My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

The manager smiled and said, "We have so many children in our primary school, and many of their parents don't own land, or their land is meager, and they'd like to work on the farm. If you're willing, you can sign a contract with us, and parents of children attending our primary school will have priority to work on your farm. How about that?"

These local gentry owned a lot of land, but the recent troubles have been too great, and their lands are now left unattended, so they are naturally eager to have them.

But to agree so readily would be a blatant slap in the face to the other nobles, wouldn't it? After all, they are one entity.

Seeing this, the steward added, "Of course, if you're unwilling, that's fine too. But your fields can't wait. Sigh, our young lady can't stand seeing fields lying fallow. She's been wanting to talk to other families about this for a while now. Originally, seeing that you came first, I wanted to give you the opportunity..."

These words immediately changed the situation. The gentry were calculating in their minds: there were only so many workers, and if their own land was left to lie fallow, they would lose a major source of income in the future.

We can't let others take advantage of us.

Immediately someone said, "I'm willing, we can sign this agreement right now."

Once it happened, it happened again, and they all signed contracts. The manager then approached many more villagers, even those whose children hadn't been enrolled in school this year.

However, it takes time for the emperor to cultivate the land, so they were naturally happy to have ready-made fields.

The other nobles and gentry, seeing their companions get there first, felt betrayed and were extremely unhappy. But they had no choice but to bite the bullet and hurry to the primary school to sign contracts with the Si family steward.

Despite all this turmoil, the nobles and gentry seemed unchanged. However, the reputation of their primary schools had actually grown even stronger. And their schools, in particular, had lost nearly half their former student population.

This was only the first year. By the second year, the number of students had dropped to only three-tenths of what it used to be. By the third year, several noble schools had already closed down.

Several noble families gathered together and sighed, "Our commotion three years ago seemed to have made the primary school famous, but it was a complete loss. So many children, that adds up to hundreds of taels of silver a year, and it's all gone just like that."

"Even if we don't cause trouble, they don't spend money on primary school education. How can we compare to them, right?"

"How can we compare? I have two children in my Gong family school who are going to take the county examination. Once they pass, they will become students. Our children all come from good families, and their elders are quite talented. They can't be bad. The children in those primary schools are all from ordinary people or merchant families. What kind of future can they achieve?"

These words brought a sigh of relief to everyone, who felt they made a lot of sense. They were running a proper school, aiming to cultivate future pillars of the nation through the imperial examinations.

It's not like what the "quality education" primary schools say—that they're going to cultivate agricultural, industrial, or scientific talents. They make it sound nice, but aren't they just farming or doing business?

Not much use.

Before they knew it, the day of the county examination arrived. The teacher of the primary school led several children under the age of ten to the examination.

It did attract quite a few onlookers.

"These two children look so young, yet they were sent here for the exam?"

The Master smiled and said, "I don't expect them to pass the exam. The main thing is to prepare them and let them know what the exam is like."

A bystander scoffed, "You elementary school kids, I heard they're always playing and fooling around, never studying properly. It's a wonder they can pass the exams. On the other hand, the students from those other schools are sure to pass this year."

The youngest child taking the exam at the school was thirteen years old, and he looked much more mature than the elementary school children.

The teacher did not argue, but said to the children he had brought, "You are the first batch of children from our primary school to take the exam. You must remember that this is mainly for training, to give you a sense of what to expect, and not to be impatient for quick success. You are all very good. You have only studied for three years. It is normal if you do not pass the exam. We will apply again next year."

Upon hearing this, the teachers from those schools curled their lip in disdain, feeling that educating the primary school was a way of giving everyone a heads-up, indicating that their children were indeed not outstanding.

Besides this county, other counties that have established primary schools are also seeing children taking exams.

Si Yunxia was already fifteen years old, a young lady, and she was quite nervous, asking Si Muyan.

"Aunt, how many of our children will be able to become students this time?"

Si Muyan smiled and said, "I said long ago that I don't expect them to pass on the first try. I just want them to take the test and get a feel for the situation. It's also to understand the basic abilities of our students."

"But if our students pass the exam, they can redeem themselves!"

Si Muyan laughed heartily: "He's just a student who passed the preliminary exam. How can he possibly redeem himself? Believe it or not, even if many of our children pass the exam, people will still say, 'He's just a student who passed the preliminary exam. He should be able to pass the county-level exam.'"

Si Yunxia pouted unhappily.

Si Muyan said, "Don't think too much about it. You studied at the girls' academy for a year. How did it feel?"

Over the past year, with Si Muyan's support, the second sister has also established girls' schools in various places. Girls' schools are different from primary schools; they correspond to county schools in different regions and belong to the official schools.

The students in the women's college were all women, and they could participate in scientific expeditions just like the men.

Of course, the first batch of women's colleges have not yet reached the point of taking exams, so the specific level is unknown at this time.

Si Yunxia said, "Of course I've studied very well. If I take the exam this year, I might be able to pass and become a Xiucai. But Mother said that the matter of boys and girls taking the exam together has not yet been discussed, and all the great scholars in the capital are against it. It's really troublesome."

Si Muyan said, "Everything is difficult at the beginning, but we must find a way to solve it."

On the day the county examination results were released, the parents of the children who took the exam this year were not particularly excited and crowded around to see the list.

Especially the children in the primary school, those few children were recommended by the teachers to take the exam, and their elders were all ordinary farmers. Their ancestors were all people who toiled in the fields from dawn till dusk. Their original intention in sending their children to school was simply to let them learn to read so that they could work in the Si family's trading company in the future.

They never imagined that their own child would become a student of the Imperial Academy.

After all, before them, it was quite remarkable for a village in a county to have one or two people become students who passed the imperial examinations. Moreover, most of those who could become students must have had ancestors who were scholars who passed the county-level imperial examinations.

So they had no intention of looking at the rankings at all.

But when busybodies had nothing better to do, they saw the list and their eyes widened in amazement. They then returned and spread the news far and wide.

"Old Li, Old Li, your son passed the exam! He passed the exam!"

Old Li was in the vegetable garden removing pests from his vegetables when he heard this, and he couldn't believe it: "What? In my house? You must be mistaken!"

"Not only your son won, but the chubby girl from the Hai family at the edge of the village won too!"

"What? Fatty, a little girl, can win?"