Chapter 45 Quotes

When it comes to touching the emperor's weak spot, the inner court always acts with exceptional efficiency. Within just one or two days, two imperial edicts were issued from the Western Garden. One was to severely reprimand the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department and Minister Wu of the Ministry of Works. The wording was so sharp and cruel that it was rare. The other was to inform the Ministry of Rites to show favor to the scholars before the emperor's birthday. It ordered the Ministry of Rites to quickly prepare for the imperial examinations and to hold the spring examinations in the second half of the month.

Obviously, this is another political tactic often used by Master Feixuan. Seeing that the poison of "The Western Garden is Locked Up with the Elder" has spread far and wide, ordinary means are no longer able to subdue it. After much thought, Zhenjun simply adjusted the agenda of the court and used the imperial examination to divert the attention of the literati - most of the popular stories were written by down-and-out, bored and idle candidates, who spread rumors about the royal family to relax during the long wait for the exam. Instead of sending out the Imperial Guards to search from top to bottom and fanning the rumors to make them true, it would be better to give them something big to worry about; thirty days before the exam, just review the secret papers, mock papers and previous years' exam questions. Why would you have the time to compile a fan fiction about the cabinet?

You like to edit my book, right? Are you feeling itchy from being idle? I can’t kill you by doing more questions!

Only the tactic of a sea of ​​questions can control these bored scholars with raging hormones and bursting motivation. Zhenjun has a deep understanding of this.

However, the sudden change in the court agenda really caused great hardship to the six ministries. According to the practice in previous years, the imperial examination would start in mid-March and be completed around the Grain Rain. Now that there is more than a month in advance, all preparations have immediately fallen into chaos. Although this is a talent evaluation ceremony that has been prepared for hundreds of years and has strict regulations, you can always trust the Ministry of Rites' ability to slack off; the so-called delay should be delayed if possible, and postponement should be made if necessary; before the deadline, the officials will definitely not be able to make any progress. Now that the deadline had been moved up by dozens of days with Lao Deng's words, everyone in the Ministry of Rites, who had become accustomed to it, was in a state of panic and became busy. They finally managed to meet the deadline and reported it one by one.

On February 18th, the emperor completed his review and ordered the Minister of Rites to offer sacrifices to Confucius and mobilize personnel to take an inventory of the various tribute academies that would be used for the imperial examination. The deadline for the imperial examination is approaching, and the mood of tension and excitement is everywhere. The candidates who were wandering and partying all over the city have disappeared in an instant. Most of them huddled in the guild halls to study hard behind closed doors, and tried their best to understand the mock test papers recently released by several major booksellers. The imperial examination is not a standard test, and whether the writing style can meet the examiner's taste is a matter of life and death. Compared with the outsiders who are unfamiliar with the place, the wealthy merchants in the capital with extensive connections are obviously more able to understand the appetites of the bigwigs in the court, judge the wind direction more accurately, and compile mock papers that are worth a thousand gold coins per word. Even if it means huge waste, it is worth it.

Unfortunately, most people will probably be disappointed in this year's imperial examination. Duke Mu was on duty in the cabinet, and had received a inside message through an unnamed eunuch - the emperor rejected the list of chief examiners submitted by the Ministry of Rites this year, and personally selected the retired former Minister of Rites Huo Weixian as the chief examiner, in the name of preferential treatment for old ministers. It was not uncommon for the emperor to reject the Ministry of Rites' nominees, but it did not seem to attract much attention. Only by referring to the historical records of later generations can one keenly discover the change in the wind direction:

Lao Deng is coming with another big one!

Decades ago, when the emperor ascended the throne, conflicts over the transfer of the imperial lineage were imminent. It was Huo Weixian, who was not yet a new official at that time, who took the lead in writing a letter to refute the Prime Minister Yang Tinghe, and thus fired the first shot in the Great Ceremony Debate. Those who take the initiative to step forward should naturally be rewarded handsomely. In order to commend this number one person in the ritual discussion faction, Feixuan Zhenjun, who was very human at that time, promoted him five times within seven years and promoted a sixth-rank official of the Ministry of War to the position of second-rank Minister of Rites. The relationship between the monarch and his ministers was so close that it was a good thing at the time.

Now that the past has been settled, why would the emperor specially invite back this veteran of the grand ceremony debate? Obviously, Master Feixuan's desire to change the ritual system is never satisfied, and he wants to use the imperial examination to insert his own agenda and add impetus to his Taimiao renovation plan!

Today's candidates will be tomorrow's officials; as long as you openly support the emperor's move in this imperial examination, it will be difficult for you to oppose it in the future. Lord Feixuan's plan was so meticulous and tricky that it was impossible to guard against it; Shangshu Huo, who was specially transferred here, was also able to understand the emperor's intentions and made a special effort to change the test questions. If historical records are correct, Huo Weixian deliberately added an extra test to the second exam, requiring candidates to draft an obituary on behalf of the court to praise the merits of Emperor Taizong Wen.

This was undoubtedly a foreshadowing of the renovation of the Taimiao, in preparation for changing the temple name of Emperor Taizong. But to be honest, Huo Weixian was a bit too heartless and too inconsiderate of the younger generation to organize such a big task in the imperial examination - since he had to draft a eulogy, it would inevitably involve an evaluation of Taizong's life; and can a group of newbies casually evaluate the life of Emperor Taizong?

You really don't treat us as outsiders, right?

For various understandable reasons, when candidates write such a life-threatening essay, it is basically like spreading their wings like a roc near a minefield. If they are not careful, they will touch areas that should not be shown according to national security laws; they will violate some taboos to a greater or lesser extent. Those with fewer taboos would be dismissed on the spot, while those with more taboos would be simply stripped of their titles and expelled from the capital, or even banned from taking the imperial examinations forever. The means were brutal and widespread, leaving an indelible impression on the fledgling newcomers.

It is precisely because of this that this imperial examination created a miracle of some magnitude - even though there was an intention to relax the standards later on, there were only 113 Jinshi candidates admitted, which was the lowest number of candidates admitted in hundreds of years of imperial examinations; and there were as many as three or four hundred candidates who violated taboos and were expelled or banned from taking the exam, which also created an insurmountable historical record.

——Although the number of admitted students is small, the penalties are severe!

I think this is a kind of self-confidence, according to Minister Huo.

Of course, even facing such a unique and bizarre restriction, a large number of masters still emerged in the examination room. Emperor Shezong Zhang Taiyue and Li Jurong's nephew were the best in this subject. Even though Mr. Hai Gangfeng's academic inclinations were incompatible with those of the examiners and his essays still failed the exams, he did not violate any taboos and was able to escape unscathed. At this moment, a glimpse of the skills that would allow the future bigwigs in officialdom to move freely around was already emerging.

Although judging from the course of history, neither SSR will cause any major trouble in the imperial examination, the Crown Prince still has to do his best. He sent people to deliver the two of them fine writing materials, dry food, and various kinds of dry food for replenishing energy and refreshing spirits for use in the imperial examinations. He also mixed a copy of "Record of Sacred Instructions" with the manuscript paper, in preparation for them to recite and check before the exam. This book was a foreshadowing he had laid out several years ago, summarizing the many instructions and handwritten instructions of Master Feixuan over the years, and compiling from it various words and phrases that Master Feixuan had used to praise Emperor Taizong. If the two gentlemen encountered any difficulty in writing in the examination room, they could casually use the quotations of Zhenjun to gloss over the problem.

In sensitive areas, the best way is to defeat magic with magic. No matter how ruthless Minister Huo is, he would not dare to accuse Master Fei Xuan of being disrespectful to his ancestors, right?

No one understood Emperor Taizong better than Master Feixuan, so he advised Shangshu Huo not to say too much and just get through with it.

·

The imperial examination process is complicated and lengthy, but no carelessness is allowed. During national ceremonies, most of the attention of each ministry was taken up by examinations, and even the cabinet had a lot less time. Mu Qi finally had some free time and began to implement the plan he had been planning for a long time. He chose a time when the streets were quiet and went directly to visit Yan's mansion.

Since Lord Yan was imprisoned in the West Garden, the young Lord has been sitting at home, not daring to show his face for more than ten days. He was very surprised to see his old friend coming to visit him. He quickly welcomed him into the study, personally poured water and served tea to him, and then sighed:

"I never thought that among all the old friends in my Yan family, only Brother Mu would come to my house without any suspicion!"

"Brother Yan, what you said is too harsh." The prince didn't care: "Your Majesty didn't take any action, so why should you be discouraged, Brother Yan? I heard from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites that Brother Yan hasn't reported for work for many days. Isn't this just giving people something to talk about?"

When things are good, everything is good; when things are bad, even the smallest flaw can be considered a handle. In other words, the Yan family's arrogance has not yet collapsed, otherwise the censors would have impeached Yan Donglou for being lazy and causing trouble.

Yan Donglou sighed: "Brother Mu, how could you know that I am staying at home now just to avoid the outside world. Although His Majesty did not say it explicitly, the implication is obvious. If we don't hide our heads obediently, are we going to jump up and down and make a big fuss, which will arouse his taboo?"

This is obviously the motto of retreating, being cautious, and hiding one's abilities in official circles. But Mu Qi just smiled slightly, thinking that there was no need to be so cautious, and Lao Deng might not have any taboos - of course, this is not to say that Lao Deng is fair, just and magnanimous; in fact, the cruel heart of Zhenjun who will take revenge for any slight is obvious to all. But Lao Deng always pursued only one idea when he was emperor, and after he gained power, he basically took revenge every night. The fact that the young cabinet minister has been dragging on for more than half a month without any movement shows that Master Feixuan doesn't take him seriously at all and probably just ignores him and lets the matter go.

Of course, such words were really hurtful, so the prince changed the subject:

"Even so, Young Lord, you have to try to save yourself."

"How can I save myself?" The young minister shook his head repeatedly: "Thunder and rain are all grace from the emperor. Only the emperor's will can solve today's situation. But how can we appeal to His Majesty when we are in such a predicament? It is just empty talk after all."

"If we honestly write a letter to defend ourselves, then there is indeed little hope." The prince said calmly: "But it may not be just one memorial that can attract your majesty's attention."

Yan Donglou's heart was moved: "Please give me some advice, my lord!"

The prince smiled slightly and took out an official document from his sleeve, which was a copy of the previous memorial from the Ministry of Rites requesting the compilation of the "Record of the Emperors". Yan Donglou took it and looked at it carefully, but he was very disappointed:

"This is just a routine matter. What effect can it have?"

Yes, the country respects Heaven and ancestors and honors their teachings, but the late emperor was only the late emperor after all and could not stand up again to reward his loyal ministers. Although the task of compiling quotations was important, it was tedious and boring. It was purely a ceremonial task that had to be dealt with and it was difficult to attract the emperor's attention. The young cabinet minister's disappointment is quite reasonable.

...However, aren't the major events in the world foreshadowed in such routine affairs?

The prince's smile remained unchanged:

"Of course, it won't be effective if we just follow the routine. But what if we add a little more content?"

"Add what?"

"'The Precious Instructions of the Sages' is of course a collection of quotations from past emperors. But when I looked through the archives of the Ministry of Rites, I found that only the opinions of Emperor Wuzong and Emperor Xiaozong were compiled. It seems that there is still one emperor missing..."

"One is missing?" The young cabinet minister was slightly stunned: "Isn't it just right that Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Wuzong are the current emperor? Who else could be missing..."

Before he could finish his words, the young elder's expression suddenly changed. He was lost in thought for a moment, his voice a little ethereal:

"You, you mean——"

"I mean," the prince said softly, "and your Majesty's biological father, Emperor Xingxian, has not yet compiled the Treasure Instructions."

Although he already had a vague guess in his mind, when he suddenly heard this undoubted affirmative sentence, his heart was still filled with thousands of waves, so much so that he was shocked and dazed, and couldn't speak for a while!

——That's right, although the emperor had won the Great Ceremony Debate decades ago and successfully recognized his biological father to change the line of succession and preserve his authority, he even went a step further and posthumously honored his biological father, King Xingxian, as Emperor Xingxian, opening up an eternal imperial lineage in which the concubines turned against the Tiangang and sold out the legitimate bloodline. But at least until today, the vast majority of ministers still do not regard Emperor Xingxian, who was forced into the throne, as the legitimate emperor. At most, he is a substitute.

For this reason, this quack emperor lacked all the patriarchal treatment enjoyed by previous emperors. He could not enter the main chamber of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the sacrificial standards for him were slightly lower, he did not have a normal posthumous title, and of course it was impossible for anyone to write a collection of quotations for him!

In the eyes of the ministers, it was already an act of usurpation for a vassal king to be able to obtain the title of emperor after his death. How could he even dream of comparing his treatment with that of the legitimate emperor? But in the eyes of Master Feixuan - well, Master Feixuan would like to fight for the treatment of his deceased father, but his energy is limited; fighting for the specifications of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is fine, but he really can't pay attention to such trivial matters as whether there is a collection of quotations or not.

However, even if he didn't notice it, what would be his reaction if someone was thoughtful and thought of it for him?

When he thought of this, the young minister couldn't help but tremble all over!

Damn it, there are such flatteries in the world, and there are such clever ideas in the world! By extension, there are such geniuses in the world!

Flattery can be divided into high and low levels. The lowly ones are full of empty words and false intentions, while the wise ones are well aware of the emperor's intention and cleverly arrange things, and are able to express their charm without saying a single word. The young cabinet minister is conceited about his talent and has always looked down on all the dignitaries in the court as if they were nothing. He thinks he has reached the highest level in the field of flattery, which is absolutely incomprehensible to ordinary people. However, it was not until today that he was truly convinced and had to bow down and admit defeat!

It turns out that there is always someone stronger than you; it turns out that he underestimated all the heroes in the world. Even if he spent another ten years, he might not be able to figure out such flattery!

The flattering ministers sympathized with each other, and the admiration they felt at that moment was truly beyond words. The young minister immediately stood up and respectfully saluted the prince:

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Mu! Brother Mu is a man of great talent, unrivaled in the world. I am only following your orders!"

The prince quickly helped him up, but then claimed that he dared not, and kept being humble, saying that he was just repeating what others had said and would never dare to take credit for it - of course, this was indeed the truth; according to historical facts, this unique skill of compiling quotations for Emperor Xingxian was a stunning blow that Yan Ge Lao had carefully honed after a long period of dormancy. As the saying goes, it takes ten years to sharpen a sword, and its blade is invincible. Not only did it determine the victory in one fell swoop, it also directly took the life of Prime Minister Xia. The conception was so ingenious that even history books were amazed by it, calling it "Mingsou" - only someone from the underworld could come up with such an inhuman idea.

Now that Mingsou's idea has been put into practice through a backdoor listing, the effect will naturally be extraordinary. The prince's expression did not change:

"What do you think, young Lord?"

"Of course it's a great idea!" The young cabinet minister blurted out, and then he became worried: "However, compiling the quotations is the job of the Ministry of Rites. Now my Yan family's influence in the Ministry of Rites is too strong, I'm afraid..."

Previously, Lord Yan was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and he could get things done with just a few words. But now the cabinet minister is imprisoned in Xiyuan, and the young cabinet minister only has the title of Vice Minister of Works. If the title is not right, then the words will not flow, and things will be troublesome.

"Can't we ask some old friends for help?"

"That's fine." The young minister hesitated, "But after all, it's an outsider interfering, and I'm afraid it will attract criticism from the Ministry of Rites..."

"What are you afraid of?" The prince said decisively, "How can I be afraid of discussion when I work for the emperor? Besides, if we don't occupy the position of public opinion and words, the enemy will occupy it! Let's make up something first and see what they can say."

Master Feixuan will definitely like the quotations written by Hengshu. Master Feixuan is happy to hear it, so who do you think you are?

A wise saying is a wise saying. Even if it is said by a well-known lunatic like the Prince of Duke Mu, it is still powerful and hits the heart. The young elder's face changed in horror and he immediately realized the key point:

"Your Highness is right. I will do as you say!"

·

Of course, doing as you are told is not something that can be accomplished with just a few words. Compiling a collection of quotations is a huge project, and both human and financial resources are indispensable. Even if a policy has been formulated, the specific implementation still requires detailed consideration. But the prince had obviously been planning for a long time and came prepared. He talked in depth with the young elder for a while, and then pointed out the key point in a light-hearted way:

"The budget and manpower of the Ministry of Rites are limited. If we want to increase the amount by a large amount, we have to ask for permission. But if we go through the trouble of asking for permission, I'm afraid the matter will be delayed, and someone with ulterior motives will get there first. I think it's safer to try to conceal the news first, divert the budget from other departments, make some progress, and then report it to the higher authorities."

The young elder was already full of respect and did not dare to doubt the master's ingenious strategy, so he immediately asked:

"I also ask for the prince's guidance."

"That's nothing." Mu Qi said with a smile, "In fact, the Ministry of Rites now has ready-made manpower and can be borrowed, so it's not a big deal at all... Did you know, young minister, that the Ministry of Rites is still compiling the quotations of Emperor Yingzong?"

Yan Donglou was a little surprised: "It's not repaired yet? It's been 70 or 80 years, right?"

"Of course, the quotations of other emperors should have been completed seventy or eighty years ago." Mu Qi said nonchalantly: "But the situation of Emperor Yingzong, as you know, is rather - uh - special..."

Obviously, using the word "special" to describe the behavior of the Emperor of Door-knocking is still too euphemistic and polite. In fact, the compilation of Baozong's quotations and instructions had been delayed for decades and had long been the Ministry of Rites' first unfinished project, a hellish job that everyone feared. This is not a moral pressure, but purely the overwhelming difficulty faced in practical operations - in short, can Bao Zong live his life truthfully?

Putting aside the strange stories of his two ascensions to the throne and his long journey to the northern desert (in fact, there is nothing to write about them), even if the historian wanted to conceal the truth about the respected emperor against his conscience, it would be a difficult job. For example, when Baozong was young, he once had a conversation with his father in front of the ministers, declaring that if the barbarians rebelled in the future, he would personally lead the army to "punish them"; and the ministers at that time responded, all thinking that Baozong was "brave and resolute" and extraordinary, and this story was widely circulated as a praise story. But if someone dared to include this paragraph in a collection of quotations today, it would become a complete joke from hell, the highest level of human sarcasm, and the greatest satire that no artist could create.

These unintentional words spoken in childhood were only a tiny and insignificant fragment in Bao Zong's long life. In fact, because Emperor Jiaomen's life was so abstract, as long as one listed all his bold words in the first half of his life one by one, they would naturally become a collection of boomerangs that would make one feel uncomfortable. The number and density of their words were so large that every word could be boomeranged. The other emperors would only have one or two boomerangs due to slips of the tongue or carelessness. But as for Emperor Jiaomen, it was like a person grew on the boomerang!

Therefore, no matter how skillful and brilliant the Spring and Autumn period's writing style was, the great scholars really had no way to cover up the former emperor - even if the makeup was so sophisticated that it could be mistaken for the real thing, it still had to be a person being covered up, right?

For this reason, all officials responsible for compiling Yingzong's Sayings were well aware of the difficulty of this task. If this collection of Yingzong's quotations could be truly compiled, it would definitely be a great work of this dynasty that will be immortal, and the best collection of hell jokes - the kind that can really send anyone who handles it to hell. For the sake of their own safety, all the great scholars involved in the past eighty years have been in agreement on this matter and have adopted a strategy of procrastination and giving up, which has actually dragged the deadline to the present. If the emperor hadn't pushed them too hard, they could probably have kept at it for another seventy or eighty years until Party A died.

In view of this, the prince spoke calmly: "The Quotations of Emperor Yingzong are really difficult to compile, but we have to do it, so silver is allocated every year. I wonder if we can use this part of the silver to compile the Quotations of Emperor Xingxian first? This will also prevent it from being discovered by outsiders and being preempted."

The young cabinet minister immediately understood the key point and pondered it over carefully in his mind. He felt that the suggestion was indeed feasible and was overjoyed. Of course, he still said something hypocritically:

"If this happens, I'm afraid that Emperor Yingzong's quotations will be delayed..."

The prince smiled subtly, saying calmly, "It has already been delayed for eighty years. What does it matter if it is delayed for a few more years? If Emperor Yingzong is still alive, he will surely understand."

...I don't know whether he understands or not, but if Yingzong really has a spirit in heaven, he should first consider saving his human skin from Zhu Laosi.

Besides, things are always relative. Instead of wasting money on pigs calling the door, it would be more meaningful to use it to flatter Lao Deng.