I

  Chapter 862 858 [Prince and concubine]

  The prince got married earlier than Zhang Tingxun was looking for a wife in the north.

  In the third month of Yangchun, a hundred girls from all over the country took the cultural examination at the Supervisor of Rites.

   This news caused a sensation in the capital, and the people of Nanjing talked a lot, and they all felt that it was strange that the crown princess needed to take the exam. Things have been passed around, and the most direct result is actually reducing the dropout rate of girls in Jinling Mansion.

  The low-level people who let their daughters drop out of school after learning to read and write a little, gradually feel that they should let their daughters graduate from elementary school.

  Jiang Yuan is from Shandong and passed the written test successfully.

  The first round of interviews was very fast. That is to measure height and weight, and eliminate all those who are too tall, too short, too fat or too thin.

  The second round of interviews is obviously much stricter. The female officials of the Supervisor of Ceremonies carefully inspected the facial features, skin, hair, tone, and appearance of the candidates for the crown princess.

  The two rounds of re-examination followed the rules of the Ming Dynasty.

  If it was placed in the Ming Dynasty, after these links, only 2,000 people were eliminated (the total number of candidates was 5,000).

  The next step, more intimate, requires a stripped-down inspection.

  In the end, there were 50 people left, and they were taken to the queen mother or empress, and 3 people were selected and handed over to the emperor.

  Datong New Dynasty has actually saved a lot of procedures. When Queen Fei Rulan personally selected, there were only 25 candidates left.

  Jiang Yuan stood in the crowd, feeling rather uneasy.

  Seeing the queen walking towards her, she tried her best to smile, but the muscles on her face were already stiff. The queen observed her carefully, then walked past her, and returned to her seat at some point.

   Candidates one after another stepped forward to talk to the queen one by one.

   "Minister Du Ruowei, pay my respects to the empress. The daughter is from Xichong, Sichuan, and graduated from Xichong County Middle School. Her father is a merchant in the county..." A girl went forward and introduced herself after saluting.

  Fei Rulan asked: "What are your hobbies on weekdays?"

  The girl replied: "Read books, draw pictures, and write poems."

  Fei Rulan asked again: "What kind of books do you read, what kind of paintings do you make, and what kind of poems do you write?"

  The girl became nervous, and her speech was not so sharp: "Ms. Hui Queen, Minnv...Minnv read "Four Books for Women", wrote flower and bird paintings, and wrote landscape poems."

   "No other hobbies?" Fei Rulan asked again.

  The girl replied: "I also learned female red from my mother, and some embroidery skills."

   I don’t know how long it took, and finally it was Jiang Yuan’s turn: "Minister Jiang Yuan, meet the empress. The daughter is from Anqiu, Shandong. Her father is originally from Zhejiang, and her mother is originally from Jiangsu. They are both immigrants from the New Dynasty..."

  Fei Rulan asked: "They are either reading books and painting, or female red weaving, are you doing the same?"

  Jiang Yuan replied: "As far as my mother is concerned, my mother does not know how to be a female celebrity, and has never taught folk girls this kind of skill. Besides reading, the folk girls can... also raise pigs, gelding pigs and brew wine."

  As soon as this remark was made, the other candidates all pursed their lips and held back their laughter.

  Fei Rulan became interested: "Oh, how did you raise pigs?"

  Jiang Yuan said: "The parents of Minnv immigrated to Shandong and got a share of the land. In addition to wheat, they also grow some sorghum. Sorghum is a good thing. Sorghum stalks can be fed to donkeys, sorghum can be used to make wine, and the distiller's grains are used to feed pigs."

   "You are a woman, how can you learn how to learn from a pig?" Fei Rulan asked.

Jiang Yuan said: "Our family used to hire a pig-handler, but my father thought it was not worthwhile, so he learned the skill of a pig-handler himself. One day when I came home, my father fell ill and was bedridden for more than two months. My mother wanted to hire a pig-handler. The pig was stunned by the knife. In fact, it is very simple, press the place where the piglet is pressed, and a small bag will protrude, then gently cut it open with a knife, and then squeeze out the thing and cut it off."

   "Pfft!"

   Among the candidates for the crown princess present, someone suddenly couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

   There are still some people who are blushing when they hear it, as if it is a very embarrassing thing to be a pig.

  Fei Rulan couldn't help laughing, and asked, "How dare you say such a disastrous thing? Are you not afraid of losing the election because of it?"

  Jiang Yuan replied: "Your Majesty asked, I dare not hide it."

  Fei Rulan said: "From what you say, the family must be extremely poor."

Jiang Yuan replied: "Thanks to Your Majesty's great kindness, the family of Minnv is not bitter. Her parents work hard, and the family has more than ten acres of land. They have raised more than 60 pigs, three donkeys, and more than 20 chickens. They are still in the town. Opened a winemaking workshop. The winemaking workshop was too busy, and hired four guys. Most of the town is immigrants, and the folk daughter's family is considered a wealthy family."

  There are a few girls from rich families who feel more and more funny. Farmers who cultivate land, raise pigs, and make wine dare to call themselves rich in front of the queen.

   Unexpectedly, Fei Rulan nodded in approval: "Your parents moved to other places with nothing, and they managed to make such a family business with nothing. This is a very rare thing. Your lord must be hard-working people."

Jiang Yuan said: "My father always taught that one should be down-to-earth and work hard. My mother also often said that both men and women should strive to make progress. Minnv has two younger sisters and a younger brother, all of whom are studying, and our parents also encourage us to study. "

   "A hardworking and simple family, the family business will surely prosper in the future." Fei Rulan sighed.

   After working for a long time, the 25 candidates were all interviewed by the queen, and she announced on the spot: "Qiao Wuhua, Zhu Junmo, Jiang Yuan, the three of you stay. The rest of the women will be given gold and silver, and return to their original places."

  This result was greatly unexpected.

   Both Qiao Wuhua and Zhu Junmo had studied at the Imperial City School, and they were already too old.

   Moreover, Zhu Junmo is tall and tall. When measuring his height, it is exactly the same as the qualified value. Obviously, the qualified height value was changed just for her.

  Many candidates speculated that the prince must have liked these two people all the way through.

  So everyone tacitly went to fight for the last spot.

   Unexpectedly, it was snatched away by the peasant girl who handles the hog!

   "Mother, I want to report!" A girl suddenly stood up and knelt on the ground as if she wanted to report someone.

  Fei Rulan looked unhappy, and asked, "Who do you want to report?"

  The girl pointed to Jiang Yuan: "Her grandmother is Yangzhou Shouma. Her mother used to be a concubine, a nun and a famous prostitute! Such a background cannot be a princess."

  Hearing this remark, Jiang Yuan's expression was bewildered, obviously not knowing about his elder's past.

  Fei Rulan asked: "How do you know this?"

The girl explained: "My father was originally a prominent family in Hangzhou. When the court split up the great family, my father moved to Shandong. He lived in the same town as Jiang Yuan in Anqiu County, and lived in the town next to her. Jiang Yuan's mother, whose real name was Feng Xuanxuan, nicknamed Xiao Qing. Her maternal grandfather was the magistrate of Guangling County, Yangzhou Prefecture in the previous dynasty. Her maternal grandmother was a Yangzhou skinny horse gifted by a wealthy merchant. Her grandfather sold her mother to a wealthy merchant in Hangzhou as a concubine. The woman was jealous and drove her mother out of the house to become a nun! She said she was a nun, but she was actually a prostitute!"

"Folk women don't dare to speak nonsense, everyone in Hangzhou knows it now. Her mother also wrote many poems, one of which is the most famous one about self-pity: The new makeup is actually competing with the painting, and I know where it is in Zhaoyang. The thin shadow comes from the spring water According to you, you must pity me and I pity you."

  This young girl was obviously prepared, and it was probably explained by her parents.

  If Jiang Yuan loses the election, he will not mention anything. If Jiang Yuan is selected, he will be reported on the spot, and even memorized Jiang Yuan's mother's old poems.

  After hearing that poem, Fei Rulan was basically sure that it was true. Even if she made false accusations, it was impossible to make up such a good poem.

   "Is what she said the truth?" Fei Rulan asked.

After the initial daze, Jiang Yuan calmed down at this moment, knelt down and replied: "The women of the people don't know about this. Even if it is true, the women of the people are not guilty of deceiving the king. Your Majesty advocates equality between men and women. Many prostitutes have also made contributions to the new dynasty, and some even became officials. My mother followed the court's decree and migrated to Shandong to support herself. There is nothing wrong with being diligent and diligent. How can the old court's law be used to offend the people of the new court? ?”

  Fei Rulan was hesitant, she liked this Jiang Yuan very much, but his life experience was indeed a little strange.

   But no matter what, this girl who jumped out to report must have no hope of becoming a crown princess, because she made Fei Rulan unhappy.

  After thinking about it, Fei Rulan said, "Li Ruosu will also stay."

  Li Ruosu is the daughter of a general, and she was overjoyed when she heard the words.

   This is equivalent to electing four princesses, and Jiang Yuan must be the one with the lowest status.

  The twenty-one girls who failed the selection left the Forbidden City in complete disappointment. I don't know who spread the word, but within a few days, it made a lot of noise in the streets of Nanjing.

   Zhang Dai, who is in charge of Zhan Shifu, is the prince's teacher in name, and he took the initiative to ask to see the emperor and empress.

   "Do you know the truth?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhang Dai replied: "At the beginning, there was indeed a Feng Xiaoqing in Hangzhou, who was imprisoned by a big woman and worked as a nun in Gushan. But this woman was not a prostitute, she just occasionally received celebrities and wrote poems and lyrics together. In order to avoid suspicion, she never alone with men Meet. The name of **** is spread by the jealous woman."

  Fei Rulan asked, "How did you go to Shandong?"

Zhang Dai said: "The new dynasty recaptured Zhejiang and ordered the monks who had no limit to return to vulgarity. Feng Xiaoqing took the opportunity to return to vulgarity and went to the government to ask for a divorce. He was the first concubine in Hangzhou to file a lawsuit for divorce, so it was well known in Hangzhou. Many Celebrities went to propose marriage and were willing to take her as a concubine, but this Feng Xiaoqing married a slave of a rich pig raising family in Gushan. The couple gave birth to a daughter, who should be the Jiangyuan girl. There are too many, and there are often prodigal sons visiting the house. After the Datong Army took over Shandong, the couple immigrated to Shandong with their daughter."

  In history, Feng Xiaoqing was forced to death by a doctor, and Zhang Dai wrote a special article to regret it.

  After Zhao Han heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "She's also a strange woman."

  Jiang Yuan's life experience is very clear, his grandfather is a magistrate of Daming County, his grandmother is a Yangzhou Shouma, his mother married a wealthy businessman as a concubine, and was forced by his wife to become a nun. Prostitution is pure slander. His biological father was just an honest domestic slave who raised pigs, and took advantage of the establishment of the new dynasty to get rid of his slavery.

  Zhao Han immediately decided: "This Jiang Yuan can be the crown prince and concubine. Let the "Datong Monthly" publicize this matter, let the world know that the new dynasty is to help the poor!"

  The mother of the crown prince and concubine remarried from a nun and concubine, and her father was a domestic slave.

   Isn't this the most vivid example?

  The New Dynasty of Great Harmony has allowed countless women and domestic slaves to be reborn as human beings and gain a new life!

  (end of this chapter)