Chapter 73: No interested parties participated in this recruitment examination…
Sifang County.
Ma Jinsheng led the second squadron of the infantry battalion and Jiang Jingchong led the second squadron of the cavalry battalion, charging into the county town at dawn.
While guarding all the entrances and exits of the prefecture, they quickly took control of the prefecture's officials, both high and low.
The prefect, still half-asleep, rolled over, opened his eyes angrily, and shouted, "What's all this noise about in the middle of the night...?"
He opened his eyes wide in horror: his concubine stood trembling by the bed, a knife against her neck. A young man dragged a chair to the bedside, a spear poised to stab him in the neck.
Before he could even think about what had happened, the prefect was so frightened that he was trembling uncontrollably.
When Ma Jinsheng saw that the prefect had woken up, he revealed a sinister smile. "Oh, you're awake? Get up quickly and squat in the courtyard with your whole family."
The prefect asked in a trembling voice, "Who are you? How dare you trespass into the prefect's residence! Do you know..."
Ma Jinsheng's spear moved closer, its cold light illuminating the prefect's pale face. He quickly shut his mouth, staring at the spear tip in fear, terrified that the other man would stab him.
"Get up now!" The young man stood up, looking down at the prefect, and said, enunciating each word clearly.
The young man walked toward the door.
His subordinates swiftly dragged the prefect off the bed, their expressions fierce: "Get up and get out!"
He then looked at the concubine and shouted, "Put on your outer garment! Stand outside!"
The prefect and his concubine were escorted out of the room and taken to a wide open space.
He saw his disheveled family: his elderly father, wife, children, concubine, maids, and servants.
Everyone was terrified, trembling with fear.
A soldier slammed his broadsword into the ground and roared, "Everyone, put your hands behind your heads and crouch down!"
The prefect's family: "..." Huh?
The soldier glared at him. "Don't you understand?"
He repeated, "Hands behind your head, squat down!"
The prefect found this strange request hard to understand, but he still raised his hands, covered the back of his head, and squatted down on the ground in this position.
His family members were still in shock and trembling with fear, but seeing that the head of the family had obediently squatted down, they all did the same.
Ma Jinshan put one hand on his hip and said to his subordinates, "Bring all the other officials here and lock them up together!"
The centurions responded in unison, "Yes, sir!"
On the other side.
Jiang Jingchong rode his horse and led a few people around the county town.
The defenses at each exit were carefully inspected.
He said to the centurions, "Martial law is in effect throughout the city. No one is allowed to enter or leave!"
Everyone answered in unison, "Yes!"
Jiang Jingchong once again solemnly instructed, "Keep a close eye on your subordinates. They are not allowed to steal or rob, nor are they allowed to injure, kill, or rape civilians. Otherwise, they will be punished according to military law!"
The crowd shouted in unison again, "Yes!"
Jiang Jingchong was quite surprised that they had been able to invade and control the city of Sifang County so easily.
This is the capital of a prefecture, and the prefect himself lives here, yet the defenses are so weak?
Why are they so confident that we won't raid their base?
...Although at first we did plan to go back after the game.
Thinking about it this way, Jiang Jingchong raised one eyebrow smugly. Hehehe, those officials in Sifang County must be regretting it to death. They let the wolf into their house and ended up handing their home over to the evil wolf.
I'd like to see if anyone will dare to scheme against us again.
The people of the county town woke up to find, to their astonishment, that the world had changed!
The ruler of their county has changed!
The Anling County army, which was originally engaged in fierce fighting with the garrisons of Sifang County and Yuanxi County, suddenly descended from the sky in the middle of the night and occupied Sifang County!
The people were both surprised and terrified, but they soon discovered that the soldiers from Anling County neither burned, killed, looted, nor broke into civilian homes.
The people: "..."
This is truly unbelievable; how could there be such soldiers and bandits?!
As they grew fearful, they realized that the soldiers and bandits from Anling did not actually harm the people; they just appeared fierce. Gradually, they calmed down and continued to do what they were supposed to do.
They listened as the bandit leader threatened them to obey, saying that anyone who dared to resist would be imprisoned and dealt with by the general later.
The people: "..."
If we're not killing or robbing, what are we resisting for? We can't be out of our minds and want to risk our lives for the prefect!
So the next day, the people of the county town resumed their previous lives.
However, the Anling army does not allow people in the county to leave or people from outside to enter, which is somewhat inconvenient.
But after all, they were soldiers and bandits, so the people accepted and tolerated them well.
At the same time, Hu Dazhu and Ning Huai'an led their armies to encircle and intercept the troops of Sifang County and Yuanxi County.
Fang Qin and Xiang Yuesheng always carried maps and adjusted their battle plans according to the specific circumstances.
Those in charge of persuading the enemy to surrender also went to great lengths to shout out the benefits of their surrender, especially emphasizing: "Follow us and you'll get two meals a day! Two meals!"
"Our rice is pure white rice, free of sand and soil! Our dishes contain lard and refined salt!"
Xiang Yuesheng placed his right hand above his eyes, gazing at the covered bridge not far away, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, we've caught these people here. We'll be able to send them to Yuanxi County soon!"
Ning Huai'an handed him a water bottle and said in a deep voice, "Don't be too happy yet."
Plans are always subject to change; anything is possible before the dust settles.
Xiang Yuesheng tilted his head back and took a sip of water, saying, "I know that the other side should already know our purpose, and it's hard to guarantee that they won't retaliate."
Ning Huai'an nodded. "We will do our best to make thorough preparations, and then adapt to any situation."
Xiang Yuesheng tightened the kettle. "Let's go."
If we can't even take down one of the four prefectures, then we can forget about anything else.
Anling County.
He Qinglan made a rare appearance at the morning meeting of the Anling County Administrative Hall and proposed to all staff: "Hold the first civil service examination in Anling County to select the right people to take over Sifang County."
Everyone stared at the goddess in shock.
He Qinglan's expression was calm. "Otherwise, if half of your staff were transferred to Sifang County, the work in both counties would collapse."
Everyone: "..."
That's true.
To take over and develop Sifang County, it is necessary to transfer half of the skilled administrative personnel from Anling County to facilitate a quick start.
What will happen to the work in Anling County?
The obvious solution is to quickly fill the positions with new recruits, who, under the guidance of the veterans, will work together to carry out the work in both counties.
Cheng Hui stood up and asked respectfully, "Goddess, what do you mean...?"
He Qinglan said, "We will establish a special examination department to select suitable talents for Anling and Sifang. The people in this department must not have any conflicts of interest and must take the exam."
Cheng Hui agreed, "Yes."
He Qinglan encouraged them, "Keep it up!"
The goddess appeared in the conference room like the wind.
After stating her request, she left like the wind.
The people in the administrative hall watched the goddess leave.
Then all eyes fell on Cheng Hui.
Cheng Hui remained calm and smiled kindly. "Then, let's first select the person in charge of the civil service examination."
Everyone: "..."
Yun Youning held a pen in her hand, slowly twirling it, and said, "First, no one with a conflict of interest participated in this exam."
Gu Lanying said, "Then I can't participate, but my nephew and niece can sign up."
He Jin, Qin Dongkui, and Wang Heren raised their hands one after another, indicating that "there are also younger members of my family who may want to sign up."
Fang Wangshu from the Secretariat laughed, "Okay, the first thing we need to do is register the list of administrative office staff who have no interested parties taking the exam this time."
Mo Jingchun, who had just returned from out of town, said, "I, Minister Yun, and Minister Zhu are all fine, but given our current workload, we can only serve as proctors."
They certainly don't have time to do things like setting exam rules, creating exam papers, and grading them.
Fang Wangshu noted it down, "Okay."
Zhu Youchuan suddenly said, "We have someone in our Ministry of Justice who is very suitable. She has no relatives or friends who need to take the exam, she is meticulous, very capable, and very principled."
Everyone looked at him.
Zhu Youchuan suggested a name, "Zhou Xinglu." This was a talent he had personally cultivated and promoted.
Upon hearing the name, Aunt Feng smiled and said, "Oh, Xiao Zhou? She's very capable."
Cheng Hui said to Fang Wangshu, "Write it down first."
Then he looked at everyone and said, "If any of your departments have suitable people, please recommend them to me first, and then we will make a selection."
After selecting suitable personnel to form a team, the next step is to set the registration requirements and accept applications; then, the test papers are prepared and the exam is scheduled.
Upon hearing this, the heads of each department and workshop carefully reviewed the people in their respective departments and proposed the staff they thought were suitable.
Qian Shiwen: "Our academy has a teacher named so-and-so..."
Cheng Ji: "So-and-so from our printing workshop..."
Wu Xiaoshan: "So-and-so from our Ministry of Agriculture..."
Fang Wangshu: "Actually, so-and-so in our secretariat also..."
This meeting lasted more than three times longer than a regular morning meeting.
The goddess's few words left everyone utterly bewildered and overwhelmed.
Pei Wenzhao, who had spent nearly ten days at the Anling County Library, went to the East Market to relax and overheard people talking about registering for an exam.
"Whether you go to Sifang County to develop your career or stay in Anling County to work after passing the exam, you will have a bright future!"
"Yes, yes, now is the best time."
“I think so too. Although it might be tough in Sifang County, there are great opportunities for advancement.”
"I bet he'll be a minister in the county town in less than two years."
"There's no need to overestimate yourself like that."
"But is this exam really that easy?"
"...Don't underestimate yourself like that. You should know that there are very few truly outstanding talents in our Anling County."
"That's right, everyone's skill level is about the same."
"We will also be recruiting some people in Sifang County at that time. Do you really have so little confidence in yourself?"
"That's right, many people in Sifang County haven't received the same education as us, so we still have a significant advantage!"
Pei Wenzhao listened and showed a thoughtful expression.
Upon returning, he told his disciples about it.
The disciples looked bewildered: "Teacher, do you mean we should go and take the exam in Anling County?"
"Are you going to let us stay in Anling County?"
"You're not usually like this... why would you..."
"Teacher, you think highly of Anling?"
Pei Wenzhao patted the book "Guan Zhi of Ancient Prose" in his hand, a gentle smile on his wrinkled face. "No, no, no, this is just a thank-you gift from your teacher to Anling after reading so many books."
Disciples: "...Oh."
Pei Wenzhao said, "How many books have you read and copied during this time? Isn't it only right that you give back to Anling?"
The disciples: "..." Will they repay us with their physical bodies?
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Author's Note: 12000/20000
Yeah, three more chapters to go!
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