Lin Xuan felt a little drowsy as he listened to the ministers and Li Shimin discussing the so-called 'big things'.
Many of them were trivial matters in his opinion, and these ministers brought them up to the court to talk about. No wonder they need to go to court every day. (After Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, it was once a day, and later it was changed to once every three days. It is still
No changes.)
"Your Majesty, I have drafted a commercial tax law. Please take a look at it!" Ma Zhou stepped out and said.
Li Mu stepped forward, took Ma Zhou's memorial, and presented it to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin unfolded it and looked at it carefully.
"Well, you are very thoughtful. You do this first, and you will correct the problem in time when you find the problem later." Li Shimin said after reading it.
"Yes!" Ma Zhou bowed and stood back.
Seeing that no one came forward, Li Shimin said to Li Mu: "Declare the decree!"
Li Mu took the imperial edict and said: "The edict says: Chong, the son of Duke Zhao, is erudite and well-behaved. I am very pleased to hear about it. The princess Gao Yang is skillful and generous, gentle and honest, and has outstanding appearance. She is of marriageable age. Now she is betrothed to her eldest grandson.
As a wife, all the etiquette will be presided over by the Ministry of Rites and the Qin Tianjian, and we will choose a good time next year to get married. This is it!"
Lin Xuan was anxious when he first heard about Changsun Chong. He thought Li Shimin was going to betroth Li Lizhi to Changsun Chong, but later he was happy when he heard that it was Princess Gaoyang. (Princess Gaoyang, her age is unknown in history. Due to the needs of the plot, she is even considered ten years old.
About three years old.)
He did not expect that due to his influence, Princess Gaoyang would be betrothed to Changsun Chong.
Princess Gaoyang is very famous. Historically, she married Fang Xuanling's second son Fang Yiai.
Not only did she cuckold Fang Yiai after marriage, but she also asked Fang Yiai to guard the door when they had sex. The weird thing is that Fang Yiai actually did it.
Because of this incident, Fang Yiai was called the Cuckold King of the Tang Dynasty by later generations.
In the end, he instigated Fang Yiai to rebel together and was sentenced to death.
I didn’t know that after Princess Gaoyang married Changsun Chong, it would be fun to cuckold Changsun Chong.
But he guessed that Princess Gaoyang wouldn't dare, as Changsun Wuji was not Fang Xuanling.
She married into the Fang family and could still live in the princess's mansion. She married into the eldest grandson's family, and there was no way the eldest grandson's family would let her live in the princess's mansion.
I wonder if Fang Yiai would be grateful to him if he knew that because of her own reasons, he got rid of the title of Cuckold King, which was equivalent to saving his life.
But he could only think about these things in his mind and would never have the chance to say them out.
Changsun Chong was away, so Changsun Wuji stood up to express his gratitude: "My lord, thank you very much, Your Majesty!"
After Li Mu handed the imperial edict to Changsun Wuji, he took out another imperial edict and started reading it.
The meaning is similar to the previous one, but this time the hosts are changed to Lin Xuan and Li Lizhi.
But when Li Mu finished reading, Lin Xuan was stunned.
Changsun Chong's imperial edict of marriage stated that the marriage would be completed next year, but why did his edict not mention that Li Lizhi would be betrothed to him?
After Li Mu finished reading the imperial edict, he saw that Lin Xuan was still silent, so he reminded him: "Brother Jingyang County, why don't you hurry up and accept the edict!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Lin Xuan came to his senses and thanked him quickly.
Li Shimin was secretly happy when he saw Lin Xuan's expression. He did this on purpose.
He always felt that Lin Xuan was hiding his clumsiness and wanted to take advantage of him.
"Quit the court!" Li Shimin finished speaking and left in a hurry.
Lin Xuan took the imperial edict and looked unhappy. The marriage was granted, but the wedding date has not been determined.
Cheng Yaojin saw Lin Xuan's expression and said with a smile: "You don't seem to be happy? Princess Changle is well-known for being virtuous. Your Majesty actually granted you a marriage. What else are you dissatisfied with?"
Lin Xuan smiled bitterly and said: "Marriage was given, but it didn't say when it would be consummated!"
Who knows if he makes Li Shimin unhappy one day, Li Shimin will cancel the marriage.
Although the emperor rarely goes back on his words, no one can guarantee it!
Yuchi Gong laughed: "You guys are not in a hurry to enter the bridal chamber, are you?"
"Haha~"
…
Qin Qiong and others also laughed.
Lin Xuan rolled his eyes, what a bunch of old perverts!
At this moment, Li Mu came over, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty summons Duke Zhao, Duke Liang, Duke Yi... the uncles of Jingyang County to discuss matters in the study!"
Everyone quickly put away their smiles and followed Li Mu to the study.
"I will see you, Your Majesty!" Everyone saluted.
Li Shimin smiled and said: "No courtesy, I will give you a seat."
After everyone sat down, Li Shimin said: "I thought about it carefully and found that there are many shortcomings in the imperial examination, and I want to reform the imperial examination!"
Many officials looked at each other in confusion, unable to figure out the emperor's thoughts for a while.
So for a while, no one came forward to speak.
Lin Xuan was a little speechless. It was obviously him who suggested it, but he didn't expect Li Shimin to take it for himself so shamelessly.
But since Li Shimin is already his father-in-law, he can just take it.
In the end, Changsun Wuji was the first to speak, "Your Majesty, the imperial examination system has been continuously improved by the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. It can be said to be very perfect and cannot be changed lightly!"
After Changsun Wuji finished speaking, Fang Xuanling stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the imperial examination has given poor families a ladder to become officials. This cannot be changed!"
Other civil servants agreed one after another, but this matter had little to do with the generals, so Cheng Yaojin and the others did not say anything.
Li Shimin shook his head. He previously believed that the imperial examination had no drawbacks, but after hearing what Lin Xuan said, he realized that the imperial examination did have many drawbacks.
Li Shimin said: "Listen to what I say, and let's talk about whether to reform or not. The first point: Datang has a huge land area, and all the candidates have to go to Chang'an to take the exam, and the journey is too long..."
He slowly repeated what Lin Xuan said about the shortcomings of the imperial examination.
After listening to it, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others thought about it and felt that what Li Shimin said made sense.
But for a while, no one spoke. They had no choice. They were embarrassed and embarrassed. Just now, Li Shimin said that the imperial examination had drawbacks. When he proposed the reform, they all said that there were no drawbacks. Isn't it a slap in the face to agree now?
Wei Zheng also felt embarrassed, but his character prevented him from remaining silent. He said with some shame: "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. The imperial examination should indeed be reformed. I was short-sighted just now!"
Someone spoke first, and others followed suit and agreed with the reform.
Li Shimin's face remained calm, but his heart was already filled with joy.
Wei Zheng, this old guy, sprays him every day. He does this and that. Now you know he was wrong!
Fang Xuanling asked: "Since His Majesty has discovered the shortcomings, has His Majesty not only thought of a solution?"
Li Shimin proudly explained the solution Lin Xuan said eloquently.
"May I ask Your Majesty, where do you get the money and food rewards that are given to children who pass the exam every year? Where does this money come from?" Fang Xuanling is called "Fang Mou", which is not a lie. The problem can be seen at a glance.
Li Shimin glanced at Lin Xuan and hinted to Lin Xuan, it's your turn.
Lin Xuan secretly cursed: You've finished pretending, so you asked me to finish it?
"Your Majesty, I have a method for Your Majesty that can solve the money problem." Lin Xuan said loudly.
Li Shimin was very satisfied with Lin Xuan's performance and said with a smile: "Oh? Show it to me!"
Lin Xuan took out the salt-making method he wrote last night and held it up.
Li Mu immediately stepped forward to take it and presented it to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin read it and exclaimed: "Is what you wrote true?"
He didn't expect that the method Lin Xuan mentioned was to extract salt from poisonous salt mines.
"Your Majesty, this method is very simple. Your Majesty can just ask someone to try it." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
"Duan Aiqing, ask someone to try this method!" Li Shimin handed the method of making salt to Duan Lun, Minister of Industry.