On the third day of September in the first year of Taichang, on the bank of Zhangshui outside Yecheng.

At the end of the day, Zhang Dexing nervously held the exam card in his hand and gathered with everyone outside the Zhangshui camp.

Zhao Yanshen stood at the gate of the camp and said loudly:

"The prince has a saying, the scientific examination focuses on fairness, and when you enter the camp, you need to search first, and there are strong guards in the field, if there is fraud, you should immediately register your name and place of origin, report to the imperial court, and never hire you, I advise you to wait for a good life to think about it, don't miss the future."

At the mention of this, a timid person quietly slipped out of the crowd, apparently throwing away the entrainment.

Zhao Yanshen naturally saw these actions in his eyes, but he didn't care about them, as long as he didn't cheat in the field.

Seeing the time of release, Zhao Yanshen continued to shout:

"It's all lined up, don't mess around, divide into five columns, and search into the camp one after another."

As he spoke, he motioned for the five soldiers to stand forward, and everyone lined up in front of them.

Zhang Dexing arrived early and crowded in front of the crowd.

was asked to take off his shoes and socks, and the rude big-headed soldier repeatedly explored him, but Zhang Dexing didn't care about this humiliation, he was not afraid of shadows, and the word fairness was also what he wanted.

After passing the search, Zhang Dexing entered the camp and found the agricultural examination area under the guidance.

The examination room is very simple, that is, a desk is used as an examination table, and a futon is used as an examination seat.

However, there was a soldier standing next to each examination seat to keep an eye on him.

It seems that Shizi really cares about the fairness of this exam. ’

Zhang Dexing said in his heart.

According to the order on his exam card, Zhang Dexing sat on his futon, set up the pen and ink inkstone, and closed his eyes to recuperate.

He didn't care if anyone outside was punished for entrainment, he just wanted to take care of himself, show what he had learned, get an official position, and give his wife an explanation.

During this period, people walked into the examination room one after another, and when they arrived, a gong sounded, Zhang Dexing opened his eyes, and the huge agricultural examination area was almost full, and there were occasionally a few vacant seats, perhaps because they had abandoned the exam, or they had been searched out.

A scribe handed the examination paper to the patrol officer to hand out, and himself preached discipline in a loud voice:

"The prince has a saying, discipline in the field, no noise, no peeping、...... After answering, report in a low voice to the soldiers around you, if there is a violation, it will be dealt with as fraud, and the roll will be collected at noon, so as not to miss the hour. ”

Zhang Dexing got the test paper, glanced at it hurriedly, and finally settled down, fainted the ink inkstone, and Zhang Dexing buried himself in writing to answer, extraordinarily attentive.

......

Gao Cheng stood on the city wall, looked at the Zhangshui camp from afar, turned back to his cronies and said:

"There are a lot of people who come, and I don't know how many people have real talents and real learning."

Yang Su smiled:

"The prince of the world has collected all the cold scholars in Hebei in a scientific expedition, so why worry about this."

Gao Cheng shook his head when he heard this.

He said to Yang Su, Chen Yuankang, and Cui Jishu:

"I still need the three of you to work hard to read the papers."

When Yang Su heard this, the smile on his face froze.

The majestic Luoyang little overlord Cui Jishu even complained:

"Shizi, let's add some more people."

It turned out that the three of them had been locked up by Gao Cheng since they arrived in Hebei, saying that they were worried about the outflow of test questions in Hebei, so they asked them to re-issue a set of test papers for the Qingxu area.

There are many kinds of subjects, and although the three of them are all well-educated, they have really taken a lot of effort.

Now the test papers in the Qingxu area have been handed over to Gao Cheng, and they were finally released, and Gao Cheng ordered the three of them to read the papers, but he was afraid that after dealing with the Hebei exam, when he arrived in Qingxu, he would have to lock up the three of them and re-release the papers, even cattle and horses can't be driven like this.

Gao Cheng pretended to think, and then reassured:

"It's okay, I'll promote some people among the scribes to help you review them."

......

"What are you doing looking around?"

"I didn't!"

"Dare to quibble, I can see clearly, I will now compare the test papers of the two of you, and whether the words and sentences are the same is ironclad evidence."

"Look! What else do you have to say! Register this person's name and place of origin, and drag him out for me! ”

"Don't! I don't dare, I don't take the test, don't! ”

Another man cried and was dragged away.

Zhang Dexing turned a deaf ear, he focused on answering the questions.

There was still a long time before noon, and he finally stopped writing and carefully checked the answer sheet several times to make sure that there were no omissions.

Zhang Dexing raised his head and said to the young soldiers beside him:

"This little brother, I've finished answering and can hand in the paper."

The young soldier was not in a hurry to collect the papers, so he found the patrol officers to cover the name and origin on the test paper for Zhang Dexing with white paper.

"This is what the prince said, to be famous, so that the examiner can't take people by his family background."

The young soldier explained.

Zhang Dexing was even more relieved when he heard this:

Shizi really values the fairness of this exam. ’

After handing in the papers, the scribe said:

"Three days later, the Bohai Royal Mansion will post the names and positions of the recruits, and you can come to check them at that time."

The scribe was very satisfied with Zhang Dexing's performance in the field, and he hardly saw him raise his head, and he was always concentrated.

The young soldier led Zhang Dexing out of the camp.

"Sir, please wait."

Zhang Dexing was about to leave but was stopped by the soldiers.

"Little brother has something else to explain."

Zhang Dexing wondered.

"No, although I can't read, but look at Mr. answering the questions, obviously a talented learner, I don't have a good name myself, because there is a well at home, I am called Wang Ajing, so I want to ask Mr. to help me choose a name for my child, and I will go to school in the future."

Zhang Dexing did not refuse, he thought for a moment, picked up a branch and wrote the word fairness on the ground, explaining:

"The prince of the world is the most fair, and it is also fair to see you in the science field today, I am only a shallow learner, and I can't think of a good name in a hurry, if the little brother doesn't mind, call it fairness."

"Fair, Wang Gongfair, good, this name is good, thank you for the name on behalf of my children."

Wang Ajing was so happy that his eyebrows fluttered.

Zhang Dexing immediately said goodbye, walked a short distance, and looked back to see that Wang Ajing was squatting on the ground, picking up branches and copying the word fair.

'Everyone has the heart to learn. ’

Zhang Dexing sighed.

......

In the side room of the Bohai Palace, Gao Cheng recruited Zhao Yanshen over:

"After the scientific examination, Yan Shen can review the test papers with Chen Sima, Yang Changshi, and Cui Zhubo."

"Servant Xie Shizi Xinzhong."

Zhao Yan said gratefully.

Gao Cheng looked at this scribe who had been poor since he was a child, and suddenly asked:

"Yan Shen, do you know why I attach importance to this scientific expedition?"

Zhao Yan pondered for a while and replied:

"The son of the world is to recruit talents."

"There are considerations, but not the most important thing."

Gao Cheng shook his head and said:

"Think about it again, think about why I want to say this to you."

Zhao Yanshen was silent for a long time before he spoke:

"The prince of the world is to promote culture and education in the future."

Gao Cheng smiled when he heard this:

"Yes, this exam is to show the world that reading is not useless, so as to call on more people to learn."

Of course, he knew that this hasty exam had many shortcomings, but it didn't matter, it was just a signal.