Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Fellow students, please follow me."

Xiao Rang looked at the six scholars, including Qiu Yu, and nodded with some delight.

Excellent! This time we have six scholars, which is a great success! We never had this many people before; often there wasn't even one!

"Thank you, Chief Xiao."

These scholars weren't stupid; the soldiers on their ship had already told them Xiao Rang's identity.

On the stone tablet of Liangshan, this person is quite famous, and among the civil officials of Liangshan, Xiao Rang can be said to be of great importance.

The fact that Liangshan sent such a person to receive them was enough to show Liangshan's sincerity.

"Chief Xiao, what can we do?"

Faced with Xiao Rang's enthusiasm, the scholars exchanged bewildered glances.

Clearly, they were somewhat incredulous. A well-known leader of Liangshan would be so polite to them.

Therefore, the eldest of the six scholars spoke up.

"Brother, what Liangshan lacks right now is scholars. You will have a heavy task after you come up the mountain."

Xiao Rang looked at the information about each scholar that the soldiers handed him, nodding as he read.

"However, most of us failed the imperial examinations. For example, I was just a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). At most, I was a teacher who could read."

The middle-aged scholar said somewhat awkwardly that he was not being self-deprecating, but had truly experienced too many failures while studying in the Song Dynasty.

If it weren't for his good wife, the family would probably have fallen apart.

“Brother, teaching people to read is a great skill. Do you know how many of the hundreds of thousands of people in Liangshan are illiterate? What we lack most are teachers who can teach people to read!”

Xiao Rang smiled and comforted the middle-aged scholar, explaining that Liangshan was now a typical place that valued martial arts over literature, so they would take anyone, not just a scholar, but even an elderly student.

"I see. Then we should be fine."

The middle-aged scholar breathed a sigh of relief.

"Moreover, besides teaching people to read, there are many other things that Liangshan needs you to do, such as reviewing documents, drafting orders, writing newspapers, and so on. Rest assured, in Liangshan, there is nothing you cannot do, only things you cannot think of."

Xiao Rang led the six people to a private room in a restaurant at the foot of the mountain. Soon after, the restaurant sent over six sets of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

"Chief Xiao... is this the imperial examination system of Liangshan?"

When Qiu Yu saw that he had been given a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, he suddenly remembered what Old Li had said on the boat earlier.

He immediately realized that he had overestimated Liangshan. If this was Liangshan's imperial examination system, it was far too casual!

"Huh? The imperial examination? No, no, no, this isn't it."

Xiao Rang was also taken aback, then looked Qiu Yu up and down a few times.

"Young fellow student, do you perhaps know something about the imperial examinations of Liangshan?"

"Uh, no, Chief Xiao, this is what Chief Li told me on the ship just now."

Qiu Yu quickly said that he had only heard about it, nothing more.

"Oh, yes, Liangshan will have its own imperial examination in the future, but not now. What we are doing now is not the imperial examination, but just a basic test."

Xiao Rang nodded. He knew that the soldiers on the ship would tell the scholars about Liangshan's future imperial examination plans.

"You six have half an hour to write down your suggestions for Liangshan on paper, that is, how you would develop Liangshan if you became the leaders of Liangshan."

Xiao Rang explained the rules concisely and clearly:

"You can write about anything, from people's livelihood, economy, military affairs, etc. There is no word limit, as long as you finish writing within half an hour."

"Um, Chief Xiao, is this a strategy essay? But, but I'm not very good at this."

Another scholar raised his hand, but he said he couldn't write this.

"Well, if you really can't write policy essays, you can write poems, that's fine too."

Xiao Rang said, "Let's not say so much, just write down whatever comes to mind!"

All I want is for you to write; what you write is not important, that's all.

The six people exchanged glances, then said nothing more. They all sat down, picked up their pens, and began to think.

Qiu Yu was also thinking about it, but what he was thinking about was how he could write in a way that would subtly conceal his true abilities.

After all, he was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty. If he were to write policy essays, his level would definitely far surpass that of the other five people.

But if he did that, he would be exposed; he was there to infiltrate, not to showcase his strategic thinking skills!

So Qiu Yu was quite troubled.

Xiao Rang didn't realize that Qiu Yu was just nervous. He even walked over to him, patted him on the shoulder, and told him not to be nervous.

"Take your time, you can write anything."

Qiu Yu had unspeakable bitterness in his heart, but on the surface he could only nod to Xiao Rang to express his gratitude.

Looking at the other five people around him, it's clear that it's understandable why they couldn't pass the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty, because their current situation wasn't good either.

Time passed by in a flash, and half an hour went by quickly. Xiao Rang secretly gave everyone an extra incense stick's time or so, allowing them to finish writing.

Then, Xiao Rang gestured for them to stay and rest at the restaurant first, and then he took the six people's papers to the strategist's office.

With the chieftain absent, all decisions in the village are made by the strategist.

Of course, Li Zhu and Liu Min are now also strategists of Liangshan.

"Xiao Rang, how's it going? I heard there are six people who came this time?"

The news that a large number of scholars had come this time had already spread up the mountain, and the strategists were all waiting for them.

"Yes, strategist, there are six people this time. They have all written some policy essays, and I have brought their papers with me."

While greeting the strategists, Xiao Rang placed the papers of the six people on the table for their reference.

What these scholars will ultimately do is up to the strategists to decide.

"Well, how should I put it, it certainly meets the standards of a scholar."

“Mine is better; at least my handwriting is better and more literary.”

“Mine is not bad either. I can quote classics. Although I don’t have much of my own, at least it proves that I’ve read a lot.”

"What I'm saying is rather absurd; it doesn't make sense logically, and the meaning it conveys is unclear..."

……

The five strategists immediately began to review the six papers, offering their opinions as they read.

Only Li Zhu stared at one of the exam papers, remaining silent for a long time.

"Brother Li, what's wrong?"

Seeing this, Zhu Wu assumed that Li Zhu had discovered some talented person and immediately came over to check.

"Brother Zhu, take a look at this one."

Li Zhu didn't say much, but instead pushed the paper to Zhu Wu.

Zhu Wu's eyes lit up after reading it!

"Hmm, the idea is good, and the approach is excellent, but... wait, that shouldn't be the case."

Zhu Wu realized that there was a problem with the policy essay in this exam paper!

It's not that his writing is bad, but this paper seems to have been deliberately written poorly. Some of the mistakes are very basic and are completely out of sync with the overall strategy!

It's like, it's like two people with very different skill levels are forced together. Oh no, it should be that a very skilled person writes first, and then a very unskilled person revises it.

However, it is clear that each person in Liangshan completed this test individually, and Xiao Rang personally watched them finish writing.

"This person did it on purpose."

Zhu Wu reached his own conclusion, and Li Zhu nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, the others also gathered around. After reading the essay together, they all felt that the person was doing it on purpose.

"Strategist, is there a problem?"

Xiao Rang had not seen these people's answers, so he did not know the specifics.

"Brother Xiao Rang, do you remember this person?"

Zhu Wu gave the exam paper to Xiao Rang.

Xiao Rang took it and examined it carefully; he also noticed the problem!

In terms of the thought process and intent of this policy essay, it far surpasses Xiao Rang's, but the low-level mistakes he made are hard to understand. In short, the one who made the mistakes and the one who wrote the essay are not on the same level!

"Chou Yu... I remember him, he even specifically asked if Liangshan needed to take the imperial examination or something!"

After hearing this, everyone felt more confident. Zhu Wu looked at Xiao Rang and said:

“Brother Xiao Rang, have someone bring this Qiu Yu up. If I’m not mistaken, he’s a spy for the imperial court.”