Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 338 The balance is broken
Chen Qingsi looked at Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao who were sitting next to him, feeling very high-spirited.

With these two bowing their heads, the overall situation has been decided.

Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao looked at the energetic young man above them with mixed emotions, but they didn't have any temper when thinking of "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night".

Shangguan Yi said sincerely: "It's not that I don't know the shortcomings of the Qi and Liang style of writing in the Southern Dynasties. It's just that I don't know where to start, so I can only figure it out slowly. Mr. Chen's song "Moonlight Night on the Spring River" swept away the shortcomings of the Qi and Liang style, and added It can take into account the beauty and magnificence of the palace body, making people unable to put it down.”

Chen Qingsi naturally knows the power of "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night".

This "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night" may not be the best Tang poetry, but there is no doubt that its status is outstanding among palace-style poems.

The existence of palace poetry has certain constraints. Palace poetry, to put it bluntly, is palace culture. The content is restricted and is not suitable for promotion to the public.

Elimination is the inevitable outcome, but it is trapped by the development trend and the emperor's liking. This is the basis for development.

Without the support of the emperor, palace poetry lacked the soil to promote it.

For Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao, who have been studying palace style poetry for most of their lives, it is impossible for them to be unaware of this, especially since Li Zhi was not as fond of palace style poetry as the late emperor.

In recent years, palace-style poetry has become decadent, just because of the support of these three people.

Therefore, facing the palace-style poetry that is destined to decline, "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night" is the limit of their pursuit of palace-style poetry in this life.

If Shangguan Yi still cannot be convinced by "Moonlight Night on the Spring River", then Chen Qingsi will have reason to be cruel to him.

Chen Qingsi didn't want to take action against Shangguan Yi directly, not out of kindness, but because she didn't want the five surnames in Guandong to reap the benefits, and she also wanted to give an explanation to Li Zhi.

Now that Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao appeared in front of him, it was enough to show that the two of them could still be saved and did not go all the way to the end.

Chen Qingsi said: "If you want to eliminate the shortcomings of Qiliang's customs, just relying on a song "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night" is not enough. Palace-style poetry is like an epiphyllum. It is beautiful when it is beautiful, but it is easy to wither. Rather than regret it after it withers. , it is better to keep everything beautiful at its most beautiful time.”

This is the meaning of the existence of "Moonlight Night on the Spring River". Its existence brought a successful end to the dim poetry era brought about by palace poetry, and also opened a new chapter for the various forms of Tang Dynasty poetry.

Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao didn't expect Chen Qingsi to speak so directly and simply. Even if they were prepared, they didn't know how to speak.

Chen Qingsi was busy waiting for their answers.

In fact, it's not that he is impatient, but that he has to handle things differently when facing different bosses.

Li Zhi has an impatient temper and likes to deal with things neatly and without sloppiness. Even if he uses some despicable means, he won't care as long as the result is good.

The storm of reform in the literary world that he set off has lasted for more than half a year, and it is time to end it completely.

It was up to him to rectify the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty, cooperate with the imperial examinations, and weaken the court's dependence on the Guandong gentry.

Shangguan Yi said: "Are you a little anxious?"

Chen Qingsi said: "I can't give you an answer to this question. It is true that some things can be solved slowly and the impact can be minimized. But Shangguan Minister, ask yourself, do you have so much time?"

Shangguan Yi's face froze. As the Minister of Internal Affairs, he often accompanied Li Zhi and drafted edicts for him, so he knew how powerful the other party was. He could sit back and watch his fight with Chen Qingsi, but now he has lost. If he still persists, he will never have a good life.

Thinking of this, Shangguan Yi's eyes showed a trace of fear, and he nodded and said: "I know."

Xue Yuanchao's thoughts were rather calm. When Chen Qingsi first objected to the palace, his reaction was the most intense. But as his heart was broken and he fell into confusion, with the appearance of "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night", and with today's face-to-face meeting with Chen Qingsi Talking about it in detail, he actually looked forward to the future of the Tang literary world without the constraints of imperial poetry.

Facing Chen Qingsi, who promoted the Tang Dynasty style, Xue Yuanchao sincerely asked him for advice on the future development of the Tang Dynasty style.

Although Chen Qingsi wanted the title of a Confucian leader to add leverage to his political career, he also sincerely wanted to promote the Tang Dynasty style.

Only he knows how brilliant the dawn is after the darkness.

Therefore, in the face of Xue Yuanchao's question, Chen Qingsi patiently explained the future development trend of Tang Dynasty poetry based on his own outlook for the future of the prosperous Tang style.

Shangguan Yi listened with some rapt attention.

And Xue Yuanchao yearns for it.

Historically, Shangguan Yi maintained the status of palace poetry due to political needs. However, Xue Yuanchao changed his mind because of his demotion. Later, he became a prime minister and supported Yang Jiong, Wang Bo, and Lu Zhaolin to promote changes in the literary world.

This shows that the younger Xue Yuanchao is more receptive to new and correct things than Shangguan Yi.

Xue Yuanchao, whose Taoist heart was obviously broken, completed his reorganization with Chen Qingsi and accepted the correct thinking.

Shangguan Yi also passively accepted the coercion of the general situation because of her fear of Li Zhi.

But no matter what, the compromise between the two was the last straw for Gong Style Poetry.

Although some people continued to insist, but faced with the Tang Dynasty style that had become popular, faced with Chen Qingsi who had gathered a large number of people, faced with the pinnacle of palace style poetry "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night", faced with the siege of the city by the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty and a group of talented people. , the balance of victory has completely tipped to Chen Qingsi's side.

Chen Qingsi did not kill them all. He never thought of banning palace poetry from the beginning.

Although the development of palace poetry is still a cultural waste, it is also a part of Chinese history. Although most of them are written around the women's court, there are also classic poems, so there is no need to kill them with a single stroke.

But in the face of a glorious future, palace style poetry is destined to be lost here.

The inner garden of the Tang Dynasty Palace.

Li Zhi has been suffering from frequent headaches recently. Empress Wu happened to have acquired massage skills. He often came to the inner garden to accept the service of his empress.

Empress Wu felt the soft strength on her shoulders and relaxed a little. He saw a book beside him and took it casually. It was a collection of poems by Chen Qingsi. The page he read happened to be the book "" which has become popular among the people in Gyeonggi Province. "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night".

Li Zhi was particularly satisfied with Chen Qingsi's lightning-fast integration of the strengths of Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao.

Shangguan Yi and Chen Qingsi were both methods he used to control the right to speak in the literary world. Due to their different ideas, they had conflicts, but he did not interfere directly.

The reason is simple.

The winner is king.

Whoever can achieve the final victory means that the victorious party is more qualified to accept this arduous task.

But he was determined not to see both sides lose in the fight and let the Kanto nobles laugh. He had been paying attention to the trends and was ready to intervene at any time to avoid further deterioration.

With the fate of Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao, and with the intervention of his uncle, Li Zhi once thought that Chen Qingsi would suffer this time.

Who would have thought that he would complete the decisive victory over Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao with the song "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night", and his movements and attitudes were clean and neat, without damaging each other's core strength.

Li Zhi was most satisfied with this result. Looking at the "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night" in his hand, he couldn't help but admire: "This is the only person who has determined the literary world with one poem throughout the ages."

Empress Wu covered her mouth and smiled softly, and said: "I heard from my mother that people outside the palace say that Mr. Chen is the star of literary music who came into the world. I have read some of Mr. Chen's masterpieces and feel the same way."

Li Zhi narrowed his eyes and said, "Chen Aiqing is a literary star, so who am I?" Empress Wu dared to say this, and she already had a prepared answer in her heart: "I heard that every saint who comes out must be assisted by a civil and military star. Mr. Chen Isn’t this Wenquxing’s appearance precisely because His Majesty is an eternal sage! There was Your Majesty first, and then there was Mr. Chen. Without Your Majesty’s discerning eye, how could Mr. Chen enter the temple with his background?”

Li Zhi laughed loudly when he heard this.

Queen Wu's words spoke to his heart.

Looking at Li Zhi who was a little tired, Empress Wu said: "Your Majesty has worked hard for the country, and I am really worried. State affairs are important, and your Majesty's health is even more important."

Li Zhi has always been aggressive in this regard, but this time there was a certain hesitation. After a moment, he said: "Why don't I want to have a good rest? The world's affairs are so complicated, and the affairs of all parties depend on me. Where can I draw the line?" free time?"

Empress Wu said distressedly: "All the ministers are talented people of their time. We can just leave the details to them."

Li Zhi snorted: "A woman's opinion!"

He didn't want to talk too much about government affairs with his queen, so he kept silent.

It's not like Li Zhi never thought about decentralizing some of his power to make himself more relaxed. But whenever he has this thought, he will give up immediately.

As an emperor, the power in his hands cannot be easily divided.

There are only two types of people qualified to accept it: prime ministers and princes.

Li Zhi had the experience of being ignored. Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang relied on their status as prime ministers to act arbitrarily and did not take him as the emperor to heart.

As for the prince?

Not to mention that Li Hong's current age is not enough to shoulder important responsibilities. Even if he reaches the right age, how can he easily hand over power to the prince?

With the Xuanwu Sect incident in front of him and Li Chengqian's rebellion behind him, Li Zhi was already deep-minded, slightly suspicious, and good at learning lessons.

With no one to worry about, Li Zhi could only resist.

With Shangguan Yi and Xue Yuanchao admitting defeat, the promotion of Tang Dynasty style in Gyeonggi went smoothly without any additional interference.

Gradually, scholars also realized the first advantage of Tang Dynasty style: freedom, simplicity, and extremely low entry level.

Just like the dirty poems circulated in Chang'an City at the beginning, even an illiterate person who cannot read Chinese characters can make up a few lines of limericks under certain circumstances, let alone a scholar who has studied hard for many years in a cold window? Maybe it can't be passed down through the ages, but it can be picked up at your fingertips. Compared with palace style poetry, which requires careful piling up of words and careful citation of classics, it is more than just a few points. Step by step, driven by various forces, the prosperous Tang style poetry only took half a year. Over time, palace poetry began to replace palace style poetry and became the main entertainment item for banquets and outings, an entertainment activity accepted by scholars.

Chen Qingsi, the promoter of the Tang Dynasty style, with the popularity of the Tang Dynasty style, sat at home doing nothing, and became a scholar.

Xianqing six years, October 5th.

This day, the wind is sunny and sunny.

Chen Qingsi stretched out comfortably on the bed, basking in the sun outside the archives room and looking at the files.

After a full year and a half of rest, the Tang Dynasty's economy and people's livelihood had been significantly improved, and the national strength that had been traumatized by successive battles had also been restored to a certain extent.

There is no war in the world, so Chen Qingsi's military department is naturally at ease.

Chen Qingsi handles things efficiently. It only takes one hour a day to handle all matters, and the rest of the time is spent learning military concepts.

The same is true today. In October in Guanzhong, the weather has turned cooler. It is very comfortable to lie on the bed and bask in the gentle sunshine and read a book. My feet tremble unconsciously.

Even if someone walks into the courtyard, he doesn't notice it.

"Shilang Chen!"

When Chen Qingsi heard the call, he hurriedly got up. When he saw Jiang Ke, the Minister of War, standing beside him with a smile, he hurriedly got up and saluted.

"I have met Jiang Shangshu, and my subordinate is rude."

Since Jiang Ke chose to lie down, he has found that his life has become more prosperous, and he has received first-class scores in all political performance assessments. He is also more satisfied with Chen Qingsi, a capable subordinate. What's more, although Chen Qingsi is often in the limelight because of his ability, he still respects himself as his boss. Yes, the two of them got along very happily.

"It doesn't matter!"

Jiang Ke said: "Please tidy up your clothes. Your Majesty will send special soldiers to convey the message and let us enter the palace quickly."

When Chen Qingsi heard this, he immediately knew that the peaceful days were probably over.

Chen Qingsi lived a leisurely life in the Ministry of War, but Li Zhi would send people to invite him to the palace from time to time to discuss some matters.

Usually the eunuch's chamberlain comes to invite him, and he is the only one.

Now the people coming are soldiers, and the two of them are invited, which shows that it is not a trivial matter.

The two arrived at the palace on horseback and then entered the palace on foot.

Li Zhi was in the Chengqing Hall. When the two arrived, the two prime ministers on duty, Xu Jingzong and Xu Yushi, were present. Ren Yaxiang, who was in the council hall, also arrived before them.

After the two saluted.

Li Zhi waved his hand and signaled Ren Yaxiang to hand the credentials in his hands to Jiang Ke and Chen Qingsi.

Jiang Ke looked first, followed by Chen Qingsi.

The credential is Silla's credential requesting aid. In recent years, Li Zhi received a lot of Silla's credential requesting aid, but he found various excuses for them to shirk the responsibility.

This time there was no way to escape.

If the situation written in Silla’s national book is true, the war between Silla and Baekje has worsened.

"Your Majesty, can you confirm the situation described by Silla?"

Chen Qingsi asked.

On the surface, the situation of the Three Kingdoms of Haedong is that Goguryeo and Baekje are attacking Silla.

In fact, there are different situations. Goguryeo did not dare to attack with all its strength. Although the Tang army had been fighting on the border for many years, Goguryeo did not dare to bet on whether the Tang army would suddenly attack by lightning. Therefore, most of the national power had to be deployed on the northwest front line, and the offensive power was insufficient. .

Baekje had the mentality of taking advantage. He was not willing to help Goguryeo attract firepower. He only launched attacks from time to time, occupying a village today and a county tomorrow.

Silla, on the other hand, hid its weakness and reserved a certain amount of strength to compete with the Tang army for the land east of the sea.

None of the three parties could let go, so the balance was always maintained.

If it is true as Silla said, it means that the balance is broken.

(End of this chapter)