Chapter 1 What Examination?

"Examination? What examination?" In a restaurant not far from the Imperial Academy and the National Academy, a well-informed student was surrounded by others, all with the same question.

"It's the newly established Grand Canal Governor-General's Office. Lord Ye Tao is in talks with the Ministry of Personnel to conduct a public selection of officials." The surrounded student took a generous sip of water, and said leisurely, "Anyone who wants to work under Lord Ye Tao of the Grand Canal can sign up for the examination. If the results are satisfactory, appointments will be made according to the scores and the positions applied for, with a one-year probationary period. If they perform well during this year, the Ministry of Personnel will formally grant them official positions. During the probationary period, apart from the temporary rank, all other benefits are the same as those of officials of the same rank."

"How many positions are there in total?" everyone asked excitedly. A wide path seemed to unfold before them. The number of officials selected from the National Academy and the Imperial Academy each year was simply too small. Many students had to stay here year after year until they were old, and then they could only return to their hometowns, receive a local subsidy, become tutors for the children of wealthy families, or find other ways to make a living. This public selection was a great opportunity. The Grand Canal Governor-General's Office had to build its entire system from scratch, and there were too many positions to fill. The positions with considerable ranks on the surface were certainly attractive, but there were also many basic jobs in such a system where they could exert their abilities and demonstrate their talents. For those who were extremely confident in their abilities, it was also a thoroughfare to the Hall of Political Affairs.

"There isn't much information yet. It is said that the first batch will select dozens of subordinate officials with ranks and an unknown number of alternate officials and subordinate clerks of various levels... It won't be less than a hundred people. Lord Ye has a good relationship with many aristocratic families in Danyang. No matter how the selection is conducted, they must reserve many positions for them. However, no matter what, our opportunities will not be few." The well-informed student himself was also a little excited.

"A hundred people?!" This number made everyone's expressions a little distorted. The Eastern Peace Dynasty selected probably less than ten officials from the National Academy and the Imperial Academy each year. Of course, Ye Tao was recruiting officials who could work at the grassroots level, which was completely different from the glorious and leisurely work of those selected from the National Academy and the Imperial Academy, who either entered the Six Ministries or other departments as clerks to gain experience, or entered the Imperial Study to listen to the emperor's orders under the names of "attendants" or the like. However, among those present, there were many who believed that even if they studied for the rest of their lives, they would not have the opportunity to become officials through this channel, and still felt that the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office should be an excellent opportunity.

At this time, the well-informed student suddenly said in a deep voice, "However, this examination is not that simple. In ten days, at the Two Armies Inspection Office, anyone who wants to take the examination can get a test paper. It's called... a mock exam. It is said that the format of the questions is similar, but simpler than the formal examination. The officials coordinating this matter between Lord Ye and the Ministry of Personnel are said to have said this: if you think you can do it, come and take the exam; if you can't, don't waste each other's time."

Ten days later, when the test papers were officially distributed at the Two Armies Inspection Office, these students, and many others who wanted to try their abilities and luck in this way, finally understood what "don't waste each other's time" really meant.

All candidates who intend to take the examination can register their names and receive a mock test paper. There are twelve sets of mock test papers with different content, each set containing three questions sealed in an envelope, with a test question number on the envelope. Those who came to receive the mock exam papers randomly drew a set.

When those who received the mock exam papers opened the papers in different places, they couldn't help but be dumbfounded. The first of the three questions was Sudoku. Fill in the numbers in a nine-by-nine grid according to the requirements to achieve the requirements of the question. Since it was obviously impossible for Ye Tao to have the Sudoku software that could be downloaded everywhere online later, these manually created Sudoku questions were only the simplest numbers and types of questions, and could only be regarded as enhanced versions of the Jiugongge (Nine Palaces Grid). But even so, it made aspiring youths from all walks of life who were unfamiliar with this kind of mathematics and logic game scratch their heads and not know what to do.

The second question was simpler for everyone. It was a sixteen-by-sixteen grid crossword puzzle, using entries that were familiar to everyone, such as place names, names of people, official titles, and even famous shops, as well as famous poems and lyrics from this time and space that students were more familiar with. Those who did the best in this kind of crossword puzzle were not those who buried themselves in their studies, but precisely those who were considered by students specializing in certain subjects to be half-baked, always unable to delve into their studies and were attracted by various miscellaneous affairs. Compared to specializing in a certain subject, doing crossword puzzles requires a broader knowledge and quick thinking.

These first two questions had already swept away half of people's confidence, and the last question was a comprehensive test of the abilities of those who wanted to start their careers through the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office. In the twelve sets of questions, each set listed a case, such as a transportation team transporting earth and stone being trapped on a certain road because the road was muddy and unable to continue; or when building a canal lock, a minor accident or technical problem occurred. The question would give some conditions or list the resources that could be used to allow the person taking the question to design a solution, and then draft this plan into a formal document in the name of the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office. The formal document format and whether the writing was beautiful were secondary; the ability to analyze and solve problems was the most important thing. The twelve cases were mainly divided into four aspects: engineering management, people's conditions, military affairs, and comprehensive dispatch, all of which envisioned the situations that might be encountered during formal construction in the future.

The registration and distribution of mock exam papers started in the morning. By noon, basically everyone who was interested in the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office, after asking around, was already able to know the specific content of the twelve sets of questions for this mock exam. And many answer sheets had also been returned after completion. Those who were frightened by the questions and had nowhere to start gathered together and worked together to complete the answers to those Sudoku and crossword puzzles. This mock exam, which had no precedent in the Eastern Peace Country, broke the hearts of too many people. Many people even began to wonder what they had learned after studying so hard for so many years.

Those who saw the clues from these three questions would naturally marvel at such an idea, and those who understood the fun of this kind of intellectual game also felt that the person who came up with this trick was really cute.

In the Two Armies Inspection Office, the clerk who was in charge of registration hesitantly looked at the young man in the light brown robe in front of him and said with some embarrassment, "This young master, didn't you come here just now?"

The young man said in surprise, "Came here? How could that be? I just put down my luggage at the inn and rushed over after learning about the examination of the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office."

The young man's slightly exaggerated tone made the clerk somewhat certain. This guy not only looked familiar, but had already come to get the mock exam papers several times. The first time, he was wearing snow-white brocade clothes, and the jade pendant hanging on his waist attracted him to take a few more glances. After that, he seemed to appear about every half an hour, each time in different clothes. It seemed that, in order to get the mock papers, the names he wrote down were also different. When everyone was busy and dying at first, no one had time to pay attention to this matter, but now that they were idle and fewer people came to get the papers, this young man who had come at least five times seemed very conspicuous.

The clerk said helplessly, "This young master, please don't make it difficult for us to do our job, okay? It's useless to get more papers. If you are interested in working in the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office, you can take the formal examination at that time. There is no need to get more questions to guess."

The young man chuckled, shrugged, and said, "I'm not interested in being an official. But the questions are very interesting. I've finished the first few sets of questions and want to do the others. How about this, sir, can you help me look at these papers and give me a set of papers that I haven't done? Then I won't have to come again."

The clerk was a little annoyed: "This young master..." He glanced at the name that this guy left on the registration book, thinking that this guy's name was probably made up, and slammed the book shut again in frustration: "This is a major recruitment event for the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office, not for you to play around with."

The young man shook his head disapprovingly: "Not so, not so, the person who came up with the questions certainly wouldn't think so. Being able to make the questions so fun is to educate through entertainment. You're being so serious, which is losing the original intention of the question setter. ... Well, why don't you tell me, who came up with the questions, okay?"

The clerk was helpless with the young man, rolled his eyes, and turned to arch his hand at the Xue Qilin (Blood Kylin) Army officer who had been watching the show with a smile behind him: "Excuse me..."

Immediately, the young man, who had just been smiling, was dragged away by two Xue Qilin Army soldiers in bright armor on both sides. The Xue Qilin Army officers were guarding the place where they distributed the test papers to prevent some people who didn't know what's good for them from causing trouble. Although the clerk felt that this troublemaking young man might have an extraordinary background, he was very annoyed after all and didn't care about this matter.

Although the young man was a little surprised, he didn't make a fuss about anything. Instead, he followed the Xue Qilin Army officer and the two soldiers very obediently. While walking, he even started chatting with the officer. This scene made the clerk feel very headache. Sure enough, you can meet strange people everywhere.

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Well, today's fourth chapter, never break the promise, everyone continues to squeeze, and is ready to add more tomorrow~