When the night fell, Sun Tzu finally finished the exam on the Art of War.

The examination room was empty, and there were logisticians everywhere who were busy adding oil to lamps and inkstones.

Liu Bei yawned slightly. He looked up to see what time it was, but it turned out that the sky was unclear and the moon was not visible.

Turning his head and looking at Guan Yu, Liu Bei asked, "It's not too late, do you still want to take the exam?"

Guan Yu had no idea, so he hesitated and said, "How about asking Xi'er?"

When Guan Yu and Liu Bei returned to the city lord's palace together, they were about to ask questions about the exam. As soon as they entered the house, they saw no one on the table, only piles of paper piled high on the table.

After walking a few steps forward, Liu Bei saw that Li Mengxi had fallen asleep behind a tall pile of paper.

"Xi'er?" Liu Bei called softly.

Li Mengxi was sound asleep and motionless.

He came over, leaned over and carefully took the cinnabar pen still held in Li Mengxi's hand. Liu Bei took off his coat and carefully marked it on Li Mengxi.

Looking up, Liu Bei waved his hand to Guan Yu, signaling to leave.

Originally, I wanted to ask about the progress of the exam, but when I came back, I saw that Li Mengxi was so tired that he fell asleep correcting the test papers. When Liu Bei and Guan Yu saw this, they decided to finish the subject as quickly as possible no matter what.

Li Mengxi didn't want to wait all day and wanted to finish correcting the test papers earlier. He was so tired that he hurried to work in the fields just to finish the scientific examination early.

Everyone has close relatives and friends. When Liu Bei and Guan Yu saw Li Mengxi's tired appearance, they felt distressed. Feeling so distressed, they didn't care whether the scholars were tired or not.

In Julu City, the scholars thought they could go to rest, but not long after, the messenger came again, saying that Team A for the first round of reference was assembled, and the others left the city to stand by.

No one was allowed to sleep at night, and many people complained loudly.

Late at night, the exam continued.

Passed the fourth subject, which is "Ordnance General Knowledge".

When Jian Yong arrived at the examination room for the second round, he saw that the test paper was full of pictures. There were many vivid pictures of weapons, armors, horses, vehicles, etc. drawn on the test paper.

Jian Yong was surprised just by looking at the exquisiteness of the pictures.

In the test paper, Jian Yong was able to answer questions about the names of various weapons based on pictures; Jian Yong was mostly able to answer questions about the functions of weapons; Jian Yong was often hesitant and unsure about the weight of weapons and usage scenarios on the battlefield;

There are also questions about the cost and manufacturing time of the weapon, etc. Jian Yong can only write down the price of the sword and the manufacturing time, because Jian Yong once found someone to make a good sword, so he is familiar with it, but other things

It was like bows, crossbows, spears, etc. Jian Yong was at a loss and couldn't answer.

Only those who really know the battlefield and have combat experience can answer 60% of the content of "Ordnance General Knowledge", and only those who are proficient in logistics can get more than 90% of the score in this paper.

After a few rounds, after midnight, the "Ordnance General Knowledge" exam was also completed.

At this time, the scholars gathered in Julu City to discuss the test questions and answers. Naturally, some people were happy and some were worried about the results of the discussion.

It was already late at night, and the scholars thought they could finally go back to sleep. However, not long after, the messenger came again, and they had to take the exam.

At this time, the scholars had mixed emotions. They complained that it was too tiring to study all night, and they were also surprised that there were so many categories of exam questions, and there were still more after a day of exams.

The fifth subject is "Military Logistics".

When Jian Yong came on the stage, he was deeply tired and yawned repeatedly. He picked up the lamp and put it on the test paper. When he saw the question, Jian Yong said to himself that it was another test on the art of war.

In the process of answering the questions, there are many calculations and many matters in the paper, such as the transportation and preservation of grain and grass, such as the method of dividing grain and grass, such as the accounting and collection of grain and grass, etc.

These many complicated issues were asked to be written by Jian Yong, who had not personally experienced the war. Jian Yong actually felt good about writing, and Jian Yong found it simple.

Among all the test papers, none is really easy. If Jian Yong thinks it is easy, then this must be Jian Yong's problem.

For example, the question in the test paper was, "What is the method of supplying grain, grass, firewood, etc. during the march?" Jian Yong simply answered and raised supplies nearby.

However, in addition to the method of raising supplies during the march, there are also fishing and hunting methods, stocking methods, and gathering methods. Jian Yong only answered "raising" from the nearest place. This raising probably includes robbing places.

Meaning, however, this method of supply has long been an option that has been ruled out by the rebels.

Jian Yong felt good about himself and there were many scholars who answered the questions. Among the volumes of military strategy, the logistics volume would have the worst score.

In one day and one night, I took five subjects in a row and took more than 30 exams in batches. When the last round of the logistics paper was finally completed, it was already half past midnight, that is, around three or four in the morning.

At this point, when it was almost dawn, Liu Bei and Guan Yu finally let the scholars go back to rest, and told them to rest early and take the exam again at dawn.

They had been invigilating the exam for a whole day. As soon as things stopped, Liu Bei and Guan Yu immediately felt exhausted both physically and mentally.

Dragging heavy steps, Liu Bei and Guan Yu returned to the city lord's palace. Liu Bei walked over and looked at Li Mengxi. Seeing that Li Mengxi was still sleeping soundly, he smiled. Liu Bei went to take out a quilt from the side room and carefully handed it to him.

Li Mengxi covered it.

Then, Liu Bei and Guan Yu casually found a quilt on a short table, covered their heads, put their arms on the short table, rested their heads on their arms, and fell asleep hastily.

Soon, near dawn, the rooster crowed.

Li Mengxi opened his eyes in shock. As soon as he woke up, the bedding fell off. He propped himself up and wiped the drool from his mouth. He found that the room had become dark for some time. He recalled in confusion.

After a while, I got tired from changing and changing, so I wanted to squint for a while before continuing to change. As a result, I fell asleep. By accident, it was already dark.

Then, Li Mengxi saw Liu Bei and Guan Yu waking up.

Then, Li Mengxi was surprised to hear the rooster's crow.

It turned out to be daybreak.

Li Mengxi was even surprised.

The new day is February 10th.

The day started in the morning with countless people exhausted.

Li Mengxi accidentally slept until dawn, but Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and the scholars who finished the exam just before dawn last night, all could not rest for long.

Just after early morning, the exam started again.

Liu Bei did not go to invigilate the exam, but stayed to review the papers. Liu Bei also wanted the exam to end quickly.

The following day, I took exams on "Medicine", "Craftsmanship", "Engineering", "Drawing" and "Astronomy and Geography".

When taking the "Medicine" exam, Jian Yong looked at the pharmacological dialectics of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in the paper. At first glance, he didn't understand it, and he didn't answer much until the end.

When examining "Artisan's Work", Jian Yong had only seen such things as blacksmithing, cutting wood, making carts, and burning pottery. Jian Yong could not describe them in detail, and Jian Yong's confidence was dampened.

"Engineering", which tests water conservancy, mining, road construction, city building, etc., has an exam question that asks, "It took a month to build a three-foot wall. How long did it take to build a six-foot wall?" Jian Yong had given up struggling. I just wrote it casually without thinking about it, two months later.

In addition to testing knowledge, the exam also tests your mentality.

In terms of the difficulty of the questions, some people will become impatient if they can't solve them, and then simply give up, while some people have a calm temperament. Even if they can't solve a problem, they can still calm down and study each problem carefully. Engineering is related, although it is far away from Confucianism. , Scholars have not dabbled in much, but even though they have not dabbled in much, they have always experienced it. If they answer the questions patiently, they can write more or less one or two.

However, many scholars gave up directly. If their character is not strong, it is appropriate to give people some points.

"Drawing" is an interesting volume. The first half of the volume is about drawing common things like chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep, and the second half is about drawings and pictures. Jian Yong found it interesting, even though he couldn't draw, so he took He sketched the pictures casually and drew a few pictures at random. Jian Yong looked at what he had drawn. Pigs were not pigs, and chickens were not like chickens. Jian Yong laughed when he looked at them.

Also, in the volume of "Astronomy and Geography", Jian Yong was asked about Julu's land conditions, hydrology, mountains, rivers, fields, cities and villages, and Jian Yong knew that Julu was ominous.

Later, someone asked, "If you don't know the details of the giant deer, if you know the details in the world, you can write them down."

Jian and Yong were not familiar with Julu, but Jian and Yong were familiar with Zhuojun and Zhuozhou.

Jian Yong started writing with a confident brush.

Like other scholars, he did not know the geography of other places, but he was always familiar with the geography of his hometown. There were hundreds of scholars, and if one person was familiar with one place, he would be familiar with hundreds of places.

As Li Mengxi thought, in the imperial examination, those who have extremely detailed knowledge of the route and geography of a certain place, even if they have no other knowledge, can be regarded as talents as long as they are familiar with the area of ​​a county or even a county and a township. That's enough to be of great use.

Just like the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhang Jiao fought continuously with the government and the army. Most of the places where the fierce battles took place were within the Julu territory. At that time, there were only 10 or 20 people who were familiar with the details of the Julu territory, and there were 10 or 20 living maps. , much more convenient than simple paper maps.

While the scholars were taking exams one after another, at the City Lord's Mansion, Liu Bei and Li Mengxi revised the exam papers for another day.

Fortunately for Li Mengxi, he was used to writing mountains and seas of papers, so the pile of test papers he piled up was not too much at all.

As for Liu Bei, his eyesight was dazzled when he could read the words, and he was numb.

Another day passes.

On the third day, February 11, the scientific examination continued.

This person has a subject about "Laws". It is hard to say whether the subject is difficult or not easy. Fortunately for the scholars, the law of the Han Dynasty is not tested in the paper, but only examples. This makes those who are not familiar with it Scholars who have passed the Han Code have more possibilities to answer questions.

Among the many questions in the law, there is a question, "In a year of famine, some victims steal chickens and ducks from rich families. What should we do?"

When answering this question, 90% of the scholars answered that murderers should be punished with their lives and those who steal should be punished. The difference lies in the severity of the punishment. Some people advocate heavy punishment, while others advocate light punishment.

Jian Yong originally gave the same answer as 90% of the scholars, but after finishing his answer, Jian Yong suddenly remembered what happened earlier. During the banquet earlier, the young military advisor said that the root of the law lies in justice, not dignity.

Jian Yong suddenly realized something. Looking at the questions he had already answered, Jian Yong hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and took a pen to cross out the answers twice and erase them.

Answering the question again, what Jian Yong wrote is that the court has the responsibility to provide relief for natural and man-made disasters, and wealthy families have the obligation to provide relief. If the hungry people are provided with relief, why steal? If someone steals, it must be a failure to provide relief, and it must be

The people's customs are unjust, so the blame lies not with the hungry people, but with the government and the powerful...

Li Mengxi's original intention in asking the question was that human rights are above all else, and there are emergency evacuation laws and so on. Jian Yong's answer is not in line with what Li Mengxi thought. However, among the many answers, Jian Yong is undoubtedly the one closest to the correct answer.

one.

Before the exam started, Li Mengxi was very worried about missing questions, so he took strict precautions. However, even though he was on guard, he still leaked some of the test questions.

At the banquet for Zhuozhou scholars, Li Mengxi talked eloquently about the legal system, which undoubtedly revealed his value orientation.

If the thoughtful people at the banquet at that time, such as Jian Yong, were smart enough, they would have been able to guess the intention of Li Mengxi's question based on what he said at the time.

But what's more, being able to guess the meaning of the question based on what was said at the banquet at that time, having such insight into the subtleties, and really guessing the answer, is also an ability.
To be continued...