There are flowers to be picked
Inside the imperial study, the young emperor was holding a scroll of memorials, but the pen in his hand remained suspended for a long time without writing a single word of approval.
At this time, the young eunuch came to report: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister wants to see you."
The emperor immediately put down the pen in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Let him in quickly."
The young eunuch withdrew in response, and not long after, Lu Yu, dressed in crimson official uniform, walked in.
As soon as the emperor saw him come in, he waved his hand to let the palace servants leave, stood up and pulled him to sit next to him, without waiting for him to bow and greet.
He said, "Zicheng, you are finally here. Please help me with some advice. Recently, many officials have written to me saying that the reform of the imperial examination system is not in accordance with the rules and regulations, and asked me to continue to use the old system."
"If I don't approve it for a long time, I'm afraid the Grand Tutor will be restless. What do you think we should do?"
Zicheng is Lu Yu's courtesy name, which means clear and thorough. He himself is indeed like that, so the emperor always likes to consult him whenever he is unsure about something.
Lu Yu pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "I think the new policy for the imperial examination has been decided, and we must not back down. If we back down at this first step, we will only back down step by step in the future."
"Besides, only the imperial examination can bring new blood to the court and slowly remove the rotten flesh."
The emperor nodded and said, "That is true, but the Grand Tutor may be difficult to deal with."
Lu Yu replied: "I am willing to share your worries."
The emperor then laughed and said, "That's great. I can rest assured that you are in charge of the imperial examination."
Seeing the emperor's worried look disappear, Lu Yu felt like he was being betrayed again...
Having solved his biggest worry, the emperor became interested in playing chess with Lu Yu, and the two sat opposite each other and talked.
After giving birth to a child, the emperor casually asked, "I heard that Minister Wu was looking for a marriage partner for his daughter recently, but she went on a hunger strike in protest and said she would not marry anyone but you."
Lu Yu's expression was calm. He gently placed a black piece, and the white piece had no way to escape. He replied calmly, "I have never seen this woman."
The emperor didn't care about the swallowing of several children, and continued to joke: "It's a small matter that Minister Wu has a problem with you. Don't you know how many noble ladies in the capital you have delayed? Do you have a girl you like? I will grant you a marriage, which will also make the other girls give up."
Of course, there was no girl he liked, but Lu Yu inexplicably recalled the scene in which the girl in the red dress smiled and called him "Sir Lu".
As a result of this distraction, the black piece made a mistake and lost the whole game.
The emperor laughed heartily and said, "I won. Zicheng should stop being so busy with official business and focus more on your lifelong affairs."
Lu Yu looked at the chess piece he had made a mistake on and replied bluntly: "I thank the emperor for his kindness. If it weren't for the emperor's favor, I might have already started a family and a career."
The emperor choked and waved his hand to tell him to leave quickly.
Lu Yu said goodbye and left. When he reached the door, he heard the emperor say in a loud voice: "When the flowers are in bloom, you must pick them."
Lu Yu sighed softly, wondering if she had shared too much of the emperor's burden, leaving him with so much free time to think about arranging a marriage for herself.
At the morning court session on the second day, Prime Minister Lu was given the task of presiding over the imperial examination.
He also debated with many scholars and silenced all the opposing officials with his own strength.
Finally, the emperor decided on the new policy for the imperial examination this year: no matter whether one was born into a noble family or a commoner, everyone could participate in the imperial examination, and their names would be annotated on their essays and randomly assigned to be reviewed. Those who passed the selection could enter the palace examination and be selected by the emperor himself.
The most important thing is that the quota for direct nomination by aristocratic families has been cancelled this year.
In the past, the imperial examination system selected a group of officials from the common people, and the other part was recommended by various aristocratic families to directly serve as officials in the court.
As a result, more and more good-for-nothings from aristocratic families entered the court, and the power of the aristocratic families was able to continue from generation to generation.
This new imperial examination policy undoubtedly shook the foundations of the aristocratic families, but it also gave commoner students more opportunities.
Even if cheating in the imperial examinations could not be completely avoided, just being able to set this precedent was already the best result that a large number of officials led by Lu Yu had worked hard for.
The imperial edict was announced to the world, and all the poor students were excited.
With half a month left before the imperial examination, students from all over the country began to arrive in Beijing to take the exam.
Bai Yongsi, the eldest son of the Bai family, had originally planned to participate in this year's imperial examination. Upon hearing this, he boasted to his sister, "The Prime Minister is going to shake up the foundation of our family. It is a blessing for our dynasty to have a Prime Minister."
Bai Miaoke didn't comment, but Lu Yu did a good thing this time.
In the following days, the brother and sister were busy with their own things.
Bai Yongsi was naturally busy reviewing for the imperial examination, but Bai Miaoke had even more things to do.
She had been sending people to keep an eye on Prince Kang, but there was no movement.
Moreover, a large number of students have recently flocked to the capital, and all the inns are overcrowded.
The Bai family owns a total of six restaurants and inns in Beijing. As the host, Bai Miaoke would go and take a look from time to time. The rooms were already fully occupied, so she would often meet students from other provinces who were worried because they couldn't find a place to stay.
These poor students have been preparing for this opportunity for many years, and they are unwilling to give up even if they have to sleep on the streets.
Although Bai Miaoke doesn't like reading, she has always admired people who read books.
So she discussed it with Mr. Bai and bought several abandoned mansions in the east of the city. That area is considered a remote area in the capital and the land price is not too expensive.
Another day was spent cleaning, and many beds, tables, chairs, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones were purchased so that each room could accommodate one or two students.
After preparing these, Bai Miaoke asked the innkeepers under his command to post notices at the door of the store: In order to facilitate the students going to Beijing, the Bai family set up the Bai's School in the east of the city. It provides accommodation for students going to Beijing to take the imperial examinations, with a daily fee of 20 wen. Those who have no money to pay can work for the Bai family to repay after the imperial examinations.
As soon as the notice came out, many students who had no place to live rushed to the east of the city.
The students who went there thought that the environment would be terrible, but they did not expect that the Bai family's dormitory was simple but clean and tidy.
What moved the students even more was that the Bai family provided them with pens, ink, paper and inkstone for free.
So three large houses were filled that day, and the remaining three were gradually filled up in the next two days.
The students were full of praise for the Bai family's righteous act, and Bai Miaoke was also happy to see it happen. Her original intention was just to help poor students, but she didn't expect to gain a good reputation in the process.
Lu Yu also heard about this. He knew that as the richest family in the country, giving some money was not a big deal for the Bai family. However, this would help the students more than directly giving money. The person who came up with this idea was also a clever person.
He ordered someone to find out who this young master was. If he had time, he really wanted to meet the young master of the Bai family.
It’s just that Prime Minister Lu has been very busy lately, making final preparations for the imperial examination.
As the imperial examination date approached, many people came to his door, some offering money and beautiful women, but he refused any of them.
King Kang also sent someone to hand over a few names, and mentioned that he remembered what happened in the past and was willing to tell him in person.
Lu Yu pondered for a moment, put away the note with his name on it, and ordered Fugui to pass on a message, saying that he would have a small gathering with His Royal Highness Prince Kang after he finished his work on the imperial examination.
In a blink of an eye, the day of the imperial examination arrived, and Bai Miaoke got up early in the morning to see her brother off.
Bai Yongsi was wearing a green gown today and holding a folding fan in his hand, looking very elegant.
The two siblings don't look too much alike. Bai Miaoke takes after her mother, with soft and graceful features, while Bai Yongsi looks more like his father, with strong and regular features.
The only thing similar between the brother and sister is their slightly upturned eyes, exactly like their mother's.
After a while, Mr. Bai also arrived and the family sat together to have breakfast.
Mr. Bai picked up food for his son many times at the dinner table, urged him to eat more, and told him that it didn't matter whether he could pass the exam or not, as the family could afford it.
Bai Yongsi: "...Okay"
Bai Miaoke said many words of encouragement in a sweet voice, and finally added: "I am waiting for my brother to become a high-ranking official and protect the Bai family."
Bai Yongsi responded and raised his hand to touch his sister's head.
Although the Bai family is a wealthy family in the capital, they are always looked down upon compared with merchant families and official families.
Even though the Bai family only wanted to run their business in an honest way, many industries would be difficult to survive without connections in official circles. Therefore, my father always had to give money to some high-ranking officials and put on a smiling face.
The Bai family had many contacts with these officials, but they never invited the Bai family to banquets.
He secretly thought that he had not helped in managing the family business. If he could really pass the imperial examination and become an official to protect the Bai family, then his efforts would not be in vain.
He said goodbye to his father and sister and went to the examination hall in a carriage.
As the person in charge of this imperial examination, Lu Yu was also in the examination room. He checked the preparations on site and then opened the door to welcome the candidates.
When the time came, the exam began.
The candidates are separated by partitions to ensure that people sitting next to each other do not disturb each other, and the opposite side is open to facilitate inspection by the invigilating officials.
Lu Yu slowly walked through the corridor between two rows of candidates.
He was wearing casual clothes today. A few children from aristocratic families recognized him and lowered their heads even more when he passed by; the rest of the students just thought he was the invigilator.
He paced slowly, occasionally looking down at the policy papers they were writing.
When he came to a candidate in green clothes, he stopped and tilted his head slightly to glance at the other person's focused profile.
His articles criticize current social ills and every word is full of gems.
Lu Yu looked at him twice calmly, wondering whether he would be the top scorer or the second place.
Three days passed quickly, and all students just needed to go back and wait for the results to be announced.
Bai Miaoke looked at her brother who had returned home with a calm expression. She couldn't tell how he did in the exam, and she didn't bother to worry about him anymore.
Most of the students living in Bai's academy at that time could not afford the tuition, so after the exams, many students had to work for the Bai family as agreed.
Bai Miaoke became busy again. She arranged for these students to copy books in Bai's bookstore.
Most of what they copied were rare copies of ancient books. The students were surprised and delighted. You know, most of these ancient books were circulated in the hands of aristocratic families, and students from poor families like them might not have the opportunity to come into contact with them in their lifetime, let alone copy them by hand.
So there was no need for urging or supervision at all, the excited students spontaneously got up early and worked late to copy more books.
Bai Miaoke heard from her brother about the problem of rare copies of ancient books not being circulated, and came up with this idea.
She sent people to buy these rare or handwritten copies of ancient books from aristocratic families at high prices, preparing to copy them in large quantities and sell them in Bai family's bookstores across the country. On the one hand, she could make a considerable profit, and on the other hand, she could allow students in small places to learn about this knowledge.
Several students who were deeply moved by the Bai family's move even came to the family and expressed their willingness to become their retainers.
Mr. Bai received them politely, but since the Bai family had no official status, why would they need retainers?
It was Bai Yongsi who made the decision. He asked all the students to go back and wait for the announcement of the results. It would be the best if they were on the list. If they were not, they could come to the Bai family. The Bai family was willing to find a way out for them.
The students admired Bai Yongsi even more and were grateful to Bai's Academy for taking them in.
Bai Yongsi smiled and waved his hand, saying: "These ideas were all thought up by my sister. I am just an ordinary scholar like you all." His tone was filled with pride in his sister.
When they heard that it was a woman who did all this, everyone became more curious, but those present were all well-mannered scholars and there was no reason for them to talk about a girl behind her back, so they all bowed and left.
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