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Chapter 445 Entrance Examination

Time flies like an arrow, and nearly a month has passed in the blink of an eye. In these fleeting days, Jin Shuai has been extremely busy, devoting himself to the construction of the military academy, and now he has finally managed to arrange all the affairs in a decent manner.

The school buildings were temporarily constructed near the new main gate, a prime location not only close to Jin Shuai's farm, allowing him to manage both, but also with convenient transportation, facilitating easy travel for personnel from all sides. Approximately three hundred generals from various military regions, all elites in their fields, arrived at the academy with the expectation of enhancing their military skills. For the next three months, they would undergo intensive, comprehensive training. Some of these generals were skilled in horsemanship and archery, while others possessed outstanding tactical command abilities. However, Jin Shuai understood that the war situation had changed; stagnation was a dead end. Only by continuously learning new tactics and new ideas could they better defend their country.

However, the enrollment numbers surprised Jin Shuai. The military academy primarily trained military personnel, and he had assumed the arts department would receive few applications. But when he checked the list, he was astonished to find nearly 127 people had applied. After a brief moment's thought, regardless of their motives, Jin Shuai decided to train the first batch of students first. This would ensure teaching quality and allow instructors to develop more effective teaching methods in practice, laying a solid foundation for subsequent instruction.

Commander Jin entrusted the important task of training the military officers to Jin Tai, solemnly instructing him, "Commander Jin, these officers are now in your care. You must train them meticulously and without carelessness. In three months, I will ensure their orders are obeyed without question." Commander Jin Tai accepted the order and left, understanding that this was a challenging but significant task. Looking at these officers, he already had a plan in mind: to start with the most basic drill training, reshaping their sense of discipline and teamwork.

Today is the big day for the students who applied to the School of Humanities. The entrance exam consists of two parts: academic subjects and physical fitness. Jin Shuai stood to the side, watching the confident students, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips, thinking to himself, "Just wait and see how you all fare."

With the rousing sound of drums, the first exam began. Jin Shuai's exam design was quite different from the traditional imperial examinations. Before entering, each student was given an answer sheet, and then they entered the room one by one to read the questions and write their answers on the paper. This exam had only ten questions, each worth between 0 and 10 points, for a total of 100 points. However, the questions did not include common poems or essays; they mostly tested the students' knowledge and calculation abilities.

The first question seemed simple. Jin Shuai placed five kinds of grains on the table and asked the candidates to write down their names and places of origin. For those pampered sons of officials who had never done farm work, this question was anything but easy. They were well-read and could compose poems, yet they might not even know the names of the most common crops. The first candidate entered the examination room, and upon seeing the question, his confidence vanished instantly, replaced by utter bewilderment. He stared at the five crops, racking his brains, but couldn't recall the names of even two, let alone their places of origin.

The later questions weren't too difficult, including business cost accounting, questions about local customs and traditions, and questions about predicting weather changes based on natural phenomena. One student broke out in a cold sweat when he saw the cost accounting question; he had never encountered this type of knowledge before and could only stare blankly at the question. Another student answered several questions about local customs and traditions incorrectly, regretfully slapping his forehead and blaming himself for only knowing how to study and neglecting to learn about the outside world.

After the academic exams, the physical fitness assessment followed. Jin Shuai believes that an outstanding person needs not only extensive knowledge but also a strong physique. The physical fitness assessment included a 5-kilometer run, a weighted march, and basic combat skills.

During the long-distance running assessment, many candidates were out of breath after only a short distance, their steps becoming increasingly heavy. Some even considered giving up, but seeing their classmates persevering, they gritted their teeth and continued forward.

The march with heavy loads was even more arduous, with trainees carrying heavy packs and struggling to move forward on the rugged road. Sweat soaked their clothes, and some trainees collapsed due to exhaustion, but they quickly got up and continued to march towards the finish line step by step.

The atmosphere became tense during the combat skills assessment. The candidates paired up for sparring. Some, lacking training, were clumsy and quickly subdued; others, however, gained the upper hand with their quick reflexes and agile movements. One slender candidate, initially pressured by his opponent, suddenly turned, skillfully deflecting the attack and launching a counterattack, earning cheers from the audience.

The long and tense day of exams finally came to an end. The atmosphere in the examination hall seemed to have been drained of all vitality; the candidates all looked exhausted and listless. Jin Shuai stood on the podium, his gaze slowly sweeping over the faces below, some dejected, some angry. He thought to himself, "These guys are really naive. They actually think this military academy is just a place to get their resumes 'gilded'!"

After rounds of brutal elimination, only 24 people remained. However, when Jin Shuai began announcing the results, the once quiet examination room erupted in chaos. Many candidates stood up, expressing their extreme dissatisfaction with the outcome.

Some complained that the liberal arts exam questions were too biased and completely defied common sense; others, self-proclaimed literary geniuses, protested loudly, arguing that they made their living with their writing skills and shouldn't have to participate in physical fitness tests, which had nothing to do with academics. Faced with the rising tide of questions and commotion, Jin Shuai remained unmoved, not even bothering to offer an explanation or a word of reassurance, simply coldly observing the restless examinees.

However, Jin Shuai wasn't entirely heartless. For those students who scored above 50 in the humanities subjects but failed the physical fitness test, he made an exception and announced that they could re-register for a make-up exam after 20 days. Upon hearing this news, some students immediately felt a glimmer of hope, while others remained indignant, muttering unpleasant words.