The couple in the last days traveled to ancient times, farming and storing grain and meat in the war

No wonder he didn’t come in person. It turns out that his son is already good friends with the two scholars.

The wealthy families were extremely envious. But Mr. Tao had the foresight and means to send his son to Honghu Academy at such an early age.

You know, it is extremely difficult for anyone to enter Honghu Academy now.

The entrance exam results were all improved by more than one level. It was considered a good thing to be able to select two out of a hundred to enter Honghu Academy.

Xie Jing's banquet for the imperial examination was naturally postponed again, but not for long. In fact, it was held on the same day as Xiao Yan's banquet for the imperial examination, except that Xiao Yan held the banquet at noon, while he held it at night.

Otherwise, the gentlemen would not be able to spare the time to eat at both sides at the same time.

Although his fame was not as great as Xiao Yan's, after all, Xiao Yan had won the first place twice and was one year younger than him, but he was also a juren after all, which was extremely glorious and was also the object of flattery by the rich families. Naturally, the three old juren went to his house in person to congratulate him yesterday, and the county magistrate and the county magistrate also sent people to his house to congratulate him.

So, after having dinner at Xiao Yan's house, these people went to Xie Jing's house.

After Xie Jingyi finished eating at Xiao Yan's house, he hurried home.

Ji Wei only went to Xiao Yan's house for dinner and then returned to town.

After Xiao Yan finished his work at home and made sure that he could leave without missing anything, he went to Xie Jing's house with Tao Cheng and other classmates.

The next day, Xiao Yan's family invited people from the surrounding villages to a banquet.

People from all around the village had to give gifts, so naturally another banquet had to be held.

The next day, Xiao Yan's family invited all the elderly people from the surrounding villages to a banquet.

It was also on this day that Lord Liang Yuanrui finally returned to the imperial capital.

Upon returning to the imperial capital, Lord Liang naturally did not dare to go home first. He immediately went to the palace to meet the emperor and report on the results of Yuzhou's provincial examination this year.

In the imperial study, Liang Yuanrui lowered his head and bent his body as he was led in by the chief eunuch.

He didn't dare to look up at Emperor Li who was sitting on the dragon throne.

Emperor Li, whose surname was Jing and given name was Li, had gray hair but a dignified look on his face.

"Your Majesty." Liang Yuanrui knelt on the ground.

After briefly describing the results of this year's Yuzhou provincial examination, he added, "Among the twenty new candidates, only the top-ranked candidate, Xiao Yan, possesses exceptional political views. I and the other examiners agree that he is a worthy candidate. I have already brought his examination papers to the Imperial Capital, and I hope the Emperor will take a look at them."

The chief eunuch hurriedly raised his hands above his head and presented the examination paper brought by Lord Liang.

Emperor Li had no interest in the candidates' answers because the famine in the north was too severe.

Seeing that refugees were about to be everywhere and people were starving to death, and there was no good solution, he was very troubled.

But since it was handed to him, he just glanced at it casually.

Unexpectedly, after just one glance, his eyes widened immediately.

Then, he hurriedly took the test paper and carefully studied the strategies and ideas on it without blinking.

The more he looked, the more surprised he was.

"Good! Good!" The praises kept coming out.

After reading it completely, Emperor Li still couldn't get excited and stood up.

Liang Yuanrui even prostrated himself on the ground.

Even the chief eunuch and other palace servants knelt on the ground.

Emperor Li continued to say "OK!" and even his face flushed.

"Stand up and answer." Emperor Li then remembered that Liang Yuanrui was still kneeling.

Liang Yuanrui finally stood up, but he still hunched over, not daring to look the emperor in the face.

"Who do you think is the student who wrote this answer sheet?"

This time, Liang Yuanrui didn't just give a rough description: "This year, the top scholar from Zaoshu Village, Si'an Town, Dengping County, Yuzhou, has just been admitted—Xiao Yan, Xiao Ruoqing, who is only seventeen years old."

Emperor Li was stunned. A humble family had produced such a brilliant mind? And so young?

but--

"Good! Very good! The strategy proposed by this person can actually relieve my worries!" Emperor Li said again with uncontrollable joy.

Apart from anything else, the 'work-for-relief' policy alone would be enough to solve his urgent problem.

It can not only provide relief to disaster victims, but also save national treasury expenditure!

It’s a great idea!

And the palace he wanted to build could also be built.

He had wanted to build that palace before, but because the disaster in the north was so severe, the court officials naturally opposed him building that palace. Now, let’s see how the court officials can still oppose it!

Seeing that Emperor Li was still so happy, Liang Yuanrui felt more at ease, knowing that Emperor Li would probably use these strategies.

He also thought that since he had already decided to recommend Xiao Yan to the Ministry of Personnel, why not take advantage of the fact that Emperor Li was in a good mood and mention this?

So as to avoid the Ministry of Personnel’s disapproval?

Although those with higher official positions can generally recommend those with lower official positions successfully, there are bound to be unexpected events.

Thinking of this, Liang Yuanrui said, "Your Majesty, Xiao Jieyuan is a man of great talent. I would like to recommend him to the Ministry of Personnel as the magistrate of Dengping County."

Emperor Li said, "Wouldn't it be better to transfer such a talented person directly to the Imperial Capital and give him a job?"

He was worried about not having enough talented people to use.

All the civil and military officials in the court were not as good as a newly-appointed scholar, who came up with such a good solution to the northern problem.

This method can also stabilize the situation and restore people's livelihood as soon as possible. How can he not like it?

Liang Yuanrui knelt down and said, "Yuzhou is close to the north. Now that there is no relief food, many people from the north will inevitably enter Yuzhou. Yuzhou has no other vacant positions except the position of County Magistrate of Dengping County.

I thought that since he was the one who proposed the strategy, it would be easier for him to implement it, so I decided to recommend him as the magistrate of Dengping County."

Emperor Li pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "It's a good opportunity to see what he's capable of."

It takes talent to come up with such a good idea; but it would be even more talent to implement it and truly solve the famine.

However, ideas and strategies such as charity fields and granaries cannot be implemented in a hurry. The most urgent task is to put work-for-relief on the agenda.

Emperor Li said, "Summon all the ministers immediately to the main hall for a meeting!"

Not long after the civil and military officials returned from court, they were suddenly summoned again. Everyone hurried back to the palace in a hurry.

When the ministers looked at Xiao Yan's test paper, they were all surprised and delighted.

Could it still be like this?

Even building a palace on a large scale would not be a waste of money and manpower, as long as all the people hired at that time were starving people from the north, right?

"Do you have any objections? If not, then proceed as planned. In areas not affected by the disaster, all corvée labor will be abolished this year. Water conservancy and civil engineering projects will be vigorously developed. Rich families who request land to build temples and gardens will be allowed to do so. However, priority must be given to hiring the hungry. Anyone who dares not do so will be executed."

The court officials have also been troubled by this recently, and this method is really effective. As long as it is implemented thoroughly, most of the starving people in the north can be solved, and society can return to stability and avoid chaos.

The court officials naturally had no objections and all knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty is wise."

After the meeting, when they left the hall and walked down the stairs, Liang Yuanrui hurriedly called out to the Minister of Personnel and handed him the document of recommendation.

Emperor Li already knew who Xiao Yan was, and had already used Xiao Yan's strategy of work-for-relief. How could the Minister of Personnel dare to neglect it?

He immediately went to the Ministry of Personnel to get an appointment letter and sent someone to deliver it to Xiao Yan in Dengping County, Yuzhou, asking Xiao Yan to take up the post as soon as possible.