The night gradually covered the sky, and the lights of Prince Wei's Mansion were lit. Xiao Ying and Liu Rumei were sitting opposite each other in the main hall of the main house chatting. On the table in front of them were a jade-white porcelain tea set and some snacks and fruits.
Hearing the sudden sound of footsteps outside, the two sisters looked at the door together. Seeing that the person coming was Yang Ji, who had been to the palace for a day, they couldn't help but smile like a flower.
Qiu Shui and Qiu Yue, who were standing by the side, had already come forward to greet him. Qiu Shui reached out and took the court clothes that Yang Ji took off and put them on the clothes hanger nearby. Qiu Yue brought the warm water that had been prepared and washed Yang Ji's hands.
Liu Rumei also came forward, tenderly handed over a white folded handkerchief, and asked: "The saint just summoned you, why did you come back so late? Madam and I are still waiting for you to have dinner."
"We talked about a lot more things today, Qiu Shui Qiuyue, let me bring dinner." Yang Ji took the handkerchief and wiped his hands casually, then sat next to the eldest wife.
"Here." The two sisters responded.
Xiao Ying poured a cup of tea, pushed it in front of her husband, and asked with concern: "Is it related to the martial arts competition?"
"Exactly!" Yang Ji took a sip of tea and said, "My vacation is in vain. The saint has appointed me as the chief inspector of the martial arts examination. I will be busy again tomorrow."
Xiao Ying bit her lip and whispered, "Did brother sell you out?"
"It has nothing to do with your brother. Even if it has something to do with him, it's not your turn, Princess Wei, to feel guilty." Yang Ji understood Xiao Ying's thoughts. She thought it was her brother Xiao Jue who was unjust and pushed her into the pit of fire. He was very sorry, but he had to dispel Xiao Ying's thoughts and let her understand that she was already the wife of the Yang family, not the daughter of the Xiao family. If Xiao Ying and the "Five Surnamed Girls" are the same person, then no matter how reluctant he is to let go, he will still have to take back his unreserved trust and affection.
The "Five Surnamed Girls" are no different from the married princesses. They are almost all high-level spies whose parents' families have infiltrated the 'enemy'.
They lose their freedom when they are born, and they have to undergo various trainings when they are learning to speak. While they receive the most top-notch etiquette education, they also have to accept all the brainwashing of the concept of putting family and natal family first. Therefore, outstanding women with the five surnames all have the characteristics of being knowledgeable, courteous, luxurious and generous, and good at calligraphy and painting.
The girls of the five surnames who have received rigorous training can go to the hall and the kitchen, play the guqin and the flute; they can calligraphy well after grinding, and draw beautiful scrolls with their pens. They can be regarded as models among girls. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as perfect. .
They have only two futures. One is to marry other aristocratic families. This will not only intertwine the seven prominent families and form a shady interest network, but also act as a protector for the natal family when the interests of the husband's family and her natal family conflict. Spies who infiltrate the 'enemy'. The second is to marry the children of nobles, children of small and medium-sized gentry, and poor people with great potential, and bring them into the sphere of influence of the natal family to strengthen the power of the natal family.
However, the Sui Dynasty was dominated by the Guanlong nobles, and everyone wanted to curry favor with the Guanlong nobles. Even the seven sects with five surnames who had been reduced to grandsons were no exception. Even to make money, they had to send the women of the clan to a certain big noble. Therefore, the "Five Surnamed Women" brand was in a money-losing investment stage during the Sui Dynasty, and was not as loud and exaggerated as the Tang Dynasty.
Xiao Ying heard the meaning of her husband's words and said hurriedly: "Lang Jun, I am definitely not the kind of woman who loves her mother's family. I just, I just feel that it is because of me that Lang Jun tried his best to help his brother solve the problem. The subsequent betrayal, and the current chief inspector..."
At this point, Xiao Ying turned pale with fear and trembled all over. Her eyes were bright and there were faint tears. She didn't know what to say.
If her husband thinks that she loves her mother's family and is a secret agent of the Xiao family, even if he treats her well in the future, it will only be a false respect on the surface, instead of like this now. If she loses her husband's trust, then she will be heartbroken, and her life will be worse than death. .
"No need to explain, I understand! I understand your heart too." Yang Ji held her hand and felt the fear in her heart from the cold and trembling hand. He could also feel that an infatuated woman had deep feelings for him, but Although his words may not sound very good, this is his bottom line. Only by explaining clearly in advance can tragedy happen.
"I was born into the Yang family, and my ghost is the soul of the Yang family. Everything is focused on my husband and my husband's family. Really, you have to believe me." Xiao Ying's voice was still soft, but she was choked up. She looked away, not letting Yang Ji saw the tears welling up in her eyes.
"I believe, I believe!" Yang Ji hugged her in his arms and comforted her softly.
After a while, Xiao Ying calmed down and slowly sat upright in her husband's arms. However, she was still superstitious about the power of the aristocratic family and asked worriedly: "What are you going to do?"
"Actually, the general inspection of the martial arts examination is not a big deal. Judging from the damage I have caused to the family members, even if I give all 400 places in the second list to the family members, the other party will not be grateful, let alone feel hatred. , hatred, so it doesn’t matter if I offend you again.”
Yang Ji wiped away the tears on her face and comforted: "The aristocratic families are powerful, but they are a piece of loose sand and cannot be bigger than the emperor. They have countless manpower and material resources at their disposal, but the emperor has greater manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and is even more powerful." What’s great is that the emperor represents the world’s orthodoxy. He is the one who sets the rules, and the aristocratic families have no choice but to follow them. As long as I have the emperor as my backer and I behave uprightly, what do I have to fear?”
"I am an official of the imperial court, an upright and upright chief inspector of martial arts. As long as I uphold justice, I can hold high the weapons of the law and exercise the power of justice that people applaud. There is one more thing I have to tell you..."
Yang Ji glanced at Xiao Ying and Liu Rumei, and said depressedly: "I couldn't stop chatting with the saint today. So the examiner became me, Yang Ji."
The chief inspector of the martial arts examination is to supervise the officials, very simple. He was depressed about his job as martial arts examiner.
This is because when I was discussing with Yang Guang today, I couldn't keep my mouth shut or stop the car. Yang Guang slapped his thigh and said, "I think you are the best and the most thoughtful. Why don't you ask the examiner to do it?" Forget about taking part-time jobs.”
As a result, Yang Ji was both the chief inspector and the examiner of the martial arts examination.
Although the imperial examinations were held almost every year for decades in the Sui Dynasty, the aristocratic imperial examinations were poorly planned, had little impact, and were extremely small in scale. They were all competed by the aristocratic children, and they were very sloppy! It can be said that the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty had no experience in holding such a large-scale event.
It's all up to you to take the lead.
Of course, he also understood Yang Guang's intentions. Yang Guang did not expect to recruit any great talents or geniuses in the first martial arts examination. He hurriedly launched the horse, but he was just taking advantage of the military's appeal to launch a meritocracy for the martial arts. It's just a concept. What he pictures is not the present, but the long-term future.
No matter how sloppy, rough, and sloppy it is, it is still a martial arts exercise for warriors all over the country!
What's even worse is that warriors from all over the country are here, and time is already very tight!
"..." Xiao Ying and Liu Rumei were speechless after hearing Yang Ji's words. Xiao Ying said in an almost despairing tone: "The martial arts competition is imminent, what will Lang Jun decide to do?"
Yang Ji said: "Of course the previous charter was overthrown and rebuilt!"
The martial arts examination compares with real things. If you are inferior to others, you are inferior to others; unlike the imperial examination, even if you write a colorful article, some examiners will think it is good and some will think it is not good because of their personal preferences. , the most prone to disagreements and disputes.
. . . . . . . . .
The residence of Xu Guogong Yu Wenshu is located in Chongrenfang. Because of his support and his good skills in camp, he won the trust of Yang Guang.
High-ranking officials and noble people all hope to board Yuwen's big ship, and then improve their status. Every day, there is an endless stream of high-ranking officials and noble people who come to seek official positions, promotions, and connections, making the square in front of Xu Guogong's mansion busy with traffic.
Almost all officials in the capital knew that Yuwenshu had two major hobbies. The first was that he loved money as much as his life. As early as the Kaihuang period, Yuwenshu had a fortune of tens of thousands, and there were countless rare treasures in his treasure house.
The second is that he likes to collect fake sons; collecting fake sons is actually a continuation of the family military system of the Wei and Zhou dynasties. At that time, the Guanlong nobles often had tens of thousands of family soldiers in their hands, and these soldiers all followed the surname of their masters; like Yu Wenshu, his The ancestor's original surname was Poyantou, and he was just a domestic slave of the Yuwen family. However, with the strong rise of his father Yuwensheng and himself, they no longer recognized themselves as domestic slaves, but regarded themselves as a member of the Yuwen royal family. .
During the Kaihuang period, Yang Jian abolished the family military system, which was detrimental to the stability of the world, and forcibly changed the family soldiers of aristocratic families to their original surnames. The family military system gradually disappeared in front of the public. However, secretly, the Guanlong nobles used the method of pretending to be false to change the family military system. It continued. What makes it even more difficult for him to investigate is that these fake people have penetrated into the army with their own surnames and controlled the lower-level military power. This is the foundation of the Guanlong nobles, and it is very difficult to move them.
Yuwenshu had collected countless fake sons during the reign of the late emperor. It was rumored that he had three thousand fake sons. These people were either highly skilled warriors or people with outstanding literary talents. However, the late emperor Yang Jian had very strict control over this, so Yuwenshu only Dare to collect it secretly.
But as Yang Guang ascended the throne and his status improved, Yu Wenshu's desire to use martial arts to recruit fake sons suddenly swelled. He hoped to take in all the outstanding people on the second list as domestic slaves. Then, through his own relationships, he arranges them into various positions to strengthen his actual power.
At this time, he was meeting Wang Shichong, a member of the Ministry of War, in his study, and listened to his report on the registration status of the second list.
Wang Shichong's grandfather was a Hu from the Western Regions, and later moved to Xinfeng County, Guanzhong to settle. His grandfather died young, and his father remarried him to live with Wang's mother in Bacheng, so he changed his surname to Wang. Wang Shichong was tall and burly, with curly hair, and looked like a barbarian. During the reign of Emperor Kaihuang, he was awarded the title of Disciplined Official of the Third Division of Yitong for his military exploits. Because he was good at maneuvering the camp, he relied on his own efforts to step into the ranks of court officials and became a member of the Ministry of War.
Wang Shichong had a very good political vision. He had already realized that Yang Su was suspected of having great achievements and would decline after his peak. It was very dangerous to mix with the Yang family. Therefore, when everyone was pursuing the Yang family, he took refuge in the Yang family early. Yuwenshu, who was ready to take action, tried his best to flatter and flattery, and gradually became Yuwenshu's confidant in the court. If Yuwenshu didn't dare to superior the official in charge of the capital, who was a false son, the chief eunuch in Yuwenshu's false son must be a false son. Wang Shichong is none other than Wang Shichong.
In this martial arts competition, Wang Shichong and several colleagues were the main person in charge of the second list. Because he was very smart and capable, and did everything properly, he became the leader of the second list. In name, he obeyed the Minister of War. Xiao Jian and Duan Wenduan, the Minister of War, but he was actually working for Yu Wenshu.
The flaw in the list is that he followed Yu Wenshu's order. Selling favors to aristocratic families was secondarily, but mainly to facilitate Yu Wenshu's placement.
Wang Shichong respectfully said to Yu Wenshu: "General, as of today, there are more than 34,000 warriors who have signed up to take the Second Rank Examination. According to the announcement time of the Ranking and the itinerary of the candidates from far away, all those who should have come have already come." It’s coming. Even if there are still people who come after hearing the news later, there will only be about 40,000 people at most.”
"How many days are left to register?" Yu Wenshu asked.
"The registration deadline is the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and there are still thirty-seven days left." Wang Shichong said flatteringly: "General, do you want to shorten the registration time?"
Poor Wang Shichong still thinks that the chief examiners are Xiao Jue and Duan Wenzhen, and the assessment method still follows the regulations designed by him.
This is actually a time lag. Since Xiao Jue and Duan Wenzhen only learned about the loopholes in the martial arts exam yesterday, after they apologized to Yang Guang, they took the time to fix the loopholes and redesign the assessment regulations. When they reported to Yang Guang today, they happened to bump into Yang Ji, after Yang Guang assigned the examiner and chief inspector to Yang Ji. In order to let the demons and monsters show their true colors, Yang Ji did not allow the two of them to reveal the matter, creating an illusion that they were still the same.
And Wang Shichong is the biggest suspect. Of course he doesn't know that he has been blacklisted by Yang Ji, Xiao Jue, and Duan Wenzhen. How could he know this?
"It's not necessary! I don't want to care about this either." Yu Wenshu was not interested in this. He yawned lazily and ordered: "Anyway, you have to give me at least 180 places."
Yu Wenshu planned to use part of these one hundred and eighty places to arrange for his own people; part of it was because the aristocratic family members and civil and military ministers knew about his relationship with Wang Shichong, so they spent a lot of money to buy the places. Since he accepted people's money, he naturally had Help others to eliminate disasters, otherwise how can we do business in the future? As for the other part, it is ready to be sold after the martial arts competition is launched.
"This..." Wang Shichong felt very embarrassed when he heard this. He secretly accepted the benefits of thirty people. He had to ensure that these people got the quota. Several other colleagues also had their own candidates, so they only occupied one place here. There are more than 120 places, but Yu Wenshu is even more greedy and will take 180 places at once. If there are more powerful ministers and wealthy families in the later period, tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers and soldiers will be left in the end. It would be good to have thirty or fifty places for civilian warriors to compete for.
Yu Wenshu saw Wang Shichong's hesitation and said coldly: "What's wrong? Is Wang Shijun not even willing to help with this little thing?"
When Wang Shichong saw that Yu Wenshu even called him 'Wang Shijun', he quickly expressed his position: "General, there is no problem with holding a humble position, but I'm afraid it's hard to explain to a saint."
Wang Shichong was worried that tens of thousands of warriors would join forces to cause trouble after discovering their crazy cheating. By then, Yu Wenshu would be fine and they would have to die. His words were actually a reminder to Yu Wenshu that the saint was watching, so don't go too far. If Yuwenshu reduces his quota because he is afraid of the saint, then he is also safe.
"How can a saint keep an eye on martial arts competitions when he has so many things to do? All he wants is a result. As for the process, he doesn't care. So with the saint, you don't have to worry at all!" Yu Wenshu waved his hand, nonchalantly. He said: "Moreover, you don't need to write with a pen in martial arts examinations, and there is no clue left. As long as during the weapons test and the riding skill test, if the examiner says that someone is good, then that's fine. If he says that someone is good for nothing, then that person is worthless." If they really can't fool you, the examiner can also say that this person comes from an anti-Sui family, that this person has bad moral character, and that this person is a heinous local bully. In addition, to make it easier for you to operate, I will suggest that the saint add the art of war department."
"Thank you, General, for your teachings. I understand my humble duty." Wang Shichong breathed a sigh of relief, and was even more amazed at Yu Wenshu's cunningness. A feeling of looking up at a high mountain arose spontaneously from the bottom of his heart.
Yu Wenshu thought of another thing and warned: "During the assessment, please pay more attention to people with bad family backgrounds but real abilities. If you find such people, report their names as soon as possible."
Wang Shichong was extremely shrewd. As soon as he heard what Yu Wenshu said, he knew that he had the idea of acquisition of fake sons. The purpose was to use the imperial court's martial arts to expand his own power. If he could kill all the outstanding folk warriors in the second list, Yu Wenshu would only have to be in the army in the future. With a little work in the court, these people will become a backbone force that cannot be ignored and belongs exclusively to the Yuwen family.
He cupped his hands and said: "I will keep the teachings of the general in mind. If there are no other instructions, I will take my leave first."
"Yes!" Yu Wenshu nodded: "Don't worry, I won't treat you badly."
"Thank you, General." Wang Shichong bowed and then slowly retreated.
Not long after Wang Shichong left, Yu Wenhuaji strode over, bowed his hands to his father, and said, "Ah, Changqiu Supervisor Yang An has given you a letter on the order of the saint."
Yu Wenshu stood up quickly and asked, "Is Changqiu Prison in the main hall?"
Yu Wenhuaji presented a letter to his father and said, "Prisoner Changqiu handed the letter to me and left."
"Oh!" Yu Wenshu opened the letter and read it. He immediately sat down on the couch and his face became very solemn.
Yu Wenhuaji took a closer look and couldn't help but exclaimed. There was only one line on the letter: "General, King Wei was ambushed in Bingzhou. Who do you think leaked his whereabouts?"
who is it?
Naturally, it was Yu Wenshu, and the person who handled it was Yu Wenji.
