Chapter 169: The Emperor: The Brave Student, the Blame-Throwing Minister, and the Headache-Inducing Emperor
Li Ping, also known as Li Linfeng, became famous at a poetry competition before the imperial examination. He left a name not only among the ministers but also among the emperor.
In the previous imperial examination, he did not disappoint everyone and answered very well, and he deserved the first place.
After the palace examination today, the emperor took his paper first, and ended up laughing out of anger.
Do you think he didn't answer well? Not really. It was just that it was the first time since the founding of the Da Zhao Dynasty that someone said he didn't want to be an official during the palace examination. This was ridiculous. Why would you take the imperial examination if you don't want to be an official?
The question asked by Emperor Zhaoming was to discuss the pros and cons of the current official selection system. At first, Li Linfeng answered in a very formal manner, but in the middle, he changed his tone and talked about the official selection system and the talent selection system. He believed that not everyone had to be an official. He started from the small to the big, and talked about himself, saying that if he were a businessman, he would be more beneficial to the court than being an official.
But let's not talk about this, just talking about his policy papers, they were indeed very well written, and Emperor Zhaoming was circumvented by him in the end. To be honest, he didn't want to miss such a talent, but in the imperial court, can he force people to be officials?
The emperor threw down his answer sheet and said to the examiners, "You all take a look." Then he took Shen Su's paper, read it twice, and couldn't help laughing.
"It's not that he doesn't want to be an official, but he is quite courageous."
If we ignore other things in Shen Su's answer sheet, the handwriting alone is definitely the most pleasing to the eye. In this respect, all students of the Imperial College have received specialized instruction, not to mention that Shen Su has studied with He Jianzhi since he was young, and was taught personally by the number one scholar. If we ignore other things, his handwriting must be good.
Shen Su's policy essay, like Li Linfeng's, not only discussed the pros and cons, but also discussed measures. From "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" to "appointing officials in accordance with their aptitude", after the imperial examination, another exam was added. This exam did not test poetry and policy essays, but only specific abilities. For example, people with talent in solving cases would go to the Dali Temple, those who were good at speaking and arguing would go to the Weishitai or the Foreign Affairs Department, and those with talent in construction would go to the Ministry of Works.
If the post is to be sent abroad, suitable officials can be selected according to the different local customs and practices. If it is a coastal area, talents with business capabilities can be selected; if it is a place that emphasizes agriculture, officials with agricultural capabilities can be sent.
Finally, Shen Su even mentioned that the selection should not be limited to gender, age or status, and that there are also talented women, and it should not be limited to gender differences. He also mentioned that there are a few female officials in the inner court, and there are female detectives in the Dali Temple and Jingzhao Prefecture, which shows that it is not impossible for women to serve as officials.
This is why the emperor said Shen Su was bold, but he did have reasons and evidence, and he did not directly propose that women could serve as officials through imperial examinations, but he mentioned that women could also have special examinations to select special talents. This part is not long in the whole article, but it is indeed impossible to ignore.
The emperor read the articles of several people again. The latter ones were quite standard and there was nothing earth-shattering in them.
"My dear ministers, do you have any idea who should be given the title of No. 1?"
Before the emperor asked the question, the examiners below had been whispering and arguing for a long time.
Some people think that Li Ping is very talented and he was the first in the imperial examination, so it is more appropriate to nominate him as the top scholar.
Some people also said that Li Ping himself did not want to be an official. There were many talented people in the court, so why force Li Ping to stay? Moreover, looking at the policy essays, Shen Su, who ranked second in the imperial examination, had more substance.
Of course, after this was said, someone else jumped out and said that Shen Su was so bold as to recommend a woman to be an official.
In the end, after arguing for a long time without reaching any conclusion, several people knelt down and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please decide."
The emperor had no idea who would be the top scholar, but he had already chosen the third place.
"I saw during the palace examination that Xu Heng could be the third place."
Xu Heng ranked fourth in the imperial examination, so it is not inappropriate to select him as the third place now. Moreover, the most important reason is that he is good-looking.
The ministers had no objection to this. Xu Heng performed well in the provincial examination and wrote good essays in the palace examination. He deserved to be named the third place.
The emperor was really troubled about the remaining top two candidates, and it was not until late at night that he decided.
Although some of the examiners had some opinions about Li Ping's lack of interest in becoming an official and Shen Su's proposal to select women for official positions, they were both indeed the best of the best and it would be a pity if they were not selected.
Moreover, the Dazhao Dynasty was open-minded and was not as harsh on women as the previous dynasties. Therefore, some people felt that the examination for women mentioned by Shen Su was not impossible to implement, including Emperor Zhaoming, who actually thought so in his heart.
Even when comparing Li Guan with Shen Su, it was Li Guan's statement that he did not want to be an official that was more shocking. After all, it was an imperial examination. Who would not want to be an official after studying for so many years?
Of course, more importantly, Shen Su did not directly propose that women should be allowed to take the imperial examinations together with men. If he had proposed this, the emperor would not have dared to select him for the second place, let alone the first place.
In fact, Shen Su himself was also gambling, but it was not a blind gamble. From the various actions taken after the current emperor ascended the throne, Shen Su could see that the current emperor was definitely a monarch who wanted to make major reforms. Of course, you have to eat little by little and take one step at a time. What he wrote in the policy paper was only the first step.
In the evening, Shen Su talked to his wife about the questions of the palace examination and gave his answers.
"Yingniang, if I fail this time because of this, will you blame me?"
"You are speaking for all women in the world, how can I blame you? If you fail because of this, it's not because your idea is wrong, it can only be said that it is not suitable for today's world."
He Ying's grandfather had only one son, and He Ying's parents had only one daughter. He's father did not take a concubine, nor did he force the couple to have another son.
When He Ying was a child, her grandfather never refused to teach her the ways of managing the world simply because she was a girl.
"My grandfather once told me that women cannot be officials because the world is narrow-minded, not because women are incapable of talent. My husband, you are doing the right thing."
In the past, when Shen Su was studying at the Shen family, he would answer questions from previous imperial examinations with his wife, and his wife's answers were no worse than his.
Although Manman did not like reading the Four Books and Five Classics, she had a natural talent for painting. After her father became the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, whenever he came home and talked about cases, Manman's mind would work very quickly, much better than his.
My cousin Shen Xi, when she was in Jinling, when my grandmother had a birthday banquet, Shen Xi, at a very young age, was able to help my mother arrange the banquet. She knew exactly which family had had conflicts with which other family, which lady was a cousin of which other lady, and which dishes should not be eaten together.
Everyone has their own specialties, but when it comes to studying a profession, it doesn’t matter who you are.
The next morning, the Shen family got up early and waited. If it was a first-class grade, there would be ceremonial guards sent to them.
The butler could not even stay at the door, and ran to the street at the entrance of the alley to listen. He heard the sound of a procession coming in the distance, so he hurried back.
Inside the house, Old Madam Shen was waiting anxiously, "I heard the sound of gongs and drums, is that right?"
At this time, a servant came running in, "Here they come, the procession is here! Young Master, go quickly!"