Chapter 60: All the heroes of the world are now in my grasp.
In the folk tradition, in Qingzhou, the northern frontier.
A group of children were chasing each other across the grassy field. When they got tired, they took the large baskets off their shoulders and sat down on a small hill.
The group of children were all only seven or eight years old. They stood side by side watching the sky for a while. The youngest girl pointed at the sky and said with envy, "Their clothes are so beautiful."
She was referring to the group of female officials. Although they were in the inner court, their clothes were still dazzling, especially Du Huayun, who looked absolutely stunning.
The boys, who had been listening silently, exchanged glances and covered their mouths with laughter upon hearing her words: "Du Erniang, if you put in a little more effort, you might be able to wear that outfit too!"
Du Erniang didn't say anything, but glared at them angrily.
She knew these people were up to no good and hadn't dared to speak until Tianmu said the grades weren't good, then they dared to be arrogant.
She secretly followed her brother into the private school to listen to a few lessons. This is what they call... "A petty person resents the misfortunes of others and rejoices in their troubles."
The results of the imperial examination were announced, and the entire court was astonished. Among the top three was a woman—luckily, only one woman.
Gu Xunhui breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
She is very satisfied with this result. With so many years of experience, how can one catch up with it so easily?
But thankfully, everyone is working hard and striving forward, which makes her very happy.
Du Erniang was even happier and kicked the boy who was laughing the loudest.
The boy rolled down the slope, covered in dirt. She stood up and pretended to chase after him, shouting, "Oh my god, how could you be so careless?!"
The other children, unaware of what had happened, also rushed down, shouting, "He fell!!"
Du Huayun ranked third. The chief examiner, Xiao Jianhe, commented that she had a deep understanding of the classics and that her policy essays were unique. She seemed to have some experience and was not a foolish scholar who just read books. Of course, she was not. She had been working for several years and was the kind of talent that Emperor Zhongzong liked the most: "having four years of work experience before graduation".
He greatly admired Du Huayun's policy essay, but Xie Chaoxian insisted on opposing him, feeling that while Du Huayun's insights were excellent and her reasoning profound, her wording was not elegant enough, and thus chose second place. In the end, the two compromised and selected a third person to be the top scholar.
When the list was announced, everyone was stunned. Du Huayun felt she hadn't performed well and "missed the top spot," while the real top spot felt "a lifelong disgrace to be ranked alongside a woman." Only the foolishly happy second-place winner went home to share the good news.
Xie Chaoxian: "..." What do you mean he insists on going against Xiao Jianhe? Isn't he one of the examiners? How come he doesn't even have the right to participate in the discussion?
He also has his own requirements for the provincial examination papers, is that unreasonable?
The common people looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling that the exam was far too difficult.
According to Tianmu, Du Huayun was a favorite of the Empress and had served her for many years, yet she only managed to get third place in the exam.
"Our daughter," a woman shook her head, "she wouldn't dare to even think about it!"
"Hey! What are you saying?" someone else said, dissatisfied. "I think she's very smart, how could she not be good enough?"
"Why--"
Upon hearing this, the Empress immediately rewarded Du Huayun with a considerable amount of gold, silver, and jewels, and told her not to be nervous and to do well in the exam.
In fact, Du Huayun did not become the top scholar in the final imperial examination, but ranked second. Of course, this was still a very good result for her. Du Huayun had only studied for seven years, but she still defeated many people by relying on her years of work experience.
Apart from that, the other female officials performed neither well nor poorly; their initial rankings weren't high, but they all climbed a few places in the final palace examination.
This is an achievement that is neither particularly good nor bad.
However, it must be said that Emperor Hong'an was also somewhat surprised.
If both sides are on the same starting line, then he can consider this result to be quite ordinary.
But the problem is, that's not it!
Emperor Hong'an had no chaotic thoughts in his mind. He was indifferent to the status of men and women; only one thought occupied his mind: Could all the heroes of the world be under my control?
Obviously not, there's another half of the population who haven't fallen into his trap yet!
Can you tolerate it? No, you can't.
Can we change the law? Hmm... let's wait and see.
Now is not the right time, but the seed has been planted, and we are just waiting for the day it takes root and sprouts.
[The pedantic scholars, of course, were the most prone to making sarcastic remarks, saying with a sour tone: "I thought these female officials would do so poorly on the exams, but only one person got into the top four. And the female students from the free schools, I thought they would score very high, but the first place was only in the top fifteen... Hmph, they weren't being sarcastic at all."]
Tan Lichuan: "..."
Zhao Xin: "..."
What do you mean by this, Tianmu? Just because they have different political views, you label them as pedantic scholars? Have you no shame?
Tianmu felt that what he said was very pertinent, and then proceeded in a long and eloquent manner:
Of course, King Jungjong knew their ulterior motives: they were hoping his decision would be wrong so that they could prove he was right.
But the question is, is he the kind of person who engages in verbal battles? Historical records state that after the results of the palace examination were announced, Emperor Zhongzong overheard some sarcastic remarks. He didn't say anything at the time, but the next day he added a sentence to that person's memorial: "I see that your memorial is full of nonsense, and you still don't do enough work. If you have a long mouth, speak less. Remember to send your daughter to take the exam next year."
The unfortunate official who was arrested was speechless and remained silent during the morning court session. After all, for someone like him, having his daughter take the exam was worse than death!
Of course, these pedantic scholars all had their own unique perspectives, which can be summarized as double standards. In the fourth year of Jinghua, Tan Lichuan was taking his daughter to her exam when he encountered Zhao Xin taking his niece. The two exchanged an awkward smile, but didn't they still obediently go to the exam? At this point, nothing more was said, hence the name "Following One's Heart."
Tan Lichuan and Zhao Xin looked at each other and smiled.
The two, still young at the time, were well aware that the other had already fallen for them.
But they remained silent, keeping their composure, silently pondering: if women could also take this as a reference, should they also follow the trend of the times?
The imperial examination of the first year of Jinghua passed in such a noisy and bustling manner. Everyone seemed very satisfied. As for who was genuine and who was faking it, only the devil knows. In fact, the historical records are quite clear. Although the official history does not write about these things in detail, we have biographies from various sources to supplement it.
After all, what is privacy? How could an all-knowing historian not guess what you people are thinking?
The all-powerful historian turned green with rage.
They make it sound like they can fly and travel to the heavens, or that they can read people's minds. Yet a month ago they were accused of being crooked and wishing they were dead!
Despite these thoughts, the historian still wrote furiously, recording this moment.
Just before the end of the first year of Jinghua, Liang Xiaoliang Jichuan presented him with a great gift: the final draft of "One Coin Cures All Diseases," the culmination of his many years of writing.
Emperor Zhongzong was overjoyed upon learning of this, and the book was immediately printed in various places. Then he pondered what to name the book. As everyone knows, even Xiao Jianhe, who had always stood by him, couldn't stand it anymore and said tactfully, "Your Majesty's choice of name is truly the will of Heaven. It's a pity that the common people cannot understand its profound meaning. If an ignorant person mistakenly thinks this is some meaningless idle book, although it is that person's fault, it is still a waste of Physician Liang's painstaking efforts."
Xiao Jianhe, you know how to flatter; listen to this high-EQ remark.
Xiao Jianhe was not ashamed, but rather proud, feeling that he had grasped the essence of communicating with superiors.
First step, praise. Second step, shift blame. Third step, explain the consequences and express regret and remorse.
Ren Heng's eyes lit up, and he followed the sky and began to learn the words one by one.
Although Xiao Jianhe, this little boy, has inherited the pedantic air of his grandfather, there are still some things you can listen to him.
[Jungjong reluctantly abandoned his string of sensationalist headlines, saying sheepishly, "Chipyeong doesn't need to flatter me like that." He then chose the most ordinary one, and everyone was happy.]
The second year of Jinghua was a very peaceful year. Except for Zhou Yi and Zhou Xin, who returned to the northern frontier—oh, by this time they had changed their names—to experience their father's tragic past. Of course, he wouldn't skimp on their money and provisions; he only told them: "A true warrior can face the bleakness of life head-on."
It is said that the second prince couldn't sleep all night after hearing this, and ran to his sister's residence late at night, asking inconsolably: "Does Father dislike me? Otherwise, why would he want to harm me?"
Gu Xunhui: "?" My son is so weak?
Emperor Hong'an: "?" Why doesn't my great-grandson resemble his father?
Princess Zhaoping & Zhou Xuyan: "..." Who does this person look like?
Even Shen Mingzhe fell into a subtle silence. The future emperor of the Ning Dynasty certainly couldn't have this kind of personality!
But... he started brainwashing himself again: wasn't this Zhou Xin yet? They could still draw lots again. Who knew this new Zhou Xin wouldn't be a wise ruler?
His sister almost died laughing, and it took half the night to coax her. The two returned to Yongzhou, travel-worn, and not long after, because the war was too peaceful, Zhou Yi, who had changed his name to Zhong Cong, was transferred to Dingyuan Pass in Ganzhou.
The second year of Jinghua was a peaceful year for the Ning Dynasty, but not for the Northern Di. The Northern Di adopted a policy of supporting proxies, and it's hard to say whether there was any unspeakable relationship between He Zhao and the Northern Di.
However, it didn't matter whether it existed or not. Taking advantage of the internal strife during the fourth year of the Ning Dynasty, the Northern Di greatly expanded their territory, annexing other tribes in the northern desert and distributing them among the three deputy khans—yes, this is where things took a turn.
Ren Heng was completely ignorant of political affairs, and relied entirely on the Vice Minister of War to fill in the gaps in his knowledge. However, he had a thorough understanding of the national map and casually said, "Ganzhou is also a border region, but before the Northern Di had expanded here, they had to take the route south to approach Ganzhou, otherwise they would be discovered by the Shiwei people."
Clearly, the northern tribes mentioned by Tianmu have been largely annexed, and Ganzhou, which was originally close to Shiwei, is now also controlled by the Northern Di.
This was also a consequence of the chaos that followed the death of Emperor Hong'an during those four years.
Of course, they could only think it in their hearts and dared not say it out loud.
With a large territory comes unrest. Of the three deputy khans, only one is a junior khan, destined to inherit the throne. However, the other two are resentful: "Why should you be in charge? I could do it too!"
Especially the Western Khan. His territory used to be smaller than the Eastern Khan's, but now his map has expanded, and he has control over thousands of miles of land. Why can't I? I want to compete with him too!
Thus, the internal strife in the Northern Barbarians broke out as expected. Before the Northern Expedition could even begin, Emperor Zhongzong was already watching in astonishment as the enemy itself began fighting.
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