Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"So, brother? Are you satisfied with these top three?"

After looking at the names of the top three, Xiao Jiahui turned to ask Ren Yuan.

"I am very satisfied."

Ren Yuan was naturally very satisfied, and even somewhat pleasantly surprised, as he hadn't expected that number two would be Chen Kangbo!

I knew that among all these people, Chen Kangbo was definitely the best one!

After all, even Wanyan Gou, in his previous life, made the following assessment of Chen Kangbo:

"Calm, composed, insightful, and never uttering a single careless word, he is truly a prime minister."

Moreover, Chen Kangbo was not only deeply trusted by the imperial family, but also regarded as a capable minister by the world! Later generations' evaluation:

"He was not over sixty years old but held the rank of first-grade official; he was less than seven feet tall but had the ambition of ten thousand men."

Ren Yuan knew that Chen Kangbo was still young, so he thought that he and Zhang Jun would not rank very high this time. Unexpectedly, one of them became the top scholar and the other became the third-ranked scholar!

That man with exceptional military talent was indeed Zhang Jun!

This Zhang Jun is much more capable than that Zhang Jun, and from a character perspective, Zhang Jun is indeed better. Plus, they are both young people, so as long as his arrogance is tempered, his future development will only be better.

As for Lü Jiang, it's no surprise that he came in second place, given his abilities. He's certainly talented, but too arrogant, and his writing is aggressive, which is definitely not appealing in the examination hall. Moreover, Lü Jiang is old and not particularly handsome. It's fortunate he came in second; if he had been third, he probably wouldn't have even gotten a single spot.

Zong Ze came in fourth. Ren Yuan was right. The paper full of criticism was indeed Zong Ze's. Zong Ze's harshness towards Dayi was simply... well, it's not his fault. It was expected. As long as this guy doesn't cause trouble, it's fine.

The fifth place was ultimately given to number ten, who was also an elderly person, and even older than Zong Ze!

Zhang Shangying, an old man who fought against Cai Jing for most of his life, served as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in the Song Dynasty, which was equivalent to a prime minister. Moreover, this old man was dismissed from office three times because of Cai Jing, and his entire career could be said to have been suppressed by Cai Jing.

"Is this old man here just to spite Cai Jing?"

Ren Yuan shook his head helplessly. It wasn't impossible. After all, this person had actually served as prime minister and was a senior figure. Moreover, he wasn't a stubborn old man like Zong Ze. He would still welcome him very much.

As for the sixth volume, it is volume number four, and the author is none other than Qin Hui.

When Ren Yuan saw the name, he was not too surprised. Putting everything else aside, Qin Hui was indeed a person capable of becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination. That's why Ren Yuan was worried before. What if Qin Hui accidentally became the top scholar? How could he change that?

Thanks to the large number of big shots present this time, Qin Hui was suppressed and made into the sixth-ranking official.

The seventh to tenth place winners were students trained by Liangshan Academy itself, which shows that Liangshan Academy's teaching ability was already quite good. If it weren't for the fact that so many extraordinary talents came this year, the top scholar would definitely have been one of Liangshan's own people.

Continuing down the list, Ren Yuan saw another name in the seventeenth place—Cao Xun.

This young man is only seventeen years old this year, and like Chen Kangbo and Zhang Jun, he is a young talent!

What's even more interesting is that Cao Zu, who's ranked fifty-second, is his father...

“Cao Zu, I know him. He’s Cao Wei’s younger brother. He also came from the Imperial Academy, but it’s said that he failed the imperial examination six times in the Song Dynasty. I didn’t expect that he would actually pass it here.”

Xiao Jiasui was quite surprised when he saw Cao Zu's name, because Cao Zu's reputation in the literary circles of the Song Dynasty was practically a joke.

He entered the Imperial Academy with his brother when they were young. They were quite famous at the academy, and everyone thought that the two brothers would definitely achieve great things in the future.

As it turned out... his brother was indeed very good; he passed the imperial examination early on and entered the imperial court.

But he... it's okay if he misses once or twice, everyone thinks it's normal.

But if you still fail after three, four... even five or six tries, that's really embarrassing!

Therefore, the entire literary circle of the Song Dynasty regarded Cao Zu as a joke. Cao Zu was able to maintain a good attitude. He was ridiculed for so many years, but he was not angry. Instead, he wrote "The Iron Inkstone" to motivate himself.

But this time, he really wanted to change his embarrassing situation of failing the imperial examination six times, so despite his brother's objections, Cao Zu chose to go to Liangshan to prepare for the Dayi imperial examination.

“Brother, if I can’t even pass the imperial examination in Dayi, then it means that I may really be destined to never pass the imperial examination in this lifetime.”

“But if I pass the exam, it will prove that I am not truly incapable of passing it. Rather, the world is currently divided and fragmented. If I can obtain an official position in Dayi, it will also benefit our family.”

"Just like the Zhuge family back then, they had members in all three kingdoms."

Cao Zu's words left his elder brother speechless, so he had no choice but to agree in the end.

Cao Zu brought his son Cao Xun along, his original idea being to let his son experience the so-called imperial examination. Although the one in Dayi was not very formal, it was at least an imperial examination!

"The son ranked seventeenth, but the father only ranked fifty-second? What's that called?"

Li Zhu wasn't very clear about the Cao family's affairs, but judging from this result, the old man was indeed... a bit lacking.

"To put it nicely... like father, like son? After all, it's a good story for father and son to pass the imperial examination together. And Cao Xun's skills aren't bad, but compared to the top two scholars, he's still a bit immature. I'm quite optimistic about him."

Zhu Wu remembered Cao Xun's exam paper.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. Pei Xuan, check again to see if there's anything missing. If not, Xiao Rang, prepare the list of successful candidates."

"Yes."

Pei Xuan and Xiao Rang accepted the order. They were also very excited. They had personally witnessed the first imperial examination in Dayi, which would be a great honor in the future!

……

Guesthouse.

"Brother Changqing, why haven't the results been released yet, given all these days?"

Chen Kangbo and Zhang Jun were of similar age, so after their unexpected meeting at the inn, they quickly became friends.

"Brother Deyuan, please calm down. Dayi is known for its steady approach. I think it's because Prince Ren takes this matter seriously that it has taken so long."

Chen Kangbo was very satisfied with the customs of Liangshan. He felt that his idea of ​​"frugality and leniency towards the people" had been put into practice very well in Liangshan, so he had a good impression of this new nation.

"I'm just afraid that if something goes wrong, I won't be able to explain it when I get back."

Zhang Jun considered things a little more. It wasn't that he lacked confidence in himself, but he was afraid that in the first imperial examination of Dayi, the top three would all be his own people. After all, he had heard that Dayi had its own school these days.

If this were in the Song Dynasty, graduates of the Imperial Academy would definitely help each other, so Zhang Jun was worried that his ranking might be suppressed.

"Brother Deyuan, now that we've chosen to come, we must trust Prince Ren, and we must also trust our own abilities and our own judgment!"

Chen Kangbo comforted Zhang Jun.

"How about this, Brother Deyuan, let's make a bet on whether you can pass the imperial examination."

"If you can, buy me a drink! If you can't, I'll buy you two!"

Perhaps influenced by Chen Kangbo's arrogance, Zhang Jun also became confident:

"Good! Brother Changqing! If you pass the imperial examination, the same applies!"

"A word is settled!"

"A word is settled!"

……