above the sky

Chapter 664 Xiahui Leads the First Civil Service Examination
After leaving the house, Roland couldn't help sighing.

Why didn't he know that the old father at home was no longer in good health?
Although Terrans generally have good physical fitness, Manager Moda has obviously suffered mental damage, and his body has been exhausted for many years.

If you cultivate yourself well, you can suppress your heart disease. In the past six months, various mountain people have been tossing and fighting for food disasters, rebellions, wars and territory competitions. The old man really can't stand this kind of torture.

In particular, my father himself no longer wants to live.

"Then what else can I do?"

Sighing, Roland felt rather depressed.

But he pulled himself together and prepared to take his day seriously.

This is his creed - never be mediocre in this world, must live out his own unique style, strive to never regret it until death.

It is also because of this character that he stole money and left his hometown on the day he became an adult to study far away in order to 'not regret it'.

In front of the house is a clean street.

Nancheng District is the main residential area, and there are also a large number of shops. Many old Xiahui leaders have settled here.

The architectural style of gray bricks covered with cement and covered with a layer of fine cobblestones is the legacy of mountain folk customs.

Fruits have begun to appear in the stalls on both sides... Yes, the farmland and fruit forests in Nanling have suffered disasters, but the imported fruits in Canaan Moor are still cheap. Their new lord really has a lot of hands and eyes, and he can actually give him Go to the purchase channel on the elf side.

The red moon fruit, a specialty of Banyue Lake, looks like an apple, but has a big circle, the size of a palm and a half. It is actually a peeled fruit similar to a mango. It doesn't smell good, but it tastes sweet. It is rich in trace elements and Cellulose, known to eat two a day can be full.

The only disadvantage is that it is very hard, and people with bad teeth are prone to chipping after eating it. Elves usually use it to make wine, and Red Moon Wine has always been a popular specialty.

And the Misty Pomelo in the Wulin is even bigger than a human head. In fact, there are stories about the Misty Pomelo with a human head in the folk stories about scaring children from the elves, from the corpse left by the invasion of the Heavenly Royal Court to the lost traveler, etc. There are many versions.

These grapefruits were placed in front of the store, and their moon-blue skin exuded a faint fragrance.This is a kind of fruit that is extremely durable to storage, and the skin can be eaten. The local elves have an average evaluation. It can be regarded as coarse food on their side, but it can be regarded as a half-elf specialty on the empire.

In short, they are all storable grains and fruits, which can almost be regarded as the staple food of Canaan Moore. It is no wonder that the lord can buy so much.

Roland looked up and saw today's prices hanging on the wooden board next to the shop... Red Moon Fruit for one Fenny, Misty Grapefruit and Three Fenny for one. They are all quite affordable prices, and the most important thing is that you can change the taste.

"Buy two for dad when you get home."

Keeping this matter in mind, Roland walked towards the Lord's Mansion along the newly built Baishi Street.

Starting from the gathering place of alchemy workshops in Chengbei District, the roads of the entire Xiahui City are being renovated district by district. The original bluestone streets that look a little like the old ones need to be replaced. A solid road that carries alchemy carts.

Because the captain of the construction team is an earth-type sublimator, the speed of repair and reinstallation is very fast.

The streets are filled with pedestrians and motorcades. From time to time, you can hear the bells on the camels. The area where the city hall is located is even more crowded. I don’t know how many people gather around it.

In the distant view is the lord's mansion located on the top of the cliff in the north of the city. A black one-eyed armor stands on the top overlooking the city, showing the majesty of the lord.

White clouds flow across the sky, and the city is full of vitality.

Roland was not surprised by the number of people. After all, it was Xiahui who took the first civil service exam. Basically, people from prominent families in the city went to take part. Because the registration was too enthusiastic, the young lord simply moved the exam to a later date. Three batches came to test.

Roland was among the first batch.

"Show your admission ticket!"

Before entering the examination room next to the city hall, Roland showed his admission ticket - as the crystal board scanned the person and the card, and the green light came on, he was let go.

This was a normal process, but there was a flash of red light next door, and the candidate holding the research certificate was immediately picked up by two big men in full armor and walked towards the execution ground beside him.

Of course it's not beheading or hanging... It's just a substitute for the exam, at most it's just hung up and beaten, and then there will be stains on the personal record, and it will be difficult for the political review.

Speaking of this political trial, it is also a novelty - although it is said that no matter which territory or lord employs people, they will examine the person's past experience and personal background, but it is quite rare for the Xiahui leader to be written in the notice of the lord's mansion openly. .

——Isn’t this driving talents out?
This is the thinking of many people. After all, most of the people who are wandering on Terra and still have some skills are those who committed crimes in their hometown and want to hide their identities and start again. They have to go back three generations...Who would want to Do things for such a fussy lord?
How confused!
To be honest, Roland is also a little curious now, how does the Lord's Mansion determine that he is his own? After all, he spends most of his time in other places, living and studying with a group of dwarf craftsmen. self-recorded.

In other words, I can also be regarded as a person with 'unclear origin', but after scanning the crystal board, I can still confirm that it is him.

Don't underestimate this technology!You must know that apart from the imperial capital, Liuyao City, major frontier fortresses and other big cities, the lords of many places have no way to accurately identify the specific identities of the people in their territories.

They can count, compile books, and distribute ID cards, but it is very difficult to confirm that Roland is Roland in a few seconds and avoid the phenomenon of taking the exam.

By the way... the reason why the exam was postponed, is it possible that it is to solve this problem?

Roland shook his head to get rid of distracting thoughts.

No matter what kind of new sublimation technique or alchemy it is, it doesn't hinder him from taking the exam anyway.

Enter the examination room, enter the independent examination room, wait for 10 minutes until the hour, and the examination will begin.

In this exam, the public said it was a tax officer, but the word used by the Lord's Mansion was "civil servant". Naturally, the civil servant includes a tax officer, but there are also other positions. It depends on the results of the exam, but in general it is for The lord's mansion and the city hall are doing things, so everyone doesn't particularly care.

The exam is divided into five parts. The first part is some questions about mathematics and economic tables. It is not difficult. Most people who can read have studied mathematics. Even some questions about tax rates have been prepared, so I can answer them all.

Roland himself thought it was quite simple. After all, he had a formal bachelor's degree in mechanical alchemy, and he scored all [-] points.

And the second part is a bit weird - the topics in this part are very complicated, including national geography, basic alchemy, bioalchemy and major laws... It's not that it's difficult, but it's very complicated. The planting problem of "golden leaf tree matures for several years and its leaves can be used as medicine" highlights an all-encompassing one.

Roland himself is a person who loves learning and knowledge, otherwise it would be impossible to steal money and go to the Falling Star Hills to study, so his answer to this aspect is not bad, but it is also very thrilling.

That's the topic of planting trees. Although the leader of his hometown is Xiahui, he is not a farmer. How could he remember it so clearly?

It’s just that Roland bought medicine for his father recently, so I remember that the pharmacy owner complained that the bastard in Flameland asked him to plant new trees. Now he has to wait another five years to use this sentence, so he filled in three years and two years speculatively. five years.

The third part is back to normal. It is about the basic issues of agriculture and mining, the mining and processing methods of various ores, and the planting process of various economic crops. .

Roland completed it in one go, and thought he had scored full marks again.

As for the fourth part, it gets weird again.

In this part, there are no questions with standard answers. The questions are all about 'How to evaluate the response of the Nanling capital (Nauman City) before and after the Nanling grain disaster? ''What's your opinion on the relationship between Flameland and the Empire? ''What do you think Xiahui leads the future development direction'' is a big and generalized question, which is scary to answer carefully and carefully.

Seeing these topics, Roland was immediately shocked——My lord, this is a ridiculous discussion!Are you really not afraid that people from Nauman City and the Imperial Capital will come to find you?
Oh, I forgot, my lord is a direct descendant of Nauman City, and there is a second prince behind him, so it's fine.

Fortunately, Starfall Hills has good information, and Roland also knows a little news about Ian and the background behind it.

When I wrote this, candidates in other exam rooms probably saw these questions, and the sound of rustling pens stopped in unison.

Roland thought with amusement that basically everyone was scratching their heads and ears just like himself, looking around, not knowing how to answer.

However, unlike other candidates who were concerned about gains and losses, Roland himself was a relatively clever person.

He knew very well that since the lord asked you to answer the exam questions, then you would be deducted the most points if you didn't answer, and if you answered the most wrong answers, you would be dragged to education, and only the most outrageous mistakes could be arrested and punished.

But then again, these questions must be to see the tendencies of these candidates... In this case, the answer should be true, and at most beautify yourself a little, otherwise, if you really pass the exam, but actually do things. If you don't show these tendencies, it's the crime of deceiving the lord.

At that time, the punishment will definitely not be a trivial matter of deducting points for the exam.

Therefore, Roland honestly wrote down the answer in his heart.

"I think Nauman City is a bit laissez-faire. Biological warfare has been discovered for a long time, but the capital does not have a policy of buying food in large quantities. It only guarantees the food supply in the main jurisdiction of the empire. It is simply forcing the mountain people to rebel!"

"Flying Flameland and the Empire have used each other as trash cans. In the past 100 years, since the war for resources in the Great Desert Labyrinth was launched, they have almost dumped each other on everything. It is convenient and simple, and the people also recognize it. I personally hate flying Flame land, but I suspect that this is also the goal that the empire wants to achieve, and the two sides must have a tacit understanding on this point."

"Xiahuiling's future development direction is definitely agriculture. At most, it will supplement some industrial production facilities for the war. However, I heard that the new lord is a genius in alchemy. He must have his own plan in this regard. We will listen to the lord!"

After writing down these answers, Roland didn't even bother to check them again—anyway, it's enough to think about it, and no one would really expect candidates to write some high-level theories in Xiahuiling and this rural place, right?

Roland felt that even if he was rotten, the others must be rotten as well, everyone was mutual.

In the last part, there are only two questions.

But this may be the hardest part.

The first question: There are currently two people in the territory who meet the conditions for granting subsidies, but the territory has financial difficulties, and at most one person can be granted a subsidy.

The first person is a Northwest veteran of the desert campaign. Due to the traumatic sequelae of the war with Flameland, he cannot adapt to normal life, cannot work normally, and cannot communicate rationally with others. Because of this, he has no relatives and friends, and it is difficult to live a normal life.

The second person is a mountain man who was severely injured when he rescued three children in a fire. Now he is bedridden because of severe burns.

What would you do?
--trap!
Roland felt a flash of lightning fly through his head in an instant, and he immediately noticed the temptation of this question.

It lists various conditions in front of it, and tells you that the money is only enough for one person, as if you need to judge who should be paid through the conditions, so as to judge the candidate's moral tendency and make a choice...but in fact.

It doesn't ask you to decide who to send it to, and it doesn't tell you that you are the one who makes the decision.

It just asks what you would do.

"Report to the lord, I am worthy of making decisions about this kind of thing? Everyone is so politically correct, how can I, an ordinary man of gold, be worthy of evaluation?"

"Too transcendent!"

Roland didn't even think about it, and just filled in 'report to the lord's mansion'.

Roland can avoid the trap of this question by relying on his natural sensitivity, but the last question is really troublesome.

The second question: There is a farmer in the territory who failed to harvest due to a food disaster, and owed a total of 24 thalers in seed fees and taxes. However, the family is poor and it is basically impossible to pay off the arrears and taxes.

If you were a tax collector, what would you do?

Very simple.

If it's the former lord, don't even think about it, it must be compulsory to pay taxes, isn't that what tax officials are used to do?Is it still reasonable to have no money in arrears?
It's clear whose fault it is that the master's field hasn't been harvested yet, right?
Roland doesn't think there's anything wrong with this idea. No matter how smart he is, he can't break through the limitations of the times. If he really wants to do it, Roland will probably lend money to this family to survive this year, but if the next year If he still can't grow anything, then he can't do anything, he can only say that his fate is bad, and God's will wants this family to die.

But here is the problem.

Should tax collectors do this?

If Roland became a tax collector himself, he might do so... But is this the kind of tax collector that the lord wants?
Roland's expression was a little uncertain, he really couldn't decide what choice he should make.

In this era, tax officials should be cold-blooded and ruthless tax collection machines. There are too many people who have difficulties. Is it possible that they have to borrow money from family to family?Although Roland's family was the former baron's steward, Moda was not greedy in stewardship. His old man was very loyal, so the family was not very rich, so how could he save so many people.

After thinking about it for a long time, Roland didn't know how to answer. He really wanted to write a standard answer for Terra like 'compulsory taxation, if there is no money, sell all his property and pay back the money'.

However, his instinct told him that such a choice was too bad.

Not bad for answering papers, but too bad as a person.

Writing down this kind of answer, it would be fine if he was selected successfully, and he could comfort himself, but if he failed...

He will regret it for sure.

Roland was silent for a long time and struggled for a long time before writing down the answer.

He wrote down the indecisive answer of "not accepting it for the time being, and we will wait for the next year to see". After thinking about it, he even thought that he might borrow money, but if there are too many such farmers, he will not be able to borrow much. wrote it up.

"Hey." After writing this, Roland suddenly realized that he might indeed not be suitable to be a tax officer: "Isn't this profession too hard-hearted? Sure enough, there is a specialization in technology, so I still have to do my mechanical engineering to compare." good……"

"I don't know, whether the Lord's Mansion recruits scholars in mechanical engineering..."

Thinking of this, Roland simply rang the bell and handed in the paper—there was no need to check, he was sure that his answer was the best he could write.

After he came out, he realized that he was actually one of the first few people who handed in the paper.

Even, simply No.2.

Before him, there was only one old man.

And this old man Roland is also very familiar, because he was one of the most famous tax officials in Xiahui City before. Counting the current Ian, the 'Old Farr' who has experienced three lords.

"What's the matter, young man, come out so soon, shouldn't it be a blank paper?"

Staying in the rest room of the examination room, the smoking old man changed the position of the pipe in his mouth, smiled and said to the bewildered Roland: "I remember you, the youngest son of the steward of Moda who ran away from home—hmm , with your knowledge, it should not be a blank paper, and it should even be faster than my answering speed."

The gray-haired old man with golden eyes smiled and nodded: "Then I guess, you are troubled by the last questions, right?"

(End of this chapter)