The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 628
With the large-scale migration of the imperial court to the south, Yecheng built by Yang Tong has become one of the accompanying capitals. Although the business is not as prosperous as before, it has a population of one million, so it is only the luxury industry that is affected. For ordinary people, it does not affect much. Not much, on the contrary, with the large-scale departure of court officials and troops, the price of goods is much lower than before, which is far more real than the people of any imperial capital.

The restaurant of Tianchan Temple, which is adjacent to the East City of Yecheng City, is doing a booming business. In a private room on the third floor, a dozen young scholars just participated in the scientific examination and gathered together to drink.

"I really don't know what Li Yuan is thinking. He knows that he is not the opponent of the Sui Dynasty, but he still resists to the end. People say, is this person too stupid?" A scholar said with a smile.

"Brother Zhang, it's because of your lack of realm. Your life is only a few decades. Who wouldn't want to be an emperor and enjoy commanding the world? Otherwise, Yu Wenhuaji wouldn't kill him knowingly. What's more, Li Yuan has been the emperor for so many years and enjoyed all the glory and wealth. If you ask him to step down from the position of emperor and go to Luoyang as a prisoner who can't decide his life and death, what can he do? If I have the chance, Wouldn't it be great for me to be the emperor, with the Sangong and Six Courtyards always by my side?"

Everyone laughed, and one of them said: "Brother Zhou, why don't you rent Tianxiang Tower tomorrow, and let all the women in it come to serve you, not only the Sangong Sixth Courtyard, but also the Seventy-two Concubine! It depends on whether your small body can support you." live."

"Go! Go! Go! How can those dead flowers and willows compare with the beauties in the palace?"

At this time, a black-faced young man coughed lightly, and everyone fell silent immediately, turning their heads to look at him together.

This person was Ma Zhou who was going to Luoyang to deliver the letter. Yang Tong appreciated his talent and asked him to be his secretary, but this guy was arrogant and didn't want to go through the back door, so he decided to pass the imperial examination and become an official in the court.Yang Tong also knew that this kind of evildoer had his own backbone, just like Du Ruhui back then, knowing that Yang Tong was looking for him, didn't he also win the first prize in the exam?

Ma Zhou said: "Although we have great freedom of speech in the Sui Dynasty, it is best not to make some jokes, let alone the royal family. This is the most basic way of being a man and the way of the people."

In these years, through Yang Tong's planning and conquests, he developed the reputation of the Great Sui Dynasty and pointed out a bright road for the development of the Great Sui civilization.This made the people with lofty ideals who lived in the same era as him all have a sense of historical responsibility and be proud of themselves and the great Sui Dynasty.

It can be said that the existence of Yang Tong made Da Sui popular all over the world. In just a few years, Da Sui has become an existence that surpasses any country and power. Sui four schools, compulsory education and other measures have brought endless benefits to the poor, and his bloody suppression of aristocratic families, equal distribution of land, and sharing of land into mu have provided life security for ordinary people. If it weren't for Yang Tong , How are they qualified to talk here?
Although Yang Tong did not engage in personality cult, the glorious image of Emperor Wudi, who is mighty, wise, broad, and stalwart, is deeply engraved in the hearts of every poor man.

Although Yang Tong did not preach among the people that the people all over the world should be loyal to him, the effect obtained through real actions is actually the same.

Even if the court didn’t care about these scholars’ words, if other people listened to them, they might be beaten to death by refugees, disaster victims, and refugees who gathered into a city of millions. Only then did the sound remind.

"It's my fault!"

Just now he made fun of those few scholars, and with a look of shame on his face, he stood up and solemnly bowed to the south.

"Brothers, I got a piece of news. In addition to the imperial examination in February, there will be an additional 'Enke' in autumn."

Without waiting for everyone to cheer, Ma Zhou said again: "It is said that Enke in autumn will lift the ban on literati under the age of 50. At that time, there will be several times, ten times more people signing up. These literati who are older than us Young literati have read a few years or decades more than us, and their experience, vision and insight are beyond the reach of young literati. Therefore, young literati are under great pressure. It is already quite remarkable to win five seats out of a hundred. "

Everyone was silent. Among their peers, they didn't have much chance of winning, so how could they compete with the older generation?
The student surnamed Zhang asked: "Your Majesty, in order to prevent someone from studying for the exam and failing to pass the exam on the day of death, but destroying a family, that's why there is an age limit. But this Enke has no restrictions, but it is Why? Isn’t the Holy Majesty worried that someone will say that he’s going back on his word and changing his orders from day to day?”

"The so-called 'Enke' is a temporary scientific examination, and the normal scientific examination is carried out as usual. For young scholars, it is an extra chance for no reason, so there is no such thing as going back and forth and changing orders overnight."

"According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education, the imperial examination is taken every three years, but in fact it is taken once a year, and this year it is taken three times a year. Why is that? Brother Ma please explain."

"This is easy to understand!" Ma Zhou drank his glass of wine and said with a smile: "My top ten armies in the Sui Dynasty are all warriors with hundreds of battles; while Du Fuwei's No. 11 army is slightly weaker, but it is also experienced. The elite men who survived the baptism of wars, after receiving the support of the imperial court's war horses, equipment, money and food, and because they have no worries about the future, Du Fuwei can fight boldly with confidence, saying that the No. 11 army's combat power has doubled. It’s not an exaggeration, all things added up, I, Da Sui, said that there are 60 to 50 strong soldiers capable of recruiting and fighting, and there are countless advisers and generals, but the Holy Majesty announced the expansion of the army by [-], why is this?”

"I think the Holy Majesty is preparing to launch the war of ownership of the world, and it is estimated that it will continue until the unification. In this way, many counties and counties will need officials to take office, but the Holy Majesty is unwilling to appoint children from aristocratic families, so this year the department will be held three times. Prepare officials for the counties and counties that are about to be recovered, as long as you pass the exam, you will definitely be able to be a county-level chief official or assistant official."

Ma Zhou's words moved everyone's heart. Who wouldn't want to be a magistrate who governs one side?Being the emperor is a joke, but what is the difference between being a county magistrate in a place far away from the emperor and the emperor?

At this time, a scholar asked: "Brother Ma, do you think the Holy Majesty will hit Li Mi or Li Yuan first?"

"When the Holy Majesty went to war outside the territory, he used his troops very boldly, but when he moved to the country, he was quite steady. It's hard to say who he would fight. However, after the expansion of our army in the Sui Dynasty, we had millions of troops. At the same time, there were also people who fought against Li Yuan, Li Mi, and Lin Shihong. Possibly." Ma Zhou pondered for a while, and then said: "The support of a large army is a heavy burden, so the establishment of a million-strong army cannot last long. The sooner the war ends, the court can abolish the temporarily expanded army one day sooner, and the finances will be reduced. One day less pressure. I think this should be a quick battle, which is also in line with the Holy Majesty's military style of "as fast as the wind, as slow as the forest, as aggressive as the fire, as immovable as the mountain."

A scholar said with a smile: "In other words, the Holy Majesty urgently needs a large number of candidate officials to enter the court for training. We are still very hopeful."

"That's right. Even if we don't win this time, we still have two chances this year. After the party, I decided to go back to Tsinghua Academy to study behind closed doors."

"Once the world is unified and the positions at all levels are full, the Holy Majesty will definitely not conduct the examination three times." Ma Zhou said with a smile: "In the future, the imperial examination must be taken every three years, the age limit will be implemented as scheduled, and the recruitment requirements will be higher than now. , Enke will not have any more. So these two years are the two years I hope the most. If I fail the exam, it will be difficult in the future. Once the time limit is over, I can only go home and farm.”

Everyone agrees.

. . . . . . . . .

Not far from the private room where the scholars gathered, a middle-aged man was sitting alone in a private room, drinking wine in a restless mood, and sighed once or twice from time to time. It seemed that he was dressed as a businessman, with eyes wide open. It's full of businessman's spirit.

At this time, the door was pushed open, and a tall, handsome young man came in. His name was Li Zhi, he was Zhong Shuling, the eldest grandson of Duke Hua Li Jing. Relying on his grandfather Yu Yin to enter the officialdom of the Sui Dynasty, he hid his background and started as an ordinary scout. Because of his outstanding martial arts skills, he was selected into the Xiaoguo Army and Xuanjia Army successively, until he was promoted to General Yingyanglang It wasn't until later that Yang Tong found out that he was Li Jing's eldest grandson. Because he was shrewd and capable, he was transferred to Yecheng to investigate the Chakram Sect.

Seeing Yang Zhi walking in, the middle-aged man in the room quickly got up and saluted, Li Zhi pressed his shoulder and said: "This is not a place to be polite, sit down!"

The middle-aged man sat down involuntarily. He tremblingly picked up the jug and filled a glass for Li Zhi.

Li Zhi nodded slightly to express his gratitude, but he did not drink, but stared at him sharply, and asked, "Have you heard the news I want?"

The middle-aged man nodded and said nervously, "I, I want fifty gold coins this time, no, I want thirty gold coins."

"Thirty gold coins, that is, 30 taels of gold, you are very greedy. But I am not a stingy person, as long as your information is worth the price, I will give it to you; if you have more core confidential information, give it to me." It doesn't matter if you have a hundred gold coins."

"I, I don't want to do it anymore. I'm here this time to tell you the biggest secret of the Zhuanlun Sect."

"Why don't you want to do it?" Li Zhi looked at him strangely, and asked with a smile, "Don't you want more rewards?"

"It's not that I don't want money, I'm really scared."

After a long while, the middle-aged man explained the reason: "The shopkeeper Li from Wannian Safang, Wudi County, Bohai County is the head of the Chakra Sect. He got drunk and fell into the toilet and drowned on New Year's Eve, but I know he He was silenced, because he was the person in charge of contact and knew too many secrets, so the leader couldn't tolerate him anymore; I was the same, I feel that I will be the next one to die."

The middle-aged man took out a thick booklet from his pocket, and said softly: "Everything you want to know is here, I have already told you their most important secrets, and there is no other information. I think this information is worth at least [-] gold coins, but I only need [-] gold coins, which is considered cheap for you."

Li Zhi opened the booklet and read it roughly, his eyes lit up. This is indeed extremely important core information. He quickly closed the booklet and took out thirty gold coins and put them on the table. Li Zhi pressed his hand, stared at him sharply, and said coldly: "I'm ugly, if you provide false information and miss me, then you won't be as comfortable as flooding the toilet."

"Although I don't know who you are, I know that you are more ruthless than the Chakra. I'm just an informant, and I don't dare to provoke others."

"It's good that you know." Li Zhi let go, and the middle-aged man snatched the gold coin, stuffed it into his pocket hastily, grabbed the jug on the table and drank it, and then left in a hurry , didn't even say hello, obviously extremely scared.

Li Zhi immediately paid for the drink and left the wine shop

Half an hour later, Li Zhi came to an inn in Nanshi. Yang Tong asked Li Zhi to go north to investigate after Yang Tong knew about the existence of the Chakratism. Li Zhi bought the business instead of contacting the local officials in order not to startle the enemy. The unscrupulous inn arranges intelligence personnel, and at the same time, it is also to paralyze the intelligence dealers. If the identity of the Tai Sui official is revealed, the intelligence dealers will probably be scared away.Just now the middle-aged man thought that Li Zhi was from a power other than Da Sui, so he dared to accept his gold coins, otherwise he would have been scared out of his wits.

Li Zhi went all the way to the attic at the back of the inn, and then opened the door and entered.

The light inside is bright, and there is a literati about thirty years old standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back. He is wearing a white Confucian robe and has three strands of green beard. He looks very elegant and looks like a candidate for a scientific examination.But in fact, he is Ling Jing, Shangshu of the Great Sui Dynasty, who was ordered by Yang Tong to come to solve the inner trouble of the Chuanlun Sect, so as to avoid the fire in the backyard during the battle ahead.

"What, do you have any information?" Ling Jing asked with concern.

Li Zhi took out the brochure and presented it to Ling Jing, and said with a smile, "It's even better than expected!"

Ling Jing read it carefully, with joy in his eyes, "This information is so important, we must report it to the Holy Majesty immediately. Where is your Xinying?"

Li Zhi said respectfully: "Return to the Minister, Xinying is in the backyard, just write down the information and hand it over to the last general."

"Okay!" Ling Jing hurriedly wrote down a simple piece of information, and after handing it to Li Zhi, he ordered: "I'm going to Nanpi County, Bohai Sea, please send this letter away immediately, and send someone to Luoyang, give this booklet to the Holy Majesty."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, then saluted and said: "It is difficult for others to see the Holy Majesty, so let's make a trip at the end!"

Ling Jing nodded, "This is the best. You have been here for half a year, and you know more about it than anyone else. It is estimated that His Majesty will ask you for some details."

"Ling Shangshu, when will you leave?"

"Nowadays, the great war is imminent, and the whole court is focusing on the great war. They have no time and energy to pay attention to this Chakra. Therefore, this unstable internal problem must be solved before the army goes out. In order not to delay the opportunity, you immediately Go south!"

"At the end of the day, I will arrange manpower to contact Shangshu."

(End of this chapter)