above the sky

Chapter 665 Not Only One Star Gazer

"You said so."

Roland respected the old man very much, especially the old Fal, who was not well-known, but had a very good evaluation.

After actually working, young people will understand that those who are able to avoid being hated or envied by others, and who can handle things well without being famous are the truly powerful and capable people.

As the saying goes, if you are in charge of a family for three and a half years, even a dog will dislike it. It is almost impossible to manage affairs and expect no one to hate you. satisfied.

Roland admired the doorway very much. It is said that the old Farr would even offer advice and solutions to those poor households to help them get out of difficulties, but how to do it specifically was unknown to him, a young man.

Thinking of this, Roland suddenly became interested—since Old Farr can satisfy everyone in his usual work, how would an old tax collector like him answer the questions on the test paper?
he asked, and the old man put down his pipe, smiling.

"Definitely not."

The old man's golden pupils were dimmed due to old age, showing a dark golden color. He calmly replied to Roland: "Although it may be a little guessing what the lord means, since this kind of question is asked, it is to find out who will answer 'no'." people."

"Besides, the poor have no money. They really have no money. Apart from a life, what can you expect them to have to pay taxes?"

"But the life of the lord is also the lord's property in a certain sense...Young people like you may not understand it, but this is the fact-you and I are the lord's property."

Old Fal re-ignited the extinguished pipe, took a puff, and said slowly: "So forcing people to death is something only the most stupid tax collectors would do. The lord did not allow them to do that."

"Just because of the food disaster, the people who have no money and still have the ability to work, if they can't pay back the money for a while, then let them not pay back. If possible, take him to do some other work, such as moving goods, digging Some water canals, aren’t roads being built in the city recently? Let them dig some sand and asphalt to lay the foundation, it’s just as easy, with so much work, there’s always a chance.”

"The most important thing is not to make people stand still and not work, and they will be poor forever."

Roland was stunned when he heard this, and the young mechanical engineer gasped: "But, this is not in compliance with the rules, right? After all, they did not pay taxes, and the job of the tax officer is to collect taxes. Is it what the tax collector should do..."

"If it was before, it is true, but don't forget that the name of this exam is now 'civil servants'."

Old Fal shook his head. He took a sip of his pipe and exhaled a perfectly circular smoke ring: "New lord, new rules, why are you young people not as smart as I am? The names have been changed, so we must Forget about the old one."

"Don't forget the true nature of our work - to serve the lord. What is the purpose of the lord? This theme must be clarified. As long as it conforms to this idea, even if it is something that is not in compliance with the rules, the lord will think that you can do things."

The old Farr concluded: "As for our young new lord, it seems that he is rich and wants to do big things-does he care about such a little tax? What he cares about is the rules, and what he cares about is whether people help him. contribute to his career.”

"As long as the general direction is correct, everything else is trivial."

Roland understood what Old Farr said, so he was surprised.

These words are not like the words that a mere old tax official can say - such profound and easy-to-understand teachings, Roland will believe which college you say he is the tutor of!
and……

"Why did you tell me this?" The young man asked a little puzzled.

Taking a puff of his cigarette, Old Farr looked at Roland strangely: "Aren't you a top student at the Falling Star Hills? Moda has been blowing for several years when we were chatting, and it just so happened that the lord announced that in the future the territory will build a new one." In the 'Industrial Alchemy Zone', if you come back as a professional, the lord will definitely use you again."

"What's more, how many years have I worked with your father? Have you forgotten that I hugged you when you were young, and you even peed on my collar..."

Roland was ashamed, he never expected that the most classic incident of "I hugged you when I was young, and you still pissed on me" happened to him—and he actually completely forgot about it!

But he really wasn't the type to remember such trivial things.

"We are the most likely to be colleagues in the future, and it is nothing to build a good relationship with colleagues in advance."

After finishing speaking, Old Fal took out a pamphlet from his pocket and wrote something, and Roland didn't really want to go home so early, so he asked cheekily: "Uncle Fal, you are a tax collector?" What did you do before... feel..."

"This one."

Before Roland could finish hesitating, the old man knew what he was going to ask—many people had asked about it, so he wasn't surprised.

Raising his head, the gray-haired old man looked at the ceiling, his dark golden eyes staring at something above the ceiling.

Fal said: "I used to be a stargazer in my family, and I learned to look at the stars since I was a child... Then the stars disappeared? The nobles who supported stargazing stopped investing money, so they could only go back to their hometown and become a tax collector with their knowledge."

Having said that, the old man looked at Roland with a smile, and his tone was full of emotion: "To be honest, it's almost the same as you are now."

"However, it was more difficult for me at that time, because stargazing is really useless, and your mechanical engineering will definitely be reused by the lord."

—It turned out to be a stargazer!
Roland was slightly startled, he didn't expect to hear such an ancient profession.

It is said to be ancient, but in fact it has only been a few decades, but because there is no news at all in these decades, it seems to be as long as the past hundreds of years.

Because Roland's teacher is a dwarf, he knows about this situation.

The dwarves were also a race that was very keen on stargazing, and even their "Sky-seeking Sanctuary" had another name at the beginning, it was called "Pole Star Zenith", which was built on Ushtaraf, known as the ridge of Terra. The pre-epoch civilization giant structure on the mountain range.

In fact, a hundred years ago, the nations of Terra were quite interested in stargazing. At that time, there were a large number of stargazers in the empire and the capital of learning, but as the stars went out one by one, their inheritance gradually declined. A few years ago, there was news that a large number of stargazers committed suicide because of despair.

For ordinary people, it's just an afternoon joke of 'what a fool', but Roland feels a little deeper... Especially his father Moda is now in a state of near-death.

Thinking of this, his mood was also a little low. After paying a deep junior salute to Old Fal, he said goodbye and left.

The old man also looked at Roland's leaving back, nodded slightly, and got up to leave.

He was waiting here just to say these words to Roland.

In the evening, Xiahui led the Lord's Mansion.

Ian is leading his team here to personally mark the test papers, and Ian also asked Qingchao Scott, Yadbert and others to do the test papers by the way.

Various data flashed in Ian's eyes. The silver chip allowed him to clearly remember the names, ages, looks, and even past experiences and family information of all examinees. He relied on these 'information' to Comparing the answers to the test papers, outline the image of each examinee from the outside to the inside.

"Roland Silgen, the son of Moda Silgen, 28 years old, unmarried, the family has been the steward of the Lean family for generations, ran away from home 12 years ago, went to the dwarf gathering area in the Falling Star Hills to study, and in five years Later, at the age of 21, he obtained a diploma as a mechanical alchemist, and has been studying in the Falling Star Hills since then, and recently returned to his hometown because of the Leanling incident."

"At home, his father, Moda Silgen, is still there, but he is still seriously ill. His mother has passed away. He has an older brother and an older sister. They both went to Nauman City to open a small shop a few days ago. I plan to return to Xiahui to lead it."

"As for the grades..." Ian whispered, and Scott picked up a chapter of the test paper marked in red from the side: "Mathematics and statistics tables are full marks."

"38 points for comprehensive knowledge, full marks for agriculture and mining."

"Political leaning judgment... My lord, you can see this for yourself."

Ian brought the test paper over, and he couldn't help laughing when he saw Roland's answer: "This person is quite interesting, and he is telling the truth—and he really made him guess right. I also think that Nauman City is indifferent. The attitude is to force against the mountain people and detonate the problem in advance... Marquis Barton is still a very cold-blooded person in essence, he doesn't care whether these mountain people live or die, he just wants to solve the rebellion factor in Nanling."

"As for the relationship between Flame Land and the Empire, it's almost the same. How can there be permanent hatred between the two great powers? The relationship between the two parties may not be as bad as the relationship between Grand Duke Sorin and the Empire. As long as the fifth energy level does not take action, the relationship between the two sides At most, the war is a 'full-scale conventional war', and it will not develop to the point of destroying the world."

Speaking of this, Ian sighed: "If you don't reach the fifth energy level, you are still a pawn after all. Even if it is the fourth energy level, it is just a chess piece with a little ability to act independently, and it will not affect the order of the entire world after all."

He calmed down, continued to read Roland's test paper, and then raised his brows: "Interesting, this man still flatters me, and he has a lively personality—but his analysis is correct, and I think he can give it a full score."

No one thought that Roland was able to get full marks because he patted Ian's horse, and they could tell that Roland did have his own views on the analysis of the situation. Even if it was luck, this luck was worth a full mark.

And finally, Ian just glanced at the fifth part of "Personal Moral Tendency", which has troubled Roland for a long time.

"Well, there is still a little kindness in my heart, not so cold."

He nodded, and then handed the test paper to Scott: "Mark it, this person can be used, and I will call him to the Lord's Mansion in a few days. I will interview him for alchemy. If he is qualified, our alchemy industrial park has In charge."

"Could it be a spy? Suddenly running over from the Xingluo Hills, it doesn't feel right no matter how you look at it."

Qing Chao complained that he didn't seem like Ian knew Steward Moda, he didn't know that Steward Moda was so sick that he was about to die.

The swordsman is not correcting the test paper at this moment, but writing the test paper - Scott and Yadbert have already finished writing the test paper, and the former has almost perfect marks, and both political and personal tendencies are consistent with Ian.

After all, the two sides have stayed together in Harrison Port for six or seven years, and those who should have assimilated have already assimilated.

"I feel that some of the questions this time should be the civil service examination papers in Nauman City."

This is Scott's evaluation, and it is indeed the case, Ian nodded and said: "There are also some written by the Marquis of Barton himself-those topics are really unique.

But Yadbert, aside from being a little naive about politics, was able to say, "Nauman City probably doesn't have that much budget." "Flying Flame is extremely hateful, it is the most evil country in the world!" ' and 'Xiahui Ling listens to Ian' these words, other aspects are also full marks.

As for Qing Chao...

After Qing Chao stumbled and finished writing the paper, Ian picked it up and read it.

——Ian, angry!

"...31 points in mathematics and statistics, not bad, it can even be said to be quite good for you. You only have 25 points in miscellaneous studies, you have worked hard, you don't need it anyway, and starting from scratch, it is not bad to pass ..."

The white-haired boy stood behind Qingchao. It was obvious that the swordsman was taller, and Ian's tone was very gentle, but the swordsman felt a chill on his back, and a feeling called fear climbed up his spine: "But this political What is the tendency?"

"What does it mean that Nauman City deliberately retaliated against the mountain people's rebellion 200 years ago? How did you learn history? The empire invaded Nanling 200 years ago. If you want to say that the small riot more than 20 years ago is similar! And this political view is so naive It can be compared with the old movie!" (Adelbert turned his head aside)

"Empire and Flameland are neither good things, dog eat dog... Do you really know what you're writing about?"

"I'm from Jinggeya, Boss!" Qing Chao shuddered, and he called Qu: "That's what we all say!"

Ian glared at Qing Chao: "Then remember now, you are from the Empire!"

"Understood!" Qing Chao nodded clearly: "Only Fei Yandi is a dog!"

"You... well. Forget it, it's enough."

Ian sighed: "Finally, the development direction of the Xiahui Territory is definitely not heavy militaryism! It is useless for us to rely on the army to protect the territory. It is not our development direction to support soldiers and raise bandits!"

"Understood!" Qing Chao answered energetically.

But the latter grades were even worse - only 10 points in agriculture and mining, a complete failure, and personal morality... It cannot be said that Qingchao is not a good person, but he directly wrote 'debt exemption' and ' "Tax-free" is obviously bringing your own family situation into it.

The Qingchao family owed a lot of debt back then, and he must have hoped that someone would forgive their debts.

"Speaking of which, I remember you have a wife and children, right?"

Ian forcibly resisted the idea of ​​hanging Qing Chao up for a beating. He asked Scott to give Qing Chao more papers, and after writing an assessment every day, he said: "The territory is not very safe now. But if you settle down in the future, do you plan to take over?"

"I would like to, but she may not come with me."

Qingchao himself can take it easy: "At least I have to wait for my second energy level to talk about it, otherwise, how embarrassing it is."

"Too."

Ian nodded slightly. Scott's potion ingredients are already in transit because they are very cheap, and Scott has recently been training with the help of Qingchao and Adbert, condensing the source seeds to prepare for becoming a sublimator .

The episode passed.

Soon, Ian saw another paper marked red.

He looked at it and was taken aback.

"What's going on?" Ian picked up the test paper seriously and looked at it. He frowned: "Who wrote this test paper? There is not a single mistake in the whole text, and all the knowledge categories are full marks... That's all."

"The political orientation written here is basically the same as the orientation I imagined. This is basically impossible. I definitely guessed my character so I wrote this answer on purpose... and my personal moral orientation even wrote a specific solution. Different decisions with different identities and different situations are obviously experienced people who have encountered this kind of thing before, or even encountered it often!"

"Talent?! How can the Xiahui leader have such a talent?!"

Now Ian was really surprised - Roland was not considered a local talent in Xiahui Territory, he was a high-achieving student trained in the Falling Star Hills, and his knowledge and insight had nothing to do with his hometown.

And this...Far Fatih's... 76-year-old man actually has such knowledge and culture?

"I need to meet him." Ian frowned. He had a premonition that the reason why this kind of old man performed so well in the exam he presided over was to meet him.

Half an hour later, Ian saw Farr in formal attire waiting for him in the meeting room of the city hall.

"You said that your previous family was the family of stargazers."

Without any politeness or pleasantries, Ian sat on the main seat and asked seriously, "Can you prove it?"

"Of course, my lord."

The old man stared at the youngest, best-looking, and most accomplished lord he had ever seen before. He stood up and gave a scholarly salute: "Pingcang, Mansen, Tianmo, Jiuguang..."

Ian listened to Farr say a series of words and names that seemed inexplicable to ordinary people, and his expression was moved.

Because, these names are all the names of stars, and they are the names of stars derived from very ancient mythical constellations!

Moreover, these stars are the names of the stars that have disappeared from Terra's starry sky in recent years from near to far!
"There is no need to continue."

Farr was still reporting, and Ian raised his hand to signal the old man to stop, and he said seriously: "I completely believe it. To be honest, this has far surpassed my level of stargazing. You are a real stargazer." Astromancer."

"Now, I just have one question."

Ian raised his hand, he raised his right index finger, looked at Farr, and asked seriously: "You served two generations of Lord Lean in the past. Although your performance was excellent, you have never shown astronomy. knowledge. Of course, they may know about your background, but they don’t particularly care, and you don’t show it.”

"Then, why are you showing it to me? What are you planning to do in my territory? With your ability, it can be reused even in Nauman City."

"Because I saw you looking up at the stars, my lord. You must come to the top of the castle every night, and sit on your armor and look up at this dark sky. No one but a lover of stars will do it, do nothing like this." Nonsense."

Farr bowed slightly to Ian, his tone was calm, but revealed his sincerity: "You are not the only one who does this, I just want to tell you this, not deliberately show yourself, it is useless knowledge."

"As for my purpose...it's actually very simple."

"I want to be someone you can reuse, have money and power, and then build a star observation tower."

"That's all, my lord. I know it's useless. The previous lords would never support me, so I don't want to say anything more."

"But if it's you, I think maybe you can try."

Saying so, the old man closed his dark golden eyes, his tone was calm, with a slight smile, as if he was talking in the afternoon breeze: "After all..."

"This is my childhood dream."

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(End of this chapter)