The officials and the pregnant women ultimately failed to meet King Zhou.
King Zhou had changed course halfway, taking the Imperial Guards and some Ministry of Personnel officials to nearby Shengchi County.
Yet none of the ministers complained. After all, King Zhou was going there to handle the Civil Service Examinations himself. Zhang Da had already brought the matter before the court for discussion. Without question, the examinations were an excellent way to select talent-less trouble than the Hall of Worthies, and better at screening candidates.
Look at him! King Zhou had only just returned, yet he rushed off to handle state affairs without even touching his consorts in the Imperial Harem. How diligent! Holding court once every three days really was only because of his health!
The Civil Service Examinations had been publicized as soon as they were proposed. Shengchi County was a pilot site for the county examination, with Ministry of Personnel officials stationed there specifically to oversee it. Candidates only needed to register.
Zi Shou scheduled the county examination for mid-August. That would put the official Palace Examination in September or October, neatly within the next settlement period, without getting in the way.
As for registration requirements, there were none, of course. These were not normal Civil Service Examinations to begin with. Human or demon, if you could hold a brush and pass the test, you could enter!
Normal examinations could at least select people with stronger learning abilities. But Zi Shou was certain that, if everything went according to his plan, the Provincial Graduates chosen would give the court's senior officials more than enough headaches!
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Personnel has prepared the examination papers."
Zi Shou accepted a stack of printed papers from Fei Zhong and nodded slightly.
He had deliberately promoted Fei Zhong