The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 242 Chang'an Discusses the Imperial Examination
Chang'an, Daxing Palace!

With the great support of the Guanlong Group, Daxing Palace and Miyagi City have risen from a piece of white ground in just a few months. Compared with the majesty and solemnity built by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, the newly built Daxing Palace is tall, majestic and imposing. Majestic, luxurious and shining.

Li Yuan was very satisfied with this new palace.At this time, he was discussing the military and political affairs of the new year with a dozen civil and military officials in the Liangyi Hall where the fragrance was bursting.And the fierce tiger of the Sui Dynasty is undoubtedly an unavoidable topic. In order to deal with this behemoth, the well-spoken men under Li Yuan's command worked hard to lobby the aristocratic families under the vassals. Although no specific results have been achieved, the progress is gratifying. .

The south has opened up the situation, and so has the north. About a year ago, Pei Ji, who was in charge of Turkic affairs, went to the Turks many times and reached a series of consensus with the Turks. Khan had time to rectify the interior and clean up the family. In the eyes of Li Yuan and other important officials of Li Tang, Jieli Khan was not sincere at all, because Li Tang also needed time to rest and recuperate, and Li Tang would not want to provoke big troubles within a year or two. Sui.

In fact, Li Tang, headed by Li Yuan, hopes to continue the contract, but this kind of issue is not up to them, so they plan to send people to Yecheng to test the possibility first. If the peace talks come to an end, then Li Tang can calm down Come on, let Li Shimin fight and climb the 'Xue-Liang Allied Army', let Li Xiaoxue develop to Jingzhou, Central Plains and other southern regions.

But Li Yuan also knew it would be difficult, because Da Sui now has no internal worries and no external aggressions, it is impossible for Da Sui to follow his routine, even if it is a Danone agreement, then Li Tang will pay a huge price.

Before this is achieved, we can't hope that the Great Sui will coexist peacefully. If the Great Sui comes to war, Li Tang can only continue south and Xiao Mian, and go west with all their strength.And if it develops westward, it is also necessary for the Sui Dynasty not to support the "Xue-Liang Allied Army".

"Ai Qing, do you think it is possible to persuade Yang Tong to give up his support for the 'Xue Liang' coalition forces? I want to hear the opinions of all Ai Qing."

Xiao Yu said: "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Li Yuan happily said: "Xiao Aiqing, please tell me!"

"I heard that a large number of Han people under the 'Xueliang' coalition army fled eastward to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The land they ruled was left uncultivated, and the meager taxes were not enough to support tens of thousands of troops. Under such circumstances, they must further seek help from the Tuyuhun and Qiang people. They are now In this desperate situation, there are only three options: one is to surrender to the Sui Dynasty, but they have now become one with Tuyuhun, and it is unlikely that the Sui Dynasty will accept it; the second way is to Join forces with Li Gui to open up the road to the Western Regions, but the Xue family was defeated by Li Gui's blow in the back. The hatred between each other is deep, and the possibility of reconciliation is not great; It is very possible to cede the two counties of Xihai and Heyuan to Tuyuhun and restore the previous territory. Yang Tong should also understand this, so after changing places, he gave up his support for Liang Shidu and let me attack the Tang Dynasty. The purpose is nothing more than to make my Tang Dynasty destroy Liang Shidu as soon as possible, so as to prevent Xihai County and Heyuan County from falling into the hands of Tuyuhun again. That is the territory that Yang Guang conquered. As the orthodox of the Sui Dynasty, he did not want the two counties to fall into the hands of foreigners."

Li Yuan said: "In this way, Tuyuhun will become a problem for me in the western part of the Tang Dynasty. It will take away most of our troops. Presumably this is what Yang Tong thinks."

"That's true!" Xiao Yu nodded, and said, "But the Holy One doesn't need to take Tuyuhun seriously. After being severely attacked by the Sui Dynasty, Tuyuhun has not recovered yet. Their support for the 'Xue Liang' coalition forces has already It is their acme. As long as we annihilate them in the Hehuang area, communicate with them with a tough attitude, give them some comfort, and allow them to graze and live in the two counties of Xihai and Heyuan, then we can quickly stabilize Tuyuhun. Then do business with them, And Ma Yuan, who troubled me in Datang, has also been resolved.”

Li Yuan appreciated Xiao Yu's both soft and hard tactics. Tuyuhun could indeed make such a decision, but all of this must be based on the non-interference of the Sui Dynasty. Is it the hope that our Tang Dynasty and Xue Liang's allied forces will suffer both defeats, and then use Tuyuhun to consume our national power, is that what you mean?"

Xiao Yu nodded and said: "That's right! The Sui Dynasty has always held high the banner of national righteousness, and the 'Xue Liang' coalition army is a national traitor who lures foreigners to invade the mainland. I suggest that the 'Xue Liang' coalition army be denounced in the name of national righteousness. , and then invited the Sui Dynasty with great fanfare to eliminate the national thieves! Everyone in the world looked at him, even if the Sui Dynasty would not cooperate with the Tang Dynasty, he would not stab a knife in the back when the Tang Dynasty eliminated the national thieves, otherwise, he would Lost righteousness."

Li Yuan laughed, and Xiao Yu's suggestion touched his heart, after pondering for a while, he asked again: "What if Yang Tong really sent troops?"

Xiao Yu said: "If Yang Tong sent troops, he would only send troops to Xiping County, and Xiping County is where the Xue brothers' main force is. Besides their brothers, there are tens of thousands of Tuyuhun soldiers. They are full of tenacity and are not so easy to fight. If it is urgent, it is very likely that Li Gui will be brought in to fight again! The four-party coalition has more than [-] troops, which is not so easy to deal with. It is very cost-effective to hold back the Sui army in the land of Hexi, which is extremely scarce in supplies. You need to conquer Heyuan, and you can get the war horse next to Tugu. Another advantage is that if you confront the Sui Dynasty in Hexi, you can reduce the pressure in Guanzhong."

Li Yuan laughed loudly, and said, "What do you Aiqing think?"

"Your Majesty, I have something to say." Li Yuan's attention to Xiao Yu made Pei Ji very unhappy. Because of him, Li Tang lost the entire Bingzhou. In order to explain to the people, Li Yuan put him in prison for several days and let him be silent for a while. For a while, when he re-entered the official position, he found that Xiao Yu and Chen Shuda had already taken his place, and the resentment in his heart was naturally not very heavy.

Especially many things that Li Yuan used to discuss with him, Pei Ji, now discussed with Xiao Yu instead, which made Pei Ji even more annoyed, and he always wanted to find a chance to reverse this situation.

Li Yuan said: "Pei Aiqing, please tell me!"

Pei Ji cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, is Hexi sparsely populated and the land barren, is it worth investing in the army one after another? The horses we need in the Tang Dynasty can be traded through Lintao Tuyuhun. I think there is no need to expand westward. The Xixi occupied by Zhu Can The land in Yang and Nanyang is fertile, if we kill Zhu Can, the man-eating maniac, we can resettle a large number of poor people. Moreover, Zhu Can is unpopular, and it is much easier to deal with than Xue Liang's coalition forces."

"Xiyang and Nanyang occupied by Zhu Can are the fat in Wang Shichong's eyes, and we need to unite the princes of the Central Plains to deal with the Sui Dynasty. If we violate Wang Shichong's taboo, how can we talk about unity? At present, the primary enemy of my Tang Dynasty is the Sui Dynasty , not a little Zhu Can.” Liu Wenjing sneered, and came out and said: “Whether the Xue-Liang coalition forces are pointing at the Dazhen Pass or disbanding the pass, it will cause turmoil in the pass. And we have been stalemate for too long. If we don’t Put it out, how will the people of the world think of me, Datang?"

"Okay!" Li Yuan stopped what Pei Ji was about to say, and said, "The Xue-Liang Allied Army is my confidant in Datang, and it must be eliminated this year. The second question, I have been thinking about it, why did you succeed in the Sui Dynasty?" Opening a course to obtain a scholar, but my Tang Dynasty has not moved for a long time, I think my Tang Dynasty should also hold an imperial examination, and sincerely recruit talents from all over the world to be used by my Tang Dynasty."

Li Yuan also had a deeper thought. Although the impact of Yang Tong's entry into Chang'an and the burning of the palace gradually subsided, that incident dealt a heavy blow to Li Yuan's reputation. He was eager to restore his image, and the imperial examination was the best. The way to win over people's hearts.

Pei Ji said: "Your Majesty, the new year has just passed, and the roads are blocked by ice and snow. The imperial examinations are held at this time. I am afraid that scholars in the south will not be able to travel. I suggest that you first improve the system of opening examinations and make preparations. It will not be too late to recruit scholars in autumn. "

As soon as Pei Ji finished speaking, Liu Wenjing stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I also want to say a few words."

Li Yuan was no stranger to the fight between Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing. As an emperor, he liked to see conflicts between two important ministers.Pei Ji and his second son Li Shimin are now very close, and Liu Wenjing is vaguely moving closer to the prince Li Jiancheng. The conflict between the two of them also vaguely represents the contradiction between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.

Since Xiao Yu's dynasty proposed to condone the dispute between the sons of the legitimate sons, which led to the renunciation of the courtiers, attacking each other, internal instability and being unable to speak out, and suggested depriving Li Shimin of military power, the contradiction between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin gradually became clear. disputes, but political differences.Li Yuan did not interfere with the conflict between their brothers. He needed Li Jiancheng to focus on government affairs in a crisis, and Li Shimin to fight for Li Tang in a crisis. what he needs.So in a sense, Li Yuan longed for the two sons to fight, the more fierce the fight, the more he would gain.

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Liu Qing, please tell me!"

Liu Wenjing said: "The imperial examination was the source of conflict between the Sui Dynasty and the aristocratic families. The original intention of Yang Jian and Yang Guang to promote the imperial examination system was to benefit fairness and justice to a certain extent, break through the monopoly of political resources by the aristocratic families, and curb the development of the power of the aristocratic families. The most obvious effect is to expand the source of officials and consolidate the imperial power...but in fact it has not been promoted successfully. What is the reason? It is because in every imperial examination, seven out of ten candidates are from aristocratic families. The goal of recruiting talents from all over the world to be used by the Sui Dynasty was not achieved! Because the group of people who met the selection requirements of the imperial court officials were always young and talented people from aristocratic families. These young people lived in a superior environment and received advanced education since childhood. , Regardless of knowledge, vision, or ability, they are all superior to others. It is very difficult for poor scholars to compete with the children of aristocratic families in all aspects. In view of this, the main body of the imperial examination is still children of aristocratic families, which cannot be changed by anyone Even Yang Guang, who wanted to support poor scholars, had no choice but to accept the facts. During his administration, the imperial examination was strongly resisted by powerful families, and he could not get poor scholars. Promote culture and education."

Speaking of this, Liu Wenjing said to Li Yuan: "The reason why Yang Tong succeeded in promoting it is because he abandoned the aristocratic family and picked the taller from the short ones, so it became popular among the people. But it is impossible for me in the Tang Dynasty to abandon the aristocratic family. If you can’t compete for the talents of the big family, it’s better not to do it than to dissatisfy the big family and think it’s unfair. Your Majesty, you must not listen to Pei Shangshu’s words that harm the country.”

Pei Ji was furious: "I didn't say to start a course to obtain a scholar now, but to improve the system and come up with a plan that can be accepted by aristocratic families and poor scholars."

Liu Wenjing glanced at him and said with a sneer: "The plan that both parties can accept is actually very simple. The children of the noble family and the poor scholars have their own exams, but the No. 1 poor scholar may not even be as good as the top [-] children of the noble family. How will you arrange it then?" Position?"

Pei Ji was dumbfounded.

Liu Wenjing said sarcastically: "The reason why Yang Tong succeeded in the imperial examination was because the examinees were at the same level. The common people and scholars under his rule were no different. However, the national conditions of my Tang Dynasty are different. If I don't handle it well, it will arouse public anger. More seriously, the country will perish! Pei Shangshu, you have lost the entire Bingzhou, why are you still so superficial?"

"enough!"

Li Yuan's face turned livid as soon as he shot the dragon case. Although Liu Wenjing was mocking Pei Ji, Li Yuan felt that he was mocking himself, because it was Li Yuan who proposed to hold the imperial examination, not Pei Ji. Liu Wenjing clearly meant that Li Yuan was superficial, right? ?
At this moment, Yu Wenxin, the young supervisor in the hall, strode into the hall, bowed and said: "My lord, there is an urgent message from Luoyang."

Li Yuan glanced at Liu Wenjing in dissatisfaction, suppressed his anger and said, "Submit it!"

(End of this chapter)