Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 664 Hi, it’s just a small matter

Yang Yuan found the Ministry of Rites. At that time, Lu You was familiarizing himself with the affairs of the Ministry of Rites while arranging to build a house in Temporary City and settle his family.

In the Song Dynasty, there was no rule of retaining the wives of high-ranking officials in the capital, implicitly using them as hostages.

On the contrary, in the Song Dynasty only high-ranking officials would bring their families with them when they took office.

Because the tenure of middle and low-level officials below the fifth rank is not as stable as that of senior officials, many of them choose not to bring their families with them when they serve in distant places.

However, Lu You was now an official in Beijing, and the Lu family lived in Shanyin, not far from Lin'an, so it was natural for his wife and children to be brought over.

When he saw Yang Yuan, Lu You knew that he must have official business, otherwise he would not have come directly to the Ministry of Rites.

Lu You invited Yang Yuan into the signing room, asked someone to make tea, and asked him the purpose of his visit. Yang Yuan then told Lu You about Guo Yuxiu's story.

Lu You was also quite surprised and said with a smile: "This is the first time I have heard of a woman wanting to take the imperial examination and she actually passed the Tongsheng exam."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "That's right. I also found it strange when I first heard about it. Our Song Dynasty is the first to set the trend, so it's not surprising to have such courageous women."

"Oh? So, Ziyue thinks she should take the exam?"

"You can do anything unless it is prohibited by law. Why is she not allowed to take the exam?"

Lu You's eyes lit up: "This sentence is wonderful! But..."

Lu You frowned, wiped the tea leaves, and remained silent for a long time.

Yang Yuan took a sip of hot tea and asked, "Brother Wu Guan, where do you think the trouble is?"

Lu You shook his head and said, "Guo Yuxiu found a loophole in the examination rules, and you, Yang Ziyue, have a bad reputation. If you want to protect her, I don't think anyone will make it difficult for you. It's just adding a female candidate, right? The problem is..."

Lu You asked in return: "It would be fine if she fails the exam, but if she does pass, will the court grant her an official position?

There has been no rule of female officials being appointed to official posts outside the capital since ancient times. Even during the time of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty, no woman was appointed to official posts outside the capital.

Once the Song Dynasty has a female Jinshi, how should it be placed? If many women follow suit, should the court continue to allow them to take the exam? "

"I have already thought about this matter." Yang Yuan smiled slightly, very calm.

He put down his teacup and said, "National laws are not a joke. Now that they have found this loophole, I think they should be allowed to take the exam!
But national laws are never static. Now that a loophole has been discovered, the law can be amended to plug it, so that similar things won’t happen again. But…”

Yang Yuan's expression became serious: "Brother Wu Guan, I don't think this is a loophole. If someone has the ability, why can't he take the exam?"

Lu You smiled bitterly and said, "It's easy for you to say that. We in the Ministry of Rites can't just do things based on one principle. We have to consider a series of things for her reference in the future, the most important of which is, how to place her?"

Yang Yuan's expression remained unchanged, and he was very calm: "In fact, this matter is not difficult. First of all, even if the court allows women to take the exam, do you think there will be many women who apply?

Secondly, only one out of a hundred men will be selected. How many of the few women who are selected will pass the exam? "

Lu You said, "Even if only three or five people pass each subject, how will we arrange their placement, my dear brother?"

"It's easy!"

Yang Yuan said with a smile: "First of all, the current palace ladies are selected from the selection of palace maids, and then those who are literate, beautiful and intelligent are selected for training.

As long as a certain number of places are set aside, and if necessary, all the places can be set aside, those who pass the imperial examination can become court ladies, isn't that right?"

Lu You frowned and said, "As a palace lady, you are not allowed to marry."

Yang Yuan spread his hands: "So, it's your choice. Brother Wuguan, when you go to Fujian to serve as an official, you can't bring your family with you.

I am a soldier stationed at the border, and my wife is not around. She can't have both, right?"

"Hmm..." Lu You twirled his beard, feeling somewhat moved.

Yang Yuan said, "There are also government-run music houses, orphanages, nursing homes, charity houses, benefit pharmacies, and even wing offices. In fact, there are many things in these places that are more convenient for women to do than men. Therefore, they can be placed not only in the palace, but also in the local areas."

Yang Yuan did not have any wishful thinking that he could reach the same level of later generations in this era.

Nowadays, various subjective and objective conditions do not allow it. If we really have to make a few exceptions, even the woman herself will be destined to have a tragic ending.

This kind of change in the inertia and habits of an entire society's ideas can either be achieved through a drastic revolution or done slowly, step by step.

The resettlement method proposed by Yang Yuan will not encounter much resistance from the entire society and is a practical solution.

Lu You thought for a while and said, "Someone will definitely object."

"Hey, it's no big deal."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Let's just do it. No need to worry about the results.

If this can be accomplished, that would be great. If it can't be accomplished, that's fine too.

Then we will take a back seat and make sure Miss Guo can refer to it before the court fills the loophole."

Yang Yuan said: "Now, the exam is about to be held, and it is too late for Miss Guo to return to her hometown to take the exam.

If she is allowed to take the exam, the court will have to make special arrangements to allow her to take the exam in Lin'an. Time is running out."

"Ok."

Lu You thought this plan was very flexible and adaptable. If it really didn't work, he would allow her to take the exam this year and then revise the law to prevent this possibility from happening next year.

How big of a deal could it be?
"Ziyue, ask Guo Yuxiu to come to the Ministry of Rites tomorrow, and I will take her to meet Minister Qu."

Lu You did not think that this matter would cause much trouble. He had just taken office at the Ministry of Rites, and it was a period of rapid development for a new official. Starting such a harmless fire was also a way of "nurturing hope".

When Yang Yuan was on duty and returning to Renmeifang, he took a detour to visit Lu Ya's inn, found Guo Yuxiu, and told her about this.

Guo Yuxiu thanked Yang Yuan profusely and sent him out of the inn.

As soon as Yang Yuan left, the old servant of the Guo family said excitedly: "With the help of Yang Jianyi, this matter has indeed been accomplished.

Young lady, just wait for the Ministry of Rites to approve it and allow you to refer to it. If the government and the public are not clear about this, I will spread it everywhere and make sure that everyone knows about it!" Guo Yuxiu was also very excited. The situation of the Guo family was too complicated and involved too many people. She didn't dare to make it public unless it was known to the world.

Because, it is very likely that as soon as any sign is revealed, this matter and her will disappear quickly and evaporate from the face of the earth.

Only by letting everyone in the world see her existence first, and then making the matter public, by then, no matter how much the court or the government wants to calm things down, they will not be able to stop the people from speaking out, and only then will they uphold justice for her.

Right now, she couldn't do anything, not even show any sign of having any ulterior motives. She just had to be a girl student preparing for the exam and wait to pass the test.

……

Yang Yuan was taken care of and rested by Qingtang and A'man last night.

When Yang Yuan was with them, he was actually always very careful because he didn't want them to get pregnant too early.

Ah Man is growing up gradually, and her original immaturity is gradually transforming into the charm of a young girl, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

Ah Man's breasts are very beautiful. Although they have not yet reached their most perfect state, they are recognized by the world as the most perfect and natural teardrop shape.

So when serving her master, Ah Man knew how to show her strengths, and she would intentionally or unintentionally put them to Yang Yuan's lips.

Qingtang cannot compare with Ah Man in this respect, so the clever little Qingtang will "inadvertently" put her round peach buttocks under Yang Yuan's eyes.

Pink and tender, like a fresh peach, am I any worse than you, a little barbarian from the north?
Humph, that’s my master’s favorite place.

Yang Yuan felt that Wang Shenzhi, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Sun Yijia, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, were not as smart as the two little girls Qingtang and A'man.

The two little girls, Qingtang and A'man, also know how to show off their greatest strengths to "flatter their superiors and win their favor."

However, the two court officials, Minister Wang and Minister Sun, only know how to fight with each other and step on each other to get their own chance to stand out!
The next day, when Lu You took Guo Yuxiu to meet Minister Qu, Minister Qu was sitting and chatting with two assistant ministers.

Although they were said to be sitting and chatting, in fact, Minister Qu was informally handing over matters to the two vice ministers.

Minister Qu's retirement memorial had already been submitted, and the two vice ministers were of course aware of this.

Therefore, they also knew that the successor to the position of Shangshu would most likely come from among them.

When the Zongyang Palace Incident occurred, Minister Sun was invited to give lectures at the Jiankang Imperial College.

There were two imperial universities in the State of Song, one in Lin'an and the other in Jiankang.

Another Minister, Wang, was in charge of the imperial examination at the time.

Therefore, the military parade and prisoner presentation ceremony were organized by Shangshu Qu alone, and the two vice ministers were not implicated, which instead became opportunities for their promotion.

However, both of them have the opportunity, but only one person can get to the top.

So, who will take the top spot?
Whoever is more popular will of course be the one to take the position.

Sun Yijia, Minister Sun, has more seniority and is famous for his moral character and writings. He often goes to the Imperial College to give lectures and has great prestige, so naturally he has the highest voice for promotion.

This is indeed the case. When Minister Qu was talking to them just now, he had already vaguely revealed this intention. It is very likely that Sun Yijia will take over Minister Qu's position.

At this time, Lu You brought Guo Yuxiu to the signing room of Minister Qu.

Lu You reported Guo Yuxiu's request to take the imperial examination to Minister Qu and the two assistant ministers.

Lu You also emphasized that because Jinzhou Prefecture refused to allow her to register, she had no choice but to go to Beijing to file a complaint.

The "release examination" will begin four days later in all prefectures, cities and counties across the Song Dynasty.

So even if the court granted her special permission to take the exam, Guo Yuxiu would not have enough time to return to Jinzhou. The court would have to grant her special permission to take the "release test" in Lin'an.

Jinzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty is Ankang, Shaanxi in later generations. Now northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong are under the jurisdiction of the Jin Kingdom, while southern Shaanxi is under the jurisdiction of the Song Kingdom. It is indeed a bit far from Lin'an.

Lu You said this because he thought the matter was easy to resolve.

Even if the Shangshu and Shilang disagree with this, now that Miss Guo has found this loophole, she must be allowed to take the exam.

Minister Sun, who had realized from Minister Qu's hint that he would succeed the position of Minister, was feeling excited, but when he heard what Lu You said, his face immediately darkened.

"Nonsense! You didn't have to report this matter, Mr. Lu. The imperial examination is a grand ceremony for selecting talents. What's the point of having a woman take the exam? It just wastes the resources of the imperial court to prepare for the imperial examination.

A girl, instead of taking good care of her husband and children, chooses to take part in the imperial examinations and show herself in public. This is immoral and inappropriate.

Our Ministry of Rites is the source of morality, the place where etiquette is spread and morality is rectified. How could you encourage such evil practices, Mr. Lu?"

Wang Shenzhi realized that he had no chance of becoming the Shangshu and felt very depressed.

Although it's only half a level away, the higher you go, the fewer traps there are. Now that something big has happened in the court and many officials have fallen, I can't go any further under this circumstance, and my chances in the future will be even slimmer.

The problem is that he is not young anymore. If he continues to gain experience, it is not known whether he can outlast Sun Yijia.

How sad it would be if he stayed in the position of Vice Minister until retirement, and was only rewarded with the title of Minister by the court after his death.

Wang Shenzhi was just feeling sorry for himself when he suddenly heard Minister Sun say this, and his heart suddenly moved.

He was unwilling to accept this. Hadn't he been officially appointed yet? Didn't he have to wait until the exam was over before Minister Qu could retire?
if I could……

"Minister Sun, what you said is wrong!"

Wang Shenzhi put down his teacup, his eyes sparkling, his voice unusually excited: "This is the law of the country, so we should strictly follow the law! The law is fair and sacred, even the emperor must abide by the law, how can we trample on it at will!"

Yang Yuan thought that if he could do good deeds without leaving his name, and introduce the person to the Ministry of Rites, the matter would be settled.

However, they did not expect that there was personnel turmoil in the Ministry of Rites at that time. Minister Sun, who thought that his position as the Shangshu was secure, wanted to show his ability, and Minister Wang, who felt that he had lost his chance, wanted to fight for that glimmer of hope, and the matter became a big deal.

Minister Wang smiled and said in a loud voice: "I think Guo Yuxiu should be allowed to take part in the discussion!"

If he wins, he will become a minister, and if he loses, he will still be a minister. It is a sure win business, and Minister Wang decided to give it a try!
(End of this chapter)