Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"General, can you make it clearer about what happened in Hebei?" Pei Judao said in a deep voice.

"Okay! Then let me ask you to guess a riddle first!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "About the third year of Longshuo, I followed Liu Renyuan, Governor Liu, to put down the Baekje rebellion, and was ordered to come to Chang'an on errands. Passing through Beizhou, Hebei, I happened to meet It rained heavily, so I took shelter in a temple beside the local Gaojibo.

At that time, my clothes were soaked by the rain. In order to keep warm by the fire, I went to borrow some firewood and charcoal from the temple and gave me some money for incense.The temple enshrines two statues of gods, one standing and one sitting. The one sitting is a middle-aged man with a long beard, wearing an ocher yellow robe and a futou, with a kind expression; the other statue stands behind the man with a long beard and yellow robe. , with thick beard and high cheekbones, wearing iron armor, with one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and one hand pointing forward, with round eyes, as if he was scolding someone.Gentlemen, guess who these two statues are? "

When everyone heard Wang Wenzuo's nonsense story, everyone was in a fog and couldn't figure it out. One person laughed and said: "General, this riddle is too difficult. You only said that this temple is in Gao, Beizhou, Hebei." By the side of the chicken pool, he also said that there are two statues of gods enshrined in the temple. There are countless wild gods enshrined in such temples in the countryside. How could we guess it? You have to give me another hint! "

"Yes! I need to give you a hint!"

"Yes, otherwise there would be no way to guess!"

"Give me a hint first so I can guess it later!"

Faced with everyone's complaints, Wang Wenzuo nodded: "Yes, it is indeed difficult to guess this way. Let me give you a hint! The name of this temple is 'Xiawang Temple'. Can you all guess it now?"

"Xiawang Temple? Two statues? Are they those two in Gaojibo, Beizhou, Hebei?"

The intelligence that can sneak into the political hall must be far above the average. After connecting the several points raised by Wang Wenzuo, everyone immediately guessed the answer behind it, and everyone's expressions were not very good.

"It's simply lawless!" One person slapped several cases fiercely.

"Yes, you dare to worship the traitor, but the local governor and magistrate are unaware of it. You must be dealt with severely!"

"What did the general do at that time?" someone asked.

"What can we do?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The temple is very popular, and there are more than a hundred people taking shelter in the temple, most of them are strong men. The people of Hebei are resolute and brave. I only had 30 people around me at the time, so how dare I Say more?"

Everyone looked a little strange when they heard Wang Wenzuo admitting that he didn't do anything because he was timid, but no one said anything to ridicule him.After a while, someone asked: "What happened after that? The general didn't do anything?"

"What can I do?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Report it to the government and ask them to raze this Xia Wang Temple to the ground? Everyone, this Xia Wang Temple is so popular that it must not have been a year or two, even if it can be hidden The governor, local officials and powerful people must not be able to hide it, but it is still left there in good condition. What is the meaning behind this? Yes, I will report it to Chang'an after I arrive, and I can destroy the Xia King's temple, and then what? It’s nothing more than the local people building a new one in a different place, which only adds to the local people’s distaste for the imperial court!”

Wang Wenzuo's words made everyone think deeply. Indeed, as he said, such a large-scale temple and incense will definitely not be completely spontaneously built by the people at the bottom. There must be the support and organization of local powerful people and local officials, at least. Covering up, this in itself means a lot of things.Unless it's to turn the place upside down, there's no good way to do it, but that's a bit of a fuss.

"General!" Dai Zhide asked, "Why are you telling us this?"

"It's very simple. Let me tell you that the situation in Hebei is critical!" Wang Wenzuo said in a deep voice: "Whether it's Dou Jiande or Liu Heitai, it was almost 50 years ago. People at that time are still in their 60s and [-]s now. , it is impossible to say that they really benefited from these two people. The reason why the locals built temples to worship those two people was clearly because they were dissatisfied with the status quo. If the dissatisfied were ordinary people, then it would be fine. That’s all, the scary thing is that even the local powerful scholars are like this. Once the situation changes, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"The general is exaggerating!" Pei Judao snorted coldly: "A few ignorant commoners built a temple, and you said that the powerful scholars in Hebei were dissatisfied with the court. Wang Sanlang, you have always acted in the military in the past, but you still lack You have gained some experience. The Emperor trusts you and allows you to meet with the Political Affairs Hall. You should learn more from your predecessors. How can you make such a fuss and talk about world affairs? What you do will only cause ridicule and make people think that the Emperor If you don’t know people well, it will harm the saint’s prestige!”

Pei Judao's words were extremely rude, with the tone of an elder scolding a junior. Everyone's eyes suddenly focused on Wang Wenzuo to see how he would react.Wang Wenzuo smiled: "I have remembered Shizhong Pei's lesson. However, I think that the imperial court still needs to take some actions towards Hebei to show its care and tenderness!"

"How do you care for Huairou Fa?" Pei Judao asked.

"Since the people of Hebei built this Xia Wang Temple to worship Dou Jiande, the imperial court should simply issue an edict and recognize it as the official sacrifice!" Wang Wenzuo said.

"Recognize the Xiawang Temple as the official sacrifice?" Pei Judao sneered: "Don't you know who Dou Jiande is? This man once competed with me, the Tang Dynasty, for the world. How can the imperial court recognize him as the official sacrifice?"

"Pei Shangshu's words are wrong. The Yellow Emperor defeated Chiyou and the Han emperor destroyed Xiang Yu. They all set up temples to offer sacrifices. This has been done since ancient times. Why can't this dynasty not do it? Moreover, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, many heroes came together, and it was this destiny that was destined to belong to this dynasty. Emperor Wen of the dynasty had his heroes tied up, and some became concubines, or died. Everyone knows these things. Dou Jiande knew justice and respected benevolence, valued loyalty and loved the virtuous, did not abuse the people, and did not harm himself. The imperial court allowed him to be worshiped because it was magnanimous and rewarded loyalty. Besides, this Xiawang temple is everywhere in Hebei, and it is not unique to Beizhou. Rather than letting the people gather in private and become a cause for chaos, it is better The imperial court acknowledges and declares that the people of Hebei have their destiny, which cannot be replaced by human power!"

Pei Judao was dumbfounded by Wang Wenzuo's words. After a while, he said: "You have some truth to say, but this is a trivial matter. Just mention it to the governors of the states in Hebei. There is no need to talk about it in the political hall, right?"

"If it was just a matter of the Xiawang Temple, of course we wouldn't make a fuss here!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Everyone, as the saying goes, the prime minister from Kanto and the general from Kansai have unified the world, but there are few scholars in Hebei who have advanced to the level. Cui, Even if Lu, Wang, Zhao and other children are well-known talents in the world, they can only start from the ninth rank, and it will take them 20 years to become a governor. If things go on like this, I am afraid that the scholars in Hebei will be worried about separation! So I plan to ask your majesty to issue an edict, Following the old example of Emperor Wen, he selected talented scholars from all over the world to enter the Zhaowen Hall for the purpose of storing talents. I wonder what you think?"

Hearing Wang Wenzuo's second suggestion, everyone in the political hall looked a little ugly. Pei Judao asked: "Then what are the rules for selecting scribes? Who is responsible for it?" "Poetry, Fu, Proverbs, Inscriptions, Treatises, and Tables are all different. For one, the examiner selects 20 people, and then the emperor eliminates half of them during the interview, leaving ten people!"

Everyone in the Political Affairs Hall looked at each other in shock when they heard this. The method proposed by Wang Wenzuo was actually the Zawen Jinshi in the later Jinshi subject, except that the types of articles tested were wider. This method of examination was certainly better than the Ming Jing used by the Tang Dynasty at this time. The science is much fairer. If nothing else, even if you cheated and passed the test, it will be in vain if you can't pass the final test. And if you go too far and the emperor finds out that something is wrong, everyone will probably be implicated.Considering this risk, those who dare to cheat on this road must at least have a literary talent above the standard.

"General, you just said you would be gentle with Hebei, but if you do this, it may not be possible for Hebei scholars to pass the exam. Isn't it a waste of effort?" Pei Judao asked.

"I don't have to worry about this for Shizhong Pei!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Hebei's household registration is several times that of Guanzhong, and there are more literary people. If they fail to seize the opportunity, it is their own problem. Huairou is not taking advantage of other local scholars. To bribe Hebei with your own interests, but fairness. As long as it is fair, Hebei people will not complain even if they lose!"

Everyone in the Political Affairs Hall exchanged glances, knowing that they could no longer stop Wang Wenzuo's actions. After all, he was now a member of the Political Affairs Hall, and the emperor still trusted him very much. As long as he set his mind to something, others really couldn't stop him. .

"Since that's the case, let's stop here today!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "I still have some business to do in Nanya, so I'll take my leave first!" After that, he stood up, bowed his hands to everyone, turned around and left. .

As soon as Wang Wenzuo left, the political hall was like a hornet's nest that had been stabbed. There was a buzz of quarrels. Most people had angry faces and shouted loudly to express their dissatisfaction.

"It's too much. What does Wang Wenzuo think of this political hall? Is it his military tent? We are not the commander-in-chief of his tent or his generals. What he says is what he says!"

"That's right! The first thing was to reform the water transport, that's all. Then they started talking nonsense about how people in Hebei missed Dou Jiande and Liu Heitai. First they wanted to enthrone Dou Jiande, and later they even talked about the matter of selecting bachelors from Zhaowen Hall. It's all decided by him, who does he think he is? Emperor Taizong Wen?"

"It's really so lawless. I just heard about it before and didn't believe it. Today I have seen it!"

Facing the angry faces, Pei Judao closed his eyes slightly and looked as if he was not in agreement. Dai Zhide stood up, shook his sleeves, and said to Pei Judao: "Shizhong Pei, I'm feeling stuffy inside. Go for a walk in the yard?”

"Yeah!" Pei Judao responded and followed Dai Zhide out of the room and into the yard. Dai Zhide looked at the ginkgo tree in the yard and suddenly sighed: "Shizhong Pei, I thought Wang Wenzuo was just a lucky man. Enter the villain, now it seems that I have underestimated him!"

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Pei Judao asked.

"The things he mentioned today, whether it is water transportation or Huairou Hebei, if completed, will be of great benefit to the country and the people, but they will offend many people. If they are lucky enough to be a villain, how can they waste their energy? Doing this kind of thing?”

"That's not necessarily true according to Pei!" Pei Judao snorted coldly: "Perhaps his foundation is not stable and he hopes to make great achievements to subdue the voices that are dissatisfied with him?"

"If the emperor obeys his words, who can have a stable foundation?" Dai Zhide smiled and said: "Besides, anyone who is not blind can see Wang Wenzuo's contribution. Not to mention anything else, just that night, it was all When the protector ascends the throne, Yuchi Jingde is probably not as good as him, right? Yuchi Jingde was granted the title of Duke, and Wang Wenzuo is just a county Duke! Even if he does nothing from now on, just being a clay puppet in the political hall, the emperor His rank and title are also indispensable!"

"Dai Gong, what are you talking about?" Pei Judao said coldly: "If you want to take refuge with Wang Wenzuo, it's still too late, but you may not be able to bear the feeling of being behind Zhang Wenguan!"

"You know me, Mr. Pei, so why bother to say such things to provoke me!" Dai Zhide sighed: "I have no ill feelings towards Wang Wenzuo. This is because he is a general and a minister, and his authority is concentrated in I'm afraid that the Emperor Tai'a will back him up and hinder the direction of the imperial court. As long as he remains in the political hall, I can't stand on his side!"

Hearing what Dai Zhide said, Pei Judao's face became better: "Actually, it's fine today, these other people have understood, and it will be easy to convince them in the future. And as you said, as long as he doesn't do anything, Doing it, relying solely on past achievements, it is only a matter of time before he becomes an extremely human minister, but we have nothing to do with him. Since he wants to do something, let him do it. When things get serious, it will just happen to force the emperor to shed tears and kill Ma Su! "

"That's all we can do!" Dai Zhide sighed: "As a prime minister, I can't uphold the public spirit. I'm really ashamed!"

"Duke Dai!" Pei Judao said coldly: "If you don't seize this opportunity, you will encounter bad luck sooner or later. Then you can see if others will uphold the public spirit and whether they will be ashamed!"

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Daming Palace, Hanyuan Hall.

Through the narrow windows of the deep and vast hall, the afterglow of the setting sun spreads across the ground, painting the walls and walls with dark red stripes.The emperor used to receive ministers and guests here, but now only the four walls are clean. The floor and furnishings are already covered with a thick layer of dust, but in Wu's eyes, the entire hall is still soaked in dark red.

She entered from the back, slowly walked through the hall, and passed through two rows of towering wooden pillars. Each wooden pillar here was made of large and thick wood. At that time, there were no such thick wooden pillars in the mountains around the Guanzhong Plain. The trees are all harvested and transported from the mountains in the more distant southwest and northwest regions.Wu's fingertips traced one wooden pillar after another, and finally climbed up the steps, stopped in front of his chair, and sat down.The hard wood touched her skin, making her feel uncomfortable all over.

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