1374 Poem Sword

The Li family had originally been an ordinary family, but it had now become a famous family within Great Qin. Virtually no one dared to offend it, and very few families held as much power as it did.

Now, Great Qin indeed had countless large families and some large families declined and became weaker and weaker. On the other hand, some families rose up and became famous families within Great Qin and obtained great power.

Now, the situation in Great Qin had more or less stabilized. Great Qin's more powerful families would most likely remain powerful families.

Things were no longer as chaotic as during the earlier days and had settled down. Back then, everyone had opportunities to quickly rise up; anyone with power could easily change their fate.

Moreover, during those days, one could challenge large families, lords, or even rulers. Because things were so chaotic, there were many opportunities.

However, now that the situation had stabilized, even though Great Qin held Imperial Examinations, the opportunities had reduced by nearly 70%.

The world had been unified, so the large families no longer had to fight nor was there any internal chaos. Many of them held power and only needed to focus on developing.

They became more and more powerful every day, and ordinary people had no chance in surpassing them. They could only submit under them; those large families' positions could not be shaken.

It was possible that families that occupied low positions would continue like this for many generations, while those who occupied high positions would always remain in those positions. Zhao Fu could not change this, because this was part of the empire developing. Zhao Fu could only do his best to give the ordinary people opportunities.

As such, Zhao Fu did not help the female Ministers who were being suppressed. Zhao Fu had given them opportunities, and the rest was up to them.

Under this kind of pressure, the female side had performed quite well. From what Zhao Fu had heard, many commoner women had formed their own organizations.

One of the organizations that talented women made was called the Washing Flower Pavilion. Many women adept at medicine formed the Celestial Doctor Residence. Some women who were skillful and liked investigating things made the School of Niftiness, and some women who enjoyed dancing made Dream Dance.

Many organizations formed by women started to appear, and there were many of them. Some were made up of a few people and some numbered in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

However, this made many men displeased, as they felt that the women were being too flamboyant and should be more reserved. They could not tolerate them doing as they pleased and disregarding men.

Because of this, many men made their own organizations to suppress the female organizations while also proclaiming the grandness of men.

The most famous one was an organization that targeted the Washing Flower Pavilion, and it was called Poem Sword. It was made up of many talented men and they often fought with the Washing Flower Pavilion. However, they only fought with words and never used violence.

However, both of these organizations continued to increase in number and the scales of their battles became larger and larger. Once, a rabble of hundreds of thousands of people had exploded out, forcing the government to send soldiers to intervene. Only then did they become more well-behaved, not daring to continue acting like that.

After hearing about this Imperial Examination, many people from both organizations participated, wanting to obtain victory there. The women from the Washing Flower Pavilion not only wanted to best the Poem Sword's men, but they also understood that the female Ministers were at a disadvantage in the Imperial Court. Even though His Majesty supported gender equality, it would be difficult for women to rise up in the Imperial Court.

They embraced their ideals, wanting to use their power to change Great Qin in order to make it a better place for women.

The men from Poem Sword not only wanted to defeat the women from the Washing Flower Pavilion, but they also wanted to change Great Qin, obtain the power to reign above others, and support Great Qin to make it an eternal empire.

Apart from these two clashing organizations, there were some neutral organizations that acted more harmoniously.

There were also some people from large families who were all quite exceptional. The Imperial Examination was an opportunity for their families to receive even more glory, so they were very proactive in participating. The disciples of the Hundred Schools of Thought also participated with such aspirations.

Because of the factions behind them, the people from the large families and Hundred Schools of Thought naturally received more attention from Great Qin and were more famous than most other talents.

This was the current situation in Great Qin. The younger people were more rambunctious while the older people were steadier and calmer. They were not only interested in Great Qin's inner affairs but also in the things on the outside.

Everything they had was built on Great Qin, and if Great Qin collapsed, everything they had would crumble as well.

The older people did not care much for the young people making a din; they just wanted to provide a good environment for their growth and make Great Qin even more powerful. Only then would they be safe and obtain more power.

Of course, whether they were the older people or younger people, Civil Ministers or Generals, or the male Minsters or female Ministers, they all had to lower their heads and worship Zhao Fu. Zhao Fu was the sovereign of Great Qin and controlled everything in Great Qin.

The various Ministers recommended to Zhao Fu the people they favored. If they made an impression on Zhao Fu, they had the possibility of obtaining a position in the future.

Even though Li Muqing did not like this, she understood the heavy burden on herself. Without her support, it would be difficult for women in Great Qin to step into the center of power. They would forever live in the shadow of men and would be unable to obtain true equality.

There were also many female Generals but they were not too concerned about this and would not help the ordinary women. In fact, most did not care about their lives or deaths. Even if they became pets of men, they would not object too much.

Li Muqing could only do her best to recommend to Zhao Fu the people who she favored in order to increase the strength of the faction of female Ministers. Perhaps they would have more resistance in the future and would not have to live so subserviently.

Zhao Fu sat on his throne and did not say anything, nor did he feel annoyed. He felt that there was much that he did not know, and he could learn a lot from them.

At the same time, Zhao Fu tried to keep an eye out for the talents who were recommended; the prosperity of the empire would rely on these people.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the afternoon and the results of the Imperial Examination were out. The top ten people were watched with gazes of admiration and worship as they were brought before Zhao Fu and they respectfully kneeled.