Ten days ago, Li Biao pretended to be a scholar going to Taiyuan for reference and passed through Guanzhong and entered Hedong. When he returned, he did the same thing and transformed into a scholar going to Chengdu to take the imperial examination. Watermark Advertising Test Watermark Advertising Test
He carried complete supporting documents and traveled all the way across the state and government without encountering any difficulties.
After passing Jiexiu County, Li Biao slowly calmed down, and he felt a little regretful. He didn't even see Guo Song's face, and he didn't know anything about Guo Song's attitude. Maybe it was that Pan
Liao deliberately retaliated against himself and did not report it to Guo Song at all.
Although he regrets a little, Li Biao doesn't want to go back. He can't afford to lose face, and he has found sufficient reasons for himself. From Pan Liao's attitude towards him, we can know that Guo Song has no sincerity at all, so he just takes it for granted.
It was he who avoided seeing himself and rejected the emperor's request with practical actions.
This morning, Li Biao arrived at Pujin Pass, and several soldiers stopped him, "Who are you?"
Li Biao winked at his entourage, who immediately took out a recommendation letter from the Luzhou government and handed it to the soldier, "This is proof that my young master is going to Chengdu to take the imperial examination!"
Scholars participating in the imperial examination will basically not be blocked. This is the consensus reached by various vassal towns. Businessmen, scholars and warriors can all pass through unimpeded.
The captain looked at the recommendation letter and waved his hand, "Let's go!"
Li Biao urged his horse to enter Pujin Pass. There is a small market in Pujin Pass. There are several taverns and grocery stores where you can rest and buy dry food, water hyacinth and the like. From the other end, go out to Pujin Pass.
We entered Guanzhong.
At this time, a farmer came forward. He pointed at Li Biao's back and said to the captain in Puzhou dialect: "That man seems to be a spy. I heard him say on the road that he came from Taiyuan, not Luzhou.
"
The captain suddenly became excited and immediately ordered: "Catch the scholar just now!"
Dozens of soldiers chased into Guancheng. As soon as Li Biao entered Guancheng, he was chased by the soldiers. They swarmed up, knocked down several of Li Biao's followers, and pulled Li Biao off his horse. A soldier touched him from his arms.
When the emperor's gold medal came out, he immediately shouted, "Colonel, he has the Southern Tang gold medal on him!"
The captain was surprised and delighted to find that he actually had a gold medal from the Southern Tang Dynasty. What a big fish! He was going to be promoted and make a fortune. He shouted: "Tie them up and take them away."
Li Biao was frightened and shouted anxiously: "I am the Tang royal family and the emperor's nephew. You can't be so rude!"
The school captain stepped forward and slapped Li Biao so hard that stars appeared in his eyes. The school captain pretended to be horrified and said, "I actually slapped the Tang royal family. Am I committing a capital crime?"
The soldiers also shouted: "If you want to be beheaded, captain, run away quickly!"
Everyone laughed and grabbed Li Biao and walked towards the Guancheng Military Yamen.
The two 'peasants' who had exposed Li Biao had long been hidden in the crowd. Seeing Li Biao being taken away, they quickly turned back.
........
That night, under the torture and coercion of the Qin army, Li Biao was so frightened that he confessed everything, revealing Emperor Li Shi's plan and what happened to Taiyuan word for word.
He also leaked the most important piece of information: Emperor Li Shi had appointed Wei Gao as Marshal of the Northern Campaign, leading an army of 50,000 to Hanzhong, and would cooperate with the Guo and Song armies to seize Chang'an.
The Pujin Gatekeeper immediately reported to Tongguan Commander Qiu Jingzhong. Qiu Jingzhong realized that the problem was serious. Early the next morning, he sent a pigeon letter to Zhu Jinqing, the king of Qi who stayed in Xijing. Zhu Jinqing was Zhu Si's adopted son and was named King of Qi.
Xijing stayed behind and led an army of 30,000 to guard Guanzhong.
Zhu Jinqing wrote back to Qiu Jingzhong that day, ordering him to escort Li Biao to Luoyang immediately.
At the same time, Zhu Jinqing ordered Qiu Jingzhong to expedite Li Biao's detailed confession to Luoyang for eight hundred miles.
The imperial palace in Luoyang is called Taichu Palace. It was originally built by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. In order to combat the Guanlong aristocracy, Yang Guang and Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang successively, making the Luoyang Imperial Palace extremely grand and prosperous. However, the Luoyang Imperial Palace was severely damaged during the Anshi Rebellion, and only the remaining
The palace is less than half of its original size.
After several months of repairs, it was barely habitable. Zhu Si had moved into the Taichu Palace and installed all the civil and military officials.
Although the capital was moved, Zhu Si had been paying attention to the situation in Guanzhong in the past few months. He still had a large amount of grain and grass supplies that had not been shipped out of Guanzhong. He was afraid that Guo Song would go back on his word again and lead his army to invade Guanzhong.
That night, Zhu Si had just fallen asleep when a eunuch woke him up and said, "Your Majesty, Military Advisor Liu said there is something urgent to report."
Zhu Si was startled, sat up immediately, and said repeatedly: "Xuan him to wait in the outer hall!"
He put on his clothes randomly and walked quickly to the outer hall. At this time, Liu Sigu came to report that Zhu Si was most worried that Guo and Song troops had entered Guanzhong.
He sat down in the outer hall, and a guard led Liu Sigu over. Liu Sigu said anxiously: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Guanzhong!"
Zhu Si's heart was in suspense and he asked nervously: "But the army of Guo and Song entered Guanzhong?"
"no!"
Zhu Si's heart that was hanging in the air suddenly fell to the ground. To him, as long as the Hedong army did not enter Guanzhong, nothing else mattered.
"What was that?" The tension in Zhu Si's tone disappeared.
"Your Majesty, it is related to Chengdu. The defenders of Pujin Pass captured Li Shi's secret envoy sent to Taiyuan. He was Li Biao, the king of Jiangling County, and got a lot of important information from him."
Speaking of this, Liu Sigu handed over an urgent report, "This is Li Biao's confession. It was just delivered. I felt that there was some information in it that was very important, so I alerted His Majesty at night."
Zhu Si waved his hand, "Such important information is far from alarming. The military advisor does not need to feel guilty."
He took the intelligence and read it carefully. He was quite interested in the contents. Li Biao actually received a cold reception in Taiyuan. Guo Song did not see him. He was surprised when he saw what happened later. Wei Gao led 50,000 troops to settle in.
Hanzhong is obviously going to conquer Guanzhong in the north.
"Military counselor, please interpret this confession for me. Why didn't Guo Song see Li Biao?"
Liu Sigu smiled slightly and said: "This is what I said before. To Guo Song, Li Shi's threat is far greater than ours. He is more prepared for Li Shi than us. He doesn't send troops to Guanzhong, not because he wants to keep his promise, but because he doesn't want to."
Make a wedding dress for Li Shi. If Li Shi wants to take back Guanzhong, he can take it himself. The Jin army will not participate. He expressed this attitude by not meeting Li Biao."
Zhu Si took a few steps with his hands behind his back, then turned back and asked: "If Guo Song does not send troops, will Wei Gao's army go north?"
Liu Sigu smiled and said: "Wei Gao will not go north easily, but Li Shi will certainly do it. As long as we create an illusion for him that we can easily capture Chang'an, Li Shi will be impatient and urge Wei Gao to go north."
Although Liu Sigu suffered several big losses at the hands of Guo Song, he seemed to have an easy time dealing with Li Shi of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He had long seen through Li Shi's incompetence.
Zhu Si thought for a while and said: "The King of Qi is brave and good at fighting, but his mind is not flexible enough. I would like to ask the military advisor to go to Guanzhong to take charge, and the military advisor will have full command."
Liu Sigu quickly bowed and said: "We are willing to serve your Majesty!"
Zhu Si was overjoyed and quickly handed Liu Sigu the gold medal for commanding the army. Early the next morning, Liu Sigu led an army of 20,000 people southward to Shangluo Road to support the Guanzhong campaign.
.........
On the fifth day of March, the imperial examinations in Chengdu and Taiyuan were held at the same time. In Chengdu, only 1,900 scholars participated in the imperial examination and admitted 20 people. However, in Taiyuan, 73,000 scholars from all over the world participated in the imperial examination and admitted a total of 73,000 scholars.
Seven hundred people were admitted, including 500 admitted to Ming Jing Ke, 200 admitted to Jin Shi, and 1,000 admitted to Guozixue. Taiyuan City was crowded with scholars from all over the world, and the occasion was unprecedented.
The Ming Jing Ke mainly admitted civil servants, including court officials and local government officials. In this regard, the Ming Jing Ke was more like the civil service examination of later generations, while the Jinshi subject was more difficult, and all those admitted could obtain the ninth-grade official
.
Guozixue mainly trains civil servants in the military and official professors in various places. It is a different education system from the imperial examination. After studying in Guozixue for five years and passing the examination, they will go to official schools in various armies and states and enjoy the same benefits as those in Ming Dynasty.
treatment.
Before dawn, Zhang Benchu and Wang Xian, who were staying at Gaosheng Inn, went out to catch the exam. With them, there were three other scholars from Hebei, a total of five people.
They hired an oxcart to go to Gongyuan. In the oxcart, Zhang Benchu said with a smile: "This time the rules are different from before. In the past, the Jinshi and Mingjing subjects were taken separately, but this time it is a joint examination, and they are taken first."
Ming Jing Ke, and then Jin Shi Ke, that is to say, if you want to apply for Jin Shi Ke, you must pass Ming Jing Ke, I can’t figure out why you should do this?”
"Actually, it's very simple. I just need a qualification. In the past, I needed to be recommended by local villagers, but this time I didn't have it. I only read one copy of "The Analects of Confucius". I said I wanted to take the Jinshi major. Is it possible? But how do I tell the difference and sign up?
There was no other way at the time, so I used Ming Jing Ke as the qualification test. If you want to be an official, you must at least have more knowledge than civil servants!"
"You're right. I've passed the Ming Jing exam and I'm a civil servant. I definitely want to try the Jin Shi exam again."
Not long after, the ox cart arrived at Gongyuan, and the square in front of the gate of Gongyuan was filled with people and long queues.