"Your Majesty promotes the release of slaves in Jiangdong, saying that everyone is equal, and the people dare to ask Your Majesty, does Your Majesty really think that everyone is equal in this world?" The girl's crisp voice sounded in the hall.

"Of course." Zhu Youzhen said with a smile, "As far as personality is concerned, everyone is naturally equal. But it is also undeniable that there are wise people, there are stupid people, there are strong people, and there are weak people, so that the wise people are in charge of the people, the stupid people plough the fields and work, the strong people join the army without success, and the weak do what they can. There will naturally be differences in occupations, and there will be up and down. But as far as personality is concerned, all are equal. For example, you should have been in a lowly nationality, but now you should have changed to a civilian nationality, and no one dares to despise you and so on. ”

"Since all men are equal, men are human beings, and women are human beings, should men and women be equal?" The girl asked again.

Zhu Youzhen was silent, a little unsure of how to answer. Once the slogan of equality for all is proposed, it will inevitably win the hearts of the broad masses of people other than the gentry, but whether men and women are equal, I am afraid that men in the world do not approve of it. Men are dry women are kun, men are yang and women are yin, and men are inferior to women for thousands of years. As far as Zhu Youzhen himself is concerned, he is not very in favor of equality between men and women.

However, what this girl asked is not unreasonable, since everyone is equal, then men and women should naturally be equal.

"If so, Hugh is talking nonsense!" Seeing the emperor's hesitation, for fear of making the emperor angry, Xu Fu'er hurriedly scolded.

Chen Zilong and Huang Zongxi glanced at each other, both of them smiled, and they both wanted to hear what Zhu Youzhen had to say.

In the eyes of Chen Zilong and Huang Zongxi, Zhu Youzhen's theory of equality for all is too crude to withstand scrutiny. It's just that this kind of thinking can deceive the hearts of the people, coupled with the behavior of releasing slaves and Juntian, the people of Jiangdong have risen up to support them. This kind of idea of equality is similar to many ideas of Huang Zongxi and others, and it is obviously beneficial to the people of the world and can change the current predicament of the Ming Dynasty, which is the reason why Huang Zongxi and other enlightened scholars chose to attach themselves to Zhu Youzhen. However, attachment is attachment, and they are some dismissive of the emperor's learning.

"Essentially, men and women are naturally equal." Zhu Youzhen thought of the era 400 years later, when everyone was truly equal, women could go to school and become officials, and men could do things as if women could.

"But ......"

"Since Your Majesty believes that men and women are also equal, can men be officials, and women can too?" The girl didn't allow Zhu Youzhen to continue, and asked again.

Zhu Youzhen was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "What, do you also want to be an official?" ”

"The people's girl wants to be an official." The girl generously admitted, "Not long ago, Suzhou held an official examination, and the people went to the scene to register, but they were told that women could not participate. The people's daughter was thinking, is it a lie that His Majesty said that everyone is equal? If everyone is equal, why can't women take the official examination? I am fortunate to meet Your Majesty today, and I have a rare opportunity, so I want to ask. ”

"How dare you ask." Zhu Youzhen said with a smile, and then looked at the officials present, "What do you ministers think about this?" ”

"How can a woman be an official, it's ridiculous, what such an ignorant woman says, Your Majesty doesn't have to pay attention to it!" Yuan Keli said disdainfully. It's just that everyone is equal, it's just an excuse used by the emperor to clean up the gentry class with vested interests, and in the end it's just to abolish the slavery, and it can't change much, the official is still the official, and the people are still the people. But the equality of men and women is really beyond the bottom line of officials like Yuan Keli.

"Yuan Shangshu is wrong in what he said, men are human beings, and women are also human beings, why can't they be equal?" Huang Zongxi asked with a smile.

"If men and women are equal, can you and your concubine be equal?" Yuan Keli didn't talk nonsense, and reprimanded directly.

"It's just that the division of responsibilities is different, but in terms of personality, it's equal, for example, I don't mind her being above me at night." Huang Zongxi said with a smile.

"Nonsense, nonsense!" Yuan Keli reprimanded. In the eyes of a Taoist like him, Huang Zongxi, these Jiangnan scholars, are too deviant.

"Okay, okay, stop here." Zhu Youzhen stretched out his hand and pressed down, stopping the arguments of his courtiers. At this time, there is no need to be distracted by such things.

However, there was still a pretty girl standing in the hall, how to send her, Zhu Youzhen was a little difficult. Equality of all people is what he proposed, if he denies the equality of men and women, it is tantamount to slapping himself in the face, and if he admits it, he has to answer the question of her being an official.

"It's really not suitable for a woman to be an official at the moment." Zhu Youzhen said slowly.

The look in the girl's eyes suddenly dimmed, her face was full of disappointment, looking at her look, for some reason, Zhu Youzhen was a little uncomfortable, so he continued: "After all, it is not convenient to show up, but I just had an idea, maybe there is a place suitable for women to be officials." ”

"Where?" The girl's eyes lit up suddenly.

"It's my palace." Zhu Youzhen said, "It can be used as a pilot in the palace to try to use female officials." If it is feasible, it can be extended to foreign countries. ”

Yuan Keli had a smile on his face, and he could tell that the emperor was just perfunctory to this little girl. As for using female officials in the inner palace, it's nothing, it's better than using eunuchs.

"In the palace......" The girl hesitated, "It's okay in the palace!" ”

Born as a prostitute, although she has become a citizen, she is still obsessed with her origin, she doesn't want to keep laughing for a living, and she also thinks that she has a noble personality and a respectable identity, so is there anything more noble than being an official?

"But it's not everyone who wants to be a female official, you have to pass the exam." Zhu Youzhen continued. It's just a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl in front of her, or a woman who has been in the Qinglou, she may know some words, but how can she pass the official exam?

"Folk girls can!" The girl's words were full of confidence.

"Huh?" Zhu Youzhen smiled, "In this case, I asked someone to find you an exam question, and you did it on the spot, if you can really pass, I will make you a female official." ”

After saying that, he ordered the little eunuch next to him to go and get a test paper. Last time, there were three papers in the official examination, and only one of them was used, and the remaining two were sealed, just to let the girl do it, so that she could retreat.

The scroll was quickly fetched, and a pair of stools were placed in a corner of the hall, and the girl went to work on the questions, while the people continued to feast.

With this little episode, the atmosphere in the hall was much warmer. Yuan Keli talked about the old things when he was the governor of Denglai, and sighed that at that time, Jiannu was rampant, and Liaodong was completely lost, and he thought that it would be difficult to quell the Jiannu Rebellion without 20 years of work, but he didn't expect that His Majesty had completely pacified Liaodong after only a few years on the throne.

Chen Zilong also took the opportunity to praise His Majesty's great achievements, and even Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu and others also sincerely admired it.

After three rounds of drinking, Xu Fuer appeared again and played a flute on the spot, which brought the atmosphere to a climax.

"Your Majesty, the people's daughter is done." At this moment, a crisp voice sounded, and the girl walked to the hall with the test paper in her hand.

"Chen Zilong, you took the second place in the official exam at that time, so you will review the test papers for me." Zhu Youzhen said slightly drunk.

"Wechen obeys." Chen Zilong hugged his fists.

There is a reference answer, Chen Zilong corrected it quickly, and after a while, he finished the review, with a look of surprise on his face.

"How's the test?" Zhu Youzhen asked with interest.

"It's good, it's good, I got a full score of 300, and I scored 260 points." Chen Zilong said incredulously.

Even Chen Zilong at that time only scored 285 points, but he was the first among more than 20,000 candidates. And the girl Liu Ru is score of 260 points, which definitely crushed the vast majority of candidates, if she took the exam at that time, she would definitely be able to rank in the top ten!

Zhu Youzhen was also a little surprised, he didn't expect that the girl in front of him was beautiful, not to mention that she was still a talented girl!

"I'm a little strange, shouldn't you learn talents like singing and dancing, how to understand arithmetic and law?" Zhu Youzhen asked with interest. The official examination is not child's play, and the three subjects of policy theory, arithmetic, and law are examined. Without a certain amount of talent, it is impossible to pass the exam.

"Since the Minnu knew about the subjects she was taking, she has been preparing and has been studying on her own for three months." The girl said.

Trimester! Is it that simple? Zhu Youzhen was a little speechless.

Since the girl passed the exam, Zhu Youzhen did not break his word, and announced on the spot that he would make this girl named Liu Ruye a female official from the front of the Jiupin Imperial Palace, and temporarily start as a secretary.

"It's snowing!" There were faint cheers outside the palace.

The climate in Jiangnan is warm, and there was no snow in winter before, but in recent years, the weather has become colder and colder, and this year there are snowflakes, which makes many Zhenjiang people who have never seen snow very excited.

"I hope it doesn't go too big." Zhu Youzhen sighed and prayed secretly.

Once it snows heavily, the climate will become cold rapidly, which will bring great inconvenience to the march and war, and will bring a lot of trouble to the lives of the people in the south of the Yangtze River.

As if hearing Zhu Youzhen's prayer, the snowflakes stopped after drifting for a while, and the ground melted before it turned white, and then turned into raindrops, and the rain began to fall, and it kept falling.

When it rained, the training of peasants and soldiers in the camp was suspended, and the propaganda officers of the supervising army gave them political lessons on the glorious history of the Praetorian Guard and the glorious image of His Majesty the Emperor who was diligent in government and loved the people. The training is strict, and the ideological education cannot be relaxed.

At the same time, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, a large army was advancing in the rain, and the vanguard was about to arrive in Guazhou, Jiangbei.

A group of thousands of people, there are steps and rides, regardless of the foot riding are wearing robes, walking forward, although the official road is walked, but the ground is muddy, not suitable for horseback riding.

However, at this moment, there was a dull sound of horses' hooves, and a fast horse appeared in the rain curtain and walked quickly along the official road.

"The battle report is transmitted, 100,000 are in a hurry, quickly give way." The horsemen galloped on horseback, shouting as they ran. On the official road, the soldiers hurriedly dodged to the side and made way of the way.

.......

"Report, Your Majesty, Sun Chuanting sent someone to deliver the battle report." Wang Chengen ran in in a hurry.

"Take it apart, read it!" Zhu Youzhen said in a deep voice. Calculating the time, Sun Chuanting should almost arrive in Wuchang, as long as he can collect the warships and go down the river as scheduled, he can quickly pacify the Jiangxi rebels.

Wang Chengen hurriedly opened the secret letter of the war report, and as soon as he glanced at it, his body immediately trembled.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Youzhen was stunned for a moment and realized that something was wrong.

"Inspector Sun was defeated, and he can't come......" Wang Chengen's voice trembled.

"How is that possible?" Zhu Youzhen snatched the battle report from his hand, looked at it fixedly, and his body couldn't help but tremble.

According to Sun Chuanting's report on the war, after receiving the holy decree, he led the army south, because the red turban thief Li Yanbu was attacking Nanyang City and blocked the way, so he tried to defeat Li Yanbu and then continue south. Outside Nanyang City, Sun Chuanting led the army to attack Li Yan's anti-thief camp, and when he was about to break through the camp, he was attacked by the defenders of Nanyang City.

"The minister was incompetent and did not notice in time that the defenders of Nanyang had defected. At that time, the defenders of Nanyang sent an army to enter the minister's camp in the name of transporting grain and grass, and set fire to the minister's camp, and the other defender approached the battlefield in the name of helping our army attack the enemy, and brazenly attacked me from behind, and the thief army took the opportunity to kill from the camp, and our army suffered from the enemy on its back and fell into an entangled battle, and the power of firearms could not be exerted. At this time, the camp was on fire, and the soldiers were demoralized when they saw that the camp was attacked, and the ministers had to lead them to evacuate the battlefield.

In this battle, our army suffered more than 5,000 casualties, and the artillery, grain, grass and baggage were all lost, and the minister could only lead his troops to withdraw to Xuzhou. The traitor Li Yan took the opportunity to support Zhu Yujian, the king of the Tang Dynasty, as the prisoner of the country, and announced that he would go on a northern expedition to Jingjing and attack Beijing. The minister has just been defeated, and considering that from Henan to Beijing Pingchuan, there are not many imperial army in Pingchuan, and the strength of the Beijing division Xuanda has also been emptied, if the thieves go north, then the northern provinces are in danger, Beijing is in danger, and I am afraid that the whole north will be in chaos.

Therefore, the minister had to ask for orders, guarding in Xuzhou, Ruzhou, blocking the way for the thieves to go north, and he was no longer able to follow the order to go south to Jiangxi. The defeat in this battle was caused by the negligence of the ministers, and the ministers made a mistake for His Majesty, and all the blame was borne by the ministers. I also hope that His Majesty Haihan. The criminal minister Sun Chuanting bowed his head and wept and worshipped. ”

Zhu Youzhen threw away the battle report and said angrily: "Sun Chuanting mistakenly died, it's damned!" ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't believe that the elite of the 30,000 Praetorian Guards, 30,000 who could fight with Jiannu and the elite of the Praetorian Guards, who were able to suppress the Mongols, were defeated by some mud legs who had just picked up arms! What is this Sun Chuanting eating?

"Inspector Sun is too careless!" Wang Chengen picked up the battle report from the ground and sighed.

"He is not only careless, but too proud, forgetting the truth that arrogant soldiers will be defeated!" Zhu Youzhen said angrily.

Since sending troops to the Hetao to suppress Mongolia, Sun Chuanting has got rid of the previous stigma, and his reputation has skyrocketed. I'm afraid it also made Sun Chuanting proud, so he was defeated.

Even if Sun Chuanting was a little vigilant against the Nanyang defenders, he would not fail, because whether it was the Nanyang defenders or Li Yan's red turban thieves, their combat effectiveness was far from that of the Praetorian Guards.

"Where is Zhang Shize?" Zhu Youzhen asked coldly.

"I just received a battle report, and its vanguard is only thirty miles away from Guazhou." Wang Chengen replied.

"Order Yuan Keli to organize the river boat and take Zhang Shize's troops across the river as soon as possible." Zhu Youzhen said.

Sun Chuanting can't count on it, but fortunately, Zhang Shize is here, Zhang Shize's thousands of elites, plus 80,000 peasant soldiers in Zhenjiang, may not be able to defeat the anti-thieves in Nanjing!

ps: The plot is really grinding, and the pace will be quickened later.