A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1282 Black Ledger

The Imperial College had nine Jinshi in one list, and the Wu family's Qujiang Academy actually had five Jinshi in one list.

This year, there are 108 people who have passed the imperial examination. Each of them is extremely glorious. It is also particularly lively for the nobles and relatives to find a son-in-law under the list.

However, amid the excitement, some people also expressed doubts about the Wu family.

How come the Wu family produced five Jinshi (imperial examination candidates) and eighteen other people who passed various examinations?
Some people believed that the Wu family was suspected of fraud and wrote a letter to impeach them.

The emperor has been busy preparing for the Eastern Expedition recently. He is still polishing his offensive plan and adjusting the list of generals. The Goguryeo prince was rescued by the Hundred Cavalry Division and sent to Chang'an. In addition, Silla asked the Tang Dynasty for help, which added a lot of favorable conditions to the emperor's Eastern Expedition plan.

By supporting Gao Huanquan as the new king of Goguryeo, he can be used to divide Goguryeo. When the two armies are on the battlefield, Gao Huanquan will have a chance to persuade the defenders to surrender in the name of the king, or to recruit some mountain cities to surrender.

The emperor modified his plan and planned to let Gao Huanquan establish a new Goguryeo court there after taking Liaodong City, and make Liaodong City the temporary capital of Goguryeo.

After the palace examination results were announced,
Various discordant voices emerged. Many people opposed the new imperial examination system, thinking that it was wrong to focus solely on the Jinshi examination and that more emphasis should be placed on the Mingjing examination.
The emperor knew without even looking that the people who said these words must be those from Shandong gentry. They had been studying Confucian classics for generations, so naturally they had an advantage in the Mingjing examination. In the past, the Mingjing examination was almost monopolized by them.

At thirty, you are already a Mingjing, and at fifty, you are unlikely to become a Jinshi. This is no joke.

These families held the highest authority for interpreting Confucian classics. Even though the imperial court took the lead in revising books such as the Five Classics, these aristocratic families still had too great an advantage.

Therefore, the new imperial examination system, which focuses on Jinshi, is also intended to break the monopoly of these people.

Now they are indeed strongly opposed, thinking that Jinshi is not as good as Mingjing and that Mingjing should be emphasized.

Some people also impeached the Wu family for having five Jinshi in one list, which was obviously a suspicion of fraud, but they could not produce any evidence at all, and were just making groundless accusations. After reading the allegations, the emperor just smiled and tossed them aside.

The Wu family's Qujiang Academy,
He had been there many times. The academy was closed and even had a bit of a military atmosphere. There was only one day off in ten days, and no one was allowed to go in or out for the other nine days. Even though the children of the Wu clan had good conditions, they were not allowed to bring their servants with them after entering the academy.

Not only do they learn knowledge, but they also learn how to live independently. The academy not only teaches the Nine Classics of Confucianism and the Four Classics of Taoism, but also the Six Arts of a Gentleman. The academy even has its own school fields, with special labor classes and gardening classes. The teachers take the students to cultivate the fields themselves, and when it is time to harvest, the teachers and students go to the fields together to harvest.

The educational style and level of Qujiang Academy are very good, and Li Shimin has praised this model more than once.

The palace examination was presided over by the emperor himself, and the final ranking was also drawn up by him personally.

Originally, Wu Balang's result in the palace examination was good enough to make him the second place, if not the top place. However, after much deliberation, Li Shimin only gave him the third place.

He had seen the papers of Wu Chengyuan in the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination. No matter whether it was the sutras or the essays, or the policy questions or poems, they were all excellent, and his calligraphy was also excellent.

It can be said to be impeccable.

The other four Jinshi of Qujiang Academy were also ranked by him, and they were all very good.

Originally, the new imperial examination system should have been implemented several years ago, but there was too much resistance. Many forces wanted to stop it, and the emperor knew very well who were stopping it.

For the emperor, he hopes that all the heroes in the world will be within his grasp.

It is most beneficial to incorporate those capable and talented people, regardless of their family background, into the court official system.

If those talented and capable people are excluded simply because of their low birth, sooner or later this group of people will take the path of confrontation, which will be extremely disadvantageous to the court in the long run.

"Supreme,"

Dou Chenggui came in, "Duke Zheng died of illness."

Li Shimin looked up, stunned.

It took him a long time to come back to his senses and he sighed.

"Wei Zheng left after all."

Dou Chenggui said, "Duke Zheng's illness, the imperial doctors said he would not survive past autumn, but the Grand Commandant bought him more than half a year."

"It's a pity that it's only half a year."

In the early years when Li Shimin first ascended the throne, Wei Zheng always made the emperor so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. However, after so many years of accompanying him, the emperor had long been accustomed to Wei Zheng's presence.
I even regard him as a human mirror, constantly motivating myself.

Wei Zheng's words were sometimes unpleasant to the ear, but the emperor knew that they were honest advice. Initially, he kept Wei Zheng as his confidant just to show his attitude. Even if he didn't like what he said, he still endured it, just to establish an image of being willing to listen to advice.
But later on, he did appreciate Wei Zheng more, and Wei Zheng became more and more mature and experienced, not just in terms of talking.

The emperor still missed Wei Zhengzhong.

Another sad news came.
Duke Ying, Yuwen Shiji, died of illness at home.

"Another old friend is gone."

The emperor sighed again.

Yuwen Shiji was also a good old friend. During the Wude Dynasty, he not only served as the Sima of the Tiance Palace, but was also one of the few prime ministers who supported him.

The emperor put down the map in his hand.
Went to the Lingyan Pavilion of Taiji Palace,

A large number of the heroes who were included in the Lingyan Pavilion paintings by Wu Huaiyu have passed away.

Li Xiaogong, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Qu Tutong, Yin Kaishan, Chai Shao, Changsun Shunde, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Wu Shigui, Yu Shinan, Liu Zhenghui,

Alas, all these heroes have passed away.

There are not many heroes in Lingyan Pavilion left now, including Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Wu Huaiyu, Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Gao Shilian, Xiao Yu, Cheng Yaojin, Duan Zhixuan, Liu Hongji, Zhang Liang, Tang Jian, Li Ji, Fan Xing...
Li Shimin specially summoned Wei Zheng and Yuwen Shiji's son to the palace.

When he asked Wei Shuyu whether his father Wei Zheng had left a will, Wei Shuyu said that his father only left one sentence before his death, "The widow does not care about the weaving, but worries about the demise of the Zhou Dynasty."

This means that a widow is not worried about the weft of the cloth, but about the rise and fall of the country. Wei Zheng's words also show that he is still worried about the emperor's expedition to Goguryeo, and worried about the rise and fall of the country, but he is not worried about his own small family.

"I heard that Duke Wei wrote hundreds of thousands of words of advice during his lifetime, and compiled them into a book. I wonder where it is now?"

Wei Shuyu was shocked. As expected, the emperor knew about this and was very concerned about it. He remembered that his father had talked to him about this before his death.

Originally, my father had taken great pains to compile his advice over the years and had wanted to hand it over to General Wu. He even wanted to print it into a volume, hoping that General Wu would adopt some of it when compiling the national history.

But in the end Wu Huaiyu refused and advised his father not to keep these things.

If these things are left behind, they will only harm future generations.
My father looked through the manuscripts for several days and finally decided to burn them.

Wei Shuyu burned these manuscripts himself, one volume after another, containing hundreds of thousands of words of advice. They were his father's life's work, and in the end they turned to ashes.

It was after these manuscripts were burned that the light in my father's eyes faded and his health deteriorated. Not long after the Chinese New Year, he passed away.

"Your Majesty, my father did compile the remonstrances of past years. He once said that he wanted to compile them into a book and then present it to Your Majesty. When he is gone, Your Majesty can occasionally look through it and see how hard it was to achieve the Zhenguan era. I hope Your Majesty can keep in mind the original intention, make persistent efforts, and create a great prosperous era." Li Shimin was very concerned about evaluation, especially evaluation in history books.
This is a person who even wants to peek at his own daily records.
Although this booklet by Wei Zheng contains all kinds of remonstrances, if you look at it from another perspective, it is actually a small account book that records Li Shimin's various dark histories in the past.

For example, he killed his brother and his younger brother at Xuanwu Gate, and at the beginning of Zhenguan period, after killing the rebellious Prince of Lujiang Li Yuan, he took his favorite concubine into the palace, and he took his brother's wife, the Princess of Qi, into the palace, without any status or position, and even gave birth to a child.

For example, he once wanted to marry Zheng's daughter into the palace, but Zheng was already engaged to Lu Shuang.

There are many kinds of dark history.

Many of Wei Zheng's advice were related to these dark histories.

The emperor was indeed receptive to advice and many things were corrected.

But Wei Zheng actually compiled it into a book, which made Li Shimin very dissatisfied. He heard that there was such a book and now wanted to know where it was.

This thing cannot be kept, let alone passed down.

"Where is the manuscript now?"

"Before my father died, he changed his mind. He said that the saint had worked hard to create a prosperous era over the years, and his civil and military achievements were of no use. His admonitions are no longer useful. Your Majesty has done better."

"So my father asked me to burn them all."

Li Shimin was surprised.

"All burned?"

"Yes, I burned them myself. All the manuscripts were burned to ashes."

Li Shimin stroked his beard,
"What a pity! That was the hard work of Duke Wei for nearly twenty years. If it had been handed over to the historian and recorded in the history books, it would have been passed down through the ages. Or if it had been printed into a book, it would have been read by people all over the world."

"My late father said that the success of the Zhenguan era initiated by Your Majesty will surely be passed down through the ages and recorded in history. As Your Majesty's minister during the Zhenguan era, my late father will also be able to leave his name in history, and I will have no regrets in this life."

Li Shimin let out a long sigh.

"Has Lord Wei shown this manuscript to anyone else?"

Wei Shuyu paused.
Li Shimin accidentally broke a strand of his beard.
"Who did Duke Wei show it to?"

"My father wanted to ask General Wu to correct it, but,"

"Has Wu Huaiyu seen it?"

"No, General Wu didn't read it and said there was no need to keep it. It was because of General Wu's words that my father finally decided to burn the manuscripts."

The emperor let out a sigh of relief.

Well, this sounds like something Wu Huaiyu would say. That man is always very smart, while Wei Zheng sometimes cares too much about his reputation.

"Burn it if you want. Duke Wei's efforts have not been in vain. I have accepted all his remonstrances. He also contributed to the Zhenguan Reign."

After confirming that Wei Zheng's little account book of his dark history had been burned, Li Shimin heaved a sigh of relief.

He didn't want future generations to read that booklet and see his dark history in it. How could he, the dignified Khan and the holy emperor who established the prosperous Zhenguan Era, leave behind such things?

The next day.

Li Shimin personally attended Wei Zheng's funeral, wept bitterly, and suspended court for five days for Wei Zheng. He ordered all officials inside and outside the court to come to the funeral together with the court envoys in Chang'an. Crown Prince Chengqian mourned for him in Xihua Hall.

Afterwards, Li Shimin issued an imperial decree to posthumously confer the titles of Sikong and Governor of Xiangzhou on Wei Zheng, and gave him the posthumous title of Wenzhen. At the same time, he gave him feathered banners, drums, and forty extra swords, as well as a thousand pieces of silk and a thousand shi of rice, and allowed him to be buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum.

Wei Zheng's wife, Mrs. Pei, said to the emperor, "My late husband was frugal all his life. If we bury him according to the rites for a first-rank official, the required ceremonial objects and utensils will be too many, which is not in line with my late husband's wishes." She declined all the ceremonial objects and utensils provided by the court, and only decorated the plain carriage carrying the coffin with white cloth and curtains, without any patterns, colors, or straw.

Li Shimin was deeply moved. He personally wrote an epitaph for Wei Zheng and composed ten elegies for him to express his grief.

Finally, he ordered Wei Shuyu to inherit the title of Duke of Zheng without lowering his rank, and granted his family 900 households.

The funerals of Wei Zheng and Yuwen Shiji were both grand, but Yuwen Shiji's posthumous honors were far less than Wei Zheng's. The officials originally proposed to posthumously name Yuwen Shiji "Gong", but many ministers opposed it. They said that he lived an extravagant life and his brothers had even rebelled and killed the king. With such a dark history, how could he be posthumously named Gong?

In the end, the emperor posthumously awarded him the title of General of the Left Guard and Governor of Liangzhou, and buried him in Zhaoling Mausoleum, but his posthumous title was changed to Zong. His son Yuwen Chong succeeded him and inherited the title of Duke of Ying.

Wu Huaiyu This February,
He was also very busy. Wei Zheng was also a relative, the father-in-law of the fourth sister, and he had to go to help after his father-in-law passed away. Yuwen Shiji was also a relative of his daughter-in-law, the father of the fifth daughter-in-law, so of course he had to go to help as well.

For the Wei family and the Yuwen family,
When these two bosses fell, it was like the sky was falling.

For example, the Wei family, although the children have grown up, but without Wei Zheng, they will definitely not be as good as before. Yuwen Shiji's sons and nephews are even worse off.

This is like the Du family in the past, which had two prime ministers, Du Yan and Du Ruhui, and Du Ruhui's son even married a princess. However, after Du Yan and Du Ruhui died, the Du family quickly declined. Although the Jingzhao Du family had a deep foundation,

But now there is no one in the court who has any say.

Du Chuke was also demoted to Annan, and Du He was also involved in a treason case. He was forced to divorce the princess and then exiled to Suiye.

If the children of the Wei family and the Yuwen family could be law-abiding and honest, then relying on the favors left by their fathers, they could live a rich and prosperous life, and maybe even become a governor or a minister in the future.

In the future, his descendants may still have the possibility of becoming prime ministers.

I am afraid that there will be people like Du He, Chai Lingwu, Fang Yiai, and Du Chuke, who don't have much real ability but love to make trouble, and eventually they will ruin themselves and their families.

In this regard, Li Jing's family is actually quite good. His son doesn't have any great abilities, but it's not easy for him to be involved in family-destroying affairs. Although in history, Li Jing's eldest son was implicated and exiled to Lingnan after Cheng Qian's rebellion because of his good relationship with the crown prince Cheng Qian, but at least his family was not implicated too much.

After Li Jing's death, he returned to Chang'an and inherited the title of Duke of Weiguo with the help of his father's influence.

Li Ji's grandson Li Jingye was a troublemaker. Not only did he rebel against Wu Zetian, he even wanted to seize the royal power of Nanjing. As a result, not only did he die, but he also caused Li Ji's corpse to be dug out of the coffin.

After attending to these two funerals and burying them in Zhaoling Mausoleum, Wu Huaiyu felt more and more that the retreat he had planned was correct.

We cannot leave the entire family in Chang'an, or even in the Central Plains.

The overseas base of Luzon must be managed well, and it would be best to send one or two sons to other places such as the Western Regions, Annan, Yunnan, etc.

Although Wei Zheng died of illness,
However, due to Wu Huaiyu's intervention, he did not keep the small black account book, let alone show it to the historian, so Li Shimin treated him well after his death.

He even brought Princess Hengshan to Wei Mansion and promised Wei Zheng's widow, Pei, that after Wei Shuyu's mourning period was over, he would let the princess marry Wei Shuyu.

(End of this chapter)