The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

After waiting for the notification from the yamen that the interviewees could be let in, Naoyazi breathed a sigh of relief. He and his colleagues led a dozen interviewees in through the side door, turning left and right, and finally arrived at their destination, the "Ya Shrine".

The interviewee was stunned to see the large open space in front of the Ya Shrine with tables, chairs and benches neatly arranged, just like the scene when he was in school as a child.

County Magistrate Wang came out, stood high on the steps, and said loudly, "Everyone, I am the County Magistrate of Yuanlu County."

As soon as these words fell, regardless of whether they knew County Magistrate Wang or not, they all shouted at the same time: "Greetings, Lord County Magistrate."

County Magistrate Wang, his big belly protruding, nodded and said, "We have a guano fertilizer workshop in Yuanlu County. I believe everyone has heard of it. Today we are going to hire a manager to manage the workshop's affairs."

After a pause, he continued, "Our Guano Workshop will soon become the largest workshop in Yuanlu County. Becoming the manager of the Guano Workshop means becoming the most powerful manager in Yuanlu. To become the manager of our workshop, you must be extremely capable. Without real ability, you won't be able to manage such a large workshop."

The interviewee stood below and listened quietly to County Magistrate Wang's big promise, but this big promise was really delicious.

Not only is the salary high, but the power is also great, and one can be close to the government office and almost become a member of the government office.

Look at how important this assessment is. The second-in-command of the county government came to preside over it personally, which shows how much importance the government attaches to the guano workshop.

County Magistrate Wang swallowed and continued, "Everyone, in order to successfully recruit capable managers, the workshop will conduct two assessments. The first one will be a test paper."

Pointing to the rows of tables and chairs in front, he said, "I'll assign you exams later. Everyone, do your homework and make sure you demonstrate your abilities through them. I believe that you must have real skills to be able to come in here today."

As the largest workshop in the county, cooperating with the government, the candidates for interviews should be numerous. Unfortunately, only a dozen or so people came for the interview.

It’s not that the yamen didn’t post enough notices, nor that the yamen’s propaganda was not strong enough, but that there were simply too few capable people in Yuanlu.

If you want to be a manager, you have to be able to read and understand the account books, right? This single requirement of literacy leaves many people out. The literacy rate in Yuanlu County is horribly low, with seven or eight out of ten people illiterate. It's hard to even find someone who can read a notice.

You can imagine how difficult it is for grassroots "civil servants" like village heads to do their work on weekdays.

Not only do they have to read out loud the orders issued by the yamen, but they also have to explain to the villagers in plain language what the yamen means. This will also lead to a lot of distorted meanings as the order will be spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

Fortunately, there are not many people in the entire county. If there were more, there would definitely be a big mess.

When the interviewee heard that he had to take a test, he was stunned.

They thought they were applying for a job, just asking questions and answering them, but why did they have to do a test paper? What was going on?

Thinking that I haven't done any test papers for many years and now I have to take a written exam, I can't help but feel panicked.

Of course, there were five or six interviewees who stood calmly and straight. These were the "spies" arranged by County Magistrate Wang.

Except for not knowing what questions would be tested, County Magistrate Wang informed him of all the procedures.

When I heard that I had to take a test today, I remained calm and composed.

County Magistrate Wang looked at the applicant's panic with pride. Haha, it's good to be chaotic, it's right to be chaotic. The more chaotic and the worse the performance, the more chances the people he will arrange will have.

County Magistrate Wang counted the number of people being interviewed, and then looked at the people he had arranged. There were five or six people compared to more than ten, which was a very large ratio.

County Magistrate Wang was very confident that this time they could defeat the odds with their superior numbers and stand out, and his people would become the managers of the guano workshop.

County Magistrate Wang looked at the applicants with a smile and continued, "Everyone, take the first exam in the morning, and the second exam in the afternoon to be discussed with Lord Sun. Only those who pass both exams and get the highest score will become the manager of the guano workshop. Everyone, take the exam well to show your true abilities, and work hard to create a bright future for yourself."

After saying this, he asked Cui Shuli from the Rites Office to preside over the examination.

Clerk Cui had the yamen runners lead the dozen or so interviewees to the examination table. He said to them, "Everyone, from now on, the papers will be collected in an hour and a half. There will be someone supervising the entire process. No cheating, no whispering, and no talking. Anyone who violates the examination room rules will be immediately removed. Everyone, pens and ink are already prepared on the examination table. Please use them directly."

After saying this, he asked the yamen runners to distribute the papers that had been prepared long ago one by one, and then returned the examination room to silence.

The interviewer was dumbfounded again. Recruiting a manager was like making an imperial examination.

The only difference is that the rules are not as strict and the environment is much better, everything else is exactly the same.

The interviewee couldn't help but get nervous.

I haven't been to an examination room since I left school. After so many years, I felt really scared when I held a pen and took the test again.

Regardless, since I was already here, I had to bite the bullet and take the exam. Not only would my reputation be damaged if I backed out, but I would also be listed on the government's list. Even if I filled out the paper haphazardly, I had to complete it completely.

While the applicants were doing their papers in the examination room with worried looks on their faces, County Magistrate Wang and Sun Shan were sitting leisurely in the conference room, discussing the recruitment of managers.

County Magistrate Wang asked, "Sir, there are so many applicants this time. I don't know who will be accepted later."

Although there were five or six members of the Wang family, County Magistrate Wang felt that there were still too many people and suddenly felt that the Wang family's admission rate was not very high.

Sun Shan took a sip of tea expressionlessly, but couldn't help but complain in his heart.

A dozen interviewees is too many? Damn! Why so few?

The guano workshop is the largest workshop in Yuanlu County, and the government holds more than half of the profits, which means it is a "state-owned enterprise."

Even though it is one level lower than "civil servants", it is equivalent to a "public institution".

When recruiting a "CEO", only a dozen people showed up for the interview, and many of them were spies sent by County Magistrate Wang.

When Sun Shan thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a headache.

I knew Yuanlu County was short of talent, but I didn't expect it to be so scarce. Oh, how can I make the workshop bigger and stronger in the future?

I just pray that by then I won’t be worse than Sun Dingnan, the manager who changed his career halfway.

Sun Shan said with a forced smile, "Yes, there are quite a lot of people coming this time. That's great, very good."

Sun Shan once suspected that County Magistrate Wang was obstructing the work and that the publicity was not adequate. Later, he personally sent people everywhere to announce that the workshop was recruiting managers, and tried his best to let capable people see the notice.

The final result once again proves that it is not that the publicity is not widespread, but that there is a real lack of talent.

Alas, it seems that in the future, when the workshop makes its first pot of gold, it must strengthen the education of Yuanlu County.

How can a girl from my family not go to school? We must start from childhood to cultivate talents.