I studied in modern times

Chapter 1022 The Suffering Scholars, the Crimes They Bear

After seeing off the Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Xiang, Zhao Xu's face instantly turned cold.

"Tong Guan!" he called softly.

Tong Guan approached him and bent down: "Does anyone have instructions?"

"Send someone to ask Liang Congzheng..." Zhao Xu said coldly, "Who tipped off Qingshou Palace today!"

"Come back and let me know when you find out!"

In some ways, this incident is a good thing.

Because it reminded Zhao Xu that there were still treacherous officials in this palace!
But Zhao Xu did not intend to pull it out.

This is similar to modern counter-espionage, where sometimes it's not necessary to arrest spies who have already been exposed.

Just keep an eye on him.

This can both lull the enemy into a false sense of security and make it easier to follow up with clues later.

"promise!"

"Oh, right..." Zhao Xu called out to Tong Guan, thought for a moment, and then instructed, "Go to the capital again and convey my oral message to the ministers there..."

A sly glint flashed in Zhao Xu's eyes: "Just say: I'm tired today, we'll talk about other things tomorrow!"

The chief ministers and officials were eager to see him.

Of course, we want him to issue an edict to release the people as soon as possible.

After all, the scholar had already been beaten, so it would be somewhat impolite to investigate who had done it.

However, the fact that Kaifeng Prefecture arrested so many scholars at once did not reflect well on public opinion.

Release them immediately and settle things peacefully; that's the right thing to do.

In this way, after a month or two, even the scholars who were beaten would forget that they had been beaten by the government.

These are all routine operations.

However, Zhao Xu wanted to detain those people for one more night.

Let them calm down, and also serve as a warning to those who come after them.

Of course, the real purpose is actually hidden behind all the reasons mentioned above.

After Tong Guan went down to deliver the imperial decree, Zhao Xu stood up, walked to the Imperial Garden behind the Funing Palace, and sat on the swing that Meng Qingqing and her entourage had made by hand.

As the swing gently swayed, the cool breeze of early summer swept through the vibrant flowers of the Imperial Garden. Butterflies fluttered, bees buzzed, and newly hatched birds chirped in their nests in the treetops, begging for food from their parents. The sounds of their calls carried on the wind to Zhao Xu's ears.

The wind carried away Zhao Xu's whisper: "This time... I used my own body as a cushion!"

Yes!

He did it on purpose; he deliberately made things worse.

From the very beginning, they were prepared to hit someone.

Even if the scholars didn't cause trouble, he would order Shi Deyi's intelligence agents to infiltrate the ranks of the scholars and incite them to riot, thus creating a legitimate reason and excuse for the soldiers to beat people.

That's what it means to get involved!

The reason for getting involved is simple: to attract attention, or rather, to steer the public's attention away from the main focus.

There's a saying these days: "Dog bites man is not news, man bites dog is."

It's just like any other day now.

Over the many years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, it had long been common for scholars to cause trouble during the imperial examinations.

Even the people of Bianjing have gotten used to it.

However, it was the first time ever that a failed scholar had been beaten.

As a result, everyone's attention and the focus of public opinion were concentrated on the fact that the scholars were being attacked.

No one cared about anything else anymore.

For example, in this imperial examination's list of successful candidates, apart from the top-ranked civil servant, there were others.

More than ten students from Jiangning Academy also successfully passed the exam.

For example, this reform of the imperial examination system favored remote prefectures and counties.

For the first time, Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) appeared in Xizhou, Lanzhou, Huizhou, Hezhou, Minzhou, and other prefectures.

In addition, the number of candidates who could pass the provincial examinations in places like Zizhou Road, Guangnan West Road, and Guangnan East Road, which had always been notoriously difficult to pass the imperial examinations, has also increased.

Many prefectures and counties that had never produced a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) had people succeeding this time. Although, these people were few, basically one per prefecture.

Moreover, their rankings are all after 680.

But if someone were curious and went to look through these people's files, they would probably be in for a major surprise—damn! What kind of elementary school writing is this?

He doesn't even understand basic principles. If he were in my hometown, let alone pass the provincial examination, he probably wouldn't even be able to get into the prefectural school!

Cheating! Blatant cheating!
In addition, Zhao Xu relaxed the restrictions on candidates from the vassal states for this imperial examination.

Thus, the first Tibetan scholar to ever pass the imperial examination was born.

Li Xuanling of Lanzhou.

His father was Li Linzhanne, the inspector of the Jiehe vassal state, his grandfather was Li Dukezhan, and his great-grandfather was the famous Tubo Cao Cao—Li Lizun.

Yes, that's the Tibetan chieftain who tried to raise Qusiluo like Emperor Xian of Han, but ended up being killed instead.

Although Li Lizun is dead, his influence has not disappeared.

To this day, it still holds immense appeal among the various Tibetan tribes in Qinghai.

After all, before Qusiluo, Li Lizun and Wen Buqi were the masters of the various tribes of Qingtang.

And what about Gusiluo?
Aside from being direct descendants of the Zanpu (Tibetan king), their biggest label was—slaves from the Western Regions.

From this perspective, Li Lizun and Wen Buqi are actually benefactors of Gusiluo.

Even if both of them harbored ulterior motives.

But without them, what is the Qusiluo?
They probably died in the Western Regions long ago.

Of course, Zhao Xu couldn't be bothered with the rights and wrongs, the grudges and grievances of the Tibetans.

All he cared about was Li Xuanling's political identity as the first Tibetan scholar to pass the imperial examination!

The political impact of its return to Xihe Road will be enormous.

The Tibetans, Tanguts, Qiang people, and even Uyghurs could all be affected, which would increase the political influence of the Song Dynasty in the entire northwest and even the Western Regions!

After all—this was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from the Han Dynasty!

Thanks to the Tang Dynasty, Han scholars who passed the imperial examinations were associated with Wenquxing (the God of Literature), disciples of Manjushri Bodhisattva, and children of the gods throughout the world.

"Awesome" has become a synonym for "successful candidate in the imperial examination" in the eyes of many ethnic minorities.

At this time, a Tibetan, and a direct descendant of Li Lizun, became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) of the Song Dynasty.

The impact of this is probably no less than that of the Song army's victory over the Western Xia in the first year of the Yuan You era.

Unfortunately, this is no longer the glorious Tang Dynasty.

Today's Song Dynasty is bordered by the Liao Dynasty to the north, the Western Xia Dynasty to the northwest, and Jiaozhi (Vietnam) to the south.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty was long subject to the Liao and Western Xia dynasties, especially the Liao Dynasty, a terrifying behemoth, which brought suffocating survival pressure to the Song Dynasty geographically.

Thus, the scholar-officials' concept of distinguishing between Chinese and barbarians began to fully awaken.

They not only restricted and discriminated against the vassal states and their officials in politics.

They also strictly guarded against it in all places, including the imperial examination system.

Let alone the Tibetans.

Even children from the families of the southwestern chieftains, who belonged to the territory recognized by the Song Dynasty, were not allowed to take the imperial examinations in the past.

After Zhao Xu ascended the throne, he quietly abolished this restriction.

These are normal.

It is an empire's self-protection during its contraction.

After Emperor Taizong, the entire Song Dynasty knew that the territory of the Tang Dynasty could never be restored.

We should be grateful if we can just hold onto our existing territory!

After the Treaty of Chanyuan, the outcome was finally decided.

Given this, it is only natural to be conservative, retrenched, and introverted in foreign affairs.

As Zhao Xu planned to expand outwards, he naturally had to adopt the magnanimity of the Tang Dynasty, embracing all rivers and treating generals and nobles from ethnic minorities equally.

However, few people can adapt to the sudden shift from contraction to expansion.

Especially public opinion!
Therefore, Zhao Xu had no choice but to make things difficult for the failed candidates and let them bear the blame!

(End of this chapter)