The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1272: cynicism
Chapter 1272 Sarcasm
Bai Qingyan found many useful people, including Lu Jin’s daughter Lu Baohua, Lu Taiwei’s granddaughter… and of course a few outstanding commoners.
For this palace examination, Bai Qingyan’s topic was to let these knowledgeable students who had been selected layer by layer, state the pros and cons, and solutions to the newly implemented new policies… the military merit system, the farmland distribution system, the construction of water conservancy projects, the opening of schools, the permission for women to attend schools and take the imperial examinations, etc. They could also express their own views on the new policies without being bound by them.
Perhaps it was because they had come to the palace examination, and many people wanted to impress the empress dowager with their flowery and beautiful essays, so they tried their best to praise Bai Qingyan’s new policies, wishing to come up with new ideas for them.
But since Bai Qingyan has set such a topic, it is in order to find officials who are truly talented and capable of getting things done. Naturally… Bai Qingyan, a learned man with extremely high literary attainments, is also needed. After all, revising books is also very important for the Great Zhou.
The one who surprised Bai Qingyan the most was the granddaughter of the old imperial teacher Tan, Tan Yaochen. Tan Yaochen was born in the Tan family and Bai Qingyan had no doubt that she was knowledgeable. He did not expect that Tan Yaochen, like the old imperial teacher Tan, was born with a strong character.
Tan Yaoqi raised several points in the test paper, emphasizing that Bai Qingyan’s implementation of the new policy was too hasty. He cited extensively and used historical allusions to illustrate his point. He then put forward his own views, which were very insightful and his approach was very appropriate.
There is another person, who is Bai Qingyan’s acquaintance…Xue Renyi.
Although Xue Renyi was a little pedantic, he answered the questions that Bai Qingyan asked A Niang to bring very well.
His words were full of wisdom. In addition to mentioning measures on how to encourage farming after distributing land to the people, he used the “Agricultural Nobility Law” as a basis and proposed that since Bai Qingyan could open schools to teach the people literacy, he could also open schools to teach the people farming methods, which would surely increase grain production.
He also openly pointed out that Bai Qingyan had not proposed strong measures in the assessment of officials. Although it was not very obvious in the court, there were countless cases of forming factions.
It was also he who proposed that women who become officials or who get married are more likely to have accidents when they give birth to children. If they hold high positions of power, it will not be conducive to the development of major plans. If they train deputies too early, they may fear that the deputies will know that they can replace them, which may lead to many sinister things.
Xue Renyi was the first and only candidate who dared to bring the tricks and power struggles in the court to the table, and he seemed to be unsatisfied at the end of the test paper.
When Lu Jin saw Xue Renyi’s paper, he thought of how Xue Renyi had beaten the drum to appeal for justice for students all over the country and uncovered the imperial examination cheating case, and said with a smile… This Xue Renyi was born to be a member of the Censorate, he dares to say anything.
Bai Qingyan looked at Xue Renyi’s paper and asked Empress Dowager Dong to select Xue Renyi as the top scorer.
The second place winner was Lü Fenglang, the granddaughter of Taiwei Lu. Lü Fenglang was as her name suggested… a phoenix among men. Her ambition was so great that she could take on the whole world. She had even begun to think about how the Great Zhou should deal with the State of Yan after conquering Xiliang.
She compared the methods used by Queen Ji of Yan State with the new policies promoted by Bai Qingyan. She did not blindly praise nor worry too much, but just calmly stated how to use the new policies to attract the people of Yan State to come to Da Zhou after Da Zhou had just conquered Yunjing, and pointed out the importance of people to a country.
The third place winner, Bai Qingyan, was given to the granddaughter of the old imperial tutor Tan.
Bai Qingyan, the top scorer in the second class, chose Dong Tingzhen. It was not because Bai Qingyan was partial to his relatives or was trying to show favoritism to his maternal family, but because Dong Tingzhen’s paper was very much to Bai Qingyan’s liking.
Dong Tingzhen was a cousin of Bai Qingyan and knew very well how talented and ambitious her cousin was. When she heard the questions for her aunt’s palace examination, she immediately realized that the questions were set by her cousin. She also understood that her cousin was in the court looking for capable people who could truly solve her problems, rather than wanting to see others praise her new policies.
Dong Tingzhen picked up the pen and expressed what was in her mind. She suggested that although Bai Qingyan had allowed women to take the imperial examinations, he still needed to employ talents in an unconventional way. There were many people with amazing talents who could not take the imperial examinations because they had their legs broken accidentally. Their talents would be wasted and they might only be able to be teachers. It was a pity.
In addition, Dong Tingzhen was very bold and wrote “Outline of the Assessment of Officials of the Great Zhou” in the examination paper, which detailed the system of official assessment. Although it was not very detailed, it also succinctly explained the system of official rewards and punishments, promotion or dismissal, and demotion, and no longer used age and qualifications as important criteria for promotion.
In order to make elderly officials willingly give way to young and outstanding officials, after they retire, they can be given a pension several times higher than their tenure based on their performance during their term of office.
When the Great Zhou Dynasty pacifies Xiliang and makes plans with the State of Yan to merge the two countries, the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty will need a large influx of fresh blood so that it can become more vibrant.
Bai Qingyan selected Dong Tingzhen as the top of the second class in order to spread the information. The old ministers who were quick-witted and wanted to take advantage of their seniority must be aware that the court was going to change, and any old minister who could not keep up with the changes would be dismissed.
He pacified Daliang, settled Xiliang, reduced the power of the feudal lords, held the military power in his hands, and had the support of the people. Now Bai Qingyan has become the king of the Great Zhou who absolutely has the final say. The ministers in her court, no matter their talent or ambition, must be able to keep up with the pace of the Great Zhou’s progress.
This time, there was another person who surprised Bai Qingyan. He was Fan Yugan, the son of Fan Yuhuai, who once had a very good relationship with Lu Yuanpeng.
Fan Yugan was once a playboy like Sima Ping, Lu Yuanpeng and others. He also followed Sima Ping and Lu Yuanpeng to join the army, but later because he could not endure the hardship, he asked his father to find a way to bring him back to the capital.
Bai Jinxiu once investigated Fan Yugan because the deposed prince of the previous dynasty sent him to escort grain and grass to the Qingxi Mountain Pass. She heard that… Fan Yugan felt that taking the imperial examination was very difficult, so he once declared that he only wanted to be a rich and idle person in this life. Unexpectedly, this time, because Bai Qingyan registered and opened a special examination, he also took the examination.
Although the language is not ornate, it is practical and the words are accurate, and it can be seen that a lot of effort was put into it.
Bai Qingyan heard from her mother, Mrs. Dong, that her uncle had mentioned Fan Yugan to her mother when he came to see her last time. Because Fan Yugan’s father Fan Yuhuai had been a traitor, after Fan Yugan returned to the capital, no one had any contact with Fan Yugan anymore except the playboys who used to hang out with Fan Yugan, Lu Yuanpeng and Sima Ping.
When Fan Yugan was going to take the imperial examination this time, many people ridiculed him. In fact, at the beginning, he almost failed to take the examination because his father was Fan Yuhuai.