In the Zichen Palace, Li Xuan raised his hands to the emperor and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, although I have met the two of them, it was only half an hour and a half ago. I really don't know much about them. I don't dare to make random suggestions. My opinions are really not enough." It will become the basis for your majesty to decide on the number one scholar, and I ask your majesty to consider it carefully."
Li Zhi smiled faintly, waved his hand and said: "At present, the prime ministers and several examiners have different opinions on these two examination papers. The prince and queen also hold different positions. They are not very different from each other. It is really difficult for me to make a decision. Your opinion has nothing to do with it. What's important is that you only need to tell them what you really think about them.
Just say whatever you have in mind. I make my own decision. Remember, don’t deceive yourself. "
Don't deceive the king.
Li Zhi's words with a smile made Li Xuan look stern.
He couldn't help but feel a toothache. What was it? The battle between a poor family and a noble family was settled by the emperor's word. Who dared to say no?
But Li Xuan knew in her heart that this matter was not that simple.
The Tang Dynasty and Tubo were about to start a war. If internal troubles arose in the court because of the position of No. 1 Scholar, the gains would definitely outweigh the losses.
But if he agrees to this, then the emperor will inevitably find someone to take revenge in the future. Li Zhi did this kind of thing countless times in the past.
But now Li Zhi is still looking for ways to calm the storm in the future without disturbing the court.
Therefore, in the current battle for the No. 1 pick, we have to listen to Li Xuan's opinion.
Li Xuan must speak this time. If he hides something, the emperor's opinion of him may not change significantly.
"I obey the order." Li Xuan held up his hands with a troubled expression. Under the gaze of Li Zhi and all the ministers, he thought for a moment, and then Li Xuan slowly said: "Reporting to your Majesty, I was in the Shangqing Palace last year with Cheng Xingmou and Xu Xuan. And the two had a relationship.
At that time, Jiang Kai, the chief guest of the Ministry of Rites and the editor of the History Museum, asked the two students to write a poem each to show their talents.
In the end, Cheng Xingmou did "the third level of Yumen, a thunder on the ground, a generous husband and a loyal and filial son in life and death".
They all say that poetry is a metaphor for people, and Cheng Xingmou has a passionate literary talent, a bold ambition, and a deep sense of loyalty and filial piety. . "
"Loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of human beings." Li Zhi nodded, praised, and at the same time lowered his head to look at Chen Xingmou's test paper on the imperial case.
Li Xuan paused in her sentence and looked indifferent. The other ministers' deep gazes all fell on Li Xuan.
Li Zhi raised his head, nodded to Li Xuan, and said, "You continue."
"Here!" Li Xuan took a deep breath, ignored other people's gazes, and continued: "At that time, Xu Qie wrote a poem: 'The palaces are surrounded by towering buildings, the streets are competing for splendor; the sun and the moon are shining with heavenly virtue, and the mountains and rivers are where the emperor lives', His diction is beautiful and his chest is full of hills and valleys. This is because I have the talent of being the number one scholar."
The top talent.
After Li Xuan said something, some people in the palace had joy in their eyes, while more people had calm expressions.
Li Zhi sat behind the imperial case, glanced sideways at Empress Wu, then glanced at Li Xian, and finally looked at Li Xuan with a smile and said: "So, the King of Nanchang agrees with Xu Qie to be the number one scholar."
Li Xuan took a deep breath, cupped his hands, nodded, and said sincerely: "Based on that day, I can definitely agree to be the number one scholar, but I hope that your majesty can put Cheng Xingmou in the court for training. He has the world in mind." , with pure aspirations and pure intentions, if he can be cultivated well, he will be expected to be a prime minister in the future."
"Oh!" Li Zhi immediately sat up, looked at Li Xu, and said in surprise: "It's rare for the king of Nanchang to have such a vision, and he really lived up to my expectations. Xu Qie's writing is beautiful, and his stomach is full. He is indeed no better than the number one scholar. Bad. This journey of planning, generous husband's ambition, and laughter in life and death. Not bad, really good."
Li Zhi couldn't help but repeat it several times in succession: "A generous husband will be loyal and filial in life and death."
With these words, a subtle flash of light suddenly flashed in the eyes of the ministers present.
At this moment, Empress Wu, who was sitting on one side, finally spoke: "The sun and moon shine and heaven is virtuous, and the mountains and rivers make the emperor's home. This sentence is also very good."
"It's just another "Imperial Capital Chapter"." Li Zhi waved his hand slightly, then looked at the ministers, and said in a deep voice: "This idea cannot be said to be wrong. After all, in the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, when all the countries came to court, there should be many things, but I realize that the emperor should be more cautious and fulfill the wishes of the world. How can he easily make the emperor a powerful emperor?
Over the years, many censors have tried to dissuade Luoyang affairs. Although I seldom paid attention to them, I felt quite guilty in my heart. "
"Your Majesty has been promoted to Qiu. It is very clear. He accepts admonitions with open arms and does not give a fan." All the ministers present bowed at the same time and shouted: "I admire you very much."
"Okay, stop patting the horses." Li Zhi waved his hand and continued: "Xu Qie is a talented person, as good as Yang Jiong and King Luo Bin. After the imperial examination, Xu Xuqie entered the Hongwen Hall. But Cheng Xing lived a life of loyalty and filial piety. A generous husband should be an example to the world. According to the decree, in the third year of the Yuan Dynasty, Cheng Xingmou, the number one scholar in Bingzike, entered the Prince's Chongwen Hall and became a bachelor."
"I obey the order." All the ministers present raised their hands at the same time, and no one had the slightest objection.
After Li Zhi concluded in a few words, he looked up at Li Xian and said in a deep voice: "Prince, it is the first way for a king to be close to a gentleman and stay away from a villain. Cheng Xingmou is a generous husband and is loyal and filial in life and death. You should make good use of it."
"My son, I accept the decree." Li Xian immediately handed over his hands in awe.
All the ministers present had a faint feeling in their hearts, and there was a hint of solemnity in their eyes when they looked at Li Xian.
"Okay, everyone, please step aside. This is what happened today, and the results will be released tomorrow." Li Zhi waved his hand proudly.
All the ministers immediately handed over their hands and said: "I will leave."
Li Xuan mixed in the crowd and slowly exited the Zichen Palace.
…
Under the rain curtain, above Zhuque Street.
Sitting in Yue Weng Liu Rengui's carriage, Li Xuan breathed a long sigh of relief, and then carefully raised her hands and asked: "Yue Weng, what happened, why is there suddenly today's dispute?"
"Some people are making nonsense, and some are following them." Liu Rengui closed his eyes slightly and said softly: "It's nothing more than a number one scholar. No matter how poor his family is, no matter how famous his family is, they are relying on each other to fight. Fortunately, with you today, the matter can be solved easily; if not, Afraid of me and other ministers, I have to make a statement."
Although what happened today seemed to be a battle for the number one scholar, it was actually a battle between the emperor and the aristocratic family.
In the Zichen Hall, ministers from various ministries made speeches.
Even the ministers of the three provinces expressed their opinions, and there were only five prime ministers, but they never spoke easily.
The emperor also didn't want them to say anything. Once they expressed their stance, there was no room for taking it back.
After asking the queen and the prince, Li Zhi directly summoned Li Xuan back to Zichen Palace.
Fortunately, Li Xuan answered appropriately, thus avoiding all kinds of disturbances in the court.
As expected by Li Zhi, everything was solved easily.
Li Xuan looked helpless and said softly: "I'm afraid my grandson-in-law will really offend someone this time."
"It's none of your business." Liu Rengui shook his head and said calmly: "As you said, Xu Qi has the talent to be the number one scholar, and Cheng Xingmou has the hope of being the prime minister. His Majesty decides who will be superior and who will be inferior. What does it have to do with you? Do it. What's more, what all the ministers are most concerned about now is the prince's affairs. It's really surprising that the East Palace is also involved in today's affairs."
What happened today, the emperor and all the ministers and ministers actually saw clearly. It was the people from the East Palace who were stirring up trouble, but they were seen through.
The emperor finally gave his words to the prince Li Xian. He seemed to be talking about a generous husband and loyalty and filial piety in life and death, but in fact he was talking about loving gentlemen and staying away from villains.
This is not the prince's private matter, but there is a villain in the prince's east palace.
While Liu Rengui was pondering, Li Xuan said: "Yue Weng, the Tang Dynasty was founded a century ago. Although there are not sixty champions, there are still many people. Among these champions, those who can become prime ministers are not enough. At the eleventh hour, although Sun Xin said that Cheng Xingmou has the potential to be prime minister, where he can go depends on God's will."
Liu Rengui nodded and said: "Actually, it is His Majesty's intention to choose Cheng Xingmou as the leader of this examination. It's just that some people can't see through the intention, so they will disturb this palace examination."
"Yue Weng is wrong." Li Xuan shook his head and said with a slight sneer: "It's just to win over the people of Shaanxi and Gansu. All the ministers in the court are very discerning people, so why can't they see through it? It's just that some people don't want to see this. The battle can be easily settled, so restrictions are set everywhere.
They act recklessly just by letting others think that they cannot see through His Majesty's thoughts. To do the opposite, to do it deliberately, to force the emperor to re-elect, this is a common method used by aristocratic families, even it is just a small method. "
Liu Rengui's face suddenly darkened, and then he suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Xuan: "Could it be said that His Majesty has also seen through what he is thinking?"
Li Xuan nodded with a wry smile and said in a low voice: "Everything that my grandson-in-law has investigated has been reported to your majesty without any omissions. Your majesty is so smart, but he is doing nothing now, just fishing."
Liu Rengui's face was solemn, and he finally spoke slowly.
…
Under the rain curtain, there was also a person sitting in a carriage, slowly returning home.
"Some people really don't know how to die." Zhou Zhi couldn't help but snorted coldly, and the figure of Secretary and Young Superintendent Zheng Fan suddenly appeared in his mind.
During a secret meeting a few days ago, Zheng Fan expressed his dissatisfaction with the poor disciples. Especially the four people in Nanchang Wang Li Xuan's mansion.
However, the person seemed rude and careless at the time, but in fact he was secretly spying on what the other three people were thinking.
However, both Zhou Zhi and Cui Fan were both discerning people, so how could they easily get involved in such random things.
But unfortunately, there are still people who accidentally step into the trap.
Hu Zai, the prince's family member.
Hu Zai was not a child of a noble family. On the contrary, he came from a poor family and only married a daughter of the Lu family.
The daughter of the Lu family has always had a savage family style, and it is Hu Zai's turn to make the decision in many matters.
This incident also happened at the same time. The Zheng family in Xingyang and the Lu family in Fanyang took action at the same time, and the pressure was immediately transmitted to the emperor.
Zheng Fan, Zheng Fan, his father's surname was Zheng and his mother's surname was Lu, so Fan Yang was named.
Unfortunately, after a lot of manipulation, he was eventually beaten by the emperor, and Li Xuan was used to eliminate this threat.
Zhou Zhi would not even consider that the Zheng family in Xingyang and the Lu family in Fanyang might attack the King of Nanchang.
Because if what he expected now was correct, the emperor had already begun to take the opportunity to attack the Zheng family in Xingyang and the Lu family in Fanyang.
The emperor would probably not let go of any of the relevant people involved in such a matter.
That's not all about other things. The key is their plan for the Western Regions. The Zheng family in Xingyang and the Lu family in Fanyang are also involved.
Zhou Zhi was not worried that they would talk about it, because the matter involved conspiracy, and if they really wanted to talk about it, it would be difficult for them to get rid of it.
It's just that the Zheng family and the Lu family have to withdraw from the Western Regions this time, so the Western Regions will be short of manpower.
While Zhou Zhi was thinking, the carriage suddenly slowed down, and he knew he was home.
The moment the carriage entered the door, a secret letter with a special mark was thrown in.
Zhou Zhi's eyes lit up instantly.
Cheng Xingmou, a historian to a censor, presented to the right prime minister
(End of chapter)
