"It is announced that all the scholars will come to the palace to pay homage." As Guo Kai's long and melodious voice sounded, one hundred and fifty scholars lined up in two long queues, walking towards the palace excitedly and anxiously.
What they were about to see was the most powerful monarch in the world, the man who single-handedly helped Zhao Kuo become the overlord of the world. Even if some of them were not from Zhao before, it still did not affect their admiration for Zhao Kuo.
Wu Yu walked at the front. After entering the palace, he raised his head slightly and looked forward with his peripheral vision. What he saw was not the legendary three-foot-tall god with a green face and fangs who could roll up hundreds of thousands of people with just one breath, but An ordinary person with a kind face and a smile on his face.
"Salute." Guo Kai said loudly.
"I pay my respects to the king." All the scholars knelt on the ground at the same time and bowed down.
"Everyone, get up." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said, looking at the scholar at the front, "Are you Wu Yu?"
"Your Majesty, this is Wu Yu." Wu Yu said, cupping his fists.
"Not many people have read your paper. Your basic skills are very solid, your handwriting is good, and your mind is very flexible. I wonder who you studied under?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Your Majesty, I usually follow a village elder to learn literacy and sentence reading. At night, I study half of the "Wu Zi" passed down by my ancestors at home alone. When I have time, I go to the village community to listen to lectures, so I can have access to real-time information. And learn Zhao Fa." Wu Yu said neither humble nor arrogant.
""Wu Zi"? Are you a descendant of Wu Zixu?" Zhao Kuo was a little surprised.
"I am the descendant of Wu Zixu. After my ancestor died, he entrusted one of his sons to Bao Mu of Qi State. After that, our lineage continued in Qi State until Chen's great-grandfather moved to Zhao State, and I became Zhao State. Chinese." Wu Yu said.
"Go and get a complete copy of Wu Zi." Zhao Kuo said to Guo Kai.
"No." Guo Kai walked quickly outside.
Wu Yu looked happy. Over the past two hundred years, the Wu family has been displaced. "Wu Zi" has been passed down from generation to generation, and fewer and fewer copies have been passed down. By the time it was passed down to his generation, only half of it was left. This is the entire Wu family. regret.
If there is a complete "Wu Zi" here in Zhao State, it means that their Wu family's family education can be completed.
Soon, Guo Kai came in holding a book, and the two big characters on it were Wu Zi.
"Wu Zi defeated the strong with the weak, and assisted Wu to destroy Chu. He is a great sage in the world. Today I will give you the book left by Wu Zi. I hope you will not lose the name of your ancestor." Zhao Kuo took "Wu Zi" and handed it to Wu language.
"I thank you, Your Majesty." Wu Yu knelt on the ground excitedly. To others, this book might be just an ordinary book, but to their entire Wu family, it was of great significance. It could even be said to be a rebirth of kindness.
"This book was given to Zhao by the descendants of Sun Tzu. If you want to thank, thank Sun Tzu's descendants. At the same time, I would also like to thank Wu Zi for giving the book to Sun Tzu." Zhao Kuo said, if Wu Zixu hadn't written two books after the book was completed. , one was given to Sun Wu, and the other was given to future generations. Zhao Guo had no chance to get this book.
"I will thank my grandson and his descendants." Wu Yu nodded solemnly.
"You are the first in the exam. Originally, the official position I prepared for the first place was the county magistrate. However, I now give you two choices. One is to go to Zhangye County to be the county magistrate, and the other is to be the county magistrate of a large county. Order." Zhao Kuo said to Wu Yu.
Zhangye County is a large county. If you don't count the borderless prairie in Monan, Zhangye County is the largest county in Zhao State. It controls the entire Hexi Corridor and faces intrusion from the Hu people on three sides.
This means that those who guard Zhangye County must be military generals. Only in this way can the surrounding barbarians be frightened.
Meng Ao's ability was enough to intimidate the Hu people, but he was somewhat unable to deal with internal affairs. Zhao Kuo originally thought that it was impossible to transfer someone from the mainland. It happened that many talents stood out in this exam, so Zhao Kuo decided to give Wu Yu a Chance.
"May I ask, Your Majesty, who is the governor of Zhangye County?" Wu Yu asked.
"Meng Ao." Zhao Kuo said.
"I would like to be the county magistrate of Zhangye County." Wu Yu said immediately.
He is a person who is unwilling to be lonely and does not want to live his life honestly. Since he is in charge of the government, he must make some political achievements.
If the governor of Zhangye County was a civil servant, he would definitely give up and choose to be the magistrate of a large county, even if the official position of the county magistrate is higher than that of the county magistrate.
Because only in this way can he exert all his talents.
And now the governor of Zhangye County is a military commander, which means that all internal affairs are decided by himself, which is exactly what he wants.
"This is the document and seal. You should keep it first." Zhao Kuo said, and Guo Kai quickly handed over the document and seal.
Wu Yu took the document and seal, carefully stuffed it into his arms, returned to his position and stood up.
"Are you... Black Shoulder?" Zhao Kuo looked carefully at the scholar standing next to Wu Yu. It took a while before he recognized him.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember me?" Black shoulder looked at Zhao Kuo excitedly. He never expected that Zhao Kuo could actually recognize him after so many years.
"You... turned white, I almost didn't recognize you." Zhao Kuo said.
Black Shoulder was once a member of the Great Wall Guards. He was injured during the battle with the Huns and retired from the army. Because he was quick-witted and knew some words, he stayed in Hetao to guard the library.
Although Black Shoulder is called Black Shoulder, it is not just the shoulder that is black, but the whole body is black. It can almost be compared with the black man in Africa, but now it is much whiter, only slightly darker than ordinary people, Zhao Kuo almost didn't recognize it because of this.
"Hehe, I have been staying in the library and reading in the past few years. I rarely experienced the wind and sun, so I turned white." Black shoulder scratched his head in embarrassment.
Next to him, Wu Yu looked at Heijian in shock. Is it the result of turning black like this? How dark was he before?
"Having not been on the battlefield for so many years, can you still dare to use the sword?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Even if I haven't been on the battlefield for ten years, I can still fight several barbarians by myself." Heijian said loudly.
"Okay." Zhao Kuo walked up to Heijian and patted Heijian's shoulder heavily. "I remember that you could barely recognize some words before and had difficulty even writing them. Now, although your handwriting is still ugly, other aspects have long since changed. Black shoulder years ago. I also give you two choices. Zhangye County is still short of a county captain, so you go over and assist General Meng Ao in training. The second choice is the magistrate of a large county." Zhao Kuo said.
"I'm going to assist General Meng Ao in training his troops." Heijian said loudly.
"Okay! I just gave Wu Yu a book. You can't favor one over the other. You can go to the library later to pick up any book. The library in Handan is more complete than the library in Hetao." Zhao Kuo said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Black Shoulder said excitedly.
Then, Zhao Kuo looked at the third person, who was Zhang Tan, whom Yu Xin valued. He looked to be only about twenty years old, much younger than Wu Yu and Heijian.
Zhang Tan looked forward, breathing slightly quickly.
Although he was very confident, he was still facing King Zhao, who could rule the world with just one word.
"You are younger than Wu Yu and Heijian, and you are more talented. I will also give you two choices. One is to go to Longxi County to serve as the county magistrate, and the other is to follow Sikou as a subordinate officer." Zhao Kuo said to Zhang Tan. said.
Yu Xin looked at Zhang Tan, smiled slightly, and nodded slightly.
"I am willing to serve as a subordinate officer with Sikou." Zhang Tan said immediately and looked at Yu Xin gratefully. He knew that he could get this opportunity without Yu Xin's help.
Although the status of subordinate officials is far inferior to that of a county magistrate, and is even similar to that of a minor official, being able to study with Yu Xin means that there are unlimited possibilities in the future, which is definitely not comparable to that of a mere county magistrate.
Starting from the fourth place, there is no such good luck. They have no choice and can only serve as ordinary county magistrates. Those at the bottom of the rankings serve as county magistrates or county captains, and some stay in Handan to do odd jobs.
Their jobs are different from Zhang Tan's. They are real jobs. If they are lucky, work hard enough, and have enough talent, they may have a chance to stand out, but most people will not wait for this opportunity.
After this civil service examination, the shortage of officials in Zhao State has basically been solved. Although there are still vacancies in official positions, they will not have a major impact and can be easily filled in the future.
"Everyone
Within three days, you can use your official seal to go to the Library Pavilion and select a book from the collection, which is a gift from me. "Zhao Kuo said to all the scholars.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone said gratefully. Books are very precious these days. Each book can be regarded as a family inheritance. Not every country is willing to give them books.
There are only a very few people like Wu Yu who have half of "Wu Zi" passed down to their families, and there are even fewer people like Hei Jian who have the opportunity to guard the library.
"Everyone, please move to the side hall, the banquet is ready." Zhao Kuo extended his hand and said, got up and walked towards the side hall.
Giving books is just a tradition of Zhao State.
But giving banquets is a unified tradition for all countries.
Almost all kings would give banquets to their ministers, but their banquets were not as sumptuous or as delicious as those of Zhao.
Everyone bowed and bowed, then followed the minister towards the side hall.
"Okay, everyone, please take a seat." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
Lin Xiangru and others had been in Zhao Kuo's imperial dining room for three days. They had long been used to it, and sat down naturally. All the scholars stayed in place, you looked at me, I looked at you, their legs did not move.
This was the first time for them to have dinner with the monarch and so many ministers in the court. Lin Xiangru, Wei Wuji, Lian Po, Le Yi... In the past, they could only hear their names and never see the big shots in person. Now they are sitting together to eat. , it’s still a bit unreal until now.
"You guys should sit down too. Just treat it like a family banquet. Don't be formal." Zhao Kuo said again.
The scholars then sat down one after another.
"For the first glass of wine, we pay tribute to the sages of the past generations. It is precisely because of the wisdom of the sages of the past generations that we can have such a splendid culture and strong strength, allowing the country with clothes to conquer the barbarians." Zhao Kuo raised his wine glass and said loudly.
"Honor the sages!" Everyone raised their glasses and said.
"Second glass of wine, we pay tribute to all the civilians at the lowest level. It is precisely because of their silent dedication and hard work that our country of Zhao is what it is today. They have no right to speak, and they cannot directly access the heavens, so that everyone Some people and even history books have ignored them, but they are the people who have contributed the most to our country, Zhao. Even a few people cannot compare with them." Zhao Kuo raised his second glass of wine.
At this moment, many people's faces showed some fluctuations, some were thinking, and some were slightly angry, but everyone still raised their glasses: "To the lowest common people."
"The third glass of wine is for everyone. The sages have passed away, and the common people lack wisdom. It is the hope of the future of our Zhao country that all of you are prosperous and high-spirited." Zhao Kuo raised the third glass of wine.
Everyone picked up the wine glasses, neither lifting them nor lifting them. However, seeing that Zhao Kuo had already drank it all in one gulp, they had no choice but to raise their heads and swallow it.
"You are welcome." Zhao Kuo extended his hand and said.
The banquet has officially begun.
While the scholars were looking around, feeling excited and uneasy, the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs had already started eating. Lian Po and Pang Nuan were sitting together carrying a wine jar. After bumping it, they raised their heads and put it in their mouths. fall.
There are very few people in the land of Yanzhao who don't like to drink, not to mention the generals, even the civil servants drink a lot.
But that was before. Ever since Zhao Guo introduced high alcohol, this group of people can't drink so much.
"The Qiang people are really courageless. They led their army to Zhangye and went back. I thought they really dared to start a war with me, Zhao State." Lian Po couldn't help but say.
Meng Ao wrote a letter two days ago, saying that the Qiang people sent tens of thousands of troops to attack Zhangye. Just when Zhao was preparing to assemble an army, Meng Ao wrote again the next day, saying that the Qiang people had returned.
"The Qiang people have lost 50,000 young men. They will not easily start a war with our Zhao country. Winter is coming soon, and it may even have already started on the plateau. Starting a war now would be very detrimental to the Qiang people." Pang Nuan said.
Both the Central Plains and the Hu people will avoid fighting in winter. Without enough winter clothes and food, people will freeze to death, and the low temperature will greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. However, the wars in the Central Plains will last from spring to winter. It even lasted into the second year.
"But Liangzi is finally settled. Sooner or later there will be a battle between our Zhao country and the Qiang people.
. Le Cheng said without too much worry in his words. It might be difficult for the Zhao people to go up the mountain to attack the Qiang people, but if the Qiang people went down the mountain to attack the Zhao people, they would die as many as they came.
"The Ding Ling people in the north are also dishonest. Since the Xiongnu fell and Donghu shrunk, the Ding Ling people entrenched in Mobei have rapidly expanded their sphere of influence and have repeatedly invaded our Zhao country's pastures." Zhao Bao said.
"Do you have Ding Ling's map and other information?" Zhao Kuo asked in a deep voice.
"No." Zhao Bao shook his head.
"Then don't conflict with Ding Ling for the time being. After the spring begins, all the pastures in northern Monan will be given to the Ding Ling people. Our Zhao country's pastures can be placed near the Hetao and the Great Wall. The pastures can also be expanded in the Hexi Corridor." Zhao Kuo said with eyes. There was a flash of anger.
The grassland is too big, and Zhao Guo must not get into a cat and mouse game with Ding Ling, otherwise Ding Ling will be able to bring down Zhao Guo just by relying on the terrain.
If you want to deal with the Ding Ling people, just like dealing with the Huns, you must first let them relax their vigilance, wait until the right time, mobilize the elite, go straight to Huanglong, and complete the victory in one battle, completely erasing the Ding Ling tribe from the map.
