The Lord is Empire

Next, Zhao Fu decided to prepare an exam to see how the students were doing in the Rising Qin Academy. Those who performed well would be greatly nurtured!

The Civil Institution would hold a written exam, mainly testing ruling a country and bringing about peace. The better a country's internal affairs were, the better the foundation for the military side.

The Martial Institution conducted martial trials. Of course, this wasn't done by fighting because everyone had different abilities. Some didn't start off with a good Grade or have a special bloodline, so they wouldn't be able to become peerless experts. However, that wasn't what Zhao Fu wanted anyway – he wanted them to lead troops into battle.

Even though many of their innate talents were ordinary, if they worked hard, they could still achieve decent results, and Zhao Fu would reward them with Grade Orbs to change their fates. This was the benefit of the Heaven and Earth Refining Formation.

Once the news about the exams spread, the countless students became incredibly excited. They had all been working hard so that they would be able to stand out in such an occasion.

The hardworking students studied even harder, and the diligent martial students trained even harder. All 8,000 students of the Rising Qin Academy were perparing for this exam.

It wasn't just the students who became excited but even the teachers. After teaching for so long, it was now time for them to see the results of their teaching and show Great Qin's Legatee their worth.

His Majesty had been supporting them so greatly in all sorts of areas, so if they were unable to develop any talents, they simply wouldn't be able to face him.

The teachers started to become even more serious with their teaching, and the entire Rising Qin Academy became filled with passion as everyone did their best.

At the same time, Zhao Fu planned to train some more soldiers. Great Qin now had 870,000 residents, and Zhao Fu decided to add another 40,000 soldiers, bringing the army to 160,000 soldiers in total.

Zhao Fu left this matter to Bai Qi because he was familiar with these matters and would be able to train a troop of excellent soldiers. There was no need for Zhao Fu to worry about this.

A few days later, the dark yellow leaves became withered and started to fall from the trees. All traces of color seemed to disappear from the world as the temperature became even colder. Autumn had ended, and winter had arrived.

The Rising Qin Academy's exams now began.

The Martial Institution's exams were officiated by Wang Jian, while the Civil Institution's exams were officiated by Li Si. The students of both institutions were going through written exams on either internal affairs or the art of war. Only those who performed well would progress to the next stage.

The exams were conducted strictly, and any signs of cheating or other forms of trickery would result in immediate expulsion.

It was an overcast day and seemed like it would rain at any moment. As such, these exams were conducted in the classrooms. Another reason was because it would be quite difficult to fit all of the 8,000 students into a hall together.

All of the students had their heads down as they furiously wrote, and all of the classrooms were extremely silent. The teachers acted as proctors, and others also walked around to prevent any cheating.

Zhao Fu absolutely hated cheating, so he had set strict rules against it.

Time gradually passed, and soon, the written examination had concluded. The teachers quickly read through the papers and picked out the students who had performed well.

Those who were chosen would receive Level 1 Honors, which meant that they would receive more resources. When choosing people for positions in the future, these people would have priority.

To some, this perhaps seemed quite unfair because it was disadvantageous to those who weren't good at studying or writing.

However, this was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, and those who didn't qualify were eliminated. Only the excellent would survive.

It wasn't like this just in the Heaven Awaken World but even the real world as well. In any school or university, grades were of utmost importance, and in workplaces, results determined whether one survived or not. It was that simple – the world wasn't a place filled with love.

Out of the 8,000 students, only 1,200 students progressed to the next stage.

The second stage involved interviews. Older soldiers would pose questions to those from the Martial Institution, and residents would pose questions to those from the Civil Institution, testing them on various areas of their knowledge.

Zhao Fu didn't like systems where knowledge was crammed into students; this would only restrict their thinking, and he didn't want to have a group of useless scholars. As such, he didn't just rely on written exams like the Confucians to test a person's aptitude.

Out of the 1,200 people, 800 progressed to the next stage. These 800 people received Level 2 Honors and allowed them to attempt the next exam.

The next exam was held by some Generals and Ministers. They posed various questions, all of which were quite difficult and challenging.

As such, less than 100 people successfully passed this exam, and they received Level 3 Honors.

The final exam was officiated by Great Qin's main leaders, and 13 people rose above the rest, giving them the right to see Zhao Fu.

Such a comprehensive, detailed, and strict way of choosing talents was praised and adopted by later generations.

Out of the 13 people, there were nine males and four females, and they were all around 15 to 16 years old. In ancient times, such a scene would have been impossible to see, but Zhao Fu refused to discriminate between genders. They were the most talented members of the younger generation in Great Qin, and they would definitely accomplish great things for Great Qin in the future.

Currently, the 13 youths looked incredibly excited as they knelt in a great hall, with the sovereign, Great Qin's Legatee, sitting on a chair above.

Being summoned by Great Qin's Legatee was an incredibly glorious matter, and it caused the youths to be unable to control their emotions.

"You may all rise!" Zhao Fu smiled as he looked at the youths below. They would all be the pillars of Great Qin in the future.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the 13 people replied in unison as they stood up.

Zhao Fu waited for a few moments for them to calm down before starting to ask them questions, such as how they could obtain military victories and how they could properly rule the world.

The 13 people had been chosen through four rounds of exams, and they were all quite mature. They quickly calmed themselves down before replying to Zhao Fu's questions.

Their answers received the praise of the many Generals and Ministers, and Zhao Fu was also satisfied and rewarded them all heavily for their results in the exam.

Now, the exams had officially concluded, and news quickly came that another Festival was about to begin.