Zhu Guoxiang met with officials and people along the way, and Shen Yourong also met with officials' families and folk women.
The day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Guoxiang called the provincial and county officials in Hangzhou to have a banquet. The officials were allowed to bring their wives and children, and these women and children all went to Shen Yourong.
The banquet place for men, women and children is only separated by a courtyard wall.
Moreover, the courtyard walls are connected by moon-hole doors, so not only can they hear each other's voices, but they can even see each other through the door holes.
In addition to the Supreme Queen, the Supreme Emperor's concubines and children will naturally also participate.
Shen Yourong was the first focus of the audience, and Li Qingzhao was the second focus of the audience. Every one of those female relatives had read Li Qingzhao's poems.
The head of the official family was Sun, the wife of Li Wenhui, the governor of Zhejiang Province.
Although Li Wenhui claims to be from a poor family, who among those who can pass the Jinshi examination is really poor?
His ancestor was Li Yuanxiang, the twentieth son of Li Yuan, who was exiled to Fujian in the second year of Zhenguan. During the period of Wu Zetian, Li Yuanxiang's son was killed, his grandson Xijue was exiled, and his identity was restored during the Tianbao period.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Li Wenhui's family branched off and moved from Jinjiang to Qianshan, Hui'an. Because the land there was tight and it was difficult to survive, they moved to Xiaoxi for reclamation and reproduction - Xiaoxi Peninsula is not yet completely connected to the mainland and can be accessed at low tide. , it turns into an island when the tide rises.
Compared with other official families, Li Wenhui's family was really poor, even worse than Lao Bai Yuanwai back then.
But others have families!
He received education on the island since he was a child. Because he was very intelligent, he was sent to study at the main sect of Jinjiang when he got older.
Mrs. Sun took her two sons, one daughter and one daughter-in-law to visit the queen and concubines first.
Shen Yourong asked: "Do these two young men have any fame?"
Mr. Sun replied: "Dogs are stupid. The eldest son was only admitted as a scholar, and the second son was not even a scholar. However, the eldest daughter married in her hometown in Jinjiang, and the eldest son-in-law won the imperial examination at a young age."
"You two gentlemen are still young, just study hard from now on." Shen Yourong encouraged.
After some words, Xing Shi, the wife of Song Bo, the right chief envoy, also came with her children to pay her respects.
An hour had passed until the governor and the county magistrate's family members all paid their respects to La Jia Chang.
It was still early before the banquet, so Shen Yourong chatted about anecdotes again. Wen Xiaomei, Li Qingzhao and others also joined in the chat. Well, there were also the former Dowager Princess of Song Dynasty, the former Imperial Princess of Jin Kingdom, the former Queen Mother of Xixia, the former Queen Mother Annan, and the former Dowager Princess of Dali. etc.
The filial son Zhu Ming threw a bunch of empress dowagers, concubines, and imperial concubines at the disposal of Zhu Guoxiang.
Duan Yu had so many concubines that he couldn't care less about their age, and he had already become a monk. One of them, the youngest, most beautiful and childless, was honored by Ju Ming as his father. He was only thirty-three years old this year.
At that time, Zhu Guoxiang sent a telegram and cursed him, and then reluctantly accepted it.
The officials and family members in front of them all wanted to take the opportunity to show off, mainly their children, and pulled them to recite poems in front of the Supreme Queen and the Supreme Princess.
Especially the daughter who has not yet been engaged, she might be spotted by the Queen!
One of the girls performed extremely well!
This girl was only ten years old and had not yet picked up her hairpin. Because there were other teenagers present, it was difficult to reveal her maiden name, so she was only referred to by her nickname "Fufu".
Li Qingzhao said: "Both the Emperor and His Majesty said that women should be more generous. Why should their maiden names not be revealed to others? Girls in the Eastern and Western Capitals, including princesses, no longer hide their maiden names."
The wives of these local officials were surprised when they heard this.
I thought that it was worthy of being a capital city, and the atmosphere was really good, and could not be compared to Hangzhou.
So, they introduced their daughters again. For example, Zhao Fufu, whose maiden name was Zhao Mu.
Why does Zhao Mu stand out?
At only ten years old, he can fluently recite "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean", and has also studied mathematics, physics and astronomy.
Shen Yourong liked this little girl very much. He asked her mother, "Others only teach girls the Analects of Confucius, the Classic of Filial Piety, Women's Precepts, and Mathematics. How can your girl learn all the four books?" Already?”
His mother Huang replied: "She liked it, so she hired a teacher."
Shen Yourong asked the little girl: "Do you like reading?"
"I like it," Zhao Mu nodded, "I also want to take the imperial examination."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was stunned.
Li Qingzhao clapped his hands and said with a smile: "You are indeed ambitious!"
Later generations had quite a misunderstanding of the situation of women in the Song Dynasty.
Especially the female novels and their adaptations into movies and TV series, they are simply more feudal than the Qing Dynasty! The concubine god religion is especially nonsense, it actually does not allow concubines to recognize their biological mothers, and completely ignores "filial piety" in the first place.
The status of real women in the Song Dynasty was seriously divided.
One type is the daughters of low-income families in the city. Their parents sell them to wealthy families and work as cattle and horses with no human rights at all.
One is for rural women and most urban women to marry men of the same class. They have to work while having children. They are normal poor and lowly couples. There are no restrictions on public appearances.
One is the daughter of a wealthy family who can study as long as she has the conditions.
From Sima Guang, Er Cheng, Wang Anshi, to Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty, they all advocated that women should receive education.
Their concept is that if a woman does not study and understand, how can she teach her children?
But it is different from men's education. They advocate that women study "The Analects of Confucius", "The Classic of Filial Piety", "Nvjie", Nuhong, arithmetic, etc. They do not encourage but do not prohibit the study of "Mencius", "Spring and Autumn", "Shangshu", etc. The way of governing a country.
Regarding the remarriage of widows, Zhu Xi's actual opinion is: Observing integrity and not remarrying belongs to the Confucian outline and should be followed in principle. But even Confucius couldn't do it. All of Confucius's daughters-in-law remarried, so ordinary people don't have to force it.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the first sentence of Zhu Xi was remembered, but the second sentence was selectively forgotten.
In addition, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi did not have double standards for observing chastity. They believed that if women were required to observe chastity, then men should also observe chastity. Zhu Xi himself did not marry another man after his wife died, and the husband and wife were eventually buried together.
Zhu Xi's daughters-in-law, nieces, and daughters can be widowed if they wish, or remarry if they wish. It all depends on their own free will.
As for the ashes, Suni, if those things really happened, it would have become explosive news long ago. Do you need to save up and be impeached before it is exposed?
What's more, in the face of criticism from political opponents, Zhu Xi did not acquiesce as legendary, but became disheartened: "Since the court believes that those slanders are true, then there is nothing to resent me for being dismissed from office and exiled."
Preserving natural principles and destroying human desires was a cage designed for the arrogant and extravagant scholars of the Song Dynasty, but in the end it became a tool to oppress vulnerable groups.
The wife of a provincial councilor asked: "Can women also take the imperial examination?"
"Can't you?" said the wife of a man named Cao.
Shen Yourong looked at Wen Xiaomei, Li Qingzhao and others: "Does the imperial court prohibit women from taking the imperial examination?"
Everyone is confused.
Miss Wen also frowned and thought hard: "There seems to be no ban."
Li Qingzhao said: "When entering the examination room for the imperial examination, you need to be searched. You will also take off your clothes to check whether there are any contamination. The inspectors are all men. How can women pass that test? If a woman wants to take the imperial examination, she must arrange a special female officer to search."
Everyone was stunned.
It is true that the imperial court did not prohibit women from taking the imperial examinations, but in practice, women could not enter the examination room at all.
You can go in if you want, just strip naked and be inspected by a group of men.
It is impossible for the female champion in the play to appear. No matter how good you are at disguising yourself as a man, you will eventually have to strip off before entering the examination room.
The former Queen Mother Annan suddenly said: "I heard that the prodigy test was not strict."
Li Qingzhao was afraid that the world would not be in chaos, so he clapped his hands and said with a smile: "That's right. You are only ten years old, you can take the child prodigy test."
The Child Prodigy Examination, also called Tongzi Ke, originally originated from the Han Dynasty.
The age prescribed by each dynasty is different, even within the same dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, it was required to be under ten years old, and later it was relaxed to twelve years old. In the Five Dynasties, it became thirteen years old, and in the Song Dynasty, even fifteen years old was allowed.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Guoxiang restored the child prodigy test, and the age was set at thirteen years old and below.
The specific process is as follows: During the county examination and the government examination, children under the age of thirteen can register to participate, and an area will be arranged for them in the examination room. If they pass the two prodigy examinations, they will be sent to the capital to be assessed by the principal of the Taipei University. If they pass, , so I arranged to study in the Taixue preparatory class and then directly advance to the inner house of Taixue.
In the year of the major exam, there is no prodigy exam, which means two exams in three years.
There are basically no more than five prodigies who pass the Taixue Examination in each session, and sometimes only one or two are admitted.
It has been twenty years since the Ming Dynasty resumed the prodigy test, and the total number of prodigies who have actually passed the test is less than 80.
Of these more than 70 prodigies, half of them have not yet grown up, but they have already achieved 3 first-place rankings, 8 second-place rankings, and 15 third-place rankings. There are also a few who are seriously partial to subjects and have served in the Hanlin Academy, the Ministry of Industry, etc. The art and craftsman of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Ministry of War and other yamen.
Of course, there are also those who fail at school and are too young to bear the pressure.
At night, the officials and their families left.
Li Qingzhao told Zhu Guoxiang about the matter and asked: "That girl will take the children's examination next year, won't she be stopped by the examiner?"
Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Which family does this girl belong to?"
Li Qingzhao said: "The daughter of Zhejiang Provincial Councilor Zhao Mingfu."
Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "If Zhao Mingfu didn't stop his daughter, the examiners and servants would naturally have to give Zhao Mingfu face. The "Da Ming Code: Etiquette" did not prohibit women from taking the imperial examination, so they had no reason not to let her take the exam. But, before she was sent to the capital, It must be reported to the imperial court for approval first.”
"Will the officials agree?" Shen Yourong asked.
Zhu Guoxiang laughed loudly: "He must agree. Although that boy is serious, he has always been a fun-loving person since he was a child. The more headaches the officials in the court have about women's imperial examinations, the more the boy wants to watch the excitement."
Li Qingzhao's eyes lit up when he heard this: "If this girl really graduates from Taixue and becomes a Jinshi, will the government allow her to become an official?"
Zhu Guoxiang thought carefully and said: "There are only men in Taixue. If a girl can withstand years of criticism, successfully graduate from Taixue and pass the Jinshi examination, she must be a person with great perseverance who will not let her men down. Such a strange woman, let her What’s wrong with being an official?”
It really takes a lot of perseverance.
Let's put myself in that girl's shoes. At the age of ten, she has to endure criticism all the time. She has to be a classmate of a man for many years, and she doesn't even have anyone to talk to. If she cannot be admitted as a Jinshi when she graduates from Taixue, she will have to I have to endure the pressure of trying and failing, and even pressure from my family to get married, and my fiancé’s family to get married.
Can a person with such great perseverance be treated with ordinary eyes when he breaks free from so many prisons and is named on the gold medal list?
Shen Yourong shook his head and sighed: "It's hard to think about it. If it were me, even if I had my intelligence and talent, I would probably give up halfway while studying at Taixue."
Li Qingzhao said: "Girls like them can be given more choices. For example, if they are successfully promoted to the Imperial Academy, they can choose to drop out of school and marry someone at any time, and the imperial court will grant them a royal life."
"Okay." Zhu Guoxiang nodded.
Shen Yourong said, "I like that girl very much. My husband's sons are not of the right age, but there is a prince in the official family who is the same age as her. If she can really get into the imperial examination, and then observe her character, she may be accepted as the prince's concubine. .”
Zhu Guoxiang said: "Although my son's age is not appropriate, the age is appropriate for me to have a grandson. No, his son is also my grandson... I mean, my grandson who is not his son will always have to compete with him on this matter. A steal."
The older Zhu Guoxiang gets, the more he likes to argue with his son, especially playing tricks on the unfilial son over trivial matters.
Shen Yourong was beaming when she heard this, because she had a grandson of the right age, only one year younger than the prodigy girl from the Zhao family.
Zhu Guoxiang fell into deep thought.
I no longer thought about the child prodigy, but instead thought about the many female workers in Hangzhou.
The economic foundation determines social status. As the number of female workers increases, the atmosphere in Jiangnan will definitely change subtly.
What is about to emerge is real feminism, not some "childless cat lady."
(We recommend "Wolves of Los Angeles" by White No. 13. The quality is guaranteed by the veteran author.)
