For many candidates, the two-hour exam in the morning felt like an eternity, an extremely agonizing ordeal!

For some other test takers, however, time was not enough.

Even Han Wen'an, who was very familiar with grassroots government affairs, was unable to finish writing all the contents of the exam paper.

Fortunately, Han Wen'an finished all the major questions in the end, while temporarily abandoning some physics and chemistry questions.

Gradually, it came to exactly eleven o'clock.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The bell inside the examination hall also rang.

"The time for answering questions is over! All candidates, put down your pens, stand up, and wait for the papers to be collected!"

Anyone who continues answering questions will be disqualified from the exam!

As the invigilators spoke, the candidates reluctantly stopped answering the questions and began to hand in their papers.

The exam papers of the thirty students in the examination room were collected and put into a brand new sealed bag.

In the presence of all the examinees, invigilators, and two soldiers standing next to the examination room, the sealed bag was affixed with a seal.

After all the exam papers were collected, the sealed bags were handed over to the soldiers.

The soldier then took the exam papers to the main examination hall.

After all the papers were collected, the soldiers transported them out of the examination room, and only then were the candidates inside allowed to leave.

After leaving the examination hall, countless candidates complained: "What kind of exam was this? We didn't understand many of the questions, like the interaction of forces and fertilizer knowledge. What are those?"

"Yeah, this doesn't look like an imperial examination at all! It looks more like an entrance exam for the capital university!"

Have you ever seen the entrance exam questions for Peking University?

"Yes, some of them are!"

"And the number of questions on the exam was just too much! I didn't even finish..."

"I don't know how!"

...

The test takers complained, their faces filled with frustration.

When Han Wen'an walked out of the examination room, his son Han Yi rushed to greet him.

Seeing Han Wen'an's dejected expression, Han Yi quickly asked, "Father, how did the exam go?"

"There are some things that I'm good at."

Han Wen'an took a deep breath and said, "However, there are still many questions that I haven't had time to finish."

"If it's not finished, it's not finished!"

Han Yi comforted him, "Dad, look, many candidates don't even know how to answer the questions, let alone finish them. Let's not worry about the morning exams for now, there's another one this afternoon. Come on, let's go eat!"

"Uh-huh."

Han Wen'an nodded.

Near the examination hall, they found a restaurant, ordered some food, and ate slowly.

After finishing his meal, Han Wen'an lay on the table and pretended to doze off for a while.

At 2 p.m., the candidates began to enter the examination hall, and the second exam was about to begin.

The process is the same as this morning.

However, the afternoon exam was not as difficult as the morning one.

The afternoon exam, besides covering etiquette, also included knowledge of laws, imperial edicts, and preferential policies of the court towards rural areas.

A large part of it involved memorizing imperial edicts and explaining court policies to illiterate people.

Han Wenan is also very familiar with this knowledge.

After all, I had done it before when I was in Dongning!

The next two questions are about writing modern official documents.

The new style of official documents was naturally the one commonly used in Dongning. This was something that the Dongning government had repeatedly ordered to be reformed, eliminating all the previous lengthy documents and replacing them with the new style of official documents.

Han Wen'an was very familiar with these contents and could handle them with ease!

Soon, Han Wen'an finished writing the entire paper.

Even after Han Wen'an put down his small regular script brush, there were still other candidates around him writing.

I checked the time; it was only 4:30 PM, and I still had half an hour before I had to hand in my paper.

Han Wen'an was stunned for a moment, thinking: I actually finished writing so quickly?

The afternoon exam wasn't too difficult!

While thinking, Han Wen'an didn't sit idle. He opened the test paper and began to check what he had written.

Gradually, the bells rang.

Time to hand in the papers!

Just like the morning's routine, after handing in the exam paper, Han Wen stood quietly in his seat.

Meanwhile, the other test-takers began to complain.

"It's over, it's over, I'm definitely going to fail this time!"

"Yes, there are so many things I don't know!"

"Sigh, I guess I'll have to take the exam next year!"

...

Some of the test takers were discussing it amongst themselves.

A young man in his thirties standing next to Han Wen'an looked up and asked, "Brother, judging from your confident demeanor, you must have done quite well on the exam, right?"

"It's alright, it's alright."

Listening to the surrounding chatter, Han Wen'an felt somewhat calm.

Whether it was morning or afternoon, most of the test takers were complaining. Having witnessed this, Han Wenan realized that his situation was probably unique to him.

It seems that I can still pass the exam!

"What's your name, sir?"

A fellow test-taker asked, "Could you please advise on how to prepare for the exam?"

"Han Wen'an from Dongning!"

Han Wen'an clasped his hands and said, "Preparing for the exam isn't difficult. Some time ago, the *Capital Daily* mentioned the exam syllabus and other requirements. Furthermore, the exam scope is largely covered in the textbooks of the Capital Political School; that's the content of the morning exam. As for the afternoon exam, part of it is from the textbooks, and the other part is from imperial edicts. For this part, you still need to focus on reading books and newspapers regularly, especially the *Capital Daily*. Often, imperial edicts are published in full in the *Capital Daily*, circulating throughout the country; this is all accumulated through regular study."

"Hmm, Brother Han is right!"

The other test-takers around him nodded in agreement.

One of the examinees looked at Han Wen'an and asked, "Where did you get the knowledge about things like farmland irrigation and people's disputes from this morning's exam? People like me who don't work in agriculture know very little about them."

"Yes, yes, there are so many things I don't understand!"

The surrounding examinees chimed in with their comments.

Well,

Han Wen'an smiled slightly and said, "His Majesty once said a proverb, I don't know if you have heard it: 'If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes!'"

"This statement, though simple, contains profound meaning. We take the exam, naturally to become officials. But what is the purpose of becoming an official? It is for the sake of the people! If we cannot even understand the people's plight and the hardships of their lives, then what kind of officials are we? Therefore, if you truly want to become officials, you must understand the people's plight and the hardships of their lives. Only by taking root in the villages and communities can you understand these things and pass the exam."

"this……"

Some test takers suddenly realized what was going on.

Han Wen'an looked at everyone and said, "I'll take my leave!"

With that, Han Wen'an left the examination room and headed outside.