Chapter four hundred and twentieth seventh surprise
Since ancient times, the New Year has been a good opportunity for relatives and friends to get closer.
Regardless of whether we are close or distant, on this day of universal celebration, everyone will smile and say Happy Spring Festival.
As the saying goes, don’t hit the smiling man!
Of course, if you can have a few drinks, the relationship will be even better.
Not to mention, men’s friendships usually take place over drinks.
Because he was forced to be grounded by Li Er, Yang Fan could not openly visit relatives and friends, so he only asked his servants to send New Year's gifts to close relatives and friends.
Of course, although Yang Fan was young, he still held a high position and was favored by the emperor. Not just anyone was qualified to pay him New Year greetings, which made Yang Fan feel a lot more relaxed.
For those officials who had sent New Year gifts but were not qualified to meet in person, Yang Fan had his servants send some return gifts to express his attitude, and the relationship was maintained.
This is the ancient etiquette. Even if Yang Fan is very helpless, he still knows how to deal with people.
Therefore, just after Wang Xuance finished his report, Cheng Chumo and others came to visit together.
After a few people first wished Empress Xiao New Year greetings, a large group of people gathered in the main hall to chat, brag and spank.
Because they are all young people and familiar with each other, no one knows anyone else.
I saw Li Jinghuan leaning back on the chair leisurely, gently sipping the tea and saying: "It's better for the Yishan Brothers to enjoy it. This tea is really unforgettable."
"My father sent me a message a few days ago, saying that he was in Tubo and was being exposed to the wind and sun. He kept complaining that his mouth was very dry. He wanted some tea leaves to moisten his throat. If you have any more, please send me a few kilograms."
Cheng Chumo also quickly nodded in agreement: "Yes, brother Yishan, my father also said that there are more people visiting for the New Year, and there is no tea to entertain. I also want a few pounds."
After saying that, his face looked eager and eager, as if he was afraid that Yang Fan wouldn't give it.
Looking at this living treasure, Yang Fan rolled his eyes, covered his head and said helplessly: "You all carried dad out, I dare say you didn't?"
"If you really don't give it, the Prince of Jiangxia County will have nothing to do with it, but Duke Lu's security guards are not allowed to come to kill you tomorrow."
"However, there is really not much Tegong Longjing tea left. Let me give each of you a pound for now. As spring begins, new tea will be picked. Then I will leave some for you."
Nowadays, Li Daozong serves as the governor of the Southwest Protectorate in Tubo and cannot leave easily. The weather there is cold and extremely dry. It is normal to want to drink some tea to warm up.
But when he thought of Cheng Yaojin, the demon king with a trembling face, stroking his big beard, and elegantly drinking tea, Yang Fan felt that the style of his painting was really unbearable to look at.
Fang Yiai pretended to take a sip of tea. She felt that it was not enough, and shouted: "Brother Yishan, just have some tea, but you can't lack the wine. My father is afraid that I will cause trouble, so he banned alcohol. These days, my mouth
The birds are about to fade out."
"If there is no wine, what's the point of celebrating the New Year? Hurry up and make some jars of your Erguotou, brothers, so we can enjoy it."
Yang Fan had no choice but to tell his servants to get the wine, otherwise these guys would never stop.
Du He looks rough in appearance, but in fact he has a steady temperament. He sips tea and drinks it with gusto.
As if he remembered something, he said to Yang Fan: "Brother Yishan, Li Siwen is also coming, but he seems to have been sent out by the British government and has not returned yet. Let me wait to say sorry and he will come to visit later."
Yang Fan felt a little ashamed, clasped his fists and said to several people: "Thank you, brothers, I am worried about you, because I have been grounded by His Majesty until the end of the New Year's holiday, and I cannot go to my house to congratulate you on the New Year. You go back and convey it to my uncles."
Li Jinghuan sighed with a wry smile: "Brother Yishan, we have heard about it too!"
"Hey, I don't know whether to call you stupid or praise you for being courageous. What you did was too reckless. At the same time, you were the only one who offended both Buddhism and Webster!"
As soon as he mentioned this, Yang Fan became very upset. How the hell do you think I do it?
If it weren't for the purpose of scheming against the family, Yang Fan wouldn't want to be in the limelight like this.
Who doesn’t want to live a stable life?
What's the point of jumping around for three days?
Who doesn’t want to have one more friend and one less enemy?
But some things have to be done by someone, there is no way!
But Cheng Chumo intervened at this time: "My father said last night that Brother Yishan did a good job."
"Although Brother Yishan is honored as the Minister of Lilang and presides over the imperial examination, it is actually a thankless job."
"Brother Yishan has lost the respect of Buddhism and Webster, but it can serve as a warning to the monkeys."
"However, those shady guys in the court are all staring at Brother Yishan's mistakes with red eyes. They will rush in at any time when they get the opportunity. At that time, you must pay attention."
"Brother Yishan, my father said, don't worry about what you do, you can't leave us this time, just let me follow you if you want to do anything."
Hearing this, Yang Fan felt warm in his heart and said, "Thank you brothers for your trust!"
However, I also lamented that Cheng Yaojin was worthy of being an old fox for his keen observation.
Although Cheng Yaojin usually looks careless, he can still see some clues. No wonder he was able to survive several dynasties in the original history.
Du He said angrily: "Then what's so great about the Wei family is that they just rely on Concubine Wei to blow the wind at the bedside."
"But as Brother Cheng said, let's take care of it together if anything happens. Although I don't know what brother Yishan's intentions are, it shouldn't be a reckless move."
These words made Li Jinghuan, who was a little worried, suddenly light up. He seemed to have thought of something, patted his thigh and said, "Oh, it seems that I am really worried in vain!"
At this time, the servant brought a small clay jar, a few wine glasses, and a hot pot to go with the wine, which was very suitable in the winter.
After Yang Fan asked his servants to place the wine and food, he waved them away, opened the seal and filled the wine glass himself.
A rich and mellow aroma of wine instantly filled the main hall.
Fang Yiai is the best wine. He took a sip from the wine glass, exhaled a long breath, and praised: "This is the wine. Those things I drank in Jiangnan last year are simply not as good as horse urine.
Follow Brother Yishan to start something."
After boiling a spoonful of thinly sliced mutton, putting it in his mouth to eat, and taking another sip of old wine, Fang Yiai said in a low voice:
"Don't doubt Brother Shan's reasons for doing this. Don't you know that Brother Yi Shan is capable? We just need to follow him!"
"My father also said that Brother Yishan has won the trust of His Majesty. With His Majesty's support behind him, what are we afraid of? As a minister, what is most important is that Jane is in the Emperor's heart!"
Jane is in the heart of the emperor. This sentence comes from "The Analects of Confucius": "The emperor and his ministers are not concealed, and simplicity is in the heart of the emperor."
The general idea is that God’s servants dare not be deceived, because God knows everything.
"Emperor" in the Xia and Shang Dynasties was the title given to the king after his death, while in the Zhou Dynasty it specifically referred to the Emperor of Heaven, God.
With the deification of imperial power, later generations also referred to the emperor as Emperor for short, and then used Jane in the Emperor's heart to express the Emperor's trust.
Jane in the emperor's heart is the standard to measure a person's heart in the emperor's heart.
If Jane is in the emperor's heart, it means that the emperor already knows your abilities and notices you, then you are very close to becoming a great person.
To put it simply, it means that the emperor likes you!
Fang Yiai didn't know the context of this sentence, but he had a prime minister father who was smart!
As a result, several people spoke to each other, either comforting or analyzing, which surprised Yang Fan.
Who said that these brothers have strong limbs but simple minds? If you really dare to underestimate them, you will really capsize in the gutter.
However, the fewer people knew about his plan, the better, so Yang Fan did not tell the whole story.
But he still reminded me tactfully: "I will bear in mind the concern of all brothers, but there are some things that are not suitable to be disclosed right now..."
Cheng Chumo and the others also drank a sip of wine and continued: "Brother, there is no need to explain. If you have anything to do, just give us instructions. Let those guys who look down on us know how powerful we are. We can just follow our brothers..."
Yang Fan was a little speechless. He had just praised these people for their cleverness, and suddenly his generous character emerged again. No wonder they were called the Four Pests of Chang'an!
…
There was another heavy snowfall during the New Year holiday, and the city of Chang'an was shrouded in extremely low pressure.
On this cold winter day, there was a strange thing that became the talk of everyone in Chang'an City after dinner.
It is said that as the biggest troublemaker in Chang'an City, Yang Fan, a fool who specializes in picking on nobles and noble families, is going to publish a book.
Moreover, it was jointly reviewed and approved by the bachelors in Chongxian Hall, which simply subverted everyone's perception.
Although Yang Fan usually writes some poems and songs, writing books and preaching is not something that ordinary Confucian scholars can do.
But Yang Fan, a young boy, did it, and everyone was surprised and a little curious at the same time.
You must know that an imperial edict was issued, which designated "Yang's Enlightenment" and "Yang's Arithmetic" as the Enlightenment of the Tang School.
At the same time, it was decided that the imperial examinations would be restructured starting from the spring examination this year, and detailed rules were formulated.
This reform of the imperial examination mainly has the following aspects.
First, the imperial examination was changed from once a year to once every two years. In other words, students who failed this year will have to wait until the third year to take the next imperial examination.
Second, the candidates who are accepted in this exam will have the official assessment section cancelled, and the emperor will directly conduct the palace exam for ranking.
Third, this year’s Spring Science Examination does not require anyone’s recommendation to participate, and the test papers will be anonymous.
Fourth, this examination increased the assessment of professional knowledge such as agriculture, and increased the punishment for cheating in the imperial examination.
Candidates who cheat are investigated and punished, and depending on the severity of the case, they may be banned from taking exams or even serve in corvee service. Examiners who cheat are investigated and punished, ranging from dismissal from office to beheading in serious cases.
fifth……
Each paragraph is written clearly, and it is posted to the world through the imperial list.
Once the edict of reform was issued, countless poor scholars were ecstatic, and many even bought firecrackers to celebrate.
The entire city of Chang'an turned into a boiling ocean, and as the edict spread throughout the world, a wave swept across the entire Tang Dynasty.
It can be said that all the measures taken in this time's imperial examination reform are beneficial to students from poor families.
Although it has just begun to be implemented, proportionally speaking, the admission rate for the children of distinguished families may still be relatively high.
But as long as this set of reforms continues to be implemented, it will surely gradually overthrow the monopoly of noble families.
The imperial examination will be held every two years, which is good news for students living far away from home.
Especially for students from poor families, it may take about a year for them to come to Chang'an.
This is a great test for both financial resources and physical fitness.
Now that the test has been changed to once every two years, students from disadvantaged backgrounds have enough time to prepare for the test.
The abolition of the recommendation system and the examination of the civil servants, and the replacement of the palace examination by the emperor, not only enhanced the emperor's understanding of students, but also broke the tradition of nepotism in the civil servants!
In fact, these reforms have only one purpose, which is to create a relatively fair and just examination environment.
In the past imperial examinations, few students from poor families were recommended, except for the fact that students from poor families had very few talents.
Another reason is that students from poor families have no chance to contact officials, which greatly dampens the enthusiasm of students from poor families to study.
After all, before this, the examiners had too much power, and the examiners were all officials from aristocratic families.
These examiners will admit whoever they like or who has come from a well-known family.
But now, the names of the candidates are directly affixed, and finally the emperor personally conducts the palace examination, which reduces the chance of favoritism and fraud.
Everyone can be on the same starting line, which improves the enthusiasm of disadvantaged students in learning.
How can these series of reforms not make those from poorer families ecstatic?
Yang Fan, who presided over the reform of the imperial examination, was pushed to the forefront.
The emperor was even regarded as a mentor by countless students from poor families, while some aristocratic families cursed Li Er endlessly.
This is simply too much to deceive. The emperor is trying to take advantage of the aristocratic family, and is trying to get rid of the Peerless family's retreat.
The Five Surnames and Qiwang are some of the most powerful aristocratic families in this era, and there are countless other large and small aristocratic families.
As representatives of the aristocratic families, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Cui family of Boling, the Li family of Longxi, the Li family of Zhaojun, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang, and the Wang family of Taiyuan... these seven aristocratic families all have a history of thousands of years.
Even though the Central Plains dynasty has changed for countless generations, these aristocratic families are still standing, which shows their strength.
The most important thing is that these aristocratic families intermarry with each other and have such intricate relationships that they even dare not take the royal family seriously.
His Majesty Li Er once wanted Prince Li Chengqian to marry the Cui family's legitimate daughter, but was flatly rejected by the Cui family. This also strengthened His Majesty Li Er's determination to weaken the family's power.
It turned out that these aristocratic families looked down on Li Er, who was of Hu origin, but now they felt the danger from this imperial examination reform.
There are five surnames and seven Wangs, and the family's ancestral land is scattered in various places, but each of their families has a large property in Chang'an City, and has an important direct descendant in the family.
Their mission is to always pay attention to the trends in the court, so that when something unexpected happens, everyone can communicate in a timely manner and formulate the best response plan.
After the decree on the reform of the imperial examination was issued, all the major families except the Li family took notice and immediately sat down together to discuss countermeasures.
The place where they gathered this time was in a courtyard of Cui Mansion, and Cui Yonghui was also the leader of this incident.
At this time, Cui Yonghui, who was sitting in the main seat, said: "The emperor's skills are really good. This reform of the imperial examination is clearly aimed at our family."
"The emperor is obviously going to destroy the foundation of our family. We must find a way quickly."
Wang Lun of Taiyuan continued: "Yes, only the children of our aristocratic family, most of whom are officials in the court, can control the situation."
"Once a child from a poor family is allowed to control the court, then the emperor will no longer have any scruples, and our family will probably be in danger."
Lu Benwei sighed: "Now that the imperial list has been posted, what can we do about it?"
"If you dare to openly oppose them, you will definitely arouse the anger of those mud-legged people. Although we are not afraid of them, we cannot turn a blind eye."
"If these ignorant people are used by the emperor, they will also be a serious problem for us."
Indeed, there was a sudden attack this time, which caught these aristocratic families a little unprepared.