The female officials and maids patrolling inside and outside the examination room were walking back and forth, while several male and female examiners were sitting in two rooms respectively, waiting for the candidates to complete the examination papers.
After receiving the examination papers, they will immediately correct them. After the marking is completed, they will send the examination papers to Emperor Zhu for random inspection. Among the top examination papers, Zhu Cihong will review every paper, so it is not right for the examiner to let go. possible.
But Pan Shuchen still wanted to support Ding Yuying as much as possible, so when chatting with Zhu Cibing, he accidentally or unintentionally mentioned that there was an extremely hard-working girl living in his house...
"Ding Yuying from No. 355?" Zhu Cibing had a good memory. He remembered it after thinking about it for a moment. "Her French is not good! A woman from a small family can't expect martial arts. Even if she has a good brain, she can't do it." Even if you can do well in arithmetic, Confucianism, and studying things, you won't be able to get into the eyes of my imperial brother."
According to the current examination rules, as long as the total score of Confucianism, arithmetic, inquiry, French, and martial arts is above 430, there is a chance to be admitted to the crown princess - it depends on how Emperor Zhu scores the interview!
But these 430 points are not easy to get! Especially for girls from small families, it is difficult for them to do well in martial arts and French.
The martial arts that Emperor Zhu wanted to test was not boxing and wrestling, but the art of battle formation. It may seem simple, but it will be something fancy tomorrow, but it must be practiced over a long period of time. Moreover, the cost of these trainings is very high and ordinary people cannot afford it.
And French is an "aristocratic knowledge" that ordinary people don't need at all. There are only scholars who need to study foreign academic materials, officers who regard the French and European armies as imaginary enemies (know yourself and the enemy!), some foreign-related officials, and a few Businessmen can use it, but others will never need it in their lifetime. Even the official examinations of local and many imperial yamen do not take French as a test, so most of the new private schools do not pay attention to French (the main purpose of attending new schools is to become an official!), let alone girls' schools.
There are really only a handful of girls' schools in the Ming Dynasty that really teach French well. Except for two "private schools" in Shanghai and Quanzhou, the others are all aristocratic girls' schools.
"Her French has improved very quickly, by leaps and bounds!" Pan Shuchen said, "During this period, our family hired a teacher from Wuhan Taixue to help her improve her French and also taught her martial arts in person. This little girl not only has a good brain, but is also willing to do it. Ku Gong is a talent that can be developed!"
"Really?" Zhu Cibing raised his eyebrows, already a little interested, "How many hours of lessons will the teacher you hired for her give her every day?"
"One hour," Pan Shuchen said, "three months in a row."
"What's the situation now?" Zhu Cibing asked.
"I can have long conversations, write long articles, and read the Bible in French."
"So much progress?" Zhu Cibing nodded, "If you really have this ability, you will be a great talent!"
Zhu Cibing, who is an academic master himself, certainly knows that learning is a kind of ability, and the learning ability of academic masters is much stronger than that of poor students!
In the next few years, the princess will need to undertake heavy studies, meet the prince's bed needs, and bear children for the royal family at the same time. The pressure can be imagined. If you are not good at learning and don't work hard enough, you may not be able to cope with it.
"How is her body and bones?" Zhu Cibing asked again.
Zhu Cixiang doesn't want a frail princess. If she gets sick every three days, what's the use?
"Excellent!" Pan Shuchen said, "She hasn't been sick in the past few months... Even though she is not tall, she is very strong and her muscles and bones are very strong. Otherwise, how could she practice martial arts so hard?"
Zhu Cibing nodded, "Then let's take a look!"
What he wants to see is Ding Yuying's French and martial arts scores, as well as the total score of the five subjects... If it can reach 430 points or more, he can recommend it to Emperor Zhu.
The charter king thought: If this girl can squeeze out the girls of the Zheng family, it will also make the queen empress angry!
...
At the same time, Emperor Zhu Da was drinking tea with Wei Zaode, Li Yan, Zheng Zhilong, Shen Tingyang, Ma Shiying, Luo Dagong and others in a living room in the Red Castle. Queen Wu Sanmei was also here!
"The Queen and I invite a few people to come over. We mainly want to say something." Zhu Cixiang gently turned the tea cup in his hand, "What are the questions asked in the interview? The interview has 100 points... For women who can squeeze into the top 10 For me, the score in the interview will determine whether she will win in the end. What do you think I should ask?"
"Your Majesty," Wei Zaode said, "I believe that military science is a must! Soldiers are important matters for the country and the road to survival. You must observe the concubine that your Majesty has chosen for the prince and the kings of the vassals. There will be certain opportunities in the future. They serve as supervisors and regents of the country. Therefore, the crown prince and the concubines of the vassal kings must know something about military affairs."
In fact, the Crown Princess's military knowledge is probably redundant, because Zhu Cixiang is in very good health. The Crown Prince does not know when he will ascend the throne, and it is still early for the Crown Princess to become the Queen or the Queen Mother!
But the concubines of the vassal kings really need to have certain military knowledge, because most of the vassal states are on the front line. When the king leads the troops to go on an expedition, the concubine needs to stay behind to protect the prince and supervise the country. If the princess doesn't understand anything, how can this country supervise her? Leave it all to the minister? This is not a good thing for the regent ministers and the vassal king...
Zhu Cixiang nodded, seeming to be convinced.
"Your Majesty," Zheng Zhilong said, "you must also ask about financial management! Only when you have money to pay military salaries can you raise strong soldiers, and only when you have strong soldiers can you talk about military affairs. Otherwise, it is just talk on paper. The emperor chooses concubines for the princes, not only The Crown Princess, and the concubines of various vassal states... Most of the twelve vassal states in Nanyang are now in financial difficulty, and they need the help of virtuous concubines. Although the United States' finances are better, its expenses are also large, and there are also To run the royal family's property in the United States, we also need a good concubine who is good at managing money."
Zhu Cixiang nodded and seemed to agree with Zheng Zhilong's opinion.
Grand Duke Luo glanced at Li Yan from the Ministry of War. He and one of Hong Niangzi's daughters also entered the re-examination, but their scores were only in the middle of the pack, and they didn't look like they could win the first prize, so they were not interested in speaking.
Li Yan didn't say anything, but Grand Duke Luo spoke: "I think that your Majesty should also ask about the major events in the world... Today's world is not only the Celestial Empire, but also Tianzhu, Europe, Xinzhou and the countries in the Western Regions. The future concubine must not be ignorant of these things!"
Zhu Cixiang also nodded, but he just nodded and didn't say anything.
Ma Shiying, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, stroked his white beard and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I think it doesn't matter what you ask. The key is to see whether the girl's family has the bearing of a mother of the country, whether she is good at interacting with people, and whether her appearance can impress the princes."
The old man is right!
Being able to deceive people is also very important, and this is a talent...it cannot be cultivated!
Zhu Cixiang said with a smile: "I already know what you have said... Let's end the tea party here today!"
Several ministers stood up, saluted Emperor Zhu and Wu Sanmei, and then exited the living room.
Wu Sanmei watched them leave, then turned back and asked Zhu Cihong: "Your Majesty... why don't you also let Xing'er attend the interview? After all, she is his concubine, so he must like her, right?"
Zhu Cixiang looked at Wu Sanmei and said in her heart: Do you think that boy Zhu Hexing has fallen in love with Wu Ahuan? You still don’t understand your son’s thoughts!
"Of course," Zhu Cixiang smiled, "but we can't talk to others now, lest it cause complications."
"An extraneous problem?" Wu Sanmei asked, "What is Your Majesty worried about?"
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "Third sister, don't you know that my wealthy son has already slept with Princess Ahai from the Heshuote Kingdom?"
"What?" Wu Sanmei was startled, "How can this be possible? Isn't it too shameless? Your Majesty, you don't care?"
Zhu Cixi smiled and said: "What do you care? How can I care if the firewood is caught in the fire? And I have been sleeping for a long time, and maybe I even lost my life! But I don't want the prince to be like the king of the United States, so you can't let it happen Others know that the prince also wants to attend the interview."
"I know!" Wu Sanmei nodded heavily, "I must be tight-lipped and won't tell anyone!"
