"As the descendants of meritorious officials, they are the last members of the four surnames. They set up separate schools to select high-powered people and teach them their careers." [Book of the Later Han Dynasty·The Scholars]
The emperor put his hands behind his back, faced the surging Cangchi, and said with a broad mind: "This matter will be jointly signed by Chen Gong and Zhao Gong. In two days, the report will be reported to me, and I will issue an edict to all the public gatherings in the Chengming Palace.
Discuss."
Zhao Wen worked hard to further reform Taixue. He and the emperor had been thinking about it for a long time, and it was already inevitable. Now the emperor was thinking about his hard work and asked him to share the blame with Chen Ji. He immediately and happily
He responded: "I promise."
In addition to taking up a new official position and meeting the emperor, Chen Ji also planned to put forward some suggestions to the emperor on how to control the drought. However, he first discussed the reform of Taixue, which disrupted his expectations, and after several subsequent discussions, he was disappointed.
He was busy thinking about how to deal with it, and couldn't find an opportunity to start another topic. Now that he had almost discussed everything, he was about to speak, when the carriage commander, Ma Lingrong He, came over from a distance and presented a memorial that made the emperor look relieved.
"Your Majesty..." Chen Ji asked tentatively.
The emperor was deep in thought and looked up at Chen Ji. He consciously put away the memorial and held it in his left hand. He suddenly asked: "I heard that Chen Taigong had a recommendation affair with Zhonghou Zhonghou of Zhongxiang. Is this true?"
The Marquis of Tongxiang was Huang Qiong, Huang Wan's grandfather. Because he had been the master of Emperor Xiaohuan and never flattered Liang Ji, he was granted the title of Marquis and given the posthumous title of Zhong after his death. When Huang Qiong was Sikong, he developed a talent for rational drama.
, Chen Ji’s father, Chen Shi, was promoted to Wen Xi. In addition to the friendship between the two families, Yang Ci also admired Chen Shi’s virtues. Although they rarely interacted with each other, they actually had a close relationship. This is why Yang Zan and others just now
The reason why people are particularly close to Chen Ji.
The relationships among scholars are not private, and with a little inquiry one can find out the circle of people and even their ancestors. Chen Ji raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't think this was something difficult to talk about: "Only
, Not only did our ancestors have friendship, but Huang Ziyan also knew me for a long time when he was the pastor of Yuzhou."
"You, there are so many wonderful people in Ying." The emperor sighed inexplicably, waved his hand to Chen Ji, and said to him: "It is a blessing to see Mr. Chen today. In the future, Mr. Chen will be in court, and I hope he can give you more good advice.
, Don’t care about personal interests. Since I am the master of others, how can I not tolerate others? Mr. Chen will go back to rest for a few days, and then come again. It will not be too late for Mu Shun to ask the eunuch to give him food."
Chen Ji was full of doubts and could not elaborate as much as he had prepared when he came. Although he got a lot of benefits, his heart was still not up and down, and he had an inexplicable feeling of being led away by someone.
He had no choice but to walk out of Diaoyutai with his heart in mind. Under the guidance of his inner visitor Li Jian, he first went to the duty house next to Chengming Hall. After receiving the imperial edict, Tang Guan and others soon sent the exquisite royal palace.
Food. Chen Ji had a bad stomach. He was originally worried about how to deal with the meat given by the emperor, but when he saw that the eunuch sent him porridge, fish soup, and a few appetizers, Chen Ji looked at the eunuch in surprise.
.
The answer he received was, "When there is a drought in Guanzhong, everyone in Weiyang Palace must cut back on food and clothing and save money." Chen Ji was slightly disappointed. He thought this was a special order from the emperor when he saw that he was old, but in his heart he still felt for the emperor's benevolence.
And feel happy.
Today, after receiving the imperial edict from the emperor and his ministers, Chen Ji was already hungry, but he didn't have much appetite. After eating only half a bowl, he calmly bowed and left the palace.
As soon as they boarded the carriage, the waiter Cang Tou reported that Chen Qun had gone to Huang Wan's house early in the morning. After Chen Ji thought for a while, he ordered people to turn around and drive towards Huang Wan's house.
Huang Wan, who was dismissed from office due to a disaster, did not continue to live in the official residence allocated by the court, but lived in a remote house in the north of the city. Although the house was spacious, it was not windy, and only low flowers and trees were planted in some places.
Looking under the scorching sun, everything reflects a yellow light.
"...That's it." Chen Ji tried his best to squint his eyes, trying to avoid the sunlight in the court.
Chen Qun sat at the bottom, looking at Chen Ji and Huang Wan with subtle eyes. In his opinion, the Imperial Academy was only designed to recruit wise men. Those with high talents would enter, and those with low talents would leave.
, there should not be distinctions between nobles and common people. If those poor scholars cannot enter the Imperial Academy, then we can only blame them for their lack of knowledge and character. How can we accommodate them in turn?
He had a lot to say, but in front of his elders, he had to show the upbringing that a younger generation should have.
Huang Wan carefully stretched out his hand to signal the servant to put down the bamboo curtain. He was silent for a while, then coughed and said: "Scholars are not noble or humble. Mr. Wenfan was born in a humble family back then. Didn't he become famous all over the world later? The country wants to spread education widely.
We should be very lucky to have a good government and recruit talented people. If the Imperial College increases the number of people and "gets a career like a disciple", and recommends and punishes, I think it is good governance. Since public affairs are too common, why not follow their good deeds?
Discuss and lead Shangshu?"
"Wenfan" is a private posthumous title given to Chen Shi by his disciples, relatives and friends after his death. He is known as Mr. Wen Fan in the world. Chen Shi was born in a branch of the Chen family. His family was poor. It was not until he later became a famous figure in the country that he became Chen Shi.
The main figure of the family established a family business for today's Yingchuan Chen family.
Chen Ji, who spent the family business years with his father Chen Shi, deeply felt the hardships of being a poor scholar. When Chen Shi returned home from studying in Taixue, a murder case happened to occur in the county. Just being suspected by Cao Xie, he could directly ignore Chen Shi's identity as a student of Taixue.
They were arrested, imprisoned, and subjected to extensive examinations and plunders. It can be seen that it is very difficult for a single family like them to get ahead. Even if they become a member of the "scholars", they will still be punished by other county officials with powerful backgrounds.
Not long after Chen Qunfu was born, Chen Shi gave him the rare reputation of "Here will be the foundation of our clan." How could he, who had never experienced this, understand the hardships of those years?
Therefore, Chen Ji naturally would not look down on ordinary scholars and poor scholars like the Yuan family in Runan and other long-established families who had a great career at home and were blessed by the glory of their ancestors. Instead, after hearing the emperor's various actions, he implicitly
He had the idea of expressing his support, but he was wary of all kinds at the time and did not want to speak out easily. He also wanted to use this opportunity to make a deal with the emperor, Huang Wan and others, which led to the current situation.
"It's just that I heard that the state intends not to allow state and county chiefs to appoint subordinates privately. In the future, the people who will be recruited will have to be tested first. With all these restrictions, the path for promotion for scholars has become increasingly narrow." Chen Jiyi said.
Said unintentionally.
This was the wrong thing to say. If someone else were talking about it, they would be worried about the narrow path for scholars to enter officialdom. But when it came to Huang Wan, he smiled knowingly and didn't mind at all.
After all, he had enough experience in electing talents: "In the past, when Guanglu elected three ministers, most of the powerful and wealthy children were promoted to them because of their old friendship in personnel affairs, but the real poor and committed people were left behind because of their low status.
In the world, there is a proverb in the capital that says, "If you want more than you can, you will be rich and talented." At that time, I worked with the Grand Tutor Chen Gong, regardless of wealth and rank, and showed the talents with lofty ideals. Nowadays, everything the country is doing is not secretly related to me, Taifu
Is Mr. Fu, Chen and others aligned in their aspirations?"
"What's more," Huang Wan paused, glanced at Chen Qun who was sitting next to him unintentionally, and said, "Didn't the country say that in addition to the Imperial College, there would be an Imperial College? In the past, there were four Xiaohous with four surnames.
He also had the kindness to allow the children of officials to enter the Imperial Academy, and now the country has opened an additional Imperial College, out of love for the virtuous and talented, and to show kindness to the scholars."