wild trail

Chapter 384 Exploration and Discovery
The tense imperial examination came to an end, and Wang Lang was very satisfied with the imperial examination this time.

The questions this time are very difficult, and most of the students answered very well. Even those who failed the ranking are rare talents, but the number of officials is limited, and if they are all admitted, it will cause redundant officials.

But Wang Lang didn't want so many talents to be scattered among the people. In this era of lack of knowledge, these people can be said to be the founders of the Xia Kingdom civilization.

After thinking about it, Wang Lang made a decision. He planned to arrange these people to study in the Ministry of Industry or at the grassroots level, so that they could combine the knowledge they had learned with practice.

For example, let these people go to the shipyard to learn shipbuilding, go get it to study and improve agricultural production, and even let some people specialize in the work of surveying lights in wild areas to study maps. These are young people who can read and write, and they can see It is also a good way to have a comprehensive understanding of the mainland of China.

In order to implement this matter, Wang Lang spent several days writing a plan, which he named the Exploration and Discovery Plan.

This plan will be to conduct an all-round exploration of China. Unlike the previous expeditions, the people sent out this time are all knowledgeable talents, and the information they will bring back will be much more comprehensive than those explorers who do not know a single word. .

Moreover, he plans to spend part of the money from the household department to support this matter.

After the royal banquet, at the court meeting, after discussions among the ministers and unanimous consent, the exploration and discovery plan was successfully passed.

When those students who were frustrated in the examination room were about to pack their bags and return to their hometowns, a decree from the imperial court suddenly caught their attention.

The notice was posted at the gate of the city. This is the place with the largest flow of people, and it is also the place where candidates must pass when they leave the capital.

When the examinees from all over the city went out of the city one after another, they saw many students surrounded by the city gate, and they also gathered around to watch out of curiosity.

The notice said: "Exploration and Discovery Project, all candidates who failed in the Xia Kingdom can sign up for this task. Most of the tasks in this plan are extremely difficult. Please consider carefully before making a decision. Anyone who participates in this plan Candidates, in the next exam, ten points will be added. In the case of the same score, candidates who participate in the exploration and discovery plan will be ranked higher and will receive a monthly subsidy of 11 copper coins. For details, please inquire at the Ministry of Rites. NO.20." Wang Lang's seal was stamped below.

After reading the notice, the examinees were overwhelmed, plus [-] points and a monthly subsidy of [-] copper coins, which was definitely a sudden surprise for them.

Not to mention the temptation of adding ten cents, these thirty copper coins are not a small amount. A farmer can sell almost sixty copper coins for a season of hard work. This thing is even bigger than the harvest of farming, as long as After participating in this plan, my life is basically worry-free. Even if I am not an official, getting so much money every month is enough for me to live a leisurely life for the rest of my life.

Excited candidates flocked into the yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

Looking at the crowds of students outside the gate, the officials of the Ministry of Rites felt a headache. Among these departments, the Ministry of Rites could be said to be the most leisurely yamen before, that is, they can be busy during the imperial examinations. At the end of the day, Wang Lang asked the Ministry of Rites to be responsible for this exploration and discovery plan, so they will be busy in the future.

More than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Rites patiently answered the questions of these students. Most of them had no objection to going to the shipyard, the Ministry of Industry or the countryside, and many people had the intention to go to these places.

However, the number of places in these places is relatively limited, and there are only a little over 200 people in total, but there are as many as nearly a thousand students who come to sign up.

Since Wang Lang had anticipated this situation, the right to choose was left to God, and he asked the officials of the Ministry of Rites to assign these people by drawing lots.

But the students naturally don't like this method. Everyone wants to go to a relatively easy and safe place to explore the wild, and they may die someday.

After some hesitation, some candidates decided to give up this opportunity. He couldn't gamble with his own life, and they thought that as long as they worked harder on their knowledge, they might not fail to stand out in the next exam.

The number of candidates gathered in front of the etiquette department gradually decreased, and in the end there were only about 700 people left.

It was beyond Wang Lang's expectation to keep these people.

Although there were some small commotions in the process of drawing lots, overall it was relatively smooth. Before dusk, the remaining candidates accepted their fate. Although they were envious of those lucky guys, they were resigned to their fate. It is useless to envy others.

According to the statistics, the total number of applicants is 680, of which 200 are the lucky ones. These people will work in these places for three years until the next imperial examination.

And those candidates who won the exam, when the failed candidates started training, they also went to their place of office in high spirits.

Wu Feng, who topped the list this time, was assigned by Wang Lang to the most important firearms research and development department of the Ministry of Industry. When he first saw these firearms with great ideas in the Ministry of Industry, he suddenly felt that he had to learn more. There are many people in Xia Guo who are smarter than themselves abound.

It takes a lot of wisdom and hard work to make these weapons.

Wu Feng sincerely admired Xia Guo in his heart. In more than ten years, from a barbaric tribe who drank blood, he made these fetishes that he had thought of before. What a miracle it is now.

Caressing the smooth barrel and the brand-new muskets, Wu Feng was overwhelmed with emotion. This will be the place where he will realize his value in the future, and this is the place where his dream begins.

At this time, in the central square of Yancheng, after the imperial examination was completely over, the construction of the bell tower restarted.

Now, after several months of construction, the main body of the clock tower has begun to take shape.

The common people didn't pay much attention to this place before, but when they saw the taller and taller buildings rising from the ground, people's hearts couldn't be more curious.

However, due to the heavy guards near the construction site, it is difficult for idlers and others to understand the situation. This kind of feeling makes the people's hearts even more curious.

This monster, which is nearly seven or eight meters high, can be said to be the tallest man-made structure in Xia Kingdom.

Such a tall building looks like an arrow tower on the city wall, but the common people also know that this thing must not be used as an arrow tower. After all, the arrow tower is of no use in the center of the city.

With the emergence of various speculation versions, the function of the bell tower is passed on in the market. Some people say that this strange building is the way that the imperial court found to reach the kingdom of heaven. In the future, people can only see it through this building. The gods, some even say that it was the palace prepared by the imperial court to welcome the arrival of the god's envoy.

When these news reached Wang Lang's ears, he was a little dumbfounded. No matter the civilization of that world, if it is not a pure materialist, when it comes to unknown things, it will first think of gods and ghosts and only talk about it.

Wang Lang had no intention of interfering with the rumors circulating in the market. This kind of fanciful speculation may become a part of Xia Kingdom's myths and legends in the distant future.

If a civilization does not have myths and legends, he always feels that this civilization is incomplete.

At this time, Wang Lang's attention was mainly focused on the musketeer team to be formed, although no muskets that could be used in actual combat had yet been produced.

However, this did not prevent Wang Lang from forming the Musketeer Team. In her heart, she always felt that without a strong national defense force, she could not sleep well.

He intends to maintain the musketeer team formed this time at a size of 3000 people, and the hundred musketeers who have been trained for a long time will be assigned as officers of this new unit.

In the future, these 100 musketeers will only be trained with the more than [-] guns used for training. Even if the efficiency of this kind of training is extremely low, Wang Lang thinks it is worth it.

After these people are able to master the use of muskets proficiently, it is estimated that a new generation of muskets will basically be developed.

At that time, as long as these musketeers are issued with new guns, they will become a combat-capable force capable of coping with wars that may arise at any time.

While Wang Lang was studying the formation of the Musketeers, the officials from the Ministry of Rites had already completed the arrangements for those candidates who failed to participate in the exploration and discovery project.

The 200 lucky ones were quickly assigned to their respective workplaces, while the remaining 400 people were sent to the military camp in the northern suburbs of Yancheng.

They will conduct a one-month training in the vacant barracks of the Royal Forest Army.

Most of these young students are about 20 years old, and the youngest may be 16 years old. These people basically grew up in a civilized society, and their wild experience in childhood had little impact on their lives.

Having lived in Xiaguo for so long, it is obviously unwise to let them go to the wild rashly, so training is a must.

Here they will receive all-round training. During this month, they must learn how to use weapons, cooperate in battle formations, first aid methods, identify minerals, and draw maps. Booklet, cultivate the habit of keeping a diary.

At this time, on the school grounds of the military camp, after finishing the military training all morning, these students lined up neatly, sat cross-legged on the ground, and listened carefully to Qi Yan's explanation.

Qi Yan, as one of the most skilled medical practitioners in Xia Kingdom, is well-known in the country. With such a talented person who came to teach him personally, the students listened very seriously.

These things may save one's own life in the future.

Qi Yan's explanation was very detailed, and he even asked a student to cooperate with him to play the role of a patient, so that the students could more intuitively understand how to save themselves in case of an emergency.

Not only in terms of first aid, but also to teach them to identify herbs for treating common diseases. In response to Wang Lang's call, the Daxia Medical Center took out some of the penicillin that had been collected with great difficulty in the past few years and gave them to more than 400 students.

With these complete preparations, although they cannot guarantee 100% survival, they can minimize their mortality.

In terms of military training, officers above the garrison of the Imperial Forest Army personally guide them.

Bows and arrows, spears, waist knives, crossbows, these individual weapons, as long as they cooperate with each other, can have extremely strong lethality. Even a team of more than a dozen people can deal with most beasts.

The officers not only taught them battle training, but even taught them how to cooperate with catching prey. After all, if they survive in the wild for a long time, they will not return to human gathering places. Without hunting skills, these people are likely to starve to death in the wild. Outside.

After a month of intense training, these students are about to embark on an uncertain journey.

The day before leaving the barracks, the Ministry of Rites prepared a sumptuous dinner for these students.

That night, the students drank happily and chatted. They knew that this trip might be a farewell to life and death, and when they came back, they didn't know how many familiar figures they would see.

Before leaving, the students handed their home letters to the Ministry of Rites. They don't know when they will be able to return to their hometown, so that their parents who are far away in their hometown can feel at ease.

Regarding their salaries during this period, the imperial court has already told the local government to send their salaries to the homes of these students on time.

The students who had no worries, a team of more than a dozen people, waved goodbye to each other after leaving the city gate, and dispersed in different directions.

This time, they mainly explored the sparsely populated western region.

Now the population of Xia Kingdom is mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the mainland of China. Over the years, they have only been to the west when gathering the population. They have not set foot in the wild areas of the west for nearly ten years.

The exploration direction of each team has been explained to them in detail, and each captain has a book in his hand that records the knowledge learned during the training in detail. After all, one month is a bit short.

As they walked westward, the number of people became smaller and smaller. After passing Dingbei City, each team began to act alone.

Zhou Yu is an examinee from Guiyu City. It is the first time for him to leave the north and come to the southern region thousands of miles away at a young age.

In his memory, he still vaguely remembered the scene of General Zhao Jian finding their tribe and building Guiyu City in the north in the winter more than ten years ago.

It’s just that he was still a child at that time, full of curiosity about everything. When Danggui Yucheng was established, these children were forced to study in the academy. Later, most of the people with the same skin color and hair as him migrated. Other places, but fortunately he did not leave his homeland.

After so many years, as he got older and gradually adapted to the life of Xia Guo, he basically forgot the difficult life at the beginning.

After continuous study, he found that the world seemed to have opened a new door for him. He tried hard to acquire all the knowledge. Later, he heard that there was an exam, and many of those who passed the exam came to the north to become officials. The arrival of these learned people made Guiyu City even more prosperous. At that time, he vowed to become one of these officials.

This year he came to the long-awaited capital city, but faced with so many young talents, he still failed the exam, but he did not lose his mind. Although this expedition mission is extremely dangerous, as long as he completes it, he will be able to pass the next exam. Occupying a great advantage is what he wants. With so many companions and sharp weapons, what's so scary about the wild world?

Zhou Yu's team has a total of 15 people, and because of his relatively strong body, he became the archer of this team during training. After being separated from the last team, he suddenly felt a chill.

On this vast grassland, there is no road looking west, and there seems to be countless dangers hidden in the endless grassland.

(End of this chapter)