Chapter 118 On the day of the female bachelor's examination, the weather was not good...
The weather was not very good on the day of the provincial examination. In the early morning, it rained heavily. Every autumn rain brings a chill. This kind of rain and wind coming down at the same time really made it a bit chilly.
Mu Xue woke up and heard the sound of heavy rain. She was a little worried. With such heavy rain, she wondered if some people would give up the provincial examination.
After all, it is not an imperial examination that can give people fame. Even if there are many application forms submitted, if there is heavy rain and it blocks the way, they will not come. Or they may think it is a warning from God. Nowadays, people are still a little superstitious about such weather omens. They think that this provincial examination may not be reliable, and it is unknown whether they will not come.
She frowned. This was her first time to hold the provincial examination. Although it was for recruiting talents and meeting the needs of Dashengkui and Yanzhidi management, she also took it very seriously. She had looked at the application forms submitted in advance, and found that many women had also signed up. She felt something was different.
After thinking for a while, Mu Xue instructed: "Rong'er, have someone take more umbrellas to the west corner gate, and it would be best if you could build a awning. Also, have the kitchen boil two pots of ginger soup and keep them there for later use."
The west corner gate was where the candidates for the Princess's Palace examination came in. Walking back along the west corner gate, many tents had been set up early at the location of the racecourse, with tables and chairs arranged in order inside, serving as the examination room.
Rong Er took the order and immediately went out to pass on the message. The little girl followed behind with a large oil-paper umbrella to shield her from the rain.
The rain hit the eaves, stirring up a layer of smoke.
Umbrellas and awnings were easy to prepare. Rong'er passed the message to the front room, and immediately the eunuchs pulled the servants to prepare them. Rong'er then went around to the kitchen. The stove was already lit. Qian Cheng, the kitchen's chief eunuch, said, "We were thinking of what aunt said. On rainy days like this, ginger soup would have been prepared to keep everyone warm. Let's make more right away."
"Thank you for your help. I guess we need to prepare some more hot food."
"Then I'll use the sheep bones and offal to make soup," Qian Cheng looked at the rain outside, "It's raining so hard, and I don't know how many people will come. Should I prepare two pots?"
"Three pots, please." Rong'er said, "If there are more, it's easier. We can just heat them up and eat them. If there are less, it will be troublesome."
After finishing the explanation, Rong Er hurried to the West Corner Gate. There was still an hour before the official start of the palace examination, and because of the rain, the sky was dark and everything looked dim. When he was about to reach the corridor of the courtyard next to the West Corner Gate, he ran into the chief eunuch Yan Xi.
Seeing her running out in such heavy rain, Yan Xi asked hurriedly, "Did the master ask you to come and see?"
"Yes, I'll see if there's anything I can do to help." Rong'er said, "It's raining so hard, and I'm worried that someone might have trouble getting here. How about asking some people to pull the cart to the middle of the road to take a look?"
Yanxi smiled and shook his head: "Come with me."
He led her to the west corner gate and told the gatekeeper to open it.
As soon as the corner gate opened, a crowd of people gathered outside the princess's mansion in the rain.
It was so early, and it was raining so hard, and yet so many people had already come! Rong'er's eyes widened. She saw a girl leaning in front of her, her cloth shoes deeply sunk into the wet mud after the rain. She had been standing there for an unknown amount of time, without even an umbrella, and covering her head with a piece of cloth. There was a large bulge in the front of her clothes, and it was obvious that she had stuffed the pens and ink used for the exam into her clothes for fear of getting them wet.
Rong Er took the umbrella from the little maid and held it over the woman's head: "How come such a heavy rain came so early?"
"It's a blessing for me to be able to take the exam like this. It didn't happen before, and who knows if it will happen in the future. I have to come even if it rains, not to mention knives." The woman smiled naively.
Yan Xi looked at the stunned Rong Er and said, "Should we report to the master and let them enter the examination room in advance?"
After hearing the news, Mu Xue immediately agreed.
So everyone checked their identities in advance and sat in the examination room. After the hot ginger tea was boiled, it was brought over and distributed, and a lot of towels were brought out for the examinees to wipe the raindrops off their bodies.
Surrounded by the crowd, Mu Xue went to the examination room and looked around for a long time. Worried about disturbing the examinees, she did not go into the examination room, but just looked around quietly.
These candidates can be regarded as "education for all", there are Mongolian maids, daughters of tenant farmers, students who have studied in the princess school for several years, and elderly businessmen...
Mu Xue knew that some of these people came for a stage to display their ambitions, and some came for considerable monthly salary or other reasons. But it didn't matter, it was all about deeds and not intentions, as long as they could get things done.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at the people writing furiously. It felt very strange. Because of her arrival, these people were able to sit here. Did it mean that because of her arrival, things had changed a little for the better?
After traveling through time and space to this world, apart from food, clothing, shelter and transportation, it would be a great pleasure if this world could be a little different because of her arrival.
After looking for a long time, she left with a smile on her face.
The entire Princess Mansion Examination was designed by Mu Xue with reference to the modern civil service examination system. From the organizational structure of the examination to the test questions, Mu Xue participated in the whole process. Well, she also assigned two logical reasoning questions, but most of the test questions were practical questions, which came from the employers. For example, Wang Xiangqing of Dashengkui specifically listed arithmetic questions. The chief clerk Mu Sen first looked at the test paper with an expression of "what the hell is this" but didn't dare to say it.
After the written test, there is the interview, which is conducted according to the positions and adjustments applied by the candidates.
After various marking and scoring processes, the big red list was finally posted when the sweet osmanthus fragrance filled the air.
The selected ones were all very happy when they heard about the monthly salary and food. This was much more than the monthly salary of a small clerk!
Muxue was also very happy. This time, the provincial examination selected several outstanding talents, allowing her to have a secretariat, similar to Emperor Kangxi's Southern Study.
What she regretted a little was that she could not decide on the top, second and third place because of the separate admissions. She also wanted to personally present the award to her top place winner, or confer an honor on a knight like in the West, which would be very impressive.
However, this is also good. Mu Xue looked at her secretarial cabinet members with a smile. There were five of them, all women, standing there, which made her feel particularly good.
"From now on, you will be my female bachelor." Mu Xue said.
"I am willing to serve the princess at my utmost." The older Xiaoluan led the other secretaries to salute her.
"Okay, sit down and talk." Mu Xue gave them a seat and said, "There are many things you need to learn and handle at the same time. Since I am a princess married to a foreign country, I want to bring some good influence to the people living in this land. Whether it is the herdsmen on the grassland or the Han people who came from the west, I hope to take care of them. Yunqi helped to plan these things before, but the business has become so big that it is difficult for her to take care of all aspects by herself."
Mu Xue looked at Yun Qi who was sitting on the first chair on the right and smiled: "This time, I have given you a lot of helpers."
Yunqi also smiled and clasped his fists, saying, "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. I will lead you all to do your job well."
"Winter is coming soon, so it's a good time to stay here, and it can also be used as your internship period to learn something." Mu Xue said, "By the way, do you see the row of corridors near the garden in the east courtyard? They will be allocated to you as your direct residence in the future. A tailor will come tomorrow to measure your bodies, and make new uniform robes for you before the New Year. When you wear them, you will be the face of the secretary's office in the princess's mansion."
Everyone hurried to express their gratitude.
Mu Xue exchanged pleasantries with several secretaries and asked about the situation at home. As she was talking, she saw Nanny Wu quietly approaching her and whispered in her ear, "The little princess has woken up from her nap and is crying out to see you."
Yo, the little devil is awake.
Mu Xue glanced at the secretaries and ordered, "Bring her over here."
These newly selected secretaries had heard that the princess had a little princess, but they had never seen her, so they were a little curious.
Xiao Luan was older and had seen some children. Considering that the little princess was about to be one year old, she said, "The little princess is young. Will we strangers scare her?"
"Probably not." Mu Xue said, "She likes to be lively."
The child's personality was quite different from hers, she liked to be in the crowd. The nurse and her companions brought the little princess over, and when she saw some new people she had never seen before, she waved her hands and made "oh oh" sounds.
Mu Xue smiled and held her in her arms, saying to everyone: "Come, let us meet the teachers."
Xiao Luan and the others stood up quickly: "How can we be called a teacher?"
"If I say yes, then yes." Mu Xue said, "When you have free time later, maybe you can teach her various principles, not just poetry and books, but also various principles of dealing with people and managing business."
This was her precious daughter. Mu Xue had stared at her little face for a long time beside the cradle, her heart filled with joy and a little bit of worry.
This dynasty was not a good time for a newborn baby girl. There were too many constraints of the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. Even if she had any relationship with the capital in the future, she would have to learn how to be a slave on the surface.
How should we raise and protect her?
She was a little hesitant for a moment.
"I only hope that my child will be foolish and rude, and will be promoted to an official without any disasters" is a teaching method, to be a beautiful and happy little fool, unaware of everything around her, grow up under the protection of her parents, and then find a good husband for her, so that she can live a happy life. Born in such a Qing Dynasty, it seems to make sense.
But what if she is too smart and keenly aware of some absurd rules in the world, and feels painful and sad?
Mu Xue looked at her daughter and sighed softly. She put her hand close to her, and her daughter's little hand subconsciously grasped her index finger.
Such a tender and slender little hand held her tightly.
Mu Xue lowered her head and kissed her forehead lovingly, and courage suddenly arose in her heart.
No matter what the future holds, she will always be her supporter. She has also experienced the pain and confusion that she may have.
She will find many good teachers for her and teach her carefully, not just about women's appearance and virtues, but about something broader, such as the skills and confidence to make a living.
She held her daughter's hand and waved it towards them: "This is my eldest daughter. Her full name is Nuomin, and her nickname is Sasa. I hope she can be as free and vast as the wind on the grassland. I hope you will take the trouble to teach her."
The little princess's hand was raised and she thought it was a game, so she giggled and looked carefree.
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