Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1273

Chapter 1273: Chapter 1268: Sarcasm and Ridicule

Bai Qingyan discovered many capable individuals, including Lu Jin’s daughter Lu Baohua and Commandant Lu’s granddaughter... naturally, there were also a few extraordinary Han Shu.

For this imperial examination, Bai Qingyan’s questions required these students, who were selected layer by layer and are well-versed in knowledge, to discuss the pros and cons of the newly implemented reforms... the military merit system, farmland distribution system, water conservation projects, and the establishment of schools allowing women to participate in the imperial exams, among other new policies, and to propose solutions or share their insights on the new policies without restrictions.

Perhaps reaching this stage of the imperial examination, many wished to impress the Empress Dowager with flowery and brilliant essays, thus tirelessly praising Bai Qingyan’s new policies, eager to present new ways to extol them.

Yet Bai Qingyan designed such topics precisely to truly find talented and capable officials who could accomplish practical tasks. Naturally... Bai Qingyan also needed scholars with high literary achievements, as revising books was vital for Zhou.

What surprised Bai Qingyan the most was Master Tan’s granddaughter, Tan Yaozhong. Born into the Tan family, Bai Qingyan did not doubt Tan Yaozhong’s scholarly background, but she was astonished that Tan Yaozhong inherited Master Tan’s indomitable spirit.

Tan Yaozhong pinpointed several issues in her examination paper, highlighting Bai Qingyan’s new policies were implemented too hastily, and drawing upon historical references to illustrate her points. She then proposed her insights, providing incisive solutions that were remarkably appropriate.

Another notable candidate was Bai Qingyan’s acquaintance... Xue Renyi.

Although Xue Renyi was somewhat pedantic, he answered well the questions Bai Qingyan entrusted to his mother to bring.

His writing was precise, and besides mentioning measures to encourage farming after distributing land to the people, based on the "Farmer’s Law," he suggested that since Bai Qingyan could establish schools to teach literacy, schools could also be set up to teach farming techniques, thus potentially increasing crop yields.

He also openly pointed out that Bai Qingyan had not implemented strong measures for official assessments. Although subtle in the royal court, factionalism was rampant.

He also addressed the issue of women in official positions facing challenges with childbirth after marriage, potentially becoming counterproductive if holding high power, and if successors are trained too early, they might realize they can replace the current official, breeding many sinister plans.

Xue Renyi was the first and only candidate willing to bring up the intrigues and power struggles in the royal court front and center, his exam paper ending with an air of wanting to say more.

Upon reading Xue Renyi’s paper and recalling Xue Renyi’s past effort to rally scholars for justice by exposing the exam fraud, Lu Jin laughed and said... this Xue Renyi is born to be an Imperial Censor, daring to say anything.

After reviewing Xue Renyi’s paper, Bai Qingyan had Mrs. Dong appoint Xue Renyi as the Top Scholar.

The Second Place Scholar was Commandant Lu’s granddaughter, Lu Fenglang. Lu Fenglang was, as her name suggests... the phoenix among men, her mind already encompassing the whole world, already considering how Zhou should deal with the Yan Kingdom after conquering Xiliang.

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