People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1225: Observing "celestial phenomena" during the day

In mid-March, Tanggula Mountain.

Light snow falls and a fine mist forms.

Yang Zhirou walked quickly to the top of the city. A Qianniu Guard in red clothes and golden armor was coming down from the top. When he saw Yang Zhirou, he quickly stood aside and stood with his hands folded.

Yang Zhirou nodded and stepped forward.

In the tower, the cold wind was blocked by the curtains, and the warmth from the stove hit my face.

More than a dozen books were neatly placed on one side. Li Xuan was sitting on the carpet, wrapped in a cloak, reading a book.

"Your Majesty." Yang Zhirou stopped and said respectfully: "The official document is here from Chang'an."

"Yes!" Li Xuan put down the book, looked up at Yang Zhirou, and nodded: "Sit down."

"Here!" Yang Zhirou cupped his hands and sat down aside.

Li Zhu stepped forward and poured a cup of hot tea for Yang Zhirou.

Li Xuan lowered his head and opened the official document, took a look at it, and then with a smile on his face, he looked at Yang Zhirou and said: "Two years after Tiaolu, the list of Gengchenke Jinshi came out. The number one scholar was He Zhizhang, the second one was Bi Gou, and the third prize It’s Chen Zi’ang.”

Yang Zhirou was stunned. The hot tea cup was in his hand and he forgot to put it down for a moment. Soon, he felt hot.

After clearing up in a panic, Yang Zhirou quickly looked at Li Xuan and asked: "Your Majesty, how could this be? Even if a few people from aristocratic families withdraw, it will not be He Zhizhang's turn to be the number one scholar... The lower official is not saying that He Zhizhang is not talented enough, it's just that His identity..."

He Zhizhang was born in a southeastern family. Although he was related to Gu Lu, Zhu Zhang and others, he was not one of the four families after all.

Although there are two uncles in the family who work in Hongwen Hall, they are only a handful. Although they are not from a poor family, they are not much better than a poor family.

He is not taken seriously by the children of real aristocratic families.

If He Zhizhang hadn't been supported by Li Xuan, even though he was extremely talented, he would probably have been suppressed by the powerful family members.

Of course, this year’s imperial examination is different.

Although Cui Wei, Lu Yuan, Xue Shao and others withdrew from the imperial examination, Wei Su, Dou Xiwan, Yang Zhiyi and others were still there.

Why did He Zhizhang become the top pick, Bi Gou ranked second, and Chen Ziang ranked third overall.

They are all from small and medium-sized aristocratic families, even poor ones.

All the rules of the imperial examination were broken.

This is no small matter.

……

Li Xuan handed the official document to Yang Zhirou and said: "The imperial examination will not be held this time. Because the Turks and Tibet are about to go to war, your majesty has no intention to hold the imperial examination. In addition, your majesty has made a policy before, so he will use the imperial examination to examine the officials." The list for the Ministry Examination shall prevail... It’s also strange that in the previous Civil Service Examination, He Zhizhang was ranked first, Bi Gou was second, and Chen Zi’ang was third.”

Yang Zhirou took the official document and read it carefully, but when he saw the topic of the policy proposed by the emperor himself, he understood.

The emperor said: "Since ancient times, the emperors' governance has been governed by many principles, but the greatest one can only be called Tao or Dharma.

These two ends are different in name only. The order of execution is also necessary and can be neglected.

No emperor is more sage than Yao and Shun; no king is more sage than Yu, Tang, civil and military officials. The prosperity of governance will be seen for all generations.

It is a trace of the Tao and the Dharma. It is recorded in various sutras and can be verified through examination.

Since I came to Zuo, I have been working hard day and night and taking the lead in the light of the situation. However, the Turks rebelled, the Tibetans were unable to resist, and the effectiveness of the treatment was not as good as it could be. Could it be that the Tao was not followed and the law was not observed? If, among the world's wise ministers, you have a wise opinion, I will put it into practice. "

Yang Zhirou sighed softly. He knew in his heart that such a policy review was difficult to write, very difficult to write.

This requires too much empirical experience.

He Zhizhang had served as county captain in Tongren for many years and had rich experience, which was not comparable to that of ordinary scholars.

The official document was accompanied by He Zhizhang's strategy for the No. 1 Scholar. Yang Zhirou took one look at the title and knew that others could not compare.

"The one who rules over the world is one who promotes change and brings order, and has many political causes. However, he who focuses on the basics of agriculture and manages the military and military preparations is the greatest."

In the article, He Zhizhang elaborated on the relationship between "emphasis on agriculture" and "governing the military" and put forward many useful political opinions.

Many of them can even be used in today's Tibetan and Turkic wars, and even the prime minister must read them carefully.

It’s not too much to give him first place.

Other articles by Bi Gou and Chen Ziang also have merit.

Bi Gou's father was a doctor in the Ministry of Finance. He had been exposed to many things, so he was naturally able to come up with new ideas.

As for Chen Ziang, although his strategies are also excellent, they are not eye-catching yet, but his poetry is really amazing.

Yang Zhirou finally understood that the officials could not suppress these three articles at all.

Especially because of He Zhizhang's article, everyone at the top knew that he belonged to Li Xuan, and the emperor personally named him when he returned to the court to take part in the imperial examination.

Otherwise, Li Xuan may have to ask him to practice in Changzhou for a few more years. Maybe he won't need to take the imperial examination in a few years, and He Zhizhang is already the county magistrate.

Moreover, many people were watching He Zhizhang's ranking, especially Dong Palace.

Not only He Zhizhang, but also Bi Gou and Chen Ziang participated in the compilation and annotation of "Qie Yun", and their achievements are closely related to Donggong.

Therefore, it is destined that their scores in the official examination will not be low.

Although the big family members have some ideas, they don't want to do anything at this time. They focus more on the palace examination.

The ranking in the palace examination will determine who will be the top scholar.

But no one expected that the emperor would suddenly cancel the palace examination and use the rankings in the civil service examination to determine the number two and third overall.

At this moment, all the big family's plans came to nothing.

Not only that, this time the aristocratic family failed to get the number one scholar, does that mean that in the future, the aristocratic families will often lose the number one spot.

The tacit understanding between the emperor and the wealthy family was broken.

But the aristocratic families couldn't do anything about the emperor, and they couldn't even change the results of this imperial examination. Everything about the emperor was within the rules, and they themselves couldn't compete with He Zhizhang and others.

Especially during the war between the Turks and Tibetans, the emperor's excuse was grand and upright. Didn't he see that the prime ministers and six ministers of the court recognized it?

But it won't end like this.

Yang Zhirou looked up at Li Xuan and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is such a good article."

Li Xuan turned her head in surprise and said, "What is Brother Yang talking about?"

Yang Zhirou took a deep look at Li Xuan, then shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

How could he not see now that Li Xuan had already started plotting even before He Zhizhang returned to the court?

Why did the editors of "Qie Yun" lack southerners? Not only He Ji and He Zhi, two bachelors of the Hongwen School, but also He Zhizhang and Li Xuan were used.

The canonization of the Emperor Zhengdan Dynasty has brought He Zhizhang's reputation to the top. Although he is a scholar of the ninth grade, he is enough to be admired by scholars all over the world.

Then there was the list of the Du Family Gambling House, which suddenly made the truly dedicated disciples of the family withdraw.

After all, at that time, they had to focus more on the princess.

Then there is the topic of the emperor's pragmatic policy, which many people can guess.

However, the emperor suddenly used military force to stop the current palace examination, causing the family's real plan to fail before it could be launched.

It's really a good idea!

……

Yang Zhirou looked up at the misty snow outside the window and asked curiously: "Since the prince returned to the army, he has been sitting on the tower in person every day for ten days, observing the sky from a distance. Is there any harvest? "

Li Xuan smiled and glanced at Yang Zhirou. The curiosity in Yang Zhirou's eyes almost overflowed.

In fact, Yang Zhirou was not the only one who was curious about this matter. There were countless people in the entire army who secretly speculated on Li Xuan's actions every day.

Standing up, Li Xuan put her cloak on her body and walked out of the city gate tower.

Yang Zhirou quickly stood up and followed.

Yang Zhirou had just stepped out of the city gate, but found that in an instant, the wind and snow stopped.

It stopped suddenly.

Seeing this scene, Yang Zhirou was stunned.

At this moment, a ray of sunlight shot out from the dark clouds overhead and shot directly towards everyone.

Yang Zhirou looked at Li Xuan in horror, and the beam of light shot towards them like a sword.

Then it shot over everyone's heads and fell directly into the city.

Yang Zhirou breathed a sigh of relief.

He was really scared, that beam of light just fell on Li Xuan.

After that, if there were even the slightest rumor, Li Xuan would be doomed.

But luckily, luckily.

Li Xuan smiled. Standing in front of the female wall, Li Xuan looked at the mountains in the distance and said, "Brother Yang, do you know that there is a saying that the weather in Tanggula Mountain is different ten miles away? The sky here is covered with ice and snow, but On the other side of Tanggula Mountain, it might already be pouring rain.”

Yang Zhirou thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's March now, and the weather in Tubo is naturally warmer than here."

"Yes, all the heat coming from the sea in the south is blocked by the Tanggula Mountains, but this also means that the snow on the top of the mountain has begun to melt, and the rocks that were originally as strong as steel have begun to be dug out, and the water channels have gradually formed. Ah!" Li Xuan looked at the Gradandong Peak at the end of his sight in the distance, covered with ice and snow, and the glacier sinking to the bottom.

Yang Zhirou immediately understood: "Is the prince planning to take action?"

"It can't be that fast. Now Lun Qinling is actively on guard. If you want to take action, you have to find an unexpected opportunity." After a slight pause, Li Xuan said: "But the fight for the water channel with the Tubo people can begin.

Send orders. "

Yang Zhirou was stunned for a moment, then immediately handed over his hand: "Here!"

"Copy six copies of this official document and distribute it to all the ministries in the city. Each person will have a bowl of wine tonight." Li Xuan gave the order directly.

"Here!" Yang Zhirou accepted the promise, then looked at Li Xuan carefully and asked, "What about the prince?"

"Of course I will continue to stay here." Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. The armies are taking turns and we can't let the Tubo people seize the opportunity."

"Here!" Yang Zhirou handed over and left again. He knew that Li Xuan must be planning something, but if Li Xuan didn't tell him, he couldn't ask.

……

Seeing Yang Zhirou leave from the city gate, Li Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

He Zhizhang becoming the number one scholar, this matter is far bigger than anyone imagined.

I am afraid no one can imagine that even though it has been more than a century since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has not been a single champion in the entire Jiangnan and the entire Jiangnan Road.

He Zhizhang was the first number one scholar in Jiangnan.

In this way, the door to the number one scholar opened in Jiangnan.

Dozens of aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River, headed by Gu Lu and Zhu Zhang, immediately put more effort into next year's imperial examination.

Of course, these have nothing to do with Li Xuan.

But because of He Zhizhang's position as the number one scholar, Gu Lu, Zhu Zhang, and countless aristocratic families in Jiangnan have been deeply bound to Li Xuan.

Especially next year, once they hit a wall in Chang'an, they will gather around Li Xuan even more.

In today's Tang Dynasty, with the war in northern Xinjiang and northwest Xinjiang, the proportion of Jiangnan Road's tax revenue this year will even exceed half.

Whoever controls Jiangnan Road is equivalent to controlling the first economic lifeline of the Tang Dynasty.

This is what really matters.

But unfortunately, no one in the court noticed it.

Their eyes on Jiangnan were still fixed on the Yangzhou loom that Li Xuan had thrown out, but they forgot that Li Xuan had already pried something bigger.

He Zhizhang is going home.

Since following Li Xuan to Changzhou a few years ago, He Zhizhang has never returned home.

Nowadays, the spring breeze is full of joy and the horse's hooves are so fast that I don't know how many others are envious to death.

Not to mention he still wants to get married.

He Zhizhang's return was enough to stir up the situation in Jiangnan.

……

Li Xuan turned around and looked at the Tubo Pass twenty miles away.

The two places breathed each other, and Li Xuan believed that Lun Qinling must also be staring at him all the time.

Lun Qinling stared at Li Xuan all the time, and Li Xuan also stared at Lun Qinling all the time.

Both of them are waiting for that crucial opportunity to come.

Li Xuan believed that he must have waited first, because the news from the Western Region was coming soon.

(End of this chapter)