Capital.

There is a small inland lake called the Middle Lake.

The area of the middle lake is not large, and the scenery is ordinary, but here, even if it is a small koi, its life and death are questioned.

Contrary to most people's imagination, the supreme authority of Great Xia is not located in the majestic Forbidden City, but on the edge of a small lake.

There are no towering buildings, only a few buildings with two floors high, and a few courtyards built around the lake, and the overall scenery is good, but it is limited to that.

In one of the courtyards, the entire courtyard was a golden red color.

There is a huge ancient red leaf tree planted in the yard, the age of the tree may be thousands of years, maybe thousands of years, as long as people step into the yard, they will be the first time to be attracted by its lush golden red leaves, the whole courtyard is under its leaves, the ground, the eaves are full of golden red leaves, like a raging flame, the air is also diffused with bursts of ancient wood unique fragrance of the year, like a pot of old soup that has never been broken, the taste is more and more timeless.

The middle-aged man stood outside the door and waited for the summons inside, until he stood in the corridor, caught a glimpse of the bright red, and couldn't help but sigh at its vitality, but he was a little daunted, and he didn't dare to step into it, for fear of disturbing the field that belonged to it after entering, just like a person falling into the water, full of golden and red warm life landscape, but he would not be able to breathe, and involuntarily look in other directions, seeking other cold colors as an adjustment, otherwise he would be in a trance, or even forget to breathe.

"Mr. Sima, please come in."

A voice passed through the corridor, and without the greeting of the waiter, the word automatically spread throughout the courtyard, as if the courtyard itself was speaking.

The middle-aged man straightened his hat, rolled up and smoothed the corners of his clothes, put the red bracelet on his hand, and adjusted his mood several times before finally crossing the threshold and entering the corridor.

This yard is not very big, after being occupied by a tree, there should be no place, but actually walk in to catch a glimpse of something else, through the falling red leaves, just like through a curtain, the exposed blank ground in front of a white jade platform is placed, the whole body is made of white marble, white and flawless, the stool is also matching, this is also a first-class burial goods if it is placed in the emperor's tomb, it is often haunted in a variety of top gardens, it is the proof of the poverty and luxury of the feudal emperors of the past dynasties.

However, Sima Zhong knew that the placement of this white marble was extremely exquisite, and it was precisely the feng shui eye of the house that suppressed the bright red tree of life in the sky.

There are two old men and two middle-aged people sitting next to the stone table of white marble, some of the old men are silent with their eyes closed, some of them are drowsy and unrefreshed, and the two middle-aged people are calm and look more stable than the old man.

Sima Zhong walked to the mahogany table and chair that had been prepared on the side, took out the rice paper and laid it out, took out the family heirloom ink treasure, and dipped it in ink.

At this time, the sleepy old man opened his eyes, looked at Sima Zhong, and said softly: "What about Sima Xu?" ”

Sima Zhong replied: "My father left during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, and I will be responsible for recording in the future. ”

"You kid looks too young." The old man muttered.

Sima Zhong's fingers stiffened, and he also knew that he was much worse than the old man.

At this time, the voice of the sixth person sounded outside the scene, which was exactly the same as the voice that had let Sima Zhong in before.

"I agreed."

The voice was very soft: "Sima Zhong, can be a contemporary historian." ”

Several people present involuntarily looked at a screen,

The screen was not too tightly covered, faintly revealing a pair of hands, which had silky gloves on them, revealing only half of their jade-like wrists.

Sima Zhong didn't dare to look at it at all, lowered his head, and grinded carefully, preparing to record today's conversation.

"Let's get started." The woman behind the screen said, "There are three topics for today. ”

"First, Shanhaisi's Xiangyun project has been stalled for nearly a decade, and a new risk assessment is needed for it."

"Second, the economic growth target for the coming year, and the core content of the next five-year plan."

"Third, the specific content of this year's palace examination."

The owner of the silk gloves said in a warm voice: "Start with the first topic...... Ladies and gentlemen, think carefully and speak freely. ”

After a pause, the old man with a youthful face in good spirits got straight to the point: "Shanhai Division mentioned that I have obtained some information today, and there may be an opportunity to further promote the Xiangyun project." ”

"Perhaps, there is a chance?" The middle-aged man pushed his glasses: "We have tilted a lot of finances, and Shanhai Division's statement is too unreasonable." ”

"Research doesn't always produce results, you should know that."

"But it is a fact that Shanhai Division has taken too many resources and made no achievements, and it is also our responsibility to judge the prospects of the project and then stop the loss in time."

"Tobe Shangshu is right."

"In what age do you still use this clichéd word? Shousuke-sama. ”

"Hahaha......" The old man laughed, revealing a mouthful of missing teeth, and his eyes were deeply sunken: "The young man is just lacking a little patience, there is still some time before the end of this year's audit, give Shanhai Division a little more time, even if the project is suspended now, they may not accept it immediately." ”

"Ten years is long enough." Another middle-aged man said: "Shanhaiji's project should not be the second luck in history. ”

"Set a limit for them?"

"It is not appropriate to boil frogs in warm water, you can send an investigation team to understand the specific situation, and then make a decision after getting a report."

"Yes, but who will do it? The ten divisions of Great Xia do not interfere with each other, and the supervisory authority usually depends on the directly governed institutions, but in this era, there are no more brocade guards and sticky poles. ”

"In the past, it was the sun that acted as the supervisor, but the three ...... of this generation of the sun were also quite troubled when they mentioned this: "The first seat of the phoenix is innocent and ignorant of the world, and the killing heart of the north and south is too heavy and hurts the heavens and the peace, and the last one is even more demon-ridden and stagnant." ”

"So, what about Haoyue?"

"Haoyue's status is insufficient, I'm afraid that I can't suppress the inspection team, and I can't suppress the Shanhai Division."

"I have a proposal." The spiritual old man suddenly said: "Originally, this time the palace test was different from previous years, and it was used as a screening, if anyone can win the first place in the palace test and give this task to this person, what do you think?" ”

"This year's palace examination will have several Haoyue and even the sun to participate." The middle-aged man pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "I think it can be used as a reference." ”

"The results of this palace examination also seem to have a direct impact on the restructuring ...... Shenwu Division."

"Be careful! This matter is no longer within the scope of today's discussion! The thin old man sat up straight and scolded.

The middle-aged man glanced at Sima Zhong, who was like a horse's hoof, closed his mouth, and arched his hand towards the screen.

A faint smile sounded behind the screen: "It seems that the focus of today's topic is on the temple test?" It's okay, postpone the issue of Shanhai Division a little, and just talk about the palace test, what do you think? ”

The spiritual old man suddenly came to his senses: "To tell the truth, the old man has obtained a lot of math problems from the disciples of the Astrology Pavilion today, and the people who left these are called mathematical conjectures, so you might as well use these questions as an essay test, if anyone can answer one, they can be selected as the leader of the essay test!" ”

As soon as he said that.

The other three, including Sima Zhong, all looked at him with strange eyes...... Okay, you're a fool, you're the devil, aren't you?

Let you group of arithmetic maniacs in the Stargazing Pavilion use the questions that you can't do as essay test questions, seriously?

Are you sober or not!

"It's too hard, no one can get through." The middle-aged man with glasses voted against.

"At other times, the literary exam is the same, there are very few people who pass, since it is the sun of the bright moon, it should be respected."

"Your respect is inexplicable."

"Knowledge is the ladder of human progress, people who don't understand math problems, why should they be the leaders of the palace test, the earth conquered by brute force and muscles cannot leave the earth, and they cannot reach the chaos outside the sky!" Mu Tianji raised his voice excitedly, and the oldest old man in the Stargazing Division had a sea of stars hidden in his eyes.

"Ahem, it's over, this isn't your math class." Another withered old man made a round: "The essay test questions can be based on previous years, come up with a simple question, and let the Ministry of Rites ...... The people from the Department of Culture and History went to pick up a few difficult problems. ”

"Shut up, shameless old thief, you are even more extreme, you actually let people learn Baguwen, do you want to turn back history!"

Just the first essay question is noisy.

However, the palace examination is used to screen talents after all, and every test question must be carefully selected.

"So be it."

In the end, the owner of the courtyard behind the screen spoke: "You each choose a question, which is limited to the fields of divination and literature, and at the same time add a question ......"

"Isn't that enough time?"

"Extend the time of this temple examination to eight hours."

"So, what's the third question?"

The hand behind the screen gently catches a falling leaf, throws it out, and the leaf falls to the ground, and the wind blows gently, imprinting the bright red gilt font on the spot.

Sima Zhong pinched his slippery sleeve and began to record with bated breath.

When it comes to the third test question of the palace test, the owner of Zhonghu Courtyard does not speak, and he holds his hand and throws the leaves and answers, and the fallen leaves become ink, and the two words are brought in, saying: Economy! ’

(End of chapter)