Chapter 86: Interviewees Begin Answering Questions
Anling.
The list of the top 200 candidates for the first Anling County Administrative Office staff examination was announced ten days ago, and the interviews will be held at the Goddess Palace on this day.
"An interview?" Ji Zhun pondered this so-called interview and said to Pei Wenzhao, "Is your goddess going to declare herself empress in Anling?"
The current imperial examination system only extends from the provincial examination to the prefectural examination.
He Qinglan, however, wanted to conduct an interview.
If you were to calculate it, wouldn't her approach be equivalent to the emperor personally examining all the successful candidates in the imperial examinations?
Wait, the emperor personally examined all the successful candidates in the imperial examination?
Ji Zhun frowned slightly. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that this method was actually quite good!
If a palace examination were added after the provincial examination...
Firstly, the final top scholar would be personally selected by the emperor, preventing ministers from having selfish motives; secondly, the emperor's personal selection strengthened the connection between the successful candidates and the emperor, and to some extent prevented the successful candidates from forming cliques with the ministers in charge of the imperial examinations.
Ji Zhun: "..."
He smiled helplessly and said, "I've been spending too much time in the library lately, and I've inevitably picked up some of the vocabulary from those books. Now my speech is neither classical nor vernacular."
Pei Wenzhao didn't notice that Ji Zhun's thoughts were getting increasingly off-topic. He only showed a cold smile at the sentence "to declare himself emperor in Anling," and said in a disdainful tone, "Don't talk nonsense. How could a mere Anling possibly hold back the goddess's footsteps?"
Ji Zhun was speechless. "Is that the point? What I really wanted to say was that your Anling prefecture actually holds an imperial examination!"
Pei Wenzhao chuckled, "Why don't you mention that the Goddess established the 'Yunhe Laws' back in Yunhe?"
Of course, the laws and regulations of Sifang County were also directly modified from the Anling Law.
Ji Zhun: "..."
This goddess organization established an administrative hall, selected staff for the counties and prefectures, formulated laws and regulations, and implemented a reformed version of the imperial examination system.
In the context of chaotic times, this is not unusual.
However, He Qinglan is a woman.
He couldn't help but smile. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of world you goddesses want to create."
Pei Wenzhao's eyes lit up slightly. He turned to look in the direction of the Goddess's Palace and suddenly said, "I wonder how the Goddess will conduct the interviews."
Ji Zhun was also very curious, "It's a pity we can't go to the mansion to see."
Pei Wenzhao said sarcastically, "If you become a staff member of the Sifang County Administrative Office, you may be selected as an interviewer in the future, and interview candidates who have passed the written test together with the goddess."
Ji Zhun looked puzzled. "Why do you want me to work for your goddess? Do you trust her that much?"
Pei Wenzhao looked at Ji Zhun meaningfully, "I'm doing this for your own good."
If you arrive early, the goddess might grant you an official position directly, considering your reputation. If you arrive late, you'll have to register for the written exam like all the other candidates, then stand out from the exam and participate in the interview…
He looked at Ji Zhun suspiciously, "You're so old, are you sure you can handle this?"
The Goddess's Palace.
The interview room was set up in He Qinglan's study.
The waiting room for the exam is located at the entrance, while the waiting room for the results is located at the back door.
Rong Qi pushed open the door and walked into the interview room.
Looking up, I saw the seven interviewers sitting directly in front of me: Goddess He Qinglan, Prefect Cheng Hui, Vice Minister of Education Tong Yin, Ministry of Justice staff member Zhou Xinglu, Secretariat staff member Qin Song, City Guard squad leader Lu Fangjue, and Army Vanguard Battalion Captain Hu Cong.
A man and a woman were sitting on the left; they were staff members who were monitoring the time and keeping score.
"Gulp." Rong Qi subconsciously swallowed.
Oh my god, why didn't anyone say that job interviews were this scary?!
He Qinglan looked at her calmly, a hint of encouragement in her eyes.
Rong Qi took a deep breath. "Good morning, examiners. I am candidate number 1 today."
He Qinglan: "Please sit down."
Rong Qi sat down at the desk facing the interviewer and saw the piece of paper on the table.
A big question mark appeared above Rong Xi's head.
She looked up at the interviewers opposite her, her eyes clear yet foolish.
He Qinglan said calmly, "You have one incense stick's time to read the question, think about it, and then answer it."
Rong Qi was stunned for a moment. "Don't you have paper and pen?"
He Qinglan nodded, "If there's no paper or pen, you can dictate it."
Seeing the blank expression on the examinee's face, Zhou Xinglu and Qin Song beside her exchanged a glance, both showing a hint of pity.
This is terrifying! You have to think about the questions immediately and answer them orally; you can't write them down on paper! The time allotted for answering includes the time allotted for an incense stick to burn!
To be able to answer such questions so well, one must be an exceptionally talented person!
Zhou Xinglu's eyes conveyed: However, the goddess also said that those who get high scores can be assigned to the county and can start as a person in charge.
Qin Song was relieved: "Luckily, when I joined the Administrative Office, all I needed to do was write articles and understand arithmetic. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been confident of passing such a difficult interview."
Zhou Xinglu smiled: How can you compare yourself back then to today's test takers? They studied for two years!
There are 200 candidates, and the interviews will be conducted over five days, with 40 candidates interviewed each day.
There were 39 people sitting in the waiting room at that time.
Some people closed their eyes and prayed silently, some curiously observed the other test takers, and some quietly admired the scenery outside the window.
Some people chatted with candidates they knew and didn't know, while others asked the administrative staff in the waiting room about their usual work.
Some people raised their hands, indicating they wanted water, and the staff poured them a cup of hot water from the kettle.
Time passes both quickly and slowly.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed, an unfamiliar staff member came to the door and asked candidate number 3 to follow him to the interview room.
All the candidates were on edge: the first candidate had already finished his interview!
I don't know what the exam questions will be.
I don't know how she performed.
I don't know how many points she got.
I don't know how difficult the exam questions will be.
...
Everyone's mind is in turmoil.
With her legs trembling, Rong Qi walked into the waiting room, sat down on a chair, covered her face with her hands, and silently screamed: Ahhhhhhhh!
My voice is trembling!
My hands are shaking!
My legs are shaking!
How could I possibly get 60 points when my answer was so bad!
She began to reflect: When I was answering the question, I missed two points. I should have mentioned them, but I didn't.
Oh dear, how could I forget to mention that?
It's all my fault for being too nervous.
I also misspoke about one key word; I shouldn't have said A and B, I should have said C and D. At the time…
While she was silently regretting her actions, Hu Yang, the second candidate in the interview room, was staring blankly at the exam questions.
He revealed an expression as clear yet foolish as Rong Qi's.
The examiners did not mock him; they all remained expressionless.
She would only nod to him in encouragement when their eyes met by chance.
Hu Yang was inwardly weeping, but outwardly he put on a thoughtful expression.
He Qinglan waited calmly for the candidates to answer.
She used the same interview system as the civil service exam in later generations, but it was different: the interviewers were always the same seven people, so the 200 candidates were divided into 40 groups each day for five days.
Considering everyone's abilities, the question was set to be answered only once every incense stick's time.
Five questions per day, for a total of twenty-five questions.
The scoring method was the same as in later generations: seven examiners each gave a score, the highest and lowest scores were removed, and the average of the remaining five scores was taken.
This is the best way.
Written tests assess problem-solving skills, while interviews assess on-the-spot performance.
Select the most outstanding talents and give them important positions directly.
Hu Yang stared at the question and pondered for a long time.
Finally, I came up with a plan in my mind and said to the examiners, "Candidate, please begin answering."
He Qinglan's expression turned serious.
The other six examiners also instinctively sat up straight.
Seven people waited for him to answer the question.
One incense stick after another was lit and burned out.
One by one, the candidates entered the interview room and then the waiting room.
The interviewers listened patiently to the examiners' answers and then wrote down their scores on the scoring board.
After the candidates left, they handed their scores to the staff who were responsible for keeping track of the scores.
The staff tallied the good results and handed them over to He Qinglan.
The results were announced to the candidates by He Qinglan.
He Qinglan read out one score after another to the different candidates.
...The examiners were lenient and gave fairly standard scores.
However, if a candidate occasionally answers a question exceptionally well, everyone will cheer up and give that candidate a high score.
The answers to the questions reveal a myriad of human reactions, and the results of the announcements also reflect a thousand different perspectives.
He Qinglan said calmly, "This result only determines where you go, not your future. I hope you can work hard in the future."
Candidates: "!" Oh right, I'm already destined to be a staff member of the administrative office, I'm just not sure where I'll be assigned!
The distant Ngapali County, Gyeongju.
As evening approached, the doctors, who had been busy all day, returned to their tent and found a place to sit down.
Xu Nanxing brought a bowl of lily and pear soup to Mei Leshu and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Dr. Mei!"
Mei Leshu glanced around and noticed that the other doctors were also drinking soup, not just her. She reached out and took the soup, saying "thank you."
Xu Nanxing sat down next to her and asked her, pretending to be serious, where Doctor Zhu was now.
Mei Leshu took a sip from the bowl, and the sweet lily and pear flavors cheered her up considerably.
But when she heard about her husband, she replied helplessly, "I don't know. My master likes to travel around and see the world. If he happens to come across a place he likes or an interesting person, he will stop and stay for a while."
Therefore, she didn't know which mountain her master was gathering herbs in at that time.
However, Xu Nanxing wasn't really concerned about where Doctor Zhu was; he took the opportunity to ask Doctor Xue instead.
"I heard from Pei Wenzhao, a Legalist, that Physician Zhu and Physician Xue were fellow disciples. As Physician Zhu's disciple, does Doctor Mei know where Physician Xue is now?"
He looked on with admiration, "I grew up listening to stories about Doctor Xue, and I've always admired him. I really want to meet him!"
Mei Leshu was taken aback.
She took another sip of soup and said, "Then you can only go to his grave to offer incense."
Xu Nanxing: "..." He opened his mouth wide in surprise, "Ah? Doctor Xue has already..."
Mei Leshu said, "Twenty years ago, after Uncle Xue got married and had a daughter, he lived with his wife and daughter in his hometown. Not two years later, his wife passed away, and Uncle Xue raised his daughter alone. Four years ago, Uncle Xue also passed away."
Xu Nanxing couldn't help but feel a little sad. He casually asked, "Is Dr. Xue's daughter also a doctor?"
Mei Leshu was silent for a moment, then sighed, "No, my junior sister doesn't have the talent in this area. Her medical skills are average, and she can't inherit Master Xue's mantle. My master has always felt very regretful about that."
Suddenly remembering something, she said unhappily, "Her childhood sweetheart is quite talented; he can use acupuncture to save people at such a young age. However, that boy is too ambitious; he doesn't want to be a doctor, he only wants to take the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official."
"A child groom?" Xu Nanxing asked in surprise.
Mei Leshu ate a slice of pear and answered as she ate, "When I was a child, I found an unconscious orphan in the snow and dragged him home for Uncle Xue to save."
"Since Junior Sister will get married in the future anyway, rather than marrying a man whose true nature is unknown, Uncle Xue would rather personally cultivate a good husband for Junior Sister who knows her well."
"Therefore, Uncle Xue took in that orphan and made him my junior sister's foster husband, hoping that he could take care of her for the rest of his life."
Her junior sister, Xue Caiwei, was spoiled by her senior uncle Xue since childhood. She was raised to be naive and willful, with a bad temper and no sense of propriety.
Uncle Xue couldn't bring himself to change his junior sister's personality, and he was also afraid that one day when he passed away, his junior sister would suffer in her husband's family. So he thought of personally teaching his junior sister to be an obedient and capable good husband.
Just then, the orphan bumped into them.
After observing for a while, Uncle Xue discovered that the orphan actually got along well with his junior sister. He almost never made her angry, nor did he argue with her. This was truly remarkable!
Master Xue then discussed with the orphan the idea of taking him in as his fiancé to his junior sister.
The orphan agreed.
Uncle Xue kept him, gave him a name, and sent him to study at the academy.
Xu Nanxing suddenly had a bad feeling. He had heard many stories about "not picking up men on the street," so he asked, "Then where is Doctor Xue's daughter now...?"
Mei Leshu suddenly narrowed her eyes and shook her head, saying, "I don't know."
Xu Nanxing was shocked. "You don't know?" How could you not know?
Mei Leshu nodded, "After Master Xue passed away, she and her adopted son went to the capital to look for their relatives, and then they disappeared without a trace. My master and I have asked around, but the capital is so big, it's incredibly difficult to find two young people."
Xu Nanxing looked at Mei Leshu and realized that this was why the goddess had sent him a letter from afar.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to find them?"
Mei Leshu immediately replied, "Of course! She... although I don't particularly like my junior sister, she is, after all, Master Xue's only beloved daughter, my junior sister!"
Over the years, Mei Leshu and her master have felt very sorry for Doctor Xue because they couldn't find her.
They never gave up looking for Xue Caiwei.
Xu Nanxing sighed, "Then go and ask our goddess. She will surely be able to tell you where Doctor Xue's daughter is now."
Mei Leshu's eyes widened. "Huh?"
No, from what you're saying, are you implying that this "goddess" of yours really has some kind of divine power?
I'd rather believe that she just happened to have seen my junior sister and her childhood sweetheart in the capital.
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