The next day, in order to welcome the arrival of 101 Ming Jing Ke candidates, the main hall door of Jingzhou Prefecture Department opened loudly again.
As the place for court meetings in Jingzhou, the main hall is usually closed. It will only be opened on the first and fifteenth day of each month for court meetings, and when major events occur and Liu Biao calls a meeting with ministers.
During this scientific expedition, Liu Jing has opened the main hall twice, which shows the importance he attaches to it.
One hundred and one candidates entered the main hall one by one under the guidance of two leading officials.
Liu Jing's current status is actually not qualified to open examinations to obtain scholars. He is not the emperor, and he is not even the chief official of Jingzhou. His current official position is only General Anyuan and the governor of Lingling. Therefore, facing a large number of candidates, he has no
He sat down to accept the greeting, but stood up and went down the steps to greet him.
Liu Jing looked like a corporal who was courteous and eager for talents, but he could not stick to etiquette. The candidates did not dare to be too high or too low. They strictly adhered to the principle of respect and inferiority. They lowered their eyebrows and lowered their heads. They all bowed and said: "We pay homage to the general...
"
Liu Jing raised his hand to stop it and said with a smile: "Gentlemen, there is no need to be polite, please get up quickly..."
Among the candidates, there were quite a few familiar faces. Liu Jing nodded in greeting one by one, and then said: "Everyone has passed the exam twice in a row and has outstanding talents and learning. They are all the talents of the country. Today, the world is in chaos, people are in ruins, and there are no talents left. I want to save the country from the fire.
To resolve the situation in which all the people are hanging upside down, they should not be able to respond to the power and make changes, open up new schools to recruit scholars, and recruit talented people to jointly support the great cause of restoration. Today, when making policy inquiries, we do not examine the classics and meanings, but rely on political theory. I hope you will encourage me."
"No." None of the candidates were surprised by this. In these troubled times, what Liu Jing needed was a talent for helping the world, not a doctorate in economics.
Liu Jing said some words of encouragement, then nodded to the candidates, turned around and returned to his seat.
At this time, Chief Registrar Jiang Wan stepped forward and announced today's policy question on Liu Jing's behalf: "Why did the country decline? Why did it revive?" The number of words should be more than a thousand words, and the time limit should be one day.
When the candidates heard this, they immediately whispered to each other, "The rise and fall of the country. This topic is too big. It can't be explained in just a thousand words. It requires a long essay of thousands of words."
Fortunately, it is only half way through dinner time, and there are three and a half hours until the sun. The candidates have enough time to think and answer.
With the previous two experiences, all the candidates were able to receive their number plates and sit down easily. Some were quick-thinking and immediately began to write and write, while others were cautious and prudent, frowning in meditation and not writing for a long time.
The exam was quite long, and Liu Jing didn't have the patience to sit there in silence for several hours. After about half an hour, he ordered the chief registrar Jiang Wan to supervise the exam room instead of him, so he went to a separate room to sit and rest, during which he cooked the food himself.
A pot of tea, while drinking, chatting with Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Wang Can and other ministers about the candidates in the main hall.
Liu Jing savored the scent of tea that lingered between his lips and teeth for a long time, and asked a few of his confidants with a smile: "Who do you think can defeat the heroes today and win the championship?"
Zhuge Liang took the lead and said: "Cui Zhouping was born in a famous family and had a wide range of talents and learning. When I was studying in Xiangyang, whenever I discussed world affairs with him, I was often inspired and benefited a lot. With his talents and knowledge, there is no one who can surpass him in my life.
."
Liu Jing was thoughtful when he heard this. Zhuge Liang had such a high opinion of Cui Jun. Of course he would not think that Zhuge Liang was bragging for his friend. Cui Jun must have extraordinary talents.
Among Zhuge Liang's four friends in history, Xu Shu, Meng Jian, and Shi Tao served in the Wei Dynasty. Although their official positions were not high in the end, there are still some records. It is not known whether Cui Jun died early or lived in seclusion, and he did not leave a single word.
Wang Can also proposed a candidate: "Cui Zhouping is certainly a talented person in the world, and Nanyang Liu Gongsi is not bad either, and he can compete with Cui Zhouping. It is a pity that his brother Liu Wangzhi was also a scholar of Chu State, but he was unjustly killed by Liu Biao for his outspoken advice.
.”
Liu Gongsi was Liu Gong, a disciple of Sima Hui, Huang Zhongtongli, and a well-known official scholar. Wang Can had recommended him to Liu Jing before.
His brother Liu Wangzhi was well-known in the world. He worked for Jingzhou. He and his two friends were slandered by the sycophants because of their integrity and were executed by Liu Biao.
When Liu Jing raised his troops for the Northern Expedition, he issued a proclamation against Liu Biao. He used Liu Wangzhi as an example to criticize Liu Biao for not distinguishing between right and wrong and for harming loyal people.
After Liu Wangzhi was killed, Liu Gong was afraid of being implicated and did not dare to stay in the official school, so he hid in his hometown. It was not until Liu Jing took over Jingzhou and his teacher Sima Hui sent a letter to recruit him that he returned to Xiangyang.
Pang Tong also believed that Cui Jun and Liu Gong were the most likely to win the championship. He had known them for a long time and knew that both of them had great talents. Looking at the younger generation in Miannan, there was really no one who could compare with them.
Even Xi Zhen, whose reputation is second only to him, is slightly worse. Of course, Pang Tong did not include himself.
Time passed quickly as a few people chatted, and in a blink of an eye it was noon. It had been nearly two hours since the exam started, and I almost finished writing if I wanted to write quickly.
Thinking of this, Liu Jing immediately ended the conversation and returned to the main hall. He walked leisurely among the candidates and checked their opinions. Some insights made him secretly applaud, while others made him shake his head.
Walking and looking all the way, Liu Jingxing arrived in front of Cui Jun's desk. The latter was still writing at the desk, and the article he had written was placed beside the desk.
Liu Jing looked at it carefully and couldn't help but secretly praise: "Good calligraphy." His eight-point calligraphy, with twists and turns, has already entered the hall. In terms of calligraphy alone, it is undoubtedly the first among the candidates.
Cui Jun has such calligraphy skills, but it is normal. It should be known that the Cui family of Boling built his family on literature and was a Confucian scholar. Cui Jun's ancestor Cui Yuan and his father Cui Shi are both famous calligraphers. Cui Jun is close to the water, so his calligraphy is naturally superior to others.
Looking at his point of view, he believed that the foolish and incompetent monarch should bear the primary responsibility for the decline of the Han Dynasty. His words were fierce and authentic: "The foolish ruler of the descendants grew up in a deep palace and was raised in the hands of women. His trust and love
Those who are flattering and flattering; those who favor nobles and riches, are all the concubines and concubines of the house...appointing eunuchs, imprisoning the good, neglecting the common government, selling nobility and promoting officials, so that everyone in the world hates the Han..."
Although he did not name him by name, anyone could tell that he was talking about Emperors Huan and Ling.
Then Cui Jun launched a fierce attack on his relatives and eunuchs, saying: "The previous dynasty lost its dignity because of its relatives, and this dynasty fell because of its eunuchs."
It is precisely because of their relatives that the eunuchs have controlled the government for a long time, disrupted the government, forced the wise to retreat to poverty, and relegated the loyal to inferior positions. This led to disappointment from far and near, which led to the rise of traitors and chaos in the world...
When talking about how to revive the Han Dynasty, Cui Jun believed that "inheriting the shortcomings of a hundred kings is worthy of misfortune". Today, it is no longer possible to achieve the Eighth Dynasty of Pure Law (Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors). Now the only way to save the country is to use
Hegemony.
Liu Jing continued to read, and the more he read, the more familiar he became. Cui Jun's statement of "abandoning moral education and using hegemony" was quite similar to the views in a book he had recently read.
Liu Biao may not be a man who wants to dominate the world, but he has made great contributions to the world in terms of literature. Not to mention the official school he runs, which is even better than Xudu Taixue. Just talking about books, since the troubled times, scholars and people have been displaced, and classics have been lost.
A few days ago, after Liu Biao settled in Jingzhou, he "searched for suicide notes everywhere, wrote new ones, and kept the old copies. As a result, the collection of classical tombs filled the prefecture."
It can be said that Liu Biao's collection of books is so rich that if he were to be called second, no one in the world would dare to be called first.
Of course, now Liu Jing has been benefited for nothing.
Liu Jing happened to be reading Cui Shi's book "Political Commentary" recently, and Cui Jun was Cui Shi's concubine, and the article he wrote referred to "Political Commentary", so Liu Jing felt familiar with it.
In fact, Cui Jun did not blindly copy the comments in "Political Commentary", and some of his personal views also made Liu Jing feel bright.
But it is undeniable that Cui Jun has "Political Commentary" as a reference, which can be said to be from a superior position, which gives him an advantage when facing many competitors.
Cui Juncai's learning is already the best among all students, and with the blessing of Cui Shi, a writer, political commentator, and thinker, who else should be the first to give him the blessing?
…………
"Dang! Dang! Block!..."
In the afternoon, the clear sound of chimes resounded in the empty hall, and the few remaining candidates looked anxious. Under the repeated urging of the invigilators, they slowly handed in their examination papers.
Compared to the empty main hall, the banquet seat next door was full of people at this time.
Each candidate can have as little as a few thousand words, as many as tens of thousands of words. Hundreds of candidates can have hundreds of thousands of words. It was impossible for Liu Jing to read them one by one. He asked Zhuge Liang, Wang Can, Pang Tong, Jiang Wan, Han Ji, and Liu Xian
The other officials reviewed the examination papers together with Song Zhong, Qi Wukai, Sima Hui and other invigilators, selected outstanding works, and submitted them to Liu Jing for review.
When the last few test papers were delivered, Liu Jing glanced at them briefly and saw that there was nothing surprising. He coughed lightly and then said to everyone in the room: "Now that the exam is over, who do you think is the best countermeasure for this time?"
?”
As the examiner of the exam, Song Zhong was the first to speak: "Bo Ling and Cui Zhouping's articles are exquisite, and they know everything from political gains and losses to military strategies. They can be called Boda and should be ranked first."
Wang Can gently nodded and said: "Although Cui Zhouping has inherited the benefits of his predecessors, he also has his own unique insights. He who has never had any faults in his life can be ranked first."
Zhuge Liang was very happy for his friend and said with a smile: "Cui Zhouping is a famous scholar in Jizhou. It was not his intention to take the exam this time. With his talent, he deserves to be ranked first."
The rest of the people also agreed that Cui Jun won the first prize, which can be regarded as a victory that everyone expected.
Liu Jing immediately complied with the popular sentiment and named Cui Jun first, and then discussed with everyone the second and third places.
Since the first place was given to Cui Jun, a northerner, for the sake of balance, the second place cannot be given to a northerner no matter what, but must be given to a Jingzhou native.
Sima Hui, Wang Can and others nominated Liu Zhen, Song Zhong, Pang Tong and others nominated Xi Zhen. The two received the most support, but Zhuge Liang was different from others and nominated Yang Yi.
Yang Yi's reputation is far less than that of Liu Zhen and Xi Zhen. Zhuge Liang did not know Yang Yi in the past and knew very little about him. However, Yang Yi wrote a brilliant policy essay, which was thousands of words long. After reading it, Zhuge Liang was amazed.
He exclaimed: "Mr. Yang Weigong is truly the most talented person in the royal family!"
Liu Jing was not surprised at all that Zhuge Liang valued Yang Yi so much. Historically, Zhuge Liang cherished Yang Yi's talents very much. Even though he and Wei Yan were incompatible with each other, Zhuge Liang could not bear to show partiality.
Liu Jing lowered his head and looked through Yang Yi's policies again, and had to admit that although Yang Yi had a narrow temperament and shortcomings in moral character, he was indeed extremely talented.
It is precisely because of his amazing talents that in history, when Yang Yi went to Guan Yu, Guan Yu valued her, when he met Liu Bei, Liu Bei treated him favorably, and when he entered the Prime Minister's Palace, Zhuge Liang regarded him as a weakling.
Regarding Yang Yi, Liu Jing still had doubts in his heart and was not in a hurry to make a decision. He then turned his attention to Liu Zhen and Xi Zhen's examination papers.
Liu Xian's articles are also very wonderful, but they are mostly based on Confucian views, frequently quoting scriptures, and often refer to the meanings of the Spring and Autumn Period and the words of sages.
Liu Jing's evaluation of Liu Yao was that his writing was better than that of Yang Yi, but his strategy was inferior.
Liu Jing tapped his fingers on the desk unconsciously, thinking over and over again in his mind. If he was choosing talents, he would choose Yang Yi. If he was choosing virtues, he would choose Liu Xi.
As for Xi Zhen, his talent is not as good as Yang Yi's, and his virtue is not as good as Liu Kui's. He is a bit mediocre, which does not match his great reputation in Xianghan.
Liu Jing thought for a long time, and finally thought that if Yang Yi stayed in the middle of the court in history, he would be at odds with Liu Ba, and if he joined the army, he would become enemies with Wei Yan. His character flaws were too great. If he were to be placed under Cui Jun, the leader of Jingchu, he would still have the tail. Can't he fly to the sky? So he abandoned Yang Yi and made Liu Zhi the second.
Liu Jing did not choose Xi Zhen for third place, but chose Hedong Pei Hui.
The Pei family in Hedong had a surname for generations. Pei Hui's father, Pei Mao, was ordered to lead the generals in Guanzhong to attack the rebel Li Jue in the early days of Jian'an. He was awarded the title of lord for his merits.
His elder brother Pei Qian was recommended by Wang Can and joined Liu Jing's army a few days ago. He was appointed as the Lingshi of Xicao, assisting Xicao in handling Hanji, and presiding over the official affairs of General Anyuan's palace.
Pei Qian was a learned and talented man, but he was disrespected by his father because he was dissolute when he was young and did not practice meticulous practices. Pei Hui was the opposite. He had been clean and observant since he was a child, and he was very fatherly, so he was very popular with his father Pei Mao. of joy.
Pei Hui was several years younger than his elder brother Pei Qian, but he was equally talented and knowledgeable. He excelled in his class and was ranked third by Liu Jing.
Next, Liu Jingding and Shi Tao were ranked fourth, and the well-known Xi Zhen was only ranked fifth.
Liu Jing is not biased against Xi Zhen, but in terms of policies and opinions, he does not live up to his reputation. If he were not worried about public opinion and aroused criticism, his ranking might be a few lower.
The sixth is Yin Mo, a native of Guanghan in Yizhou. The land of Bashu has always valued modern texts but not chapters and sentences. Yin Mo felt that Bashu was not knowledgeable enough, so he traveled to Xiangyang and sought advice from Song Zhong and Sima Hui. If he only studied the meaning of the classics, He might win the championship.
The seventh is Liu Min, a native of Lingling in southern Jingnan, who is Jiang Wan's cousin. Both of them are well-known. Later Liu Min went north to Xiangyang to study, and Jiang Wan became Liu Jing's confidant.
Pang Lin and Luo Meng were from Xiangyang, ranked eighth and ninth respectively. Pang Lin was Pang Tong's younger brother, and Luo Meng also came from a wealthy family in Xiangyang. Both of them were outstanding figures among the young generation in Miannan.
Liu Jing ranked Yang Yi tenth. Zhuge Liang believed that Yang Yi's ranking was too low. With his talent, Yang Yi could be ranked among the top five or even the top three. No matter what, Yang Yi should not be ranked only tenth.
However, Liu Jing's attitude was very determined, and Zhuge Liang had no choice but to accept the result.
After Liu Jing personally finalized the top ten, he stopped talking and left it completely to his subordinates. Song Zhong and others were the main invigilators, with Zhuge Liang, Wang Can and others as assistants. Everyone spoke to me and drafted the exam in less than an hour. Okay, here’s the list of A and B.
At only sixteen years old, the young talent Ma Liang, who was highly regarded by Liu Jing, only ranked forty-seventh and failed to enter the first class.