Great Tang princess

Chapter 613 Women's Imperial Examination
In fact, the holidays always go by very quickly, and I feel that it hasn't been long since I've come back, and it's almost the Lantern Festival.

On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, just before noon, countless people took to the streets, hung up lanterns on the side of the road, and waited for the night to come.

However, it can be seen that many people are still a little unbelievable that the days without curfew have changed to three days, and they seem to have not yet reacted.

Many people wandered back and forth among their neighbors and acquaintances inside and outside Fangshi, asking each other to confirm whether the news that the Shangyuan Festival had changed to three days was true.

But the other party replied, this is what the shopkeeper said in the teahouse, so it should be unmistakable.

Today, the literacy rate in the country is still low, and the number of people who can read newspapers is after all a minority.

So Li Yuechen thought of a way, let the tea doctors or shopkeepers in the teahouses and restaurants under his name act as announcers, and read the news from the newspapers to the illiterate guests.

This kind of practice increased a lot of customer traffic at the beginning, and other colleagues saw that they also learned and learned, and arranged the same job for the accountant who could read.

In this way, the business between teahouses and wine shops gradually calmed down again, so many illiterate people now like to go to teahouses to listen to the news.

Because it is chanting the contents of the newspaper, it can avoid embellishment to the greatest extent, and try to let the common people get the most accurate official information.

After all, if it is just word of mouth, the more people pass it on, the more embellished it will be. By the time it spreads to the surrounding counties, it may have completely changed its meaning.

……

All the way into the palace, when Li Yuechen came to Jixian Hall, he saw his mother playing chess with Shangguan Wan'er.

The two have different styles. On the mother's side, it takes a while to settle, while Shangguan Wan'er basically settles immediately, without any hesitation.

When Li Yuechen came in, she sat down and watched the two of them. Although it was difficult for her to understand, she still watched quietly.

It was Wu Zetian who spoke first: "It's already getting lively today, why don't Chen'er go take a look?"

"Aniang won't go, and I'm too lazy to go." Li Yuechen lay down directly on his side, propping his head with one hand, "I still miss the time when the family went out of the palace in low clothes to have fun with the people."

Wu Zetian was silent for a while: "Now Yiyang Xuancheng, and Wan'er can accompany you? And Qingwan..."

"Well, it doesn't matter if I wait, the key is that I'm afraid that Auntie will be lonely, so it's better to accompany Auntie in the palace." Li Yuechen replied, "You can take a look on the tower."

The main street facing the palace must be the busiest, and with the taller towers, you can also see a good view.

"Well, it would be good to go up to the tower together to have a look." Wu Zetian agreed with this, and at the same time he fell down.

At this time, Shangguan Wan'er on the opposite side dropped the white piece in her hand: "Your Majesty, Wan'er has won."

"Oh, this is really my negligence!" Wu Zetian smiled, got up and sat down behind his desk.

Seeing that she didn't intend to continue playing, Shangguan Wan'er started to tidy up the chessboard.

After sitting down, Wu Zetian twisted her back twice, no matter how many times she felt that the chair designed by her daughter was extremely comfortable to sit on.

With her head on the pillow, she asked softly, "When you first came back, Di Renjie discussed with me about the Chunwei exam, do you still remember?"

"Remember, why, he has a new problem?" Li Yuechen lay on the rocking chair not far away.

"It's not about the exam..." Wu Zetian's expression became a little more serious, "Today, many people came up and asked if their daughters can take the imperial exam with their students. What does Chen'er think?"

"Huh? Did they take the initiative to ask?"

Li Yuechen's first reaction was a little surprised, but after thinking about it, it seemed normal.

In fact, since she entered the court as an official as a princess, some people have started to have ideas, but she is a royal princess after all, with a different status, so there is no enthusiasm.

This matter really started to attract people's attention, it should be after my mother ascended the throne, established the Royal Dark Guard, and Shangguan Wan'er was appointed as the commander.

Originally, Shangguan Wan'er's position in the palace was Shangyi, a female official of the fifth rank in the harem. To put it bluntly, she was the little leader of the palace ladies, the kind who couldn't get on the stage.

But the secret guard is different. Although it is not a political institution, it is still part of the imperial court in essence, and it is inextricably linked with the administration and the military.

Not to mention that the emperor gave the secret guards the power to investigate, collect evidence, arrest and interrogate, and everyone must cooperate unconditionally.

The leader of this special state agency is a woman, so the ministers had to be concerned about it. In addition, Princess Xuancheng officially took over as Minister of the Household Department.

As for the newspaper office, although it is a private organization in name, no one would be foolish enough to think so, and the newspaper office is now managed by Princess Yiyang...

Adding up these things, since a few years ago, the ministers of the DPRK and China have trained their daughters and sons in the same way, just thinking that one day ordinary women may really be allowed to enter the court as officials.

Now a few years have passed, and the girls in the family have almost been educated, but there has been no movement from the court for a long time, so I wrote a memorial to ask the emperor.

In fact, Li Yuechen had thought of women becoming officials a long time ago, but considering that people in a patriarchal society might not be willing to accept it, he originally planned to make changes little by little.

For example, now that the military academy recruits female students, there will be female officers in the future... At the same time, there will also be female military administrators in the military department in the future...

Originally, they planned to push forward little by little in such a subtle way. I didn't expect that they hadn't entered the critical step. Now they actually proposed it first!
Wu Zetian picked up the teacup: "Actually, this is not an accident. After all, everyone wants their own daughter to be an official, so naturally they have to agree with other people's daughters."

Li Yuechen nodded, that's true, it's impossible for his daughter to be an official alone.

After all, your daughter is not a royal princess, how can she have such a big face?
"But what I'm thinking about is, if we let go at this time, will it cause chaos in the future?" Wu Zetian raised his head and asked.

She is really not sure about this matter, after all, this is where the ancients' thinking is limited.

Don't look at her sitting on the dragon chair as a woman now, but this is a combination of the right time and place. If women are allowed to take part in the imperial examination, it will definitely bring about great changes in the future society.

And Wu Zetian didn't know whether he could cope with this change.

Now that the speed of the country's development has far exceeded her vision, she has no idea about this kind of thing.

"Let it go, let it go, what a big deal." Li Yuechen waved his hands without raising his head, and continued to lie on the rocking chair and sway gently.

"It's easy for you. You are sure about the consequences of allowing women to take part in the imperial examination all of a sudden?" Wu Zetian asked.

However, Li Yuechen shook his head lightly: "Don't worry, Ma'am, first of all, you may not be able to pass the imperial examination; secondly, even if you pass, you won't be an official right away."

In this era, it is not that you can become an "official" immediately after passing the imperial examination, but you must first become an "official" and practice for several years before you can gradually become a real official.

Of course, it is not impossible to become an official quickly. After passing the imperial examination, you only need to take a new exam and pass the exam, and you can immediately arrange an official position.

It's just that this kind of exam is as difficult as heaven, at least from the time Li Yuechen was born until now, no one has ever heard of it.

And after a few years of internship, it is impossible to enter the court level immediately. Generally speaking, they will be arranged to be a grassroots official such as county magistrate and county magistrate, and gradually rise up.

Of course, if you have a good father, you may be able to rise faster, but it is absolutely impossible to enter the court as soon as you come up.

The fathers who were high officials in the court also knew that if they entered the court without experience, those old foxes who had been in the court for decades would be played to death.

Therefore, these bigwigs will not arrange for their children to enter the court immediately after they have practiced at home, but go to the grassroots to exercise first.

In this regard, the second generation is no different from ordinary people.

The only difference is that once enough experience is accumulated, the promotion speed of the second generation is beyond imagination. At the same time, the work experience at the grassroots level can also make the resume look better.

"So, my boy thinks, just let it go, it won't be a problem." Li Yuechen had an indifferent expression on his face, "At most, there will be female county magistrates gradually appearing in a few years. If women walk into court Tang, normally, it will take about ten years."

Unless a genius like Shangguan Wan'er can be found again, women should be like men, obediently starting from the grassroots.

After listening to Li Yuechen's suggestion, Wu Zetian was still a little uneasy: "You should think about it, just in case..."

"Don't worry, Auntie, nothing happens, this is the general trend." Li Yuechen waved his hand with a look of indifference.

With the improvement of literacy rate and the popularization of education and knowledge in the future, it is inevitable for women to enter the officialdom. Because the popularization of education is advanced, this matter has also been advanced.

Seeing that she was confident, Wu Zetian nodded: "In that case, I'll let you do it, and allow women to take the imperial examination in the future."

……

As soon as the emperor spoke, the following naturally began to get busy.

The next day happened to be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Shangyuan Festival, and the new issue of the newspaper was also on sale as scheduled.

The servants of many rich families opened the door early and stood at the door, waiting for the children delivering newspapers to come.

In recent years, the development of newspapers has been very fast. Many wealthy families no longer need to go to newspapers. As long as they pay a one-year subscription fee in advance, someone will deliver them early every time a newspaper goes on sale.

Not only dignitaries, but also all teahouses and restaurants, will subscribe to multiple copies at one time, and let the guests who come over watch it for free.

Of course, you can’t take it away, you can only watch it here, and you will go back after watching it.

It is equivalent to a bundled sale. Come to the teahouse to drink tea, mix a newspaper for free, and show it to other guests after reading.

Of course, this model was first thought up by Li Yuechen, and it was the first to open in the teahouse and restaurant under his own name, and then it was learned by other colleagues.

Li Yuechen didn't ask them for copyright fees, but he still sent someone to warn them. It's okay to learn something, but you must understand that the princess allowed them to learn this method. After they can't learn it, they will take it for granted that they came up with it themselves. of.

It seems that it is a bit redundant, but Li Yuechen is laying the foundation for future intellectual property rights.

After the popularization of education, cultural creation and the art industry will definitely become more and more developed, and the protection of intellectual property rights can bring the market into a virtuous cycle.

At night, a large number of lanterns were lit up in most parts of the city, making the whole city look much brighter than usual.

The Shangyuan Festival is like this, as if there is a feeling of going back to the future in a trance.

Li Yuechen and Wu Zetian sat in the city tower, holding a cup of tea each, watching the bustling scene on the street.

On both sides of the main street directly opposite, countless lanterns are hung on red-painted wooden brackets. These lanterns overlap each other and look like Kongming lanterns flying all over the sky.

Of course, there are indeed Kongming lanterns in the sky, but they are still scattered at this time, and only in the middle of the night is the largest number.

All kinds of yelling in the city came and went, and the wide main street seemed a bit crowded between people.

People wearing grimace masks kept shuttling through the crowd, yelling in disbelief, while the chasing crowd kept whipping their leather whips into the air, making a crisp "crack" sound.

Although the young couple were full of curiosity, they still retreated in fear when facing the man with the grimace mask rushing towards them, and then burst out laughing.

Taking advantage of the hawkers who set up food stalls on the street today to yell at customers, trying their best to sell their products...

In Chenglou, Li Yuechen and Wu Zetian, mother and daughter, watched this scene. No one spoke for a while, just trying to feel the prosperity of this prosperous age as much as possible.

Wu Zetian narrowed his eyes suddenly, and pointed to a figure in the crowd: "Chen'er, is that..."

"Well, it really is brother!" Li Yuechen carefully identified it, and it was indeed his elder brother Li Xian, who was wandering the street with his wife Wei Lian'er and a few concubines at this time.

Li Chongrun and his children also followed him, chatting with each other from time to time.

If you look carefully, you can also find that there are many masters protecting them. These people were trained by Li Yuechen himself, so they can recognize them naturally.

Of course, it also included the female soldiers trained in the past few years, who were also among the crowd in charge of protection, faintly surrounding Li Xian and the others.

The main reason is that Li Xian's chubby figure is too recognizable, Li Yuechen can tell it at a glance.

"He also said that he wanted to enter the palace to spend the Shangyuan with me, and I let him go back." Wu Zetian picked up the teacup, "Looking at it now, it seems that we can also spend the Shangyuan together."

"Brother thinks so too, I guess." Li Yuechen propped his chin with one hand and smiled.

At the same time, Li Xian, who was wandering on the street, turned his head slightly and secretly glanced in the direction of the tower.

From his side, it's actually so dark that you can't see anything clearly, but you can see it more clearly from this side.

Wu Zetian also saw his son's subtle movements, and couldn't help laughing: "Although this child is always scolded by me, he is extremely caring in some aspects..."

(End of this chapter)