People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1818 Zhang Jianzhi is now ready to be prime minister

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, light snow was falling.

People in Taiji Palace were rushing to and fro, not daring to stop.

At the end of the year, local court officials returned to Chang'an. Although it was only the thirteenth day, many of them had already entered the capital in advance.

In the Liangyi Palace, Li Xuan sat on the imperial couch and looked at Hao Xiangxian who was sitting on the side and asked, "Who were you talking about just now?"

"Yan Chaoyin is from Luancheng, Zhaozhou. His writing is gorgeous and magnificent. Although his writing is not in the style of Feng or Ya, he is very good at composing strange things, which is amazing." Hao Xiangxian paused for a moment, and then continued: "His elder brother Yan Jingji and younger brother Yan Xianzhou are very famous in the local area. Now the three brothers have come to Chang'an to prepare for the exam."

Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "You said that the writing is excellent, which must be true. Find a time, you can hold a poetry meeting and let the scholars of this session compete with each other. I want to see how they can rank."

"Yes!" Hao Xiangxian immediately bowed solemnly.

On the other side, Zhang Jianzhi stood up and said with a stern face, "May I ask Your Majesty, do you want to make plans for the imperial examination next year?"

Li Xuan looked at Zhang Jianzhi in surprise and nodded, "I have this intention. I plan to select Hebei scholars in the imperial examination next year and rank them as the top three, in order to stabilize the hearts of the people in Hebei next year.

However, the results of the imperial examinations still depend on them to take the test themselves. If Yan Chaoyin's test paper appears before me in the end, I will give him a chance."

Zhang Jianzhi hesitated for a moment, but still clasped his hands and said, "If the man's writing was not good, would Your Majesty still do this?"

"I know what Zhang Qing means." Li Xuan's expression became solemn, and he said seriously: "The article that can appear in front of me must be one of the top ten scholars in the world.

If the person's writing is not good, then he should be treated as a third place winner. The third place winner is more literary and is the most suitable candidate."

"But your majesty, if someone's writing is better than his, would you force him to be inferior to his?" Zhang Jianzhi bowed, and then added: "I am just assuming one or two things."

"What do you mean by outstanding?" Li Xuan asked casually. Zhang Jianzhi was slightly stunned.

Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "If the essays of the Jinshi are outstanding, they should be the top scorers. If they are not the top scorers, they should be the second scorers. If they cannot get either the top scorers or the second scorers, they are not outstanding. Even from my perspective, I can find many problems with the top scorers' essays."

Zhang Jianzhi was speechless after being refuted by Li Xuan.

Li Xuan smiled, sighed, and said, "At least I don't plan to let you be the Chief Censor, otherwise I'm afraid you will be like Wei Xiang to Emperor Taizong, causing trouble for me every day."

"It's my fault." Zhang Jianzhi immediately bowed.

Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "Tanhua is just a title, but if it is beneficial to the country, I will definitely use it for other purposes.

I understand what Zhang Qing means. He is just worried that the person I choose will be at the bottom of the first and second class, and then the real talents will be wasted."

Zhang Jianzhi cupped his hands and said, "I was reckless."

"You are right." Li Xuan shook his head, looked forward, and said, "I am acting for the country. Changing the list is good for the overall situation, but it is harmful to me personally. Let's put it this way. If the third person nominated by you thinks that I have done a disservice to him, then after the announcement, I will let him serve in your place."

"Your Majesty?" Zhang Jianzhi looked up in surprise.

"With Jiang Yan gone, there is a vacancy for the position of Junior Secretary of the Guanglu Temple." Li Xuan paused, then said, "You will first serve as Junior Secretary of the Guanglu Temple, and Inspector of the Right Tutor of the Crown Prince and Inspector of the Imperial Counselor. If you feel that it is unfair to target someone who was squeezed out by Yan Chaoyin next year, then you can propose it. After half a year, I will appoint him as the Secretary of the Guanglu Temple. How do you think?"

Zhang Jianzhi couldn't help but ponder.

If he is neither the top nor the second place in the imperial examination, even if he manages to squeeze into the top three, he will probably be appointed as an official of the eighth rank, such as a Dali judge, a doctor of law, or a chief physician, after half a year of training.

The Secretary of the Imperial Household Department was also of the eighth rank, in charge of providing meals for ancestral banquets and court meetings. He was very close to the emperor, which was also an opportunity.

Zhang Jianzhi raised his head, bowed earnestly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Xuan waved his hand slightly and said, "I can give you this opportunity every year, but it's only for the fourth person on the list. But you have to think clearly. That person is equivalent to you recommending him. If something goes wrong in the future, you will be responsible."

"Yes!" Zhang Jianzhi's expression suddenly became serious.

"So, try not to use this opportunity if you can, and be more cautious." Li Xuan looked at Zhang Jianzhi and nodded seriously, and smiled slightly.

He was sure that after he said this, Zhang Jianzhi would never dare to use this right easily.

But if he really used it, maybe Li Xuan really made a mistake.

If you make a mistake, you have to admit it. Even though Li Xuan is the emperor now, he is not stubborn and he has reconciled with himself long ago.

Of course, except for the conquest of Silla.

Li Xuan turned to look at Hao Xiangxian and asked, "Are there any other outstanding figures among the scholars of this session?"

"Yes!" Hao Xiangxian glanced at Zhang Jianzhi, then looked at Li Xuan and said, "There are two most famous people in this imperial examination. One is Zhang Ruoxu, a scholar from Yangzhou, whose elegant writings are well-known in Chang'an. The other is Zhang Shuo, who was born in Hedong. His writings are vigorous and extraordinary. However, the people in Chang'an regard Zhang Ruoxu as the best scholar next year."

"Because he was born in Yangzhou." Li Xuan shook his head calmly, then changed the subject and said, "But as it stands now, Zhang Ruoxu, Zhang Shuo, and Yan Chaoyin are the favorites for next year's imperial examination. However, to get to the real one, they still need to pass Li Xiang. After all, even if they are the most talented people in the world, it would be in vain if they fail the imperial examination."

The emperor only managed the palace examination, and he did not care about the previous civil service examination. If one could not even pass the civil service examination, let alone the palace examination, after which the prime ministers would select ten candidates from among the scholars and send them to Li Xuan.

Only these ten people can be considered true talents.

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Jianzhi didn't know what he was thinking of, and he clasped his hands and said, "I suggest that during the examination of the Ministry of Personnel, the names should also be covered. This way, more capable scholars can pass the imperial examination."

Li Xuan's breathing couldn't help but pause.

He proposed the idea of ​​keeping anonymous names in the imperial examinations during the palace examination last year.

The reason why there was no such opposition at that time was that the Ministry of Personnel examination had already passed, and those who should have passed the imperial examination had already passed. Even the palace examination was just a ranking. As soon as Li Xuan proposed it, all the ministers agreed.

But now, Zhang Jianzhi wanted to cover the names of the candidates in the Ministry of Personnel examination, which made Li Xuan feel a little embarrassed. He was worried that this would not be passed.

Li Xuan pondered for a moment, and finally said, "Next year's imperial examination will be led by Li Xiang. At the end of the year, you can bring Di Huaiying, Yao Chong and Song Lian to find him. If the four of you can convince him, then you can go to the exam with him. If not, forget it."

"I obey your order." Zhang Jianzhi immediately heard the support in Li Xuan's words, but Li Xuan was very careful not to come forward directly.

However, Hao Xiangxian, who was sitting nearby, heard something else.

Di Huaiying, Zhang Jianzhi, Yao Chong and Song Lian, the emperor only trusted these four people for such a big matter as covering up the names in the imperial examination.

Other people like Wang Bo, Chen Zi'ang, He Zhizhang, Yang Jiong, and Du Shenyan were not even considered by him.

"Okay, that's it." Li Xuan waved his hand slightly, and the people on both sides immediately stood up and said, "I'll take my leave."

"Prince, please stay." Li Xuan looked up at Li Zhizhao, who immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

Li Xuan stood up and said, "Okay, let's go, follow me to Ganlu Palace to have a meal, and talk about what happened today."

Whether the imperial examination is conducted anonymously or not, this involves the key to the future power distribution in the court of the world, and Li Xuan always has to talk about it with Li Zhizhao.

To prevent someone from recommending some talented people to him one day.

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao immediately followed Li Xuan out of the Ganlu Hall from the left wing.

……

Walking on the palace road, Li Xuan was still thinking about something. Suddenly, the sky and earth in front of him suddenly lit up.

Li Xuan stopped suddenly and saw a ray of sunlight falling from the dark clouds above his head at the palace gate in front of him and landing on the palace road.

Then large patches of sunlight fell on the ground.

There is warmth between heaven and earth.

Li Xuan's face suddenly darkened, and he raised his head and looked at the sky above.

I don’t know when the light snow stopped, and the sun struggled out from the dark clouds, shining its light wantonly on the winter city of Chang’an.

"Someone, call the historian." Li Xuan turned sideways and gave the order in a cold voice.

Xu Lu immediately bowed solemnly, then turned around and left quickly.

Li Xuan took a deep breath, looked at Li Zhizhao, and said, "Let's go back. We will have a simple meal in Liangyi Hall today."

"Yes!" Although Li Zhizhao didn't know the reason, he still bowed seriously.

Soon, Xiaoban's lunch was moved to the Liangyi Hall.

After Li Xuan and Li Zhizhao quickly finished their lunch, the Grand Historian Li Yan had already walked quickly to the Liangyi Hall and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty."

"Stand up, you know why I'm looking for you, just tell me directly." Li Xuan looked straight at Li Yan.

Li Yan cupped his hands, and then said solemnly: "Your Majesty, it snowed four times this winter. The last snow was today's light snow, which stopped as soon as it hit the ground. The previous one was the heavy snow in early November."

"That is to say, apart from today's snow, the last time it snowed was a month and a half ago." Li Xuan raised his eyes to the sky and earth outside and said calmly, "From my point of view, it is unlikely to snow again this winter. So, Li Qing, if this is the case, what will happen next year?"

"Drought!" Li Yan saluted with a serious expression, and then said: "At least it is a mild drought. If there is rainfall in January or February next year, it can be alleviated, but..."

"What if there is insufficient water in January and February?" Li Xuan looked straight at Li Yan.

Li Yan bowed with embarrassment and said, "There will be a severe drought next year, a severe drought all over the world!"

(End of this chapter)