Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 198 Entrance Examination Questions

After arranging the teleportation array, Zhang Chengdao pulled Xu Wen aside and talked to him specifically about Baishi Immortal University.

Because the students initially recruited were all from those who had passed the imperial examinations, the pool of applicants was actually very limited.

After all, according to custom, the provincial examination was held only once every three years.

Moreover, the population of Qin and Jin is small, not even comparable to that of Xiao and Chu. Each time, the total number of people from all over the country for the provincial examination is only two or three hundred, and then another batch of people who will participate in the palace examination and become officials will be eliminated.

Among these people, there will be many who are unwilling to cultivate immortality.

It may sound strange, but the term "cultivating immortality" is still quite unfamiliar to many people.

The people of this world have no concept of "immortals," and they have even less of a concept of what "cultivating immortality" means.

The concepts of immortality and the Nascent Soul stage are actually just ideas given to us by various modern novels. In a society where fantasy literature is still in a barren stage, most people cannot understand what "immortals" or "cultivating immortality" are, and even think that they are just a little more powerful than martial arts practitioners.

Therefore, compared to a completely unfamiliar system like "Shiroishi Sendo University," most people would rather compete in the traditional imperial examination system, which they were already familiar with and had proven its feasibility. It was probably only those from families of court officials who had been exposed to the so-called Sendo path, and those who were simply short of money and could hardly afford the cost and tuition of continuing the imperial examinations, who would try this school.

And such groups, when added together, are even fewer.

Furthermore, Zhang Chengdao did not intend to accept all comers; instead, he explicitly required that even for admissions, a simple exam would be necessary.

Naturally, the test was neither classical Chinese nor a trial array like the Immortal Destiny Assembly of the White Stone Immortal Sect, but rather some simple "application problems".

In this era, "application problems" also have another name: "policy essays".

These two are not entirely equivalent, but they are similar. Both examine answers to real-world problems, that is, problem-solving abilities.

However, policy essays were only tested in the palace examination. And since they were called "policy essays," they were required to write an "argumentative essay," break down the question based on the question, cite classical texts, and then propose a solution that, while not necessarily feasible, would at first glance be plausible, and finally complete an essay.

However, Zhang Chengdao had no interest in reading the article, so the entrance exam for Baishi Xiandao University not only consisted of only three "application questions," but also clearly indicated after each question that the word count for each answer should not exceed 1000 words.

It's absolutely impossible to write a policy essay with that word count—not even a simplified version.

To prevent test takers from misunderstanding the question format and padding their answers with excessive word count, Zhang Chengdao even provided example questions and answer templates:

[Example Question: If, during a mission to collect spiritual herbs assigned by the school, you discover a herb never recorded in any books, and based on experience, there's a high probability it's a spiritual herb, what should you do...?]

[Example answer: First, carefully observe its characteristics and growing environment conditions, summarize and record them, then mark the location to avoid destructive harvesting. You should quickly return to school to seek help from teachers and report to them, and then...]

Zhang Chengdao deliberately made the answers to these questions and example questions appear straightforward and colloquial, using entirely vernacular language without any embellishment or quotations.

The three "word problems" were also very simple:
[Question: If, during a field mission assigned by the school, you encounter a ferocious demonic cultivator wreaking havoc in a village, what should you do?]

[Question: As the spiritual energy of heaven and earth revives, all things will gradually come to life, and the imperial court will gradually no longer need ordinary grains and cloth as taxes. Therefore, is it necessary to reform the tax system? And how should it be reformed?]

[Question: Cultivating immortality is arduous, yet it is a glorious path. Today, with the resurgence of spiritual energy in the world, should the imperial court encourage or even organize large-scale cultivation among the common people? And how should it balance the gap between cultivators with spiritual power and ordinary citizens?]

Although the core content of these three questions is very simple, for those who are used to the traditional style of the imperial examinations, it is very difficult to even understand the meaning of these three questions.

Moreover, in the exam paper, Zhang Chengdao specifically instructed Wang Yanqing, who was in charge of this matter, to mark the sentence "You may choose one of the three questions to answer, or you may answer all three questions and choose the best one."

As we all know, if you are only told that you can choose one of the three questions to answer, most people will probably only answer one question.

Once the rule of "the best answer out of three questions" is added, almost everyone will answer all the questions.

Zhang Chengdao wanted all the answers.

Because these three questions each have their own focus, their purpose is not actually to "choose the best" but to "avoid pitfalls".

By examining the candidates' words, one can glean their attitudes and understanding of the upcoming "changes," and whether they are the kind of talent one can utilize.

Those whose talent lies in cultivation can be taught by the White Stone Immortal Sect. Although the White Stone Immortal University is named "Immortal University," it is actually an ideological education institution, specifically designed to cultivate a new batch of political and management talents who can be "brainwashed" and are useful.

"...Absurd! How can such a ridiculous question even be called a question?!"

At the end of the month, a minister surnamed Li, who had just finished his entrance exam and was the first to receive the exam questions, slammed his fist on the table, his face turning red with anger.

He tolerated the change of dynasties, the dismissal of officials from the six ministries, and the abolition of the imperial court in favor of the establishment of city lords.

But now this so-called "Immortal of White Stone" is actually trying to undermine Confucianism and Taoism, and to break the rules of scholars "since ancient times"...

It is simply unbearable!

"Cultivating immortality! Cultivating immortality! Isn't that just martial artists who live a little longer? What kind of immortality is that?! And he even wants to bring this whole thing into the imperial court! What is he trying to do?! Is he planning to drive us 'ordinary mortals' out of the court and bring those 'martial artists' into the court to work, making all the scholars who have studied hard for decades a laughing stock?!"

Upon hearing Lord Li's complaint, the officials in the government office were startled and immediately began to offer their advice.

"I wouldn't dare to talk nonsense, I wouldn't dare to talk nonsense!"

"The sect leader may not have meant that. I think Lord Li is overthinking it!"

"Lord Li is probably drunk and hasn't sobered up yet!"

"The divine might is unfathomable. How could Lord Li presume to understand His Majesty's will? This is inappropriate, inappropriate!"

Lord Li's face darkened, he snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, and spoke with spittle flying: "Hmph! The head of a martial arts sect is only slightly more powerful than a Grandmaster, and you're all so afraid!"

Lord Li grew increasingly disdainful as he spoke, even pointing his finger at everyone in the government office and cursing them: "You are all spineless cowards! Throughout history, what has been the fate of those who ascended the throne through martial arts but whose virtue did not match their position? Do you not know? It's truly laughable!"

"hey-hey!"

Before the words had even finished, a minister, disregarding any past courtesy, rolled his eyes and sneered, "Lord Li says this only because he's too old to cultivate immortality, and he's unwilling to be ousted from his position by officials who do cultivate immortality in the future..."

As he spoke, the man stroked his beard and even laughed: "Heh heh, how ridiculous! Do you think this world belongs to your Li family? The emperor has passed away, and the Great Zhou Kingdom has perished! Are you, the Li family, still dreaming of the emperor and the scholar-officials sharing the world?"

Lord Li was so enraged by having his secret thoughts exposed that his finger trembled as he pointed at someone: "You! You! You! You! Don't make false accusations! It's an insult to scholarship! It's a complete insult to scholarship!"

"Heh heh, slander? Disrespectful to scholars? I wonder who was it that started this insubordination, spewing filth and disrespect at the sect leader! It's only because the sect leader is magnanimous that he doesn't hold it against you. If this were still the Zhou Dynasty, your tongue would have been ripped out!"

That man relentlessly pressed on, his mouth opening and closing as he relentlessly berated Lord Li: "Moreover, only an old fogey like you, so bound by tradition, would think that the Hundred Cities Plan is some kind of enfeoffment!"
"In my opinion, the question posed by the sect leader is excellent. When officials govern a region, they must make sure that the people can understand it! Deeper knowledge can be studied by the scholars of the Hanlin Academy, but those of us who work in the court should always put the people first and follow their example in everything we do!"

Lord Li, enraged, laughed: "I never realized Lord Cui had such eloquence! You speak with such righteous indignation; I'd like to see how you, a group of nobles from the Guanzhong region, will conduct yourselves in the future!"

After saying this, he angrily took off his official hat and strode away from the government office, clearly intending to resign.

However, no sooner had he left than everyone shook their heads, sighed, and started chatting amongst themselves.

"This Lord Li is truly laughable. My family is merely horse breeders in Qinbei. How did he become a noble family in Guanzhong? He probably thinks everyone else is himself!"

"Yes, my ancestors for three generations, the highest official they ever held was only a local registrar. How can they compare to Lord Li's family with their thousands of acres of fertile land and power! The Li family is a powerful clan with nearly ten thousand households, whose members are all connected!"

"My ancestors did have a son-in-law, but that was all during the previous dynasty. When the Great Zhou Dynasty was established, my ancestors were exiled to the Qin Nan region. They were no longer considered nobles. If it weren't for the general amnesty, they would almost have been considered descendants of criminal slaves!"

"Indeed, indeed! Which of us working in the government offices comes from a noble family? Alas! No wonder Lord Li has always looked down on us!"

"That's not necessarily true. It seems that Lord Wang is from the Wang family of Jinyang?"

"Oh dear! You wouldn't dare talk nonsense! Although my ancestral home is Jinyang, I'm only a distant relative of the Wang family of Jinyang! How could we possibly have any connection?"

"Wait a minute? Lord Wang, since you also share the surname Wang, even if you're not closely connected to the Wang family of Jinyang, you should at least be cousins..."

"Cough cough, they're all about the same, they're all about the same..."

……

(End of this chapter)