The news of the war in the Western Regions came from Qu Wentai. If the normal battle report was followed, it would have to wait until March next year at the earliest before it could be sent to Chang'an.
There were several heavy snowfalls in the winter, and the roads were cut off, even if the gods came, they didn't come to call them.
Speaking of the war of the Turkic Royal Court's Western Expedition, the Tang Dynasty did not interfere behind the scenes, and the Tang Dynasty also received help from the Tang Dynasty in terms of grain, armor, stomach, weapons, etc., so the progress of the war exceeded expectations.
By October of this year, Ashina Qiuluo's western expedition army had basically controlled the grasslands along the northern and southern foothills of the eastern Tianshan Mountains.
Ashina Qiuluo convened his subordinates to hold a military meeting in the Buni grassland. Because the weather was getting colder, the Turks obviously did not have the hardship and hard work of the later Mongolian cavalry, and the terrifying desire to attack (harmony).
.
When the non-combat attrition increased, the Turkic army stopped. After defeating the main force of the Western Turks in the first battle, some tribal leaders became more ambitious.
They advocated striking while the iron is hot, marching to the shores of the Atami in winter, capturing the Western Turks' Tong Yehu Khan, and spending a happy winter there.
Among the chaotic military discussions, more people still felt that they should rest and recuperate on the spot, because the previous battle had only defeated the Western Turks' left wing army.
It is mainly composed of the five Dulu tribes, that is, the Western Turkic tribes with ten surnames. They are the tribe of the Western Turkic Zuoxiang and live in the northeast and eastern areas of Rehai.
In the battle of Sanmi Mountain, the Turkic Royal Court army defeated them and the coalition forces of the countries in the Western Regions.
In addition, the Wu Shibi tribe in the west is relatively complete. Those who fought against Yi Nan and Pugu Suoluo in Shule were the Geshu Que tribe and the Geshu Chu tribe among the five Nu Shibi tribes. Their combat effectiveness was very strong.
It can be said that the Western Turks still have the strength to fight and have not completely collapsed due to a major defeat.
Therefore, the final result of the discussion was that all armies rested on site for the winter according to the previously formulated strategies, and this year's phased war was over.
In addition, the Western Turkic king's account moved westward, and Suiyechuan had become a dangerous place. Tongyehu Khan and his subordinates were not willing to wait for the arrival of the enemy here, so they moved westward to the old territory of Kang State.
Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Kang State was destroyed by the Naoda people, and only a few cities were left in this large country in the Western Regions with a relatively large population.
In ancient times, the countries in the Western Regions expanded here and drove away the Persians. To the west is a large desert area, and some of the oases are inhabited by Persian tribes, which have harassed and invaded this area all year round.
The Western Turks' king's account moved westward, which actually indicates that the Western Turks are on the verge of doom.
Although it is much more convenient for the nomads to move the royal accounts than the Central Plains dynasties, the move of the Western Turkic royal accounts to the west, coupled with the defeat of Sanmi Mountain, still produced serious collateral effects.
The Tiele tribe among the five tribes lost their crossbows, and the countries in the Western Regions were also extremely disappointed with the Western Turks. The Shule people could still support them. After all, they had just fought a bloody battle with the enemy, and there was a precedent from the Qiuci Kingdom. Shule people
The whole country is unwilling to surrender.
However, the Western Kingdoms such as Tocharo and Khotan in the south had turned away from the Western Turkic King. The Tocharians killed the Tutun where the Turks were stationed in the winter and immediately took refuge in Tianzhu.
Well, the Tocharian merchants, like their later compatriots, were optimistic and ignorant, and had been extremely dissatisfied with the Turkic rule in the past.
The source of dissatisfaction is also a bit ridiculous, because the Turks want to tax them, and the amount exceeds their psychological expectations, so they always want to resist the oppression of the Turks.
But their combat effectiveness is very poor, and they still have to communicate and trade with the countries in the Western Regions. They always dream of having the best of both worlds, and they often disgust the Turkic king.
Later, Tong Yehu Khan personally conquered Tochara and taught them a lesson. Those guys who kept resisting the tyranny of the Turks turned around faster than anyone else.
After years of being honest, an opportunity finally appeared in front of them. The Tocharian businessmen only discussed it and then they all turned against each other. However, they did not think of offering their loyalty to another group of Turks, but instead turned to the Turks.
Tianzhu, the place where Buddha is chanted across the country.
Anyway, anything can happen in this place in the Western Regions. There are endless stories of kings who are still here today but will be killed tomorrow, but this does not show the uniqueness of Tochara.
…………
Chang'an, thousands of miles away, was not that concerned about the turmoil in the Western Regions.
After winter came, Datang's treasury was finally a little fuller, and officials from top to bottom of Datang breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Po was in a good mood. In the seventh year of Yuanzhen's reign, his income increased significantly. It was a good year, especially as cotton cultivation in the northwest finally took shape.
This year, large-scale production of cotton-padded clothes began, and all were sent to the military brigades stationed on the northern border to be redressed, which raised the combat effectiveness of the Tang army to a higher level in early winter.
The technical improvements in papermaking and printing have also matured and can be promoted on a large scale next year. The prices of paper and books have become cheaper, which will definitely be beneficial to literary affairs.
Knowledge has been monopolized by the nobles for too long. If we want to completely eliminate the remaining poison of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng system, we need a new class to join in.
In recent years, academies have been established in various places. By the seventh year of Yuanzhen, more than ten government-run academies had been established in the Tang Dynasty, and their pioneer, the Imperial Academy, gradually withdrew from the stage.
In October of the seventh year of Yuanzhen, Ma Zhou of the Chang'an Maritime Academy wrote an "Admonishment on the Affairs of the Academy", suggesting that the DPRK and the Central Government should reform the major academies.
For this matter, Ma Zhou conducted more than two years of research and had long-term discussions with everyone in the literary world, including Kong Yingda, and finally formed his own opinions and ideas today.
He believed that the purpose of establishing liberal arts colleges by the imperial court was to select and cultivate talents, and that the imperial court should provide multi-faceted guidance instead of allowing each liberal arts academy to develop on its own.
From the selection of children for admission, to the subjects taught, to the professors hired by the college, it is up to the management, and the college cannot be left to its own initiative, otherwise, over time, there will be a lot of abuses, and each place for selecting and nurturing talents will become unbearable.
This is just a clear statement at the beginning, and several examples are cited to support it. Some professors and officials colluded to send people to the academy. Sometimes a human head is even traded for money. How is this different from human teeth?
What he pointed out in the article was Chang'an Academy, which has become famous and everyone is flocking to it. The students it has recently recruited are simply a mixed bag of good and bad students. How can it last long?
What makes Ma Zhou even more angry is that the Maritime Academy is not immune. People often come to intercede with him. After being rejected by him, there are verbal threats.
For this matter, two professors from Chang'an Academy were actually instructed to write several articles to discredit him.
Bad things have always been like this among literati, so it’s no wonder.
Chang'an Academy had only been built for a few years, but it had already reached such a stage. Li Po was very shocked.
There have been many things going on in the past two years, and he really hasn't paid much attention to the affairs of the academy anymore. Moreover, he is standing too high and can't see some dark corners.
Li Po immediately thought, if this matter is found out, whose head should the stick fall on? And who is responsible for ruining the atmosphere?
There's no need to ask. Two brothers, Gai Wenda and Gai Wenyi, one is in charge of the Imperial Academy's wine ceremony and the other is in charge of the Chang'an Academy's wine ceremony. If something like this cannot be reported to the court, then neither of them can escape.
Lost.
Chang'an Academy is like this, but what about Luoyang Academy? There are also Jinyang Academy, Jiangling Academy, etc., are they all the same?
Li Po was annoyed and felt that it was because he trusted the integrity of these people too much. Fortunately, the academy had only been built for a few years, and the bad signs should have just begun. With a lot of rectification, they should be able to curb it.
Whether or not a few heads need to be dropped depends on the situation.
Li Po was quite lucky. Fortunately, the students in the academy were not old enough to take the scientific examination. Looking at this, the rest of the students who came out were just corrupt officials who were eager to get into official positions and make money, right?
Li Po then immediately ordered Sun Wuji, the minister of Dali Temple...well, Changsun Wuji had already been kicked to Liangzhou by him, and the one who was temporarily in charge of Dali Temple was Dai Wei, the young minister of Dali Temple.
Therefore, Li Po ordered Dai Wei, the young minister of Dali Temple, to supervise Wang Gui, the minister of the temple, to thoroughly investigate the affairs of the academy. He first summoned Gai Wenda, the wine sacrificer from Chang'an Academy, to Dali Temple for investigation. After the investigation, nothing was found, and he would be released.
If what Ma Zhou said is true, then he will not be able to get out.
Later, Li Po also ordered the Military Intelligence Office under Zhang Liang to conduct a secret investigation to see how corrupt Chang'an Academy was despite its glory.
The final result will also determine whether a large-scale overhaul of various academies is needed.
In fact, Li Po is not afraid of favors from nobles. This has been indispensable since ancient times and even in the future. For example, it is normal for the children of important officials in the imperial court to join a class, or if they want to find a good professor to teach their own children.
Yes, you can't stop it at all.
But how the hell does anyone dare to buy and sell student qualifications and make a profit? This was so... familiar that Li Po had the illusion that those people were very smart.
After the fraud in the examination room, there was another fraud in the academy. Li Po was very upset and a little pessimistic about the future of the Tang Dynasty. He was really not afraid that there would be no good things, but that he was afraid that there would be no good people. In times of war, if more such people died
good?
…………
This is only a small part of what Ma Zhou said. He was probably very angry, so he revealed the matter bluntly.
What's interesting is that when Fan Wenjin mentioned this matter to the emperor during dinner, he cooed. Du Shilang said that it had been seven days since Ma Zhou's memorial to the King of Wu had been presented to the province.
To His Majesty's eucalyptus?
There is no need to mention Li Po's troubles, and there is no need to investigate at all. Fan Wenjin is right in front of him, and Du Chuke said the words, so there is only one eldest grandson Shunde left.
Li Po showed a bright smile habitually, but he was thinking in his heart, what kind of courage does this have, even daring to suppress the memorial that was presented to the emperor for seven days?
He didn't think that Fan Wenjin dared to make up stories out of thin air and frame Changsun Shunde. Even if he had the intention to punish Changsun Shunde, he would not use such a stupid excuse.
That's what happened.
At that time, Li Po laughed and said to Fan Wenjin: "I asked you to come under the leadership of the sect, how come the memorial was suppressed? Is this the first time? Or has it happened before, but I just don't know about it?"
This chapter has been completed!