The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 695 Candidates make trouble with impure motives

On the first floor of Fengyi Hall, Yang Gongren is reporting to Yang Tong: "My lord, something happened in the scientific examination."

Yang Tong was very puzzled and asked: "What can happen in the imperial examination? Could it be that the Guanlong nobles, the Guandong gentry, and the southern gentry are behind the scenes?"

Although these political groups have been fighting openly and secretly for more than a hundred years, their positions on the imperial examination are the same.Compared with the Guanlong aristocrats who focused on military and martial arts, the world's gentry who inherited poetry and books were even more disgusted with the imperial examination, and advocated the nine-rank Zhongzheng system to select scholars.Moreover, all major gentry families have private schools, not only educating their own children, but also recruiting talents from all over the world to study. In this way, they are called teachers and students with contemporary talents. After these people got their wish, they would feed back their teachers. In this way, they can get something for nothing, steal high positions from generation to generation, control the world, control the imperial power, and control the power of appointment and dismissal of the court. This is "the emperor and the gentry rule the world together." 'The origin of.However, the imperial examination system, which is fair and just and respects strength, violated their interests, and was naturally rejected by everyone.

Yang Guang's military reforms angered the nobles of Guanlong, and the imperial examination angered the gentry. Isn't it normal for everyone to join forces to get rid of him?
Yang Tong started from the poor Jizhou, with a huge army, no one could restrain him, and the imperial examination was successfully carried out.However, in terms of the system, the imperial examination is held every three years, but because Yang Tong has a serious shortage of talents, and his territory is expanding wildly, so in order to avoid the embarrassment of no one governing the place, the imperial examination is really implemented. The time is once a year.This year, because of the murder of a group of corrupt officials, there was not enough reserve talent, so an extra exam was added in February; another exam was taken three days ago, and there was another Enke exam in the fall, where the age limit was relaxed.

After doing the imperial examination for so many years, there has never been an accident. Candidates have three chances to take the exam this year, so why did something happen instead?It's really strange.

"It's not that someone is playing tricks behind the scenes." Yang Gongren shook his head and explained: "It was the candidates from Jing, Yang, Qing, and Xu who said that the imperial examination was neither fair nor just, which led to a conflict of ideas between the candidates; Territorial disputes."

Yang Tong said with pride: "It took less than a year for me to recover these four prefectures in the Sui Dynasty. Xuzhou and Yangzhou were only recently recovered. However, in such a short period of time, they came to Luoyang to participate The scientific examination, it can be seen that the imperial examination has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is regarded by the scholars as a carp leaping over the dragon's gate and climbing the road to the nine layers of blue sky."

Candidates clash and riot, what else can they do?Is it true that the army in the city is for display?So, he wasn't worried at all.

Yang Gongren smiled wryly, and reminded: "My lord, that's not the problem, it's what they say is unfair."

"Why is it unfair for us to choose the merits?"

"Examination questions." Yang Gongren uttered two words, pointing to the core of the problem, and then explained the reasons of the matter one by one.

In the final analysis, the problem still appeared on Yang Tong.When he was reviewing memorials before, he always saw strange and unintelligible allusions. At the beginning, he asked people to explain them with great interest, but later, when the territory grew and there were more memorials, there were naturally more allusions that he didn’t understand. , for the people below, it is easy to use the allusions in their minds to conceive a memorial. The 'allusion' that came up?
Annoyed, he introduced the viewpoints of "articles should be written for the times, songs and poems should be written for events" and "writings should be used to convey the truth".

As the saying goes, what is good at the top is effective at the bottom.All of a sudden, the literary world of the Sui Dynasty abandoned the flamboyant, obscure and profound writing style, and strived to hit the nail on the head when writing articles.

As for the scientific examination is a platform for selecting talents for the country, it is not a place for you to write fancy articles. The questions you ask are real and can solve problems; No, Yang Tong also wants this person; if someone writes the growth of crops as sentences like "white hair three thousand feet" and "peach blossom pond is thousand feet deep", he will inevitably be eliminated.

The northern scholars knew that the imperial court paid attention to the facts, and they worked hard in this area, and went all out to polish their writing, which was more advanced than the southern scholars who had just arrived.

However, Jingzhou and Yangzhou are the birthplaces of palace-style poetry. The poems and prose of palace-style poetry use flamboyant, gorgeous and empty words, and the style of poetry is flamboyant and extravagant. Skills, the pursuit of gorgeous rhetoric, but the content and themes are very narrow, and most of the poems are full of backbone and unsound.Southern scholars have been influenced by this genre of articles since childhood, and the things they wrote are also the same. When they faced the examination questions and requirements of the Sui Dynasty, the result was naturally tragic.

The theory of unfairness stems from this.

Scholars in the north received a lot of favors from Yang Tong, especially poor scholars. Because of Yang Tong, they didn't have to humble themselves in front of the nobles and dignitaries, but they could still rely on what they had learned to ascend to the Nine Heavens. Everyone regarded him as the one who changed their own destiny. Sheng Mingzi and benefactor, when he heard that the southern scholars openly slandered the Holy Majesty on the territory of the Sui Dynasty, he was almost drowned by the spitting stars around him.

The scholars in the south are not timid people, so they began to scold each other, and eventually evolved into a full-scale martial arts. There were as many as three to 4000 scholars participating in the fighting. If the soldiers in the city hadn't reacted in time, many people would probably have been killed.

"I understand...but I won't change it." Yang Tong said.

Yang Gongren knew that Yang Tong would say this, and said with a wry smile: "Poetry, Qin, calligraphy and painting are the art of cultivating sentiments. It doesn't matter how you do it, but when governing the country, you need to seek truth from facts, and exaggeration is not acceptable. The style of writing is to convey the truth, and the way is simple." , is one of our painstaking efforts over the years, and it has also brought great convenience to the civil and military officials in handling affairs, and must not be discarded. But these candidates were escorted here, and they were in the Duanmen The confrontation in the outer square, if not for the army guarding, there would have been a big fight."

"Call two thousand Xuanjia soldiers and come with me to have a look."

"Your Majesty is going to kill someone?" Yang Gongren was taken aback.

"This is a god-given opportunity to provoke regional disputes. If Tang Jun's secret work is not used, it will not be a qualified secret work."

After Yang Tong finished speaking, he strode away.

. . . . . . . .

Four to five thousand examinees gathered outside the cordon of Duanmen in Ziwei City. They were divided into two with the gate as the center, and there was a clear distinction between them.Near the city, there were nearly 5000 soldiers holding spears and knives, and the two groups of candidates were closely monitored with a murderous look.

The Duanmen has been closed at this time, and three thousand neatly dressed Sui soldiers are standing on the palace wall with strong crossbows in their hands. The cold crossbow arrows are aimed at the bottom. This is the core of the Great Sui Dynasty. No one is allowed to break into the prescribed yellow line without permission. Once someone violated the rules, they would be killed by soldiers above and below the city.

under the city.

Among the southern candidate camps, a famous scholar stood on a temporary wooden platform and raised his arms and shouted fiercely. His words were provocative, and many people below were shouting slogans...

Many mature and prudent scholars shook their heads and sighed, and some people spoke out to dissuade them, but how could they stop the burning emotions of thousands of candidates?
"Our Great Sui Dynasty is an upright country. Since it is open to obtain scholars, it should be fair and just. Is it true that southerners pay less taxes than northerners?"

"As citizens of the Great Sui Dynasty, why did the imperial court discriminate against southerners?"

"Could it be that the imperial court can't give us southerners an explanation?"

"The writing style of our articles was highly praised even by the first emperor, and many court poets inherited their creations. They were also in the Sui Dynasty. Why is it not working now? Since we say that we should select the meritorious officials and hire them according to their ability, it should be earlier. If the requirements are announced to the world, why do you say no after the test results are obtained. Is this the so-called fairness?"

"We want real fairness, real equality, not arrogant prejudice."

"..."

Countless high-sounding words roared impassionedly from these people.These people may not have the strength to restrain the chicken, but when it comes to inciting people's hearts, they are all masters!

In their mouths, southerners and northerners have become people of two countries, and their core idea is to provoke the confrontation between the two sides.

At this moment, the end door opened.

More than [-] Xuanjia troops approached like an avalanche, and quickly surrounded this group of people. The strong murderous aura made this group of people faintly reveal a look of fear and uneasiness.

Standing on the tower, Yang Tong looked down at the group of scholars who were stirring up the flames.The leading scholar looked directly at Yang Tong without showing any weakness or fear.

"...Who are you? What do you intend to do?" The murderous intent in Yang Tong's voice was undisguised.

The north and the south have been divided for hundreds of years, and they have fought for hundreds of years. The gap between the two sides is very deep. Although the Sui Dynasty has unified the north and the south for decades, the hearts of the people have not yet been unified. For a full ten years, after Yang Guang ascended the throne, he dug the Grand Canal to connect the north and the south, improved the status of Jiangdu, reused the southern gentry, married Xiao Liang and the princess of the subjugated country of Nanchen as his wives and concubines, and gave benefits to the people in the south of the Yangtze River.After decades of hard work by two generations of emperors, this situation has gotten a little better, but now this group of people is doing their best to instigate destruction here.If it is not handled properly, the southern candidates who failed the rankings will not only believe their nonsense, but they will spread the "injustice" of the court to their heart's content after they go back. At that time, the hearts of the North and the South will be divided again.His sinister intentions deserve death.

"Return to the Holy Master, Yu Xuan, a grassroots. Dare I ask the Holy Master to send out a large army to surround me and wait for the southern candidates in a murderous manner, what is the intention? Do you think I can't do it?" The scholar who claimed to be Yu Xuan actually asked a question.

"You keep saying that you are a citizen of the Sui Dynasty, but you deliberately distinguish between southerners and northerners. It is obvious that the candidates from the north and the south are hostile to each other. Do you really think everyone is a fool?"

"Report to Your Majesty." Yu Xuan said proudly, "The grass people's intention to sow dissension is that the imperial court is unfair to the south. Although the grass people are just scholars, they also hope that the court will treat them equally. If the goal is achieved, even if the spot is bloodied, it will not hesitate. .”

Many scholars responded together.

Many sensible people sneered: such a groundless thing can be said with great benevolence and righteousness, this person has a thicker skin than Duanmen.What do you really think that the decisive Emperor Shengwu dare not take you?
In Yang Tong's eyes, Yu Xuan is already a corpse, and he has no habit of talking to corpses.

Yang Gongren next to him said loudly: "I am Shangshu Zuo Pushe Yang Wen. You must have heard my name. I can understand your feelings of serving the country and benefiting the people of one side. But a local official must first distinguish right from wrong. , The ability to distinguish between right and wrong, so that we can find the real culprit when solving a case, so as not to wrong the good people. But when you hear the rumors, you will get hot-headed and make trouble. Just because of this alone, you are not a qualified official."

"Secondly, the imperial examinations have been held for many years. It is no secret that the exam questions are mainly based on real content every year. It is like this every year. How can you say it against the southerners?"

"Third, the time for the opening of this year's examination for scholars was announced by the imperial court years ago. At that time, Xuyang and Yangzhou were still in the hands of Li Mi, and the imperial court did not even consider the scholars of these two states as part of the scientific examination scope. , how can this be said against the southerners?"

"Let me add something." At this time, Kong Yingda ran to the city with a thick roster, and also stepped forward and said: "As of the final registration time stipulated by the imperial court, there are only more than 320 candidates from Xuyang and Yangzhou. Signed up, but three days before the exam, the number of people increased by more than [-]. If the court strictly followed the system, these [-] people would not be able to participate in the exam, but the Holy One knows that everyone is tired, and it is not easy to come to Luoyang I can't bear to let everyone come here in high spirits and return in disappointment. This is an exception. If the Holy Majesty and the imperial court really have regional prejudices, they will dismiss these [-] people by saying 'the registration time has passed'. These people are not even qualified to enter the examination room. No. However, the majesty’s great grace is not only appreciated by no one, but also caused by villains. I think the word 'wolf-hearted' refers to these people, and I, Kong Yingda, the Minister of the Academy, feel ashamed for you."

"Why did these [-] people come here suddenly?" Kong Yingda said coldly: "It's nothing more than wanting to be an official. You see that Luoyang has convenient water and land transportation. If you take a boat, you can travel for twelve hours, so you don't want to Missed an opportunity to become an official. However, the number of admissions is limited, and the talent and learning are uneven, so most of them fail the ranking, and some of the failed candidates, not only did not reflect on themselves, they did not look for problems from themselves, but were full of resentment towards the court , so under the instigation of the villain, they demonstrated together. In the final analysis, it is you who have an unruly heart, think that the law does not blame the public, and feel that the topic of North-South disputes is extremely serious. Maybe you can force the court to compromise, so as to achieve your goal. The purpose of the official position is to fulfill the wish of the villain. You have bad intentions and impure motives. Even if you become an official, you must be a corrupt official who is selfish and harmful to the local area."

Kong Yingda's sharp and cold words pointed directly at the root of the problem, and lifted the fig leaf of these candidates, causing them to blush and bow their heads in shame.

Yang Tong, who looked at Lao Kong with admiration again, said coldly: "I might as well tell you that these gossipers are fake Tang spies, and their purpose is to stir up civil strife in the Sui Dynasty, so as to give Li Yuan a chance to breathe. His heart can be punished." , He deserves to die! Immediately behead him for public display."

The initiative has been transferred to the imperial court, how can Yang Tong give this group of people a chance to speak again?

Following Yang Tong's order, the Xuanjia Army, who had already aimed at the target, rushed into the crowd, wringing out Yu Xuan and the scholars who helped him. It was full of blood.

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(End of this chapter)