Looking at the frowning Princess Changle, His Majesty Li Er turned to Wang Huangui and asked, "Did that guy Yang Fan say anything when he asked this question?"
Wang Huangui quickly replied: "Marquis Zhongyi once said that those who can solve this question must be talented people with a lively mind and not stick to formalities. Therefore, Marquis Zhongyi made a promise that if the student can answer the question, his majesty will appoint him."
oh? Does this kind of question really have such an effect?
His Majesty Li Er nodded and fell into deep thought.
Originally, Princess Gaoyang had no interest in this kind of subject.
It could be seen that Li Er and Chang Le were both immersed in it, so they said crisply: "Father, can you let me have a look?"
His Majesty Li Er chuckled and said jokingly: "Here, let's see if your future husband is capable of understanding and solving this problem."
With that said, he handed over the question in his hand.
Princess Gaoyang picked up the Nine Palace Grid, reviewed some questions, and asked with some confusion: "Father, isn't this very simple?"
These words almost made Li Er's jaw drop, and he shouted in surprise: "You figured it out?"
Princess Changle also raised her head in surprise, her little cherry mouth could almost swallow an egg.
Although Princess Changle dare not say that her knowledge is unparalleled in the world, she has always been considered the smartest among all Li Er's children.
Now Princess Gaoyang said it was very simple as soon as she picked it up, didn't she slap her face?
Of course, Princess Changle was not jealous, but thought that the question that could stump so many Imperial College students and great Confucians should not be so simple.
Otherwise, wouldn't those of them who can't do it look too stupid?
Seeing the suspicious looks in their eyes, Princess Gao Yang picked up a pen and started to connect the nine palace grids in front of Li Er.
The first line they drew was different from the one they drew just now, because the starting point of this line was an oblique straight line that extended beyond the nine-square grid.
When I started writing again, there was another line extending beyond the Nine Palaces, connecting the entire pullback trend. So far, this straight line has not been lifted. Now three lines are drawn to form a triangle.
Make a final stroke through the center point, all the way through the triangle to the lower right corner.
After drawing the last straight line, His Majesty Li Er counted and found that he only drew four straight lines and connected all the points of the nine-square grid.
The entire Manna Hall became quiet.
Li Er and Chang Le looked at each other, feeling an inexplicable feeling in their hearts.
How could it be so simple?
But the question is, is it that simple?
It's such a simple question, but no one among dozens of students and scholars has spent most of a day solving it. It's simply unbelievable.
If Princess Gaoyang is smarter than these people, His Majesty Li Er is not that arrogant yet.
Princess Gaoyang was someone he had seen since he was a child. Although he couldn't tell her clearly what her level of knowledge was, he could still guess it nine out of ten times.
Compared with Princess Changle, Princess Gaoyang's academic level is still inferior.
It's not just luck that people like this can randomly come up with questions that stump everyone.
Now of course Li Er saw the real meaning of this question.
The real secret of the Nine Palace Connection is not how to connect the nine points, but to think about the space beyond the nine points.
Only by using the space beyond the nine points can we widen the angle and perfectly connect the nine-square grid with four straight lines.
Looking at the graphics in front of him, Li Er was speechless for a long time. The nine-point-four line was perfectly connected with the nine-square grid.
Princess Changle looked at Princess Gaoyang with a complicated expression. She didn't expect that this sister had grown to such an extent.
Not only did I find a good husband like Yang Fan, but I also felt connected to the questions he asked.
Her red lips parted slightly and she murmured to herself: "Sister Gao Yang has such a clever mind, I admire her beauty."
His Majesty Li Er looked at it, his whole idea became clear, and asked: "Li Zhi, do you know why everyone can't connect?"
Princess Changle thought for a while and said: "Because everyone's eyes have always been on the Nine Palaces grid, thus ignoring the space outside the Nine Palaces."
His Majesty Li Er smiled and nodded: "Yes, no wonder Marquis Zhongyi said that this question can tap people's thinking."
"The same is true in life. Many times, we limit ourselves to the Nine Palaces!"
“If you broaden your horizons and don’t limit your gaze to what is right in front of you, you will find that there is actually a better world in life.”
"This question seems simple, but it actually contains great truths. The profound meaning inside makes people have to sigh. Has Li Zhi ever realized it?"
His Majesty Li Er looked at this picture. The more he looked at it, the more interesting it became. At the same time, he explained to his daughter.
They are about to divorce, and Li Er, who loves his daughter eagerly, is a little afraid that Princess Changle will be harmed.
It's a pity that His Majesty Li Er didn't know that the reason why Princess Changle gave up on Changsun Chong was not because Changsun Chong was inhumane.
But after she discovered that Chang Sun Chong was disloyal to the empire, Chang Sun Chong had murderous intention towards her...
However, His Majesty Li Er's words are not without effect.
When Princess Changle was hesitant, it allowed her to completely let go of some of the burdens in her heart and boldly pursue it... Of course, these are all things for later.
Princess Changle naturally heard Li Er's comforting words and quickly replied: "Thank you for your guidance, Li Zhi has benefited a lot!"
After saying that, he turned to look at Princess Gaoyang and asked: "How did my sister come up with the answer? But what are the methods and shortcuts?"
Regarding this issue, His Majesty Li Er also looked forward to it, and his attention turned to Princess Gaoyang.
After all, Princess Gao Yang could answer it so easily, which really made him very curious.
Princess Gao Yang took it as a matter of course: "Isn't this kind of question very simple? In the academy of Junyangfang, at least 50% of the students can draw it."
"When Gao Yang usually goes to play with Wu Meiniang, he also studies with her what Marquis Zhongyi left behind. There is a lot of strange knowledge in it."
"After reading more of this knowledge, Gao Yang feels that problems that were difficult before have become simpler and can be easily solved by finding new ways to solve them."
Hearing this, Li Er and Chang Le were stunned!
But Princess Gaoyang is so Versailles, and they really have no reason to refute.
At this time, Xiao Sizi clapped her hands with great enthusiasm and said: "Sister Seventeen is really great. Xiao Sizi also wants to learn this kind of knowledge. However, my brother-in-law is even more powerful. Sizi wants my brother-in-law to be my teacher!"
Xiao Sizi's words made His Majesty Li Er's eyes light up. It would be a waste not to learn such knowledge.
So he asked like a big bad wolf staring at the little white rabbit: "Ahem, Shu'er! You, Marquis Zhongyi, are also going to get married soon. We are going to be a family soon. If you have good things, don't hide them."
"Your younger brothers and sisters are still young. What do you think about letting them learn some knowledge from Marquis Zhongyi?"
Princess Changle also looked eager and said quickly: "Yes, sister, Marquis Zhongyi always does things unexpectedly, and I was just about to go and ask for advice!"
Princess Gaoyang was a little embarrassed and said with a wry smile: "Father, Marquis Zhongyi is usually lazy. It is simply impossible to want him to teach you knowledge."
"If we just let some people go to Junyangfang to study, Gao Yang can make the decision. However, there are many students from poor families in the school in Junyangfang, and I am afraid that they will be restless after they go there."
His Majesty Li Er snorted coldly: "I will carefully consider who I let go. If they dare to go there and act recklessly, I will not break their dog legs."
"Promise!" Li Er said so, how could Gao Yang refuse, so he could only nod in agreement.
His Majesty Li Er stroked his short beard and was very pleased!
He secretly decided in his heart that he must hollow out that boy Yang Fan.
Every time when Yang Fan feels like he's about to be drained, this kid can always surprise him.
Li Er really didn't know how Yang Fan's brain could hold so many weird things.
Thinking of this, His Majesty Li Er handed the question to the old eunuch on the side and said: "The answer to this question is not allowed to be circulated within three days, otherwise you will be severely punished."
"In addition, the prince and grandson should not be sleeping now. As long as they are children of school age, you can copy the question paper to them and let them try it. If they can make it, submit the list to me."
"Here!" Wang Huangui bowed and stepped back, going to prepare.
His Majesty Li Er guessed right. At this time, none of the royal family members in Chang'an had fallen asleep.
Yang Fan "made a big fuss" in the Imperial College, and now the whole city is in a turmoil. No one can sleep, and everyone is talking excitedly.
Looking at the question that Li Er sent to his son Li Xiang, Li Chengqian murmured to himself: "To connect the nine palaces, only four straight lines are used..."
After trying several times, Li Chengqian found that no matter how he drew, he couldn't connect four lines with one stroke.
Not to mention his son Li Xiang, who is only six or seven years old, it is impossible to connect.
We can only quickly summon the staff in the government to discuss this strange topic.
According to his information, Li Er distributed this question to various royal children.
As a member of the Donggong lineage, Li Chengqian is certainly not willing to lag behind.
Prince Wei's Mansion.
Li Tai also received the question. This guy was very straightforward and handed the question directly to his staff and retainers.
A dozen people studied this problem together, and finally came to the conclusion that the connection between the nine palaces cannot be completed by connecting four straight lines.
To complete the connection, a fifth straight line is required.
Li Tai was a little confused as to what the purpose of the questions sent by his father was.
I heard from the eunuch that this was a question asked by Yang Fan to test a person's divergent thinking.
After trying a few times, Li Tai had no choice but to give up. It was almost dawn and he might end up with panda eyes if he stayed up any longer!
Yang Fan didn't know that a random question caused countless people to lose sleep all night.
However, Yang Fan, who is soft and sweet, would not care about this, while he is having a sweet dream with his lovely wife and concubine in his arms!
After the morning court the next day, Li Shimin summoned Kong Yingda, Yan Shigu, Yu Wenshiji, Sima Caizhang and others.
Along the way, Kong Yingda and others were speculating about what the emperor had summoned them for.
Among them, except for Kong Yingda, Yu Wenshi and others who could often meet with the emperor, the rest were almost all people who had a good reputation among the scholars but did not have official status.
In their impression, it seems that they have not been summoned by the emperor yet. I wonder what is the reason for this time?
Is it because of joining the Information Department?
Amid everyone's speculation, they saw His Majesty Li Er in the Manlu Hall.
"I have met your Majesty."
His Majesty Li Er laughed heartily and said: "My dear friends, you don't need to be polite. I summoned you here this time mainly because of your loyalty..."
"The imperial court is planning to establish an Information Department, which will be under the management of the Ministry of Rites. The Information Department will be mainly responsible for explaining the reform of the imperial examinations and elaborating on the policy trends of the imperial court."
"Of course, the most important thing for the Information Department at the moment is to cooperate with the Ministry of Rites in printing books, imperial examination matters, and correcting test papers."
"In short, all matters related to the imperial examination must be handled by the Information Department. Of course, for convenience, the Information Department and the Ministry of Rites are under the management of Marquis Zhongyi."
"Since the Information Department has just been established and the official staff is not complete, based on the suggestion of Marquis Zhongyi, I will let you be the first batch of officials of the Information Department."
"The Information Department is temporarily headed by Kong Yingda, and the rest of the people will assist. You will enjoy the treatment of a fourth-rank official in the imperial court. I hope you will do your best."
If you want a horse to run, of course you have to let it eat grass!
Obviously, His Majesty Li Er has drawn a big pie.
The Information Department has just been established, it is just a prototype and has no say at all.
Li Er also asked Kong Yingda and other great scholars to step up first based on Yang Fan's suggestion.
Although one or two of these people look old, they are actually the best candidates.
After all, their reputation among scholars is unparalleled, and what they say is easy to convince.
After Kong Yingda and others heard His Majesty Li Er's words, they couldn't help but trembled with excitement.
The first batch of officials of the Information Department, this is a very meaningful historical moment.
Especially Sima Caizhang, who only held a false position as a professor of the Imperial College in his sixtieth year. Now he has become a full fourth-grade official. It can be said that he has reached the sky in one step!
Even Kong Yingda was a little surprised.
Kong Yingda's position was originally that of the Imperial Academy, which was equivalent to being the principal of the Imperial Academy.
Although this position sounds lofty, it actually only sounds nice and does not have any real power.
Even if Kong Yingda doesn't have any particular desire for power, who doesn't want to show off his skills?
It seems that joining the Information Department was indeed a good bet.
Especially for students who can serve in the imperial examination, this is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, and it is also what Kong Yingda hopes to do most.
I originally thought I was coming to the News Department to be a writer...
Now that he has great power and is personally participating in the reform of the imperial examination, Kong Yingda is quite excited.
He himself is the 31st grandson of Confucius and one of the representatives of Confucian scholarship in the Tang Dynasty.
Since the Han Dynasty, all dynasties have been based on Confucianism.
The imperial examination represented the entire method of selecting officials in the Tang Dynasty.
Being able to participate in it personally is definitely Kong Yingda’s dream.
Thinking of this, Kong Yingda couldn't help but said tremblingly: "Thank you for your majesty's trust. I will do my best to live up to your majesty's expectations and cooperate with Marquis Zhongyi to implement the imperial examination reform."
His Majesty Li Er nodded happily: "Well, you are indeed a great scholar who serves the country and the people. On behalf of all the students in the world, I would like to thank you for your dedication."
"Nowadays, there is an extreme shortage of books for imperial examinations. It is necessary to treat the symptoms first. Now I have decided to make changes starting with the examination books."
"This imperial examination is still based on the Four Books and Five Classics. The "Five Classics" will be based on the version you just compiled. As for the Four Books, I have people add some annotations. The content of this year's exam will be based on the new annotations on the Four Books and Five Classics. Exam reference book.”
"I have an annotation of the Four Books here. Let's circulate it to each other. If it can be used, we can print it into a book and promote it."
Kong Yingda and others were dumbfounded!
His Majesty Li Er was so ruthless that he directly redefined the imperial examination reference book, which simply destroyed the roots of the family.
There is no objection to the "Five Classics" compiled by Kong Yingda and others and the "Yang Enlightenment" by Yang Fan.
But when were the annotations of the Four Books reinterpreted?
They haven't heard of it!
However, Kong Yingda and others couldn't figure it out even after racking their brains. The annotations in the "Four Books" were just the version exchanged by Yang Fan.
In Yang Fan's opinion, this is the most suitable imperial examination reference book for the Tang Dynasty at this time.
It can break the world's monopoly and update generations. It is simply killing two birds with one stone.
Unfortunately, Kong Yingda and the others did not know, so he said with some suspicion: "Your Majesty, I have no objection to the printing of the Five Classics and Yang's Enlightenment. However, when the Four Books were revised, I did not listen. Said."
"Would it be inappropriate to directly use the new interpretation of the "Four Books"? The "Four Books" are the righteous words of the saints and sages, just like the stars in the sky that cannot be touched. Who dares to annotate the "Four Books"? Isn't this nonsense? "
His Majesty Li Er looked at Kong Yingda and the others with a half-smile but said, "Since you have your doubts, please read the annotations of the Four Books first!"
"promise!"
Kong Yingda and others took the printed "Four Books" from the old eunuch's hands, somewhat casually.
Because they don’t think there is a better annotation on the Four Books than the original one.
Everyone held the exquisite annotations of the "Four Books" in their hands. When they opened it, the first feeling was that their eyes were dim.
The initial disapproval gradually turned into caution, and even Kong Yingda's expression became much more serious.
The other people were horrified.
Although more than 90% of the annotations in the Four Books have not changed.
However, as long as changes are made, the content becomes rich and new, and it is obvious that these annotations are not made up randomly.
Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, His Majesty Li Er showed a playful smile.
I'm laughing secretly in my heart, I can't help but frighten the jaws of you old gangsters.
When Li Er received Yang Fan's annotations on the Four Books, he was also shocked.
Since the explanations did not change much, several people read the book very quickly, and their expressions became more solemn at the end.
Almost all of them held the "Four Books" respectfully with both hands, as if they were worshiping.
Except for the same annotations, not much has changed.
However, it took several people more than an hour to finish reading.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Kong Yingda asked: "Your Majesty, which great scholar translated these four books' annotations?"
His Majesty Li Er said: "These four books were translated by Marquis Zhongyi. After reading them, what do you think?"
Kong Yingda and others looked at each other and said in surprise: "Very good... Marquis Zhongyi is indeed a proud man of heaven. This comment is simply a voice for the saint to help the sages come. I am so lucky to see this comment!" "
His Majesty Li Er chuckled, feeling very proud.
When Yang Fan delivered it, Li Er was also shocked.
Now even Kong Yingda, Yan Shigu... these old antiques are shocked by Yang Fan, they are so awesome!
His Majesty Li Er couldn't help but said: "In this case, I will order someone to engrave it into a book as a model for the imperial examination. What do you think?"
"In addition, Marquis Zhongyi once said that if the beloved ministers have no objections, the compiler of this book will add the names of several beloved ministers as reviewers."
Hearing this, Kong Yingda and others blushed, and quickly refused: "Your Majesty is killing the ministers. This is the merit of the loyal and righteous marquis. How can the ministers dare to claim credit? Isn't it reviled by the world?"
"Besides, this annotation is the voice of a saint and is worth a thousand dollars. How dare we insult it!"
Although several people also wanted to leave their names on the annotations of the "Four Books", the pride of the scholars in their hearts did not allow them to do so.
Sima Caizhang even knelt down and shouted: "Loyalty must come from a saint. Yesterday, I deliberately made things difficult. I really don't know how high the heaven and the earth are! I am ashamed."
As soon as these words came out, His Majesty Li Er was completely shocked!
Although I knew that what Yang Fan produced was extraordinary, I never expected that Sima Caizhang and the others would give such a high evaluation.
Although His Majesty Li Er's knowledge base is not as profound as that of great scholars like Kong Yingda, he still has basic identification skills.
But His Majesty Li Er never expected that the "Four Books" annotations that Yang Fan threw to him like garbage could be so powerful.
It's just that he can be praised by Kong Yingda, but he can actually make Sima Cai give in to this stubborn old man. This is really awesome.
His Majesty Li Er squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "What you are saying is that these "Four Books" annotations can be used as a new science and technology examination book?"
An old man discussed it, and Kong Yingda nodded and said: "Your Majesty, after our discussion, the annotations in the "Four Books" can be used as a book for future imperial examinations."
After a moment of silence, Li Shimin waved his hand and gritted his teeth and shouted: "Okay, I have decided to use the re-edited Four Books and Five Classics as the textbook for this year's imperial examination. Please cooperate with me and be loyal to the imperial court."
"promise!"
With the affirmation of Kong Yingda and other scholars, His Majesty Li Er was even more confident.
Then someone quickly called Fang Xuanling and the others over.
The theory passed Kong Yingda's review, and the policy still needed the support of prime ministers like Fang Xuanling.
