Chapter 102 Pande's College Entrance Examination
Late March, early spring.
The originally withered grass was painted green again, the morning dew brought the vitality of early spring, and the green new buds on the trees were as full of vitality and vigor as the fragrance of wheat.
The two-month training is finally over.
Thanks to Anson, none of the recruits were seriously injured or disabled.
Today, the lord's direct team has changed a lot and is no longer as shabby as before.
Mettenheim Great Swordsman, 10/10
Pendor Armed Cavalry, 30/30
Pendor Armored Archer, 30/30
Pendor Armed Infantry, 30/30
There are exactly 100 people in total, all of them are real elite soldiers.
The 40 security guards of Maixiang Territory have all become high-level soldiers, but they were already unable to beat the rookies half a month ago. Only with the help of the Greatswordsman of Mettenheim could they barely fight a draw - and that was with the help of the lord's advice.
This is the day when the new recruits escape from their suffering and graduate.
But none of them looked excited; instead, they all looked extremely nervous.
Even a little scared.
In fact, it was just an ordinary and sunny afternoon. The weather was excellent, there were no external enemies, and there was not even any petty theft in the territory.
But they were still trembling a little, as if what they were about to face was more terrifying than facing an army on the battlefield...
Indeed, this day was quite terrible for the guys in Maixiangling.
They are experiencing the first college entrance examination in their lives...
That’s right, it’s the college entrance examination!
——Senior non-commissioned officer grade examination!
Except for a few intellectuals who served as invigilators, everyone participated in this exam.
The lord had long felt that there were too many illiterate people under his command, so he came up with this name on purpose.
And this exam was a surprise attack.
The Lord had them gather for a talk in the morning, announced the end of the training, and then immediately started the exam in the afternoon...
"Brothers, you performed well in training. I am very pleased."
"But do you still remember that I have been reminding you during your training that it is best to learn to read. I even specially invited Amy to be your teacher..."
"You can see that we need more officers."
"Therefore, this afternoon, I intend to use the fairest method to determine the first batch of 'senior non-commissioned officers' - after all, officers must at least be able to understand military orders."
The lord had indeed reminded his subordinates a long time ago to learn to read.
But except for Eric the Dog, it seems that most people didn't take it seriously...
You should know that Leon has not been idle in the past two months. Ever since Amy came to Maixiang Territory, he was immediately taken by the lord to attend a night school.
Amy never expected that she originally came here to be a student, but ended up becoming a Chinese teacher for more than a hundred people!
There are not many courses, one hour every night, free teaching, no pressure, just come if you want.
The two beautiful teachers, Sarah and Amy, cooperate with each other in teaching, and the courses are not boring at all.
There were quite a few people coming to the class, but I don’t know if it was because teacher Amy was too pretty, or because the training during the day was too hard. Anyway, the students were basically inattentive in class, and the teaching results didn’t seem to be very good.
So the lord decided to teach them a real lesson and suddenly announced a "college entrance examination" in the afternoon. Only those who passed the exam could obtain the qualification of "senior non-commissioned officer".
Those who have the qualifications of senior non-commissioned officers will be awarded ten shares of Maixiang International...
What Li Ang called senior non-commissioned officers was actually a rank he set, which was like a threshold for a qualification certificate or diploma.
This is different from the position.
For example, Klose's position is the captain of the assault team, which is a formal officer, but he is not a senior non-commissioned officer. Some positions will only be listed separately in the lord's team, just like Anson and Sarah.
There are also many sergeants in the team - in previous battles, those who have made military achievements have actually been promoted and rewarded, but those who are promoted to sergeants because of their merits have nothing to do with senior non-commissioned officers, they just get a larger share of the spoils.
My Lord wants to separate rank from position.
Everyone knows that the lord is a man of his word. Fighting bravely will definitely be rewarded, so training hard to improve your skills will definitely be beneficial.
But no one expected that if one wanted to get promoted and make money, one would have to pass the college entrance examination and get a "diploma"...
This is the result of the Lord's repeated considerations.
On the one hand, it is true that only literate people can be leaders. Illiterate people who cannot even understand military orders may be excellent soldiers, but they cannot lead troops to execute complex tactics.
On the other hand, Li Ang wanted to establish a simple upgrade logic in the army, a new class that was unrelated to the position and would not cause class conflicts - non-commissioned officers.
NCO is not an official, it is a kind of identity recognition, or a general term for "staff members" designed by Li Ang.
Since people need to accept it step by step, only three simple levels are used for the time being.
Private, NCO, Senior NCO.
First of all, only after more than four weeks of rigorous training can one become a private soldier. The lord will not lead junior soldiers to fight in the future.
As long as a private soldier passes the lord's test through hard training and completes more than one battle with the lord and performs well on the battlefield, he can become a "non-commissioned officer".
The Lord's test is actually mainly to determine their loyalty through fighting, and to check through the system whether they have become high-level soldiers - this test will definitely be quite fair.
But the soldiers didn't know that. They only thought that the lord was wise and fair...
After becoming a non-commissioned officer, even if you are formally established, you can still receive salary when you are not fighting, which is very attractive.
These one hundred men are now qualified to become non-commissioned officers because they have participated in combat before.
But what is more attractive is the 'senior non-commissioned officer'.
The lord said that becoming a senior non-commissioned officer means becoming a full-time soldier, and no matter whether you eventually become a knight or not, you will bid farewell to your farming career!
Moreover, senior non-commissioned officer is a prerequisite for becoming a knight under the lord. All food, clothing, housing and transportation are free of charge, and all equipment will also be provided by the lord!
Being able to quit work and become a professional warrior means having a higher social status. In fact, this is the case with the knights of the continent of Pendor.
In other words, this is actually a knight without a fiefdom, but he is not a noble.
However, their treatment is better than that of ordinary knights from noble families. Not only is their salary high, but the lord also provides them with food, accommodation, and equipment, and they do not need to work for any nobles or suffer from bullying.
In this era, this attraction is great...
But if a non-commissioned officer wants to be promoted to a senior non-commissioned officer, it is not enough to just be skilled in martial arts. He must first pass the "college entrance examination" and obtain a qualification certificate.
In other words, anyone who wants to become a senior non-commissioned officer must first be skilled in martial arts, have fought in battles, have some achievements, and then be well-educated.
After becoming a senior non-commissioned officer, if you study hard and make some achievements, you may become a knight. The lord still has a knight exam waiting for them, most of which are cultural subjects. After all, becoming a noble requires culture...
Of course, for those illiterate strong men with outstanding skills, it is not impossible to become a rich man just by relying on military merit. The lord is very trustworthy in distributing the spoils of war, and being a sergeant in Maixiang Territory can also make a good living.
But senior non-commissioned officers can get ten additional shares!
Food and accommodation are included!
What a great treatment!
But no one expected that the Lord would assess the rank of the non-commissioned officers by taking cultural exams...
So, during the afternoon exam, everyone was about to collapse - they had spent all their energy on training and had not studied the cultural courses properly at all.
Right now, the examination room is filled with a gloomy atmosphere.
Even Klose, the old subordinate who had followed the Lord the longest, was chewing on the tip of his pen in the examination room. He had almost chewed the quill pen until it was worn out, but he still couldn't write a few words...
This guy stared pitifully at the invigilators Leon and Amy, and looked like he was about to cry.
And it wasn't just him, most of the soldiers had sad faces, and the wooden boards in front of them that served as "papers" were mostly blank.
Perhaps for them, writing is much more difficult than chopping people - especially the people of Mettenheim, almost all of them are poor people!
Examinations are rare events, and these soldiers have not learned how to cheat. They look around and scratch their heads...
In fact, they couldn't cheat at all. Many of them didn't even know how to hold a pen, so they couldn't copy. Besides, the questions were all essay questions.
For example, "Write a military report after a detailed investigation, and use your own data as examples."
Another example is "Please write a letter to the Lord asking for help."
Amy's face was quite gloomy now.
These uneducated and rough guys are all her students, and there is nothing wrong with her teaching itself - what's the big problem with teaching basic literacy? These people are adults, not six-year-old children.
But Amy's teaching quality is not good, the main reason is that she is too gentle.
As a well-educated aristocratic girl, Amy never swore or cursed, and corporal punishment was even more impossible...
Her upbringing also influenced Sarah. After all, it was a cultural class, and Sarah didn't torture anyone.
Although no one disturbed Mai Xiangling's group of illiterates because of their status, most of the people who came to listen to the class were actually there to rest by the fire and kill time...
There was no nightlife in that era, and the lord strictly prohibited them from participating in gambling, so these guys had to gather in this "classroom" with a brazier lit all the time at night to warm themselves by the fire and watch the two beautiful young ladies.
Li Ang allowed businessmen to open entertainment venues everywhere, but he managed his own territory extremely strictly. Anyone who dared to gather for gambling would have their tools confiscated and would be whipped until they could not get out of bed.
In the entire Maixiangling, the only good student is Eric.
This guy has been studying hard since he became a civil servant. Now, not only can he recognize words, he can even recite several poems with passion and emotion.
The results of this exam were quite bleak—out of more than a hundred people, only five passed.
You know, the passing score only requires you to write a common military newspaper according to the topic and write a simple letter - that is, the daily documents that a captain-level officer will often use.
Eric was the top student and he even did well on the extra tactics questions.
The five qualified people were personally awarded a small bronze griffin badge by Leon.
They became the first batch of 'senior non-commissioned officers' in Maixiang Territory, and also became captains or deputy captains of various troops. They would have feathers inserted on the top of their helmets, and would be granted an additional ten shares of Maixiang International. They were all very happy.
And that small badge became Mai Xiangling's first "qualification certificate".
From now on, in your lord's territory, anyone holding this badge will no longer have to worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation, and all supplies will be given priority.
The dozens of people with the worst performance will be temporarily excluded from the non-commissioned officer sequence as a punishment for them - in fact, it means a salary deduction!
Because, after two months of study, they couldn't even write the Lord's name! Many people even made mistakes in writing their own names!
These dozens of illiterate people cried bitterly, hated themselves for not studying hard enough, and said they would change their ways and study hard.
Fortunately, the lord reminded them early on, and at least every person in Mettenheim can write their own names and recognize simple military orders.
But this was probably mainly because the people of Mettenheim were all blacksmiths - they were used to engraving their names on the ironware they made, so they were not completely illiterate.
But apart from this, including Klose, they are still semi-illiterate...
Considering that they had followed him the longest and had made many contributions, the lord gave them new jobs and made them his personal guards.
But when they see someone wearing a senior non-commissioned officer badge, they still have to salute - this is also to motivate their subordinates to learn more.
And on the second day after this "college entrance examination", the lord announced the appointment of his second official knight - Eric.
Because Eric applied for the knight exam the next morning and passed it successfully!
The knight examination designed by the lord is actually very difficult.
It covers martial arts, noble etiquette, the history of Pendor and current affairs, and also tests basic tactics and management skills.
Eric had really worked hard, and he had even participated in all the cavalry courses with the recruits and almost broke his leg.
But he didn't expect that the lord's knight exam would not test riding skills...
And the lord really keeps his word. No matter what one's past background is, as long as one meets the lord's requirements, one can become a true noble.
However, since the territory is so small, Leon has not yet assigned Eric a knighthood - this is also an important reason for finding a senior non-commissioned officer for the transition. The lord actually has the intention of subtly replacing the land division with other means.
Eric still serves as the administrator and security captain of McShane County.
That is, the director of the village committee and the director of the police station.
With Eric as a role model, the learning atmosphere in the territory suddenly became hot, and everyone's eyes were filled with hope and enthusiasm.
The semi-illiterate people finally began to actively learn culture.
However, they only took Chinese classes seriously for a few days before they had to suspend classes temporarily.
Because during this period of time, merchants also came to this busy territory.
The merchants are here to traffic in human beings.
The lord had made an agreement with them before, 50 dinars per person, and anyone who was young and strong and could speak would be accepted.
This was of course a very high price, and the merchants didn't even carry any other goods in their caravans...
Today, there are more than 300 poor ragged people in Maixiangling.
The total population of the territory now stands at 500, and the number is increasing every day.
Population growth is a good thing, but it also means a big problem...
"Teacher, you seem to have brought a lot of people here... But you may not know that when the city was besieged by the Bacchus Empire, a lot of the fields around White Deer Castle were destroyed. White Deer Castle may be short of food this year, so we won't be able to provide you with food!"
Amy is the general manager of Bailubao Grain and Oil Company. After seeing the population growing, her first reaction was that Maixiangling’s food was not enough!
The new arrivals are basically refugees who have lost their source of livelihood. They will become new farmers, just in time for the spring wheat planting season in late April and early May.
The land near Maixiangling can produce two crops a year, and the growing cycle of winter wheat is relatively long, from October to April.
Spring wheat is planted in May and can be harvested in September.
But good land cannot withstand large populations.
The wheat fields that had been planted before were already lush and green, but the winter wheat fields that had been sown by the hundred or so people using crude sowing methods were obviously not enough for so many people to consume.
The continent of Pendor is vast and sparsely populated, and the people here do not know how to farm intensively, so the grain yield is quite low. In most areas, the yield per mu is only more than 100 pounds.
The climate in the northern Kingdom of Ravens is cold, and the harvest is even smaller, with an output of less than 100 pounds per acre.
In other words, there is a lot of land and a small population, and the average per capita cultivated area is several dozen acres, otherwise there would have been famine long ago.
The climate in Wheat Ridge is very good, but an acre of wheat field can only produce about 150 pounds of wheat - which is already a very high yield.
The lord does not know agricultural technology, nor does he know how to increase production, and he has never had time to pay attention to it before.
Now when I do the math, I feel quite stressed.
There are more than 800 acres of wheat fields in Wheat Ridge, and it is expected to harvest 120,000 pounds of coarse wheat - so many wheat fields are only possible thanks to the seeds provided by Godric at the time.
One hundred and twenty thousand pounds, does that seem like a lot?
But the problem is that in order to quickly attract population, the lord only collected 30% of the agricultural tax, and only more than 30,000 pounds remained in his hands.
If more than 30,000 pounds of wheat were just for supporting the troops, it would be completely sufficient. Currently, there are only a few dozen people who are fully off-duty.
But when it comes to the more than 300 new arrivals, that's 100 pounds per person...not even enough to grow seeds for spring wheat.
There are now 500 people in the territory, more than 40 war horses, and dozens of draft horses. At least 2,000 acres of land must be cultivated next season to feed them, and 40,000 pounds of seeds alone will be needed.
The lord had actually dug his own grave - the war had just ended, and he had not expected that war would break out again in White Deer Castle so soon. In order to quickly increase the population of the territory, he asked the merchants to find people for him.
Originally, Bailu Fort must have had surplus food. The two sides were allies and were close to each other, so buying Bailu Fort's surplus food would be enough to maintain rapid development.
But now, due to the previous siege, the fields around White Hart Castle suffered great damage and could not provide any support...
Amy calculated that not only did White Deer Castle not have the spare capacity to sell grain, it also had to purchase it from outside.
The lord is only a human being after all. He only stayed in White Hart Castle for one day, and that was to carry out the kidnapping. He had no time to understand the situation at that time.
There is a food crisis...
