Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1295: Removing the dross and retaining the essence

In addition to the title he had been given not long ago, Gao Xiaowan also held the position of Shangcheng Fengyu in the Palace Province, which was a fifth-rank official position, so he was able to attend the court.

Last night, the emperor ordered the Secretariat to copy the document presented by Zu Ting and distribute it to various departments. Gao Xiaowan happened to stay in the direct province and wanted to learn from others why their Northern Qi dynasty fell, so he read it overnight. This time, he discovered a secret that was closely related to himself. He suppressed it all night, and this morning he saw Zu Ting also attending the court meeting, so he hurried forward to ask.

Zu Ting did not expect that the first person who showed great interest in his article was a former member of the Qi royal family. He felt more or less embarrassed as if he had been caught red-handed.

However, he had experienced embarrassing situations before, and he quickly recovered. He clasped his fists towards Gao Xiaowan and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Gao Fengyu. I have just been appointed as a minister and have been assigned to the court. After the court is dismissed, I have to return to my office to report on the affairs. I really dare not stay away from home."

Gao Xiaowan was disappointed when he heard this. Seeing Zu Ting turn around and leave, he stepped forward and grabbed Zu Ting's belt and asked quickly, "Although Zu Jun has no time to spare, there must be time for a few words. I would like to ask Zu Jun, is the scene of my father's death described in the book true? Was it really because the two thieves, Yang Zunyan and Cui Jishu, fled one after another that my father had no place to hide and was killed by the thieves?"

Zu Ting originally thought that Gao Xiaowan wanted to question him face to face because of the disparaging remarks about the Northern Qi regime and its people in his book. When he heard that Gao Xiaowan was only asking about the details of his father's assassination, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But then he said in surprise, "Your Majesty, Feng Yu didn't know about this?"

Gao Xiaowan shook his head after hearing this, and said sadly: "When my father was murdered, I was just a young boy. I was so confused when I heard about the collapse of the sky that I had no time to think about other things. It was only after a long time that I gradually realized that my father was killed by a thief and slave. No one has ever told me the details of the hidden truth."

Many people often have a misunderstanding that the closer the generation is to the person, the more they can know the truth about the personnel and events at that time. In fact, this is not the case. Especially when it comes to personnel changes at the top of the ruling class, the closer you are to the time, the more foggy it is and the easier it is to be blinded by a single leaf.

When Gao Cheng was murdered, his sons were all young, and they only learned about their father's death through word of mouth. As for the details of the process, no one told them in detail, and they had no intention of inquiring into it at the time.

Therefore, Gao Xiaowan was not very clear about the details of his father's assassination. It was only after reading Zu Ting's description of the situation at the time that he learned that there were several people present when his father was assassinated. Moreover, judging from his writing, it seemed that these people were also responsible for his father's death.

Hearing Gao Xiaowan's words, Zu Ting became calmer, so he sighed and said, "I used to work in the court of Qi, and I know a lot about the people of Qi. I know the reason for its decline. At that time, the world did not allow for frank opinions, but now I can speak out. One of the main reasons for Qi's decline was the ruler's stupidity and the ministers' flattery.

When your father was assassinated, he was conspiring in the room with Chen Yuankang, Yang Zunyan and Cui Jishu. When the thief and the slave tried to assassinate him, Yang Zunyan ran out of the door, and Cui Jishu hid in the toilet cubicle and refused to let anyone in. As a result, your father had no place to hide. Although Chen Yuankang protected him with his own body, he was still killed on the spot.

I was in the direct office at the time, and was entrusted by Chen Yuankang to write the funeral documents, so I know the details of the situation. What I am describing now is what I saw and heard at the time, and there is absolutely no falsehood. I wonder if this answer can resolve Gao Fengyu's doubts?"

When Gao Cheng was assassinated, it was the critical moment when the Gao family was preparing to usurp the Eastern Wei regime. Although Gao Yang handled the aftermath in a timely and appropriate manner to prevent the situation from further deteriorating, the news of Gao Cheng's death was kept secret and was not made public until a long time later. Even Chen Yuankang, who died with him, pretended to have appointed him as an envoy.

Zu Ting was one of the few people who knew the inside story at the first time because he was commissioned by Chen Yuankang to write a suicide note for him. It was also because the news was concealed that he had time to go to Chen Yuankang's house and do several things.

Zu Ting naturally would not say much about his own scandal of embezzling money and betraying the trust of his friends, but he recounted the old story of Gao Cheng's assassination in order to prove that the Northern Qi Dynasty fell due to the ruler's incompetence and the ministers' flattery. Gao Cheng and Cui Jishu were representatives of the ruler's incompetence and the ministers' flattery.

Gao Cheng was not good at judging people, and he did not notice the servant's murderous intentions, and he kept him by his side. As for Cui Jishu, he was also Gao Cheng's trusted confidant. Cui Jishu was also very flattering, and he even beat the then Eastern Wei Emperor Xiaojing on Gao Cheng's orders. But when Gao Cheng was assassinated, he actually abandoned his master and fled.

In this incident, Zu Ting used his usual style and made a little artistic processing, suggesting that Gao Cheng actually had a chance to hide in the toilet cubicle and avoid the assassination, but was blocked by Cui Jishu who entered first.

Such processing undoubtedly makes the effect of the ruler being incompetent and the ministers being treacherous more prominent, and also magnifies the responsibility that Cui Jishu bears in this matter.

At the same time, Cui Jishu was also highly valued during the Tianbao period, which implies that this matter was related to Qi Lord Gao Yang. After all, Gao Yang handled this matter from beginning to end, and he must have been aware of Cui Jishu's performance in the matter. Even so, he still valued Cui Jishu. You can think about the reason yourself. Therefore, the real conspiracy theory is never to make far-fetched and fabricate various specious clues and evidence. The change of a few words in the text is enough to give people great imagination.

After listening to Zu Ting's story, Gao Xiaowan's tears welled up in his eyes. He said bitterly, "Cui Jishu, this bastard, ate too much of my family's salary and even turned against his master. He really deserves to die! It's a pity that the old world is so unfair that such evil deeds were covered up, and even his own flesh and blood could not know about it!"

He also thought that Zu Ting was also a minister in his family, but he had concealed the truth of the matter until now, and his brothers had only just learned the full details of their father's assassination. So he glared at Zu Ting again, then wiped his tears and left angrily.

Zu Ting's focus at this time was naturally not on these outdated princes, and since no one else came forward to talk to him, he went back to the Ministry of Rites. When he returned to the office, his colleagues were having breakfast, and when they saw him coming, they invited him to eat with them.

After all the hassles, Zu Ting was a little hungry, so he sat down and prepared to eat something to fill his stomach. However, just as he sat down, Shangshu Cui Zhan strode in, looked around and landed on Zu Ting, pointed at him and asked him to follow him out.

Zu Ting stood up again in a hurry after seeing this, and bowed despite his hunger to follow Cui Zhan. Cui Zhan looked back at him and said, "Zu Jun presented a book yesterday, and the Supreme Emperor ordered it to be copied to various departments, and ordered the officials of various departments to read it and make comments. This morning I went back to the office and took a quick look. It is indeed thought-provoking. I know that Zu Jun has a deep understanding of Qi's shortcomings. It just so happens that the tribute scholars from various states in Hebei Province came to the court to participate in the selection. I recommend Zu Jun to take the tribute test in advance to evaluate the talents of your hometown. Are you willing?"

Zu Ting had been worried for a long time. Hearing that his future was finally in sight and that he would be able to participate in the selection of officials, he was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly, saying, "In terms of judgment, I am not even a fraction as good as Minister Cui. Fortunately, you have recommended me. Although I am not capable enough, I will do my best to get fair and honest comments."

The tribute scholars from various states in Hebei were arranged in the Imperial College in Chang'an. After Zu Ting followed Cui Zhan to the Imperial College, he saw many familiar faces there, some were children of famous families in Hebei, some were great scholars, and it was really a gathering of talents. Some of them were more famous or powerful than Zu Ting, but now they were all common tribute scholars, waiting to participate in the tribute examination to be held by the court to examine and grant official positions.

Unlike Zu Ting who had mixed reputations, Cui Zhan was a first-rate talented scholar in Hebei. Born into the Qinghe Cui family, his appearance, demeanor, and literary talent were outstanding. When he fled from Hebei to Shannan last year, many people in Hebei lamented that the pearl had fled to the west.

Therefore, this time Cui Zhan, as the Minister of Rites, represented the court to inspect the prefectures and counties and summoned tribute scholars. Many people in Hebei responded, including great scholars and Confucian masters such as Xiong Ansheng, who also went to the pass without hesitation to accompany him for consultation.

However, when Cui Zhan announced to everyone that Zu Ting would be one of the examiners in this imperial examination, many of the candidates present showed surprise and dissatisfaction. Although Zu Ting had a reputation for talent, his moral character was really not good. Everyone came to Chang'an from thousands of miles away and had expectations for their official careers. When they thought about letting someone like Zu Ting weigh them, they naturally felt a little uncomfortable.

Although they did not dare to express their opposition directly due to Cui Zhan's face, their thoughts were written on their faces, and they felt that Zu Ting was not worthy of examining them. This contempt was not only due to disdain for Zu Ting's character, but also because of his low official position. The Yuwailang of the Ministry of Sacrifices was only a small official of the sixth rank, which made these people feel that the court did not seem to attach much importance to this tribute examination.

Another examiner was Zhongshu Sheren Lu Sidao, who also noticed everyone's thoughts, so he said, "A few days ago, Zu Xiaozheng presented a letter to the court, commenting on the fall of Qi. Your Majesty was deeply impressed after reading it, but felt that what he said was not complete, so he copied it to various departments to inspire the wisdom of the masses, hoping that talented people can make more supplements. We have been away from home for many years, so our descriptions are inevitably shallow. You all experienced the incident in person, if you can try to make supplements, you will not worry about not being famous!"

  After hearing this, Zu Ting was stunned at first, and then he couldn't help but straighten his chest. He also felt that his previous article had a very profound discussion on the problems of Qi's demise, but he didn't expect that the Supreme appreciated him even more and actually regarded this article as a model and yardstick for measuring the talents of Hebei!

Zu Ting soon realized that former Northern Qi officials such as Zhao Yanshen and Cui Jishu would inevitably be subjected to the harshest criticism this time.

Because in his article, the incompetent ruler and the treacherous ministers were an important reason for the demise of Northern Qi. Other people who proposed the article could not deny this conclusion and could only continue to elaborate on it. Therefore, they could only conduct a meticulous and in-depth analysis of the actions of these important ministers, thus triggering a comprehensive criticism of Northern Qi's politics and personnel.

Zu Ting's thoughts were exactly what Li Tai intended. Since he did not recognize the Northern Qi regime, it was difficult to make an official characterization of these Northern Qi old officials. If they were all labeled as traitors, it would undoubtedly be detrimental to the absorption of talents in Hebei. However, if they were not purged and were only absorbed, some personnel problems within the Northern Qi would undoubtedly be absorbed into the Tang court.

Therefore, Li Tai wanted to use Zu Ting's article to get people from Hebei to participate and let them spontaneously conduct an internal screening and criticism. Although it was inconvenient for the court to directly come forward to judge the old officials of Northern Qi, it could achieve a deeper purge effect through the criticism of morality and public opinion, as well as their internal struggle.

Moreover, in the process of eliminating corruption, a group of Hebei scholars who could understand the intentions of their superiors and cater to the rule of the Tang Dynasty could be selected, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.