Your Majesty, she doesn't want to flip the brand

After the Palace Examination, the next step is to review the examination papers.

A total of 190 people stood out from the examination, which was slightly lower than the previous few imperial examinations.After the examinees left the venue, the ministers responsible for reviewing the examination papers were summoned to the palace, and they began to review the examination papers overnight to determine the preliminary rankings.

After spending more than a day, the test papers for preliminary sorting were sent to Zhou Xingzhi. At the same time, this group of candidates was already waiting in the main hall, waiting for Zhou Xingzhi to teach and take the test.

"The emperor and empress are here." Wei Zhong's voice sounded in the hall.

Although these tribute officials didn't know why the empress came here, it didn't affect them kneeling on the ground to welcome them neatly, "See Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live my emperor, and empress."

Zhou Xingzhi took Ye Ningxuan's hand, and led Ye Ningxuan to the dragon chair under Gong Sheng's kneeling.Without waiting for Ye Ningxuan to say anything, Zhou Xingzhi put his hands on her shoulders and put pressure on her to sit down.

After Ye Ningxuan sat down firmly, Zhou Xingzhi sat down beside her.The dragon chair is very wide. Zhou Xingzhi looked a little big when he sat alone, but now it fits just right for two people.

"Excuse me." After sitting firmly, Zhou Xingzhi opened his mouth.

Although Gong Sheng got up from the ground, none of them dared to raise their heads to meet Zhou Xingzhi's eyes. They only dared to look up secretly from the corner of their eyes, and they could vaguely see two people above.

"You are all the talents of my great Zhou in the future. I have read all your articles, and they are all good. There are many good ideas in it, and I plan to implement them." Zhou Xingzhi first said some beautiful words and praised this project. When criticizing Gongsheng, when the groundwork was almost done, she changed the subject and started asking questions.

"Some time ago, I let a woman take up the position of Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Industry. What do you think of this?" After the preparations were made, Zhou Xingzhi was going to find someone who agreed with him.

The Gongshi present were stunned when they heard this question. They made a lot of preparations and typed up a lot of drafts, but they didn't expect His Majesty to ask this question.

"Returning to Your Majesty, the students feel that this woman can be valued by His Majesty and make extraordinary arrangements. There must be something special about her. If the students remember correctly, the greenhouse that has recently caused a lot of influence among the people should be proposed by Zhong Yuanwailang Yes."

The first person to speak was a person wearing a blue scholar's robe. Zhou Xingzhi looked down, and he had some impression of this person, who was among the top ten in the examination.

"Yes." Zhou Xingzhi responded with one word to save face.

"Since Zhong Yuanwailang can achieve political achievements, she is qualified to be an official. This has nothing to do with gender. Your Majesty, this is the student's opinion." Said the Gongshi in the blue scholar robe.

"What's your name?" Zhou Xingzhi became interested. Those who can say these words must have a certain understanding of the government.

"Return to His Majesty, student Luo Zhishang." Luo Zhishang replied with his head down.

Zhou Xingzhi nodded. She had some impression of the name Luo Zhishang. It seemed that he was the son of Taichang Siqing, and he was also known as a talented scholar in the capital.

"Your Majesty, the student has something to say." Seeing Zhou Xingzhi ask the other party's name, some people couldn't help it.

"Tell me." Zhou Xingzhi adjusted his sitting posture slightly, waiting for him to speak.

"The students feel that His Majesty's promotion of a woman to be an official is slightly inappropriate." Gong Sheng said, "Zhong Yuanwailang was promoted by His Majesty because of his contribution to the greenhouse technology. It is understandable."

"However, there are too many accidents in this method of selecting officials. The member of the Ministry of Industry, Uiro, is a fifth-rank official. This is an official position that many people will never reach in their lifetime. It is impossible to rely on your majesty to find talents and then promote them."

Zhou Xingzhi heard some tricks, and because no one dared to stare at him, he directly squeezed Ye Ningxuan's hand, "Continue talking."

"Students feel that the promotion of women to officials should be in line with the procedures and should be more fair and equitable." Gong Sheng continued, "It is only after ten years of hard work that we have the opportunity to meet His Majesty today and be reused. In the same way, women want to If you want to be an official, you have to take the formal imperial examination, and use your talent and learning to prove your ability."

The smile on Zhou Xingzhi's face got bigger. These tributes are very thoughtful, so if they can talk, then they should say more.

Seeing that Zhou Xingzhi didn't interrupt his intentions, Gong Sheng became even more motivated. His grades in the general examination were mediocre. If he only talked about talent and learning, he would definitely not be able to catch His Majesty's eyes. Then he could only take a sideways approach and try his best to make His Majesty remember him. .

"Your Majesty, students have different opinions." Han Shuo took the initiative to stand up and said, "Students think that women are not suitable for taking the imperial examination."

"Why isn't it suitable? Could it be that Brother Han is prejudiced against women?" Gong Sheng who spoke just now began to retort, "The imperial examination is based on talent, not gender."

"Brother Liu, don't be impatient. I just said that it is not suitable for the current imperial examinations, not that women cannot be officials." Han Shuo is not a stupid child. Zhou Xingzhi's preferences are so obvious. She is willing to let women become officials of the Ministry of Industry. He must have had certain thoughts about women being officials.

"Your Majesty, this is what the students think. When taking the imperial examination, candidates need to be guarantor, and they need to be searched before entering the examination room, etc. These are troublesome for ordinary women." Han Shuo's thinking is very clear , speaking in an orderly manner, "If women and men use it to take the exam, women's reputation will be somewhat damaged."

Zhou Xingzhi chuckled, "Is there any way you can solve this problem?"

"Students feel that if they want women to have the qualifications to be officials in the imperial examination, the first thing to do is to have a school. Women who have completed their studies can get a chance to take an examination similar to the imperial examination. Among them, those with excellent grades can arrange positions for them as appropriate. .” Han Shuo said.

"Wouldn't that be unfair to men?" Seeing that Zhou Xingzhi had no intention of speaking, other Gongsheng students also began to express their opinions.

"Although I didn't promote that women are virtuous if they are ignorant, most women are not literate at all, let alone the Four Books and Five Classics. How can these people take the imperial examination?"

"Even if a girls' school is opened, those girls will need at least three to five years to complete their studies."

"It is very difficult for many poor families to support a child to study. If they send their daughters there, they will drink the northwest wind!"

"If this is the case, then the so-called imperial examinations only target people from certain classes, which is fundamentally unfair."

"Besides, women are going to get married after they reach Jiji. If they are already the mothers of their children, they should raise their children at home because they don't have the energy to take up positions."

The Gong students at the bottom began to deviate from the topic after arguing. When they started arguing about the importance of being a good mistress or being a good official, Zhou Xingzhi finally responded.

"Cough cough, please be quiet." Zhou Xingzhi cleared his throat, and when he saw that the Gongsheng students were quiet because of his own words, the corners of his mouth raised a slight arc, "In addition to the question just now, I have another question I want to ask you."

After Zhou Xingzhi spoke, the whole hall fell silent, "If I want to do something that is opposed by most of the courtiers, do you support the decision of most of the courtiers, or support my decision?"

At first glance, Zhou Xingzhi's question seemed simple, as if he was just asking whether these people were loyal enough to him.But most of the people present were not ordinary people. Those who could stand out from thousands of students could basically guess Zhou Xingzhi's hint.

"Returning to His Majesty, the students are loyal to His Majesty. Your Majesty is the king and the courtiers are the ministers. If the two opinions are in conflict, the ministers will naturally obey the king." Brother Liu was the first to say, "So no matter what your Majesty decides, the students will always obey you." It is loyal to His Majesty."

"I see." Zhou Xingzhi said calmly, without showing any special emotions.

"Students think that it should be considered on a case-by-case basis. People are not sages and sages. Although His Majesty is a king, he will make some mistakes at times." Han Shuo was the second to say, "Of course, the courtiers may unite because of some interests. Together against His Majesty, if His Majesty's ideas are different from most of the courtiers, the students follow their own ideas."

"I see." Zhou Xingzhi behaved the same as before, without any fluctuation in tone.

"Your Majesty, students will always be loyal to His Majesty." Luo Zhishang was the third to express his position, "Students believe that His Majesty will not do anything for no reason. His Majesty is dedicated to the people, and what he does must be for the livelihood of the people of the world."

Hey, this rainbow fart was shot very well. The most intuitive expression is that Zhou Xingzhi has a smile on the corner of his mouth, and his answer is different from before. "Your answer, I like it very much."

After asking the two unconventional questions, Zhou Xingzhi asked Ye Ningxuan to ask the remaining normal questions.

Because of Zhou Xingzhi's two questions before, the tributes below did not dare to express any opinions, and they would answer honestly whatever Ye Ningxuan asked.After all, compared to Zhou Xingzhi's questions, Ye Ningxuan's questions were too normal. They asked questions that they had prepared before, so they all performed very well.

After about an hour and a half of questioning and answering, Zhou Xingzhi asked them to go to the side hall to rest first, and discussed with Ye Ningxuan for half an hour, and decided on the ranking of this imperial examination.

Han Shuo, the first in the general examination and the first in the palace examination, was hand-picked as the number one scholar, awarded Jinshi and rank, and was awarded the sixth-rank Imperial Academy to compile and write.

Luo Zhishang, the fifth in the general examination and the third in the imperial examination, was hand-picked as the second place in the first-class list, awarded Jinshi and rank, and awarded the seventh-rank Imperial Academy editor.

Liu Qi, also known as Brother Liu before, will take the 30th grade in the imperial examination, No. [-] in the imperial examination, and he will be the Erjia Chuanlu.

The author has something to say: rub your hands, and the tool man will be in place!