The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 182 Memorize Well

However, the messenger immediately realized how naive he was.

Zhao Gou pretended to praise Zhang Jun for a long time, but in the end he completely ignored Zhang Jun's advice and changed the subject: "Since Seventeenth Brother has done such a good job, then continue the work. I allow him to act at his discretion and mobilize all that can be mobilized in Deng and Lai Prefectures to fight the Jin army with all his strength. I will pray for Seventeenth Brother in Jiangning."

messenger:???
pray?

You just pray and that's it?

The messenger complained in his heart but didn't dare to say it out loud.

Zhang Jun didn't care about that and said directly: "Your Majesty! We can't just pray for blessings, we have to send troops to help."

Zhao Gou rolled his eyes at Zhang Jun and spread his hands.

Send troops? You're dreaming! Didn't you see me being chased by the Jin soldiers, gasping for breath, and having to jump into the river to escape? There weren't enough troops to protect me, so how could we send troops to Deng and Lai?
It’s good enough that I’m willing to pray for them.

He didn't say a word of these words, but Zhang Jun and the messenger always felt that they heard him say these words in their ears.

The two rubbed their ears and indeed didn't hear anything, but for some reason they felt like they heard it.

Zhao Gou took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote a reply letter, in which he praised He Wang Zhaoye highly, saying that he was a good man and worthy of being his younger brother, and ordered him to guard the two states of Deng and Lai well and to launch a surprise attack on the Jin army from front and back at the appropriate time. Anyway, he just talked nonsense and didn't need to be responsible, he could just brag as much as he wanted.

After blowing the trumpet, he handed the letter to the messenger and said, "Take it back to my seventeenth brother."

Messenger: I bought a super durable bag last year. I traveled thousands of miles, risking my life by boat to Jiangnan, just to hear a few empty words from you? Give it to the soldiers! Give it to the generals!

However, there will be no soldiers or generals, not even a single one.

Zhao Gou waved his hand, indicating that he was sleepy and could leave.

The messenger left the cabin dejectedly and returned to the deck.

Zhang Jun also came out, sighed, turned and left.

The messenger had a gloomy face and took the boat to the south of the Yangtze River. Then he left Zhao Gou's team and continued to walk downstream along the Yangtze River. Then he found a ferry and crossed back to the north of the Yangtze River, because his boat was still waiting for him in a small fishing village on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

He dodged the Jin troops all the way, and couldn't help sighing when he saw the common people on the north bank of the Yangtze River dragging their children and fleeing to the south of the Yangtze River. He finally returned to the seaside and boarded a ship.

The people on the boat were all sent by the governor of Dengzhou. They knew the situation was not good when they saw his expression, but there was nothing they could do. They could only sail back with full of melancholy.
-
While the messenger was arguing with Zhao Gou in Jiangnan...

Back to the end of the first month, the first "Agricultural Science Examination" in the Jiaodong Peninsula began in a grand manner.

The total number of candidates was 332, and the vast majority were from Jimo County and Laiyang County. There were also a few candidates from Jiaoshuxian and Changyi County, but the candidates from these two counties were basically "last-minute applicants" who registered for the exam after taking classes for only one month.

They themselves feel that their chances of passing are slim, but they still have to give it a try. No matter how big or small the chance is, if they don't try, how do you know that you can't pass?
This is a civil service exam!
Once you pass the exam, you can become a ninth-rank official!

Early in the morning, when it was still dark, the entrance to the examination hall was already crowded with candidates. These candidates were quite different from the formal imperial examination style.

In the official imperial examinations, only a very small number of people were from ordinary families, and there were also a few children from poor families. The majority were sons of gentry and children of merchants.

Please note that children from poor families are not the same as children of ordinary people. This must be distinguished. Children from poor families are much richer than ordinary people because they also have "doors", which ordinary people do not have.

In this agricultural examination, the sons of gentry and merchants became a minority, there were still a few children from poor families, but children from ordinary people's families accounted for the vast majority.

Therefore, the scene outside the examination room was very strange.

I saw an old farmer holding the hand of a young farmer, his eyes full of expectation: "Son, I wonder if those few words you learned from the old man in the village when you were a child are enough?"

The young farmer was a little unsure, and he was timid. "Dad! I don't know many words, but I know most of them related to farming. Even when Old Immortal Liao writes a few words on the blackboard, I can usually understand them."

The old farmer felt more at ease after hearing this: "Then you must do well in the exam. If you become an official, our family will...ah...in the future, Dad will have to use his silver hoe to farm the land."

This kind of conversation is not an isolated case. Most ordinary fathers and sons, mothers and sons speak similar lines, and they are all worried about whether the few words they know are enough.

In contrast to them, the children of the Ma, Ji and other families who were sent by the gentry to take the exam were not concerned about this issue.

Ma Banzhou was carrying a young man from his family who had separated from him. His face was serious. "What I'm most worried about right now is that you might misunderstand the farming methods. Come, recite to me again the key points of winter tillage that Mr. Liao taught me."

The young man quickly straightened his face and said, "If you plow deeply in winter, the crops will take root! Plowing an inch deeper is like applying more manure!"

Ma Banzhou took out a notebook he had prepared in advance and checked it. He was delighted to find that his nephew had memorized it correctly. He then randomly picked a question: "What are the disadvantages of applying manure directly to the soil before it is fully decomposed?"

The young man quickly recited, "Uncomposted manure contains a large amount of harmful substances such as bacteria, insect eggs, and weed seeds. When this manure is applied to the soil, it causes bacteria to grow, leading to pests and diseases. It also causes weeds to grow in the soil, affecting the growth of vegetables. In addition, uncomposted manure produces some harmful gases in the soil, which harms vegetable plants."

Ma Banzhou: "What are bacteria?"

The young man quickly recited, "A bug too small to be seen with the naked eye, which brings disease."

Ma Banzhou lowered his head to check his notebook and clenched his fists. "Good job! Your uncle has confidence in you. Go! Bring back a ninth-rank official for our Ma family."

But the young man was still a little unconfident. All these agricultural knowledge he had learned by rote in the past month, and he really couldn't adapt at all. He was afraid that if the test questions were a little flexible, he would fail in the examination room... Sweat streamed down his face.

Under the anxious gaze of all the candidates...

The door of the examination room is open!
Yue Wenxuan possessed Wang Zhaoye and personally pushed open the door to the examination room. Standing in the doorway, he extended his hand and made a welcoming gesture to the examinees outside: "I declare that the first agricultural science examination has officially begun. All examinees, please enter."

Open the bow without turning back the arrow!

Whether they were the unsure sons of ordinary people or the panicked sons of gentry, they all had to go to the "battlefield". The candidates steeled their hearts, gritted their teeth, and walked into the examination room with courage...

(End of this chapter)