Due to the large number of participants, examination halls were set up in every prefecture and county for the first imperial examination.
Therefore, Han Xin did not have to travel far to find their local examination hall.
Upon arriving near the examination hall, Han Xin observed a diverse crowd, with all sorts of people present.
There were not only peasant children who came barefoot, but also sons of merchants, sons of artisans, and impoverished scholars.
Among them, there were also some from wealthy families.
Their presence attracted everyone's attention.
This was because they were not only dressed in fine clothes, but each of them also carried an air of arrogance.
If they could, they would have proudly lifted their noses and looked down upon the other candidates preparing for the imperial examination.
While they did not overtly do so at that moment, their intentions were clear.
"I never imagined that for such an important imperial examination, a group of barefoot farmers would come to participate. This is truly amusing!"
"Heh! What are peasant children? I even saw many country bumpkins running over, preparing to join the imperial examination. This is truly an examination for everyone!"
"Haha! I also saw children from the merchant class, who are looked down upon, coming to participate. Do they really think that with their social standing, they can pass the background checks after this examination?"
"If you ask me, these official positions should still be ours to hold! Even though the method of becoming an official has changed, in terms of true talent, how could they possibly compare to us!!"
Although Lin Tian had mentioned the importance of paper and movable type printing to Ying Zheng, at this time, these two things had not yet been officially promoted and used.
Therefore, the books people read were still made of bamboo slips.
This also made books very expensive, and many people might have read only one book in their entire lives.
Those from wealthy families indeed had a natural advantage.
They had not only read more books but also had access to very strong tutors.
In this regard, other disciples were far inferior to them.
Consequently, they often felt a sense of superiority when looking at the peasant children and artisan children.
The sons of merchants were even more so, as the status of merchants was still not high.
Therefore, these wealthy children held a strong sense of disdain for the sons of merchants.
They even felt that children of merchants should not participate in such an imperial examination.
Because they could not become officials, and Great Qin would not allow the sons of merchants to become officials.
As for the official positions established by Great Qin, although the method of selecting officials had changed, they would ultimately be filled by people from these wealthy families.
Hearing their words, Han Xin secretly shook his head.
He felt that the imperial examination of Great Qin might not be as simple as these wealthy children imagined.
If commoners had no opportunity, then Great Qin would not have allowed commoners to participate in this imperial examination.
Of course, Han Xin did not voice these thoughts.
Like a member of the masses, he quietly waited for the imperial examination to begin.
Then, following the crowd, he underwent a full-body inspection and entered the examination hall.
When he received the test papers, he couldn't help but sigh, it was as he expected.
The questions for this examination, made by Lin Tian, were not difficult, consisting entirely of mathematics problems.
This was because what he wanted these officials to do was to allocate land to the common people.
Therefore, he did not test any difficult theories from the classics, only basic Qin laws and basic arithmetic problems.
Of course, such arithmetic problems were very basic for Lin Tian, but for some people, it was entirely different.
Especially for many of the wealthy children, when they saw the questions, they were completely stunned.
Before participating in the assessment, they had made extensive preparations and reviewed many classical theories.
They had even crammed through many famous books at the last minute.
This was all so that they could surprise everyone and far surpass others during the imperial examination.
Who would have thought that when the examination actually began, the things they had prepared were completely useless.
The imperial examination was not testing the things they had been looking at before.
At this moment, they couldn't help but curse.
"Who set these questions? Why are they all arithmetic? Don't they know I'm bad at arithmetic? I don't even bother with change when I spend money outside, I can't calculate!!"
"Ah! I hate arithmetic. Seeing these math problems makes me want to sleep. Who can understand these questions!!"
"I regret it. Before, my father told me to learn accounting with the accounting master to manage our family in the future, but I found it troublesome and didn't learn it. Now I regret it!!"
All sorts of wails arose immediately, attracting the attention of many people.
Fortunately, at this moment, someone promptly stopped them from making further noise.
"During the examination, speaking is prohibited. Anyone who speaks out of turn will have their examination qualification revoked and will be barred from taking the examination for three years!"
As soon as these words were spoken, these people immediately dared not speak.
As long as they were still taking the examination here, they had a possibility of passing.
Once their examination qualification was revoked, they might be directly expelled.
Therefore, they all fell silent.
Although they were cursing inwardly, the entire examination hall was quiet.
However, many peasant children, artisan children, and merchant children showed joy upon seeing such test questions.
This was because these questions were not difficult at all, and many were related to their daily lives.
Therefore, they proceeded with the examination very smoothly.
The problems that others found difficult, they quickly finished.
However, many people stumbled on the Qin law section.
Although Qin law was very important, many people knew very little about it.
Fortunately, Lin Tian had adopted a multiple-choice format to some extent, allowing them to choose one of four options, which did alleviate some of their pressure.
At the end of the examination, some were happy and some were worried.
Those who were worried were undoubtedly those who could not answer the questions.
As for the happy ones, they were those who believed they had answered everything correctly and accurately.
Among them, one person was smiling very happily.
"Hahaha! This assessment, I will definitely be the top scorer!"
"Oh? It seems Brother Li is very confident in his answers!"
"Of course. For this assessment, I am very likely to get a perfect score. I encountered these questions when I was very young. The difficulty for me is like a child's questionnaire. If I don't get a perfect score, who else can?"
"Haha! Then it seems this time, Brother Li, you'll be treating us!"
The other wealthy children did not find anything wrong with these words.
This wealthy young master surnamed Li believed he could get first place, so it was naturally possible.
Therefore, many of them showed obvious joy.
This obvious joy also discouraged many people.
...