At five o'clock in the morning in the capital, the officials of the previous dynasty had gone out one after another, they yawned and walked to the control center of the Great Song Dynasty, the same, Fan Zhongyan got up earlier than anyone else, he got up at four o'clock, and the eldest son Fan Chunyou was by his side, he had to sort out today's events, and he couldn't forget them.

"Father, if you go on like this, your body will collapse first, and a proper combination of work and rest will help both your body and your work."

Fan Zhongyan smiled and said, "Can I still not be clear about my father's body?" Got you to suffer with me so early. ”

Fan Chunyou said: "Father, what are these words, you have worked tirelessly to contribute to this country, every night the child sees your tired body when you come home and hates that he can't replace you, this tiredness is comfortable compared to you." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "My Fan Xiwen's life goal is to hope that the Great Song Dynasty will be prosperous and strong, although he will not regret it, it is difficult for his father to ride a tiger now, and he will go on gritting his teeth, if I can't complete this goal, your brothers must remember." ”

Fan Chunyou said: "Father said this early, no one knows the outcome until the end, not to mention that Chunren and Chunli are still young, should father think about the two of them." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "You don't have to worry about the back road, I let people buy 2,000 acres of land in my hometown, as the ancestral land of the family and your brothers, for my father to delay your imperial examination, the two of them can't delay, I'm busy this year, you take care of it more." ”

It's been half a year since the change, and the rumors and attacks in the capital have never stopped, and today is the first time in so long that Fan Chunyou has seen his father show a helpless look, and what he said just now is not right, a little bit of a feeling of arranging the future.

After the beginning of the early dynasty, Fan Zhongyan was the first to stand up and said: "In previous years, the imperial court lowered the standard for recruiting jinshi, and many of them were indiscriminately filled. ”

The first one in the Ministry of Rites disagreed, this person was an upstart in the imperial court, a seventeen-year-old Zhongjinshi, and it took eight years to achieve the sixth grade of the Ministry of Rites Langzhong, the author of Sima Guang.

"Forgive the officials for not agreeing with Fan Xiang's opinion, the imperial examination is a way for the past dynasties to choose the talents of governing the country and the country, and it has developed to the extreme in our Great Song Dynasty, Western Xia and Liao are all toddlers in Handan, according to the cat and the tiger, Fan Xiang is now reducing the number of scholars, so what should those students who are hanging beams and thorns."

Why did the Ministry of Rites Langzhong come out in front of the old school to oppose it, because the imperial examination is one of the few rights in the gift, and the six rights of the Song Dynasty have been separated from each other.

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu Zhang Dexiang also echoed: "Who will govern this country after Fan Xiang reduces the number of Jinshi for a hundred years, does Fan Xiang want to use ordinary people who have not read books to govern this huge empire?" ”

Ouyang Xiu stood up and said: "Zhang Shangshu still pays attention to the discipline of the court, you should speak when you should speak, Fan Xiang said that the number of reductions was reduced but did not say how much, what are you anxious about, you are simply clever." ”

Zhang Dexiang wanted to refute it, but when he saw Ouyang Xiu's smug and provocative eyes, he retreated to his position, I am the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and the one who is anxious should be the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, I don't need to be in the limelight and be a pioneer for others.

After everyone saw that Zhang Dexiang died down, they set their eyes on Liang Shi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Liang Shi is a typical centrist, what about him? It can only be said that he is impartial, and he has been the secretary of the Ministry of Rites for two years, and it is very suitable for him to be mediocre.

"After listening to Fan Xiang's words first, I would like to know what the purpose of Fan Xiang's reform in the imperial examination is, and what kind of result he wants in the end, or what kind of result can satisfy Fan Xiang."

Fan Zhongyan said: "The imperial court is overcrowded, isn't there countless people in the yamen waiting for the imperial court to give them new positions, many positions, and it is not uncommon for the work to coincide, and the consequence of this is that two people shirk each other's responsibilities when something happens, I feel that it is necessary to temporarily reduce the number of jinshi, Liang Shangshu feels it?" ”

Liang Shi scolded in his heart; The people all over the world praised you Fan Zhongyan for being selfless and upright, this good person plays tricks and buckles one link after another! I don't agree, others think I'm a member of the old school, stop the change, I promise, the consequences are even more serious, I'm against the literati all over the world!

This trick is too yin, in the end, he doesn't have much fear of Fan Zhongyan, Liang Shi and Song Qi are students from the same county, and the connection between the two of them has never been broken, and few people in the court know this information, because he was admitted all the way to Anlu, Anzhou, and Song Qi took the exam in Kaifeng, he was worried about the revenge of the Wangbei Hou, and he was in a dilemma!

"Fan Xiang, can we exchange opinions with the Ministry of Rites on this matter, we try to think of a way to get the best of both worlds, do you think the method I said below is feasible."

Fan Zhongyan saw Liang Shifu nodding softly and said, "Yes, then you and the waiter of the Ministry of Rites will come to my side." ”

Han Qi glanced at his old partner in surprise, this man pressed himself everywhere! When he said that he wanted to reduce the number of scholars in the imperial examination, his heart chuckled, thinking that he was going to do something bad, but the result was to win Liang Shi to lay an ambush, which was a slippery move, which also showed that he didn't know how to play tricks, but he disdained it.

Zhao Zhen saw that the ministers were speechless, and signaled Shangguan Wen, who stepped forward and shouted in his male duck tone: "Retreat from the dynasty." After shouting, Zhao Zhen had already gotten up, and the honor guard followed closely.

Yan Shu and Jia Changchao took the lead in dispersing the court, treating everyone as nothing, while Fan Zhongyan walked with Du Yan, Han Qi, Fu Bi, and Ouyang Xiu, Du Yan said: "Xiwen's thinking has changed today, if we win Liang Shi, our chances of winning will increase a little." ”

The appearance of several people walking into the office together did not escape Wang Gongchen's eyes, Wang Gongchen's angry teeth itched, if it weren't for that kid, he would have been a Tianzhang Pavilion or Longtu Pavilion to be made today, why should he be wronged now.

Fan Zhongyan asked people to add more ice to the room to lower the temperature in the room a little, and Ouyang Xiu said: "Xiwen, who taught you this trick today, it is definitely not you who you came up with, tell me who the master behind you is." ”

Fan Zhongyan smiled bitterly: "Fan Xiwen can have everyone's help today, a few days ago, Mel Zhi wrote to me from Shaanxi, he said that Mr. Hu Ying asked him to tell me, give up the reform of officials, and try to make the old school not rebound so much." ”

Han Qi said: "I was still there when Mr. Hu Ying went to Shaanxi, so that kid didn't say anything? ”

"I don't know if he's angry with me or what's wrong, no matter how much he persuaded him, he didn't come, and finally he said, that kid was afraid that he would come and make things more complicated, and he was deeply involved with Jiangmen."

Ouyang Xiu said: "With my understanding of him, he is definitely not angry, but it is possible to deal with Jiangmen, I suspect that what Mr. Hu Ying said to you is also what he said, the old gentleman has taught all his life and has never entered the officialdom, how does he know what difficulties you have encountered in reform." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "No matter who said it, the main thing is that it is right, you have also seen the situation in the early dynasty, as long as it does not involve the affairs of officials, there are few people who oppose it, and it is not surprising that the Ministry of Rites will oppose the imperial examination." ”

Han Qi said: "Then what are you going to do and give up the reform in the governance of officials?" Nearly five months of hard work were in vain. ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "The letter said that as long as it is about personnel changes, don't touch it now, you can make a fuss about money and soldiers, and the literati will never have an opinion on the suppression of the army and military generals, and there will be a one-sided situation in the court." ”

Du Yan said: "Have you considered the emperor's feelings about the army, the number of troops and the original idea were all put forward by him, and the forces of the generals who have made meritorious contributions have been suppressed by us, but it does not mean that they do not have any strength." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "I am ready to slow down a little in the rule of officials, and I am ready to focus on agriculture and mulberry below, the military generals are not to worry, they have no military power, and the privy envoys are also literati, so they can't make much waves." ”

Han Qi said: "Xiwen, you have made a major mistake in the governance of officials, and the information fed back from many places has been proven, so you have time to pay attention to this, and the embankment of a thousand miles was destroyed in the anthill." ”

"What is Zhigui referring to, what are you and I covering up, one person is short, I can't change the law alone, we all work together, just say it, accept me humbly and I can still do it."

Han Qi said: "There are people who have taken bribes in the envoys you sent to various places, and you can't imagine the gifts they received below, someone reported to me, I burned the letter, and the rest will be handed over to you." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "These brutes, I believe they sent them, it seems that they have to be heavy-handed." ”

Fu Bi never spoke, he also wrote a few letters to Lu Zifei, and every time Lu Zifei replied to him, it was two words, careful, cautious, vigilant, calm, what he saw now was radical.

Changing the law, whether it has changed for the better or for the worse.