Chen Shijie said, "After the Prince of Nanyang County beheaded that ghost, the Xuantian Sect’s stronghold in Gucheng was completely exposed. All the cultivators and believers were discovered. Overall, Gucheng’s performance was the most outstanding."
"Killing the outer demons has always been considered a great achievement, and all participating officials have a share in the credit."
Speaking of this, Chen Shijie showed a slight smile, "My transfer order was issued before this incident, so I can directly count it as a war achievement. Civil officials will be rewarded, and Li Wenzheng should be granted a loose rank, counting as part of his ’local governance’ achievements."
As for the clerks? These achievements are enough for the officials to share. The participating clerks will only get a bonus, which will be distributed to each department. How much they get depends on the conscience of the department heads.
But the most they could get is a few dozen taels, and it’s impossible for everyone to get that much.
Zhao Xing didn’t mind. Being able to eliminate the Xuantian Sect’s stronghold in Nanyang County, so he could go to the Divine Might Army without worries, was good enough for him.
With the Blood Evil Pearl and Blood Spirit Needle, he no longer cared about the court’s bonus.
"As for the results of the Start of Winter assessment by the Minister of Agriculture Supervision," Chen Shijie said, "as long as you participated, you passed. And all the bonuses will be distributed; those who took the exam will each get about ten taels."
"Long Xiao and I won’t take any."
Chen Shijie didn’t mention Zhao Xing, clearly treating him as one of his own, deciding on this small matter himself.
"Then won’t I get a top grade?" Zhao Xing asked.
Chen Shijie smiled, "Li Wenzheng and I are recommending you for the Temple Examination, and Fan Dongping and Ji Ming from the county have also agreed. What more evaluations do you need?"
"You don’t even need to participate in the Winter Solstice assessment; just prepare for the Temple Examination next spring."
The Winter Solstice assessment was the final assessment of the year.
But hearing Chen Shijie’s words, Zhao Xing no longer needed to worry about it.
He only had to wait until next spring. Once the Temple Examination was over, he could be appointed as an official.
The Temple Examination combined practical and theoretical tests. The court set the questions through the divine temple, supervised jointly by the Yin Gods and designated officials.
The results would be out three days after the exam day.
Originally, there was nothing more to do. After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xing handed the Blood Evil Pearl and Blood Spirit Needle to Chen Shijie, "These items are of no use to me. Can you help sell them?"
"Oh? You’ve got a good haul." At this moment, Long Xiao walked in from the training field outside, "These are good items. Where did you get them?"
"He killed a Deputy Hall Master." Chen Shijie explained, "I didn’t even use the Guardian Grassman imprint you gave me."
"Not bad, better than Chen Laoer back in the day." Long Xiao praised.
Zhao Xing didn’t respond because he noticed Chen Shijie’s lips twitching.
But it seemed that Long Xiao had made great achievements this time, as Chen Shijie didn’t say anything and let him gloat.
"I’ll take this pearl." Long Xiao took the Blood Evil Pearl without any courtesy and pocketed it, "When you join the Divine Might Army, I’ll convert it into equivalent points for you. You can come to me if you need to buy anything."
"Alright." Zhao Xing nodded. Gold and silver were not used in the army; instead, a points system was used.
Such a points system was not only popular in the army, but also in the seventy-two Daoist academies and academies of Great Zhou. The ’Three Societies Points Method’ and ’Three Colleges Points Method.’
It retained the evaluation system of ’excellent,’ ’pass,’ and ’fail,’ combined with a practical numerical system.
If the points were sufficient, one could advance from the Outer Court to the Inner Court, from the Lower Society to the Upper Society, or even become a teacher in the Daoist academy.
In the Military Merit Points System, reaching a certain level could lead to promotions, titles, and loose ranks.
"I’ll handle the Blood Spirit Needle for you." Chen Shijie put away the Blood Spirit Needle, "When you go to train in the Military Realm, you’ll definitely find it useful."
Zhao Xing’s eyes lit up, "Do I need to train in the Military Realm before joining the Divine Might Army as a Minister of Agriculture?"
Long Xiao proudly said, "Of course, do you think just anyone can join my Divine Might Army?"
"If you were to become an official through the regular clerk promotion process, you’d wait a thousand years and still not get into the Divine Might Army."
Zhao Xing asked curiously, "How did the Divine Might Army rank in the last Military Realm Army exercises?"
"Five hundred and eighty-seven!"
Where’s the pride in being five hundred something!
Anyone ignorant would think you’re one of the top ten Forbidden Armies!
Seeing Zhao Xing’s lack of reaction to the number, Long Xiao couldn’t help but grow anxious, "Kid, don’t think that five hundred something is bad. Do you know how many armies participated in the last Military Realm Army exercises?"
"Eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-three armies!" Long Xiao said, "My Divine Might Army ranked in the top five hundred. Isn’t that impressive?"
"Impressive." Zhao Xing nodded cooperatively.
Over eight thousand armies were still relatively few for Great Zhou, which boasted a vast population across nineteen states.
During the Grand Ancestor’s period, over fifty thousand armies participated in the Military Realm exercises. However, by Emperor Wen’s period, few wars were fought.
The number of participating armies in the Military Realm exercises hit a historic low, with only a little over five thousand armies.
During Emperor Jing’s period, the numbers slightly increased, with multiple exercises each involving over ten thousand armies.
The most outrageous was Emperor Wu, who broke the Grand Ancestor’s record with a staggering fifty thousand armies participating in the peak Military Realm exercises!
Even taking averages, no fewer than one hundred thousand armies participated in each exercise during his reign.
Emperor Wu loved expanding and fighting wars, and he didn’t accept any inferior troops. The military exercises he organized had high thresholds. In terms of quality of his armies, his era was second only to the Grand Ancestor’s, and in some periods, even surpassed it.
The Military Realm exercises had entry thresholds.