In the courtyard of the Ministry of Officials, the water stove emitted a cheerful "gurgling" sound, and the hot water was continuously sent down the iron pipes into the empty rooms. However, it doesn't bring much warmth to the house.

The scale of this building, which is usually reserved for officials to return to Chang'an for assessment, is too large. In the imperial city, where every inch of land is valuable, it is simply an outlier. And today, in the entire building, even counting the officials on duty, there are no more than twenty people. As a result, the inside is becoming more and more dark and cold, making people feel cold as soon as they walk through the main entrance.

In the main hall of the Xuanyuan facing the main gate, the right servant shot Xiao Zhizhong, Yang Qi in the waiter, Li Qiao under the Tongping Zhangmen, Wei Sili, the imperial historian, Cui Xiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Zhao Yanzhao, the regular attendant of the cavalry, Zhang Shuo, the waiter of the Ministry of War, Bi Gou, the ambassador of the Dushui Supervisor, and the author Lang He Zhizhang, formed a half circle, and sat in a precarious position behind their respective short points, and everyone's face was full of solemnity.

Recently, Zhang Jiuling, a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has been in the limelight and is also in the limelight, is not ranked here at all. I could only find a stool on the periphery, and then held a bowl of tea in my hand, silently in a daze.

In the tea, a young but tired face is reflected.

Zhangjiazhuang is not far from Chang'an City, and the atmosphere of his conversation with Zhang Qian today is also very relaxed. Both parties are smart people and have a very good relationship, so they are both smart enough to avoid embarrassing each other. However, such an easy trip to visit the sick made Zhang Jiuling exhausted, and until now, he has not recovered his spirits.

"Zishou, he really didn't ask for anything. In addition to having people compensate his workshop and severely punish the assassins?! An old voice suddenly came from the center of the main hall, with obvious suspicion.

"Nope!" Zhang Jiuling put down the teacup, got up with a red face and arched his hand, "I didn't mention anything, and I wasn't even very enthusiastic about the knighthood." ”

"Zishou sat down and spoke, this is not the court, and the old man is not a secretary!" Zhao Yanzhao, a regular attendant of the loose horse, smiled and waved his hand lightly at Zhang Jiuling.

Although the words were said kindly, it made Zhang Jiuling feel more and more uncomfortable. After hesitating again and again, he added stubbornly: "According to the following opinion, Zhang Shaojian is actually not very keen on fame. For the status of the Mo family in the world, I don't take it very seriously! ”

"However, he is a child of the Mo family after all!" As if he had long expected that Zhang Jiuling would speak for Zhang Qian, Zhao Yanzhao, the attendant of the free rider, smiled again, and waved his hand lightly again, "Zishou and sit!" This time, he was able to expel the Buddhist forces from the court, and Zhang Shaojian made great contributions. No matter what, I won't treat him badly! ”

"Thank you!" Zhang Jiuling arched his hand, sat down slowly, and began to be in a daze with the tea bowl again. In the tea, the helplessness and guilt in his eyes were reflected.

With his upright temperament, he is actually not suitable to test Zhang Qian's tone on behalf of Confucianism. However, several Confucian celebrities present here are either seventy years old, or they have long regarded Zhang Qian as their protégé, and they are even more suitable for him to go to Zhang's house. Therefore, I can only drive him this duck to the shelf!

"The old man is still the same as before, Zhang Yongzhao is a genius in the world, with good conduct and tenacity, and in time, he will definitely become the pillar of my Tang Dynasty!" As if to fulfill his promise to Zhang Jiuling, Zhao Yanzhao, a regular attendant of the free horse, turned his head, looked at all the companions around him, and said solemnly, "However, for the time being, it is appropriate for us to enter the Holy Heaven, and reward him for his merits, and it is not appropriate to let him enter the court to participate in politics." Otherwise, once other Mo family disciples flock to it in the future, we will definitely regret it! ”

"When Xue Huaiyi was the chief manager, I didn't see anyone so precautionary!" Bi Gou immediately rolled his eyelids and reminded unceremoniously.

Xue Huaiyi is a monk, but he has been a general several times to lead troops on expeditions. At that time, although Zhao Yanzhao's official position in the court was not high, he was qualified to advise Wu Zetian in the imperial history. However, at that time, he did not consider whether letting a monk become a general would have an impact on the ruling position of Confucianism. At this time, he used his identity as a child of the Mo family as an excuse to prevent Zhang Qian from entering the court to participate in the discussion of politics, which was inevitably a little too inconsistent.

"Long Ze! The old man knows that you regard Zhang Yongzhao as your own nephew! "As the saying goes, don't hit someone in the face. Listening to Bi Gou's words with a gun and a stick, Zhao Yanzhao suddenly blushed, called the other party's words, and roared loudly: "It is precisely because the Great Sage Empress of the Chosen Heaven has forced all kinds of people of unknown origin into the court, and we are powerless to stop it, which has caused the national fortunes of the Tang Dynasty to take a sharp turn." And now, since we have the ability to stop it, we must prevent it! ”

"Then, let the Heavenly Prison be stuffed with monks? In the Guozi Prison, almost all the coaches are lay people and good people? Although Bi Gou's current official position is far inferior to Zhao Yanzhao, his influence is no worse than this person. He rolled his eyelids again and asked unhurriedly.

This sentence will poke people's lung tubes even more. Not only did Zhao Yanzhao feel very embarrassed, but the right servant in charge of the Ministry of Officials shot Xiao Zhizhong, the imperial historian Wei Sili who was in charge of the Imperial History Observatory, and Cui Xiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, all blushing and fidgeting.

If it weren't for the fact that someone in the Heavenly Prison cooperated with the monks this time and deliberately concealed the observation results of the upcoming solar eclipse, perhaps everyone present would not have realized that the Buddhism had eroded the court to such a serious extent. And as the senior monk Huifan was deprived of his knighthood and official position, and ordered to go home to think about it, in order to avoid the fate of the main prison and the young eunuch of the Hun Tian Prison, the chief officials of the nine temples and the six departments of the three provinces fell on their heads, and they took the initiative to carry out self-examination, and everyone was stunned to find that among the Beijing officials, there were so many Confucian disciples who had become devout followers of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Cross Religion, and even Crescent Religion!

For this embarrassing situation, the officials and the Yushitai must be to blame. The Ministry of Rites is the hardest hit area of the Cross Religion and the Crescent Religion. As the chief officers of these three departments, Xiao Zhizhong, Wei Sili and Cui Xiang couldn't feel that their faces were not feverish.

"Ahem, ahem!" Yang Qi likes to be a good person no matter when. Finding the embarrassment of Xiao Zhizhong, Wei Sili and Cui Xiang, he coughed a few times, and smiled to defend the three of them: "Long Ze, don't be so angry." Although there are too many laymen and good people among the Beijing officials, most of them just seek peace of mind. No matter what scripture he recited, he never forgot that he was a minister of His Majesty. Even if there are a few unscrupulous people in the Heavenly Prison, you can't knock everyone over with one shot! ”

"Since no matter what scriptures you recite, you can be a minister of Your Majesty. Why should the Mo family be treated differently? In view of Yang Qi's age and never harming others, Bi Gou still maintains some respect for this old man. Arching his hand, he asked with a smile. "As far as Bi knows, the Mo family is still one of the hundred schools of my Chinese sons. And the sects you just talked about are all from barbarians! ”

"I'm afraid Long Xue misunderstood, the old man's words are not aimed at Young Eunuch Zhang!" Yang Qi's cultivation among the old servants was not ordinarily good, he smiled and explained in a low voice: "What the old man means is that no matter what religion they believe, those who are unfaithful to the saint are a minority after all. And the old man remembered that Zhang Shaojian also once said that the reason why Datang is Datang is because of its magnificence and all-encompassing. The officials do not deny the talent of someone because he believes in Buddhism or what religion he believes; Yushitai does not deny the meritocracy of someone because he has recited a sutra that is different from my Confucianism; The Ministry of Rites does not treat him differently because he went to any temple or worshiped any god, which is my Tang temperament! As for the Mo family, in the eyes of the old man, it is just a sect like Zoroastrianism, Cross Religion, and Crescent Religion, as long as his people can be useful and loyal to the Tang Dynasty, the old man doesn't care what scriptures he usually reads! ”

These words are too level. not only succeeded in untying Xiao Zhizhong, Wei Sili and Cui Xiang, but after Bi Gou listened to it, he also nodded again and again.

However, Zhao Yanzhao, a regular attendant of the free riders, is still stubborn. Shaking his head, he said in a deep voice: "For Datang, of course, it is not wrong to accept all rivers. However, if I Confucianism wants to maintain the orthodox status after Dong Xian, I must guard against the slightest mistake. This time, it was not easy to expel the forces of Buddhism from the court, and we must not fight the tiger at the front door and welcome the wolf at the back door! ”

"If it weren't for Zhao to smash the monk's altar to pieces, I am afraid that I will be in the court for three days and three nights, and I will not be able to prevent Hui Fan from coming in to persecute the saint!" Bi Gou pursed his lips and reminded with a sneer.

"This is the terrible thing about the Mo family!" Zhao Yanzhao shook his head and made a heartbroken statement, "Long Ze, the old man knows that Zhang Yongzhao is kind to you, and he also knows that you fell into trouble last time, and the old man and others did not help in time, and you have resentment in your heart." But those are personal honors and disgraces, and now, the old man is talking about the future of the entire Confucianism. ”

"The future of Confucianism depends on revenge, jealousy, and suppression of dissidents, what future can such Confucianism have?" Bi Gou glared at the man fiercely and continued to sneer loudly.

"The old man doesn't want to take revenge, after all, he still has to suggest that His Majesty give him a preferential gift!" Zhao Yanzhao was squeezed again, but he insisted that his opinion was correct, "I just don't want him to participate in the government, and I don't want the Mo family to get a chance to rise again, threatening the orthodoxy of my Confucianism!" ”

"Isn't that a crackdown?" Bi Gou glanced at him, sneered and asked, "Besides, you can suppress him for a few days?" Do you think that by giving him a high position and a prestigious title, you can raise him? With his ability, how could he not make new contributions in the future. At that time, how can you persist in this trick? How can the Holy One watch you wield power like this? ”

Without waiting for Zhao Yanzhao to argue, he took a deep breath, and he added earnestly, "You are forty-four out of sixty this year, among those here, except for Zishou, who is still young?" Even if we join forces and suppress him with all our might, how many days can we suppress him? And if he is co-opted by others and turns around to become an enemy of Confucianism, won't everything you do today be self-defeating?! ”

"This ......" Zhao Yanzhao's old face turned red, and his snow-white beard trembled up and down because of anger.

The right servant shot Xiao Zhizhong, and the four servants Yang Qi, the three products of Tongping Zhang's sect, Li Qiao, and the imperial historian Wei Sili, looked at each other's white beards and sighed, and their hearts were suddenly irritable.

They are all old, and Zhang Qian is still young. The harder they suppress Zhang Qian now, the more powerful Zhang Qian will be in power in the future, and he will still be on the head of their disciple and protégé tenfold and hundredfold.

And between them and Zhang Qian, there is no contradiction at all. It's just that one side belongs to the Confucian veteran, and the other side is a new Mojia talent!

"Alas, it would be nice if he could hand over the trick of knocking out the altar!" Just when everyone was worried, Cui Xiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly held his forehead and sighed loudly.

As soon as the words fell, it immediately caused a wry laugh. All the bigwigs sitting in the inner circle stopped sighing for the time being and shook their heads at each other.

No matter how Zhang Qian explained, almost all the bigwigs present today, including Zhao Yanzhao, who had been trying to prevent Zhang Qian from participating in politics, believed that the altar established by Monk Huiming was not destroyed by a fire or a meteor falling from the sky. In fact, they are all suspecting that in Zhang Qian's hand, there is a killing move that can summon a meteor and smash it wherever it is pointed. Therefore, the vast majority of them are even more worried about the future orthodoxy of Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty.

Monks will deceive people with false claims of reincarnation, will win over the royal family to open their eyes, and will play all kinds of conspiracies. However, all the tricks of the monks are within their comprehension, and Confucianism is actually very good at these doorways. And the fire meteor that Zhang Qian used after being cornered by the monks far exceeded their imagination!

"Actually, I don't need to help him cover it up. If he really has a secret method to summon a fire meteor, he might as well persuade him to dedicate it to the imperial court. At that time, even if the old man gave him the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, the old man would be willing! Seeing that everyone was patronizing and smiling bitterly, but no one picked up their stubble, Cui Xiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't help but feel weak in his heart, but he added hard.

"If he refuses to hand it over, who has the ability to force him? And what reason to chase him! I really couldn't stand the wishful thinking of this colleague, and Zhang Shuo, the secretary of the military department, suddenly sighed and asked faintly.

When they arrived, everyone looked at each other.

Sensei said that there was no reason for everyone to force Zhang Qian to hand over his master's stunt, even if there was a reason, and even invited the Holy Decree to support him, who would take the lead in bearing his anger? Once he is forced to be anxious, "boom" a fire meteor will fall down, who has the ability to withstand it!

Of course, in order to solve the trouble once and for all, everyone can also set up a Hongmen banquet and trick Zhang into sneaking in. and then capture and kill him like Empress Lu killed Han Xin. It's just that doing so goes against the hearts of most of the people present, and it is absolutely impossible to obtain the consent of Bi Gou, Zhang Shuo and He Zhizhang.

"Yong Zhao is a kind-hearted person, if the old man asks for a dead face, maybe he can let him give away the secret skills of the master." Seeing that everyone stopped talking for a long time after being asked by him, Zhang Shuo suddenly changed his tone and sighed and added, "If Zhao Ken hands it over, I, the chief of the weapons prison, will of course be the happiest." In the future, if my Datang Jian'er conquests the Quartet again, how can I still use siege engines and trebuchets? A fiery meteor was sent out by the human hand, and the enemy army was immediately wiped out. ”

Without waiting for everyone to laugh out loud, after a pause, he quickly asked, "It's just that after using Zhao to hand over this method, what if not everyone can learn it?" If you learn this secret method, what else do you need to be born and bloodline, and in the future, will I also change the strategy of Datang material selection? ”

The second half of the sentence was said to the most critical point, and immediately, everyone present was like an initiation.

The biggest reason why Confucianism is becoming more and more stable is actually because. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, whether it is the imperial examination system or the inspection examination system, the selected talents are usually the best among the children of Confucianism. The disciples of the other princes and hundreds of schools have almost no chance of coming out.

And if everyone has to force Zhang Qian to make the stunt of summoning meteors public, but this stunt requires special bloodline conditions to learn, then in the future, Datang's talent selection method can only add one more, will it be a meteor.

Thinking that more than ten years later, the imperial examination no longer examines poetry and articles, nor does it test the scriptures and calculations, but a group of young people stand together, and everyone sweats on their foreheads when they compete to see who summons the fire meteor first. And Zhang said, but he still didn't think enough of everyone's sticks, smiled, and continued: "If this technique is easy for everyone to learn, easy to learn and easy to use, I'm afraid the consequences will be even more unimaginable." All parts of Datang will also be full of smoke and blood! ”

"Ah......" Xiao Zhizhong, Yang Qi, Li Qiao, Wei Sili and others, their faces changed greatly, and no one dared to imagine the tragic scene that Datang faced after the thaumaturgy of summoning fire meteors flooded.

Only He Zhizhang, who has been silent, still looks like a quilt cover when the sky falls. smiled and shook his head slightly, "Dao Ji's words are too alarmist. If the secret technique of summoning a fire meteor was so easy to learn, Qin Mo would have sent someone out of the mountain to change the world. How could it be that for more than 1,000 years after Qin, only one Zhang Yongzhao came out?! ”

This makes too much sense. For everyone present, if there were dozens of disciples under the door, all of whom were good at summoning fire meteors, they would have already instigated Emperor Ying Tianshenlong to hang the people and fight crimes, flatten all the alien races within the range of their eyes, and by the way, implement the Confucian mastery to the whole world, how could they say that the benevolent are invincible?!

And the reason why Qin Mo hasn't come out of the mountain for so many years is that I'm afraid that there are not many people in the thaumaturgy of the Fire Meteor who can master it in his sect. Therefore, Qin Mo was able to live in seclusion until now in a place similar to the Peach Blossom Source somewhere in Zhongnan Mountain.

Just when everyone breathed a long sigh of relief, they heard He Zhizhang add with a smile, "As for using Zhao himself to go out of the mountain, it is actually not a blessing for me Confucian. He has never liked to pretend to be a god and play tricks, and of course he will not come out to deceive like a monk because he has mastered a secret art. And he is a person who values friendship and has a deep view in his heart, if we treat him sincerely, he may not be able to become a pillar of Confucianism in the future. ”

"You mean, find a way to pull him into Confucianism?" Imperial Doctor Wei Sili couldn't believe his ears, stood up, and walked quickly to He Zhizhang to ask.

"It's not easy in a short period of time, but it's not necessarily too difficult." He Zhizhang smiled and responded very confidently, "I have been friends with him for a long time, and the more I interact, the more I feel that he has more Confucian temperament, followed by the Zongheng family, and as for the Mo temperament, it is very rare!" ”

"This ......" Wei Sili suddenly began to hesitate, and the other elders present also frowned and muttered.

Pulling Zhang Qian into Confucianism, the benefits are obvious. Even if he can't be allowed to summon the technique of summoning fire meteors, he will be regarded as a Confucian secret technique. At the very least, he himself and his wonderful means of making instruments could greatly enhance the power of Confucianism. But once you pull it wrong, the consequences are also very serious. After all, Bi Gou also said just now that everyone present, except for Zhang Jiuling, was all dying and decrepit, and Zhang Qian was only in his early twenties!

Vaguely able to guess what everyone was worried about, He Zhizhang smiled and said to himself, "He read and found that the classics before Dong Xian are very different from those after Dong Xian. When my Confucianism deposed the hundred schools, I must have absorbed a lot of the essence of the hundred schools. ”

But there's nothing wrong with that. No one here could refute it. The Confucian theory of the end of the five virtues is obviously drawn from the Yin and Yang family. The theory of great unification comes from the Legalists. Recuperation and recuperation are obviously from Huang Lao's learning. Even recently, when some old people wrote books, they have incorporated many truths from Buddhist scriptures.

The Tang Dynasty has the bearing of accepting all rivers, and the Confucianism at this moment is actually far more enlightened than that of the Song Dynasty. The integration of Qin Mo's knowledge into Confucianism can just make up for the shortcomings of Confucianism, which is good at writing books and theories, but lacks specific solutions to specific problems and specific means to help the world and save the people.

After groaning, Xiao Zhizhong, Yang Qi, Li Qiao and others were all excited. And the imperial envoy Wei Sili habitually maintained a trace of vigilance. After hesitating for a moment, he asked in a deep voice: "Of course, it is good to be able to incorporate Qin Mo and Zhang Yongzhao into Confucianism." But in case Zhang Yongzhao's ability is too big in the future, Li Daitao ......"

"I have thousands of Confucian disciples, and Zhang Yongzhao and his Qin Mo are only three brothers so far." He Zhizhang shook his head and smiled proudly, "If this is the case, and they are still stiffened by their three senior brothers, then it can only be said that my Confucianism has long become a rotten wood shipwreck, no wonder others!" ”

"yes, no one else!" The two oldest people, Yang Qi and Li Qiao, the three grades under Tongping Zhang, sighed and nodded at the same time. "The author's words are reasonable, and it is not a way to prevent light and prevent the slightest. Finding a way to accept him and Qin Mo into my Confucianism is the right way! ”

"Then discuss the merits truthfully, and then hand it over to the Holy God to decide! Then, in accordance with the rules of officialdom, divide the positions vacated by the minions of the clean-up Buddha sect to him and his two juniors, in order to reward him for his devotion to the altar at a critical moment! "The right servant shot Xiao Zhizhong's temperament was not very strong in the first place, and seeing Yang Qi and Li Qiao, they both agreed with He Zhizhang's opinion, and simply decided to be good.

After that, he looked at He Zhizhang again, and arched his hand with a smile: "Ji Zhen, you came up with the idea." You and him are friends again, and the next thing is that you can't bother the second person. ”

"He is so honored!" He Zhizhang suddenly changed his usual laziness, stood up, and laughed to receive the order. Immediately, a bit of longing appeared in his eyes.

I haven't been to Zhangjiazhuang for a long time to beg for wine, and when I heard that the wine shop was burned, I felt a pity. And now, the dust has settled, and the reconstruction of Zhang's winery should also be put on the agenda!