Munitions Empire

Chapter 383 377, even officials need to take exams

Civil servants were something Nangong Hong didn't know about. Nevertheless, he eventually understood that if one wanted to become an aide or an official here, one had to take an exam.

The Great Tang Group carefully designed the questions, provided test papers for all participants, and then selected officials based on their accuracy in answering those questions.

The questions covered a wide range of topics, from psychological tests to elevated policy-making issues. Of course, the majority were basic questions, aimed at assessing the test-takers' fundamental logic and their methods for handling administrative affairs.

The test papers were all produced by Tang Mo, then sealed and sent to the currency printing press to be printed and distributed to various exam sites. They were escorted all the way by the security forces of the Great Tang Group to ensure there would be no leaks.

In fact, these test papers were Tang Mo's plagiarism of the civil service exams from later generations. As Brunas became more modernized, there was less and less need to modify the content of these papers.

To outsiders, this was seen as Tang Mo's commitment to valuing talent, as only someone who truly cared would personally undertake the effort of designing exam questions in the talent selection process.

Even more extravagant was the fact that because the questions were practical and many were extremely sensitive, each civil service exam became a hot topic of discussion. Betting on the exam topics also became an amusement, a game for many incumbent officials to test their sensitivity to current affairs.

This set of rules was completely different from those in Zheng Country and Dahua, or rather, almost completely different from the rules everywhere else in the world.

However, when Nangong Hong listened to the officer explain the general pattern of the civil service exam, his eyes shone even brighter.

He was a strategist, a traditional strategist, and his life's learning was aimed at assisting a truly worthy master in achieving great undertakings.

What sort of person is worthy of assistance? Surely, it would be one with the bearing of a king, the stature of an emperor!

At that moment, Nangong Hong felt... he might have truly found a ruler worthy of his loyalty.

From the design of the exam alone, Nangong Hong could tell that the person behind it was a ruthless character capable of achieving great things.

No joke, exams... from a certain perspective, are the fairest and most effective method of selecting talent.

In his time, Emperor Taizong of Tang reformed the imperial examination and, with immense pride, remarked that with the reform completed, all the heroes of the world would be within his grasp.

What does that mean? It means, all the talents of the world, hurry into my... cough, serve under my command.

Compared to the chaotic systems of hereditary nobility, nobility recommendation, self-recommendation of talents, and the recruitment of explorers, akin to a kindergarten's way of selecting talent, exams were undoubtedly revolutionary.

As long as the content of the exam was reasonable, this talent selection mechanism could speedily identify qualified officials and immediately put them to work for the entire organization.

It's no exaggeration to say, such selection is incredibly efficient; at least at the "official" level, it can be considered the optimal solution.

"Brilliant... the exam... why didn't I think of such a reform..." Clenching one hand into a fist and thumping it into the palm of the other, Nangong Hong appeared to have an epiphany.

As their names indicated, the four colleges that had spun off strengthened their specializations, divided according to future branches of the military, in a scientific and rational manner.

Meanwhile, Brunas University spun off Weigang University, effectively expanding its scale of education—both universities were comprehensive with no distinctive features, and the talents they cultivated were more or less similar.

After all, the world was short of qualified talent now, and students who had studied in these schools were certainly not worried about finding jobs.

In fact, students who had the opportunity to study here were already targeted by major powers, with their futures reserved even before graduation.

"My lord... I'm hungry..." The Attendant Student, kept outside the door, looked pitifully at his master and spoke, dealing Nangong Hong yet another devastating blow.

Nangong Hong was even more irritated.

This place was even more perfect than he had anticipated, so perfect that it was somewhat despairing—he was a strategist, and if the other side had a more professional advisory team, then what use would there be for an outsider like him?

If you say your expertise is to give advice to others, but if the other party already had a foolproof plan, of what use could you be?

During his journey, Nangong Hong had observed many details about Brunas, which shocked him no less than a war.

Even, he felt that not even ten or a hundred battles could compare to the changes this city had brought to the world!

A brand-new, more efficient bureaucratic system; superior infrastructure that had undergone a complete transformation; a technological revolution that surpassed everything; and the powerful military capability to ensure all of this would not be violated!

The person who possessed all of this could indeed be called the Chosen One, the one most likely to establish an enduring empire.

What annoyed Nangong Hong was that such a person was right before him, yet he had no chance to meet him, no opportunity to recommend himself, no chance to assist such a monarch, and no opportunity to help him achieve unparalleled feats.

"You better leave here quickly! If it weren't for the expo, a foreigner like you without even a temporary visiting pass would have been arrested a long time ago," said the gatekeeper as he waived his hand and ended the conversation.

Nangong Hong, as if he had lost his soul, wandered half a street before he began to recover a little. He sighed and suddenly felt even hungrier.

Rubbing his stomach, he looked at the tall buildings in the distance, enshrouded in smoke and fog, and mustered some spirit again.

Thinking that the leader of the Great Tang Group, who possessed such amazing technology and an invincible army, had yet to establish his own country, it seemed that the strategists and officials around him were nothing more than mediocre.

With this thought, Nangong Hong felt he could still make a difference here. He pinched the few copper coins left in his hand, preparing to find a food stall to see if he could buy something cheap to eat...

The two figures, one large and one small, walked along the street towards the distance; as they walked, the Attendant Student kept complaining that his master had even had a drink along the way, without thinking to save enough for food, and now they had no money for a meal.

Meanwhile, Nangong Hong, who was walking ahead, kept boasting that he was a prodigy and that one day, when he left home, he would surely ride in those exquisite cars.

And so, the two of them argued and walked far away, disappearing at the end of the road.