In the blink of an eye, time came to the beginning of September in the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754). At this time, it was only a few days away from the birthday of Li Longji, the sage of the Tang Dynasty. The city of Chang'an had already been decorated with lights and colors to celebrate Li Longji's birthday.
In addition to Chang'an, most of the military prefectures and counties in the Eleventh Road of the Tang Dynasty (the newly added Luoche Road) were also decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. The prefectures and counties in Hebei Road were no exception, and even Youzhou where Fanyang Jiedushi's mansion was located was the same. .
Looking at the officials and people in the city who were busy hanging up lanterns, Yan Zhuang sneered in his heart.
Not long after returning home, the housekeeper came in and reported: "Mr. Lang, Alang of the Gao family is here to visit."
"You mean noble?" Yan Zhuang frowned and said, "It's been so long and you still want to come over here to find me? Is there anything you can't tell me tomorrow?"
After all, Yan Zhuang asked the housekeeper to invite Gao Shang to the flower hall.
A moment later, Yan Zhuang walked into the flower hall in better clothes and saw Gao Shang pacing anxiously.
"Brother Gao, why are you so anxious?" Yan Zhuang asked, crossing his hands and singing.
"Brother Yan, have you ever heard someone say something?" Gao Shang returned the greeting and asked eagerly.
"I wonder what Brother Gao is talking about?" Yan Zhuang looked at Gao Shang with a blank look on his face, thinking to himself, you are so clueless, how do I know what your brother is talking about?
"About the imperial examination!" Gao Shang said urgently.
"Imperial examination?" Yan Zhuang's expression immediately fell, "What's there to say about the imperial examination?"
The imperial examination can be said to be a lingering shadow in Yan Zhuang's life. If it weren't for the injury he suffered during the imperial examination, how could Yan Zhuang defect to An Lushan and help this Hu'er? Raise an army and rebel?
Gao Shang waved his hand and said, "Brother Gao, I heard a statement that the imperial court has changed the method of the imperial examination!"
"So what." Yan Zhuang snorted coldly and added, "It's nothing more than changing the soup without changing the medicine. Everyone needs the recommendation of those high-ranking families or the guarantee to take the imperial examination. Even if you try hard to get the qualification, It’s useless, because the examiners are all their own, so it’s not up to them to decide whether the Chinese style can be used or not.”
"No, no, no, no, it is said that the method of the examination has changed." Gao Shang waved his hands and said, "In order to celebrate Li Longji's birthday, the Ministry of Rites organized an Enke. This time the Enke examination method is very different from the previous one. Not only does every exam Each candidate's test paper needs to be anonymous, and the examiner can only mark the test paper written by the transcriber, and the examiner cannot see the candidate's test paper."
"Is this happening?" Yan Zhuang said in astonishment, "The names of the examination papers were obscured and then transcribed by the transcriber?"
"Yes, the test papers are written with names and are transcribed." Gao Shang said, "This way we can completely eliminate the examiner's favoritism."
Yan Zhuang said: "It is impossible to completely eliminate examiner favoritism, but it will be much more difficult for examiners who come from aristocratic families to pretend to be self-serving, and the imperial examination will become more fair and just."
Gao Shang said: "Speaking of examiners, it is said that there is another biggest change."
"Really?" Yan Zhuang asked melancholy, unable to express his feelings, "What's the biggest change?"
"Yes, there is another biggest change." Gao Shang nodded and added, "I heard that after the candidates for the chief examiner and two deputy examiners were announced, the three of them, together with all the transcribers involved in this encore, He was locked up in the Imperial Academy by the Jinwu Guards. From then on, the chief examiner, deputy chief examiner, and transcribers would not be released until Enke's examination was completed, the test papers were corrected, and all the results were announced. This strictly prevented candidates or their family members from visiting the examiners and transcribers. way."
"What? It has become so harsh?" Yan Zhuang became more and more melancholy.
Gao Shang also sighed and said, "It would be great if the saints could do this."
Yan Zhuang was still melancholy at first, but after hearing these words, his heart moved slightly. Maybe... it's not too late?
At that moment, Yan Zhuang said to Gao Shang: "Brother Gao, it's getting late. Why don't we wait until tomorrow when it goes straight?"
"Okay, let's talk about it tomorrow." Gao Shang crossed his hands and bowed to Yan Zhuang, turned around and left in a hurry.
After watching Gao Shang go out, Yan Zhuang suddenly shouted out the door: "Fifth uncle, old fifth uncle?"
The butler hurriedly entered, crossed his hands and chanted: "I wonder what your husband has ordered?"
Yan Zhuang said: "Prepare a fast horse for me immediately, and pack dry food for me."
"Ah?" the steward said in astonishment, "Is Mr. Lang going on a long trip?"
"Yes, I have something urgent to go to Chang'an." Yan Zhuang nodded solemnly.
"What? Going to Chang'an?" The housekeeper was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Are you waiting for Alang to come back?"
The Alang mentioned by the housekeeper is Yan Zhuang's father, Yan Fu, but it is Yan Zhuang's son who is in charge of the Yan family.
"No, no wait." Yan Zhuang waved his hand and said, "In this way, once the gate of Youzhou City opens tomorrow, you will immediately take your servants to protect my grandfather, wife and children and go to my uncle's house in Hexi. By the way, Qian Qian You must not leave together, but leave separately. Let Xiu Niang take Little Yi Nu away first, and then you can protect me and leave."
"Here." The housekeeper didn't dare to neglect and hurried forward to prepare.
The housekeeper didn't ask any more questions and said that Yan Zhuang had offended An Lushan.
Soon, Yan Zhuang rode a fast horse and headed straight for the south gate of Youzhou with a package of dry food.
It was already late at night at this time, and the city gate had long been closed. The captain of the city gate asked: "Where does Yan Kongmu want to go?"
"It's urgent to leave the city." Yan Zhuang didn't say much, he just took out the tooth tag in his arms and showed it to the captain of the city gate.
The city gate captain immediately opened the door to let people go, because everyone in Youzhou City knew that Kong Muguan Yanzhuang and Secretary Zhang Gao Shang were confidants of Anjieshuai, and they would often tell them to do some ulterior secrets. , I often left Youzhou for business in the middle of the night, so no one dared to stop me.
After leaving Youzhou, Yan Zhuang headed south in a hurry.
At dawn the next day, Kankan arrived at the border of Mozhou.
As a result, I met an acquaintance in a wine shop next to the official road.
"Brother Gao, what are you doing?" Yan Zhuang said with a faint smile, "Where do you want to go?"
Gao Shang was startled, but when he turned around and saw that it was Yan Zhuang, he was relieved and said with a smile: "Go where Brother Yan wants to go."
Yan Zhuang laughed loudly when he heard this. He immediately walked to sit down opposite Gao Shang and said loudly: "Man, a bowl of mutton in water, two kilograms of biscuits and a pot of Sanle pulp."
…
An Lushan really trusted Yan Zhuang and Gao Shang.
But it is precisely because of trust that I always consult.
As a result, they were not seen the whole morning the next day, so An Lushan sent An Qingxu to Gaozhai and Yanzhuang to inquire. After going there, he found that the two houses were actually empty.
An Qingxu realized that something serious was going on, so he sent troops to chase and kill him, and reported back to An Lushan: "Master, something has happened. Gao Zhai and Yan Zhai are empty, and no one is there!"
"What did you mean?" An Lushan was really surprised.
After calming down, An Lushan said again: "Did Li Linfu just fake his death? He didn't really die?"
An Lushan was really afraid of Li Linfu, so when he heard that the Yanzhuang and Gaoshang families had escaped overnight, his first reaction was that the two of them were hidden stakes planted by Li Linfu. As long as Anlushan made up his mind to rebel, the two of them would He fled Youzhou immediately and returned to Chang'an to report the news to Li Linfu.
An Qingxu gritted his teeth and said, "Master, we have no way out now!"
"Well, you are right, we have no way out." Although An Lushan was afraid of Li Linfu, he could not just wait for death. He immediately shouted with a dark face, "Send the order, let Ashina Chengqing, Shi Siming, An Shouzhong, Li Guiren and Cui Qianyou came to Youzhou immediately, saying that there was an urgent military situation!"
"Here!" An Qingxu turned around and left in a hurry.
Soon, dozens of fast horses flew out of Youzhou City.
A few days later, the time came to the eighth day of September, which was Li Longji’s birthday. Generals such as Shi Siming and An Shouzhong arrived in Youzhou. Then they learned a shocking news. Commander An Jie was going to launch an army to clear the emperor!
In fact, Shi Siming and others had known that this day would come sooner or later, and Qing Jun was just an excuse. An Jie Shuai wanted to rebel against Li Tang, and he just wanted to be the emperor himself.
Moreover, Shi Siming and others were willing to follow An Lushan in rebellion.
The reason is that what An Lushan can give them is far better than what Li Tang can give them.
In short, in one sentence, every position in Li Tang's empire from top to bottom has been occupied by others. If they, the barbarians or Qiu Ba from a poor family, want to get ahead, they have no choice but to rebel.
