Chapter 42 The Examination Begins

The fifth day of the annual festival finally arrived.

The prefectural office had long since prepared the examination grounds for them.

Each candidate was provided with a single desk, and the examination was scheduled to last a full day.

Every test paper contained more than twenty thousand questions, all tailored specifically to the current situation in the Southern Frontier.

After deliberations among the officials, it was decided that anyone who could successfully answer even a single question with a good response would be retained in the Southern Frontier for cultivation and advancement.

When the scholars first looked at the examination questions, they were completely dumbfounded. These seemed entirely unlike the classical sage books they had studied.

In particular, several military strategy questions made them wonder if they were actually being tested on commanding troops in battle.

Noticing the expressions of confusion on the scholars' faces, Su Zihuan, serving as the chief examiner, stepped forward.

"Each of you has a test paper in front of you. As long as you can answer any single question well, you will be permitted to stay in the Southern Frontier."

"For those who do not wish to remain in the Southern Frontier, regardless of whether your answers are good or poor, the Protector-General will personally fund your journey to the capital for the imperial examinations."

Hearing this, the scholars felt their anxieties ease somewhat.

They began to write their answers.

Su Zihuan and the other examiners strolled among the scholars from time to time.

Glancing at the answers on the desks, they nodded in approval at times, and shook their heads at others.

As the day drew to a close, the examination came to an end.

The examiners collected the answer sheets, had copies made, and sent the original papers to the Protector-General's Mansion.

That night, at the Protector-General's Mansion.

Fang Han reviewed the answer papers, sorting them into separate piles.

Those on the left were to be handed over to Su Zihuan for training as regular administrative officials.

Those on the right were to be kept by Fang Han himself as his trusted confidants.

After all, the future development and construction of Southern Frontier City would require a great number of capable officials.

Lin Qingwei finished her makeup and dressing, then walked over to Fang Han's room.

Over the past few days, they had gone out every evening to visit the annual festival.

The festival at night was even more lively than during the day, since daytime still required many to labor.

When Lin Qingwei entered Fang Han's room and saw him engrossed in reviewing the answer sheets, a flash of delight crossed her heart.

As a princess, she was proficient in the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she had read numerous books of the ancient sages. Naturally, she also wished to see what solutions these scholars had written.

"Fang Han, may I look at these?"

Fang Han nodded and said, "Of course. Come and help me analyze which of them are better suited for cultivation."

He then explained to her that the papers on the left would be assigned to Su Zihuan's charge, while the ones on the right were reserved to become his personal confidants.

Lin Qingwei began reading through the test papers.

Many scholars had only answered a few selected questions, and only a rare few had filled out every single question regardless of whether they knew the correct answers.

Fang Han's focus was also on cultivating these particular individuals.

Regardless of whether their answers were entirely correct, at the very least, they possessed the daring to write them down.

At this moment, he fully understood what his teachers from his past life had often said:

Write something down first, correct or not, rather than leaving the page blank.

The situation right now was precisely the same.

Those who answered incorrectly could be slowly trained over time, but those who lacked the courage even to attempt an answer were utterly unworthy of cultivation.

Lin Qingwei picked up a test paper, looked at it in surprise, and asked, "Should this person be given to Su Zihuan as well?"

Fang Han glanced at it casually and replied, "He only answered a couple of questions. Clearly, he is a cautious and prudent person."

"Such a man struggles to shoulder great responsibilities, but he would make a fine, competent ordinary official."

"Yet the questions he answered are all military queries," Lin Qingwei noted.

Hearing that they were military-related questions, Fang Han whipped his head around and took the test paper from Lin Qingwei's hands to examine it closely.

Earlier, he had merely skimmed the surface; he read the papers with many answers carefully, while completely ignoring those with few.

He had never expected to overlook such a talent.

Now, reviewing this particular test paper, the writer was undeniably a person of exceptional talent.

[The Great Liang dynasty is plagued by warfare and its people suffer greatly; how can the people of Great Liang be guided into the Southern Frontier?]

This candidate's proposed solution was to dispatch agents to spread word of the prosperity of the Southern Frontier.

Send merchants to sell dry rations and daily utensils at the borders, encouraging the refugees to make their way to the Southern Frontier under their own power.

Below that were a series of accompanying strategies.

For instance, exaggerate the cruelty of the Southern Barbarians to frighten the refugees into forming defensive groups, and even distribute rudimentary maps.

"I like this man's methods. Let's see his name." Fang Han spoke as his gaze shifted to the name column.

Yet when he saw the name, his brows furrowed slightly.

The name written on the paper was simply "Stone".

"It sounds like a pseudonym," Lin Qingwei remarked.

Bold yet meticulous—Fang Han's admiration for this person grew deeper by the moment.

He proceeded to check how the other questions had been answered.

[Faced with bandit infestations within the borders of the Southern Frontier, how should they be suppressed?]

This candidate answered by suggesting the deployment of tempting baits for the bandits to plunder, thereby exhausting their mutual strengths.

The paper listed the supplies the bandits desperately needed, which were nothing more than wealth, grain, and weaponry.

By deliberately leaking the transport routes of these supplies and letting the bandits catch wind of it, they could be lured into turning on one another.

This was an open stratagem.

If two bandit factions both set their sights on the same batch of supplies, whichever faction held its ground while the other struck would easily reap the rewards.

As their strength fluctuated, one faction would inevitably be eradicated by the other.

To avoid annihilation, both factions would be forced to fight over the bait immediately, and as this pattern continued, not only would their overall power fail to grow, but they would consume each other in endless strife.

By that time, government troops could step in to wipe out the remaining bandits without expending the slightest effort.

"Brilliant! This man is extraordinary."

"Someone come, summon Fang Shou!" Fang Han shouted loudly, and a soldier immediately stepped inside to receive the order.

Before long, Fang Shou arrived.

"My Lord, what are your orders?"

Fang Han instructed, "Go find Fang Yuan and order him to bring me the scholar named Stone. Remember, keep it strictly confidential."

Ever since the scholars registered, they had been placed under unified management.

Fang Yuan had conducted thorough investigations into every single candidate, including their exact seating positions in the examination hall.

Even though Stone's name might be false, his seating location could not lie.

Fang Han continued reading the test papers, growing more and more satisfied with every page.

"The books this person has read are probably not the teachings of the ancient sages, but books of military strategy," Lin Qingwei said with a smile.

She was genuinely happy to see someone capable sharing Fang Han's burdens.

If this man truly possessed extraordinary talent, he would undoubtedly become Fang Han's right-hand man in the future.

Fang Shou quickly brought the man named Stone before them.

Stone was very young, looking to be less than thirty years of age.

The moment he laid eyes on Fang Han, he smiled and said, "My Lord, I am Wang Shi, though my parents named me Stone."

Fang Han nodded and said, "I know. From now on, you will follow Fang Da. I am exceedingly pleased with the strategies you proposed."

Upon seeing Fang Han's appearance, Stone felt a wave of internal astonishment. Could his previous speculation have been wrong? Was Fang Han truly as incompetent as external rumors claimed?

During his period of seclusion, he had indeed studied diligently, but rather than reading the traditional classical texts, he had devoted himself entirely to military treatises.

Ever since the wars erupted in the Southern Frontier, he had deduced that mere literary scholarship could never save this land.

Consequently, he abandoned scholarly pursuits for military studies, striving to become a brilliant strategist capable of assisting a great commander in achieving hegemony.

After stepping out of seclusion and witnessing the current state of the Southern Frontier, he perceived that beneath the surface veneer of stability lay hidden crises.

Moreover, the rumors painted the Protector-General as a petty man jealous of talent, suggesting the present favorable situation in the Southern Frontier had come about purely by coincidence.

Yet he understood deeply that when so many coincidences piled together, they ceased to be coincidences at all.

This Protector-General must be deliberately masking the true strength of the Southern Frontier while actually possessing profound and terrifying talent.

The presence of military strategy questions on the examination paper had only served to validate his hypothesis.

That was why he had taken the great risk of writing down those specific answers.

On his journey to the Protector-General's Mansion, his heart had raced with turbulent anticipation, feeling as though everything was unfolding precisely as he had predicted.

Yet right now, the Protector-General did not seem nearly as overjoyed at acquiring a strategist as he had imagined.

"Could I have guessed wrong? Were all these events mere coincidences after all?" Wang Shi could not help but wonder inwardly.