After Xie Yun presided over the imperial examination, he had no actual work and was semi-idle at home, which made those who originally wanted to win over him start to wait and see again.
He himself doesn't feel anxious about this. He has been waiting for more than ten years and doesn't care about these few days.
Su Mu's official position in the court was neither high nor low, and he had no access to actual rights. He could only speculate on Emperor Yao's attitude.
A group of people sat together, all looking at Xie Yun.
"This matter, in my opinion, is a good thing for you young people. Serving outside the capital is experience and accumulation of merit. What the government needs are officials who have seen the real life of the people. They stay in the capital and have ears to hear.
What you see with your eyes are all illusions."
"As time goes by, you are like a caged bird. Either you are blinded by wealth and prosperity, or you just drift with the crowd and try to please your master."
But there is another problem with all decentralization. They have no one in the government and no one to support them. They have to climb up from remote magistrates on their own strength. I don't know how difficult it is.
Especially now that the DPRK and China are divided into different parties and only promote their own people, they are an outlier among them.
Xie Yun's words did not bring much comfort to everyone.
Jiang Tong looked at Zhou Zhan.
"No matter how difficult the road ahead is, Your Highness just needs to be patient and plan, and we are willing to follow His Highness."
For Zhou Zhan, this problem was a gap in front of him. As a prince, even though he had a noble status, he could not get involved in the court, so it was difficult to carve out a path for them.
There was silence in the study, and Shen Moran knocked on the door outside the study.
Jiang Tong stood up and opened the door. Shen Moran glanced inside and stepped aside. Si Yiluo led Zhang Jin and Zhou Yuan in.
"Master Si is here."
Everyone stood up and greeted each other.
Si Yiluo turned sideways and introduced: "Bring two people to Your Highness." She pointed at Zhang Jin and Zhou Yuan, "This spring's top pick and second pick."
With the addition of Jiang Tong, the top three in the first class were gathered together, which made the originally somewhat heavy atmosphere a lot lighter.
"Master Si has found an ally for us..." Xie Yun said with a smile, "Now it's time for everyone to regain their confidence. Please take a seat! Master Si must know something."
"Don't dare to take it seriously."
Si Yiluoqian asked him to sit down. Apart from her, Zhang Jin was a little confused, and Zhou Yuan was even more confused. He had no idea what was going on.
There have never been so many people in Zhou Zhan's study, and there were not enough chairs. Seeing that Shen Moran was still standing, Si Yiluo stood up and asked her to sit down, standing beside him and holding the handle of the chair.
Yinyue hurriedly moved another chair.
"I can't guess all of the emperor's thoughts, but I probably know a little bit. Since everyone has doubts, I will tell you my guess. If you think it is wrong, you can correct it."
There were only men present. Shen Moran originally did not participate in their discussion, but was left by Si Yiluo, so he also listened.
"The civil strife in the Northern Liao Dynasty caused other tribes in the north to take advantage of the situation and plunder the border. There were frequent conflicts between our country and the tribes in the northwest. If the northern border is unstable, the country needs stability."
"This year's exam question is about the governance of the Yi people in the southwest. From the founding of the Zhou Dynasty to the present, the imperial court has always had problems in controlling the Yi people in the southwest. It has also sent troops to attack, but the Central Plains soldiers are not used to the climate of the southwest, and the terrain in the southwest is complex and changeable.
, even if a hundred thousand troops are dispatched, the combat effectiveness will not be as good as ten thousand. It will cost a lot and achieve little."
"There are still some powerful tribes in the local area that have the power to manage military affairs and government affairs. Although the imperial court has also set up guard posts in the southwest, it will not go to war unless necessary."
"Zhang Jin was assigned to Wuding Mansion. Do you know what the emperor's intention was?"
Everyone's gazes of concentration moved from Si Yiluo to Zhang Jin. When she reminded him, Zhang Jin suddenly said: "It was my debate at the Enrong Banquet..."
The governance method he proposed was enlightenment, allowing those tribes to sinicize and accept the influence of the Central Plains culture. This method was gentle and slow to produce results, but it was a once and for all method.
"The emperor didn't want civil strife in the southwest, so he took my method..."
The imperial court had used troops in Wuding Prefecture, so it was better to start from this place.
Zhang Jin felt ashamed. It turned out that the emperor did not want to send him to a remote place, but wanted to reuse him.
"You have served in the military and are good at literature and military. This is why the emperor chose you to go to the southwest."
"what about me?"
Zhou Yuan couldn't help but asked. Before he passed the Jinshi examination, he was an ordinary citizen. Although he had heard his lectures about the situation in the imperial court, he couldn't relate it to the actual situation. The place where he worked was Quanzhou. Could it be that there was a deeper meaning?
?
There were all smart people present, and as soon as Si Yiluo reminded them, everyone came back to their senses.
"I see..." Xie Yun said with a smile, "In the past few years, there were Japanese pirates along the southeast coast, but the war in the north was stalemate, and the Central Plains and Jiangnan areas were hit by disasters year after year. The treasury was empty, and there was no time to deal with them, so we issued the
Sea ban."
"But the imperial court's sea ban can only ban fishermen near the sea, but it can't stop private boats going out to sea. Quanzhou is the outlet to the sea. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. I'm afraid the private transactions are far more complicated than what we see."
Si Yiluo then continued: "However, these transactions do not pay taxes to the court. Their collusion between officials and businessmen to enrich their own pockets makes the emperor dissatisfied. The emperor wants to investigate and deal with it, but it is difficult to do so. The officials in Quanzhou are all ministers of the court who have benefited.
With joint recommendation and arrangement, the emperor can only take this opportunity to deploy manpower to Quanzhou."
"Zhou Yuan, the burden on your shoulders is very heavy, and it is also very dangerous." Si Yiluo added, "The above words are what the emperor asked me to convey to you."
Zhou Yuan burst into tears with gratitude, knelt down with a plop, kowtowed in the direction of the palace and said: "I will live up to the emperor's kindness!"
Si Yiluo helped him up without saying anything. Emperor Yao was right in his intention, but he asked him to risk his life. A few years ago, he was not afraid of power and focused on suing the magistrate of Junzhou. After all, Emperor Yao saw him.
Consider him a straightforward and loyal minister.
But he was not stupid either. Knowing the reason why Si Yiluo brought him to see Zhou Zhan, he kowtowed to Zhou Zhan again.
"The lower official has received the kindness from Prince Zhan's Palace, and he will definitely repay it in the future!"
Zhou Zhan said warmly: "The road ahead is dangerous, I hope you will take care of it."
He was very wise, and Shen Moran took advantage of the situation and said, "Since the road ahead is dangerous, I will give you a gift."
Zhou Yuan had already guessed what the gift was and had no room to refuse it.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Princess."
Xie Yun smiled kindly and said: "In this case, we are a family, Ziyan, the three of you are in the same period, and we must support each other in the future."
Xie Yun smiled happily after being able to gather the three tripod armors together. No one expected that the final winner of this imperial examination would be them!
Jiang Tong, Zhang Jin and Zhou Yuan bowed to each other.
"I wonder if Brother Zhang and Brother Zhou would like to join Mr. Xie's disciples along with Zi Yan? In this case, in addition to being at the same time, we will also be classmates in the future."
Zhou Yuan had heard of Xie Yun's reputation when he was studying in the county school, so naturally he was not reluctant!
Zhang Jin has no objections. With the guidance of a famous scholar like Xie Yun, he will no longer have to fight alone when encountering difficulties in the future. It couldn't be better!
It is popular in the court to have a mentor, and whether your future career will be smooth depends on the mentor's influence in the court.
Xie Yun has no power now.
"I can't give you any protection now. If you are willing to worship me as your teacher and be my disciple, I will definitely teach you everything I have in the future."
Zhang Jin and Zhou Yuan raised their hands at the same time and performed the apprenticeship ceremony. Zhang Jin was used to being rough, and his words also had a rough taste.
"The student admires Mr., a person with integrity who does not collude with the filth. Today's court is full of smog, and I am not willing to collude with them! The student is willing to worship Mr. as his teacher!"
Zhang Jin opened his robe and knelt down to worship his master.