The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1295 The Throne Ceremony

"Gu Yuncheng is a wonderful person." Sheng Ran nodded slowly, with the corners of her lips slightly raised. "He saw that the emperor and I are both girls, so he catered to my preferences and advocated raising the status of female officials. He even planned to promote and employ girls regularly... If this is true, I'm afraid the court will be in a different situation again."

"Sister, are you interested?" Sheng Yuan couldn't tell much from her sister's face, so she just asked directly.

Sheng Ran turned her eyes slightly, looked at her sister and asked, "Do you have any objections, girl?!"

"It's not an objection, but I think this method sounds good, but if it is implemented, I'm afraid there will be many disadvantages."

Sheng Ran chuckled and let Sheng Yuan continue.

"Just look at how many brilliant ladies emerged from the past six imperial examinations? Now, after the test of time, how many are left? Could it be that they were all ostracized by the court and suppressed by the ministers?" Sheng Yuan couldn't help but sigh as he thought about the ladies that the court needed today.

"They either give way to their husbands' futures, or compromise for the sake of their families, or keep having children... Oh, yes, there are also the admonitions from both families, as well as pressure from public opinion, etc. These countless factors make them either voluntarily withdraw or just make do."

Sheng Yuan couldn't help but sigh helplessly when he said this: "Who could have thought that a female official who was a Jinshi in the first women's imperial examination would actually respond to the outside man and take the initiative to ask a pregnant woman to change to a less busy position?! There are many people and things like this!"

Sheng Ran nodded: "Well, it makes people angry that they don't fight back."

"So, if we can't change the consciousness of most girls, even if we feed them delicacies, they will still be malnourished." Sheng Yuan looked at her sister seriously, "What Prime Minister Gu said in the memorial may be well-intentioned, but such good intentions may only backfire.

Now that this memorial has not yet been made known to the court, some people are already rubbing their hands in opposition. Even if it is forced to be implemented, it will be a loss on both sides... So, if you ask me, it is better to take it slow rather than forcing it to grow."

"Slowly do it?" Sheng Ran looked at Sheng Yuan thoughtfully, "How should we do it?!"

"What the female officials need nowadays is indeed opportunities, but not opportunities to suddenly raise their status and give them excessive treatment, but opportunities to compete fairly with the gentlemen in the officialdom."

At this point, Sheng Yuan became much more serious: "Rewarding without merit is the main reason why the ministers strongly oppose it... So even if what Prime Minister Gu wants can be achieved, such a policy cannot be continued forever.

Therefore, the best way now is to give those female officials who have lofty ideals, firm wills, and the ability to endure hardships and loneliness greater opportunities to display their talents. Of course, it would be even better if there were an opportunity to cultivate more and better girls with ideals and firm wills. "

"I understood."

Sheng Ran pulled out a list of officials who had been promoted from the table, slowly turned the pages, and carefully examined each page and each line.

After a long while, she said with emotion: "On the list of officials in major functional departments and those sent out, the number of girls...is not that large."

"Whether you are a lady or a gentleman, your success in the officialdom still depends on your ability."

"Well, you are right! This female official who was promoted by her own ability naturally became a role model for the girls, thus influencing the cognition of those girls who are studying." Sheng Ran said, and directly picked up the pen to write a few words on Gu Yuncheng's memorial, "Since it is Gu Yuncheng who proposed the memorial, then let him complete these details."

"..." Upon hearing this, Sheng Yuan silently wiped the sweat off the Prime Minister's forehead.

My goodness, the tax reform hasn't been completed yet, and he's been given this controversial task to do. Poor Prime Minister Gu, I'm afraid he will be scolded for a long time!

……

Not to mention how Gu Yuncheng smiled bitterly after receiving the Queen's order, just say that after Sheng Yuan discussed these tedious matters with her sister, she brought up the emperor's study plan.

"You can come up with the specific teaching content. I trust you." Sheng Ran simply flipped through Sheng Yuan's teaching plan and put it aside. "You know how busy I am recently. I won't be able to have a casual chat like today for a long time... So the emperor needs you, his aunt, to pay more attention."

"Of course I can't neglect it, but, sister, the emperor is still young, and most of the time, he needs your care and love as a mother, and this is something I cannot replace." Sheng Yuan naturally knew how busy her sister was, but it was also because of this busyness that she had to remind her sister to pay attention to the mother-daughter relationship with the emperor.

Although, in this world, the relationship between parents and children is the purest, but even the purest relationship will no longer be pure when it encounters the imperial power and throne.

I don’t know if Sheng Ran understood Sheng Yuan’s unspoken meaning. In response to Sheng Yuan’s reminder, she just nodded slightly.

Sheng Yuan sighed.

Although they are blood sisters, this is all she can say. Saying more would be overstepping the boundaries.

"There is still half a month before the Emperor ascends the throne. After that, another spring exam will begin... Because this is the first major exam after the Emperor ascends the throne, I must keep a close eye on the entire process and participate in it personally. I must ensure that this batch of talents become true disciples of the Son of Heaven. Therefore, I cannot take care of the Emperor's studies."

Sheng Ran took out a token and gave it to Sheng Yuan: "This is a token that allows you to enter and leave the palace at will, ignoring the palace ban. Take it... Let's see if it's cheaper for you to live in the palace for a while, or..."

"I won't bring the emperor home to educate him!" Sheng Yuan made her words clear immediately without waiting for her sister to finish.

"..." Sheng Ran gave her a look in anger, "Who told you to take the emperor out to live?! Even if you are willing, I still feel uneasy! I mean, you can bring Yu Ge'er to the palace to live for a while, or take time to come to the palace to teach sporadically, it's up to you!"

"Oh, oh, I misunderstood!" Sheng Yuan was not embarrassed, nodded, and put the token in her sleeve pocket naturally, which made her sister's eyes twitch slightly. "As the second assistant of the cabinet, you should be in charge of the imperial examination..."

"With the Prime Minister in the position now, I, as the Second Prime Minister, won't be so competitive! Besides, it's not like I haven't served as the chief examiner in the imperial examinations before. I really don't want to do it again." Sheng Yuan quickly declined upon hearing that.

Being the examiner is not an easy job. She already has several responsibilities. How can she have the energy to shoulder such a heavy responsibility? ! Please forgive her!

"..." Sheng Ran asked the girl to interrupt again, and took a deep breath.

Although Sheng Yuan's opinion was in line with her arrangement, seeing her avoidance expression, Sheng Ran still forced a kind smile and said gently: "You better leave now!"

……

The coronation ceremony was held as scheduled.

That day, the streets of Kyoto were crowded with people.

The mighty imperial guard passed through the largest official road in Kyoto. Countless eunuchs on the road waved their whips, which made people feel terrified. The occasional roar of cannons was deafening, and the buzzing sound of bells and drums resounded throughout Kyoto.

That day, everyone in Kyoto seemed to have witnessed the Empress Dowager's power and the Emperor's elegance.

Therefore, someone wrote a poem: [The nine provinces are cloudless, and the rivers are surrounded by rosy clouds; the rivers and seas are surging, and the breeze and bright sun shine on the Imperial Temple; the two rulers stand side by side to tell the world, and the dragon and phoenix robes are shining; the imperial edict is passed on to the world, and the woman is in charge of the country. ]

……

After the coronation ceremony, Empress Dowager Sheng Rong was busy with state affairs. In the words of later generations when compiling the History of Chu, it was said that "The emperor was diligent in government affairs; he presided over the imperial examinations, recruited talented people; he opened up channels for people to express their opinions, promoted capable officials, stored talents for future generations, and left wise policies for the benefit of future generations.

In the previous dynasty, Sheng Ran was in charge of both government affairs, but Sheng Yuan, the current deputy minister, was not as busy as imagined. This allowed her to have more time and energy to educate the emperor after finishing her official duties.

"Aunt, where are we going?" The little emperor finally came out of the inner courtyard of the palace. He seemed extremely excited and his steps were much lighter when walking in the outer courtyard of the palace.

"I will take you to the historical archives room of the Hanlin Academy."

"You want to take me to read history?" The little emperor was very smart and quickly guessed Sheng Yuan's intention. He immediately said with a bit of a sullen tone, "This morning, the teacher in charge of the course took me to read the history books of the previous dynasties. It was very boring."

"The history books I am going to take you to read are different from theirs." Sheng Yuan turned his head and blinked at the little emperor.

"..."Looking at the excited Sheng Yuan, the little emperor's curiosity was slightly aroused.

The little emperor's curiosity almost reached its peak when he came to the historical archives room and heard Sheng Yuan say that he wanted to play historical roles with her and rehearse the background circumstances before historical events occurred.

"Your Majesty, please do not take it lightly. Every step we take must be based on the actual external situation at the time. Therefore, even if you read the history books of the previous dynasty, it may not be able to change the outcome."

"That's not necessarily true!" Upon hearing this, the little emperor rubbed his hands and was eager to compete with Sheng Yuan right away.

"It's definitely not certain. The emperor will know it soon."

……

"Why does the emperor look so depressed today?" Sheng Ran managed to leave Lanzheng Hall early, but when she returned to Qingyuan Palace, she saw her daughter looking down at a history book. She felt a little strange and asked someone to call Cai Ning, the palace maid who served the emperor.

After hearing that the emperor had allowed his aunt Sheng Yuan to win countless times in the Hanlin Academy "based on historical facts and acting skills", Sheng Ran couldn't help but want to touch her forehead.

After understanding the reason for her daughter's depression, Sheng Ran took the initiative to find her.

As soon as he saw Sheng Ran, the little emperor pursed his lips and began to complain tearfully: "I clearly avoided the time when the events happened according to the history, but those events still happened strangely. Although there are changes, they are not necessarily better than before. Why is this?"

Sheng Ran didn't expect that her daughter's complaint when they met would be about political affairs. She was surprised and even more satisfied.

"Didn't your aunt teach you before?"

"My aunt asked me to analyze the events I interpreted, the reasons for being right and wrong, the specific impacts, and the suggestions to be learned. I will tell her about it when I read history tomorrow, and then she and I can comment on the original events together." The little emperor wanted to cry more and more as he spoke. "But I just can't figure it out. Obviously, I had arranged everything very well before, and the plan was very thorough, but why is it that after the arrangement, the result of the action is still different from the original idea?!"

"The Emperor still remembers that you skipped class last time, right?" Sheng Ran looked at her daughter, whose eyes were gradually widening, not understanding why she was settling old scores now, and said with a smile, "The teacher must have prepared a lesson plan the day before. According to his plan, the course must have been completed. But your change and non-cooperation ruined his plan. It shows that success does not come from one person alone, right?"

"..." Recalling what he had done in the past, the little emperor nodded thoughtfully with his lips slightly opened.