Chapter 1322: An Interview That Decides Everything for Life Is Really Hard!

The day of the interview had finally arrived.

The interview was held inside Moshan Academy. All the girls who had passed the second round and were qualified by bloodline to become Crown Princess had to attend the interview, and it was conducted personally by Zhu Cilang, the Emperor of the Great Ming.

Of course, the interview was worth only 100 points in total. If a girl's second-round score was not high enough, then even if Emperor Zhu gave her full marks, she still had no chance of becoming Crown Princess — though she did have a chance of becoming the consort of a vassal king.

Moreover, even if their interview scores were not high, these girls from the first cohort of Jinling Women's University were still extremely sought after. They were all intelligent enough, well educated, and in good physical condition, and they were classmates of the future Empress and even the future Empress Dowager of the Great Ming Empire.

The girls who truly had a chance of becoming Crown Princess were the "genius girls" ranked near the top, with total scores above 430 before the interview — only a little over thirty of them. Because the martial arts test scores had been added, the rankings had shifted again. First place was taken by Zheng Sen's daughter Zheng Min; second place went to Wei Zaode's daughter Wei Qingxiu; and Luo Dagong's daughter Luo Xiaohe fell to third. These three girls were undoubtedly the top favorites!

And Wu Guogui's daughter, the "Eight-Faced Guanyin" Wu Ahuan, was also formidable. In the martial arts test she outshone all others and took a perfect score of 100. With a total of 442 points she ranked nineteenth, and she too became a hot favorite.

Ding Yuying's performance in the martial arts test also made Emperor Zhu look at her with new respect. Although her martial arts score was not high — only 65 points — the others had all achieved their skills through long-term training, while she had crammed for it at the last minute. To get that score showed that her natural aptitude was not poor and her physical condition was excellent; she must exercise regularly.

Moreover, what the martial arts test displayed was not only martial skill, but also a girl's figure and physique. A frail, delicate beauty who could be blown over by the wind was not the kind of Crown Princess the great Emperor Zhu wanted. And once she put on the fitted archery jacket, the figure Ding Yuying revealed was truly quite good. Neither too tall nor too short, she looked very well-proportioned and taut, graceful and slender. Although she was not as curvaceous and alluring as Wu Ahuan, among all the girls taking the test she still counted as first-rate. Add to that her fair, fine skin and her delicate, charming features, and she was clearly an outstanding beauty. If she put some thought into it, she should be able to win Zhu Hexing's favor.

Another one who made Emperor Zhu look at her with new respect in the martial arts test was the Mongol girl named Ahai. This girl was not the sort of Mongol with a broad face and small eyes, but a girl from the Western Regions — the kind with a high nose bridge, large eyes, white skin, and a figure as alluring as Wu Ahuan's.

This Ahai's looks were actually not beneath the Eight-Faced Guanyin's! Of course, her martial arts were also on par with Wu Ahuan's — she scored 98, the second-highest mark.

If she and Wu Ahuan both ended up with the tycoon king, the tycoon king's romantic fortune and financial luck would both be off the charts!

The interview order was arranged by score, from high to low. The first to go on stage was the Zheng family's favored daughter, Zheng Min — a remarkably outstanding beauty, though somewhat petite, and not a great match standing next to a big lunk like Zhu Hexing.

But when Crown Prince Zhu Hexing, who was accompanying Emperor Zhu in interviewing the female university candidates, saw the little beauty Zheng, his face lit up with delight.

Zhu Cilang swept a glance at his son's expression from the corner of his eye and thought: If you pick her, you can look forward to daily mother-in-law and daughter-in-law wars!

After withdrawing his gaze, Emperor Zhu smiled at Zheng Min, who had just taken her seat, and said, "Min'er, you, We, and the Crown Prince have long known each other, and we are even related. We are all family here — no need to stand on ceremony."

Being family means a great chance! Zheng Min's heart leaped with joy, and she smiled, two little dimples appearing on her cheeks — so endearing!

Zhu Cilang glanced at his son again — the boy was practically drooling. How useless!

"Min'er, do you think that, for the state and the realm, the matter of empress dowagers holding court throughout the dynasties has brought more benefit than harm, or more harm than benefit?"

To actually ask such a question!

The moment Emperor Zhu's words left his mouth, not only Zheng Min but even Crown Prince Zhu Hexing was stunned!

How was she supposed to answer this? No matter how clever Zheng Min was, she was only ten? Wouldn't it be better to discuss the matter of an empress dowager acting as regent when the time came?

And she was a noble daughter of the Zheng family, with a vast political and commercial clan behind her. This question was very hard for her to answer!

"When government issues from the rear palace and a woman rules the realm, it is never a blessing for the state. Unless there is truly no one to whom the state can be entrusted, it is best not to resort to this last expedient."

A poor answer!

Zhu Hexing's heart went cold. With any other emperor, Zheng Min's answer would have been fine — perfectly standard. But Zhu Cilang thought differently. In his view, an empress dowager holding court was not a last expedient — otherwise he would not have used examinations to select a Crown Princess, nor would he have opened Jinling Women's University to train Crown Princesses and the future consorts of the vassal kings.

Zhu Cilang asked again: "We manage the privy purse and have accumulated wealth amounting to hundreds of millions, whereas the wise rulers of old mostly did not contend with the people for profit, nor did they manage private property; palace expenditures all came from the state treasury. Min'er, compared with the wise rulers of old, do you think what We do is superior or inferior?"

Another difficult question!

Zheng Min's heart sank straight down. Her grandfather was the richest man in the land, and the First Official Party Merchants Guild and the Royal Merchants Guild had cooperative relationships in many fields.

"That time was one thing; this time is another," Zheng Min replied. "The people governed by the wise rulers of old were simpler than the people of today, and the morals of the age were relatively pure, so a ruler could make no distinction between family and state and need not manage private property. But in today's world, although commerce and industry flourish, people's hearts have lost their simplicity. If a ruler has no private property at his disposal, it is no good thing either for the state or for himself."

A mediocre answer.

Zhu Cilang asked again: "Did you study military strategy at the women's school?"

"This humble one did."

"How were your results?"

"Very good."

Zhu Cilang nodded. "Then do you know why We wanted the students of the women's school to study military strategy?"

This question also caught Zheng Min off guard, and it was equally hard to answer. How could a young girl like Zheng Min know what was in Zhu Cilang's mind? If she answered wrong, Emperor Zhu would think her mind was not so sharp. If she answered right — had the Zheng family been studying Emperor Zhu's thoughts all along?

Zheng Min already knew her interview was doomed. She bit her red lips with her pearly teeth and cast a pleading look at Zhu Hexing. Zhu Hexing's brows were tightly knitted, and he seemed to be fretting too, but there was nothing he could do to help Zheng Min!

Because he also had no idea what his father was thinking.

Seeing that even her beloved was at a loss, Zheng Min had no choice but to steel herself and answer: "This humble one dares not presume to guess Your Majesty's thoughts. This humble one only knows that the students of Laoshan Women's School are all noble daughters, and in the future they will all bear noble sons for the Great Ming. Mastering some military learning is beneficial for educating their descendants, so that they may grow into capable commanders. The strength of noble sons is the strength of the Great Ming; the weakness of noble sons is the decline of the Great Ming."

That was a good answer! Zhu Cilang nodded. Although "all men are equal under the Son of Heaven" was China's political correctness, the authority of the central dynasty was in fact built on the military power of a group of military aristocrats directly subordinate to the central government and living near the capital!

And once the central military aristocracy lost its fighting strength, the central army would inevitably weaken, and the weakening of the central army meant the weakening of the central dynasty's authority. The Ming dynasty's inability to collect taxes was merely the fiscal manifestation of the central dynasty's weakened authority. If the Chongzhen Emperor had been able to rebuild a powerful central army during his seventeen years in power, would the local scholar-officials have dared refuse to pay taxes?

So all that fuss about "pacifying Liao in five years" after Chongzhen took the throne was fundamentally putting the cart before the horse. If the central army was not strong enough, even if the Guanning Army really could pacify Liao in five years, it would turn right around and usurp the Great Ming realm anyway!

(End of Chapter)