Liu Tan was a little nervous. Zhu Shanfu was the descendant of a criminal, and his father Zhu Maichen was also a legendary figure.

Zhu Maichen was from a poor family but was studious. When he was forty years old, he was still chopping wood to support his family. The "like carrying firewood" in "Three Character Classic" refers to him.

There is also an idiom "spilt water cannot be collected" which also refers to him.

The poor Zhu Maichen worked as a minor official in Chang'an on business and met his fellow townsman Yan Zhu. Yan Zhu recommended Zhu Maichen to Emperor Wu of Han. Because Zhu Maichen was good at understanding "Spring and Autumn Annals" and "Chu Ci", Emperor Wu of Han liked him and gave him the official position of Zhong Daifu and kept him by his side.

Zhu Maichen's life was full of ups and downs. He was demoted to the prefect of Kuaiji for his crimes, and was ranked among the Nine Ministers for pacifying Dongyue. Finally, Yan Zhu was beheaded because Zhang Tang falsely accused Yan Zhu of being involved in a rebellion by Liu An, the King of Huainan. Zhu Maichen held a grudge against Zhang Tang and waited for an opportunity to frame him again. Zhang Tang wrote a suicide note before his death, and Liu Che regretted it and killed Zhu Maichen and others who framed Zhang Tang.

Zhu Maichen was beheaded, but it was good that his family was not implicated. His son naturally became a commoner. However, Zhu Maichen was able to become one of the Nine Ministers, so he was naturally talented, and the son he raised was also good.

In fact, judging from Zhu Shanfu's answers, he was indeed the most outstanding of the group. Liu Tan felt a little sorry after knowing his family background. He flipped through the files and found that there was no ruling that Zhu Maichen was not allowed to be an official in the future, so he boldly asked someone to record him in.

Liu Che's face showed no emotion, he just asked, "His family's ancestral home is Wu County, how did they end up in the Northern Border Kingdom?"

Liu Tan shook his head. This was also something he didn't understand. On the maps of later generations, Wu County was located in Jiangsu Province, which was very far away from the northern border.

However, after Zhu Maichen was beheaded, his wife and children's whereabouts were unknown, and they might not have returned to Wu County.

"Father, he...can become an official, right?"

Liu Che turned around and saw Liu Tan looking at him eagerly. Liu Che was a little surprised: "It seems that this Zhu Shanfu has some real talent and knowledge."

If this were not the case, his son would not have gone to such great lengths to help plead for mercy.

Liu Tan immediately said, "I can't say for sure about his true talent, but it's clear from the exams that he's better than many people in the Northern Territory. He even took first place in the previous imperial examination."

Well, because he was too lazy to think of a name, Liu Tan directly used the name used in later generations, which is the examination. It is easy to explain, it means that everyone gathers together to compete.

Liu Che became interested after hearing this: "Then let me see his paper."

This time, without waiting for Liu Tan's instructions, Miao Rui immediately sent someone to get it.

Zhu Shanfu had all the test papers from the beginning to the end taken away.

Liu Che took the test paper and glanced at it, nodding his head: "This handwriting is quite good."

Liu Tan sat obediently beside him and said nothing more. He had done what he could, and the rest was up to Zhu Shan to pat himself.

However, in history, Zhu Shanfu became the governor of Youfufeng County, and he should have been appreciated by Emperor Liu Che. He just moved this matter forward a while, so there shouldn't be any big problems, right?

Liu Che looked at them one by one. The first few were actually nothing special, as they tested basic knowledge.

Although it was just basic knowledge, Liu Che still saw some of it and said with emotion: "His father was good at the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Songs of Chu, so he can be said to have inherited some of it."

Liu Tan still didn't say anything. Liu Che noticed that things were getting quieter around him and couldn't help but turn to look at Liu Tan: "Why aren't you talking?"

Liu Tan looked at him innocently: "I'm afraid of disturbing my father's train of thought."

Liu Che sneered and continued reading. The questions in the imperial examination were quite difficult and were all based on the situation in the northern border country.

For example, the current primary issue of the Northern Border Kingdom and its policy towards the Huns.

Zhu Shanfu's answers were very formal, which was not very impressive in the court. Even in Liu Che's opinion, they were not as good as some of Liu Tan's creative ideas.

However, considering that he was Zhu Maichen's late-born son and his family fell into poverty when he was young, it was extraordinary for him to have such insight.

Liu Che put down the paper and said, "It's just so-so."

Liu Tan immediately felt relieved. What Liu Che said meant that there was no problem with Zhu Shanfu's identity. The rest depended on him.

Liu Che asked, "What will the palace examination test be?"

Liu Tan immediately brought up the previous process and said, "The palace examination also requires answering questions, but the questions are set by the invigilator on the same day. In other words, if your father is presiding over the palace examination, he will choose the questions he wants to ask."

Liu Che was a little surprised after hearing this: "You haven't thought of a topic yet?"

Liu Tan said, "I've thought of a topic. Let's use mutual trade as the topic. Let them briefly discuss the pros and cons of mutual trade, and briefly discuss how to develop it."

Liu Che hummed and said, "Not bad."

When Liu Che came over, he saw the orders Liu Tan issued to various counties along the way. It was obvious that Liu Tan had already made a series of arrangements around the trade.

Liu Tan proposed this topic to test the candidates' vision and perspective on the one hand, and to select like-minded people on the other.

No matter how talented a person is, if his ideas are contradictory to his own, what is he trying to do? Is he trying to make himself unhappy?

If one values ​​talent, the most he can do is recommend him to another place, but he will not keep him.

Liu Che flipped through it briefly and nodded, saying, "Then I'll go take a look tomorrow."

Liu Tan immediately felt relieved and said happily, "Then I won't disturb your father's rest."

Liu Che waved his hand to signal him that he could leave smoothly.

Early the next morning, Liu Tan was still stationed in Liu Che's carriage and heading towards his palace.

He yawned, wiped the tears from his eyes, and said, "Father has asked those Confucian scholars to come to Changshou Palace to take the palace examination. Why bother getting up so early?"

Liu Che couldn't help laughing when he saw that he couldn't even open his eyes: "The journey is still long, go to sleep!"

Liu Tan lay down beside him and fell asleep very readily.

Liu Che glanced at him and was a little envious of his sleep. He was not young anymore, but he still didn't get as much sleep as he did in his youth.

As for why he had to go to the palace, Liu Che had his own considerations. After all, the Northern Kingdom was still the world of the King of the Northern Kingdom. These people were selected by him, and he knew them well enough, but he did not want a two-faced person to come out and try to enter the capital by stepping on Liu Tan in the future.

Alas, his son is really smart when he is smart, and really stupid when he is stupid.

After arriving at the palace, Liu Tan washed his face and sat next to Liu Che.

After everything was ready and Liu Che nodded, the palace examination officially began.

It was not until this moment that Liu Tan saw the title given by Liu Che, which translated into: A brief discussion of the relationship between the Han Dynasty and the countries in the Western Regions.

When Liu Tan saw this topic, he suddenly remembered what Huo Guang said: Aren’t you afraid that His Majesty will take away anyone he likes?

Liu Tan put down the question expressionlessly. He didn't know how many people he could leave this time.