Let us also say that the gentry in Hedong, Fanyang and Qinghe sent a dozen old gentlemen to lobby for the imperial examination in the DPRK.
Changsun Wuji was originally arranging the matter of appeasing the gentry. It didn't matter if he took the imperial examination once or twice, but it didn't work if he continued to do it three or five times and sent people to appease him.
The nobles would feel that Tian Khan was bullying others.
This is why so many old gentlemen come to the DPRK today.
Faced with Cen Wenwen's instructions, Zhang Yang smiled and said, "I understand, I understand."
Cen Wenwen added: "You still have to remember it! You must never..."
"I understand, I understand."
Listening to his nagging, Zhang Yang responded feebly. It was such a heavy winter and snowy day that he really didn't want to go out.
"When Zhang Shilang was negotiating with envoys from various countries, his sharp mouth made the other party speechless. At this moment, Zhao Guogong thought of Zhang Shilang."
"Well, Duke Zhao also did me a lot of harm."
"Zhao Guogong also said that there are many eloquent people in the court, but when it comes to negotiation and price negotiation, the only one who looks at the court is Zhang Shilang."
Zhang Yang stood in front of Zhuque's door and suddenly said: "I remembered that I forgot to collect my clothes when I went out."
Just as he was about to say goodbye, he found the other party grabbing his wrist.
"Brother Wenwen, I have something to do at home, so I'll go back first."
Cen Wenwen still held his hand and said, "Don't embarrass me! These old gentlemen will not leave until they see Zhang Shilang, and they might even commit suicide because of this."
"Brother Wenwen, you hurt me."
Zhang Yang looked up to the sky with a sad look on his face.
Cen Wenwen half-pushed and half-tugged him and finally brought him into the Suzaku Gate, "Shilang Zhang, you must remember that you must never reveal the true purpose of the imperial examination. Those old gentlemen are already very old."
Zhang Yang clasped his hands and walked forward, "You mean they will commit suicide at any time."
Cen Wenwen nodded, "If you want to use all possible means, maybe you will do this."
"I understand. Our imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty are just for fun and fun, right?"
"That's fair to say."
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yang turned around and left, "I'd better go home."
As soon as he turned around, Wang Gonggong blocked him behind him.
Zhang Yang warned: "Brother Wenwen wants to harm me, Lao Wang! You want to stop me too?"
The prince said with a smile on his face, "His Majesty said that if Shilang Zhang can let them leave, there will no longer be any difficulties regarding money and wages in the future."
It is not cost-effective to talk to the emperor about trustworthiness. Anything that is not written in the decree cannot be trusted.
Cen Wenwen said again: "Shilang Zhang, it's getting late."
The biting cold wind blew by, making people shrink from the cold. It was great to hug my daughter at home in this kind of weather.
On a snowy day, the imperial court was also closed. At this moment, the imperial city was no longer as busy and lively as usual, with officials coming and going in twos and threes.
"Brother Wenwen, let's make an agreement first, and I will stand beside you."
Cen Wenwen smiled and said, "Those old gentlemen just want to meet Mr. Zhang and will not embarrass you."
Zhang Yang adjusted his clothes, walked into Chengtianmen, and walked all the way towards Tai Chi Hall.
When you come to the front of the hall and walk up the stone steps, you can hear the noisy discussion in the hall. There are many old people with white hair and beards sitting in the hall.
A quick glance revealed that Li Shimin was indeed not in the palace, only Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling, a few officials from the Zhongshu Provincial Department, were presiding over the deliberations here.
I have become very familiar with Tai Chi Hall in the past two years, but now there are a group of gray-haired old people sitting in the hall, which gives people a very strange feeling.
Zhang Yang followed Cen Wenwen into the hall and immediately felt several sharp eyes looking at him.
They are all old people, and their eyes are very sharp.
If looks could kill, I would have died many times by now, and my bones would have been reduced to ashes.
Changsun Wuji stopped talking, and Zhang Yang followed Cen Wenwen to the side with a smile.
The hall was quiet for a moment. Some people were drinking and not talking, while others were whispering to each other.
"The DPRK also hopes that you can support this imperial examination, and the establishment of official schools requires you to join hands with local officials."
Changsun Wuji's tone was quite gentle.
An old man sitting here stroked his beard and said: "Your Majesty was originally a descendant of a prominent family in Guanlong. I thought he was also an educated man, but what happened in the end? He killed his brother and imprisoned his father, usurped the throne, and was revered as the Khan of Heaven.
Could it be that he really thinks he is the emperor?"
At that time, the person supported by the gentry was Li Jiancheng, but Li Shimin came out halfway to seize the position.
The interests that these nobles had agreed with Li Jiancheng, the pseudo-prince, had lost all hope overnight. The old man really held a grudge.
It’s not easy for Tian Khan to sit in this position, as people will always bring up past events and draw inferences about other cases.
Changsun Wuji also looked troubled.
Another old man said: "I heard that after His Majesty ascended the throne, he was scolded by the Supreme Emperor and scolded by the nobles of the world. From the second to the third year of Zhenguan, there were consecutive droughts. He was not recognized by the world and was punished by God."
Changsun Wuji and others were speechless again.
"When the Khans are like this today, if there is no Zhongzheng evaluation, and the government appoints officials based on policies and clear scriptures, how to determine the quality of the officials' conduct? I think that before the implementation of the imperial examination, there should be evaluation by the gentry from all over the country, and then there is
Letters from famous officials in the state capital can be used as guarantee."
"The children of those merchants weaving shoes and farmers in the head of Guizhou should take the imperial examination and be hired separately from the children of the gentry, instead of being like the imperial court who only read policy articles and don't know whether what the old man said is correct."
The elderly people present started talking again.
"We also believe that two roads to the imperial examination should be opened up. The children of the gentry will be recommended by various places to participate in the imperial examination, while the children of farmers in the head of Guizhou need to be recruited separately. Only in this way can suitable candidates be selected to hire officials."
Divide the imperial examination into two paths and two rules, and the children of Guizhou Province cannot compete with the children of the gentry.
It was unbearable. Zhang Yang looked at the speaker and said, "How dare I ask the old man what he calls me."
"I, Shen Chu, was born in the Shen family of Wuxing. He was the former governor of Dongyang County. My father Shen Yue created the theory of "Four Sounds and Eight Diseases" and he was the leader in the literary world at that time."
After the other party introduced himself, he asked again: "Who can I ask in front of you?"
Zhang Yang smiled and said: "My surname is Zhang, and I am a minister."
There is only one minister named Zhang in the court, and this is Zhang Yang.
Immediately, an old man stood up and shouted, "Okay! You are Zhang Yang, the madman who wrote the madman's diary!"
Turning a deaf ear to their discussion, Zhang Yang still looked at the old man in front of him, "Mr. Shen's big talk just now struck me like a thunderbolt."
Shen Chu stroked his gray beard and nodded, "Oh, you, a young man, are considered talented and learned. How can you write an article like Diary of a Madman?"
Zhang Yang bowed slightly and said, "That's what the teacher taught me back then, so I thought about writing it down. I didn't expect it would bring you so much trouble."
Zhao Guogong had a hard time dealing with all the old gentlemen, let alone Zhang Yang. Cen Wenwen was inexplicably worried and kept praying in his heart that Zhang Shilang would not say the wrong thing.
Shen Chu sighed: "It seems that I have chosen the wrong disciple. What a pity! What a pity..."
He spoke in a long voice, with a look of regret on his face.
"I have never felt that I have chosen the wrong teacher. The teacher is the person I respect the most!"
Mr. Shen closed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "If you and I were waiting for the evaluation, people like you would never be able to appear in the court."
You can say I can, you can say whatever you want about me, but you can't say anything about my teacher.
I remember when I was a child, my teacher rode a bicycle in the rain to teach us, in wind and rain. When we were young, everyone was very poor, and the teacher was reluctant to buy even a raincoat, and even collected money to buy stationery for everyone.
Every year during home visits, students in the class will be given a pencil.
At that time, a pencil could be used for a long time, and it could be used for only a short time.
Zhang Yang looked at the other party and said, "Mr., do you think the conduct of nobles is good?"
Shen Chu nodded and said, "That's natural. Just look at the children raised by ordinary people, traffickers and farmers in Guizhou. Do they know etiquette? Can they salute?"
"I believe that respect for the elderly is indeed something that should be respected, but flattery and flattery cannot be used as respect. If you rely on your elders to control your students, is this behavior something that should be expected?"
"Who do you think is flattering?"
"What do Mr. Shen think?"
Zhang Yang's tone was a little higher. The atmosphere in the hall was filled with resentment and indignation. The eyes of the old gentlemen were all focused on this young man.
"Let me tell you this, the imperial examinations in the imperial court will not only happen once or twice, but will happen every year. It is the time for the imperial court to employ people. The imperial examinations will not stop and will continue for the next ten or decades.
And more people will be recruited.”
"The establishment of official schools will not stop. Even if the local gentry does not support it, the court will continue to operate. At worst, we will pay for it ourselves." Zhang Yang continued, pacing back and forth: "You all will worship under the aristocratic family.
They are people who have read the books of saints and sages, but they don’t think about taking their due responsibilities for the country, the country, and the world.”
"But here you become the mouthpiece of the aristocratic family, seeking benefits for those powerful families! You regard the country as the soil for growth. Every time the aristocratic family grows stronger, the monarch's power becomes weaker."
Zhang Yang said loudly: "The county Zhongzheng is in control of the evaluation of scholars. They are still controlled exclusively by the local gentry, and the prefectures only make their own decisions. The so-called recommendation of Zhongzheng is just your words. Why do you have the face to come here?
Are you talking about the imperial examination system?"
The words echoed in the hall, and all the old gentlemen trembled with anger when they heard the words.
Cen Wenwen completely lowered his head. When he came, he told me over and over again. He said everything he couldn't say. Alas...it didn't end well.
Li Shimin stood behind the curtain of the Tai Chi Hall, listening to these words with a smile on his face. He said everything I wanted to say! What a brat who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth.
I secretly admired this guy for his talent, but felt a little unhappy for no reason.
On one side are the nobles and on the other are millions of scholars in the world.
Li Shimin's mind once again recalled what he had said before, that the power of the masses is the most powerful.
"There are no poor families in the upper class, and there are no noble families in the lower class! There are public servants in public houses, and ministers in high-ranking families. The son of the prime minister is still the prime minister, and the son of a merchant is still a merchant!" Zhang Yang said loudly: "I would like to ask, does being an official pay attention to blood? Is this true?
Isn’t it a big joke?”
"You're so impudent!" an old gentleman slapped him and left.
Some people were so angry that they were shaking all over.
Some people almost fainted.
Zhang Yang waved his sleeves and said, "In the eyes of Mr. Shen, do you think that the most important criterion for evaluating a person is ethics! Rather than meritocracy, in my opinion you are the most pedantic people.
You are talented and knowledgeable, but you have become the mouthpiece of a noble family. I really feel sorry for your ancestors."
"I am not the mouthpiece of a noble family!" Mr. Shen clenched his fists with trembling hands and glared.
"If the old man is not the mouthpiece of an aristocratic family, he should consider the people of the world. First of all, it is beneficial to the country to create an imperial examination, and the imperial examination must be fair. Whether they are children of prominent families or children of poor farmers in Guizhou, they must be in the same examination room.
, answering on the same examination paper, this point will never change in the court."
Mr. Shen looked at Duke Zhao and said angrily: "Changsun Wuji, that's not what you said at the beginning."
"Yes! Changsun Wuji took off this son's official uniform! How can such a person stand in the court? Is Tian Khan blind?"
"Changsun Wuji! Are you going back on your word?"
…
Everyone turned away their anger, and Changsun Wuji stood silent and did not answer.
As for Fang Xuanling, she did not reply to them at this moment.
The old gentlemen's angry words continued.
"Does Li Shimin want the world to be in chaos again?"
"You are asking for your own destruction!"
"It's not enough to make a fool of yourself. How can you, the younger generation, have the dignity to read the books of sages and the classics of previous sages!"
"Those who deceive the world and steal reputation!"
…
One after another scoldings filled the Tai Chi Hall.
Changsun Wuji raised his head and saluted, "Dear gentlemen, Zhang Yang is right, the imperial examination is a long-term plan for the court, and the imperial examination cannot be divided into two paths. As for the future imperial examination, it has nothing to do with the local Zhongzheng and the rural gentry.
.”
"You..." Mr. Shen pointed at his chin and trembled, and said suddenly: "Changsun Wuji, I have believed in you many times, and we have come to advise the government on the imperial examination strategy, but you are so two-faced.
.”
Some people are already so popular that they fell down on the spot.
"Go to the Imperial Medical Office and ask the doctor to take a look." Changsun Wuji said in a calm tone.
"Here!" The guard in front of the palace left in a hurry.
Changsun Wuji stepped forward, facing the accusations from dozens of old gentlemen, and said calmly: "You have been discussing here for two hours. I also ask you to move to Hanfeng Hall for meals. Everything has been arranged.
As for the next matter, we will discuss it in the afternoon."
Seeing that these old gentlemen still refused to move, Fang Xuanling looked outside the hall and said, "Come here, please get these old gentlemen out."
The guards in front of the palace came in, and these old gentlemen stood up, still swearing in their mouths, and left one by one, waving their sleeves.
After everyone left, Cen Wenwen stepped forward quickly and said, "Duke Zhao, when I came here, my subordinates persuaded Minister Zhang several times to pay attention to his words and deeds. This..."
Changsun Wuji sighed: "It doesn't matter. What Zhang Yang said was the move of the DPRK. He was not wrong."
Cen Wenwen still felt a little guilty and saluted repeatedly.
Zhang Yang cupped his hands and said, "Make Zhao Guogong laugh."
"I shouldn't have asked you to discuss this."
"Brother Wenwen said that as long as I deal with these old gentlemen, the issue of money and salary will not be a problem for me."
"Have you dealt with them?" Changsun Wuji also snorted coldly and left.
"Master Zhang, come with me to have dinner and discuss the next arrangements." Fang Xuanling said with a smile.