Chapter 228 Structured Interview
Zhou Houfang was still at home. Her mother held her hand and cried bitterly, "Houfang, I'm sorry for you. You're the daughter of a fifth-rank official, and yet you're asked to do all that. My son, I feel so sorry for you. If it weren't for saving your father, how could I bear to let you hang out with those men? If outsiders knew about this, how would they view our Zhou family, how would they view your father? And how would the Chang family view us? Chang Dalang's mother... doesn't like our family to begin with. If she knew about this, would she cancel the engagement?"
"Mother, Magistrate Chang is still in jail. I'm afraid his family doesn't want to talk about marriage anymore."
"What if... I mean what if... Magistrate Chang dies in prison, wouldn't this marriage be delayed for another three years?"
Zhou Houfang was calculating the time and was very anxious, but she could only comfort her mother softly: "Mom, don't worry, I'll go check on the situation first. Besides, many of the candidates taking the exam this time are women."
But her mother's eyes widened. "How can those girls from Lan County be compared with you? You are the clouds in the sky, and they are the dirt under our feet. Don't underestimate yourself!"
Zhou Houfang responded perfunctorily, fearing that she would miss the interview.
She had not been allowed to leave the house since the last time the results were announced.
It was the servant who told her after checking the results.
As expected, her results were not even good enough to rank among the top 100 candidates in the two major examination halls of Lan County and Ye County, and she couldn't even rank among the top 100 candidates in Jinzhou Prefecture.
She had also imagined that the person who set the questions this time was from Lan County, so people from Lan County would definitely have an advantage, and she might not perform well in the exam.
But she never expected that in an exam with more than 1,300 people, she would be ranked in the bottom 200!
This made Zhou Houfang, who had always been arrogant, have serious doubts about himself.
She hid in her room these days, thinking about the questions she had done in the examination room that day, and couldn't help but feel anxious. Later, she ordered her personal maid to copy the test paper and answers posted at the gate of the government office and bring them back to her.
The more she read the content of the test paper, the colder she felt on her back.
The moment she got the paper, she was certain that Xu Zhenying was no ordinary bandit!
From this thin test paper, she could tell what a genius this person was!
She thought that the interview was hopeless and there was no way to save her father, but unexpectedly, the situation took a turn for the better.
It is said that the city lord took into consideration that the people of Jinzhou Prefecture had not received a comprehensive education and had not learned the contents on the test paper, so he lowered the scores of only the top five candidates with Jinzhou Prefecture household registration to participate in the interview.
Although this move was unfair, after all, the top five students in Jinzhou Prefecture were almost at the bottom of the entire Jinzhou Prefecture exam.
But Zhou Houfang still decided to seize this opportunity.
After all, Daddy is still in prison, and I can't visit him. The jailers are all soldiers from Lan County, so there's no way to get any information across.
I don't even know whether my dad is alive or dead.
Otherwise, why would her mother let her disguise herself as a man and take the imperial examination for the rebels in the face of the wrath of the world?
"Mom, I'm leaving first. If I meet the city lord this time, I will definitely find a way to find out about daddy's situation!" Zhou Houfang went out impatiently, and Madam Zhou quickly asked the maids and servants around her to follow.
How dare we let a girl go out alone!
Oh my God, this world is such a mess.
Mrs. Zhou felt uneasy when she thought about Zhou Houfang's suggestion to infiltrate the rebels by taking the civil service examination.
Although the mountain king seemed to have a good reputation and had never killed innocent people, a gangster is still a gangster, how could he act according to common sense?
I just hope Houfang has everything goes smoothly on this journey!
In the courtyard of the government office, the three hundred candidates for the interview were all ready.
As soon as Zhou Houfang walked in and saw the sea of heads, for some reason, his heart felt boiling with anger.
This was the first time in sixteen years that she had traveled alone, away from the sight of her mother and servants.
What’s more, it’s such a grand event as participating in the imperial examination interview!
She quickly recognized the girl who had caused trouble that day. Her name seemed to be Song Luo.
But it was strange that there were clearly five local candidates from Jinzhou Prefecture who came for the interview, and she even asked the servant to copy the interview list, which included several students from Bailu Academy, named Huang Weiguang, Liao Chaoyun, and Zhu Ping, but there was no sign of him.
In the past few days, the people of Jinzhou Prefecture have been talking about the affairs of Bailu Academy. They are probably ashamed of themselves and unwilling to show up.
By this calculation, Zhou Houfang was the only local candidate from Jinzhou Prefecture who entered the interview!
So... among these two hundred and ninety-six people, her score was the lowest.
The person in front of her was more than 28 points taller than her.
In an instant, Zhou Houfang felt unprecedented pressure.
She had to concentrate all her energy to deal with it.
But Song Luo greeted her first. Zhou Houfang smiled awkwardly because she felt that her victory was somewhat unfair.
Soon, the chief examiner came and announced the list of examiners.
There were ten examiners in the interview, and Xu Zhenying's name was among them.
When hearing the three words "Xu Zhenying", Zhou Houfang clearly felt that everyone became excited!
City Lord! Alive!
This was a rare opportunity to get in touch with Xu Zhenying, and everyone was trying their best to show themselves, even Song Luo beside him looked eager to try.
Zhou Houfang couldn't help but say: I have never heard of a traitor with such a high voice!
Will Jinzhou Prefecture become like Lan County after a while, no longer recognizing the Great Zhou Dynasty but only recognizing her, Xu Zhenying?
Zhou Houfang's heart was pounding with excitement, and he wished he could meet the legendary genius as soon as possible.
Soon, the examiner came out and announced the rules.
After entering, everyone will have their own number plate, which must be hung around their waist and cannot be entered or exited.
All actions had to be completed in the yard, and there were even toilets thoughtfully prepared on both sides of the yard.
The exits in the yard are one-way. You can only enter from one direction and exit from another direction after the exam, so the possibility of missing questions and cheating is completely guaranteed.
This interview was different from the palace examination of the Zhou Dynasty. Ten people entered in a group. They randomly drew a topic, and the ten people were divided into pros and cons to debate or express their own opinions.
They call this a "structured group interview." Ten examiners, a timekeeper, and a scorer will score the ten candidates based on their on-site performance. All those who have finished the exam will be guided out through another door.
As soon as this rule was announced, everyone present felt a little nervous and uneasy.
A structured group interview sounds scary enough, not to mention that there are ten examiners staring at you, and time is limited. Each group only has a quarter of an hour. How to show your strengths in a limited time? Just thinking about it makes me feel nervous and suffocated.
Seeing the woman in linen clothes beside her was so nervous that her face turned pale, Song Luo quickly said, "Sister, don't be afraid. Just treat the examiners as big carrots."
The woman smiled reluctantly, "Thank you, sister."
"No thanks, no thanks. Judging from our license plates, we're probably from the same group. My name is Song Luo, what's yours?"
"My name is Pang Xiaohua."
"Sister Xiaohua!" Song Luo immediately called out affectionately.
Zhou Houfang witnessed the whole process of Song Luo making friends, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart that this girl was amazing, she could make friends in such a short time.
She glanced at the number plate on her waist. By this calculation, she was very likely to be in the same group with Song Luo and the others.
Zhou Houfang took a deep breath.
She was more nervous than ever before.
Although she wanted to save her father, she wanted to have a good interview even more.
From the moment she found out that her grades actually surpassed Huang Weiguang's, she felt an indescribable emotion in her heart.
The dean of Bailu Academy had a close relationship with her father, so she had also heard of Huang Weiguang's name. He was said to be a young man with a bright future, and her father was quite optimistic about him. He even sent people to send clothes, books, pens, money and other items to try to make friends with him.
Such a gifted kid didn't even do as well as her in the exam?
While Zhou Houfang questioned the examiners' marking standards, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy for himself.
But more of it is sadness.
Even though she has such great talent, what can she do? She can only be trapped in the backyard.
The examiner's word "start" interrupted Zhou Houfang's complicated thoughts. She tried to adjust her mood and sat in her seat waiting for the examiner to call her number.
I don’t know how long I waited, but there were fewer and fewer people in the yard, and soon half of them were gone.
Although the rest of the people were a little anxious, fortunately there was no prohibition on the candidates talking, so time passed quickly.
Finally, Zhou Houfang's number was called.
Zhou Houfang quickly evaluated the other nine competitors.
The girl named Pang Xiaohua was in the same group with her, and Song Luo was assigned to the latter group.
Under guidance, Zhou Houfang and others walked through a long corridor, around the screen wall, and walked in.
The moment he entered, Zhou Houfang felt a suffocating feeling coming over him.
Ten examiners sat in a row, looking up at them.
Almost instantly, Zhou Houfang recognized the person in the middle among the examiners.
The tyrant who was rumored to have taken control of a region at the age of fourteen.
If the rumor is true, then Xu Zhenying is the most extraordinary woman in history, unprecedented and unparalleled!
Zhou Houfang looked at her greedily.
Xu Zhenying looked more youthful than expected. She was tall and slender, with fair skin and a pair of smiling eyes. She didn't look dignified, but rather seemed very easygoing.
Especially that weird short hair.
She had never seen a woman in the Zhou Dynasty dare to have such short hair, unless the woman had committed a serious crime and would be punished by having her hair shaved. But looking at Xu Zhenying's appearance, it didn't look like she was forced to have such strange short hair.
Her clothes were even stranger. Unlike the dresses worn by women in the Zhou Dynasty, she wore a long, drawstring-top coat and trousers that looked a bit like the robes worn by Taoist priests. It seemed strange yet simple.
If you look at her from a woman's perspective, Xu Zhenying is not considered to be outstanding in appearance.
But when she stands in such a position, who would care about her appearance?
Only women who make a living by their looks would care so much about their appearance, right?
If she hadn't relied on this skin, she wouldn't have been able to marry the eldest son of the prefect.
Unfortunately, the masters of both Chang and Zhou families have been imprisoned and their lives are uncertain. This marriage is uncertain and the outcome is still unknown.
But for some reason, Zhou Houfang didn't care much about it.
The issue of the civil servant assessment alone was enough to make her anxious and overwhelmed, and she almost invested all her time and energy in it. How could she have the time to consider Chang Dalang's feelings?
If Chang Dalang really wants to cancel the engagement...
Forget it, just retreat!
Anyway, Chang Dalang's appearance was not satisfactory and he was not a good match for her. If it were her way of thinking, she would not want to marry Chang Dalang!
Xu Zhenying casually pulled a piece of wooden paper from the wooden box and said loudly, "The topic for your group's debate is: Should we send troops to capture Xingyuan Prefecture this year? This is a free debate question. The total time is fifteen minutes, or a quarter of an hour! Start the timer now!"
Following Xu Zhenying's words, the candidates in the room instantly became so nervous that their scalps went numb.
And time has begun to flow!
No time to think!
Pang Xiaohua was also sweating with nervousness. She had already thought about it when she entered the room. Her written test score wasn't very high, which didn't give her an advantage. If she fell behind too much in the interview, this exam would be a waste.
In order to get the travel expenses borrowed from her father-in-law, Pang Xiaohua decided to fight to the death.
She figured the first person to speak would have an advantage, and her mind raced. She almost immediately interrupted, "We can't fight this year. If we have to, we have to wait until the autumn harvest. Otherwise, the army's morale will be unstable... and the supply of food and fodder is also a problem."
After saying this, Pang Xiaohua felt like her throat was about to jump out!
Oh my god, she had never seen an official as high-ranking as Xu Zhenying in her life, and now she had met ten of them! How could she not be nervous?
She just felt her legs shaking.
Soon, teammates followed suit.
"I also think we can't fight this year. The city lord has only just occupied Jinzhou and Qianzhou, and their foundation is not yet stable. The 20,000 newly recruited soldiers have only been trained for a short time and are not ready to go to the battlefield. The natives in Qianzhou haven't been completely absorbed yet. If the chieftains and the imperial court join forces, Jinzhou will be immediately attacked from both sides!"
"We can't fight. First, we don't have enough food, and second, we don't have enough troops. Xingyuan Prefecture is not like Jinzhou. It has always been a rich place with strong soldiers and horses. If we haven't made full preparations, we must not attack Xingyuan Prefecture, otherwise we will lose everything."
"Yes, that's right. The city lord has just occupied two places. It's time to recuperate and prepare for war. This year is not suitable for attacking. It will take at least two or three years. By then, our new recruits in Jinzhou Prefecture will have been trained and there will be sufficient food supplies. That will be a good time for expansion!"
"Yes, and what's more, our Lan County soldiers have never competed with the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty on the battlefield, and have no combat experience. It would be inappropriate to rashly let them attack Xingyuan Prefecture."
The ten examiners did not look up, all of them buried their heads as if they were grading.
This situation made the candidates even more nervous.
Not to mention those who had not had the chance to speak yet. Now that the opportunity had been snatched away by others, they could only repeat the same words as before after thinking about it, and they couldn't help but become even more anxious.
Moreover, the scope of discussion for this question is too narrow.
Whether or not we can attack Xingyuan Prefecture is not something to debate.
Definitely not.
Look at the mess in Jinzhou Prefecture that I just took over. Even the county magistrates for the dozen or so counties under it haven't been decided yet. Jinzhou Prefecture looks fine in the city, but in the villages, it's a mess!
Xu Zhenying did occupy Jinzhou Prefecture, but that was when the elite troops of Jinzhou Prefecture went to Qianzhou to fight the chieftain. The soldiers' training level was not revealed, and it was impossible to know how strong these soldiers were in combat.
Therefore, after all the talk, everyone only came up with these few reasons, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't come up with anything new. What's more, the people who spoke before them spoke for too long, which resulted in the people who spoke after them not having any eye-opening ideas.
Xu Zhenying pursed his lower lip slightly.
It seems that he cannot express his joy or anger.
But Qian Zhenniang noticed that Xu Zhenying was not very satisfied with this group of interviewees.
It's just that this universal education was pushed too fast. Although many people learned mathematics, they did not accumulate basic knowledge. This interview exposed the shortcomings of universal education.
So, we still need to provide universal education, but it must be combined with the elite education proposed by Xu Zhenying a few days ago.
Now when we are looking for people, we can only pick the tallest ones from the short ones to fill the position temporarily.
With a few more years of experience in this position, perhaps he can become a capable person.
Xu Zhenying was thinking in her heart: These are all old clichés. Can a strong man fall from the sky for her?
Time was running out, and the arguments had already been repeated over and over again. Those who hadn't spoken before could only repeat themselves to avoid getting zero points for not saying a word. Seeing that everyone had run out of things to say, Zhou Houfang finally calmed himself down, forced himself to remain calm, and slowly said, "I think we can win, and we must fight quickly!"
The examiners finally raised their heads after hearing the different arguments.
Zhou Houfang was so excited that her heart almost jumped out.
"Why do we have to fight? Because speed is of the essence in war. Xingyuan Prefecture is close to the center of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If we don't take it, the Li Kings or the Zhoushan King will take it. Then we will be sandwiched between the Zhoushan King and the Li Kings. This is what it means to be attacked from both sides. Therefore, the first reason for sending troops immediately is to quickly seize territory."
"Secondly, once we capture Xingyuan Prefecture, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty will be roughly divided into several equally powerful regions. Only by occupying one or two more prefectures will we be strong enough to negotiate cooperation with other parties. For example, if we join forces with Prince Ming to the east, the Great Zhou Dynasty will be split in half by the two forces. By extending our vertical line, we can prevent the two Li kings and the Zhoushan king from joining forces and advancing towards Bianjing."
"If we advance west and south, we can also annex the weakest of the two, the Li Kings and the Zhoushan King. These two are either refugees or followers, and their food supplies are limited, so their troops and fodder are scarce, making them weak in combat. If we advance to the flanks and subdue these two groups, we can immediately capture half of the Great Zhou Dynasty! This will create a three-way balance of power. Whether we advance north or east, we can conquer when we advance and defend when we retreat. Our position is uniquely advantageous!"
Only after Zhou Houfang said these words did she realize that her voice was trembling.
Qian Zhenniang couldn't help but look excited!
What a good talent! This girl’s ideas are almost exactly the same as Xu Zhenying’s a few days ago.
With such a high level of political sensitivity and a clear understanding of the general trend of the world, it would be a shame not to arrest this person and put him to work!
Zhou Houfang didn't know whether what she said was good or not, she just stared at Xu Zhenying.
Xu Zhenying raised his eyebrows, not sure whether he was surprised or in agreement.
Zhou Houfang thought, it was a good bet.
Everyone was saying what was the point of one opinion, so she had to take a different approach to attract Xu Zhenying's attention.
Zhou Houfang only felt that the back of her pajamas was wet with sweat, especially when the other candidates looked at her, she only then realized how aggressive she had been just now.
My God, she's the daughter of the magistrate of Jinzhou Prefecture, and now she's actually giving advice to rebels. If this gets exposed, won't it bring disaster to the family?
This is really God's will!
But after saying it, I still felt very refreshed.
Next, let’s see how to talk about my father.
In the exam room? It seems a bit inappropriate.
Zhou Houfang thought about it and realized that he had missed the opportunity and was quickly led out of the examination room.
After she left, Xu Zhenying smiled and said, "I finally heard some different opinions today."
Everyone around nodded in agreement.
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