Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

Chapter 449
After listening to Fang Guoshou's explanation of the topic, Wang Chengwei finally understood the meaning of the topic.

Yan Zhenqing, who was on the inspection tour, sighed. As a great Confucianist who has studied ancient and modern times, Yan Zhenqing naturally understood the meaning of this examination question.

The repetition of literary quality can not only be used in the change of dynasties and the change of throne between dynasties, but also can be applied to this set of laws of "renewal of literary quality".

The emperor used this topic as an examination question, but the meaning is already very obvious, that is, to ask candidates to write the separation between the new dynasty and the emperor's era, and seek a more legal explanation for the change of the throne.

Lingwu ascended the throne, until the emperor issued an edict to abdicate, and Zhide Yuanzai and Tianbao fifteen years were the same year.

This legal embarrassment has always been a thorn in the emperor's heart.

That's why we came up with such a practical question.

Yan Zhenqing sighed, it was the first time the emperor had such questions in the imperial examination, so after the emperor returned to Chang'an and the two emperors met, how would the emperor treat the emperor?

As a minister who became an official during the Emperor's period, even though he harbored resentment towards the Emperor's indolence in his later years, he still had fond memories of the beautiful era of the Kaiyuan period.

The ministers are naturally unwilling to see the scene of fratricide in the royal family.

Let's see how these candidates answer the questions and whether they can come up with answers that satisfy the emperor.

Yan Zhenqing continued to inspect the examination room, only to see that many candidates were staring at the examination questions in a daze.

Yan Zhenqing sighed. Among them, there are many candidates who did well in the first two test questions, but are helpless when faced with the third test question.

This is also something that can’t be helped. Candidates are familiar with the Analects of Confucius, but the concept of repeated textual quality comes from "Book of Rites".

Although "Book of Rites" is also one of the Five Classics, the Tang Dynasty's requirements for mastering the Five Classics were mainly concentrated on "Book of Songs" and "Spring and Autumn", and the requirement for "Book of Rites" was to read thoroughly, and they didn't even think about posting scriptures. Contents in the Book of Rites.

But the question was given by the emperor, and the examinee could only bite the bullet and answer it.

Yan Zhenqing read a few more, and his eyes lit up when he saw Wei Yingwu's article.

Wei Yingwu is worthy of being Jingzhao Webster's son, and he has also been an official in the shadow of his family and has experienced in officialdom.

This article by Wei Yingwu started from the two aspects of literature and quality, from gentleness to gentleman, and advised the imperial court to pay attention to literary governance and martial arts.

Yan Zhenqing nodded, this entry point is also the normal entry point of the Jinshi examination practice policy, starting from persuading the king.

Then Wei Yingwu used the theory of literary and qualitative restoration, applied the evolution of literary and qualitative in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and proposed that the Sui Dynasty emphasized governance and despised literature, and Emperor Yang of Sui resorted to military force and finally perished.

Therefore, my Tang Dynasty should be too qualitative in writing, and continue to persuade the emperor to practice literary governance.

From the practical answer of a Jinshi examination, this article is naturally qualified.

Wei Yingwu's literary talents are also good, and his handwriting is also quite good. There should be no problem in passing the Jinshi examination.

But Yan Zhenqing still shook his head. Although Wei Yingwu wrote well, it was not the answer the emperor wanted.

Continuing to look at the other examinees, Yan Zhenqing quickly saw Gu Kuang's examination paper.

Gu Kuang's breaking the topic is the same as Wei Yingwu's, they both use the quotations of Confucius to discuss the basic concepts of text and quality.

However, Gu Kuang used the repeated discussion of the text and quality in the change of the throne within the Tang Dynasty.

Gu Kuang believed that the emperor's Kaiyuan and Tianbao years were a resurgence of style and quality.

Kaiyuan emphasizes the text, the world can be stable and prosperous, and the world has accumulated huge wealth.

Tianbao is too heavy-handed, and Bianzhen is allowed to grow up because of his excessive militarism, which finally led to the disaster of Anlushan.

Therefore, Gu Kuang's article goes a step further, from the lessons of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, to persuade the current emperor to continue to pay attention to culture and education, and not to make the same mistake as the emperor.

Yan Zhenqing nodded slightly, Gu Kuang is indeed Li Mi's disciple, his article has scratched the emperor's heart.

The emperor needs such articles. Gu Kuang explained the problems at the end of the emperor's reign, which also explained the legality and rationality of the current emperor's succession.

This is the meaning of the so-called restoration of literature and quality, which defined the dynasty’s positioning as literature and the last emperor’s period as quality, admonishing the king not to resort to militarism, but to diligently repair government affairs and attach importance to cultural governance.

This is also in line with the traditional Confucian morality, and it can be regarded as a qualified article with the main theme.

At the same time, it also responded to the emperor's preferences.

As a fellow examiner, Yan Zhenqing needs practical strategies for grading papers.

He had already remembered the names of Gu Kuang and Wei Yingwu.

The imperial examination is for the country to select talents, and the answer sheet of the practical policy is to be handed over to the emperor.

If you can't choose a good test paper from them, it's the negligence of these examiners.

Therefore, although Datang has the bad habit of passing papers, the purpose of the overall examination is still upward, and it is still to select talents for the country.

The emperors of the Tang Dynasty also attached great importance to the imperial examinations, not only marking the papers themselves, but also often giving practical examination questions in person.

But in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the imperial examination had become a competition for the king of papers. The content of the examination became more and more rigid, and the requirements for stereotyped essays became more and more rigid. Naturally, the emperor was unwilling to read such articles.

At this time, the imperial examinations did not test policy theory, and the purpose of selecting talents who needed to solve problems for the country had been lost, and the content of the imperial examinations became more and more divorced from reality.

Therefore, there were more fraud cases in the imperial examinations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties than in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Yan Zhenqing raised her head to look at Wang Chengwei at this time.

It was seen that Wang Chengwei was the first examinee to hand in the scripture paper, but he didn't write for a long time. At first Yan Zhenqing thought that he didn't know how to solve this question.

Originally, Yan Zhenqing felt sorry for Wang Chengwei. After all, he was a scholar who came out of the cultural desert of Longyou. Although he was talented in poetry and could memorize the scriptures well, he had no choice but to deal with practical policies.

This is something that can't be helped, even if the scholars in Longyou knew the meaning of this sentence, it would be difficult to write an answer that suits the emperor's appetite.

After all, the delicate relationship between the emperor and the emperor is beyond the comprehension of ordinary scholars.

Although this Wang Chengwei can be regarded as a branch of the Wang family in Taiyuan, it has been several generations since he moved to Longyou and no one has become an official. It is normal to not understand the current situation.

Just when Yan Zhenqing thought that Wang Chengwei was about to give up, he suddenly saw Wang Chengwei start writing.

Don't know how to break the title and write indiscriminately?
Yan Zhenqing walked over, wanting to see what Wang Chengwei was going to write.

Wang Chengwei is naturally clear about the meaning of the emperor's question.

The matter of the emperor and the emperor has long been picked up on the forum.

Li Heng Lingwu's ascension to the throne was an act of usurping the throne while the emperor was avoiding misfortune in Shu and losing the hearts of the people in the Central Plains.

Afterwards, Li Longji hid in the middle of Sichuan. On the one hand, he was old and had no ambitions. In addition, the ministers of the court supported his son as emperor, so Li Longji could only issue an edict to abdicate and admit that Li Heng was the emperor Bitwise.

However, Li Longji was not so quick to give up his rights. When Li Longji issued the edict of abdication, he appointed the other three sons as chief executives of several key Daozhou states, and granted them the power to establish the government and establish teeth.

Yongwang, whom Li Bai defected to, also received the appointment of the emperor under such circumstances, and rebelled from the south of the Yangtze River under the banner of countering the rebellion.

But in the end, the three kings were all put down by Li Heng, and the head of Yong Wang was also beheaded. Since then, the emperor has completely lost control of the world.

Regarding the legitimacy of the succession, the emperor, who has been in power for 45 years, is the longest reigning emperor in the Tang Dynasty.

Today, the ministers in Li Heng's court are basically the ministers of the emperor's time.

The generals Li Heng relied on to suppress the rebellion were all generals promoted during the emperor's time.

Even the eunuchs around Li Heng were sent to him by the emperor.

This also made Li Heng live in the shadow of the emperor.

That being the case, Wang Chengwei decided to get a big one.

This time the imperial examination is for the country to select talents needed, so the emperor must personally check the papers.

Wang Chengwei quickly found a way to make an argument.

"The Master said: 'Quality wins over writing, then wildness, and writing wins over quality, then history. Gentleman and gentle, then a gentleman.'"

"In terms of state affairs, Wen wins quality, while Wen is quiet and Wu plays. The world style is very luxurious."

"Quality wins the text, and the military is militaristic, and the upper and lower levels are very happy."

"Xia Zhou Guozuo has thousands of years, how can it be summarized by the way of writing and quality?"

"Gain's writing and quality are two ways, and it will take time to change the government and change it according to the world's customs."

After reading Wang Chengwei's paper, Yan Zhenqing was surprised.

This article fundamentally negates the discussion of Xia and Zhou in the Book of Rites, that is, "the quality of Yu Xia, the writing of Yin and Zhou, come to an end."

The attitude of Confucian scholars in the Tang Dynasty towards the classics was also quite pragmatic.

What the sages said is right, so naturally pick it up and use it.

What the sages say is not to your liking, just discard it.

After the troubled times of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the current Confucianism is very pragmatic. After all, Confucian scholars who are not pragmatic have long been killed by the emperors of the Northern Dynasties and the generals of the Southern Dynasties.

Yan Zhenqing was not surprised by Wang Chengwei's denial of Confucian classics, but by his arguments.

Wang Chengwei concluded in the following article that in the early days of the emperor's administration, he paid attention to the rule of law, but did not pay attention to teaching the people, which led to the world's immersion in pleasure and extravagance.

In the later period, they pursued hegemonic achievements, but did not know how to live with the people. The South and North Wars made the officers and soldiers of the border towns pursue military merits too much, and blindly provoked wars, which destroyed the orderly development of the country, and the local vassals and towns became larger.

Wang Chengwei believes that this is the reason why the emperor failed to balance the relationship between literature and quality, and did not reform in a timely manner.

So Wang Chengwei's point of view can be summed up in one sentence, "reform is always on the way", the court needs to constantly adjust the cultural and qualitative changes in the court according to the changes in the world, so that everyone in the world can become a gentleman, and the world can enjoy long-term stability .

The next sentence surprised Yan Zhenqing even more. Wang Chengwei believed that His Majesty was cleaning up the mess when he ascended the throne for two years. Recovering the two capitals means that this stage of work is over. in daily work.

So Wang Chengwei asked the emperor to change the yuan!

(End of this chapter)