In the winter of 1684, the much-anticipated first imperial examination of the Han government officially kicked off. Since the Han army achieved a series of military and political victories in a short period of time, the status of this imperial examination in the minds of Shilin has gradually become heavy, and now people with a little insight can see the current situation clearly, at present, the entire north of the Yellow River can be described as full of war, and the only one on the track in this vast area is only this Han regime, the Qing court is now scattered in other provinces of the local government is just surviving under the offensive of the peasant army, basically there is little energy to engage in any learning and education, The scholars obviously had a considerable understanding of this cruel reality, so after the official announcement of the Han army, a large number of students poured into the city of Beijing.

Although Lin Feng came from later generations, he did not discriminate against the imperial examination in his heart. Moreover, after he learned about the specific situation of the imperial examination from Li Guangdi, he still had a little bit of admiration for this imperial examination. This thing is actually not very strange to him, when he came out of college, for a long time in the state of unemployment, so he has also drilled the hole of the civil service examination, after the comparison of the two, he was surprised to find that this "imperial examination" is still widely implemented in China after hundreds of years, in fact, those so-called "breaking the problem, turning, inheriting, rising, and combining" itself is a very typical political thesis, and the achievements of hundreds of years of progress in later generations, It's just a mess of politics, law, current affairs, and English.

With this understanding, Lin Feng had to evaluate the imperial examination system from a new perspective. After some thought, he felt that this system of official selection has continued from the Sui Dynasty to the present, but it has evolved quite scientifically, and it is indeed difficult to find any fault in terms of the model alone. And the only thing that is unsatisfactory and the most criticized by later generations may be the content of the "Eight Strands". However, this problem was finally exposed by Chen Menglei, and in the days that followed, this Kangxi nine-year second-class jinshi made this illiterate person generally understand the knowledge structure of contemporary intellectuals.

There is no doubt that the classic books of Confucianism are naturally the most important things, and they are called "the foundation of life" in terms of status, and then as intellectuals use the piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song to learn something, as a "cultivation of temperament", but in addition to these, the so-called "application of the world" has also been highly valued by Confucian scholars - in later works of art, Confucian students are always portrayed as animals with an IQ of less than thirty, as if they don't know anything except a few words of "Analects" admonitions, This is of course a very irresponsible slander, after Lin Feng's observation of the officials around him, he found that this is not the case at all, in fact, these Confucian scholars are also a realistic social group, no matter how this has not yet reached the point of "not eating the fireworks of the world", these people who think they are responsible for the living beings in the world have never avoided social reality, many of them have very high attainments in the "study of agriculture and mulberry", Lin Feng has seen many people who can memorize the thick book of "Qi Min Yaoshu" completely, And the slightly worse ones can also recite large sections of the narrative about water conservancy and reclamation.

Based on these understandings, Lin Feng slowly had his own idea in his heart, the imperial examination is indeed a very good thing, but the content mode of this examination should be well modified, and the proportion of agricultural, industrial and commercial knowledge should be appropriately increased. At this time, he was full of contempt for many criticisms of the imperial examination in later generations, and everyone had never taken the imperial examination, so why did you criticize and scold?! In fact, most of the things they criticize have nothing to do with the examination model of the imperial examination, which is only responsible for selecting some people with a higher level of education to serve as a reserve of officials, and never responsible for whether these people are good or bad as officials. The real flaw of that system of bureaucracy is the improper use of cadres, or the lack of a good job training system, imagine that a scholar with no administrative experience is suddenly asked to lead a county, and the disastrous consequences caused by this are naturally expected.

However, at this time, Lin Feng didn't have the courage to suddenly attack the Four Books and Five Classics, not to mention whether others could accept it, as far as he himself was full of sage teachings on weekdays, and he was always courteous, if he suddenly made a sharp turn, I am afraid that the first reaction of his subordinates was that the lord went crazy. In fact, it is not the content of these exams that bothers him at the moment, but the mode of the exam.

The political upheaval in the north has brought several difficulties to the imperial examination. The first problem is the level of this examination - logically speaking, it should be the highest level of the examination, but at present, the number of "lifters" who are qualified to participate in the examination is relatively small, if you are so picky about the qualifications, I am afraid that this imperial examination will become a one-on-one heads-up; The second question is how to calculate this qualification - from the policy of the Lin Feng regime, everything in the original Qing court is in the negation, so from this legal point of view, it is very debatable whether the fame of these so-called "lifting people" and "showing talents" is legitimate, so this leads to the third question - at present, the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites of the Han Military Government has not yet started to work, that is to say, there is no "children's learning" system of its own at all, so is this examination open to everyone? ! - If this is done, the class order of the peasants and industrialists will be on the verge of collapse, and it will not be accepted by Shilin under any circumstances.

After several discussions, the temporary system of the Han government was introduced, because this matter is a "Confucian ceremony", so for the sake of the face of the sage, the Qing court's mistakes in this regard can be forgiven for the time being, in line with the concept of learning, the Han government has a limited recognition of the original Qing government's "lifting" below the fame, but the current situation is complicated, for fear of having a "treacherous villain" forge a fame to invite Xingjin, the imperial examination system has made a great change - all Confucian students with talent qualifications can participate in this examination, The exam is divided into three levels, the first level is the basic cultural test, which is as difficult as the provincial test; The second time is the examination of the Eight Classics, and after passing this pass, it is the Jinshi of the Han government, with official qualifications; And the third time is the "palace test" jointly conducted by Lin Feng and senior officials of the Han Dynasty, the purpose of which is to select suitable officials among these jinshi, and once they pass, they may be released immediately.

The Confucian scholars did not express their disgust at this change, and the particularly conceited guys even welcomed it, especially the people who came to Beijing from other provinces, these arrogant guys fully showed their disdain for the talents they competed with, and boasted about themselves in various taverns and brothels, saying that they hoped that the stricter the system, the better, and that it was best to let those "academically impure" bastards not have a chance to become officials, naturally, in their own opinion, if they couldn't win the exam, it would be a joke, So in the competition against these weak players, no matter how you take the test, it is no problem to mix up the jinshi.

After a few busy days, the number of students who signed up for the exam exceeded 3,000, and after careful investigation, Lin Feng found that almost all the wealthy families in the capital and the big landlord families in Zhili Province had sent their proud sons in order to get a place in this new ruling group. And there are also many masters of preparing for a rainy day in the Shizi Post House next to the Gongyuan - this place has become the most concentrated place in the capital for a while, and many post house staff have made a small fortune, because they provide the most detailed candidate information to the people who inquire about the news.

The chief examiner of this imperial examination was decided by Lin Feng Qiangang, and was determined to be Lin Feng himself and Tang Bin, who was in charge of the affairs of the displaced people--Of course, no one dared to disagree with this candidate, and the reason why Tang Bin had this luck was because he lacked power in the Han army, and the other was because of the consideration of the affairs he was now responsible for--It is conceivable that for a long time, the more than one million displaced people will definitely need a large number of officials to manage, so his demand for talents is relatively the most urgent. And it was also a hint of balance between the marshal and his subordinates.

After the announcement of the examiner's candidates, the traditional "back door" characteristics of the Chinese people are also vividly manifested here, not in the capital of the Tang people are happy to be clean, the Generalissimo's Mansion of Zhongnanhai is really lively this time, during this time, many people who think they have identity and face "famous people" and Han army officials have come to visit Lin Dashuai, and most of them are willing to recommend some "young talents" for Lin Dashuai after enthusiastically giving advice or reporting to the marshal, of course, these people must have been praised by the marshal, Immediately ordered his subordinates to write down their names, and at the same time encouraged these people to work hard to review, let's Lin Dashuai, don't say that the human touch must be full of ten, you put one hundred and twenty hearts, what to do This handsome is only measured.

The reaction of these wall grasses was not what Lin Feng expected, in fact, in his mind, it is not a big deal to give these people some benefits, in the end, the foundation of stabilizing the regime is still put in the first place, and appropriately absorbing local forces to participate in the ruling group is the only way to develop healthily, and as far as he is concerned, he does not plan to guard the government very tightly for the time being, as long as these people don't eat the bear's heart and leopard gall, and stretch out their heads to the army, then it doesn't matter if they give them a few official positions.

Among these people seeking and running for office, what really surprised Lin Feng was the arrival of Dai Zi. After such a long period of contact, Lin Feng has a considerable understanding of Dai Zi, and the same as the imaginary touch, this guy belongs to a career-oriented man, the praise is called "loyal to the king, the upright minister", and the derogatory term is called "I don't know how to advance or retreat, and I am stunned" - among so many high-ranking officials and heavy generals in the Han army, even gangsters like **Sheng dare not confront Lin Feng, but this second stunned man does not eat the set of "under the control of the emperor" at all, and he only promises to be like a Confucian official if he does not talk about his firearms profession on weekdays. But when it comes to science, it's really a bit crazy, it's like a robber to raise money, if Lin Feng doesn't give money, then he will definitely rely on the marshal's mansion and swear not to give up.

When Lin Feng saw him, he was still the same old look, in fact, he seemed to have always been this virtue: for example, his hair seemed to have never been cleaned up, and there were always strands of messy hair left next to his official hat, and in addition, he never seemed to have worn a set of clean clothes, and his body was either black here or there with a few holes, it is said that the wives of this era are very responsible women, and they will take care of their men no matter what, but this guy's wife seems to be a bit different.

"The lowly ordnance superintendent made Dai Zi, see the marshal!" Dai Zi respectfully saluted Lin Feng.

"Oh, Xiao Dai, did you do what I told you last time?!" Lin Feng didn't expect him to come to run for office at first, this idealistic Frankenstein is indeed difficult to associate with the dirty aspects.

"Back to the commander, the strategy you said last time about 'loading a bayonet on a musket', our colleagues in the armory field are still studying," Dai Zi said with a serious expression, "Commander, please forgive me for being blunt - according to the ministers, this so-called 'bayonet' is not necessary at all, and it is definitely a burden to install it, but it will affect the firing of firearms, and I am afraid that even the accuracy and range will be implicated!" ”

"Well...... Cough...... Ahem, it makes sense, it makes sense!! ......" Lin Feng nodded, "But this bayonet still has to be loaded, the last time we fought with Tuhai, the musketeers suffered a lot in hand-to-hand combat, I said Xiao Dai, of course your idea is the most reasonable - but we still have to be practical, right?!" ”

"Well, the commander's order, of course, will never be disobeyed—but the 'bayonet' you told me last time can be disassembled like a dagger, I'm afraid it will definitely not!" Dai Zi politely retorted, "If the 'bayonet' can be self-contained like a dagger, I'm afraid the shape is too big, the barrel of our army's musket is slender, the steel is weak, and it is difficult to withstand the force, and it is really nonsense to carry such a bulky thing!" ”

Lin Feng pinched his nose in embarrassment, the level of this guy's speech was really not ordinarily bad, and now he really realized why Kangxi exiled this person, pointing at the monarch and scolding him for "fooling around", if it was placed on Kangxi's side, he would definitely have to shed his skin if he didn't die.

"——These days, our colleagues in the armory yard have repeatedly calculated, drawn sketches of casting and welding tests, and found a compromise method......" He took out a piece of rice paper from his sleeve and unfolded it, "Boss, please see, if you insist on installing that 'bayonet', then we can only extend a spike in front of the barrel, open it diagonally at the right angle of the trigger crossing, and weld and cast it directly!" ”

"Oh......" Lin Feng looked at it carefully, feeling that this kind of firearm seemed to be a little familiar, and he asked casually, "Is this thing easy to use?!" ”

"Commander, we have let the soldiers test it, and the effect is acceptable, but we estimate that if it is hand-to-hand combat, after stabbing through two or three bodies, there will be ...... bending and breaking."

It's okay to stab two or three people, although you didn't get the bayonet you had in mind, but this will be fine, no matter what, if you don't know how to do it, don't talk nonsense, everything is subject to the opinion of experts. Lin Feng nodded, "Yes, yes, Xiao Dai, if you say it's okay, then it will definitely work, Ben Shuai means that it's best to make the spear a little longer - of course, you can do this, if it doesn't work, forget it." ”

"Xie Dashuai!" Dai Zi bowed and said, "Ahem...... Cough...... Handsome ......"

"Oh, is there anything else going on with Mr. Dai?!"

"Ahem...... Cough...... Handsome," Dai Zi looked scared, his face flushed, "There is a ...... for a humble position"

"Oh?! If you have anything to say, you can say it directly, everyone is your own brother, what is there to say?! Lin Feng put down the teacup and looked at him strangely, he had never seen him like this since he recognized Dai Zi.

"Well...... This, Dashuai," Dai Zi hesitated for a while, and finally said with a wry smile, "I heard that our big man is going to take a scientific examination......

"Ah...... Could it be that Manager Dai also wants to play?! Lin Feng's eyes widened, this Dai Zi seems to only have a reputation until now, could it be that he still has the wish to be a jinshi?!

"No, no...... Dashuai, you misunderstood......" Dai Zi's face turned red, and he hurriedly shook his head and said, "Humble duty...... Cough...... Cough...... I have a wife and brother ......"

"Oh! - "Lin Feng dragged out his tone, and then he suddenly realized, looking at Dai Zi's cute appearance, he almost laughed out loud, alas, what an innocent person! Holding back a smile at the moment, he said, "Why is Wen Kai like this?" As my Han official, it is the right way to recommend talents for me, why do you want to vomit?! - Where is your brother-in-law?! ”

“…… Only...... Just wait in the outer hall......" Dai Zi lowered his head, and his voice was like a mosquito.

Dai Zi's brother-in-law has a good appearance, fair complexion and handsome facial features, which shows that Dai Zi's wife should be of high quality, as soon as he stepped into the threshold, he knelt down and bowed, "Hu Mingren, the little official of the armory, greets my lord!" ”

My lord? Lin Feng was stunned for a moment, "Please get up, please get up-it turns out that Mr. Hu is serving in our army?!" ”

"Don't dare!" Hu Mingren smiled with a smile on his face, "Brother-in-law ordered the younger brother to help in the field!" ”

"I see!" Lin Feng smiled slightly, he turned his head to look at Dai Zi, and asked politely, "I don't know what skills Mr. Hu has?" This handsome is recruiting, if he is really talented, he will definitely not be disadvantaged! ”

"This ......" the corners of Hu Mingren's mouth squirmed, and he secretly looked at Dai Zi.

"Dashuai ......" Dai Zi said with a wry smile, "My wife and brother used to be in business in his hometown, and his family is a time-honored brand of iron casting for hundreds of years, and I also have some opinions on casting......

Lin Feng was stunned, and immediately put away his playfulness, he looked at Dai Zi seriously, "Wen Kai, it's a serious matter, don't be perfunctory and exaggerate!" ”

Dai Zi was stunned, and then his face was angry, "Dashuai, if Dai Zi has false words, please give me the crime of deception!" ”

Lin Feng walked down and patted him on the shoulder with relief, "It seems that Wen Kai's marriage back then should also be quite interesting, you like steel and firearms so much, I'm afraid it must be for nothing, right?" ”

"Dashuai Mingjian...... Humble Jing was the daughter of her neighbor back then, and she played in the ironcraft workshop since she was a child...... So...... This ......" Dai Zi's face was flushed, and he couldn't say anything.

"Hehe, I understand - this time you moved your family south, and the foundation of the Yue family for hundreds of years was not ruined?!" Lin Feng shook his head and sighed, "This can be regarded as a debt to this handsome!" ”

"Under the nest, how can there be eggs, the so-called when it is broken, compared to the life of the family, what is the thing outside the body?!" Seeing that Dai Zi was embarrassed, Hu Mingren, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly raised his head and interjected to explain for his brother-in-law.

"Well, not bad, not bad," Lin Feng had an idea in his heart, he patted Dai Zi's shoulder, "Wen Kai, you go back for the time being, I have to have a deep talk with my other brother!" ”

Dai Zi looked at Lin Feng in disbelief, and then at Hu Mingren, who was also amazed, and said in his heart, what do you have to talk about?! But at this moment, he can only bow and retreat.

"Xiaohu, get up, come and sit down!" Lin Feng smiled warmly, making Hu Mingren feel terrified, and he sat on the side tremblingly.

"I said Xiaohu, you tell me the truth, do you really want to be an official?!"

"Returning to the marshal, what is this official...... That's what my sister meant, though, but of course I ...... Of course, he is also willing to go out to save the people......" Hu Mingren was a little confused.

"Oh, I guess Lord Lingzun Lingtang is gone, and now your sister is in charge of your family, right?!" Lin Feng smiled.

Hu Mingren was taken aback and said, "How does the handsome know?!" ……”

"Hehe, I guessed casually," Lin Feng said with a smile, "To be honest, it's not difficult for you to be an official at all, for the cause of our Han army, your family is so tired that you have even lost your ancestral inheritance, if you want to compensate, I can point you an official position at any time...... But in this way, your family's heirloom will be completely lost! ”

Hu Mingren was still a teenager, and he didn't know the depth of the problem, so he nodded in agreement when he heard the words, "It's a pity, but it's also a matter of no choice." ”

"I said Xiaohu, what would you do if I didn't let you be an official?!"

Hu Mingren was startled, and hurriedly glanced at Lin Feng secretly, seeing his amiable expression with a smile, his heart settled down, and he thought, "If you don't let me be an official, then I will have to revive my family business!" ”

"Oh, what are you going to do?!"

"It's easy to do, we don't dare to hide your old man, now my brother-in-law is a high-ranking official of our Han Dynasty, although he has a strange personality and can't be a man, but the merchants in the north are still very face-saving for us to buy raw materials," Hu Mingren thought for a while and decided to tell the truth, "The marshal doesn't know, there are still a lot of businesses in the territory of our Han army, the biggest one is Zunhua and Datong - these days because of the war, the merchants and craftsmen of those mines have fled, if you don't let me be an official, I'm going to find a way to get my sister out of the money and try her luck at the mine......"

"Good!!" Lin Feng nodded and praised Hu Mingren, "Sure enough, heroes are teenagers - I just said it, what kind of good man is relying on my sister and brother-in-law, we are manly, we have to rely on our own skills!" ”

Hearing the praise of the big handsome, Hu Mingren became more and more excited, "You don't know, big handsome, these days I am helping my brother-in-law at my brother-in-law's side, learning to sit on muskets and artillery, I feel that if this thing is used to get started, it is not very difficult - if I have the capital and a big business, I can also make it, and then I will make the barrel, barrel and those bits and pieces for our big man, and I can also get ahead!" ”

"Oh, what a young man!!" Lin Feng patted him on the shoulder affectionately and encouraged, "Xiaohu, Xiaohu, your idea is very good-you don't know, there was originally a business name called 'Krupp' in Xitai, and he was also born with this kind of small capital, and finally became one of the biggest names in the country......

"How can such a thing happen?!" Hu Mingren's eyes widened, half-convinced, he didn't have this kind of ambition, he only wished that the ancestral industry would be carried forward, even if it was thankful.

"To put it bluntly, Xiaohu, I see that you are a talent, so I don't want to fool you with some bullshit," Lin Feng said solemnly, "This will only make you depressed for the rest of your life!" ”

"Ah...... But ......" Hu Mingren was caught off guard, and suddenly heard that the marshal had cut off his career, and felt a little sad.

"You just do it according to your method, in order to compensate for your family's sacrifice for the big man, Ben Shuai decided to fully support you! - How much silver do you have in your house now?! ”

"And ...... It is estimated that my sister and brother-in-law can come up with 30,000 or 50,000 taels...... "Dai and Hu are both big families in Jiangnan, and they sold all their family property this time, and the accumulated silver is also abundant, Hu Mingren squinted his eyes and calculated carefully, and said hesitantly.

"Hehe, I'm afraid it's more than that, forget it, that's it!" Lin Feng smiled and said, "You go back and tell your sister and brother-in-law, just say that Ben Shuai supports you and asks them to take out 50,000 taels of silver to make this for you, in addition, Ben Shuai is also a good person and helps you 50,000 taels of silver...... Count it as forty percent of the shares! ”

"Thank you, handsome......" Hu Mingren was stunned for a moment, and immediately overjoyed and fell to the ground.

"Don't worry--not only that, but I will also send a document to Zunhua and Datong, and ask the local Han army generals to make it as convenient as possible for you, and from now on, you will be the business of our Han Dynasty - understand?!"

"The kindness of the handsome today, the children and grandchildren of my Hu family will never forget!! ……”

"Okay, okay, don't be polite, don't I have forty percent of the shares? Making money is also earned by everyone! - But I'll put it in front here, in the future, you Hu family business said that the things you produce, especially the sale of weapons, you have to discuss with Ben Shuai, if this is a little bit worse, I'm afraid things will be difficult to do! ......" Seeing Hu Mingren nodding in fear, Lin Feng changed his smiling face, took his hand affectionately, and walked out of the hall, "I said Xiaohu, your brother-in-law is a genius in ordnance, your family is blessed with this, if you want to make a fortune, then you have to find him to learn technology, this arms business, from ancient times to the present, is a business that makes money on the sky, you have to grasp it well." ”