The fierce peasant woman is busy farming

The sage sent him here to pretend, so now is definitely not a good time to find Master Cui and welcome him back to the court.

Perhaps next spring, the sage will clear away all obstacles for Master Cui to return to the court, and that will be a good time to find him.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yue smiled bitterly, wondering what Master Cui had been through.

His trip away from Beijing actually benefited his two children, as they received instruction from this great god for nothing.

I just don’t know who the two boys in the family will follow to continue their studies after Master Cui returns to Beijing.

I’m afraid that with Master Cui’s outstanding performance, it will be difficult for them to find such a good teacher.

Master Cui seemed to have seen through Zhou Yue's thoughts and continued:

"Don't worry, Zhou. If I return to Beijing, I will take these two children with me and recommend them to study in the Imperial College."

"But, studying at the Imperial College, although the teachers are good, they are not as good as..."

He is not as good as the old fox Mr. Cui.

He was the runner-up in the imperial examination that year and a veteran minister of three dynasties. If we don't say that he is extremely smart, we can only say that he is just a monkey if he has hair on him.

"No, no! You don't know that taking the imperial examination is not just about studying.

There are still many ways to go.

For example, if you want to be famous, the examiner, or a saint, will also be influenced by public opinion.

Also, you need to study what kind of articles and what kind of personalities the examiners of that year liked.

The articles you write and the essays you make should conform to the preferences of the sages and even more so the preferences of the examiners.

Otherwise, your test paper will not even be acceptable to them, let alone be presented to the saints for preview."

It turns out there are so many tricks.

Zhou Yue is a product of the college entrance examination assembly line. In her era, the examinations were more scientific and fair.

The essay only accounts for a small part, and the rest are mostly objective questions, which are graded by machines and are not affected by the subjective influence of the examiner.

Although the college entrance examination essay is marked subjectively, it still requires several people to look at the paper together.

It needs to go through several procedures for review.

Although there were such regulations in the imperial examinations at that time, there was a tacit understanding among officials.

The chief examiner will write "good" or "keep" on the article he likes. The other deputy examiners will basically not refute it unless they have a grudge against the chief examiner.

In this case, it is important to know the examiner in advance and study his preferences and style.

And Taixue, as the highest institution of learning in the country, had people who specialized in this.

Students just need to close the door and read the books of sages.

The Imperial College has its own connections to achieve this goal.

In this situation, it is fairer to the students in the Imperial College, but very unfair to other students from other places.

This is also why students from aristocratic families may receive their education in the clan schools in their hometowns when they are young.

But when the child reaches a certain age, if the family sees that the child has good potential, they will send the child to Beijing.

He was looked after and taught by the elders in his family who were officials in Beijing, and with the help of these officials, he was sent to the Imperial Academy to study.

Another point is that in addition to learning knowledge beyond books, the teachers in the Imperial Academy are all great scholars of the time.

Many of them were either retired officials from various ministries, or current officials, or even deputy prime ministers and officials from the six ministries of the current dynasty.

These gentlemen will be of great benefit to students in their future careers as officials.

After all, there is an old saying: It is easy to be an official if you have someone in the court.

These important officials of the court would take a liking to a student while teaching, and say a good word or two about him when appointing him. For the students, that would be a crucial moment that changed their destiny.

The last point is classmates.

These classmates either have powerful families or are well-educated, and will become important officials in the court in the future.

These people are the students’ connections.

It cannot be said that one’s future career will be decided by these people, but at least they will have a great influence.

After listening to Master Cui's introduction to the current imperial examination system, Zhou Yue immediately wanted Xuan Mo to study at the Imperial Academy in Beijing.

Xuan Mo really wanted to pass the imperial examination and become an official, he wanted to surpass his biological father.

Jun Mo has no desires or requests, and no special ideas. Of course, he is still young.

When he is older in the future, Zhou Yue will ask for his own opinion.

We’ll talk about the future in the future.

The most urgent matter is when Master Cui will return to Beijing and when he can take Xuan Mo to Beijing to study.

Zhou Yue doesn’t need to worry about those things. What she needs to worry about most is making more money.

Whether it is studying, taking exams, or entering officialdom in the future, Xuan Mo needs a lot of money to pave the way.

Thinking about this, Zhou Yue thought of a question.

During the time she spent with Zhao Shouzhong, she roughly understood what Zhao Shouzhong had not yet said.

He wanted to win over Zhou Yue to go to Beijing to do business, and to form a partnership with Princess Ning.

But Zhou Yue knew nothing about Princess Ning.

The reason she came back this time was to spend the Laba Festival with her parents.

Secondly, I wanted to find Master Cui to ask about the situation of Princess Ning.

Cui Renjie hesitated for a moment and said, "You two can form a partnership.

Although the Ning Palace is in decline, it is still a big tree compared to you who have no background in Beijing.

You have just arrived in Beijing to do business, and you have no one to back you up. It is like a child with gold in his arms, which is very dangerous.

Zhou Yue nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, I originally thought that we could rely on your power..."

“No, although I have some prestige, officials cannot engage in business and compete with the people for profits. This is the rule established by Emperor Gaozu of the Dahui Dynasty.

Although I have retired, these rules still apply to me. I cannot engage in business.

I am old and afraid of nothing, but I still have a family behind me, and my younger generations hold many positions in the court.

It would be bad if they were dragged down by me."

"Oh? Then what about Princess Ning?"

"It's okay for Princess Ning, she's a woman and doesn't belong to the official system.

Although as a member of the royal family she was not allowed to engage in business, one of her original dowries included a shop.

There is nothing wrong with her managing her own dowry.

Besides, as the residence of imprisoned criminals, their Ning Wang Mansion is not allowed to engage in politics, but can't they also allow them to do some business and kill time?

It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Zhou Yue breathed a sigh of relief and began to understand a little bit about the twists and turns and complicated intricacies of Beijing.

It seems that asking Master Cui for advice was the right move.

In the future, when you live and do business in Beijing, you must be more careful. Otherwise, if you are not careful, you may become cannon fodder and die without knowing how.

But even though we know there is a tiger in the mountain, we still go there.

For the sake of her children's future, Zhou Yue would sooner or later have to go to Beijing, the most prosperous metropolis in the world, to do business.

To make money from the rich and powerful.

Thinking of the future wealth and prosperity, Zhou Yue was full of energy and did not feel cold even in this coldest month of the year.