Chapter 96 Three Years of Preparation for the Second County Examination

Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

A lot has happened in these three years.

Sun Yannan had just sent troops to Jinzhou, intending to attack Xinyuan County, which He Qinglan had just captured.

Unexpectedly, before his army even reached Xinyuan, the imperial court dispatched 300,000 troops to attack Liangzhou, with Prime Minister Lu Wei personally leading the army.

Terrified, Sun Yannan hastily withdrew his troops. He arrived just as his Liangzhou garrison was being routed and fought against the imperial army, thus preventing the tragedy of Liangzhou falling into Lu Wei's hands.

The two sides fought for more than two years.

During this time, Sun Yannan sought help from Lu Hong. Although Xue Rang used many schemes to sow discord, Lu Hong was not a fool. If Sun Yannan failed, Lu Wei's next target would be him.

Therefore, Lu Hong dispatched 100,000 troops to assist Sun Yannan, thus saving his two prefectures of Mao and Liang.

Once Sun Yannan withdrew his troops, Hu Lin, the governor of Jinzhou, was in deep trouble.

They had originally agreed to fight He Qinglan together and reclaim the four counties she controlled. His army had already arrived in Yuanxi County, but Sun Yannan was no longer coming.

However, Hu Lin could not withdraw his troops like Sun Yannan did. He fought Ning Huai'an's army for nearly half a year but ultimately failed to reclaim Yuanxi.

Afterwards, Hu Lin wanted to maintain the original harmony.

But Hu Dazhu and Ning Huai'an wouldn't give him that chance: Are you kidding me? The imperial court and Sun Yannan and Lu Hong are locked in a fierce battle. Why don't they take this opportunity to seize Jinzhou and deal with them after the war ends?

Therefore, He Qinglan launched a full-scale war against Hu Lin: recruiting soldiers, winning over the people, building roads, and manufacturing siege equipment, and then fought his way to the state capital.

Zhao Jiashu of Qingzhou and Ye Hui of Ningzhou were no pushovers either. During this period, under the pretext of assisting the imperial court, they sent troops to seize some counties and expand their own territory.

They all belong to Sun Yannan and Lu Hong.

However, those two didn't have time to deal with them in return, and Lu Wei didn't care. He wanted to deal with Sun and Lu first. Once those two were dealt with, the others would naturally submit to the imperial court.

In the court, following Lu Wei's instructions, Xue Rang vigorously eliminated dissidents and attacked political enemies, resulting in the killing or demotion of some of the opposition.

However, Xue Rang is better than Lu Wei in that he doesn't target the neutral faction or the royalists.

“My father-in-law is now supporting His Majesty, so they are our partners. There is no need to suppress them.”

Xue Rang said this to his brother-in-law, who was strongly dissatisfied.

During this period, the four counties under He Qinglan's name—Anling, Xinyuan, Sifang, and Yuanxi—all experienced significant development.

First, the people worked hard to repair official roads to connect various counties; they also dredged waterways and dug wells, reservoirs, and canals to ensure water supply in various places.

Secondly, the workshops moved smoothly and steadily built and developed in various county towns. After that, their businesses took off, and their goods were sold to Ningzhou and Qingzhou, as well as to the imperial court and the grasslands.

Third, education and medical care were very well developed. Not only were children sent to academies to study, but adults, whether they were farmers, laborers, or officials, also had to attend night school to learn to write and do math. Medical clinics ensured that every county had a large clinic and doctors were sent to every village.

"It's because our territory is still small and our population is still small that we can guarantee one doctor per village," Xie Yingshi said while picking corn.

Her cousin asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Xie Yingshi tossed the three ears of corn in her hand into the basket. "There aren't enough people, not enough doctors. It takes several years to train a doctor who can diagnose and prescribe medicine."

"That's true." My cousin was still shaken; she was most afraid of seeing bloody wounds.

My cousin, who was cutting corn stalks with a sickle on the other side of the field, suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Big sister, are you going to take the administrative office staff exam next month?"

Before Xie Yingshi could answer, her cousin said loudly, "Of course! My mother said that eldest sister is our family's only hope!"

Cousin: "...That's right, our Xie family's ancestral graves must have been emitting auspicious smoke to produce our eldest sister!"

Xie Yingshi said helplessly, "You guys should also try your best. If you can't get into the prefectural city, you can try for the county! Once General Ning and General Hu conquer Jinzhou, the administrative office will be short of people."

My cousin cut another corn stalk. "Big sister," he said, "you have to understand, not everyone is suited for studying. I can't understand math. Knowing basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is enough for me."

"Brother can farm, build roads, and work in workshops in the future," his cousin said with a smile.

My cousin nodded. "Yes. But Qinqin, you can try to pass the exam for the county administrative office."

Cousin: "..."

The little girl quickly changed the subject, "Big sister, aren't you going to set off for Anling soon?"

Although the administrative offices of the four counties were independent, the examinations were conducted uniformly in the county seat of Anling County, and were personally supervised by the goddess.

However, after the written test and interview, the job assignments for the successful candidates are handled jointly by the personnel departments of the four counties.

Therefore, it's uncertain where I'll be assigned to work at that time.

Xie Yingshi replied, "I've already arranged with my classmates that we'll set off in five days." They weren't far from Anling.

Anling.

At the Goddess's Residence, He Qinglan held a glass of juice, watching Cheng Hui and the others discuss the order during the exams; the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.

They then moved to another room to watch the teachers, drawn from various academies, discuss the exam questions. The atmosphere there was far less harmonious, with the discussion becoming quite heated.

She waved and served each of them a glass of chilled grape juice.

Qiu Tang and her classmates went to the academy's library.

She is not old enough to take the exam yet, but Liang Xingqi, Ji Yunheng and others in her class are eligible and have been studying hard recently.

The two exam papers became increasingly difficult, so much so that the other students couldn't sit still. Qiu Tang, who couldn't take the exam herself, also packed up her textbooks and went to the library to work on the questions.

They worked so hard because they knew that, given the current situation, by the time the second civil service examination ended, there was a very high probability that Hu Dazhu and Ning Huai'an would have already captured Jinzhou.

After the goddess takes up residence in Jinzhou, a prefecture-level administrative office will be established to govern the entire city. At the same time, prefecture-level administrative offices will also be established in each county.

In addition to drawing personnel from the four county administrative offices to serve as administrators, a large number of talented individuals are also needed to fill the positions. Those who apply now and are accepted will not only be assigned to various counties, but may also work in the state administrative office; they will not only perform basic tasks, but may also be assigned to management positions.

He Qinglan strolled leisurely into the garden.

The lotus flowers in the pond have all faded, and the round and large lotus leaves stand upright in the water, where dragonflies occasionally land.

Fish swam leisurely to and fro in the water.

Sparrows perched on the willow tree by the pond, chirping away.

It was also a scene full of vitality.

The work has been taken care of.

The garden is maintained.

It's a pity the system was openly cricketing in her mind's eye, otherwise it would have been a nice afternoon.

System: [Aa ...

System: [Five years! Five years! You still haven't left Jinzhou!]

System: [If you keep dragging this out, when will we ever finish the task?]

System: [I've never seen such a slow-moving host!]

He Qinglan took a sip of juice.

[However, System, how many hosts have you actually hosted?]

system:【……】

He Qinglan pointed out sharply: "Am I not your first host?"

System: [That's right QAQ]

System: [But you're too slow! My colleagues have said before that our task progress bar doesn't move this slowly!]

He Qinglan has an unusually high number of consumers, but low brand awareness.

It is still in the Jinzhou area.

The system speculated that the reason was because the host was staying in Jinzhou and refused to leave for the capital.

It was very anxious, but no matter how it tried to persuade her, using both kind and harsh words, He Qinglan only said one thing: "Don't worry about it, I have my own pace."

The system felt desperate.

System: [Host, don't you want to finish your mission and go home as soon as possible? Aren't your parents waiting for you at home?]

He Qinglan: [So you knew I was going home?]

The system, feeling guilty, replied: "Because your soul is shining so brightly, I couldn't help but bind myself to you!"

An electronic voice pleads coquettishly: "Oh dear, I was wrong! Host, pack your things, we're going to the capital to conquer those royal relatives and complete the mission of 'becoming famous throughout the world'!"

Now you're not afraid of not having anyone to escort you, are you?

Its host politely declined, saying, "No rush."

He Qinglan took another sip of iced juice. "Lu Wei, Lu Hong, and Sun Yannan haven't finished their fight yet, but I'll be taking Jinzhou soon."

Once I become the new master of Jinzhou, I will naturally fulfill your dream of becoming famous throughout the world.

system:【? 】

He Qinglan ignored the system. After finishing her juice, she snapped her fingers and sent it back to the kitchen.

Then go to the temporary meeting room at the entrance to meet Mei Leshu, who is walking towards the Goddess's Mansion.

The meeting room was then lent to the proctors for a meeting.

In this way, when someone came to see the goddess, He Qinglan would receive them in the room at the entrance and would not allow anyone to enter the courtyard.

As soon as Mei Leshu arrived at the Goddess's Palace, the gatekeepers let her in, as the Goddess was already waiting for her.

Melissa was already used to the goddess's prophecy, and she strode through the gate.

The goddess, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and light blue trousers, sat on a bamboo chair and looked at her calmly.

Mei Leshu entered the room, bowed, and then asked, "Goddess, when can I go to the capital to retrieve my junior sister's coffin?"

Three years ago, she came to Anling County and sought an audience with He Qinglan, who informed her of Xue Caiwei's death and cause of death.

Mei Leshu was furious and wanted to go to the capital to settle accounts with Xue Rang and bring Xue Caiwei's coffin back to her hometown to be buried in her parents' graveyard.

He Qinglan stopped her and told her to stay in Anling to study hard and do chores at the same time.

Mei Leshu stayed for three years, but she couldn't bear it any longer.

He Qinglan said, "Xue Rang will not let you take Xue Caiwei away."

Mei Leshu was furious upon hearing this, "He won't allow it? What right does he have to not allow it? If it weren't for him, how could my junior sister have..."

He Qinglan: "Because he is Xue Caiwei's fiancé."

Mei Leshu: "But..."

He Qinglan reminded her, "It wasn't Xue Rang who killed your junior sister."

Mei Leshu gritted her teeth.

He Qinglan comforted her, "Don't worry, once Xue Rang dies, you'll be able to take your junior sister with you."

Mei Leshu was stunned. "Huh?"

Her mouth dropped open. "Xue Rang is dead?" She quickly became excited. "How did he die? Did he fight to the death with the Lu family's dogs?"

He Qinglan did not answer directly, but replied calmly, "Although you don't believe it, Xue Rang truly loves Xue Caiwei."

Mei Leshu: "???"

The female doctor's face was filled with disbelief, "Love???"

Are you kidding me?

He Qinglan: "..."

She changed the subject, "Smallpox is going to break out in Shangping County, Liangzhou. You should prepare and lead a team to deal with the outbreak."

Upon hearing this, Mei Leshu forgot about how Xue Rang died. She hurriedly inquired about smallpox, then bid farewell to He Qinglan and rushed to the administrative hall to see Master Xu.