Chapter 538: The Thousand-Year-Old (59)

Of the six memorials, one impeached him, accusing him of abusing his power, while the other five praised her. The more Wen Wan read, the more her heart ached. "Father, your subject's sincerity is as heaven and earth bear witness; I have absolutely no other intentions." She finally understood why the emperor had suddenly asked her to read the memorials—his true intentions were not what they seemed!

"Did I say anything? In fact, I want to praise you. You have done a lot of good things for the country and the people. The people are all praising you."

Wen Yan: "..."

"This is all thanks to Father's excellent teaching. Without Father's guidance, I could not have become so outstanding."

emperor:"……"

"You're getting better and better at talking. Get up, what kind of behavior is this, kneeling like that?"

Wen Yan: "..."

Wen Wan stood up, and then the emperor began to ask questions.

Wen Wan knew nothing about national politics, but she had some strange and unusual ideas. After all, as a modern person, her thoughts were very different from those of people in ancient times.

The two chatted happily, and Wen Wan forgot her fear for a moment. Sometimes she even debated with the emperor. For example, the emperor did not think that girls' colleges should be established, but Wen Wan opposed this idea.

"Why not establish a women's college? Women should also be reasonable and virtuous, and they can also support themselves with their own abilities. Why should they be confined to the backyard? Why should they be the canaries behind men?"

"A woman's life is only about being a dutiful wife at home, a dutiful wife to her parents-in-law after marriage, serving her husband, and raising her children."

"What Father Emperor is saying doesn't make sense..."

Wen Wan rattled off a long speech, arguing that she didn't think women were inferior to men, and why girls shouldn't be allowed to study.

In the end, Wen Wan actually convinced her. However, she only wanted to try opening a girls' academy first. If it went well, then it could be implemented. If it didn't, then there would be no chance in the future.

Wen Wan took the initiative to take on this task.

“Father, I will make sure you know that the girls’ academy is worthwhile.”

...

After leaving, Wen Wan quickly immersed herself in the activity.

She genuinely wanted all girls to have access to education, not just the daughters of high-ranking officials and wealthy families. Besides, most of them studied to marry into a good family, not for their own sake.

Soon the first girls' academy was completed and began to enroll students. Anyone over the age of fourteen could apply. At first, not many people applied, since this was something that had never been seen before.

However, Wen Wan was not in a hurry.

The first person to sign up was Qi Mingzhu, who really wanted to see what this women's college was like.

After that, a few more people signed up; they were all daughters of officials, and also renowned talented women in the capital.

After these people signed up, they recruited even more people.

However, there were only a dozen or so people in total. Wen Wan sent people everywhere to distribute flyers, but very few people came.

Wen Wan's investigation revealed that the main reason most women didn't come was... because it was too expensive.

Sending children to school is a considerable expense for an ordinary family. Many families can only afford to send their sons to school, and they simply cannot afford to send their daughters.

Besides, women don't need to read too many books.

You only need to recognize a few characters.

Wen Wan simply lowered the tuition fee to an extremely low price, and also provided room and board for students.

Immediately, a large number of students signed up.

However, obstacles soon arose again when Wen Wan was impeached. The scholars collectively opposed the girls' academy, feeling that it was not right. They believed that a woman's duty was to support her husband and raise her children, and how could she study like a man?

Wen Wan was so angry she laughed.

After much thought, I came up with a solution: since you say the female lead can't study with the male lead, let's have a competition and see if the male or female lead is better at studying.

Wen Wan went directly to Mingde Academy, the largest academy in the capital, which had produced many top scholars and had a long history and great prestige. She then set up the competition and announced it to the world.

The two academies will hold a unified assessment three months later. If the women's academy loses, it will close down. If the other academy, the top one, loses, it will prove that women are capable of studying and are no less capable than men.

Mingde College naturally agreed.

They didn't think the women's college could win.

Wen Wan returned to the girls' academy. It has to be said that not only did Mingde Academy and most of the common people not think they could win, but even the students of the girls' academy had no confidence whatsoever.

"You don't even believe in yourselves?"

"It's not that we don't believe in ourselves, but we don't have enough time. In three months, only a small portion of our students have a foundation from childhood education, but most of them only know a few characters, and some can't even read. On the other hand, Mingde Academy has the most learned teachers in the capital, and their classic texts have been passed down from generation to generation. We have nothing. How can we win?"

Wen Yan: "..."

It would be a lie to say that it makes no sense.

Most of them came here because she provides food and drinks; they didn't really have any prior connections.

Wen Wan: "I'll figure something out."

A few days later, Wen Wan began a frantic brainstorming session, and then she also dragged Gu Li and Liu Yu along. Yes, that's the top scholar Liu Yu, who is now a promising official and is highly trusted by the emperor.

Ask these two to help come up with a solution.

Liu Yu didn't understand, "Why does His Highness the Second Prince insist on agreeing to this completely impossible bet?"

Wen Yan: "..."

Good grief, even Liu Yu doesn't believe in himself.

Wen Wan looked at Gu Li, who said, "Actually, it's not like there's no chance of winning."

"Tell me about it?"

"The content of this assessment is actually traceable; it's all based on scientific research, and these can be crammed in a short period of time."

"Three months? I still don't have much hope. The students of Mingde Academy are selected from among the best in the country. They have gone through countless assessments. Three months is definitely not enough."

Wen Wan looked at Gu Li, who said, "The assessment will select ten students from each academy to compete. So we only need to select the students with the best memory to train. Three months is not an impossible time."

"Moreover, the other side will definitely feel that they have no chance, and they will definitely become complacent and underestimate their opponent, which is a fatal mistake."

Wen Wan: "I think you're right, that's what I think too, so Brother Liu, this is up to you."

Liu Yu: "What do you mean?"

"Brother Liu, you were the top scholar! You must know the questions from every imperial examination by heart, right? Could you spare some time to help me tutor my students?"

Liu Yu: "..." So that's the real reason I called him over! This meal was really not good.

In the end, Liu Yu agreed. Wen Wan had actually come up with a plan before agreeing to the bet. She had the system find nearly twenty years' worth of exam papers, compile them, and then condense them into a modern version of the "Five-Year College Entrance Examination and Three-Year Simulation." It's just about rote learning, right? This should be enough to deal with you.