The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 490: The Celebrity
Songtsen Gampo still sat in the courtyard, looking at the book in his hands, silent.

The world was very quiet. Luo Binwang had grown much taller. He was thirteen years old now.

Li Yifu asked: "In four years you can go to teach. When you pass the imperial examination, where do you want to serve in the court?"

"The Censorate!" Luo Binwang replied immediately.

Li Yifu looked at the child. He could clearly distinguish good from evil and hated evil. He seemed like a natural born censor.

Outside the city of Chang'an, a donkey cart arrived in front of the city.

A father and his son were sitting on the donkey cart, and they got off in front of the city.

When the officers and soldiers in front of the city gate saw that the visitor was wearing official uniform, they immediately came forward to ask questions.

Wang Fuzhi bowed and said, "I am the military officer of Yongzhou Sihu. I have been ordered by the Ministry of War to come to Chang'an to submit documents."

The officer verified the document and said, "Please allow Wang Sihu to enter the city."

Wang Fuzhi took his son towards Chunming Gate.

Wang Fuzhi was the son of Wen Zhongzi, a famous scholar in the early Sui Dynasty and Wang Tong.

Wang Fuzhi comes from a prominent family and has been serving in the court since the Zhenguan period.

Wang Bo, who was only twelve years old, looked up at the tall and huge city wall, which almost blocked his vision.

Following my father into Chunming Gate, what came into view was a very wide street with countless people walking on it, and the street extended to the end of the field of vision.

The heavy snow was still falling, and suddenly a voice calling was heard.

"Wang Bo!"

Hearing the voice, he looked back and pointed to a place not far away and said, "Father, it's Yang Jiong."

Yang Jiong and Wang Bo are the same age and have been friends since childhood.

The two men's fathers walked into a tavern and talked. Yang Jiong sat beside them and said, "Uncle received your letter earlier and knew that you would come to Chang'an today."

Wang Bo said, "There are so many people in Chang'an City."

Yang Jiong said: "Yes, there are so many people here every day. The teacher said that many people come to Chang'an City every day, and many people leave Chang'an City every day. Every year, many students come to Chang'an City to study, and every year, many students leave Chang'an and go to various places to teach."

The city of Chang'an is a giant beast that constantly swallows and spits out people, and this beast is very greedy.

Wang Bo recalled the time when he and Yang Jiong listened to the teachings of Master Xuanzang in Hanshan Temple. At that time, he was still very ignorant and could not understand what Master Xuanzang said. He did not even leave behind an article.

Children who can be enlightened by Master Xuanzang will be loved by people wherever they go.

Wang Bo asked, "I heard that Master Xuanzang has also come to Chang'an?"

Yang Jiong shook his head and said, "He came and left again."

"Why?"

"I also heard these things from the teacher at Hongwenguan. I heard that Xuanzang had an agreement with the emperor. Xuanzang came to Hanshan Temple because of the agreement with the emperor. After that, Xuanzang returned to Chang'an and returned to secular life according to the agreement. He fulfilled the agreement with the emperor and has not been heard from since then."

Yang Jiong recalled and sighed, "After Master Xuanzang returned to secular life, I heard that he traveled westwards and left the Central Plains. He never came back. No one knows where he went. He might have been reciting scriptures somewhere."

Wang Bo recalled the scene when he parted with Master Xuanzang on the Maple Bridge outside Hanshan Temple. At that time, maple leaves were falling all over the sky and the scenery was very beautiful.

It was not until after leaving Hanshan Temple that Wang Bo heard that an imperial censor named Shangguan Yi had killed many people there.

Xuanzang went to see the people who had been killed by the censor.

Later, Wang Bo heard from his father that the Censor was the most ruthless person in the court, who killed people without blinking an eye.

The emperor likes to let the censors kill people, and my father even seems to be a little afraid of the censors in his words. The censors in the past were not like this.

Now, the emperor gave the censors a knife, and those censors began to kill people.

Wang Bo felt that killing was a very scary thing. He had seen the chopped-off heads of people by the censor outside Lingyin Temple, and he still could not forget it. He even had nightmares for several nights after he first saw the heads.

Yang Jiong took Wang Bo to walk in Chang'an City, and they came to Hongwenguan.

"This is my teacher." Yang Jiong introduced happily.

Hao Chujun looked at the child in front of him and said, "Is this your friend?"

Yang Jiong nodded and said, "This is a good friend I have known since I was a student. His name is Wang Bo."

Wang Bo bowed and said, "Wang Bo greets you, sir. I am from Jinzhong."

Hongwenguan was very busy with many people coming and going, and the arrival of the two children did not attract much attention.

Hao Chujun asked: "I heard Yang Jiong talk about you. Your father is a descendant of Wang Tong."

"Exactly."

Hao Chujun smiled and said, "If it were in the past, you would have been treated with courtesy. But now it is different. The court no longer looks at one's family background when recruiting people. If you want to be a student at the Hongwen Academy, you have to write an examination paper. Even if you are the descendant of the famous official Wang Tong, you still have to write an examination paper to enter this school."

Yang Jiong sat down with Wang Bo, who was still a little dazed.

A test paper was suddenly spread out in front of him. Wang Bo ground the ink very politely and then picked up the pen to write.

Although he is very young, he is very well-mannered. This child has received a very good upbringing since childhood.

Wang Bo finished writing and answering the test paper and handed it in with both hands.

Hao Chujun took the test paper and looked at what was written on it. In fact, the entrance examination to Hongwenguan was simpler than before.

Although the number of students in Hongwenguan is less than that in Chongwenguan, it is at least more than before.

The content tested in the volume is the ability to read and understand characters. As a descendant of Wen Zhongzi, he is not only able to read and understand characters comprehensively, but also able to annotate several allusions in history books.

With such knowledge at such a young age, he is truly a leader among his peers.

Hao Chujun exclaimed: "Chang'an City has gained another talented person."

Wang Bo was still thinking about the meaning of the Master's words.

"Okay." Hao Chujun put the test paper aside and filed it, saying, "From now on, I will study at Hongwenguan."

"Thank you, Master."

There were also many new books in the Hongwenguan, and many classics were exchanged with the Wenxueguan, Sifangguan, and Chongwenguan.

Yang Jiong selected a few volumes and handed them to Wang Bo.

Wang Bo held the book in both hands and glanced at the students studying in the Hongwenguan. Among them were several students of the same age as him, but they were not well dressed and looked like they were from poor families.

"This Chang'an seems different from what my father said."

Yang Jiong was standing on the ladder, still selecting books for his friend, and asked, "What's the difference?"

Wang Bo shook his head and said, "My father said that everyone in Chang'an City should want to enter the government and get promoted."

Hearing this, Yang Jiong asked with a smile: "In the future, you will also join the government, and we will serve as officials together."

Wang Bo blinked and nodded slightly, "Yeah."

He just responded simply, but he was actually very confused and had never thought about whether he should become an official.

Wang Bo felt that he was not as bold as Yang Jiong and could not take the initiative to talk to others. Wang Bo could not understand others either. He just thought that reading was a good thing and nothing else was important.

Under Yang Jiong's guidance, he found a place to sit down and began to flip through the books, but at first glance, his already twisted face became even more tangled.

His eyes left the book and he looked up to see Yang Jiong talking to some strangers of his age. Wang Bo lowered his head again and read the words in the book.
He scratched his head in pain and recited aloud unconsciously, "The Lord's merit is wealth and strength. Therefore, a rich country and strong army..."

When Wang Bo first read this sentence, he knew that this was Guanzi's doctrine, but when he read further, he started talking about Mohism's doctrine.

Reading it this way gave Wang Bo a very strange feeling. Having read a lot since childhood, he was also confused. Why were the recorded articles so messy?

It gives people the feeling of a scholar holding a Mohist scripture in his hand, shouting universal love, but wielding the Legalist knife, swinging it at the ignorant enemies, and behind this man wielding the knife are countless wealth and population.

This is probably the person that Wang Bo imagined when he read this book.

This also seems to confirm why my father said that the censor took the knife and helped the emperor to kill people.

Are all the literati in Chang'an City now like this, holding a book in one hand and talking about universal love, benevolence and righteousness, and holding a knife in the other hand to kill people?

Wang Bo felt that the small world in his cognition was collapsing.

Then he left Hongwenguan with a painful look on his face.

That night, Wang Bo stayed in the inn in Chang'an City, tossing and turning, thinking over and over again about the book he had read that day, for example, he read in the book today that what makes humans different from animals is that humans know hope.

What is this hope?
Furthermore, it is really puzzling why humans should be different from animals.

The contents of these books seemed to have magic, constantly attracting Wang Bo. As a result, Wang Bo, who had not slept all night, squatted in front of the gate of Hongwenguan at dawn, looking up and thinking.

A figure appeared in sight, it was Hao Chujun, the head of Hongwenguan.

"Master, can you help me solve my doubts?"

"speak."

While answering, Hao Chujun opened the big lock on the door of Hongwenguan.

Wang Bo asked, "Master, what is hope?"

Hao Chujun said: "Look more."

"See more?"

Hao Chujun pointed at the people in Chang'an City and said, "Look at the people here more."

Wang Bo was a very knowledgeable child, but for Hongwenguan, the education this child received when he was young was the best.

He was still a blank sheet of paper to Hongwenguan.

At least before he had any understanding of the new knowledge and before he was changed, this child was completely ignorant and no different from other children who came to primary school.

This is the charm of Chongwenguan books. Its new cognition and new knowledge can allow children who are exposed to such books for the first time to start from scratch, so that more people can start from the same starting line as much as possible.

There are also outliers among them, like Zhang Jianzhi, who achieved success late in life. He had no achievements in his early years, but now he seems to have come to his senses. His knowledge has improved by leaps and bounds, and he can even annotate the books in Chongwenguan.

There are also Lu Zhaolin and Pei Yan, whose learning ability is simply inhuman. They learn things very quickly.

Obviously Wang Bo was not this kind of person. This was related to the environment he grew up in. The education this child received when he was young was too old-fashioned.

Wang Tong was a famous scholar who was well-versed in the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought, and the Chongwenguan also quoted many of Wang Tong's works and included them in its book.

However, Hao Chujun felt that Wang Bo was a descendant of Wang Tong, and was not surprised by this descendant.

There is no way around it. In today's Chang'an, there are so many talented people who amaze the world, and Hao Chujun is used to seeing them.

Wang Bo began to study hard in Hongwenguan. He was not a very sociable child. He often sat alone in a corner, reading a book by himself, sometimes for a whole day. This child seemed like a born fool.

After Wang Bo had been looking for half a month, he still had no results. To him, Chang'an City seemed like two completely different worlds compared to other places he had been to.

Hao Chujun said: "Read more in Chang'an City. You can't understand the profound meaning of these books just by reading them."

Di Renjie stood in front of the Hongwenguan, chewing dates.

Hao Chujun stepped forward and asked politely, "Di Shuling, do you have any important business to attend the Chongwenguan?"

Di Renjie winked and a bad guy came forward carrying a basket.

In the basket was a large piece of mutton with bones and some silk.

"This is……"

Di Renjie said: "The New Year's gift from your majesty will be given after New Year's Eve."

Before they knew it, it was the end of the year. Hao Chujun smiled and bowed, "Thank you."

In the ninth year of Qianqing's reign, as the year was coming to an end and New Year's Eve was approaching, Li Chengqian and Duke Ying listened to reports from the Ministry of War, Jingzhao Prefecture, and Chongwenguan.

It is talking about the construction progress of the four towns of Anxi.

Li Chengqian listened for a long time, and no one mentioned anything related to the coordination or national policy.

Fortunately, no one jumped out at this time and said, "Your Majesty, please set up four military governors in the Western Regions?"

Fortunately, the national policies that everyone is talking about now are relatively simple. They are all about military farming, or expanding the scope of education, or increasing the number of troops.

I don't know how the idea of ​​a Jiedushi, a high-ranking official who integrated military, administrative and political power, came about.

Was it really that the emperor drank too much at that time?

Or is it that the emperor really just wants to enjoy himself?
Li Chengqian took a sip of tea with a worried look on his face. First of all, as an emperor, he could not completely delegate power.

If there is an unparalleled trust relationship between the emperor and his subjects, then they are no longer just a relationship between monarch and subject.

The trust between people is actually very easy to break, even if there is a slight conflict of interest.

Therefore, the emperor would rather test the loyalty of his subjects than exchange his trust for their loyalty.

Unless you don't want to live anymore...

Everyone discussed for a while, and seeing that His Majesty did not speak, Duke Ying Li Ji took the lead and said, "Since the Ministry of War and Jingzhao Prefecture both want the court to send more troops to the Western Regions, the troops from Qinghai and the Hexi Corridor can be transferred to the Western Regions."

Li Chengqian said: "Next summer, when food and grass are ready, we will mobilize them."

Lord Ying nodded and stepped aside.

Xu Jingzong said: "I think we need more Chongwenguan masters. The Chongwenguan in Xizhou alone cannot support itself."

Li Chengqian asked in return: "How many Chongwenguan masters are there in the Western Regions now?"

Yu Zhining stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, there should be more than sixty people."

Du Zhenglun, the Imperial Censor in the Palace, stepped forward and said, "There are 50,000 people in Xizhou alone, not to mention 30,000 people in Tingzhou."

Most of the population was concentrated in Xizhou and Tingzhou, while the defenses of the four Anxi towns were weak, and the entire Western Region presented a situation of weak branches and strong trunk.

This was also the choice of the two Anxi Protector-Generals, and it was also a tacit understanding that only by keeping most of the forces in Xizhou could the four towns be controlled.

Just like Luoyang and Chang'an today, they have populations several times larger than other places, and their strategies are the same as those during the Zhenguan period.

The military system that the Tang Dynasty still uses today is very suitable for this strategy of weakening the branches and strengthening the trunk.

(End of this chapter)