Fan Zhi stayed in Qinzhou for five more days in order to wait for the students from Qinzhou who were going to Liangzhou to take the exam.
During these five days, new edicts continued to arrive from Liangzhou.
All students going to Liangzhou to take the exam can use public mules and horses for free as means of transportation, and the inns along the way can also provide food and accommodation, not only when they go to take the exam, but also when they come back.
But even so, not many people are willing to go to Liangzhou to take the exam, because many people are worried that the government's words will not be kept.
After all, the journey is one thousand, eleven, two hundred miles. If the food and accommodation are not reimbursed, it will be unaffordable for ordinary families.
Fan Zhi nodded aside. It seems that King Zhang's Liang Kingdom is not as powerful as it appears. At least at the most basic level, it has not yet established its prestige.
The people obey general laws, but they still cannot fully trust matters that are closely related to their own interests.
Of course, this is still much better than the Jin State in the Central Plains. The Central Plains has been in constant war for decades, and it can be said that there is no trust between the officials and the people.
The situation in the Liang Kingdom can only be said to be worse than that of Meng, Shu, Southern Tang and Qianyue, but higher than that of the Central Plains.
But when the students rushing to take the exam gathered together, Fan Zhi gained a new understanding.
Because there are a total of 130 students in Qinzhou who are going to take the exam. It looks like a huge number, but in fact, there are 110 warriors who are taking the martial arts test, such as spears, bows, crossbows and riding skills.
An absolute advantage.
Among the remaining twenty people, fourteen of them looked like farmers from the countryside. They were taking the agricultural subject.
There are only six literary scholars left, and there is no one who knows the classics. Among the four, three have clear calculations and one has policy.
You must know that in the Liang Kingdom, Qinzhou, which Zhang Zhao stole from Shi Jingtang, was already the richest state after Liang and Lanzhou, and the most prosperous state in literature.
This is the case in Qinzhou, and it can be imagined in other states.
Sure enough, after everyone passed through Qinzhou and arrived in Weizhou, there were sixty-seven people in Weizhou rushing to take the exam, including sixty-three martial arts athletes, and only one old master in literature who went to take the exam clearly.
Fan Zhi took a small test and was stunned. His level was even lower than that of his thirteen-year-old brother Fan Zheng.
Liu Tao's father Liu Ne was also stunned, but he was not mainly surprised by the level of Confucianism in Hexi, but he was surprised that old farmers who were good at farming could also take the imperial examination.
"Is there anyone in the world who can be awarded an official position just by farming? If so, how dignified is the official body?"
After passing Weizhou, we entered Didao, and then traveled about thirty miles to reach the border of Lanzhou.
Lanzhou at this time was completely different from when Fan Zhi arrived three years ago.
The last time we came here, although there were dozens of rebel cavalry escorts, there were still a large number of Lanzhou thief cavalry who continued to harass and intercept us.
There was even a time when hundreds of thieves adopted the strategy of diverting the tiger away from the mountain, and almost rushed in and hacked Fan Zhi and others to death.
Therefore, as soon as he entered Lanzhou, Fan Zhi felt a little nervous.
But for Liu Na and others who came here for the first time, Lanzhou gave them a very good feeling.
The road is straight, and traces of maintenance can be seen everywhere. There are streets on both sides, and cattle and sheep block the road, giving it a prosperous scene.
Everyone walked for about ten miles, tired and thirsty, and finally saw a small town.
The town's name is Changcastle. It was originally a military fortress that controlled the area between Lanzhou and Weizhou. It was abandoned after it was occupied by the Tubo people.
When Zhang Zhao unified Hexi Longyou, the Chang Castle was rebuilt again.
However, after the reconstruction, the military role was greatly reduced. Instead, a small town with more than 100 households was formed based on this military fort.
The officer of the town is the garrison officer of the Long Castle, and he is also the county lieutenant of Didao County.
As soon as everyone approached, they heard a loud noise with gongs and drums in the town, which was very lively.
When the county captain saw that they were students from Qin and Wei states who had come to take exams, he quickly came over and invited them to watch the ceremony.
It turns out that Lanzhou is closer to Liangzhou. Those who took the agricultural exam have finished their exams, and those who have received honorary titles are celebrating.
Only then did Fan Zhi know what the agricultural department established by King Zhang was for.
Unlike Ming Jing and other subjects where the number of students is too small, students from all Liang Kingdoms need to take the exam together to create an atmosphere.
It is not used in martial arts, where one can distinguish one from the other, and one needs to wait until everyone competes together.
The assessment of agricultural subjects is very simple, including the mastery of the four seasons and eight seasons, proficiency in breeding and selection, how to interplant crops and fruits in various places to achieve the highest yield, how to fertilize the land, and the maintenance and use of farm tools.
These are all quantifiable, and there are no questions that are leaked or not. It is also very clear to determine whether you have passed the entrance examination, so the agricultural science examination is very simple.
Moreover, the students who took the Agricultural Science Examination were not as high as those who came from the Civil and Military Examinations. Zhang Zhao designed a scoring standard. Those who scored above the score line would take the Mid-term Examination. After the Mid-term Examination, the starting point was generally Chengxin Lang of the ninth grade.
This low-level military attache can be given several bolts of cloth, two hundred catties of corn and a small amount of salt, sugar and tea a year.
The biggest advantage is that after obtaining an official status, after returning to the village, the status will of course be much higher than that of ordinary farmers, and many can also serve as village elders and the like.
The main task is to teach and promote his farming skills to surrounding farmers.
Each Chengxinlang is responsible for teaching as few as seventy or eighty households, as many as more than one hundred households, and is evaluated every year based on the yield per mu of the farmers he teaches.
Every year during the slack season, Chengxinlang from all over the country would gather together on a state-by-state basis to exchange ideas, arrange farming times, and coordinate the distribution of cattle and water sources.
Of course, this is the most basic test candidate. In addition, there are two situations where Cheng Jie Lang and Baoyi Lang can be awarded the ninth grade.
Among them, Baoyilang will also have the title of doctor of agriculture, and the amount of rice, cloth, salt, tea, sugar, etc. he receives every year is much higher than that of Chengxinlang, who is from the ninth grade.
But the premise is that they cannot return to their place of origin, they must wait for the selection of the officials, and then arrange to teach agriculture in places where Hu and Han live together.
It is not an easy task for a person to leave his hometown and become an official, let alone a position that is not an official position.
There is a lot of excitement in the Chang Castle today because they have three agricultural doctors here who will be assigned to the nearby Hezhou to teach the Qiang people how to farm.
Fan Zhi glanced at the Qiang leader who came to greet the three agricultural doctors and couldn't help but sweat for them.
These Qiang people wore thick leather robes and carried long hard bows on their backs. At first glance, this kind of bow was not used for ordinary hunting, but for killing people on the battlefield.
One of the Qiang leaders had several stab wounds on his face, and a thick callus on his right hand. A yellow sheep weighing twenty or thirty kilograms was held in his hand as easily as a chicken.
Fan Zhi had already begun to imagine in his mind that the thin farmers were assigned to the Qiang tribe, which was as barbaric as tigers and wolves.
I wonder what kind of fate awaits him? Maybe even if he dies, no one will know, right?
Liu Na, who not long ago was unhappy with Zhang Zhao's introduction of agricultural subjects and lowering the status of officials, also felt sorry for him.
Living in the wilderness is a tragic event that can be called catastrophe for any Han Chinese.
‘Bang!’
This was the sound of a huge gong. Fan Zhi and others looked towards the place where the gong sounded, and saw a mighty wooden statue being carried out by a group of soldiers.
In front of the statue, more than a dozen monks in silk robes were chanting Buddha's name, and many people were burning incense and kneeling in worship.
Fan Zhi took a closer look at the statue. It was a statue of a god wearing armor, holding a somewhat strange three-pointed two-edged sword, and wielding an eagle to drive away dogs.
The most peculiar thing is that there is a vertical eye in the middle of the forehead, and his appearance is majestic.
It's just..., Fan Zhi took a closer look and felt that the golden armor on this statue looked so familiar.
In terms of appearance, hey! If you don't pay attention to the vertical eye, he is 60-70% similar to King Zhang.
Suddenly, Fan Zhi turned around and looked again. When the dozen Qiang leaders saw the statue, they immediately knelt down and put their heads on the dirt. They were extremely pious. How could they compare to the eagles and wolves just now?
An unruly look.
"Supreme Heaven's Great Merciful Dharma King Bodhisattva. Qingyuan Wonderful Way Reveals Saint Erlang Zhenjun."
This is the purple flag held by two monks around the statue with black characters on it. Liu Tao's father, Liu Ne, read it softly.
He was stunned for an instant. This title that was half Buddha and half Tao was very meaningful!
That's right, King Zhang Zhao now wants to raise his own divinity and snatch Erlang Shen's right to identity.
The worship of Erlang God was actually very popular from Sichuan to Gansu and then to Qinghai at this time, and even existed in Guanzhong now. Later generations generally believe that there are three sources.
Li Erlang said that God Erlang was the second son of Li Bing who built Dujiangyan, or he was Li Bing himself.
Zhao Erlang said that he believed that Erlang God was the swordsman Zhao Yu who lived in Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan.
Yang Erlang said that he is the most familiar God Erlang who saved his mother from the mountain.
However, these three statements are not valid at this time.
Li Erlang said that it has not taken shape at the moment.
Zhao Erlang was created by international students from Wuguocheng to put money on his face.
To put it bluntly, Zhao Erlang was created by Song Huizong based on himself.
Yang Erlang was mainly born in the Ming Dynasty and would not be born for several hundred years.
However, the worship of Erlang God was already very popular at this time. After Zhang Zhao's frequent investigations, he found that there were two and a half accurate sources.
The first one is the Zongmu worship of the ancient Shu Kingdom. This kind of statue was unearthed in Sanxingdui in later generations. It should be the worship of their leader by the ancient Shu people in ancient times.
It most likely originated from the period of Cancong and Yufu, but later the period of Cancong and Yufu were too far away, and it was gradually personified into Li Bing's son who was related to water.
The second one is the Zongmu worship that originated from the Di Qiang people. This should be the admiration and fantasy of the Di Qiang people for their heroic ancestors in ancient times. At this time, it has gradually been personified in Yang Nandang, the king of Houqiu Chi Kingdom.
The third source is only half of it, and it should be influenced by Buddhism.
At this time, there was a Buddha in Buddhism named Dujian, whose image was Zongmu. He was the second son of Pimenshaten, and he was also an Erlang.
At this time, there were also two theories that were circulated during the Tianbao period: the independent spiritual manifestation protected Tang Xuanzong and protected the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty. It was probably promoted by Buddhist monks, so it can be counted as half.
After having some time off, the popular worship of Erlang God was instantly captured by Zhang Zhao. He, Zhang Erlang, was also an Erlang!
And now, in Longyou, Hexi Province, the legend that Zhang Erlang was granted the Golden Armor by Heaven has become popular.
Qi Xiaohu, in particular, would brag to everyone he met, saying that that night at his mountain stronghold, God granted Zhang Zhao golden armor and divine soldiers, and also sent down thunder from heaven to help Zhang Zhao kill the horse thieves of Ge Du's tribe.
With personal experience, Bai Congxin, Qiongre Duojin, Huang Yingda and others also began to boast that they were defeated by Zhang Zhao who was possessed by Erlang Shen.
At Zhang Zhao's suggestion, Hexi Buddhists also began to add fuel to the flames, because they wanted to enter the Qingtang Plateau and the north of the Altai Mountains to preach.
So within two or three months, the rumor that Dharma King Bodhisattva was Erlang's True God quickly spread throughout the Liang Kingdom.
Amidst the roar of drum music, the county captain of Gangu County stood arrogantly in front of more than a dozen Qiang leaders.
"Dharma King Bodhisattva thinks of you sincerely, and thanks to the entreaties of the masters of Black Rock Temple, he has given you a golden statue. After you return, he will bless you and all your animals to prosper.
These three agricultural doctors were taught by Dharma King Bodhisattva. The farming techniques they taught were divinely taught techniques and must be studied carefully.
There will be a good harvest of grain and rice next year, so don’t forget to report the good news to Dharma King Bodhisattva!"
The Qiang leaders could not suppress their ecstasy. When they raised their heads, their faces were filled with submission and the joy of being cared for by the gods.
When looking at the three thin agricultural doctors, their faces were full of respect.
"Please rest assured, officials, I will definitely study hard and go to Liangzhou to announce the good news for this autumn harvest!"
"This..., is this okay?" Fan Zhi's three views were shattered.
As a Confucian scholar who respected ghosts and gods, he did not expect that King Zhang would become a god so soon, and he always felt uncomfortable with it.
"Okay! Of course!" On the contrary, it was Liu Tao's father Liu Ne who got excited.
"What a clever method! If these millions of Di Qiang people can be worshiped as gods, there will be great things to do. I think your king will achieve great things!"
"It's a pity that there are too few literary people!" Fan Zhi's thirteen-year-old brother Fan Zheng already understands some things.
He felt that everything in Liang Kingdom was good, except that the proportion of warriors seemed too high.
"Less is better! You can't rely on civilians to conquer the world. Only with more soldiers can you achieve great things."
And there are so few scribes, isn’t this our chance? I’m only fifty-one, maybe I can still show off my skills!”
Liu Ne was completely excited, and he felt that his heart, which was about to beat, came to life again.
This chapter has been completed!