also felt that his energy has become increasingly weak in recent years. Many things have been left to the prince Luo Kangrui, who only controls the general direction.

Luo Kangrui said: "They are all above average. In this martial arts test, the results were at the bottom, and the performance was not very good. Especially in riding, horse shooting, and carbine, I dropped a lot of points, but I did very well in step shooting and flat shooting."

.This is also related to his origin. His father died young and his mother raised him alone. He relied on work-study to finish elementary school. He got good grades and was offered by many universities in Guanzhong. However, he rejected them one by one and resolutely applied for BaShang Military Academy.

.”

Zhong Shiheng's experience was exactly the opposite of Fan Zhongyan's. Historically, Zhong Shiheng was the nephew of the great Confucian Zhong Fang. After his father's death, he relied on his uncle Zhong Fang's kindness and was appointed as the replacement general to serve as supervisor, thus embarking on an official career and establishing the Zhong family.

military.

Zhong Fang was proficient in Yi studies and did not like being an official. He studied Taoist bigoting and stayed in the mountains all day long. Zhao Kuangyi, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, came out of the mountains after three edicts and entered the officialdom. Finally, he became the minister of the Ministry of Industry.

Here in Luo Youdu, Zhong Fang is not treated like this. He is good at discovering talents, and he has conquered the world, and his talents have exploded. Zhong Fang is not a great genius like Zhuge Liang or Han Xin, a noble person who is unwilling to become an official. He

I won’t lick my face and summon you multiple times.

Then Zhong Fang died young because of Bigu, and the Zhong family also declined.

But gold is gold, even without Zhong Fang's help, Zhong Shiheng resolutely relied on the imperial system to enter the military academy, stood out from many talents, and qualified for the imperial examination.

However, because the young man was poor, he only began to learn horse riding after entering the military academy, and his equestrian skills were slightly inferior.

Zhong Shiheng's answer sheet was very concise and simple. It was written around the word "governing the army". Luo Youdu was deeply touched and instantly thought of himself in the past. At that time, he was also a rookie. He didn't understand military affairs, so he just tried to control the army.

The army, with the support of Pan Mei and Cao Bin, made a name for itself in Huainan.

After reading all the papers, Luo Youdu said with some joy: "This is the year of the imperial examination! Fan Zhongyan and Zhong Shiheng are not enough. There are actually two heroes, Xia Wangrong and Xia Yuqi... This is a bit embarrassing. That’s it.”

As he spoke, he picked out the papers of Zhong Shiheng, Xia Wangrong, and Xia Yuqi and handed them to Luo Kangrui. After he read them, he asked, "What does the prince think?"

Luo Kangrui also had joy on his face and said: "The Xia family brothers are really amazing. The two of them are excellent in horse shooting, infantry shooting, flat shooting, carbine, weight-bearing, and wrestling. In the Ministry of War Provincial Examination, the two brothers were excellent." Tied for first place, the performance of this military strategy is actually not inferior to Zhong Shiheng. I don’t know how to make a decision, so it’s up to my father to make the decision.”

In his heart, he was leaning toward the brothers Xia Wangrong and Xia Yuqi. When it came to overall abilities, the performance of the two brothers was indeed superior to Zhong Shiheng.
To be continued...