Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 348, Top Scholar in the Imperial Examination

Fang Yong reviewed and examined both lists, making additions and subtractions as needed, and finally confirmed the final result.

The list was released in early April.

In addition to the imperial edict, the Zhongxia Daily also printed out the list and sold it to various celebrities in the capital.

The top scholar was named Yang Ji, courtesy name Zihe, a native of Hanyang. His great-grandfather was Yang Ganchen, one of the six scholars of Xuanyuan Pavilion who helped Emperor Taizu of Daxi establish his empire. He made great contributions and was granted the title of Marquis for generations.

However, Yang Ganchen's health deteriorated later, and he voluntarily resigned from his title and official position to return to his hometown to retire.

Although its prosperity was not as superficial as that of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, thanks to the reputation and connections of the founding heroes, the other party's status in his hometown was by no means inferior. Even without the inheritance of titles, his family members never lacked official positions.

Yang Ji's talent is unknown, but his articles are indeed beautifully written. The parallelism of the language is amazing, the whole article is easy to read, the extended meanings are profound, and the writing style is rigorous. He is truly a master of the eight-legged essay.

In addition to his background, he was designated as the top scholar in the imperial examination.

His article was published on the front page of the newspaper for people to read, and it also included Fang Yong's commentary, which was actually written by Jia Yucun. It praised Yang Ji highly and could be considered as making him famous.

Newspapers were not expensive, so they were subscribed to by everyone from wealthy families to ordinary teahouses.

Although the poorest people don't subscribe to newspapers, that doesn't stop them from going to teahouses and taverns to listen to storytellers.

People in this era had very few forms of entertainment, so even ordinary news items in the newspapers could keep them entertained.

Of course, what they like to hear most are the classic scenes.

"In Huaizhou, a righteous man angrily killed a corrupt official and gathered his followers; the King of Wu marched north to defend the emperor and drive out the Tartars."

This kind of plot involving an uprising against corrupt officials always appeals to ordinary people, while the wealthy and powerful despise it.

They prefer to see the results achieved through hard work, like those people listed in the newspapers who passed the exams—that's the right path to recognition.

Jia Zheng happened to be off today, and he was holding the article written by Yang Ji in the Zhongxia Daily with great interest.

"Wonderful, wonderful, what a great article! Yang Zihe is truly a talented man!"

Jia Zheng praised him repeatedly.

After admiring the writing, he ordered someone to summon Baoyu and have him study this wonderful piece of writing.

Soon after, Baoyu arrived.

Jia Zheng was in a good mood today. When he saw Bao Yu walk in through the main gate, he did not scold him. Instead, he told him to quickly look at the exquisite article.

Baoyu took the newspaper, read it through, and felt quite disdainful. He blurted out the words "parasite on officialdom."

In fact, he had already anticipated being beaten by Jia Zheng the moment he opened his mouth.

However, due to his personality, Baoyu eventually revealed all the words in his heart:

"These parasites only know how to flatter and fawn. What kind of brilliant writing is this? It's not even as wonderful as the poems written by Sister Miaoyu in the Pure Water Pavilion!"

Miaoyu was originally the daughter of an official, but due to a change in her family's fortunes, she became a nun while still keeping her hair. She appears to be a nun, but in reality…

After Fang Yong ordered the persecution of monks and Taoists, nuns naturally could not escape the search as well.

Fang Yong himself came from modern society. He was deeply influenced by the advanced ideas of modern society and did not agree with the concept of male superiority and female inferiority in this era.

He supports gender equality and shared rights, but social transformation cannot be achieved overnight, and Fang Yong cannot change the social structure with just a few words.

But in some small ways, he can subtly and quietly bring about change.

For example, the persecution of monks and Taoist priests this time. Based on the experience of past dynasties, the suppression of Buddhism and Taoism usually only targeted monks and Taoist priests. As for Taoist nuns and nuns, they would be dealt with more leniently and placed in institutions such as the Jiaofangsi (a government-run educational institution) to allow them to play a new role.

However, Fang Yong believes in gender equality, that women hold up half the sky, and that their right to work should not be deprived by discriminatory ideas.

Therefore, even Taoist nuns and nuns were sent to Hezhou in large numbers to experience the natural north wind and heavy stones of the grassland.

Of course, there were also some talented people with skills in textiles and the like. They would be sent to work in factories, which would be easier than building city walls on the grasslands.

However, labor is not divided into high and low, noble and lowly. When Fang Yong became the King of Wu, they built the city wall. Both of these were forms of labor, and there was no significant difference between them in essence.

However, women of this era were not enlightened and could not understand Fang Yong's equal care for them.

Take Miaoyu as an example. She would rather spend a lot of time preparing snow water that ferments from winter to summer than spend that time on more meaningful work.

During the search by the Huaiyin army, Miaoyu and some nuns from the nunnery found a way to hide in the Jia family. Through Lady Wang's introduction, they were taken in by Grandmother Jia and thus escaped the search.

Because the Huaiyin Army had been arresting monks and Taoists, and the young master Rong from the Ning family next door had previously served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as well as the third master Huan from the Ning family, were also members of the Huaiyin Army, they dared not show their true identities in the mansion and named their residence Jingshui Pavilion.

Enraged by Baoyu's reply, Jia Zheng ordered the door to be closed and grabbed a lamp stand from the side to strike it.

The relationship between father and son, and between ruler and subject, was strictly defined in this era.

Even though Baoyu was unconventional and unrestrained by worldly conventions, he dared not defy Jia Zheng.

The servant boy, Mingyan, hurriedly went to report to Grandmother Jia, who said that only Grandmother Jia could save the situation.

Jia Zheng raised his hand and struck Baoyu several times with a stick, making him scream loudly.

He has delicate skin and is used to a life of luxury; he can't stand this.

When not taking action, Baoyu is prone to rebellion and defiance of worldly conventions; even if Fang Yong were standing right in front of him, he would not easily give in.

If a fight breaks out, a few big slaps would be enough to make Baoyu realize his own limitations and kneel down to beg for mercy.

Jia Zheng only swung the stick a few times before Bao Yu burst into tears, clutching his head and begging for mercy.

Jia Zheng then asked, "Who is this 'Miaoyu'?"
At this moment, Baoyu didn't care about the sister or anything like that, and blurted out all of Miaoyu's secrets.

Jia Zheng was shocked to hear this.

Because of Grandmother Jia, the Rong Mansion was not divided, so neither of the two brothers had any control over the mansion, which led to him being completely unaware of Miaoyu's situation.

Jia Zheng was unfamiliar with officialdom and worldly affairs, so he was always careful in his daily actions. When he heard that a monk or Taoist priest was hiding in his house, he immediately panicked.

You should know that when Fang Yong captured the monks and Taoists, the crime he charged them with was assassination of the king!
Now that this has happened in my own family, what should I do?
If the matter is exposed, he will at least be charged with failing to manage his family properly, or harboring a suspect, or even be falsely accused of orchestrating the assassination by the Jia family.

Jia Zheng was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

At this moment, Grandmother Jia and others rushed over and started crying and making a fuss.

"What are you trying to do? San Ya Tou is gone, Xiang Yun is gone, Feng Jie and Er Ya Tou are never seen, Yuan Yang is gone too, I only have this one sweetheart left, if you want to beat him to death I will..."

Jia Zheng was extremely troubled by this scene.

As the saying goes, concern breeds confusion. In his anxiety, Jia Zheng pressed Baoyu for directions to Miaoyu's residence, the Pure Water Pavilion. Little did he know that such a question could be easily answered by asking a few of the stewards.

With Jia Mu's support, Bao Yu naturally had no desire to betray his sister Miao Yu after finding a powerful backer.

(End of this chapter)