After my soul traveled to ancient times, I don't want to be cannon fodder

The collected tax money must be used to take into account people's livelihood, ensure national defense, and prevent natural and man-made disasters.

The national treasury is now running out of money.

Therefore, the court's reform was also a helpless move.

For the long-term stability of Dayong, we have to make adjustments to our national policies. I hope all the people in the world will be aware of this!

He emphasized that the court's reform was for the entire Dayong and for the people of the world. County Magistrate Cao spoke eloquently and with saliva flying.

At the end, it was said that this first round of assessment was divided into two queues.

The first group must explain the court's reform policy to all illiterate people within seven days.

Whether in the fields, teahouses or restaurants, everyone must know this. In addition, our county government exists to serve the people. All students participating in the examination must not put on airs, talk nonsense, or be arrogant.

The second group is for students who own land. The county government needs to send people to measure the land in the county in the near future. Those who own land can serve as local representatives at that time to direct and assist the county government in the land measurement work.

The county government will evaluate the students based on the progress and quality of their work. Those who pass the assessment will be placed in the first cohort, while those who fail will be eliminated on the spot.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the students were shocked. How could there be an elimination system? Wasn't it just about easy admission and strict graduation, with only the top 50 being awarded internship certificates?

Among the students, a small hand trembled and raised itself. County Magistrate Cao said loudly, "Student, please speak!"

The student was dressed neatly, but his slightly embarrassed expression showed that his family was not well off. Even if he took the test, he could only be in the first group.

"Excuse me, sir, how do we determine the performance standards for the first cohort?"

"This student asked a good question!" County Lieutenant Cao smiled warmly and praised the questioner. Then he said, "For the students taking the first cohort assessment, we will divide them into teams based on their regional distribution and the number of participants."

"For seven days, your team will only need to be responsible for their respective areas. After seven days, an inspection team will conduct random inspections of your areas and determine your performance based on the inspection percentage!"

"As for the assessment criteria for the second cohort, they will be evaluated based on local cooperation, completion progress, and work efficiency!"

"Now, you probably already understand this first round of assessment. If anyone wants to withdraw, you can do so now!"

There was complete silence below, as if everyone was lost in thought.

Immediately, a handsome young man in brocade clothes also raised his hand and asked loudly, "Sir, what should I do if I miss my studies by taking the exam?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Although it’s great to participate in this internship, I can’t let it interfere with my studies!

County Lieutenant Cao raised his hands, making a hushed gesture, and then said, "As for this question, I can tell you that this first round of assessments is only limited to seven days. This is plenty of time. You can discuss in groups how to complete it!"

"If you're worried about missing out on your studies because of the exam, you can withdraw now. But I can tell you that staying indoors for a long time is not as good as practicing it yourself."

"Who says that doing homework outside will definitely delay learning progress?"

"His Highness once said that working in isolation will only lead to complacency. Only by stepping out of your comfort zone can you become a better person!"

"Okay, that concludes today's questions. If you want to withdraw, you can do so now. If you wish to continue taking the assessment, you can freely choose to join the assessment queue."

"In a quarter of an hour, we will draw lots to randomly form teams!"

The students below began to whisper to each other.

Some said that their current studies are more important and it would be better not to take part in the internship assessment.

Some said that they had some land, and although the court's policy was good, it was not beneficial to gentry families like us.

Some said that although schoolwork was important, hands-on practice was more meaningful, and it only took seven days, which would not waste much time.

Others asked, why not let us form our own teams, but instead form teams randomly? What if we are grouped with our mortal enemy?

Within a quarter of an hour, some people left one after another, but most of them remained where they were, waiting for the next assessment and selection.

Most of the wealthy gentry or those with some land chose the second queue.

Most people from poor families chose the first queue.

A random draw will then be conducted, and those who draw the same number will be randomly formed into a team of three and work together.

The draw for the second and first queues is conducted separately, so there is no need to worry about the assessment tasks being mixed up.

There are four major families in Xining City.

They are the Wu family, who mainly run cloth shops and garment stores, the Qian family, who own a chain of restaurants, the Meng family, who are rice merchants, and the Xun family, whose main business is jewelry and cosmetics.

Among the four great families, the Xun family is the most respected! The other three families are of similar level.

In fact, at the beginning of the founding of the country, businessmen were not allowed to take the imperial examinations.

But as time went by, the imperial court realized the importance of commerce, so it relaxed many restrictions on merchants.

Nowadays, the proportion of businessmen who can take the imperial examinations has increased significantly. This is also because the court intends to train more poor students who are not from aristocratic families to advance to higher positions.

But those who were too poor could not even get into the Tongsheng program, so there was no choice but to relax the policy towards merchants.

But there were some requirements for them. For example, all merchants who could take the imperial examinations had to sponsor at least three poor students to study, so that they could get a place in school for their family.

Among them, the Wu family who runs a cloth shop and the Meng family who are rice merchants have an old grudge. The two families have been having a misunderstanding since decades ago and it has continued to this day.

Wu Wencai happened to be the eldest son of the Wu family. He signed up for the second cohort today. He was very happy and planned to perform well in this internship assessment.

But he never expected that the teammate he drew was Meng Qixiong, the second son of the Meng family!

In addition to Meng Qixiong, there was another man named Zhou Lechang who came from a small landlord family.

That night, Wu Wencai returned home and told everyone about the county government's recruitment of interns. When he learned that his son had become the pioneer officer in measuring his own land and property, Mr. Wu was so angry that he fell backwards.

Although the Wu family was in the cloth business, they also owned two farms and 500 acres of land. Some time ago, the imperial court sent people to measure the land, but the servants of the Wu family managed to fool them temporarily.

But he never expected that he had successfully fooled his son, who actually took the bait and brought people to measure his land and conduct a census of the population of his tenants.

The Wu family nominally owned 500 acres of land, but only 360 acres were reported to the court. The extra 100 acres were naturally the result of their own reclamation and secret acquisition.