Chapter 211: Ying Zheng's trap, regardless of whether it is Wen Ju or...
No matter whether it was the civil or military examination, anyone who passed the examination, regardless of their ranking, would be in the spotlight.
Even those who took the exam under the pretext of "proving themselves" and claimed that they would retire to seclusion after the exam were proud of the title of "Jinshi".
When someone is successful, there will naturally be people who are jealous and envious.
But the Qin government had already prepared a response. Before they could question the test results, all the test papers of those who passed the civil service examination were posted on a rack in front of the city gate, saying that they were for people to see, but in fact they were just to shut up those who failed.
As for the martial arts exam? There's no first place in literature, and no second place in martial arts. The exam is a real fight, and everyone's watching. If those who fail dare to make a scene, it means they don't think they're embarrassed enough.
Anyone on the list had outstanding skills in both policy writing and case judgment. Even if someone felt they didn't deserve to be left out, they would still secretly approve of those who made the list.
And this is not the end. Those with outstanding strengths and weaknesses received letters of appointment written by King Zheng of Qin himself, inviting them to stay in Qin as guest officials.
They were originally disappointed because they failed the exam, but in an instant they felt that the day had dawned: No wonder the talents of the six countries flocked to Qin. The King of Qin indeed valued talents far more than the kings of the six Shandong countries!
Thus, the first imperial examination in the Central Plains was successfully concluded. Qin not only recruited a large number of talents, but also spread the reputation of Qin Wangzheng's thirst for talent throughout the country, including Shu.
Ying Zheng specially set aside three days to meet with the guest officials who were willing to stay in Qin in batches, and each of them had the opportunity to talk directly with the King of Qin.
Those who are proud of their status are still reserved, while those who are good at seizing opportunities have successfully left a deep impression on King Zheng of Qin through this reception.
Among them, Ying Zheng deliberately left the ten guest officials from Shu Kingdom to the end and received them together with the ten successful Jinshi scholars from Shu Kingdom.
After the eunuchs ushered in the four men and sixteen women who had come from Shu, Ying Zheng emerged from the rear hall. As soon as the two sides met, Ying Zheng thanked them for their tireless efforts in helping Qin unify the world.
The twenty individuals ranged in level of learning and cunning. Those with less cunning were taken aback by this remark, subconsciously glancing at the person with the most say. Seeing the man smiling and keeping his emotions to himself, they quickly calmed down and joined in the pleasantries.
In fact, both sides had a misunderstanding here: Ying Zheng thought that they wanted to amend the laws of Qin because they believed that Qin would eventually unify the world; but in the minds of the Shu people, unification was the norm.
However, this misunderstanding did not prevent the two sides from having a pleasant conversation. The Shu students recognized Ying Zheng's ambition and ability, and Ying Zheng also saw a glimpse of the vast talent pool of Shu.
After the meeting, Ying Zheng pondered alone for half an hour, and then immediately ordered someone to invite Fu Li and Nezha.
Because he realized a problem that had been ignored before: with the talent base of Shu, if after unifying the Central Plains, he could really bring Shu into the scope of his rule, would all the official positions in the world be snatched away by the people of Shu?
Although it is said that the capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted, if all the governors came from the same region, it would not be a good thing for the king, the talents, or the common people.
If that situation really happened, the world, which had just been stabilized, would soon fall into chaos again.
Because Fuli was breeding with the farm students outside the city, it took nearly two hours for the couple to enter the palace.
Fortunately, because Heishan Jun had been away for a long time and had not returned, Nezha was worried about Fu Li traveling alone, so he left all the matters in the military camp to Zhang Han and stayed with Fu Li all the time.
Otherwise, those who were ordered to invite people would have to run back and forth, and I'm afraid the city gates would be closed.
——By the way, Zhang Han won the first place in this military examination as expected, and now he has an official position in the army.
After listening to Ying Zheng's confession, Fu Li felt that it was unexpected, yet reasonable.
Qin Shi Huang's political literacy... even if he was only a half-formed Qin Shi Huang, his political literacy was unmatched by ordinary people.
This kind of thing that can reveal the whole picture from a small part did not surprise her at all when it happened to Ying Zheng.
Fu Li praised him, "I originally thought you wouldn't realize this until the Central Plains was unified and we officially entered into contact with Shu. It seems I underestimated you. Zheng'er is more intelligent than I imagined."
Young Ying Zheng smiled shyly: "It's all thanks to the teacher's good teaching."
"No, you don't need to be modest. Talent is something you can't buy through teaching." Fu Li shook her head slightly and said firmly, "A good teacher can teach mediocre people to become talented, but they can't raise their potential."
Seeing Ying Zheng's lips curled higher and higher, and his eyes curved into crescents, Nezha said with a smile: "It is also because of my good vision, my sister, that the two disciples under my tutelage are both extremely talented.
Although Zheng'er lacks some military skills, he is the ruler of a country and doesn't need to personally participate in the battles, so this shortcoming is not a big deal."
Ying Zheng's smile faded, and he gritted his teeth. He said with a forced smile, "I've always heard from Teacher Yin that you had a disciple before you, Zheng. I just don't know who he was. Since he's so talented, why don't you write a letter and invite him to Qin to discuss our plans?"
Nezha had to suppress the smile on his face.
Seeing him like this, Ying Zheng snorted in his heart with pride: I told you to always spoil the fun, do you really think I can't deal with you?
Through past observations and summaries, Ying Zheng knew that the two teachers, for some reason, could not reveal their pasts. His so-called senior brother, who was also a disciple of the two teachers in the past, was probably also a person who could not be revealed.
Fu Li quietly squeezed Nezha's palm and said to smooth things over: "Okay, both of you stop making trouble. Let's get down to business."
Ying Zheng knew when to stop, and immediately straightened his expression, saying happily: "Teacher really has a solution."
This time it was Nezha's turn to grit his teeth: This kid is becoming more and more difficult to amuse!
Fu Li said, "This solution is simple to say, but it requires absolute courage on the part of the ruler to execute it."
Ying Zheng said confidently, "If it were anything else, I would have given it some thought. But when it comes to courage, I believe I am no less capable than anyone in the world."
Fu Li believed this. If he lacked a little courage, he would not be able to unify the world, and the princes would eventually turn to Qin.
The method proposed by Fu Li was not his own idea, but was directly borrowed from the North-South division list of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Yuanzhang completed the formal unification, he faced a situation of long-term division between the north and the south, and mutual hostility between the people on both sides.
Unity of thought is more difficult than unity of form.
That situation was very similar to the situation in the Central Plains and Shuzhong that Ying Zheng was about to face.
One is that the culture in the south is prosperous and the north is relatively poor; the other is that the culture in Shu is prosperous and the Central Plains is relatively poor.
If Zhu Yuanzhang had not divided the list into north and south, he would soon face the situation that Ying Zheng worried about: all the bureaucrats in the world would come from the south.
What consequences will this lead to? The answer was given in the late Ming Dynasty: a large number of bureaucrats in the late Ming Dynasty came from the southeast. After they entered the court system, they not only endlessly tilted policies towards the south and exploited the north, but also opened a large number of schools in the south and cultivated a large number of talents, making the gap between the north and the south even greater.
In the fertile southeast, a large number of tax-free fields appeared due to the imperial examination system, which put all the taxes in the world on the northwest.
Finally, a severe drought and a plague deprived a postman of his last hope of survival, and the whole world was in chaos.
Those who are extremely greedy, endlessly seek profits for their families, collude with fellow villagers, and reap huge benefits for their hometowns, eventually bring their hometowns into the war.
Zhu Yuanzhang had foreseen this scenario, so he ignored the opposition and implemented the division of the list into north and south despite the pressure from the whole court.
Now Ying Zheng has also foreseen it and is preparing for it.
"Divide the list?" Ying Zheng's eyes lit up. "Good idea!"
If separate lists were implemented for Shuzhong and the Central Plains, it would not only balance the number of officials in the two regions, but also accelerate the rallying of the hearts of the people in the Central Plains.
——It takes all the talents of the entire Central Plains to compete with Shuzhong. If we still can’t win, how embarrassing it would be!
After discussing the important matters, it was getting late, so Ying Zheng invited the couple to stay overnight in the palace.
Nezha said, "I have something I need your help with."
Ying Zheng, who was always teased by him, suddenly felt a little flattered: "Teacher Yin, please feel free to tell me if you have anything to say."
——Don’t be so polite, I’m scared.
Nezha rolled his eyes at him and said, "Just find any excuse you want to keep us both in the palace. The longer the better."
Wukong was late in arriving, and Black Mountain Lord had also left and never returned, and he was really worried.
The Bai Shanjun in the mansion was a snow bear spirit from the far north, specializing in ice magic. With a fire spirit whose magic power was sealed, Bai Shanjun was his nemesis.
Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng dropped his joking expression and asked worriedly, "Teachers, what happened?"
The couple looked at each other, and Nezha said, "Now that things have come to this, tell Zheng'er."
Fu Li nodded and looked around. Ying Zheng understood and immediately ordered all the palace maids to leave.
After everyone had left, Fu Li said to Ying Zheng, "Those two who can lift a thousand pounds aren't human, they're two bear spirits. One is a brown bear spirit, and the other is a snow bear spirit from the far north."
Ying Zheng gasped.
Although he had long suspected the two were extraordinary, he hadn't imagined they were so extraordinary. As the human race expanded, the demons gradually withdrew from the Central Plains, hiding in deep ravines or high mountains. From childhood to adulthood, Ying Zheng had only heard stories about immortals soaring into the sky and demons wreaking havoc and devouring people.
He never thought that one day he would get the real thing.
"Are those two teachers mortals?" He finally asked the question that had always puzzled him.
Fu Li said: "We are both human."
She placed emphasis on the word "human race".
Ying Zheng understood immediately and nodded slightly. Excitement surged in his heart, and he asked with trembling hands, "Teacher, can you take a look at Zheng's qualifications? Is it possible for Zheng to achieve immortality?"
Fu Li: “…………”
——For some reason, even though she was already a deity, she still had an indescribable wonderful feeling when she heard Qin Shihuang ask about "immortality".
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