Passing the Examination and Meeting the Emperor
Upon hearing this, Li Bai comforted him, saying, "Brother Qin, there's no need to be so sad. Come, let's have another drink!"
And so, the two of them drank until late into the night before stopping.
Li Bai was completely drunk, but Qin Hao was fine; all the alcohol had been eliminated from his body.
A few days later, the Imperial Examination examinations began.
At the inn!
"Brother Qin, I wish you the best of luck in passing the imperial examination! Don't forget me then!"
Li Bai offered his blessings to Qin Hao.
"Brother Li, let's go! I promise you, you can also take the Imperial Examination. I'm not lying to you, let's go!"
Upon hearing this, Li Bai smiled and said, "I appreciate Brother Qin's kindness, but please go now, or you'll be late!"
Seeing this, Qin Hao didn't explain further and simply dragged Li Bai straight to the examination hall.
This Imperial Examination required registration and a registration fee.
Of course, Li Bai had no shortage of these things.
However, he could not participate in the Imperial Examination because his identity documents were incomplete, and he was related to the Li Tang imperial family, so his specific identity was unknown.
If this happened on Blue Star, they would be considered unregistered, people without a registered residence.
However, Qin Hao is in the same boat, because he has lived for over a thousand years in this world, so he is also an unregistered resident.
However, Qin Hao used a little trick to complete his and Li Bai's identity documents.
It's very simple. Qin Hao and Li Bai both come from Wang Family Village, which is the village chief's house that was robbed by bandits.
Both of them were sons-in-law of the village chief, and that was their proof of identity.
"Brother Qin, where did you get this ID? Isn't this a scam?"
In the toilet of the examination hall, Li Bai questioned Qin Hao.
"Don't worry, your ID is real. My brother-in-law really is named Li Bai, I'm not lying to you. But my brother-in-law and his family were all killed by bandits, and now I'm all alone!"
Qin Hao said with a heartbroken expression.
Brother Qin, please accept my condolences.
And so, the two successfully registered and went to the examination hall to take the test.
Qin Hao was not good at any of the subjects in this Imperial Examination, so he could only rely on his own abilities to cheat.
Qin Hao's eyes can see wherever he wants.
Therefore, most of the questions and answers are plagiarized.
Of course, except for the last article, which Qin Hao wrote himself.
In this article, Qin Hao proposed how to govern a very poor county town.
First, if you want to get rich, build roads first, then develop industry, and gradually drive economic development. The small county town will naturally become rich.
Moreover, in the article, Qin Hao also wrote that if he were to govern a very poor small county, he could make it rich in just 3 years.
After finishing writing, Qin Hao handed in his paper and left the examination room.
And so, after the exam, Qin Hao and Li Bai traveled together in Chang'an City, composing poems and enjoying themselves immensely.
However, the poems Qin Hao used were all by Li Bai, Bai Juyi, or later by Su Shi.
The following day, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang personally reviewed the examination papers.
Among them was Qin Hao's exam paper.
"Hmph, how audacious! To abandon agriculture and go into industry? And to build a 50-story building? That's utterly absurd! But you do have some literary talent!"
Emperor Taizong of Tang of Tang vehemently denied Qin Hao's writings.
Because many of his ideas were too modern, he simply couldn't accept them.
For example, the industrial age and the information age mentioned in Qin Hao's article.
It also mentions various modern technological products, such as airplanes, cannons, mobile phones, and computers.
Emperor Taizong of Tang of Tang was both shocked and disdainful.
In his view, Qin Hao's article was a fantasy piece, not a philosophy of governance.
However, because Qin Hao's writing was so unique, it left an indelible impression on Emperor Taizong of Tang.
This resulted in even the top scorer not being known.
Three days later, the results of the Imperial Examinations were announced.
It was still early morning when Qin Hao and Li Bai arrived at the wall outside the examination hall to check their rankings.
Upon closer inspection, the first place wasn't Li Bai, but Wang Wei.
"Damn, Brother Li, I'm not happy that you didn't get first place!"
Qin Hao was telling the truth; he was genuinely very dissatisfied.
In the history of Blue Star, Li Bai was unable to participate in the imperial examinations due to his social status, which led to his lifelong lack of success.
Qin Hao had compared them before, and he believed that if Li Bai, as the "Poet Immortal," had participated in the imperial examinations, he would definitely have come out on top.
Today, because of Qin Hao, Li Bai participated in the imperial examination, but surprisingly, he didn't get first place. Upon closer inspection, Li Bai wasn't even among the top three, which is just too outrageous.
Qin Hao finally checked and found that both Li Bai and he were on the list, but their rankings were relatively low.
Li Bai did alright, ranking 10th, while Qin Hao ranked 298th, almost failing to make the list.
The Imperial Examinations were held every three years, with more than 6,000 candidates taking the exam each time, and only the top 300 were selected as Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest level of the imperial examinations).
Fortunately, Qin Hao just made the list.
In reality, just making the list is already considered incredibly impressive, but whether one can become an official is another matter entirely.
But none of that matters. Once you're on the list, you're a candidate for official, and there will always be a chance.
Sure enough, the next day, Qin Hao received an imperial edict from the emperor.
"Imperial edict has arrived!"
An old man arrived at the inn where Qin Hao and Li Bai were staying and shouted.
Qin Hao, Li Bai, and everyone else in the inn knelt down in the direction of their father-in-law.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Qin Hao to the palace immediately for an audience with His Majesty! So be it!"
"Qin Hao, receive the imperial decree!"
Qin Hao quickly accepted the imperial edict and said, "Your subject accepts the decree!"
Qin Hao was also surprised that the imperial edict only summoned him, and Li Bai was not included.
It is clear that your ranking in the Imperial Examination examinations did not necessarily determine whether you could become an official.
Qin Hao was only ranked 298th, just made the list, and then the emperor summoned him with an imperial edict.
As for Li Bai, he didn't even become the top scholar, he was still ranked 10th, yet he didn't receive an imperial summons.
To be honest, Li Bai was quite disappointed.
And so, Qin Hao followed the eunuchs who were delivering the imperial decree into the palace.
In the imperial court!
"Qin Hao, do you know your crime? How dare you write about vigorously developing industry in your article? Don't you think agriculture is important?"
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang of Tang rebuked Qin Hao.
The civil and military officials were also discussing it at this moment, because they had also read Qin Hao's article.
"Yeah, what kind of airplane is that? People can ride in it and fly into the sky? That's just a fantasy!"
"And what about that? Cell phones and computers that can transmit messages thousands of miles away? How is that even possible? Only immortals in mythology could do that!"
Listening to the group's discussion, Qin Hao smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, what I said is true, it's something that can be done. I call this technology!"
"Your Majesty, I believe Qin Hao is exaggerating. His claim that he can make a poor little county rich in three years is utterly outrageous!"
"Indeed, Your Majesty, Qin Hao deserves to die for his heinous crime. How dare he so blatantly belittle agriculture? Does he not know that food is the most important thing for the people? Without agriculture, how will the common people survive?"