1004 Second Imperial Examination

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Another important consideration was selecting Sect Masters. Sect Armaments did not need to be refined, and anyone who was a Sect Master could use them. This made them more convenient than Nation Armaments.

Zhao Fu already had a Sect, which was the Demon God Sect. Zhao Fu planned to make Elise the Sect Master of this sect. He had also obtained three more Sects, and he planned to find suitable people to be their Sect Masters.

Boom!!

A shocking explosion sounded out as a rainbow-colored cauldron appeared in the sky, giving off a massive aura. The four Nation Armaments were slowly refined, after which the cauldron turned into motes of light and dissipated, and four Nation Armaments slowly descended.

Zhao Fu caught the four Nation Armaments and looked at them before putting them next to the Great Qin’s City Heart to be nourished by Great Qin’s Fate.

Time passed day by day, and as Great Qin cleared out regions, its population grew bigger and bigger, and they started to lack officials more and more. As such, Zhao Fu held a second Imperial Examination to select more officials.

Back when they had held the first one, Great Qin had not even unified China yet. Everyone who participated was from the Rising Qin Academy or were well-learned indigenous residents. Most people selected were from the Rising Qin Academy.

The Rising Qin Academy was naturally now the number one academy in the world. Even the countless aristocrats and celebrities wanted to send their children to the Rising Qin Academy, and it became the holy land of education in Great Qin.

No other academy in the human world could rival it. All top-tier factions set up academies and colleges – only then would they be able to nurture talents and develop their own culture and ideologies.

China’s Five Great Dynasties all established their own academies, which resulted in good outcomes. The most famous one was Great Han’s academy because it was established by the School of Confucianism and was highly esteemed by all.

Now that Great Qin had unified the Midland Continent, countless factions had either been destroyed or relocated, and their academies had disappeared. Of course, Great Qin’s Rising Qin Academy now became the number one academy in the world.

Things were different now, as Great Qin had already incorporated the Hundred Schools of Thought and many different races. They needed even better thinking and talents, and the Rising Qin Academy faced many challenges.

Zhao Fu wanted to take this opportunity to test the abilities of the Hundred Schools of Thoughts and the ideologies of the other races. This was quite important to an Empire, and only then would they be able to solidify the unity of the Empire.

The Imperial Examination was held in the same way as before – mass testing followed by the court examination in the Palace.

Everyone took this incredibly seriously, as this was an opportunity to rise above others. Anyone who passed, even if they were only commoners, would become an official of Great Qin and hold power within Great Qin.

Those who had been made Criminals were incredibly excited because the notices stated that anyone who could make it to the court examination would be made a full Citizen, as well as their friends and family – it could be said that the talents of one person would bless one’s entire family.

Of course, apart from the Civil Examination, the Martial Examination was being carried out as well. Great Qin needed to pick out people with the potential to become future Generals and nurture them. This world required both battles of might and wits, and Zhao Fu valued both.

One week later, after many stages of examinations, it was time for the court examination, and the occasion was much grander than the first time.

Countless scholars were already waiting, looking quite excited and nervous as they waited for Great Qin’s Emperor to arrive.

“His Majesty has arrived!” A cry sounded out as everyone immediately knelt and shouted, “Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!”

This scene was quite majestic, and Zhao Fu smiled as he walked out followed by hundreds of people. Some were wearing Taoist robes and other were wearing Mages’ robes; some seemed quite mysterious and others seemed quite simple.

If it was before, the appearance of these people would have shocked and scared anyone. Countless people automatically made way, and not a single faction dared to offend them; even China’s Dynasties did not.

This was because these were all the Sect Masters of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and each one of them had extraordinary abilities. With so many of them, even top-tier factions would not dare to offend them. They would treat them as supreme VIPs because they could all help any faction greatly.

However, they showed no signs of displeasure or unwillingness as they followed behind Zhao Fu. Only Zhao Fu could make them submit wholeheartedly and call him Emperor.

The final stage of the court examination began! Zhao Fu sat above on his throne, with the Sect Masters and Ministers sitting around him as they watched the people below. They all hoped that their disciples would perform well and be chosen by Great Qin; if they did not perform well, they could only blame themselves.

The most important thing about the Imperial Examination was that it was fair, and everyone had a chance to rise above the others.

In the end, the top scorer was selected, and everyone was surprised to find that she was not a student of the Rising Qin Academy, nor was she an indigenous resident or from the various Sects. She was a woman who wore scholarly robes and gave off a vast aura.

This caused Lu Lingxuan and Li Muqing to smile; with a woman being the top scorer, they would have more support in the future.

There were now a few factions within Great Qin, but this was only because of their subjective ideologies and ways of doing things. They were not antagonistic against each other, nor did they harbor any resentment; Zhao Fu would not allow such a thing to happen.

The top scorer was that woman, and second place was a young man from the Rising Qin Academy, while third place was a young man from the School of Taoism.

Zhao Fu did not give a prescribed topic this time and allowed them to discuss their own thoughts and ideologies. As such, anyone from the Hundred Schools of Thought had an opportunity to become an official and not just do what their School did.

After all, if that were not the case, then people from the School of Agriculture would be farmers for their entire lives and would not be able to become officials; those from the School of Medicine could only treat people and would not be able to become officials.

Such thinking was too outdated; Zhao Fu wanted all truly elite people to shine and serve Great Qin.

The top three scorers were granted an audience with Zhao Fu. As everyone watched on with admiration, they came before Zhao Fu and bowed.

Zhao Fu smiled as he said, “You are the top three scorers of this Imperial Examination and one in a million talents. You must serve Great Qin well in the future. We will now give you rewards for your exceptional performance.”

“Your Majesty, this lowly one does not want any rewards,” the top scorer, the woman in the scholarly robes, said as she bowed respectfully.

Zhao Fu felt quite startled. He had gone through her information and knew that she was called Li Xiaoling, but he knew nothing else.

“Then what would you like?” Zhao Fu asked as he smiled.