"You're going to take the exam?"

Looking at Wen Qi standing in front of him, Zhao Hongrun's expression was a little strange. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Of course, Zhao Hongrun recognizes Wen Qi's talent, who can not only serve a cup of poetry, but also write a pen to govern the country and secure the country, and is a leader among typical scribes.

The problem is that Wen Qi has been blacklisted by the imperial court, who let this kid cheat in the examination hall three years ago?

It's okay to cheat yourself, but to help a few straw bags who don't have much ink in their chests to cheat, because of this, the imperial court defines Wen Qi's fraud as "malicious fraud" - that is, Wen Qi cheats not for the sake of his career, but to make the Ministry of Rites and the court lose face.

If it weren't for Zhao Hongrun's appearance, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment would never have let this guy who ruined the reputation of the court and affected the face of the court get out of the cage so easily.

And at this moment, this guy actually wants to take the exam?

"......" Zhao Hongrun tilted his head and looked at Wen Qi, looked at the latter and said calmly: "I have inquired below, this year's examination ceremony has lowered the threshold, even if there are no qualified students in the township examination, they can also participate in the examination of Daliang." ”

Listening to Wen Qi's words, Zhao Hongrun's eyelids jumped.

It is undeniable that Wen Qi is really right, because Du You, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, hopes to suppress the people's enthusiasm to join the army and desire for war that have been bred by the frequent victories in foreign wars in the past few years through this year's examination, and at the suggestion of Zhao Hongrun, the threshold for the examination has been rarely lowered.

This is not to say that the township examination has lost its significance, but it can only be said that the imperial court has mercifully given the unsuccessful candidates of the township examination a chance -- this year's general examination will have an additional round of preliminary examination in March to eliminate those who try to fish in troubled waters among the large number of students, while candidates who have passed the township examination do not have to take the preliminary examination in March and can directly participate in the main examination in April.

Such an arrangement can not only increase the number of candidates, increase the scale of the examination, and use this momentum to suppress the faintly noisy military merit system, but also to recruit those outstanding talents who have fallen behind Sun Shan in the township examination for various reasons.

Unexpectedly, Wen Qi was actually brought in.

Looking at Wen Qi with a calm expression, Zhao Hongrun smacked his lips and said with a strange expression: "That's right...... But can you get in the door of the test? ”

You must know that he, Zhao Hongrun, is only the chief examiner instructed by Wei Tianzi, but the entire examination is still run by the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites hates Wen Qi, the "crazy student" who made them lose face back then.

Zhao Hongrun had no doubt that once the official of the Ministry of Rites who knew how to test the name saw the name of "Wenqi", it was very likely that he would be furious and ask the invigilator to expel him.

"Then it's up to you, Your Highness." Wen Qi said indifferently: "Wen worked hard in Shangshui County some time ago to take care of the fiefdom for His Highness, I believe that His Royal Highness will be able to meet his small request." ”

"A small request, you are asking me to slap the face of the Ministry of Rites......

Zhao Hongrun smiled bitterly.

But then again, Wen Qi is really good in Shangshui County, as far as Zhao Hongrun knows, the five county towns that were destroyed by the war at the beginning have been revitalized under Wen Qi's management, and the hatred between the people of Zhaoling County and the neighboring counties has also been controlled.

Zhao Hongrun also heard a little about Wen Qi's strategy of managing the more than one million Chu people: Wen Qi adopted a management method similar to the "army system", setting up affairs such as tun chiefs and lieutenant chiefs, managing one layer at a time, so that the upper and lower levels were in order.

As for the standard of rent collection, Wenqi set it as "fifty percent after excluding surplus grain" - it is not black to say that the heart is black, and it is not black to say that it is not black, but it is also black.

However, this rent collection standard was supported by the more than one million Chu people, because Wen Qi's rent collection standard made them feel at ease - after all, it was fifty percent after removing the grain needed by each household, that is, no matter whether the harvest was good or bad, the farmers who cultivated the land could at least ensure that the whole family had enough food.

In other maps of Chu and Wei, which were not Shang Shuiyi, the standard of rent collection was calculated directly according to the harvest, and if the harvest of that year was not good, how much should be paid.

Of course, the situation on the Wei side was slightly better, because the local government would take the lead depending on the harvest situation, asking for tax reductions and even the distribution of relief grain; And in the state of Chu, heh, the civilians who starve to death every year in the state of Chu may be greater than the number of casualties in foreign wars.

What made Zhao Hongrun feel even more eye-catching was that Wen Qi also took into account the laziness of the cultivators.

He was worried that the cultivators would burn out because of this rent collection standard, so he added another criterion: if the harvest of a village cultivator in that year is less than the average yield per mu, the "allowable leased land" will be reduced proportionally in the following year, and vice versa, and it will increase or decrease from year to year.

Spurred on by this strategy, Zhao Hongrun believed that the cultivators of Shangshuiyi would work hard to increase the range of land that could be leased, and the more industrious they were, the higher the amount of taxes Zhao Hongrun would levied each year.

The ingenious thing is that such a reward and punishment mechanism will not arouse the disgust of the cultivators.

Therefore, in Zhao Hongrun's eyes, the remaining five counties of Shangshuiyi can be revitalized, and Wenqi has really contributed to it.

In this case, Wen Qi asked for a reward, and Zhao Hongrun should naturally satisfy him.

But Wen Qi's request was to participate in this year's examination, which really made Zhao Hongrun a little embarrassed, he said with a wry smile: "Can't you change the requirements?" …… Or, this king will marry Lu'er to you? ”

Wen Qi was stunned for a moment, then his face turned a little dark, with a little panic, and said firmly: "I have made up my mind, please make it to His Royal Highness King Su!" ”

Seeing that the last beauty plan also failed, Zhao Hongrun exhaled in distress, he looked at Wen Qi carefully, and asked, "Can you tell this king the purpose of wanting to participate in the examination?" Is it because things are not going well on the king's side? ”

Wen Qi shook his head, his face was a little arrogant, and said, "That's not it, I want to wash away the shame of three years ago......"

"Oh?" Zhao Hongrun asked in surprise: "You mean, let the officials of the Ministry of Rites realize your talent through the article?" ”

Hearing this, Wen Qi glanced at Zhao Hongrun strangely, frowned and asked, "Can those foolish officials recognize my talent, and what does it have to do with me?" ”

Zhao Hongrun was speechless for a moment, and only after half a sound did he ask helplessly: "Then what is your so-called washing shame?" ”

I saw Wen Qi sneering and said: "The defeat three years ago is not because my methods are not clever, but because those fools are too ignorant, this time, I will pick a few clever guys......"

"This guy doesn't die with a thief's heart!"

Zhao Hongrun looked at Wen Qi dumbfounded, he understood it, this Wen Qi was clearly preparing to help others cheat in the examination room.

There are such freaks in the world?!

Opening his mouth, Zhao Hongrun said without saying anything: "Wen Qi, do you know that this king is the chief examiner of this examination......"

Hearing this, Wen Qi showed a slight smile on his face: "Really? In this case, it should be easy for His Highness to get Zai Xia into the list of candidates. ”

"......" Zhao Hongrun looked at Wen Qi speechlessly, he didn't believe that Wen Qi couldn't hear what he said.

"It seems that Wen Qi has a lot of grievances against the Ministry of Rites...... No, he must be trying to play tricks on the officials of the Ministry of Rites again, right?"

Zhao Hongrun shook his head secretly, and after a little thought, he already had an idea.

"Yes." In Wen Qi's surprised expression, Zhao Hongrun nodded and agreed to the matter, and said with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "This king can get you to the examination room, but in the examination room, you will no longer be the king's disciple for the time being, and this king will treat everyone equally......"

Wen Qi was slightly stunned, and then a slightly indescribable subtle expression appeared on his face: "Your Highness is confident that he can see through the means below?" ”

"Try it and you'll find out." Zhao Hongrun said with a smile: "Do you want to gamble?" If you are caught by this king, you will be the king's guest for the rest of your life. …… How? Scared? ”

Looking at Zhao Hongrun's confident expression, Wen Qi's eyes flashed with a little suspicion and solemnity, and then, he pouted and said, "It's really an inferior general who doesn't match your identity...... Bet on it! ”

"Okay." Zhao Hongrun smiled, and the smile made Wen Qi faintly feel a chill in his back: "Since you are going to take the exam, then the rest of the time, study hard in the palace, this year's exam questions are a bit difficult." ”

Glancing at the secretly snickering appearance of His Royal Highness King Su, Wen Qi left a little suspiciously.

It's a pity that for the rest of the time, Wen Qi didn't have the opportunity to study in peace and consolidate his knowledge in the palace as Zhao Hongrun said, because the next day he was called by Lu'er, the family commander of the Su Palace.

Several green crows who had arrived at Suwangfu from Shangshui were surprised to find that Mr. Wen, who was resourceful and commanding in Shangshuiyi, was like a mouse seeing a cat in front of the young and beautiful female family commander of Suwangfu.

In the blink of an eye, at the end of February, there were more and more candidates in Daliang City, not only the inns were full, but the inns in Xicheng were also overcrowded, and in this case, there were still a large number of candidates who could not find temporary accommodation to settle down.

In desperation, Daliang Mansion had no choice but to call on the households in the city to give convenience to the candidates, and for this reason, the Daliang Mansion Zhengchu Shuli set an example and vacated the guest rooms in the house to accommodate the candidates.

Even though there were already many candidates in Daliang, there were still many candidates from various places who heard the news, some rode donkeys and horses and other mounts, some asked for caravans along the way, and some came on foot.

For example, in Xiangfu Port, there is a huge building ship docked, and Wen Shaobo, the son of the Wen family, who has become a wealthy merchant in Anling, sent his brother Jie Zilu with a different surname to Xiangfu Port.

"Young uncle, I'll go by myself." Jie Ziyu was a little embarrassed about his brother's enthusiasm, after all, Wen Shaobo accompanied him to Daliang when he delayed his business, and even prepared to accompany him to participate in the examination throughout the process.

"How?"

Listening to Jie Ziyu's excuse, Wen Shaobo said slyly: "What's more, as far as I know, there are as many candidates in Daliang City as wool at this moment, let you go alone, I'm afraid you won't even be able to find a place to stay...... But don't worry, while you're locked in the house to study your studies, I've already sent someone to buy a few mansions in Daliang, so let's just move in. If I don't go with you, you won't be able to find a place. ”

"......" Jie Ziyu opened his mouth, then shook his head with a wry smile, the reckless brother back then, after several years of business career, has become more and more treacherous.

"By the way, meson, why do you suddenly want to take the exam this year?"

"Because King Su needs people...... Jie Zi Yu muttered.

Zhao Wenlin of the Anling Zhao clan, even this mediocre nobleman of the Ji Zhao clan can be the Pusaka Order, which is really a bad signal in Jie Ziyu's opinion.