Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 665 Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing

Many things seem to be far away, and when we add bricks and tiles, they don't cause any waves.

But after it was completed, looking back, it was realized that every step was taken according to plan.

For example, the inner city of Bianliang City.

Two years after construction began, it was completed as scheduled.

When it was originally designed, the scale was so grand that even Fang Zhongyong thought it would be difficult to complete it within two years. However, relying on Bianzhou's developed logistics and abundant manpower, plus a short window of peace for a few years.

The canal passes through the imperial city and was finally delivered on schedule.

The area of ​​the imperial city is about as large as six imperial palaces. Not only are all the government offices located here, but also institutions such as the Imperial Academy, the Imperial Temple, and the Imperial Examination Hall are also within the imperial city.

A new city, "Bianliang City", has taken shape, standing on the banks of the Grand Canal in Bianzhou. Surrounding the imperial city of Bianliang City are countless shops, houses, and mansions.

This "huge city" now only needs an outer wall.

When the imperial city was completed, the construction of the outer city was put on the agenda and the foundation was laid. It must be said that when a city of great political significance was completed, people's hearts began to stabilize and settle quickly.

It is the golden autumn season again, and the annual imperial examination is under intensive preparation. The "Imperial Examination Street" outside the Imperial Examination Hall is also bustling with people.

There were storytellers, opera singers, drinkers, hawkers, all kinds of people there.

Fang Chongyong shaved his beard, put on a gray cloth robe, and wore a futou on his head, pretending to be an imperial examination candidate. He drank in a restaurant called "Zhuangyuanlou" opposite the Imperial Examination Hall.

Yan Zhuang sat opposite him cautiously, smiling, fearing that someone might cause trouble here.

For example, if they heard someone say that Fang Qing was a traitor and that anyone could kill him, it would be quite embarrassing.

"Uncle, since you and Fang Qing are old friends, why don't you seek an official position? Why does your nephew need to take the imperial examination?"

Suddenly, a child's voice in the voice change period came from the table next to us, mentioning "someone".

Fang Chongyong pretended to drink while eavesdropping.

"That's not the same thing."

A familiar voice sounded, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Fang Zhongyong turned around and happened to make eye contact with the man.

Isn’t this Li Qiyun who used to work in Anxi? Why is he here in Bianzhou?
Li Qijun seemed to recognize Fang Chongyong and pulled his nephew away, but was stopped by Zhang Guangsheng who was quick-eyed and quick-handed.

"Since we are old friends, why are you hiding from me?"

Fang Chongyong sighed, made a "please" gesture, and invited Li Qiyun to share the table with him.

Li Qijun had no choice but to sit down.

He had originally just sent his nephew Li Hua to Bianzhou to take part in the imperial examination, but he didn't expect to meet Fang Qing face to face!

"Didn't Mr. Li resign and return to Chang'an? Why did you come to Bianzhou?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously, he remembered that Li Qiyun came from Anxi with Li Siye and others. But Li Qiyun was a scholar, so it was impossible for him to go to the war, so he stayed in Chang'an.

His hometown is Chang'an.

I just don't know why he came to Bianzhou. It makes sense that he sent his nephew to take the imperial examination, but this lame excuse is still too far-fetched.

"It has been more than two years since Li Baochen took over Chang'an. Li Baochen cultivated immortality and did not care about government affairs, but Chang'an is... hard to describe."

Li Qijun sighed, not knowing how to describe it.

"Appreciate further details."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly.

Li Qiyun continued to explain: "The court in Chang'an is dark, and only the children of aristocratic families come in and out. The imperial examination has not been held for many years. The official positions in the court are limited, and there is only one position for each person. How can ordinary people have a chance? As for the suffering of the people, it is better not to mention it."

There was no turmoil in Guanzhong in the past two years, at least no major turmoil. Li Baochen went to cultivate himself and was often in Huashan, not in Chang'an at all.

Li Wan was a puppet emperor, Li Baochen's three sons controlled the military power in Guanzhong, Li Shiyu and Wei Jian were prime ministers, and a large number of people from Guanlong families served as central officials. If we talk about stability, it is really stable.

Those who want to and have the ability to sit at the table are already at the table. How can it be unstable?

However, the path for the common people to rise up had been completely blocked, and the court in Chang'an was unwilling to even put on a facade like the imperial examination. The court was corrupt, and selling official positions and titles was everywhere. Because of the land distribution in the previous two years, the people in Guanzhong did not rise up in rebellion, but they were suffering from the heavy taxes.

Moreover, the population of Guanzhong was constantly flowing out to the east of Tongguan.

Nowadays, the only way out for the lower classes in Guanzhong is to join the army. A large number of poor children migrated to Bianzhou to take the imperial examination in order to make progress.

There is no other way. To this day, only Bianzhou holds imperial examinations, and the candidates are truly selected based on their abilities, regardless of their background.

The vast majority of people have no choice at all.

Peaceful times are indeed much better than wars. However, peaceful times are not necessarily full of vigor and vitality, but may also be gloomy and depressing.

Before Guanzhong, the contradiction between population and land was eased invisibly only because a group of powerful people died and some land resources were vacated, and the population decreased sharply.

The absence of war does not mean the absence of exploitation and oppression. The things that should have changed in Guanzhong have not changed at all.

Li Qiyun's nephew Li Hua was stunned when he heard this. He vaguely guessed Fang Chongyong's identity and was shaking with fear.

Just now, he called him by his name.

“To be honest, I have been having a headache lately and I have not been able to find a suitable candidate.

I wonder if Mr. Li is interested in this?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a smile.

"I don't know, what's going on?"

Li Qijun looked puzzled. Fang Qing actually needed him to do something? That was really strange.

"I'm hosting a banquet at the government office tonight. If you come, you'll know that this is not the place to discuss important matters."

Fang Chongyong still refused to speak directly.

Of course, the choice is Li Qiyun's own. If he doesn't attend the banquet, he will get nothing.

There is neither future nor risk.

If you go and get things done, then you will have a future.

Even if they are old friends, even if they know you are talented, but you want to enter the officialdom without doing anything, what will those who are taking the imperial examinations think?

Li Qiyun actually sees things very clearly.

Afterwards, Fang Chongyong stood up and said goodbye. I had eavesdropped in the restaurant all afternoon today, and it seemed that no one had called him a traitor. I have to say that the power of the imperial examination was really quite powerful.

Enyin (also called Menyin) contains the word "En". What does "En" mean? It means "imperial grace".

In other words, the emperor consolidated his rule by granting the nobles the power to recommend their family members to serve as officials. It was the emperor who gave them the opportunity to serve as officials without taking exams, so these people naturally had to support the imperial power.

Otherwise, it is hard to say whether this power will still exist in the future.

Similarly, the imperial examination replaced imperial favor, and officials were no longer grateful for the "imperial grace", because their grades were obtained by themselves, not given by you, the dog emperor!
In this way, the interest relationship between the ministers and the emperor was greatly weakened.

Over time, the changes are very obvious.

"This imperial examination is, after all, a step forward."

When he arrived at the entrance of Zhuangyuan Building, Fang Chongyong suddenly sighed.

Yan Zhuang understood and quickly replied, "Your Majesty is right, but when you ascend the throne in the future, the imperial examination will have to be changed. It is not acceptable for scholars to not care about the good of the emperor."

"Who knows about such things?" Fang Zhongyong replied meaningfully and walked out of Zhuangyuan Building.

After he walked away, Li Qiyun's nephew Li Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief. He still had lingering fear and asked, "Uncle, who was that man just now? He seemed so majestic that I couldn't look directly at him."

"You called Fang Qing, he already heard it."

Li Qiyun winked and smiled at his nephew.

"Ah? Then if I fail the imperial examination this time, then..."

Li Hua was in a state of panic and hated himself for speaking without restraint.

"Don't worry, the emperor is not that kind of person. When he talked about the late emperor in private, he always called him by his name, or even gave him a nickname."

Li Qijun waved his hand, signaling his nephew Li Hua to stay calm.

After Li Hua calmed down, he suddenly remembered what happened just now, so he asked with some concern: "Uncle, um...are you going to Kaifeng government office tonight?"

"I will definitely go. But if the government asks you to do something, it will definitely not be an easy task."

Li Qiyun murmured to himself, thinking of the past when Fang Qing was in Anxi and was able to command with ease, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

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The world is changing so fast, so fast that it catches us off guard.

……

It was late at night. In the study of Kaifeng government office, Li Qiyun was drinking restlessly. Although there were only a few people around him such as Fang Qing, Yan Zhuang, and Li Quan, he felt under great pressure.

The reason was simple: the things discussed at the table were not something that he, who did not even hold an official position, should hear.

"Everyone, what do you think about this letter?"

Fang Zhongyong raised the letter in his hand, looked around at everyone and asked.

In the study, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"Sir, An Shouzhong's letter probably just wants us to be his backer. We should just leave him alone for now."

Yan Zhuang took a sip of wine and said indifferently.

"An Shouzhong occupied Luoyang, which is a strategic location, but if he only occupied it without attacking Hedong and Guanzhong, he would be attacked from many sides.

It is better not to occupy it than to occupy it.”

Li Quan also spoke up and said that, obviously, from a military point of view, occupying Luoyang at the moment was not a good idea.

When Li Baochen entered Guanzhong, he left a tail in Luoyang. Now this tail has become too big to be removed!
After Li Baochen began to practice Taoism, the Guanzhong court wanted Ma Lin to replace An Shouzhong as the defense envoy of Luoyang and transfer An Shouzhong to Guanzhong to leave him idle.

Unfortunately, the latter was not a pushover and wrote to Fang Chongyong, expressing his willingness to "change flags and banners" and hoping that Bianzhou could send troops to support him.

It is called a response, but it is actually a test.

In the past two years, the country has been in a brief period of peace. Except for the life-and-death battle between Shi Siming and Shi Chaoyi, the rest of the country has been resting and recuperating. Those who farmed farmed, and those who trained soldiers trained.

The people in Guanzhong probably felt that their vitality had recovered, so they wanted to sideline An Shouzhong and prevent him from continuing to be the local emperor in Luoyang.

But An Shouzhong was not of the same ilk as Wei Jian and the others, nor was he familiar with Li Baochen. It would have been fine if the two sides had been at peace, but now Guanzhong wanted to transfer An Shouzhong away from Luoyang, which touched An Shouzhong's bottom line.

No matter what, I'm not leaving! An Shouzhong was very confident and had a clear mind.

Now, not only An Shouzhong, but also Li Guiren and others have actually gotten rid of the title of "rebel generals", and the world situation has long been different. Nowadays, people value the so-called "real benefits" more than false reputation.

As for how the three forces of Guanzhong, Luoyang and Bianzhou will compete with each other, and whether they will resort to war, it is hard to say.

"I have an inappropriate metaphor, but I don't know whether I should use it or not."

Li Qijun suddenly spoke.

Everyone in the study looked at him, Fang Zhongyong nodded and said, "Just speak frankly."

“There was a wealthy family that fell into poverty.

The woman in the family wanted to divorce, but she didn't want to leave directly. Instead, she wanted to take away some of the family's property. As a woman, she couldn't do anything, so she had to ask the man outside for help.

Outsiders only wanted to take over the family's property, not the woman.

Now the woman wrote to the man outside for help, saying that she was willing to remarry with the family property, but she didn't want the man to touch her money.

The three parties have different needs, and their choices are also very different.”

As Li Qijun continued to tell the story, Fang Chongyong's expression became more and more strange, as if he had something to say but was trying hard to hold it back.

It looks like it's very hard to endure.

Perhaps this example is so vivid that, although An Shouzhong was not named as the "woman", all kinds of strange things happening among the people are common and are not surprising.

Everyone in the study looked at each other, and no one spoke for a moment.

"Do you think we should send this letter to Chang'an?"

Fang Chongyong looked at Li Qiyun and asked puzzledly.

If this is really done, then things will be easier. In fact, Fang Zhongyong had this plan when he first saw the letter.

However, he took into consideration that although doing so would easily sow discord between An Shouzhong and the Guanzhong side, it would also easily ruin his own reputation.

In the future, who would be foolish enough to surrender?
"No, the letter must not be sent to Chang'an. If it is sent, it will be tantamount to cutting oneself off from the world."

Li Qijun waved his hand.

Seeing that Fang Zhongyong seemed very interested, he continued:

“The Art of War says: Lure the enemy when they are in a favorable position, capture them when they are in disorder, prepare for them when they are strong, avoid them when they are strong, frustrate them when they are angry, make them arrogant when they are humble, tire them when they are idle, and alienate them when they are close.

Now there is no chaos between Guanzhong and Luoyang, so we must make them close but separate them, so that the two sides will become alienated and hostile.

If there is chaos in the future, the government will take advantage of the chaos and reap all the benefits.”

"Good, so how do we do it?"

Fang Zhongyong asked in a deep voice. As soon as he heard this trick full of bad intentions, he knew it could be implemented.

However, good cards need to be played by experts. The theory is one thing, and the actual operation is another. There are many cases where a small flaw ruins the overall situation.

"The emperor has entrusted this matter to me, and I must make the Guanzhong court and An Shouzhong fight.

I will go to Luoyang first and secretly promise An Shouzhong a high position and generous salary. Then Bianzhou will send money and goods to reassure him and promise him the independent jurisdiction over Luoyang.

If An Shouzhong accepts the money, my next step will be to encourage him to intercept the grain transport and instruct An Shouzhong to embezzle the goods transported to Guanzhong for his own use.

After this, An Shouzhong must have felt that his back was hardened, and the relationship with the Guanzhong court would only deteriorate and not improve. At that time, it would depend on whether the two sides would fight and how long Guanzhong could endure.

If we can't start a fight, we'll just keep trying to sow discord. The day will come when we'll have to fight.

As long as the two sides fight, there will be a good show to watch. At that time, the government can play both sides and help whoever is weaker. "

Li Qijun talked freely.

This move is very feasible. Send some gold, silver and copper coins that cannot be eaten or worn, just as a deposit with An Shouzhong. This kind of soldier will definitely forget everything after getting money, and use this money to recruit soldiers and horses to make himself more powerful!

Guanzhong wants to transfer his official position, but it is impossible, and a war is likely to happen.

Yan Zhuang and others muttered secretly in their hearts: Where did this old coin come from? It's so damn insidious.

(End of this chapter)