Dao Fruit

"The barbarians are going to launch a massive attack?"

The eunuch's high-pitched voice was still echoing in his ears, but Qiu Yan had already begun to analyze the meaning behind this question.

At this time, another attendant handed out test papers to a table, with the questions written on them.

Judging from the tone of voice, the question was naturally written by Emperor Li Kun. It was a few hundred words eloquent. Qiu Yan read it through and saw two messages -

One is that there is a war in northern Xinjiang, and the other is that the emperor is determined to reform the military system!

The war in Northern Xinjiang has not been widely circulated among the people. Because of the constraints of communication methods and other factors, ordinary people often do not understand even domestic policy changes, let alone the border war. Li Xiao knew that a lot of information was in the hands of the squires and clans.

However, among the scholarly class, there is a lot of news about the war in Northern Xinjiang, and there are many versions. Some say a great victory, some say the army was lost and generals were lost, some say they chased the enemy northward, and some say they ceded territory to seek peace. .

Many of these messages will affect the morale of the country and the DPRK, so there is no official statement, or even a hidden ban, and can only be circulated in private.

Now, looking at the examination paper in front of me, reading the text above, and explaining the situation in northern Xinjiang, I have confirmed the news. However, according to the above statement, both sides have their own victory or defeat. However, after all, Dali is mainly engaged in farming, so it suffers a little. , a lot of barren and unsuitable land for farming has been abandoned.

"Even if this news is not announced to the public, but is only disclosed to the candidates present, after the palace examination and the candidates leave, the news will spread quickly, and it will have an impact on morale and people's hearts, and may even be exploited by someone with ulterior motives. From this point of view... …”

Qiu Yan lowered his gaze and looked at the remaining words thoughtfully.

"The emperor is very determined to restructure the military. This is to publicize the war in Northern Xinjiang, create public opinion, and use this to build momentum, and ultimately force many interest groups to make compromises. It is tantamount to dancing on the tip of a knife, but it is somewhat courageous."

Thinking of this, Qiu Yan's thoughts changed. He began to construct the emperor's temperament in his mind.

A person's characteristics can often be summarized from his every move, and then combined with calculations, we can predict to a certain extent what the other person may do in the future.

At this moment, Li Kun's voice came from the front: "You are all talents. You are my future elite in Darui. This is my advice to you all."

These words were not said casually, but sent a signal, marking the official start of the palace examination.

"Students should do their best!"

All the students replied and then all got involved.

In the imperial examination, once you get on the list. The examiner on the spot can be called a teacher, either a seat teacher or a room teacher. In this imperial examination, the examiner is theoretically the emperor, so Jinshi is also called the disciple of the emperor, and it is legitimate to call himself a student.

In the quiet hall, the sound of pen and ink scratching on paper soon sounded. There were more than 300 people present. It is the true essence of Da Rui's literary teaching. It is rare to know how many people can write it in perfect order. Just after reviewing the topic and thinking about it for a while, many people can write like a god.

There are also three or two people's writings in it, which have a vague flavor of charm. Although they have not been fully formed, they have also formed an aura around them. It gave people an unusual meaning in the senses, attracting the attention and surprise of several examiners.

Even the emperor Li Kun's attention was attracted when he was struggling with Qiu Yan's matter. I couldn't help but ask: "Who are those people?"

The examiner who was responsible for answering came over and said: "Going back to the official's house, those three people, one is Gao Jing, a Taoist from Jiannan, one is named Ye Yun, from Lingnan, and the other is from Yanzhao, named Yang Yan. He is a descendant of the Yang family."

"Gao Jing? Judging from his writing, he is very steady. He is actually a steady person."

Li Kun said, his eyes fell on Ye Yun, and he nodded slowly: "This Ye Yun is also unusual. When he writes, he has a smooth flow and a sense of spontaneity. As for Yang Yan, is he from the Yang family?"

In the whisper, Li Kun's eyes lit up: "No wonder the pen was held in his hand, as if he were holding a spear. When he moved his hand, the light of the sword appeared on the paper. I really look forward to him handing me a copy." What kind of test paper."

As he spoke, Li Kun's eyes fell on Qiu Yan again.

After the palace examination began, the candidates either read the article thoroughly or summarized what was said on the paper in a draft to organize their thoughts. Some of them were ambitious and simply wrote down the paper. However, Qiu Yan threw the examination paper on the table. He closed his eyes and looked calm.

"Then what is Qiu Yan doing?"

Seeing this scene, Li Kun couldn't help but become curious and asked in a low voice, how could the examiner in charge of answering questions know? He went over to remind Qiu Yan, but was stopped by Li Kun: "Don't disturb him, he may be thinking in his heart." "

This is the benefit of fame. When Qiu Yan was low-key, many people thought that he was not worthy of his reputation and wanted to use him as a stepping stone. But now after passing the examination, he has won the Huiyuan, and there are more visions accompanying him. Don't say In the hearts of ordinary people, even the emperor or ministers, who would dare to ignore it?

Even if they knew that Qiu Yanxiu had supernatural powers, they would only doubt his goals but not question his talents.

Not only Li Kun, but also Ma Yang, Zhang Lian, Xu Jin, and even Wang Fu, who was always paying attention to Qiu Yan, were all paying attention to Qiu Yan's movements.

No matter how brilliant the performance of other candidates is or how smooth their writing is, none of them are as touching as Qiu Yan's action of closing his eyes.

"Is this Qiu Yan thinking about how to write an article that will amaze everyone with his skills, and then win the first prize? He doesn't know it yet, but his secret has been exposed. The emperor knows it all, and he has no chance to be in the top three!" Zhang Lian sneered, narrowed his eyes, and a cold light appeared in the slits of his eyes.

This appearance was seen by Xu Jin next to him, who shook his head secretly: "Zhang Lian has been a veteran for several dynasties and is well versed in the ways of power, but now he has been blinded by the party struggle. He sees people and things in black and white. This kind of thinking will inevitably create enemies for the Zhang family and lay hidden dangers. We can't always think about suppressing those who are young and promising. If you suppress them for a while, you can suppress them for the rest of their lives? "

Thinking like this, he turned to look at Qiu Yan again, noticing the calm expression on the latter's face and also muttering.

"Judging from Qiu Yan's appearance, his article should not be simple, but after all, Zhenlong is suspicious and cannot be easily dispelled. It depends on whether he can put forward good opinions on the battle situation in Northern Xinjiang. That may dispel the Holy Spirit's heart. doubt."

In the eyes of these prime ministers, the military system is not a trivial matter. It is not practical to expect candidates to come up with practical ideas. This is not to underestimate them, but is determined by their vision. It is like a blind man who has never seen an elephant, no matter how he touches it. , and cannot describe the pictogram.

Candidates have not sat in that position, have very limited information, and have no concept of the entire world. How can they get into the military system and talk about gains and losses?

The governors knew very well that the emperor put this question on the examination paper not to get the candidates' responses, but to express his attitude and take advantage of it.

Ma Yang also understood this, but on the other hand, he was also very concerned about Qiu Yan's response: "During the provincial examination, Shen Zhi also wrote a military strategy. There were not many tactics in it, let alone military systems, but it was He was the one who planned the overall situation because he knew the enemy was ahead of him. I hope he can rely on this consultation and write a good article to dispel the official's hesitation and resolve the immediate crisis. However, good and bad fortunes depend on each other. After this incident, It’s great to be able to get him out of the whirlpool of party strife.”

Thinking like this, and thinking of the old and new party struggles, Ma Yang's eyes moved slightly, his eyes fell on Wang Fu, and then he was stunned. He actually saw concentration and expectation on the latter's face.

Wang Fu was staring at Qiu Yan's figure with a solemn expression.

In the officialdom, the necessary prerequisite for people is to learn to hide their inner thoughts and express their emotions and anger. Especially when they have reached such a stage and are in a highly respected position, their every word, deed, and color will be scrutinized by others. When taking advantage of someone, you should always pay attention to it. If you reveal your feelings like this, you are either doing it deliberately or you can't help it.

"Could it be..."

After thinking about it, Ma Yang's eyes returned to Qiu Yan. Just turning his head, Qiu Yan had already opened his eyes and picked up the pen in his hand. The tip of the pen fell on the paper and wrote lightly. got up.

The characters are constantly taking shape, expressing the thoughts in his heart on the paper. These characters are full of flesh and blood, and contain charm. But strangely, the charm seems to be extracted by some force. Every time a word is formed, the charm quickly dims. , leaving only a seemingly ordinary text.

In this way, it seems that Qiu Yan's demeanor when writing is quite ordinary, and there is no momentum at all. Not to mention compared with Gao Jing, Ye Yun, and Yang Yan, even other scholars have the comfortable attitude of splashing ink when writing. , may not be comparable.

When others are looking at calligraphy, the demeanor and momentum of the calligrapher are very important. Li Kun, Ma Yang and others are either well-informed or are masters of calligraphy themselves. Of course they noticed the strangeness after Qiu Yan's strokes.

But they did not despise it, but became more and more curious, because Qiu Yan could quote visions in writing, and they had also read the article on dyeing paper. They knew that Qiu Yan was a man with charming words, but now something like this happened. Definitely weird.

After thinking about it, Li Kun stood up and stepped forward. He obviously wanted to go over and have a look, but because his identity was there, he had to be reserved, so he did not go straight away, but wandered around among the candidates casually. , as if on inspection tour.

Ma Yang and others did not have any scruples in this regard, but they knew the emperor's thoughts and did not want to compete first, so they stood still.

However, it didn't take long for a few people to notice a silent change. They didn't know where it happened. After careful inspection, they couldn't find the reason.

They don't know...

Outside the palace, high in the sky, streaks of bright yellow energy gradually appeared in the void, entwined with the will of the city, fluctuating and blooming with ripples, but the ripples were not intense and radiated towards the north!

PS: Thanks to "Underwear is Expensive and Naked Without Guilt" and "samcai" for their monthly votes!

Thanks to "Xiao Wu's dad" for the reward!