Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 78, Scientific Research Talents

After clearing the city, Chen Zhengdu forcibly moved a large number of civilians into the city.

These people had no place to live in the city, so Chen Zhengdu asked them to build huts on the spot in the city to live in.

Chen Zhengdu would distribute a small amount of food every day to sustain the lives of these people, and then forced them to build the city walls.

A large number of people died from exhaustion and hunger. Naturally, there were also people who resisted during this period, but they were all ruthlessly suppressed in the end.

During this period, the business of dental clinics flourished greatly.

Talented people working in this industry can often pick out valuable people from among the pale and skinny disaster victims.

For example, some beautiful women, handsome men, etc.

The best outcome for these children in the future would probably be to be bought by some wealthy families and become maids and slaves.

And the worst outcome might be a brothel?
No, that's not the worst.

The worst are the worthless, unwanted children...

"Mom, when I make money in the future I will come back to you and build you a big house!"

A little girl said, waving her hands.

The woman held back her tears.

"Okay, Mom is waiting for Qiu."

The little girl was taken away, and all she got in return was a bag of wheat.

But this is already a very good ending.

Because if the little girl stayed, it would be even worse.

Small groups of Jin bandits have begun to appear roaming outside the city.

Chen Zheng couldn't help but increase the intensity of the construction work on the city wall, and even women were sent to dig holes and help repair the city wall.

The Governor-General of Zhili had already fled to Baofu at this time.

Chen Zhengdu asked for military support from him, because the Zhili Governor-General still had about 20,000 Green Camp soldiers. Although their combat effectiveness was very poor, they were at least human beings. As the saying goes, fart fills the wind, and having soldiers is always better than having no soldiers.

In response to this, although the Governor-General of Zhili agreed on the surface, he kept finding various excuses and was reluctant to send anyone over.

Chen Zheng could guess what the other party was thinking. In troubled times, soldiers and horses were king. The other party was just watching the situation. If he could withstand the attack of the Jin thieves, the governor of Zhili would bring troops to support him and become a loyal minister of Daxi.

But if he can't hold on, then the Governor of Zhili will probably become a loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty...

"Rebellious ministers and traitors!"

Chen Zheng couldn't help but curse.

Huaizhou,

The scientific expedition organized by Fang Yong ended successfully.

The candidates walked out of the examination room in high spirits, looking forward to the announcement of the results soon.

Some county officials who had surrendered before, such as Song Yingge, were appointed as examiners, responsible for reviewing the test papers of the candidates.

They will eliminate those candidates who are just filling in the numbers, and then select those who have some ability and hand them over to Jia Yucun and Wu Yuan for review.

There were a total of 962 candidates in this examination, and after the initial review, 189 remained.

Jia Yucun and Wu Yuan reviewed them again and ranked them at the same time.

This time, there was basically no screening of people. Only two papers were picked out whose words were somewhat inclined towards the court's intentions.

187 people remaining.

To be honest, there are really no stunning talents among the remaining 187 papers. Their average level is only around that of a scholar, and very few have reached the level of a juren.

But Fang Yong is really short of people at the moment. The several large cities and dozens of counties under his jurisdiction are all re-employing officials from the original Daxi court, and then using the army to control these officials.

It may not be a problem in the short term, but it will inevitably be a disaster in the long run.

So these people can only be used as is for now, and they will be used to support the team first.

Soon, the test papers of the candidates were sorted and sent to Fang Yong. Fang Yong picked up the top one and checked it.

This is the first place proposed by Jia Yucun and Wu Yuan, and is considered the top scholar.

"Warfare is a matter of great importance to a state, the key to its survival or destruction, and must be carefully considered.

Since ancient times, the rise and fall of a country has always depended on the victory or defeat of war. War is the way to protect the country, resist foreign aggression and calm internal strife. However, weapons are dangerous tools and should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

Killing and destroying lives is against the will of Heaven. Therefore, when a sage king uses his army, he must assess the situation and distinguish right from wrong, so as to have a legitimate reason to punish the criminals and comfort the people...

However, the way to govern a country is not to rely solely on military power. Only by taking virtue as the foundation and using the military as the defense can we maintain the prosperity of the country and maintain long-term stability..."

Fang Yong looked at the test paper and thought for a while.

This person's views tend to be conservative, and he is cautious about starting a war, but he does not directly express his opposition to the war. This is a standard Confucian thought.

Look at the signature again, Hailing, Jin Zhi.

Hailing, surnamed Jin.

There was no large family with the surname Jin in Hailing, so this person must have been born into a commoner family.

Let’s look at the second place test paper.

"The foundation of a country is not based on the strength of its army. Without a strong army, it cannot protect its people. Therefore, the army is the pillar of a country and the shield of its people..."

Compared with the first person, this person's advocacy is more inclined towards starting a war.

Although he is inclined to go to war, most of his articles are just empty talk and he does not put forward any good arguments for strengthening the country and the military.

Only one sentence,
"Those who employ troops should base their actions on benevolence and righteousness, and use wisdom and courage, so that the soldiers know propriety, justice, integrity and shame, and know right from wrong. In this way, they will surely win the battle and take the city."

This sentence is still useful.

Look at the signature again, Huaizhou, Nian Jiuan.

Fang Yong pondered.

The Nian family is one of the four major families in Huaizhou and has extraordinary power in the Daxi court.

The other party sent their family members here to take the imperial examination in an attempt to hedge their bets?
Perhaps it is because of this that Jia Yucun and Wu Yuan ranked it second?
Fang Yong looked further and further ahead, and found that the scores got worse and worse. Once the scores were outside the top 20, it was purely because of the mediocre writing skills, and the rest were completely worthless.

"Forget it. Knowing how to read is useful. Just follow this list!"

Fang Yong started writing and selected Jin Zhi as the top scorer, Nian Jiuan as the second place, and Zhang Wen as the eighth place.

Zhang Wen's test paper was not outstanding, but at least it was meaningful and showed some knowledge. As a tall man among short people, he was ranked well.

The reason why he was chosen as the Tanhua winner was mainly because Zhang Wen had good looks, was handsome and elegant, and fit the traditional image of a Tanhua winner.

Fang Yong has met Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen is the son of Zhang Yuan. After his father Zhang Yuan surrendered, Fang Yong sent someone to write a letter to Li Ni in Beijing, asking him to send Zhang Yuan's family over.

After some twists and turns, Zhang Yuan's family, including Zhang Wen, were sent to Huaizhou.

After Zhang Wen arrived in Huaizhou, he learned about his father Zhang Yuan's surrender.

Then Zhang Wen thought that Fang Yong defeated Zhang Yuan by relying on conspiracy and trickery, and was not a hero.

So Zhang Wen decided to avenge his father and came to Fang Yong's mansion alone to challenge Fang Yong.

Zhang Wen considered himself an expert in martial arts. He had been training his body since childhood and had learned many martial arts manuals. He was proficient in techniques such as the Taizu Divine Fist and the Shaolin Vajra Kick. When he fought with the servants at home, more than a dozen people could not get close to him. That was why he had the confidence to challenge Fang Yong.

It just so happened that Fang Yong had nothing to do that day, and after learning what had happened, he agreed to accept the challenge.

Then, Zhang Wen's martial arts dream was shattered by a slap from Fang Yong.

"From now on, I will give up martial arts and follow literature!"

Zhang Wen said with tears in his eyes.

At that time, Fang Yong just laughed it off and regarded it as a funny thing, but he didn't expect that this kid would actually give up martial arts and turn to literature.

(End of this chapter)