I

The prince's wedding was earlier than Zhang Tingxun's search for a wife in the north.

In March of spring, one hundred girls from all over the country took the cultural examination at the Bureau of Ceremonies.

This news caused a sensation in the capital, and the people in Nanjing were talking a lot. They all thought it was strange that the crown princess needed to take an exam. As word spread, the most direct result was that the dropout rate of girls in Jinling Prefecture was reduced.

The lower-class people who had their daughters drop out of school after learning a little about reading and writing gradually felt that they should let their daughters graduate from elementary school.

Jiang Yuan is from Shandong and successfully passed the written examination.

The first round of interviews was very fast. That means measuring height and weight, and eliminating those who are too tall, too short, too fat, or too thin.

The second round of interviews was obviously much stricter. The female officials in charge of the ceremonial department carefully inspected the facial features, skin, hair, voice, and manners of the candidates for the crown princess.

These two rounds of re-examinations followed the rules of the Ming Dynasty.

If placed in the Ming Dynasty, after these stages, only 2,000 people would be eliminated (the total number of candidates was 5,000).

The next step, which is more intimate, requires stripping and inspection.

In the end, there were 50 people left, and they were taken to the Queen Mother or Empress, and 3 people were selected and handed over to the emperor for approval.

The new Datong Dynasty has actually saved a lot of procedures. When Queen Fei Rulan personally selected, there were only 25 candidates left.

Jiang Yuan stood in the crowd, feeling quite uneasy.

When she saw the queen walking towards her, she tried her best to smile, but in fact her facial muscles were already stiff. The queen observed her carefully, then walked past her, and returned to her seat at some point.

One after another, candidates came forward to talk to the queen.

"Du Ruowei, a folk girl, pays homage to the Queen. The folk girl is from Xichong, Sichuan, and graduated from Xichong County Middle School. My father is a merchant in the county..." A girl stepped forward, saluted and introduced herself.

Fei Rulan asked: "What are your daily hobbies?"

The girl replied: "Read, paint, and write poetry."

Fei Rulan asked again: "What kind of books do you read, what kind of paintings do you make, and what kind of poems do you write?"

The girl became nervous and spoke less fluently: "Back to the Queen, the daughter of the people... the daughter of the people reads the "Four Books of Women", makes flower-and-bird paintings, and writes landscape poems."

"No other preference?" Fei Rulan asked again.

The girl replied: "I also learned needlework from my mother and have some embroidery skills."

I don't know how long it took, but finally it was Jiang Yuan's turn: "Jiang Yuan, a daughter of the common people, pays homage to the Queen. The daughter of the common people is from Anqiu, Shandong. Her father is originally from Zhejiang, and her mother is from Jiangsu. They are both immigrants from the New Dynasty..."

Fei Rulan asked: "They are either reading books and painting, or they are women making textiles. Are you the same?"

Jiang Yuan replied: "As for the empress, my mother doesn't know how to be a female prostitute, and she has never taught civilian girls such skills. In addition to studying, civilian girls can... also raise pigs, groom pigs and make wine."

As soon as this statement came out, the other candidates all pursed their lips and suppressed laughter.

Fei Rulan became interested: "Oh, how do you raise pigs?"

Jiang Yuan said: "The parents of the civilian girl immigrated to Shandong and were allocated fields. In addition to wheat, they also grew some sorghum. Sorghum is a good thing. Sorghum stalks can be fed to donkeys, sorghum can be used to make wine, and the distiller's grains are used to feed pigs."

"How can you, a woman, learn to ride a pig?" Fei Rulan asked.

Jiang Yuan said: "My family originally hired someone to groom pigs, but my father thought it was not worthwhile, so he learned the skill of grooming pigs himself. One day, my father fell ill and was bedridden for more than two months. My mother wanted to hire a pig grooming craftsman, and the daughter of the common people volunteered. The knife castrated the pig. It's actually very simple. Press down on the piglet and a small bump will bulge. Then use the knife to gently cut it open, then squeeze the thing out and cut it off."

"Pfft!"

Among the candidates for the Crown Princess present, some suddenly couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

Others were blushing upon hearing this, as if it was a very shameful thing to groom a pig.

Fei Rulan couldn't help laughing and asked, "How dare you say such a disgraceful thing? Aren't you afraid of losing the election because of it?"

Jiang Yuan replied: "When the queen asks, I dare not hide it."

Fei Rulan said: "Listening to what you said, my family must be extremely poor."

Jiang Yuan replied: "Thanks to Your Majesty's great kindness, the family of a civilian girl is not difficult. My parents work hard. They have more than ten acres of land and raise more than 60 pigs, three donkeys, and more than 20 chickens. They are still in the town. I opened a brewery. The brewery was so busy that I hired four assistants. Most of the people in the town are immigrants, and the daughter’s family is considered wealthy.”

Some girls from wealthy families found it even more ridiculous that farmers who farmed, raised pigs, and made wine dared to call themselves rich in front of the queen.

Unexpectedly, Fei Rulan actually nodded in approval: "Your parents moved to a different place and were empty-handed. It is extremely rare to be able to build such a family business. I believe that all of us in your family are down-to-earth and hard-working people."

Jiang Yuan said: "My father often taught me that a person should be down-to-earth and hard-working. My mother also often said that both men and women should strive for success. As a folk girl, we have two younger sisters and one younger brother, all of whom are studying, and our parents also encourage us to study. "

"A diligent and simple family will definitely have a prosperous family business in the future." Fei Rulan sighed.

After working for a long time, the queen completed the interviews with all 25 candidates and announced on the spot: "Qiao Wuhua, Zhu Junmo, and Jiang Yuan, the three of you will stay. The other women will be given gold and silver and returned to their places of origin."

This result is quite unexpected.

Qiao Wuhua and Zhu Junmo both attended Imperial City School, and they are already quite a bit older.

Moreover, Zhu Junmo is tall and tall, and when he measured his height, it was exactly the same as the qualified value. It was obvious that the qualifying height value had been changed for her.

Many candidates speculated that these two people must be the ones the prince likes if they can go all the way.

So everyone tacitly agreed to compete for the last spot.

Who would have imagined that he would be snatched away by a farm girl who grooms pigs?

"Mother, I want to report you!" A girl suddenly stood up and knelt on the ground as if she wanted to report someone.

Fei Rulan looked unkind and asked, "Which one do you want to report?"

The girl pointed at Jiang Yuan: "Her maternal grandmother is a Yangzhou thin horse. Her mother used to be a concubine, a nun and a courtesan! She cannot be a princess with such a background."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan looked blank, obviously unaware of his elder's past.

Fei Rulan asked, "How do you know this?"

The girl explained: "My father was originally from a prominent family in Hangzhou. When the imperial court split up the family, my father moved to Shandong. He lived with Jiang Yuan in Anqiu County in the town next to her home. Jiang Yuan's mother's real name was Feng Xuanxuan, and her nickname was Xiao Qing. Her maternal grandfather was the magistrate of Guangling County, Yangzhou Prefecture in the previous dynasty. Her maternal grandmother was a Yangzhou thin horse given by a wealthy businessman. Her grandfather's family fell into decline, so he sold her mother to a wealthy businessman in Hangzhou as a concubine. The biggest among the wealthy businessmen The woman was jealous and kicked her mother out of the house to become a nun! She said she was a nun, but she was actually a prostitute!"

"A folk girl dare not speak nonsense, and everyone in Hangzhou knew it at this time. Her mother also wrote many poems, one of which is the most famous one about Gu Ying's self-pity: The new makeup actually competes with the painted pictures, who knows who is in Zhaoyang. The thin shadow comes to spring water Please take pity on me and I will pity you."

This young girl had obviously been prepared for this, probably from her parents at home.

If Jiang Yuan loses the election, nothing will be mentioned. If Jiang Yuan was elected, he would report him on the spot and even memorize Jiang Yuan's mother's old poems.

After listening to the poem, Fei Rulan was basically sure that it was true. Even if she made a false accusation, it would be impossible to compile such a good poem.

"Is she telling the truth?" Fei Rulan asked.

After the initial confusion, Jiang Yuan calmed down and knelt down to answer: "The women of the people don't know about this. Even if it is true, the women of the people are not guilty of deceiving the emperor. Your Majesty preaches the theory of personality and advocates equality between men and women. Many prostitutes also made contributions to the new dynasty, and some even became officials. My mother followed the imperial decree and moved to Shandong to earn her own living. She was diligent and did nothing illegal. How could the people of the new dynasty sin against the people of the new dynasty by using the laws of the old dynasty? ?”

Fei Rulan was hesitant. She liked Jiang Yuan very much, but her life experience did not suit her.

But no matter what, this girl who jumped out to report definitely had no hope of becoming the crown princess, because she made Fei Rulan feel unhappy.

After thinking about it, Fei Rulan said, "Li Ruosu will stay too."

Li Ruosu, the daughter of a military general, was overjoyed when she heard this.

This is equivalent to selecting four crown princes, and Jiang Yuan must be the one with the lowest status.

The twenty-one girls who were unsuccessful left the Forbidden City in despair. I don’t know who spread the news, but within a few days, it spread to the streets of Nanjing.

Zhang Dai, who was in charge of Zhan Shifu and was the prince's nominal teacher, took the initiative to seek an audience with the emperor and empress.

"Do you know the truth?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhang Dai replied: "At the beginning, there was indeed a Feng Xiaoqing in Hangzhou who was put under house arrest by a lady and worked as a nun in Gushan. But this woman was not a prostitute. She only occasionally received celebrities and recited poems and lyrics together. And in order to avoid suspicion, she never stayed alone with men. Meeting. The name of prostitute is spread by the jealous lady."

Fei Rulan asked: "Why did you go to Shandong again?"

Zhang Dai said: "The new dynasty regained Zhejiang and ordered the unruly monks to return to secular life. Feng Xiaoqing took the opportunity to return to secular life and went to the government to request a divorce. She was the first concubine in Hangzhou to file a lawsuit for divorce, so she became well known in Hangzhou. Many The celebrity went to propose marriage and was willing to take her as his concubine, but Feng Xiaoqing married a slave of a wealthy pig-raising family in Gushan. The couple gave birth to a daughter, who should be the girl Jiang Yuan. Because of her tongue-chewing There were too many, and libertines often came to visit. After the Datong Army regained Shandong, the couple immigrated to Shandong with their daughters."

Historically, Feng Xiaoqing was forced to death by a doctor, and Zhang Dai even wrote an article to express regret.

After Zhao Han heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "She is also a strange woman."

Jiang Yuan's life experience is very clear. Her grandfather was the magistrate of Daming County, her grandmother was a thin horse from Yangzhou, her mother was married to a wealthy businessman as a concubine, and she was forced by his wife to leave the family and become a nun. The prostitute thing is pure slander. His biological father was just an honest slave in a pig-raising household. He took advantage of the establishment of the new dynasty to get rid of his slave status.

Zhao Han immediately decided: "This Jiang Yuan can be the crown prince's true concubine. Let the "Datong Monthly" publicize this matter so that everyone in the world knows that the new dynasty is here to help the poor!"

The mother of the crown prince's concubine was a nun who remarried as a concubine, and her father was a domestic slave.

Isn't this the most vivid and vivid example?

The new dynasty of Datong allowed countless women and domestic slaves to be reincarnated as human beings and gain a new life!