When I received Ping's post, I couldn't help but laugh, it's so happy, it's Ping's birthday again. Thinking of celebrating her birthday last year, she was still an innocent and innocent child, and now she is still innocent and simple, but she is already a little woman who has her heart.

I thought that I would meet the daughter of a high-ranking official who was full of gardens to celebrate her birthday, but I didn't expect that Ping An would only invite Su Ling and Luo Xiang'er, plus that little boy Fengqing, who were all familiar faces I met once last year. When several young masters saw me coming, they stood up and saluted: "I've seen Mrs. Ronghua." ”

"No need to be polite." I smiled, feeling a little funny, when I met them last year, I was still a lowly Qinglou woman, and now I have become a wealthy lady, and people's encounters are really full of drama.

"Yes, how awkward Mrs. is, just call Sister Ye." Ping An smiled, "Where is Sister Ye so old?" ”

Everyone laughed. Su Ling said with a smile: "When I met my sister last year, several of our sisters admired Sister Ye, and my sister's song "Laughing Hongchen" was extremely wonderful and unforgettable. ”

"Not bad." Luo Shang'er said, "It was only then that Shang'er knew that it turned out that women could be so free and easy, and they didn't let their eyebrows go." ”

"There are many women who don't let Xu Mei go, like Hua Mulan who served in the army for her father, Yang Men female general who fought against Jin Bing, and a generation of female emperor Wu Zetian, all of them are legendary women who don't let Xu Mei." I smiled, "There are so many men who can't compare to them. ”

"Sister Ye said about Mulan, Yang Men female general, Wu Zetian, why haven't we heard of it? Is it the person in the story? Feng Qing said.

"Huh?" I knew I was speechless, so I chimed in, "Well, it's from the story." ”

"By the way, the story told by Sister Ye is also very good, the "Journey to the West" you told the Queen Mother in the palace has been spread to the people, and I heard that there are still people who use this story to tell stories in the teahouse." Ping'an smiled, "Today, Sister Ye might as well tell us the story of Mulan, the female general of the Yang Sect and Wu Zetian, right?" ”

"So much, I can't finish it for a few days and nights." I laughed. Ping'an said: "Sister just talk about it today, as much as she can say, we all want to know how legendary these daughters are." ”

I smiled slightly, thought for a while, and said: "Mulan's story begins with a poem, 'Chirp and chirp, Mulan is a household weaver.'" I don't hear the sound of the machine, but I hear the woman sighing......'"

I slowly recounted the long-standing folk tale of my time and space, and several young ladies listened to it with great interest, about the story of joining the army, and even the boy Fengqing listened attentively. After the story was told, everyone was amazed, and Luo Shang'er said: "There are such strange women in the world, it's really fascinating!" ”

"Where did my sister get these wonderful stories?" Su Ling smiled, "I have read a lot of books to myself, I have never heard of such a novel story, this Mulan is really a brave heroine!" ”

"It's a folk legend!" I smiled awkwardly. At this moment, I heard someone outside: "Who is Mulan?" ”

Turning my head, I saw the emperor and the silent cloud walking in, I quickly stood up, and the young master of Qianjin who was present saluted the two of them, and heard Ping An shouting with joy: "Uncle Yu, second uncle, you are here!" Knowing that the daughters present didn't know the identity of the emperor, they only owed themselves a blessing: "Young Master Yu, General Lone!" ”

"What did Mrs. Ronghua say? Make you happy to be like this? The Emperor looked at me and smiled.

"Just now, Sister Ye told us a story about Mulan disguising herself as a man to join the army on behalf of her father, which is interesting!" Ping An smiled, "You guys can also sit down and listen." ”

The emperor was not polite at all, and sat down directly, and General Lin sat down with him, and said with a smile: "I have long heard that the story told by Mrs. Ronghua is interesting, and I can be regarded as blessed today." ”

"The general teased." I smiled. Feng Qing urged: "Sister Ye, let's talk about the Yang Sect female general, right?" I can't wait to find out! ”

"This story is long, and I can't finish it for a while, so I'll pick a few paragraphs to tell." I smiled and saw that they agreed, and told the background of the story: "The story of the female general of the Yang Sect takes place in a country called Song State. One year, the Western Xia Kingdom, a neighbor of the Song State, raised troops to invade the Song border. Yang Zongbao, the marshal of the Song State who guarded the border pass, led his troops to resist the enemy, and when he was exploring the road in the gourd valley, he was killed by a hidden arrow. The situation was urgent, and the border pass sent people back to the DPRK to ask for help. In the Tianbo Mansion of the Yang family in Beijing, She Taijun, who has reached the age of 100, is holding a banquet to celebrate the 50th birthday of his grandson Zongbao. When the bad news came, the whole family grieved, and the court was shocked and wanted to cut the land and sue for peace. She Taijun suppressed his grief and led his widowed daughter-in-law, granddaughter-in-law and great-grandson Wenguang to impassionedly refute the fallacy of the court lord and faction. She Taijun was awe-inspiring and led the female generals of the Yang Sect to the border to resist the enemy and save the country......"

Xu is this story is more shocking than Mulan, and it attracts their attention as soon as it starts, not only a few little ghosts listen intently, but even the emperor and Silent Horror Cloud listen very attentively. I told a few jokes and stopped to take a sip of water. Ping'an, this girl is very careful today, she didn't prepare tea for me, but prepared honey water to moisten my throat, it seems that she has been prepared for a long time to prevent me from being idle. Putting down the glass, I smiled and said, "Okay, that's all for now, you also let me rest." ”

"Is there really such a strange woman in this world who is full of loyalty?" Feng Qing said with a serious face, "I didn't expect women to have such loyalty and courage, compared to those generals in our Tiancao Kingdom who support their own troops, they are really not as good as women......"

"The wind is clear! What nonsense! "Silence scolds him, I remember that this Fengqing seems to be the son of a general under General Silence, he must have heard some complaints in ordinary times, and he didn't know that the emperor was disguised here, so he said such indiscriminate words.

Feng Qing was reprimanded by General Shan, and immediately shut up, not daring to say anything more. I saw that the emperor's face was calm, and he was not displeased by Fengqing's gaffes. But Ping An echoed and said: "Fengqing is right, those people are not even as good as women......"

"Mrs. Ronghua is just telling a story, how can there be a woman in charge in this world?" The Emperor gave me a faint look. Ping An said unconvinced: "Why is there no more?" Sister Ye said that women can not only enter the court as officials, but also become emperors......"

"Ping'an......" I quickly stopped her, how could this kid speak so inappropriately. Sure enough, seeing that the emperor's eyebrows were slightly raised, the corners of his lips were hooked with a smile: "A woman is the emperor?" Where did you hear that? ”

I took a breath and thought about how to answer his words: "Actually, when the concubine was young, I heard that in overseas and far away in the West, women can study, enter the court as officials, and serve the country, and the empress also has it. ”

"Then tell me, how does the empress govern the country?" The emperor didn't let go of this question, I felt a little chill in my vest, looking at the emperor's unforgiving appearance, don't want to bluff the past, thought about it, and said cautiously: "The concubine has heard of a country called Tang Guo overseas, there is an empress named Wu Zetian, in the era of her rule, she attached importance to the development of agricultural production, eliminated the disadvantages of the times, improved the imperial examination system, broke the concept of door valves, and appointed talents without sticking to one pattern, forming a strong centralized power, social stability, and economic development, and was a promising empress. ”

"Improve the imperial examination system and break the concept of gate valves?" The emperor was stunned, "What is the imperial examination?" ”

"Huh?" Only then did I realize that there was no imperial examination system in this time and space, and the selection of officials was similar to the "inspection" system in the Han Dynasty. The local governors of the Hou State and prefectures and counties shall inspect and select talents at any time in their jurisdictions, recommend them to the higher authorities or the central government, and appoint them to official posts after probationary evaluation. As a matter of fact, most of the people in the world are monopolized, and they praise each other, deceive, and form gangs, and there are very few people who can really select useful talents for the country. Another form is "conquest". Enlistment is the emperor's recruitment of well-known people in society to fill important positions in the imperial court. Pi is a senior bureaucrat of the central government or an official of the local political axe appoints a subordinate official, and then recommends it to the imperial court. In short, to get an official and a half-position in the court, it is necessary to be recommended, just like the poetry conference held by the Yun family and the Cangdu clan, to put it bluntly, they are forming a gang.

I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to say these things, and with some hesitation, the emperor looked at me with a terrifying gaze, pressing step by step: "Mrs. Ronghua? ”

"The imperial examination refers to a system in which the imperial court selects officials through examinations." I took a breath and thought about how to explain the imperial examination system to the emperor as simply as possible, "Because of the method of selecting scholars by subject, it is called the imperial examination." The perfect imperial examination is divided into four levels: the academy examination, the township examination, the meeting examination and the palace examination, and the content of the examination is basically the Confucian scriptures, with the "four books" as the title and the prescribed format of the article as the eight-strand literary ......"

The emperor's eyes lit up and shone brightly, and he interrupted me in a loud voice: "Confucian scriptures? Four books? ”

I was so annoyed that I almost wanted to bite off my tongue, but seeing the emperor's excited expression, I knew that I couldn't bluff without explaining, so I swallowed my saliva and said with difficulty: "In that place in the Tang Kingdom, there was a sage named Confucius in ancient times, and he advocated a doctrine called Confucianism, which became the mainstream of culture, the policy of the emperor's governance, and the guiding ideology of the people. The four books refer to some of the classic documents of the ancient sages of their place, which are the core of Confucianism. ”

"Then what does the Confucian doctrine advocated by this Confucian sage say? What are the four books written about? The emperor's eyes narrowed, and he said aggressively.

How do I know? I haven't read the Four Books and the Five Classics! I bit my lip and forced a smile: "Confucianism advocates 'benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and faithfulness'. "Benevolence" is the core content of Confucianism, and Confucianism regards "benevolence" as the general outline of morality and ethics, and believes that the monarch should mainly observe the people's feelings, cherish the people's strength, oppose harsh government, and implement benevolent government. Advocate the rule of etiquette and righteousness, and use 'courtesy' and 'music' to restrain people's behavior and cultivate people's surname. As for these 'four books', Childe is embarrassed for me, I have only heard of these stories, but I have not read the books in the stories. ”

The emperor looked at me fixedly, his expression was deep and unpredictable, and after a while, the corners of his lips hooked slightly: "Continue to talk about your imperial examination." ”

I breathed a sigh of relief, and continued: "The imperial examination is also called the children's examination and the children's examination, which mainly refers to the local imperial examination presided over by the provincial academic administration, including the county examination, the government examination and the hospital examination. After passing the college examination, you can obtain the qualification of a student before you can enter the government, state, and county schools, so it is also called the entrance examination. Test takers are called children regardless of age. ”

The emperor's eyes brightened more and more: "Go on." ”

"The township examination is an examination held in the provincial capital every three years, only children can participate, usually held in autumn and August, so it is also called Qiuqiu. The chief examiner is appointed by the emperor, and the main and deputy lists are released after the examination. I tried to search for some vague memories in my mind, "The examination is also held every three years in the capital, usually in the spring, so it is also called Chunqiu. The examination was presided over by the Ministry of Rites, and the emperor appointed the chief and vice presidents, and the people from all provinces of the country and the students of the Guozi Supervisor could take the examination, and 300 were admitted as tributes, the first of which was called Huiyuan. ”

The expressions of General Lin and the daughters were incredible, after all, in this era when officials were naturally recommended by the family, such a mechanism to provide a relatively fair examination opportunity for the whole people was too shocking for them. The emperor looked at me with blazing eyes: "What about the palace test?" ”

"The palace examination is the highest level of the imperial examination system, and the emperor personally asks the tributes admitted to the examination in the palace court to determine the first rank. Sometimes, the emperor also appointed ministers to take charge of the palace examination, and did not personally consult them. The admission is divided into three grades: the first and third grades, given the title of 'Jinshi and first', the first name champion, the second name Bangyan, the third name Tanhua, the second grade, the title of 'Jinshi origin', and the third grade, the title of 'Tongjinshi origin'. The first place in the second and third grades is called Chuanyu, and the first, second and third are collectively referred to as Jinshi, because the palace test is asked by the emperor, so the people also call the high school Jinshi as the protégé of the Son of Heaven. I said it in one breath, my throat was a little dry, I picked up my glass of water and took a sip of honey water.

Raising his eyes, he saw that the emperor's eyes were terrifying, and his tone was a little uncalm: "The protégé of the Son of Heaven? ”

"Yes. Protégé of the Son of Heaven. I nodded and looked at him calmly, "These people are talents selected by the emperor, they are loyal to the emperor, and they are safeguarding the interests of the country, not the intertwined interests of the family. ”

"Mrs. Ronghua......" Silence looked at me in surprise, and the young masters present also looked at me like monsters, and the emperor stared at me fixedly, with complex emotions of unknown meaning in his eyes, and his chest was obviously undulating.

——2007、1、29

The first volume of Silk Silk will be available in early February, and friends who like it can order it at the Little Witch Bookstore: