Water Margin people

What surprised Sun Lei the most was the bumper grain harvest in the Northeast. Shiploads of grain flowed down the Liao River into the Bohai Sea, and then along the Yellow River to Liangshan City.

The officials were surprised that the barren land of Northeast China could produce a good harvest of grain. In their impression, Northeast China was a place covered with ice and snow, and it was too desolate even for grazing horses and sheep.

“The local government has done a great job this year!”

Sun Lei gave his judgment. The local government did a good job this year. The current tax revenue has caught up with the Song Dynasty. It is true that Qi's taxation is loose and there are many subsidies for various industries. If it were as heavy as the Song Dynasty, more than 200 million silver coins could be collected.

The officials breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the emperor was satisfied, it was good. Since ancient times, civil officials have been the only ones in charge of the country. But now they, the civil officials, were suppressed by the military officials in taxation. They felt ashamed to face people.

After all the tax reports were submitted, Sun Lei was very satisfied. His treasury was full again. With money at home, he would not panic when something happened.

Cabinet officials, Ministry of War officials, and officials from the six ministries began to make their responses in turn.

"Your Majesty, is this year's imperial examination still after the New Year?"

Wen Huanzhang bowed and asked, the next most important thing is the imperial examination.

According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination was held every three years, but Qi State was promoting education, so holding it every three years was obviously inappropriate.

"Let's postpone it. It's too busy after the New Year. Let's postpone it to April! That's when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming."

Sun Lei said that he did this to sympathize with the candidates in remote areas, such as the southwestern mountainous areas. The candidates from there might not be able to make it after the New Year, and even if they did, they might be affected if they hurried to take the exam.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Wen Huanzhang saluted and said that he was the chief examiner of the imperial examination this year and he did all these things personally.

"Your Majesty, there's news from the Medical Research Institute that the drug has been developed and can be used on patients!"

An official spoke up.

"So fast?"

Sun Lei was very surprised, because medical research is a very long process.

"Yes, they said that tens of thousands of human trials are enough to prove the efficacy of the drug. They also made improvements based on the experimental data from the front line!"

The official spoke.

"Let them send the medicine to the front line for a trial first, and don't rush to use it on your own people!"

Sun Lei waved his hand and said that although a large number of human experiments could quickly advance the development of the drug, he felt it was better to be cautious as the side effects could be delayed.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The official saluted.

The morning court ended in peace. Sun Lei left and the officials also withdrew.

Side hall.

"Your Majesty, these are the names of candidates reported by various places this year."

Wen Huanzhang took out a thick booklet and handed it to Sun Lei.

"how many people?"

Sun Lei took the booklet and flipped through it. On it were the candidates' names and places of origin.

"Fifteen thousand one hundred and eighty-nine people!"

Wen Huanzhang replied.

"There are quite a few people!"

Sun Lei was very surprised. He remembered that there were only a few thousand people taking the exam last time. You know, these were the names submitted by local governments after screening.

"Your Majesty, if this education is widely available, there will definitely be many candidates. It's still good now. According to the proportion, there may be more than 100,000 candidates in a few years!"

Wen Huanzhang replied.

"One hundred thousand candidates? Isn't it inappropriate for so many people to come to Liangshan City to take the exam?"

Sun Lei asked with a frown.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

Wen Huanzhang looked at Sun Lei and asked, he didn't know what the emperor wanted to express.

"What I mean is, can the exams be held in different places? If 100,000 people come to Liangshan City, there may not be enough accommodation, and it will be difficult to manage so many people."

Sun Lei looked at Wen Huanzhang and said that he felt that there was no need to come to Liangshan City for this exam, as it was really a waste of time and money.

"I don't think that's right!"

Wen Huanzhang saluted. "Hmm? Inappropriate?"

Sun Lei looked at Wen Huanzhang in surprise and asked, he thought Wen Huanzhang would agree.

"Yes, I think it is inappropriate. The imperial examination is a national selection of talents, and fairness is what is needed! If it is put in the local area, cheating will emerge endlessly. The imperial examination can choose not to select talents, but it must not be abused."

Wen Huanzhang replied.

"It's just that there are too many people. It's a waste of time and money to come here once a year!"

Sun Lei sighed. He knew all this, but it was not a good idea for them all to come to Liangshan.

"If Your Majesty feels that there are too many people, you can conduct another screening locally. This way, you can control the number of people who will eventually come to Liangshan to take the imperial examination! But the imperial examination must be held in Liangshan in the end. Only in this way can we ensure relative fairness!"

Wen Huanzhang gave a solution.

"That's fine too! Let them keep the number of people below 5,000."

Sun Lei nodded and said that this was also a possible solution.

"In addition, there is one more matter that I would like to report to Your Majesty in advance!"

Wen Huanzhang took out a few test papers from his sleeve and handed them to Sun Lei.

Sun Lei took it and looked at it doubtfully.

"This answer is the best. It's meaningful and practical. Although it's a bit bold, it's still a good candidate. As for the others..."

Sun Lei shook his head and said that there were two good answers among the remaining papers, but the answers to the others were really terrible.

"Your Majesty, this first paper is from students from Jiangnan, the other two are from Jiangling Prefecture and Qingzhou, and the rest are from Daming Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture..."

Wen Huanzhang said.

"What does it mean?"

Sun Lei asked in confusion.

"Your Majesty, according to my investigation, this year's top scholar should come from a southern prefecture. This is the third consecutive year that a southern top scholar has been admitted."

Wen Huanzhang said.

"Well, I know what's going on. Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be arrested and beaten! If anyone doesn't study hard and dares to complain, I'll use a ruler to beat them hard. I've spoiled them!"

Sun Lei understood what Wen Huanzhang meant. This kind of situation had happened before and the northern students had already expressed dissatisfaction. If it continued like this now, those who were mentally unbalanced might cause trouble.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

With the emperor's words, Wen Huanzhang felt relieved. There were too many students this year and it would be troublesome if they made trouble.

After discussing these things, Sun Lei went to the harem.

Li Qingzhao wanted to go out with her big belly, and Hua Chan couldn't persuade her no matter what.

"What are you doing? It's only been two days, and you're still running around?"

Sun Lei frowned and looked at Li Qingzhao.

"The science exam is coming up soon, I'm going to go check it out at school!"

Li Qingzhao was worried about her students.

"No need, I've postponed it. The exam won't start until April, so just stay put!"

Sun Lei stepped forward and supported Li Qingzhao and said.

"Rescheduled?"

Li Qingzhao looked at Sun Lei in surprise.

"I am the emperor! It is up to me to decide when the imperial examination will be held! Besides, it is freezing cold now. You want them to come and take the exam? Isn't it good to wear warm clothes in April?"

Sun Lei said.

"That's right, April is a good time!"

Li Qingzhao thought about it and nodded. It was freezing cold at that time and her hands were shaking as she held the pen.

"Go, go, go back to the warm room. It's cold outside. You can't stand the cold now!"

Hua Chan quickly invited the two to enter the greenhouse. (End of this chapter)