Chapter 130 Better to Be Alone than to Be Inferior

While waiting for King An and Qi Fangfei, Yan Donghuang looked over all the women on the list.

The Ministry of Rites remembered it in detail, and the woman’s family background was clearly written.

Among them were the daughters of officials, women from poor families, daughters from declining noble families, daughters of military generals, and daughters of small traders.

The capital city is very large, and in addition to high-ranking officials and powerful people, there are also traffickers and pawns.

It is difficult for ordinary people's daughters to have the conditions to study, but merchants' families can.

Although the businessman has a low status, he is rich.

The most expensive thing about studying is money.

It's just that due to the system of merchants' families, there are many obstacles for men to enter officialdom, and it is naturally even more difficult for women. What merchants need most is to have a child who can enter the court and improve the family status.

The eunuch outside the palace came into the palace and reported: "Your Royal Highness the Crown Princess, His Royal Highness Prince An and Miss Qi are here."

Yan Donghuang closed the roster and said in a calm voice: "Let them come in."

"Yes." The eunuch bowed and exited.

After a while, Yan Ling and Qi Fangfei entered the palace one after another. After bowing politely, they heard Yan Donghuang say: "I called you here to choose a reading companion."

Yan Ling said nothing, and neither did Qi Fangfei.

"The examination time is scheduled for the eighth day of February, and the examination room will be arranged by the Ministry of Etiquette." Yan Donghuang glanced at the Minister of Rites, "The candidates this time are all women. Try to arrange an examination room with a better environment. There will be two more invigilators. The person who will oversee the defense outside the examination room will be personally selected by me.”

As she finished her few words, Yan Ling's expression changed imperceptibly.

There has been a change in the selection of examiners, and the person to supervise has not yet been decided?

"The number of applicants this time is beyond my expectation. It shows that the subjects are not low in their acceptance of women entering the court." Yan Donghuang's eyes passed over King An's face, and his voice was calm and calm, "No matter if they are for the family interests, I still want to show my goodwill and surrender. I am very satisfied with their attitude, but I want to choose people with real talents and learning, with good conduct and great ambitions. Even if I can only choose one or two people, the conditions Both are indispensable.”

The Minister of Rites nodded: "I will strictly guard this."

"Although this is a women's exam, the process is the same as the scientific exams in previous years. Fraud must be prevented." Yan Donghuang's expression became colder. "No leaks are allowed during the invigilation. After the papers are collected, the names of the candidates must be covered up. It will be cross-reviewed by Qi Fangfei, the Ministry of Rites, and King An. The number of people is small and the marking does not take long. It must be fair and impartial. "

The Minister of Rites ordered: "Yes."

Yan Ling's heart sank, and she clenched the hands hanging by her sides quietly.

Put an end to fraud and close marking?

He thought that Yan Donghuang was eager to choose a reading companion and to let female officials enter the court, so the first selection would not be too harsh.

As long as the conditions are acceptable, the more candidates the better.

After all, she wanted to win over the officials in the court and prepare in advance for her to ascend the throne and consolidate the throne in the future.

Unexpectedly...

In this case, wouldn't his plan be feasible?

"Do you have any questions?" Yan Donghuang raised his eyes slightly and looked at the three people in front of him one by one. "If you have any questions, you can ask them."

Yan Ling's eyes darkened slightly and she lowered her gaze and said: "This is the first time for the selection of female officials. Although I do not want to belittle women, because they stay in the boudoir all year round, their knowledge, vision and structure are far inferior to men. I wonder if your highness has any specific information. selection criteria?”

Formal scientific examinations have tens of thousands of participants.

Students from all over the world gathered together, and those who made the list were all academic leaders, one in a hundred, but their excellence was not limited to their articles and poems.

They are involved in the power of the world, rivers, lakes and seas, people's livelihood and taxes, wars, and territorial governance in various places. Understanding is one thing, and being able to come up with corresponding solutions is the most important.

However, these women in Beijing stay in the boudoir all year round and it is rare to read some books. How can they have the time and the opportunity to understand the major events in the world and the sufferings of the people's livelihood?

Yan Donghuang pondered for a moment, then raised his eyes to look at Qi Fangfei: "Lower the requirements and select according to the standards of the provincial examination. What do you think, Miss Qi?"

Qi Fangfei nodded: "I think the standards can be flexibly changed. When marking the papers, I, Your Highness Prince An, and Lord Shangshu will cross-check. If the three of them agree that it is good, they will be retained, and if they think it is not good, they will be discarded. If there are three people who disagree with each other, The decision will be left to your Highness."

Yan Donghuang nodded slowly, feeling that this method was very appropriate and could ensure the greatest fairness in the exam.

"As Miss Yi Qi said." Yan Donghuang said calmly, "The examination room can be set up, and all qualified reference women will have their posts sent to them."

As she said this, she turned and told the eunuch standing by: "Meng Zhou, make sure that the post is sent to the reference woman herself."

Meng Zhou is the apprentice of Rong Chun, the emperor's personal eunuch. He has a calm and sensible personality and is good at observing people's emotions. He was temporarily transferred to the Qinzheng Palace as a servant.

"This slave obeys your order."

Yan Donghuang's eyes fell on the roster and reminded again: "The final selected companions will be with me. I have enough time to understand their knowledge, conduct and magnanimity. I will not tolerate those who are just cheating." , I hope you are aware of it.”

The Minister of Rites hurriedly said: "Your Highness, please rest assured that the selection of ministers will be fair and will strictly prevent the occurrence of favoritism and malpractice."

Yan Donghuang hummed: "Let's all get busy."

"I'll take my leave."

After leaving Qinzheng Hall, Yan Ling turned to look at Qi Fangfei and said softly: "What kind of woman does Miss Qi think is excellent?"

Qi Fangfei was silent for a moment: "As long as women in the world have good character and do not have the intention to hurt others, they are all excellent. It's just that everyone's excellence is different, so we can't generalize."

Yan Ling paused, then smiled calmly: "Miss Qi is right, so for this exam, does Miss Qi have any standards for excellence?"

"Since it is an exam, the knowledge must be acceptable." Qi Fangfei said calmly, "The Crown Princess chooses a companion, and she chooses someone who serves her closely. Knowing how to write and having a neat handwriting is the most basic requirement. In addition, Outwardly, he must be open-minded, neither humble nor overbearing, not shrink back or be timid when encountering problems, and not be vague when answering questions. Secondly, he must not be deceitful, have good character, not be two-faced, and have no ulterior motives..."

"These all sound like the most basic requirements, but when all the conditions are combined, the difficulty is greatly increased." Yan Ling smiled, "One hundred and fifty people sounds like a lot, but if we really want to strictly select, I'm afraid we can't choose many."

Qi Fangfei nodded: "So it's better to have nothing than to have something of inferior quality."

As soon as these four words came out, Yan Ling understood her attitude.

It's better to have nothing than to have something of inferior quality.

There is no room for compromise.

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