After an unknown amount of time, the colorful clouds slowly dispersed, and the Si Tian Jian spoke up, "Your Majesty, I have calculated that a lucky star must have descended upon the world, but I cannot figure out where exactly it has descended."
Si Tianjian felt as if something was blocking his calculations, which made it impossible for him to calculate, but he couldn't be sure what it was.
At this time, Qingming, who noticed the abnormality in the sky, immediately set up a formation to block the information of the two children.
Hearing this, Nangong Yan asked curiously, "A lucky star has come to the world?"
The Astronomical Observatory nodded affirmatively, "Yes, Your Majesty, it is a lucky star that has been born, or two lucky stars, in our southern country. This is a great omen for our southern country, but I don't know where they were born."
The Si Tianjian just felt a little regretful. He also wanted to know what kind of person was born that could cause such a rare astronomical phenomenon.
The ministers discussed it again, and finally asked: "Liu Jian, do we need to go find this lucky star, find him, and then train him well to bring good fortune to our Southern Kingdom?"
Liu Jian hurriedly shook his head, "No, so the lucky star will never harm our country, it will only bring good luck to our southern country. If we force someone to go, maybe it will backfire. Let's just wait quietly! This lucky star will appear one day."
Liu Jian was very respectful of the laws of nature and did not dare to destroy them at will. He could only let nature take its course and stopped everyone from looking for someone.
After hearing this, the ministers really gave up the idea of looking for someone, and most of them still believed in Liu Jian's words.
If today's celestial phenomena had not been so abnormal, Nangong Yan actually did not believe in the lucky star. However, this strange celestial phenomenon, combined with Liu Jian's remarks, he had to believe it to some extent.
Thinking about it, Nangong Yan said to the ministers, "Pass on my decree. Schools will be opened all over the country. From now on, both men and women can learn to read. Children of school age across the country can start learning enlightenment at the age of five. Tuition fees can be waived before the age of ten. After the age of ten, those with excellent grades can also be exempted from tuition fees for a long time. As long as they have excellent grades and meet the assessment, both men and women can serve as officials in the court."
Nangong Yan's decree was like a sudden thunderclap, making the ministers dizzy.
Schools were opened all over the country, with children starting at the age of five and no tuition charged before the age of ten. Women were also allowed to serve as officials in the court?
This is simply nonsense!
The imperial court spent a huge amount of money to open free schools. Where does this end?
Moreover, once it is opened, it will require continuous expenditure all year round. Where can one find such a large sum of money?
The ministers would not agree with either of these two intentions.
Immediately, a minister raised an objection, "Your Majesty, this matter needs to be handled with caution. It would be too expensive to open schools across the country without charging any fees. Although our treasury is still well-off now, once schools are opened across the country, money will be spent like water, and the treasury will not be able to withstand it."
"As for women serving as officials in the imperial court, there has never been such a precedent in any dynasty from ancient times to the present. Whether it is our Southern Country or other countries, there has never been such a precedent. A woman's duty is to support her husband and raise children, to maintain a stable home, to read some books, to learn some characters, and to understand the truth, but she must not serve as an official in the imperial court. How can this be a disgrace."
The chief civil official, Prime Minister Xiao, spoke righteously, as if what Nangong Yan mentioned was something extremely treasonous, and he was so angry that his face turned black.
As soon as Prime Minister Xiao opened his mouth, the others naturally followed suit.
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Nangong Yan looked at these ministers and said expressionlessly, "I will find a way to deal with the treasury. The school must be opened. Since a lucky star has descended upon the world, I think our Southern Kingdom will have good fortune. If we want our country to become stronger day by day, we still need a large number of talents. If all the children in our Southern Kingdom can read and write, we can select the best ones every year and focus on training them. If we continue like this, our country will surely prosper in the future."
"And smart strategists are not just men, women can also be smart. I think that men and women are all human beings. In the country I govern, regardless of gender, everyone can achieve success, glory and status with their own intelligence and talents."
The ministers were still right. There were now three kingdoms in the world: the South, the Xia, and the North. Each country selected its talents from among the children of aristocratic families. Most of the people in schools and academies were also from aristocratic families or children of wealthy merchants. Children from poor families mostly could not study because they could not afford the high tuition fees.
This also protects the interests of the aristocratic families. Nowadays, most of the official positions in the court can be said to be hereditary. Although it is done in private, everyone knows it.
The emperor suddenly proposed to build a large school and allow both men and women to serve as officials. The ministers were naturally unwilling to do so, as how could women serve as officials?
If all children can go to school, it means that there will be more people competing with their descendants in the future, and their children may not be able to get jobs in the future.
And this is a huge expense and not so easy.
The ministers all refused for the same reason: they had no money to open free schools and the court could not support them.
Women are required to take care of their husbands and children, manage the household, and handle the cooking, and they are not allowed to show their faces in public.
The reasons were all reasonable, but Nangong Yan seemed determined, and said in a tone that could not be refused: "I have made up my mind on this matter. For the future of the Southern Kingdom, you should think more about how to solve the problem of the national treasury! Instead of saying no when encountering difficulties and then giving up, my Southern Kingdom does not need such ministers."
After Nangong Yan finished speaking, he just left.
A group of ministers were left looking at each other.
Some upright officials who were wholeheartedly concerned about the country still agreed to open schools, although they did not quite agree that women could serve as officials.
The rest who disagreed with opening the school were those who wanted to abuse their power for personal gain.
The ministers were divided into two groups, one for and one against, and the two sides started arguing in the palace.
As for Nangong Yan in the imperial study, he ignored them and just gave his orders.
He had the idea of setting up a large school a long time ago, but he had never found an opportunity to implement it. Now the matter of Fuxing gave him a good excuse.
And women can also be officials, because he discovered that some women are actually smarter and more thoughtful than men. In fact, there is no law in history that prohibits women from being officials. There have even been female officials, but they were very rare and not known to the public.
Nangong Yan felt that everyone should be given equal opportunities. These aristocratic families have dominated the court for hundreds of years, and it is time to bring some fresh blood into the court.
No matter if they are men or women, as long as they are useful to the court, they can be used by him.
Now that the words have been spoken, the ministers have to agree even if they don't want to.
Because Nangong Yan is not an indecisive emperor who allows himself to be manipulated. He has cleaned up the court for so many years, and now he holds the right to speak in the entire court. He is an emperor who truly possesses real power.
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