Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 124 Thank you for your appreciation, Your Highness
Wu Rou was in the harem and had few opportunities to meet ministers. Zhongshu Ling Ma Zhou, she only saw him come to Wude Hall a few times, and more often than not his name was on memorials.

So he asked curiously:

"Did he become an official through the imperial examination? I thought he was also a veteran of His Majesty's service."

As far as she knew, most of the ministers in the court took the imperial examination to join in the fun after becoming officials, or they had the opportunity to become an official, and took the imperial examination to fill out their resume. There are almost no promotions.

Most of them came from back then, following the emperor who was still the King of Qin, and relied on merit to get to where he is today step by step.

Prince Li Shan smiled and said:
"Actually, it's not that... He took the imperial examination during the Wude period and won the Jinshi. Later, the Ministry of Civil Affairs selected him and filled him up as a junior official as a Bozhou assistant.

He was not willing to be a teacher all his life, so he ran to Chang'an and became a guest in the house of Zhonglang Chang He.In the fifth year of Zhenguan, there was a severe drought. His father asked all the civil and military officials to come up with suggestions. General Chang He couldn't think of any, so he asked Ma Zhou to write it for him.Only then was his father's wise eyes recognized, and he was accepted as a disciple.

Therefore, strictly speaking, his promotion was due to his father's eclectic promotion, and the imperial examination played little role.

But... he was born into a poor family, and his ability to become a guest in the house of Chang He, a lieutenant general, is inseparable from the fact that he passed the imperial examination and had a resume as a teaching assistant in Bozhou. "

"So that's it..." Wu Rou lowered her head and responded.

Li Shan didn't know if he was really depressed and had nowhere to talk, or if he was just talking about these topics just to have a few words with her.

He just said to himself:

"When my father raised his army, he was full of talented people, looking for aspiring leaders. Most of them were not successful figures in the Sui Dynasty. They started a business together with their grandfather and father. My father gave them the opportunity, and they also became my father. The king and his subjects were united. , Only then did the Tang Dynasty achieve its current prosperity.

And me? …I don’t have that kind of opportunity anymore. I see famous ministers passing away one by one. I am in a deep palace. Apart from the imperial examination, I can only rely on the ministers’ recommendations...”

He paused and said with a somewhat sad tone:
"But... what they recommend may not be what I want."

Wu Rou said:
"Then His Highness just selects people directly from the imperial examinations."

Li Shan shook his head and said:

"It's not that easy. If it's you, how many years have you worked hard to reach a high place? Do you want another person to be on an equal footing with you with just a test paper?"

When Wu Rou heard this, she shook her head honestly and said:
"That's true... I don't want to, unless he is really a genius. But such a genius cannot be convinced by just a paper."

Wu Rou's eyes turned for a moment, and she suddenly realized the crux of the problem and asked:
"Why is the person recommended not what His Highness wants? Is the person they recommended so bad?"

Li Shan lowered his eyes and walked in silence for a while before replying:
"I asked Ma Zhou who could take his place. He said that the people he knew were too old and not suitable to recommend to me. He also talked about his past experiences and said that he could be appreciated by His Majesty. Great luck.

But if other talents don't have such great luck, wouldn't it be a waste?
It means that I will perfect the imperial examination route. It will be easier to recruit talents from all over the world than official recommendation.I agree...but it takes time.

The person recommended by Changsun Wuji was Wang's uncle Liu Shi. "

When Wu Rou heard this, her face suddenly became embarrassed for a moment. She looked at his back, seeming to be sour and greedy, then lowered her eyes and said:

"The Minister of War, he must be talented, and he shouldn't be far behind."

"Huh... I am talented, but not enough to serve as prime minister, and behind the Wang family is the shadow of the noble family. The marriage my father arranged for me was originally to win over the noble family and stabilize the court, but... …My uncle stood with them, which I didn’t expect.”

"Then... what does His Majesty say?"

"My father told me to make the decision. I have to walk my own path in the future. I can't ask him for everything. But I have no choice. This is what gives me a headache."

Wu Rou's eyebrows showed a little tenderness, and she whispered:
"It's a pity...I don't have any way to relieve His Highness' worries."

When Li Shan heard this, he hesitated for a moment and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He saw her lowering her head slightly, her brows and eyes soft and seemed to be sad. He felt relieved and said in a gentle tone:
"It's already good if you can listen to my complaints." These words are quite ambiguous, and they are not what the status relationship between them should be.

Li Shan himself felt a little embarrassed, so he added:
"You have a tight mouth and don't talk nonsense. The key is that you are alone and there is no force behind you, so I can rest assured if I tell you."

When Wu Rou heard this, she couldn't help but secretly rolled her eyes and said:

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your appreciation."

Li Shan suddenly stopped. Wu Rou, who was one step behind him, kept staring at the hair tie behind him and almost touched him. She quickly took a step back and stood firm, her heart beating "dong dong".

Li Shan looked at the maids and guards waiting in the distance and said:
"Okay, I passed by here. It was a rare chance to meet you, so we chatted for a few words. It's time to leave now. Last time... I wrongly blamed you.

It's really because that Xia Qian is disgusting, I'm afraid that you will lose your mind, imitate her, and end up like her, that's why I said those words. "

As he spoke, he glanced at Wu Rou again, with gentle eyes that seemed to express appreciation, and said:
"However, I later understood that you are smarter than her, and my carelessness was purely redundant."

Wu Rou raised her head and looked at him in surprise.

But Li Shan immediately looked away, walked straight past her, took long, elegant steps, and left quickly.

That year, the emperor lingered on his bed for a long time, but the Tang Dynasty's foreign policy became more and more intense.

The invasion of Goryeo in the east turned into an attack, and many cities were captured. The King of Goryeo finally couldn't stand it anymore, and requested an order to send a prince to surrender and pay tribute.

To the west, not only did the Anxi Protectorate send troops, but they even ordered Tuyuhun, Tubo and the thirteen newly divided East Turkic states in the north to send troops to help and besiege Qiuci with great momentum.

……

……

In the 22st year of Zhenguan, Wu Rou was 24 years old and Prince Li Shan was 20 years old.

During the Lantern Festival banquet, the Liangyi Hall was brightly lit.

Because there were so many envoys from various countries who came to pay their respects, the emperor and the prince sat in the Liangyi Palace and accepted the congratulations, which took longer than usual.

Wu Rou and a child couldn't bear it any longer at the banquet, so they retreated to the side of the palace to rest.

As soon as I entered, I met the two princesses Gao Yang and Cheng Yang. They were both resting and chatting in the side hall.

When they saw Wu Rou coming in, they all gave her a cold look and their eyes were very wary.

Wu Rou was also stunned for a moment.

Princess Chengyang is the second sister of the crown prince Li Shan. Her consort Du He was executed for participating in the rebellion of the deposed prince Li Chengqian. Later, she was married by your majesty and surrendered to the Xue family.

Princess Gaoyang, her consort was Fang Xuanling's son Fang Yiai, but because of her affair with a monk named Bianji, His Majesty was furious and killed the monk and many servants who knew about it.

The two of them were chatting together... I'm afraid they were all talking about their resentment towards the emperor.

And she was once a female official beside the emperor, and she was very trusted by the emperor.

(End of this chapter)