The candidates entered the venue one after another. They were already very nervous. For many of them, the King of the North was already an unattainable existence.

They had never imagined that one day they would be able to come to the capital, or even enter the palace.

When they saw the royal capital, they were stunned by this newly built magnificent city.

When they arrived at the inn, they found it was even cleaner and tidier than their home.

In order to motivate them, Liu Tan maliciously had someone take them on a tour of Shuofang City. He not only highlighted how clean Shuofang City was today, but also showed them the mansion that Liu Tan had reserved specifically for future ministers.

Although those mansions only had a frame, the magnificent gates and high walls were enough to make people yearn for them, not to mention that after seeing the area covered by those mansions, they were even more amazed.

Some even had the audacity to ask the posthouse official: "If we can pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar, can we live here too?"

The posthouse official smiled and said, "That depends on your Highness's arrangements. However, the person who passes the imperial examination will definitely be appointed an official. Even if it doesn't happen now, there are endless possibilities in the future. And by then, I'm afraid I'll have to bow to the number one scholar."

Throughout history, people have pursued only a few things, and money and status are the most attractive among them.

Liu Tan's combination of tactics made these students eager to take the palace examination the next day. Many of them even began to imagine how glorious it would be if they won the top spot.

As a result, when the day of the palace examination came, everyone's mind was filled with only nervousness.

This tension was exacerbated when they heard that the emperor would preside over the meeting today.

Some people were even so nervous that their faces turned pale and their eyes were wide open.

Many people basically floated into the hall, and Liu Tan could tell at a glance that several of them probably had no hope.

I'm so nervous in the middle of winter that I'm sweating all over. My hands holding the pen are shaking. How can I do this?

Liu Tan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It was still because his mental quality was not good enough. After several rounds of exams, the result was really not that good.

But it doesn't matter. He doesn't expect to find useful talents the first time anyway. If not, he can just take the test a few more times.

Anyway, whether to hold the exam or not is just a matter of his words. If there is a shortage of people, he can find an excuse to hold it more times. If there is no shortage of people, he can hold it once every three years as originally planned. Flexible exams are worth having.

Of course, there are also people who don't need to be so nervous, and Zhu Shanfu is unique among them.

It wasn't that he wasn't nervous, and he looked a little reserved when performing the ceremony, but the nervousness was just right, not causing him to lose his composure.

After all, he is the son of an official, so he has seen some of the world.

Liu Tan glanced at Liu Che and found that Liu Che's eyes were also on Zhu Shanfu.

For a moment, Liu Tan couldn't help thinking, and wondered if it would be okay to ask Liu Che to keep Zhu Shanfu with him for a few years, at least to get through the early stages, and then when there were more talented people in the future, or even when he could put the matter of running a school on the agenda, he could let the person go.

Moreover... Zhu Shanfu only held the rank of county governor at most and never entered the central government. Such a talent wouldn't be that important to Liu Che, right?

Just when Liu Tan was daydreaming, the exam was finally over.

In order to take care of Liu Che, Liu Tan gave a relatively short time. Anyway, there was nothing for these students to quote from classics these days, and with the level of these students in the Northern Border Country, it was good enough as long as they could write. There was basically no way to write a flourishing article.

After it’s over, these students will have to leave the same way they came.

As soon as they walked out of the hall, several of them collapsed to the ground.

After hearing this, Liu Tan smiled slightly and thought that it was all okay. At least he managed to hold on until the end of the exam and did not behave improperly in front of the king.

Liu Che, however, was somewhat dissatisfied and said, "How can such an inexperienced person be of any importance? Mark down all of them and execute them."

Liu Tan did not refute. He had already handed over power to Liu Che, so naturally he would not say much. Anyway, those people were not in a good state and their answers were probably not very good.

However, in order to avoid any problems, Liu Tan still asked Miao Rui to secretly write down the names of those people, and keep them if he came across a paper that was well written.

Anyway, there are many positions here. Liu Che can only appoint three people, namely the top three in the imperial examination. Some of the rest are tribute scholars, and they all have the opportunity to become officials, but their starting points are definitely not as good as those three.

It can be said that the candidates who have reached this stage are actually winners in life.

Liu Che certainly couldn't be allowed to look at all thirty test papers one by one.

Liu Che directly sent people to screen out fifteen copies, and then these fifteen test papers were handed over to Liu Tan to select ten of them, and Liu Che would select three from the remaining ones.

Liu Tan was somewhat surprised that Liu Che would allow the officials he brought with him to intervene, but unexpectedly, Liu Che said, "Let them adapt."

Hearing this, Liu Tan's eyes lit up: "Father, do you mean to promote examinations throughout the Han Dynasty?"

Liu Che responded, then turned to tease Liu Tan and asked, "What are you so happy about? By then, everyone in your Northern Borderland will want to go to Chang'an to take the exam. I'm afraid they won't want to stay with you."

Liu Tan waved his hand generously and said, "I won't hinder anyone's future. If they have the ability, then they can take the exam!"

In Liu Tan's mind, the vassal states would be abolished sooner or later. Maybe he wouldn't encounter it in this life, but who could predict what would happen in the future?

Liu Che treated him preferentially in every way, which was only because Liu Tan had a good relationship with Liu Ju. If the relationship was not so good between the brothers, do you think the prince would mind?

Moreover, reducing the power of the feudal lords was an established policy of the Han Dynasty. Even the emperor and central officials with different political views were on the same front on this point.

There is no emperor who doesn't want to centralize power, let alone why he recruited so many talents? Was he afraid that Liu Qumao would have something to hold against him?

Liu Che was amused by his behavior. He rubbed his head and said, "Let's go. We are tired after sitting for a whole morning. Let's have a meal."

That's right, the candidates spent half an hour writing the test paper, and the two of them just sat there for half an hour, which was quite boring.

Liu Tan followed Liu Che out and said with a smile, "These people will have something to brag about in the future."

Liu Che smiled slightly and said, "The people of Chang'an have all seen me, and I haven't seen them bragging about anything."

"That's different. From now on, these people can go out and call themselves disciples of the emperor. How is that different?"

Liu Che's mind moved: "The emperor's disciple?"

Liu Tan also tried his best to promote the imperial examination, explaining: "Yes, they were all selected by the emperor. The emperor is their benefactor, so they are naturally the emperor's disciples."

Liu Che paused, his thoughts wandering for a moment, from the emperor's disciples to the court, and then to forming a party.

He turned to look at Liu Tan and smiled meaningfully: "Your move is quite ingenious."