A Second Application

"Brother Dongfang, did you not submit your self-recommendation letter to the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant in the capital?"

"I handed it over!"

"Did you really hand it in?"

"It was actually delivered!"

Zhang Xuezhou knew that the new emperor was not quick to seek out talented people, but being in the convenient Chang'an City, he was among the first to submit his self-recommendation letter.

The imperial court was severely understaffed in various departments, with a shortage of over a thousand people.

Anyone who submits a self-recommendation letter with their eyes half-closed these days has at least a one-in-three chance of becoming an official.

If you include some information about your special skills in your self-recommendation letter, that one-third chance can become eighty percent.

Sang Hongyang was surprised that Zhang Xuezhou was not among the 80%.

He reviewed the first batch of junior officials he had recruited, checking them carefully three times, but Zhang Xuezhou's name was not among them.

On his sixth trip to transport millet, he had to inform Zhang Xuezhou of the failed resume submission and interview.

It was impossible for the emperor to read all the job applications from scholars. There was a certain screening process involved, such as eliminating those who made mistakes or wrote poorly, in order to select the best candidates.

"Did you misspell a word in your self-recommendation letter?" Sang Hongyang asked curiously.

"That's impossible!"

Zhang Xuezhou shook his head repeatedly.

He wrote a self-recommendation letter with five characters, and all five characters were written perfectly.

"Is it because your handwriting is bad?" Sang Hongyang said.

"Does this character perhaps have some unique features in terms of form and meaning?"

Zhang Xuezhou thought about his printed handwriting and realized that his handwriting really lacked any distinctive features.

You can't blame him for that, after all, he lived in such an environment and learned to write in standard script from a young age, and his handwriting is also more like printed script.

This type of writing is neat and tidy, but its flaw is that it lacks distinctive features.

"Good handwriting is naturally pleasing to the eye and can make one stand out in the first place when selected by the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant," said Sang Hongyang.

"So... so you mean I need to practice my handwriting?"

The new emperor's edict seeking talented individuals was not a one-off event, nor was it meant to ensure that these people would have no worries after becoming officials; rather, it involved continuous screening.

When the court is satisfied with the basic operation of the government, some less capable individuals will be transferred to other positions, thus creating vacancies.

However, compared to the first batch of recruits, the second batch of recruits were not assigned official positions as quickly. Instead, they had to participate in interviews at various official institutions and only after receiving a relatively excellent evaluation could they be replaced in official positions.

"I think you can practice," Sang Hongyang nodded and said, "Look at the characters I wrote. Although they can't compare to the works of masters, they are still calligraphy that has won His Majesty's praise!"

Sang Hongyang thought for a moment, then took out a bamboo scroll of mathematical scriptures from his pocket.

When Sang Hongyang carefully unfolded the bamboo slips, Zhang Xuezhou saw that there were three math problems he had provided on them.

The math problem wasn't the point; the point was that Zhang Xuezhou felt Sang Hongyang's handwriting was worse than his own.

"His Majesty actually praised this level of writing!"

After thinking it over, Zhang Xuezhou finally decided to cater to their preferences.

He picked up a pen and gestured with it, then took a piece of bamboo and wrote the five characters "Dongfang Shuo seeks official position" according to Sang Hongyang's writing format.

"Brother Hongyang, can you take a look and see if there's anything wrong with this character?" Zhang Xuezhou asked for correction.

I think there's nothing wrong with it!

Sang Hongyang examined Zhang Xuezhou's handwriting repeatedly, comparing it to his own mathematical classics. He ultimately concluded that Zhang Xuezhou's handwriting was about the same level as his own and was perfectly suitable for submitting a self-recommendation letter.

"Then I'll go to the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant again!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, indicating that he was ready to submit his resume a second time.

"Good luck!"

Sang Hongyang made a hand gesture.

After several visits, he became a regular customer of Zhang Xuezhou and his group's stall. Zhang Xuezhou and his group didn't mind him sitting in the stall, and Sang Hongyang would even help sell some millet products when he was in the mood.

Zhang Xuezhou stepped down from his post, and Sang Hongyang temporarily took over.

He walked back and forth among the stalls, glancing at the millet stored there every now and then, and occasionally taking some millet to count.

Sixteen grains of millet equal one bean, six beans equal one zhu, twenty-four zhu equal one liang, sixteen liang equal one jin, thirty jin equal one jun, and four jun equal one shi.

And when converted into volume units, there are units of , he, liter, bucket, and dendrobium.

"This bushel of millet is 2,696 grains short, but this container was issued by the Imperial Household Department. If we pile up 2,696 grains of millet, it will be too much. So there's still some issue with the standards for weight and volume. Should we use weight or volume as the standard?"

Sang Hongyang enjoyed complex calculations and often did calculations that were difficult for ordinary people to understand in his spare time.

When Rong Tianding and Xu Yuan were collecting the grain, he also sorted the millet used for seed and calculated the differences in grain size caused by the different quality of these seed millet and ordinary millet.

Even after Zhang Xuezhou and the others returned to Liesi, his mind was still full of calculation-related problems.

"Brother Hongyang, the carriage is loaded!"

Upon seeing Sang Hongyang lying down counting millet grains, Zhang Xuezhou offered a brief reminder.

Now it's not only getting late, but it's also time to exchange money for goods.

"So fast!"

Sang Hongyang shook his head, squinting several times before his eyes returned to normal.

He hadn't figured out the problem yet, but he had to go back on time.

This prompted Sang Hongyang to touch his money pouch and skillfully take out his daily allowance of half a tael of cash.

After the handover was completed, he drove his carriage out of the West Market.

"Cousin, were those officials really blind to not hire you? I heard a guy in the West Market bragging that he's illiterate but had someone write his self-recommendation letter, and now he's a high-ranking official in the Imperial Household Department!"

Knowing that Zhang Xuezhou had failed to become an official, Rong Tianding was indignant, and even the nearly one hundred coins of pure profit he had received today brought him no joy.

"Cousin, my luck is so-so, not as good as these people's," Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand and said, "But Brother Hongyang is from the palace. I consulted him today, and I'm sure I'll be accepted this time."

The second round of auditions is definitely not as good as the first, and Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to accept it.

He had no choice but to calm down and stop comparing himself to those lucky guys.

"Besides, he's an incompetent official who's entered the Inner Court. He can't expect others to do all his work, or he'll lose his position anyway," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"That's not wrong," Rong Tianding nodded repeatedly. "If I had known earlier that people like that could become officials, I would have submitted at least one application."

"It's not too late now," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile. "It would be a good thing if you could become an official!"

"No, no, no!" Rong Tianding waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I was just saying it; I know my own limitations!"

If the entry requirements are low, it would be quite nice to Rong Tianding become a minor official.

Even if they don't gain any power or influence, at least they can buy real estate.

But even as an official, he felt uncomfortable. If Zhang Xuezhou was an official in the east, he would have to go to the west to be an official, which caused the two to be separated.

Not to mention that this situation would be unfavorable for Zhang Xuezhou's safety, it would also be difficult for Rong Tianding to follow Zhang Xuezhou in his cultivation.

As for Xu Yuan, let's not talk about him. The cultivators of the Agricultural Sect don't like coming to Chang'an City Chang'an City, let alone becoming officials there.

Xu Yuan's biggest wish is for Zhang Xuezhou and the others to quickly become officials, buy houses, and then make a lot of money so that they can produce cultivation pills.

The three of them each had their own thoughts and pursuits.

"Being an official has its troubles too. I'll have to take a break in a few days, and I might not even make it in time!"

Zhang Xuezhou felt that not making it into the first cohort wasn't such a bad thing. He wasn't much different from those who were ignorant and incompetent; others lacked the ability to work, while he had the ability but no time to work.

Zhang Xuezhou was even unsure if he would be able to make it to the news coverage following the announcement of the second round of auditions.

This forced him to choose an official position that involved little practical work.

Not being an official is terrible, but being an official can also be terrible.

Zhang Xuezhou already had a premonition that his bureaucratic career was unlikely to be anything but normal.