Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Hearing this, Xie Jin nodded in agreement. "If he can abandon his wife who has shared his hardships just for the sake of wealth, then when faced with huge bribes in the future, he will probably treat the people under his rule like grass and abuse them."

"That's the truth." Ye Qingzhi nodded.

"There can be no love in marriage, but there must be responsibility. If you can't treat your wife well from beginning to end even though she has given birth to your children and taken care of your parents, then this person has no sense of responsibility and no moral character."

Xie Jin thought for a while and decided that in the future, family relationships should be included in the evaluation of officials. If someone has a chaotic private life and corrupt character, how can he be qualified to be an official!

"Your Majesty, in a few years, when our country's productivity level is further improved and the social division of labor is further refined, giving many women job opportunities and allowing women to go out and earn money, I think we can promote monogamy. What do you think?"

Ye Qingzhi took this opportunity to speak again.

In ancient times, marriage often meant the loss of independent economic status for women, and women became appendages of men.

Of course, women have no economic rights when they are born, let alone inheritance rights. The three obediences and four virtues of ancient times are not just talk.

Even though noble women had generous dowries, and it was generally recognized that dowries were the exclusive property of women, this was not the case in reality.

This is the case for the wife, not to mention the concubines. Nowadays, concubines have no human rights and are just commodities.

Now that Ye Qingzhi has the ability, she wants to make some changes to the system in this area. First, she would make taking concubines illegal, prohibit the open trafficking of women, and require monogamy.

In fact, even in modern society with its monogamous system, the existing marriage concepts still exploit women.

These words were not said by Ye Qingzhi, but by Engels.

Because men can get a woman into their family through marriage, thereby obtaining a free labor force to take on the main housework and share the economic pressure of survival, while women also have to bear most of the cost of raising children.

This inequality situation has improved compared to the past.

But for full-time mothers who have lost their economic power, the cruel truth is that they are gradually losing their voice in the family and their needs are being ignored.

Xie Jin nodded and said, "We can consider implementing this system in three to five years. I will set an example and stop selecting candidates."

Ye Qingzhi heard the subtle intention in his words, and immediately smiled and hugged him and kissed him hard, "Your Majesty is right! I am so lucky to have you."

Xie Jin smiled and hugged her.

It is also a blessing to have a loved one who understands you.

-

Two days later, the results of the palace examination were announced. Ye Junyi was stunned to see that he was chosen as the third place. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yes, he was indeed the third place!

Ye Junyi touched his handsome little face and thanked his mother in his heart for giving birth to such a handsome man. He made him look so beautiful when he smiled and bewitched his brother-in-law, the emperor.

Of course, his position as the third place in the imperial examination was inseparable from the pillow talk of his sister, the imperial concubine. Alas, sister, you have worked hard. I will keep it in mind and repay you in the future.

He also wants to thank Lord Song. Without his careful teaching, he would not have been able to write such a profound and meaningful article, and he would not have forgotten to flatter the emperor's brother-in-law.

……

After standing in front of the imperial edict for less than a moment, Ye Junyi had already completed his acceptance speech in his mind, but he really couldn't say this speech out loud.

"Brother Ye, congratulations!"

"Tanhua Lang, you have to treat us!"

The other students who were looking at the list around congratulated Ye Junyi one after another. They all had big smiles on their faces and looked genuinely happy for him.

"Thank you, thank you! Let's go to my Zhuangyuan Restaurant now. Everyone can eat and drink as much as they want. It's all free." Ye Junyi immediately said with a smile.

Everyone cheered, and many followed Ye Junyi, because they would go to the palace to thank the emperor tomorrow, and there would also be a parade and other activities.

"Tsk tsk, Brother Zhang Fang, you are the top scholar, but you are not as popular as him, the third place scholar." After Ye Junyi and his group left, several students who stayed behind spoke up.

"Her sister is the Imperial Consort, favored by the Emperor, so of course everyone wants to curry favor with her. For poor students like us, it will be difficult to get by if we can't save our dignity."

"Alas, I thought it would be different. The court has always been promoting that talent and knowledge should be used to judge merit, but there are still people who rely on nepotism to get to the top. This is so unfair and outrageous."

……

When Zhang Fang, the top scholar, heard this, he frowned and said righteously,

"The current emperor has taken a series of measures to break the rule of the aristocratic families, promote the virtuous, and give us poor students more opportunities to succeed.

Although Ye Junyi is indeed the younger brother of the Imperial Noble Consort, I have read the policy papers he wrote and I know that he does have real talent and knowledge.

If he performed well in the palace examination and the policy essays he wrote won the emperor's favor, and he was chosen as the third place in the imperial examination, it would be fair and just, and not the emperor's deliberate favoritism.

You haven't seen his test paper, but you made such assumptions and even got angry about his identity. This is really unwise. It shows that you don't look down on him, but are deeply jealous of him. "

Zhang Fang's words made the two students who had just been playing with Cricket and Ye Junyi suddenly feel ashamed and their faces turned red.

One of them, in shame and anger, turned around and left. Before leaving, he said that Zhang Fang was a hypocrite, a false benevolent and righteous man, and he didn't believe that he was not jealous or something.

The other person was impressed by Zhang Fang's tolerance and self-restraint. He bowed to him and said seriously,

"Brother Zhang Fang's words have enlightened me and made me realize my own shallowness. Please accept my respect."

"Brother Han Shuo is able to admit his mistakes generously. I admire your courage even more." Zhang Fang also bowed to him with a slight smile on his face.

What he did immediately made Han Shuo feel more comfortable, and also made the people around him appreciate his character even more.

This top scholar has something special!

Ye Qingzhi and Xie Jin heard all the arguments of these people and Zhang Fang's words and actions.

Ye Qingzhi had nothing to do, so she wanted to come and see the imperial edict in person and experience the joy of having her family on the list, but this kind of thing always requires a companion to talk to.

It would be boring for me.

However, after checking her circle of friends, I found out that the Ninth Princess had gone to fight with the army, and Ling Yue was still in confinement after giving birth, and it would take several more days before she was released.

After all, the queen is also a leader, and it’s not easy to drag her out to do such things.

Because of her status, everyone else was very cautious when talking to her, and she had a hard time, and was no better than herself.

So, before going out, Ye Qingzhi pulled the emperor out to make up the numbers.

Under the pretext of letting him fish for a while, change his mind, exercise his body, and also go on a secret visit to investigate the people's sentiments.

It's like killing two birds with one stone, it's a great win.

"Your Majesty, you made a good choice for the number one scholar." Ye Qingzhi whispered to Xie Jin.

"He is neither arrogant nor impatient, has a firm mind, is well-organized, and seems to know how to behave. He is not the kind of fool who is reckless."

Xie Jin also nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "Not bad, you didn't disappoint me. I just heard the people around him talking like that, and I was really afraid of being slapped in the face for choosing the wrong person."

Ye Qingzhi also laughed when she heard this. The emperor also had a heavy psychological burden.

After all, they are the emperor's disciples, and they were chosen by him. If he made the wrong choice, it would mean that he was blind.

"I wonder if this number one scholar is married?" Ye Qingzhi asked again, "If he is not married yet, with such a character, I would like to find a matchmaker for him."

"Oh? Who are you going to tell this to?" Xie Jin asked her.

"The eldest daughter of the Lin family in Anle Marquis's mansion calls me aunt, so I must give her some advice and find a man with good character and a bright future for her."

Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.

As the two were talking, there was another exciting scene. Someone came to catch the son-in-law from the list, and the one to be caught was the number one scholar.

The family that came here were relatives of the royal family. However, they did not hold important positions in the court, so they were just average among the relatives.

The people around started to make a fuss and pushed Zhang Fang forward to get on the carriage.

"Stop pushing! Oh, everyone, stop pushing! I already have a wife and children, I can't marry again, please don't arrest me again!" Zhang Fang was pushed and shoved by the crowd and was in a mess. His hair and clothes were messed up, and he could only shout loudly.

"You can divorce your wife and marry another one! Our master is a royal relative. If you marry my young lady, you can save yourself ten years of detours. It's such a simple path, but you still don't understand it!"

The housekeeper who came to arrest people pulled Zhang Fang's sleeve and spoke righteously.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd started to make a fuss, shouting that he should divorce his wife and marry another one. Ye Qingzhi frowned and became angry when he heard this.

Zhang Fang also showed anger. He pulled back his sleeves from the butler's hand, straightened his clothes, and said righteously,

"My wife gave birth to my children, took good care of my old mother, and worked hard to sew and mend clothes, saving money to support my studies and exams. If I abandon her immediately after passing the exam, ignoring our past kindness and only hoping to climb up the social ladder, I would be no different from an animal!"

"Good, good, good! The top scholar said it well!"

"The champion is a man of integrity and righteousness, a true gentleman!"

After listening to Zhang Fang's words, there were still more cheers from the crowd. Who wouldn't admire people and things that are true, kind, and beautiful!

"Not bad! Not bad!" Ye Qingzhi also praised with satisfaction, "Your Majesty, this number one scholar is the apple of your eye."

"Not bad." Xie Jin said, "I think he makes Qingqing very satisfied. Qingqing keeps praising him."

Ye Qingzhi,...

No way, my majesty, do you want to take a bite of this jealousy too?

Really served!

Ye Qingzhi grabbed Xie Jin's arm and pulled him away, and the exercise time ended.

Your Majesty, you'd better go back and read the memorials.

She still prefers a leader with a career mindset, and it’s enough for the love mindset to come out for a while.