Chapter 313 Meritocracy
On the second day of June, the black bear returned to Weinan for patrol.

At noon, we stayed in Chang'an.

At this moment, all the scholars from all walks of life who were staying in Chang'an tied white scarves around their necks, showing a strong desire to enter officialdom.

After two simple rounds of assessment, about seven hundred people were selected.

There are two rounds of assessment. The first is physical strength, with martial arts as a bonus item for advancement; the second is literary skills such as classics, mathematics, and military strategy.

In front of the University Town Square, Black Bear sat under a green umbrella, holding bamboo slips in both hands and reading the names, hometowns, and academic performance information of the seven hundred scholars.

When Black Bear came across a name he remembered, he would stop, pick up the pen and draw a circle. When he came across people like Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, and Jiang Wan, he would draw three circles.

Seven hundred scholars were divided into seven square formations of one hundred men and stood in the square. Each of them was full of high spirits and had already embarked on a smooth road.

Unlike the officials left over from the counties and prefectures that had been accepted previously, this was the first batch of officials to be formally recruited.

It was a time of national crisis, and these people were destined to be different from the officials who later entered the government.

Each hundred people were given a roll of bamboo slips. Black Bear put down the last roll, looked up and saw the sun setting in the west. Some officials in the square fainted from heatstroke and were carried to a cool place by the people around them.

The personal soldiers accompanying Black Bear took out anti-heat pills and distributed them. The officials who had recovered also struggled and barely stood among the crowd.

Seeing that Black Bear had finished his instructions, the officials walking around in the square returned to their own squares of 100 people and quieted down.

As for the scholars who were watching, most of them could not stand the scorching afternoon sun and had already left.

Only famous scholars such as Wang Can, officials, guards and the like were left on the periphery.

Black Bear put the pen away and said to Fu Gan of the Western Cao: "You can appoint all those who are circled to the shogunate as appropriate. As for the rest, you can appoint them according to their abilities."

Fu Gan hesitated: "What about Dong Cao?"

"The East Division has its own affairs, and the West Division's task is to arrange for these 700 people. When I return from Hetao, I will make sure that everyone is on duty and no one is left out."

"Here."

Black Bear thought about it, reached out and picked up a blank bamboo slip and started writing on it.

He put the pen away, took out a blank bamboo slip, folded the two slips to hide the writing, and handed it to Yang Fu: "Give it to Zhuge Kongming."

"Here."

Yang Fu took it with both hands and immediately pulled out a thin rope from his waist. He tied the rope around the two bamboo slips. Another clerk brought melted wax and used the wax ball to seal the rope. Yang Fu took out the chief clerk's seal and stamped it.

The sealed bamboo slips will be transferred to the next procedure. This is not an urgent document, so they can be sent in batches.

After finishing all this, Black Bear boarded the Dayun chariot. Yuan Shu drove the chariot close to the seven hundred-man square formations. Black Bear looked around at these people and said, "In the future, please show me your talents. I will only promote people based on their talents!"

"Here~!"

The seven square formations of one hundred men bowed in no particular order. Although many people did not hear clearly, they just followed the crowd and saluted.

Black Bear waited for the ceremony to be over before saying, "Next spring, I will begin to confer titles on you all. You should work hard!"

"Thank you for your encouragement, sir!"

Everyone thanked him again, and Black Bear waved his right arm, and the remote-controlled chariot slowly moved westward.

Ordinary personal soldiers and some entourage of the shogunate trotted after them, the rear door of the carriage opened wide, and they were pulled into the rear carriage one after another.

In the blink of an eye, more than thirty people boarded the bus.

There were only a dozen puppet knights following the vehicle on both sides, and the speed was gradually increasing.

After patrolling west to Chencang, go east along Weibei and arrive at Hancheng to patrol the Hancheng smelting plant. Only then will the black bear head north.

The three thousand selected knights have been assembled and are marching northward along the Qin Straight Road.

The black bear came here suddenly and left cleanly.

This made Wang Can feel very uncomfortable and lost.

Not only him, Cai Zhaoji, who was watching the selection, was also a little unhappy because Black Bear left directly.

The Cai family’s reputation was so high that even Cai Zhaoji felt a little dizzy.

At this moment, Cai Zhaoji and Wang Can looked at each other and stretched out their arms: "Please."

After some courtesy and politeness, Cai Zhaoji boarded the carriage first.

Wang Can was still a donkey as before, but after coming to Guanzhong, there was a stronger black donkey, so Wang Can followed the trend and changed to a black donkey with better legs.

Riding a donkey, Wang Can gradually left the city and came to the south bank of the Wei River.

Looking at the various pavilions, post stations and quadrangle towers that have been newly built or are under construction on both sides of the river, one can feel that things are changing with each passing day.

The distance between him and Black Bear grew wider and wider, especially after the Xudu Incident, when the world was ruled by the strongest soldiers and horses. The influence of famous scholars and great Confucian scholars declined greatly with the death of the emperor.

When Wang Can was riding his donkey and thinking, he suddenly felt the donkey stop, and saw a middle-aged man in a white hemp robe standing across the road.

The middle-aged man held a cane and wore a white scarf on his head. He bowed to Wang Can and said, "I am Su Ze from Fufeng, and I greet Mr. Zhongxuan."

"So you are Mr. Wenshi. I have long heard of your great name."

Wang Can got off the donkey and bowed: "Sir, why are you waiting for me here?"

Su Ze said calmly: "I thought the Grand Marshal would inspect Lantian and Xinfeng, so I waited outside the East Gate, but I didn't expect him to go to Chencang instead."

Su Ze explained, "I have had many misunderstandings about the Grand Marshal before. Now the only one who can restore the country is the Grand Marshal, so I came to meet him."

"This is really unfortunate."

Wang Can thought for a moment, looked around, and said, "Mr. Wen, you can go to Hancheng or Pubanjin to wait."

"I will never forget Mr. Zhongxuan's help."

Su Ze bowed deeply, stepped back a few steps, grabbed the saddle and swiftly mounted the horse, then led more than 20 fellow villagers on horseback and rode eastward along the road.

Wang Can stood facing east, not knowing whether Su Ze could intercept the Grand Marshal this time.

It was somewhat of a favor, Wang Can thought about it again and again, and finally sighed.

Su Ze was too stubborn, and only the murder of the emperor inspired him to enter officialdom.

Thinking of Du Ji again, Wang Can felt more and more the cruelty of Black Bear. If someone refused to cooperate, he would not kill him, but just let him do nothing.

This person has a lot of free time, so he wanders around and ends up making many friends.

The more friends you have, the greater the probability of being implicated.

So now Du Ji stays indoors because he doesn't want to get involved in any other troubles and is determined to wait for that uncertain opportunity to become an official.

On the other side, Su Ze was riding his horse at a gallop.

Meeting him was Hua Xin's convoy, which had continued to grow along the way and now had more than a thousand people.

After entering the territory of Hongnong, Gan Ning ordered the hundred households along the way to take turns to send troops to assist in the migration.

Sitting on the front shaft of the carriage, Hua Xin was wearing a short coarse cloth coat and a white scarf wrapped around his head. He sat with one leg astride and held a whip in his hand.

The vehicles moved slowly and in a line, always allowing walking men and women to keep up.

The road was too wide. Su Ze, who was heading east, was on the southern road, while Hua Xin's convoy, which was heading west, was on the northern road.

The middle of the road is more than thirty steps wide and is the imperial road. Normally, no one is allowed to step on it or pass through it.

Even when mobilizing troops, unless it is extremely urgent, the Imperial Road cannot be used.

Who cares about this in troubled times?
However, order in Guanzhong has been restored too quickly and the Imperial Road has gradually become regular.

Su Ze had never been an official and was in a hurry to travel, so he just glanced at the migrating team in the north and did not think there was anything strange.

Hua Xin did not notice Su Ze either. Since entering Tongguan, he found that there were many carriages and horses in Guanzhong, and he was no longer surprised by the various knights coming and going.

His convoy headed towards Chang'an City, not far to the north of the Wei River.

A boat docked at the shore. Zhang Jun jumped off the boat and worked with the boatman to tow the boat toward the mudflat.

The boat came to a steady stop and Zhang Jun raised his hand to help Liu Zan down.

They could no longer afford white cloth, so they had to wrap their heads with coarse silk that had turned white after being washed.

Liu Zan observed people both near and far and found that everyone had a white scarf on their head.

He dragged his lame left leg and tried to walk a little, taking a deep breath: "Finally, we're here!"

Zhang Jun put his hands on his hips and panted. After taking a few breaths, he looked out at Chang'an City: "Yes, I finally caught up!"

As other passengers disembarked one after another, Liu Zan's servants also disembarked with their belongings.

Liu Zan said, "Brother Zhang, please do not delay your career. Let me go to Mount Zhongnan to see Dr. Li first. If I cannot succeed, I will wait for you in Mount Zhongnan."

After saying that, one of Liu Zan's followers handed over a package of valuables with both hands.

Zhang Jun hesitated a little, but still said: "How can I change something I have promised long ago? I have met Zhang Wenyuan and Wei Yangzu several times. With their recommendation, I am not in a hurry to take up an official post."

Zhang Jun smiled and said, "Besides, I have some fate with Heida Sima."

"In that case, let's go to Chang'an University first to see what it has to offer."

(End of this chapter)