The scenery of the world follows.
As early as a few months ago, Xianyang City issued an announcement saying that it would hold the second literary selection contest.
This time the competition did not promise anything, but more people came than the first time before.
Because they saw those people who participated in the first literary selection contest.
Some of those people became county guards, some became county magistrates, and some became county magistrates.
As long as you are qualified, you will basically have an official position.
The most outstanding people, such as the first place in the last literary competition, became the Xianyang Order, and one of the top five in the last literary competition, Chen Ping, became the "Commander" of the Manufacturing Department.
Cao Shen was transferred to the Prime Minister's Office. Although he was a minor official in the Prime Minister's Office, he followed the right Prime Minister Li Si.
Speaking of Prime Minister Right, I have to say that Li Si is a fierce man.
After completing the tasks assigned by Ying Zheng day and night, at a certain court meeting, Ying Zheng took action and promoted Li Si to the right prime minister.
He raised Wang Guan to the position of Prime Minister Zuo.
But now, the position of Tingwei is vacant, and no one can take it for the time being.
Everyone has different opinions about the position of Tingwei.
Some people say that it was prepared for Xiao He, the commander of Xianyang, while others say that the "Shaofu" was prepared for Xiao He.
As for the position of Ting Wei, it was given to "Feng Chang", one of the original nine ministers.
As for the position of "Fengchang"?
Most people say that this was left to Chen Ke by His Majesty the First Emperor.
After all, "Feng Chang" is the head of the Nine Qings.
But some people say that "Feng Chang" does have a high status, but he does not have much actual power, so "Ting Wei" is the real head of the Nine Qings.
No matter what the speculation is, everyone agrees on the same thing.
Chen Ke is about to be promoted by the First Emperor.
Whether it is the ministers in the court, the people in Xianyang City, the princes in the palace, or the First Emperor.
They all think so.
Notices were posted one after another, and people gathered at the city gate to watch.
Some people who had participated in the literary competition before walked out of Baijia Palace and led these students who had not participated in the literary competition to the examination place.
And Chen Ke was already waiting at that place.
In just a moment, the people who had been prepared were brought to the Baijia Palace by the students from the previous class.
There are more candidates in this session than in the previous session, so we cannot use other places.
Chen Ke looked at the dense crowd and couldn't help but sigh.
"I didn't expect that there would be so many people in this second literary contest."
Li Si stood next to him, sorting out the test papers around him and looking at the final question in silence.
He pressed his forehead and looked at Chen Ke, who was standing there leisurely and contentedly.
"Chen Ke!"
"You just look at it like this? Come and help!"
Chen Ke shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Fusu, who was standing next to him with a suppressed smile on his face: "Hurry up and help, why are you laughing?"
Fusu quickly suppressed the smile on his face, then squatted on the ground and carefully sorted out the test papers in front of him.
The title on it surprised Fusu.
"Teacher, this question..."
Chen Ke and Li Si raised their heads together and looked at Fusu in front of them: "What's wrong with the question?"
Fusu didn't say anything, but frowned slightly: "I just didn't expect that the teacher's question this time would be so specific."
The title is very simple, only a dozen words.
"The world is in turmoil today, and the people are uneasy. There is peace, what are the strategies to calm the world?"
The topic this time is different from the last time. Last time, I could still write a beautiful article, but this time, there is no chance.
You must have real talent and practical knowledge to be selected.
By the time the students all arrived, Chen Ke and the others had already packed up the test papers and were waiting for the chamberlain to hand them out.
Chen Ke stretched out, looked at the crowd, and squinted his eyes.
"It seems that the third literary competition can be held at the county level."
Li Si looked at the crowded crowd and nodded.
"The crazy gathering of these people into Xianyang City is also a big burden for Xianyang."
"Gather them into their respective counties and cities. Only the top fifty in the county-level literary competition will be eligible to come to Xianyang City."
"And the rest can get the title you mentioned before and stay in the county."
“In this way, we can retain talents in various places.”
"If this is the case, why should the Qin Dynasty be unhappy?"
Gathering all talents into Xianyang City is not a good choice.
Great talents go to Xianyang, medium talents go to county towns, small talents go to counties, and some mediocre people go to towns.
It can also cultivate new talents for Da Qin.
The country has talents!
Chen Ke moved his shoulders and stood up when he saw everyone sitting down. Then the bell outside Baijia Palace rang.
He looked at everyone with a serious expression.
"The first year of the First Emperor, September 25th."
"According to His Majesty's order, we will supervise the second literary competition."
Chen Ke pointed to the paper in the distance: "This is the examination paper for this literary competition. The examination paper will be sealed after leaving the palace. No one knows the content of this examination except Your Majesty, me and Prime Minister Li."
"There are Iron Eagle guards patrolling the venue to supervise you not to cheat."
"If someone commits fraud, he will be punished differently depending on the severity of the case."
"If the circumstances are less serious, he will be sentenced to thirty days of hard labor and a fine of one hundred gold; if the circumstances are more serious, he will be sentenced to half a year of hard labor and fined one thousand gold."
"Regardless of the seriousness of the case, anyone who commits fraud will not be allowed to participate in the literary competition, be an official in the court, or be a local official within ten years."
"Do you understand?"
After saying some words of punishment, many students sitting there looked solemn.
"I'll understand."
Chen Ke nodded slightly and looked at Han Tan on the other side.
Han Tan holds a gold-wrapped sword in his hand, which was forged by the First Emperor.
He used a gold knife to remove the seal on the box, then ordered the Iron Eagle Guard to take out the test paper, and handed the seal to Li Si and Chen Ke.
Immediately afterwards, Han Tan said seriously: "The test paper has been unsealed and the evidence can be verified. The test paper has not been leaked."
"Please ask Prime Minister Li and Shaofu Chen to announce the start of the literary competition."
Li Si and Chen Ke looked at each other, then took a step forward and said together: "The second Daqin literary contest has begun."
As the voices of Chen Ke and Li Si fell, everyone lowered their heads and began to answer the questions.
At this time, in Baijia Palace.
Many other students watched and listened to this scene with emotion.
"Oh, this is the second literary competition. Time really flies by."
"I vaguely remember what it was like last year when you and I came to participate in the literary contest."
Someone else joked: "At that time, you and I were sitting outside, enjoying the autumn wind, but now the students have a good place, in this Baijia Palace."
Someone chuckled after hearing the joke.
"Don't mention it. Not only do the students have a new location this time, but the Prime Minister and the Young Master also have new words."
"Last year, it was not so formal and there were not so many new words."
While everyone was discussing, someone said something. ,
"This just means something else."
"It means that our Great Qin is prospering and becoming stronger, doesn't it?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then nodded.
"Not bad."
“Brother Tian’s words make sense.”
In a corner of Baijia Palace, several people silently returned with their books.
When they returned to the house, their faces were solemn.
"You and I must hurry up and learn, otherwise we will be outclassed by these newcomers. What should we do?"
"Are we going to let them step on our heads?"
The other man also had a solemn expression.
"If you really have great talent, then that's it."
"I'm just afraid that those ordinary people like us can step on you and me!"
The few of them looked at each other and started reading the books again.
Determined to win the top spot in the next election, and then be sent out to serve as an official.
Even if you can't be an official, you can still get a doctorate from Baijia Palace.
Now that there are more students, the original Ph.D.s are not enough, not to mention that some Ph.D.s have been sent out?
This is a good opportunity.
The autumn wind is falling, and these people have begun to read like they are dying.
...........
September 26th, the sky was sunny.
Although there were many students and papers in this literary competition, it was a little different from the first time.
There is no need for Chen Ke and the others to continue reading the first level of the paper.
After a year of deliberations, Li Si came up with a complete set of procedures.
The papers of the students in the literary competition were first handed over to other officials of the imperial court for review, specifically those officials other than Jiuqing.
Then, the selected parts were handed over to several of the Nine Qings for inspection.
After that, it was handed over to the left and right prime ministers, Chen Ke, Master Fusu and others for inspection.
After screening again, these people selected twenty papers and gave them to the emperor for review. After the emperor reviewed them, he decided on the quota for the essay contest.
As a result, Chen Ke was temporarily liberated.
He was half-lying in Zhangtai Palace, yawning unbridled.
With all the papers being circulated, it will probably be September 27th.
Fusu looked at Chen Ke's half-dream look with a helpless expression.
"Teacher, why do you seem to be unable to wake up every day?"
"Did you stay up late again?"
Hearing the words "stay up late," Chen Ke quickly sat up and opened his eyes.
He looked at Fusu, then looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there was no sign of the First Emperor.
"I said Fusu, don't dare to say this nonsense."
"It would be terrible if His Majesty discovers it."
Chen Ke looked sad: "If your Majesty hears this, he will definitely let people from Heibingtai monitor me."
"At that time, I will no longer have freedom."
Listening to Chen Ke's words, Hu Hai on the side chuckled a little.
"Hahahahahahahaha, teacher, teacher, why are you so afraid of my father?"
"Could it be that Father will kill you?"
Chen Ke shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "With my half-dead temper, I am most afraid of meeting someone as serious as Your Majesty."
"Get busy, sorry for yourself."
"But if you do nothing, you will feel sorry for His Majesty."
He said with emotion: "So, I can't not do it, but I can't do it all. Aren't you afraid of seeing His Majesty?"
Fusu looked at Chen Ke and asked, "But teacher, haven't you made up your mind to stand up?"
He looked Chen Ke up and down, his tone full of ridicule and joking.
"Is this your rise?"
Chen Ke lay there, leaning on Ping Ji: "Tomorrow, tomorrow."
"Next time we must rise up. Next time we must rise up."
Laughter echoed in the hall, and the footsteps in the distance were covered up by the laughter.
Chen Ke was a little confused when he saw Fusu smiling and not smiling.
"Fusu, what's wrong?"
"Looking at you like this, I thought your father was here."
He curled his lips and was about to say something when he saw Fusu winking at him.
Chen Ke subconsciously turned around and saw Ying Zheng, wearing a black dragon robe, standing there with a half-smiling smile.
"oh?"
"Afraid of me?"
Ying Zheng smiled and asked, "Why is Chen Aiqing afraid of me?"
Suddenly, an awkward atmosphere arose...
Chen Ke said quickly: "Ahem, Your Majesty, you must have heard wrong. How can I be afraid of you?"
"I can only treat you with respect."
Ying Zheng sat casually in front of Fusu and did not question him. He just smiled and said, "Really?"
"In that case, you can come back a few more times in the next two days."
"I happen to have something to ask you about, and I also want to ask you about the white porcelain, celadon and other things."
Seeing the gradual change in Chen Ke's eyes, Ying Zheng seemed not to notice it and continued: "In addition, there are some government affairs."
“It’s really a headache for me to deal with these government affairs.”
"It just so happens that you said this, so you can handle it with me by the way."
Ying Zheng looked at Chen Ke and smiled slightly: "Chen Aiqing should be willing, right? I shouldn't have any objections, right?"
"If so, tell me."
"I'm not someone who can't listen to opinions."
"I am not the kind of person who oppresses and exploits my ministers."
After these three sentences fell, Chen Ke's eyes changed rapidly, from being dull at the beginning to being flattering.
"Hahahahahahahahaha, your Majesty is right."
"How could I be unwilling? I am simply too willing. I am willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty. I am willing to go through fire and sword for Your Majesty. I am willing to bow down and die for Your Majesty."
After saying these words in succession, Chen Ke rubbed his hands.
"It's just that there are papers for the literary competition to be read in two days. Please take a look, Your Majesty..."
Ying Zheng imitated Chen Ke and blinked: "Oh?"
"Then take it to Zhangtai Palace. I'll just watch it with you."
Looking at the smiling Ying Zheng, Chen Ke had no choice but to agree and said, "Okay, I will be here with the papers in two days."
Ying Zheng laughed, and then said: "That's right."
He said lightly: "Okay, if you have nothing to do, you can go back."
"Handle the affairs of the Six Nations."
.........
The evening of September 26th.
Xiang Yu was sitting in the village where he was. In front of him was Xiang Liang's grave. Everything seemed very normal.
"uncle."
"Qin's county guards are already in place. These people are all from the Baijia Palace."
"And Qin has already started the second literary competition."
"Do I really have a chance?"
ps: Third update, typos will be corrected. Wan Geng I did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
