My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 711

While the warships were at sea, there was a huge event happening at Yangzhou.

It was Yangzhou Academy's first exam. This was also the graduation assessment. The scholars of the Yangzhou Academy will then enter service. The students of Yangzhou Academy were originally talented people but the things taught in Yangzhou was different. Some of them were also still studying because they were young.

After a year of studying, these students can finally graduate and become officials.

There were also scholars that came from outside Yangzhou. If they wanted to work in one of Yangzhou's six ministries, they had to take the exam.

Of course, Liu Mang would not give anyone a high position straight away. If they wanted a position, they had to take the exam. If they cannot pass the exam, they can continue to study at the academy or go to various other counties to work at a low position for several years to gain experience. With enough experience, one can naturally get promoted.

“Brother Chen. How did you do in the exam?” A student came out of the examination room and asked another student. These two came from Jiangdong. They heard that Yangzhou was having an exam to recruit officials. Anyone with the ability to pass the exam can become officials and it does not depend on their family background.

None of these scholars were willing to admit that they were not as good as others. They all believed themselves to be the best and had the ability to be become high officials. It was simply that the ruler was too stupid to see their talent or that the nobles relying on their family background were occupying all the positions.

However, Yangzhou uses examinations. They weren't unfamiliar with this as China have been using examinations for five thousand years. However, it is only done on such a wide scale after the Sui and Tang dynasties. Other times, it was simply something like an elder testing the younger generation or students testing each other.

Liu Mang simply did this centuries earlier.

“I figured out the answer for the first six questions but I don't really understand the seventh to tenth questions.” Brother Chen shook his head. The first few questions were simple enough but from the seventh question onwards, it became confusing to these scholars. They had no idea where to even start.

“That's right. I cannot understand everything from the seventh question onwards. There were also a few questions in front that I do not know.” Another scholar shook his head.

While these students were discussing, several carriages entered the city. One of them had the word Qiao written on the carriage, indicating that it was the carriage from the Qiao Family.

“Master. We have arrived at Shouchun City.” The coach shouted.

“Hm.” The old man inside the carriage responded with acknowledgement.

Shouchun was bustling with scholars and common people. It was a huge difference compared to its desolate state several years ago. The city itself was also much bigger now with cement buildings and taller city walls. If Liu Bei attacked now, Shouchun simply needs to close its gates. Liu Bei would not be able to climb the walls as it was too high even for ordinary ladders.

“Master. You need to get off here.” The coachman said.

“Get off?” The old man frowned. “We haven't even reached the gates of the residence yet. Is Shouchun different from other places?”

“Master, it is different for these few days.” The coach tried to explain as the passenger was of high status.

“What is different?” The old man was interested.

“Yangzhou is having an examination for these few days. Carriages are not allowed on the road to prevent accidents. They are only allowed in using the North Gate, have to be pulled, or parked outside the city.” The coach explaiend. Just like entrance examination from college, Liu Mang also gave these students who came from afar preferential treatment. These students can all live in a shared residence if they were qualified to take the exam. Even food was provided. These were all prepared for poor students who may not have enough money for food and lodging. Of course, these food were just meals from a big pot. If they don't like it, they are welcome to buy their own food. If they can afford it, they were even welcome to find two beautiful girls to sing and dance for them.

“Yangzhou's exam?”

“Yes. This is His Highness the King of Shu's kindness. He is giving everyone a chance. As long as you have the ability, you can take the exam. If you can pass the exam, you can naturally become an official!” The coachman said with envy. In the past, all the position were occupied by nobles and were hereditery. Now it depends entirely on the individuals ability.

“Once I go back, I will have my eldest son go to school and study. At the very least, he can become a clerk.” Liu Mang changed the name for petty official to clerk. They were to serve the people and the people do not need to bow to them.

"There are no restrictions? Anyone can take the exam?" The old man frowned. A mere carriage driver wants his son to become an official. This would be impossible in the past. It was like a poor person dreaming of becoming the Emperor. Ŗå₦ồꞖЕ𝘚

The very idea of a commoner who belongs to the bottom of society thinking of becoming an official made the old man frown.

"Yes. As long as you study well and are old enough, you can take the exam!" The coachman nodded. Liu Mang set the minimum age to be eighteen. He would not engage in child labor.

"Nonsense." The old man snorted coldly.

"Master. I will go get you a sedan chair." The coachman said to the old man. Liu Mang who restricted carriages still allowed sedan chairs for those who find it difficult to get around.

"No need!" The old man shook his head. "I am not that old yet. I just need to walk a bit." The old man said as he got off the carriage and entered the city.

He could not help but nod his head when he looked at Shouchun's prosperity. The people's smiles and the business of Shouchun seemed real. Liu Mang was really capable. The old man had been to Shouchun before as his hometown was originally in Lujiang and it was very close to Shouchun. In the past, Shouchun was not this lively even during its peak. It was really not easy to build such a bustling city from ruins.

The old man walked for a long time until he came across the students who had just finished the exams. These students were all chatting so the old man stopped to listen to them.

One of the questions was about the length of a slanted bamboo. The old man thought about this question and came to an answer of about three to four feet long. This is because he had used such a bamboo to form a triangle in the past. However, even he was stumped for the other questions.

"Brother Chen. Could it be that these questions are fake to deceive us common people?" One person suggested. All of them who were from Jiangdong were unable to answer this question. Even the smart ones called for bamboos and rulers to measure it themselves. However, they were also stuck for the other questions.

"That can't be right!" Brother Chen said this but even he was starting to suspect foul play. After all, they were all from humble families from Jiangdong. There were so many talented people yet none of them could answer these questions. Everyone still had a try and see attitude towards the exam and they still had the belief that only nobles could become officials. It was possible that the King of Shu was just deceiving them.

The old man who was listening in also believed this to be the case. His hatred for Liu Mang the King of Shu grew stronger.

The Jiangdong students continued to discuss and some even suggested going to protest in front of the palace. But then suddenly a white clothed scholar beside them interrupted with a mocking laugh.

"Brother. What are you laughing at?" These students could tell that the white clothed scholar was smiling maliciously at them. In addition, the scholar was wearing fine silk clothes. It was clear this this person was a noble official's child. The common people naturally opposed him.

"Me? I am not laughing at anything." The scholar did not want to offend anyone. She only laughed because she could not help it. However, it was better to avoid complications.

"Hmph! You already laughed and yet you still make excuses. I think you must be as hypocritical as the King of Shu! Deceiving us poor students!" One of the student who barely managed to answer a few questions knew he had no hope of becoming an official so he could not help but air his complaints.

"Brother Zhang! Watch your words! This is Yangzhou!" One person reminded. This was the King of Shu's home. If you talk bad about him here, you were just courting death.

"I…" Brother Zhang was flustered at first but then he saw the others looking at him and was afraid of losing face. Others might begin to say that he was afraid of the powerful. Though these people were born poor, they still had their pride. "What are you all afraid of? His Highness the King of Shu is a liar!"

"You are not allowed to talk bad about His Highness the King of Shu!" The scholar became angry. She was willing to ignore it if the one being insulted was herself but not Liu Mang.

"What's wrong? Did I hit a sore spot?" Brother Zhang became more proud of himself. "You nobles and the King of Shu must be colluding with each other. If you don't want us to become officials, then don't! Why do you have to deceive us?" Brother Zhang suddenly became the representative of the poor students.

"That's right! Why do you have to deceive us?" The others at the back began to say.

"Haha. Who said His Highness the King of Shu is preventing the poor from becoming officials? Do you know who our Inner Minister is?" The scholar sneered.

How could they not know? The Inner Minister was Xu Shu Xu Yuanzhi.

"Do you all know that Inner Minister Xu was just a knight-errant in the past. He knows the benefit of studying so he became Pang Degong's student at the Lumen Academy. Now he is Yangzhou's Inner Minister!" The scholar said.

In ancient times, Xu Shu is called a knight-errant. But in modern times, he is called a gangster. How can such people be nobles?

When Xu Shu was given as an example, the others began to turn quiet. After all, Xu Shu was the head of Yangzhou's civil servants.

"What about Inner Minister Xu? He is just one person! On top of that, Inner Minister Xu is also a disciple of Pang Degong. Maybe His Highness is giving face to Pang Degong. We are not Pang Degong's disciples nor are we from a famous family! We are not so lucky!" Brother Zhang gave another excuse.

"I think you are just sour grapes." The scholar sneered. It was okay to envy others but this kind of jealousy was a sin.

"Didn't you all say that the exams are deliberately made difficult for you? Fine. Then what if I can give you the answers to the questions?" The scholar sneered as she stepped forward.

"Is it her? No! It cannot be! She is dead!" The old man was shocked to see her face. "How can there be such a similar face in this world? Impossible!"

"If you can answer these questions, I am willing to hang myself to apologize to His Highness the King of Shu!" Brother Zhang was also resolute.

"Haha. There is no need to hang yourself. You just need to kowtow three times in the direction of the palace and shout loudly that you are wrong!" The scholar shook her head. She came out to play, not to see people die.

"Fine!" Brother Zhang agreed quickly. He believed those questions were created to prevent the common people from becoming officials while also keeping the reputation.

"You said you cannot solve the questions from the seventh one onwards right? Then let me start with the simplest one, Question 9" The scholar stood up and said. "There are an unknown number of chicken and rabbit in a cage. The total number of heads is thirty six and there are fifty pairs of feets. How many chickens and rabbits are there?"

The Jiangdong students all nodded.

"Then listen up. There are fourteen rabbits and twenty two chickens!" The scholar quickly answered, shocking the others. There was really an answer?

"You liar! Do you think just giving a number means it is the answer?" Brother Zhang provoked.

The others began to nod as well. What the scholar gave was indeed an answer but that does not mean it was right.

"Haha. I see you all still want to persevere. Fine. Let me explain it to you!" The scholar was angry now. "Let us assume all of animals are rabbits. Then there would be 36×4=144 feets. Now there are only one hundred feets so we need to remove some rabbits. Exchanging one rabbit for one chicken removes two feets. Since we need to remove forty four feet, 44/2 = 22. We need to exchange twenty two rabbits. Consequently, we have twenty two chickens and fourteen rabbits."

The scholar gave out a bunch of numbers which confused the students.

"What method is that? You are still fooling people!" Brother Zhang shouted again, clearly not understanding anything.

"I knew you understood nothing." The scholar was prepared. "Then let me give you a simpler one. All the chickens stand on one leg and all the rabbits raised two legs. There are fifty feet on the ground. If all of the animals are chickens, then there are only thirty six feet. Each rabbit has one feet more than the chicken so to make it fifty feet, there would be forteen rabbit and twenty two chickens."

There are still a group of confused students looking at her.

"You still don't understand right? It is really tiring to explain things to you. You all want to be officials but you don't even know the basics." The scholar became even more disdainful. The others began to believe in her though they still do not understand. This is because it was also a skill to make the numbers add up.

"Are there any hunters here?" The scholar shouted to the crowd.

"Yes!" The exam area is also close to restaurants so there were naturally hunters who supply their hunted meat here.

The scholar produced another method of calculation by asking the hunter. As she spoke, Brother Zhang's face slowly turned pale. He knew that he had lost.

The scholar then went to give the answers to the other questions. In particular, the answer for the height of the bamboo is 4.55 feet and it was found using Phythagoras Theorem. These kinds of calculation methods were unprecedented to common people and nobles alike.

"4.55 feet!" The old man, Qiao Xuan, originally thought the bamboo was around that length. Though the difference was not that big, it was the wrong answer. He did not expect that he himself would be taught a lesson. He then looked back at the scholar and wondered if the scholar in question was his daughter.

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1. I simplified a lot because the math questions/answers don't make sense. I'm not entirely sure if its a result of typos ( Question 9 author gave the final answer 22 chicken and 12 rabbit the second time (first explanation) despite him getting it right the first and third time)

a result of my shoddy ability to translate math questions from half Chinese and half math equations in Word Format, or a result of my shoddy ability to math in general. Maybe all three.

I apologize.