Palace.

When dawn breaks, the dawn is dawning, and there is a white snow in front of the Jinluan Palace.

The three princes and prime ministers Xie Huyong, the imperial lieutenant Li Rong, and the imperial historian Kong Han led all the civil and military officials to wear thick coats and court clothes, and entered the palace one after another, ranking on both sides of the main hall.

"The emperor has arrived!"

The shrill voices of Cai and the great eunuch echoed in the silent hall.

"Ministers see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live."

The ministers bowed and saluted.

"All the ministers are flat! Give three public seats. ”

Xiang Yanran, escorted by the eunuchs and attendants, sat down on the throne of Jinluan, ordered the eunuch to give the three ministers a seat, and said lightly: "Do you have a report?" ”

According to the practice of the imperial court, all of them are led by the three dukes to report on the important military and political affairs of the world, and then the ministers discuss, and the emperor decides.

However, today is a little different from the usual early dynasty.

There was an extra bamboo slip of an ox cart in the hall, which was carried close to the hall by ten janissaries.

When the ministers saw this cart of bamboo slips, they were all whispering and their faces were strange.

Some ministers knew what was going on, and they wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, just waiting to see what Prime Minister Xie Cheng would do to tell Xiao Duhou.

In the last roll of bamboo slips, Xiao Duhou regarded himself as a prime minister, and almost smashed the bamboo slips when he was angry with the prime minister.

The son-in-law of Li Rong, the king of Ping, and the grandson-in-law of Prime Minister Xie, Xiao Duhou, caused trouble this time, and I am afraid that he will be punished by the emperor again.

"Old minister, there is a brief recital!"

Xie Huyong immediately got up, walked out of the queue slowly, and handed over a bamboo slip, "This year's 'year's 'year' list has been drafted, please look at it and make a decision." ”

Every year from the winter solstice, the end of the Laba Hall test is the top priority of the imperial court at the beginning of the year, and it is also the primary government affairs of the Prime Minister's Office.

This list of candidates was personally reviewed and drafted by Prime Minister Xie. However, it is up to the emperor to decide whether the candidates are allowed to participate in the palace examination in the end.

Immediately, a eunuch under the pillar took the list of years from the hand of Prime Minister Xie and presented it to the emperor.

Xiang Yanran glanced at the list of bamboo slips roughly, with a complicated expression.

Slightly disappointed, and a little numb.

How to say it.

Since Emperor Taizu established the dynasty, he ordered the world's top ten gate lords, wealthy households, and large landowners to move to Jinling City to enrich the imperial capital, and it has been more than sixty or seventy years.

With the ancestral shade and the prosperity of the children, the ten major gate valves of Jinling have long been deeply rooted in the imperial court.

There are Longxi Li, Chenjun Xie, Langya Wang, Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Pengcheng Liu, Xingyang Zheng, Taiyuan Wang, Hongnong Yang, Lanling Xiao.

The head of the gate valve family, Xie Huyong, Li Rong, Wang Su, Wang Su, Yang Chu, and Lu Zi,... Ranked as the third prince and Jiuqing, his clan daughter has more royal descendants. The marriages between the gate valves are innumerable and intertwined.

The Three Princes Imperial Doctor Kong Hanyou, although he is not one of the top ten gate valves in Jinling, but Kong Hanyou's Kong family inherits the lineage of Confucius, which is the unshakable Confucianism of Qufu, Shandong, and its strength is more than that of the top ten gate valves in Jinling... Have no bottom.

The rules of Da Chu are "princes, three dukes and nine kings, county guards, officials with more than 2,000 stones, 200,000 people, and one person per year." ”

The top ten gate valves in Jinling will account for a small half of this list every year. The remaining half of the list is the world's hundred counties, which are almost divided.

There are only three or two candidates every year, and they do not belong to the ranks of the children of the gate valve family.

The great Confucian Kong Hanyou, the imperial historian, recommended his disciples Dong Xianliang and Chao Fangzheng, not his clansmen. But even if he is not a clansman, he is also a disciple of his own family, and his kindness is better than his own children.

This is already a common practice for the year.

Every year, the list is seen at a glance, and they are all a group of "old acquaintances".

Xiang Yanran looks at this list every year, and she will have a feeling of déjà vu every year, and she is naturally a little numb.

I was disappointed, and that's because there was nothing new in the list.

However, if you don't cite these people, who will you mention?!

The top ten gate lords in Jinling have strong financial resources and spend huge sums of money to set up private schools to train the children of their families to study. The scholars follow the elders of the family, and they have been exposed to it since childhood, and their knowledge and knowledge are also the top.

There are many other Confucian scholars, but most of them are narrow-minded, and it is difficult to pick out useful talents from among the many Confucian scholars. The rest of the common people don't even know a single big character, let alone a single one.

Xiang Yanran was also helpless about this.

He looked at the list again.

There is a man on the list called Lord Father Yan, with a strange name, obviously not from a prestigious family. This person was recommended by Yang Chu, one of the great farmers of Jiuqing, and he had no family relationship.

"Yang Qing, who is this Lord Father Yan?"

Xiang Yanran was a little strange.

Yang Chu, the big farmer, arched his hand and said: "Back to Your Majesty, this person is poor, but he has learned a wide range of things, non-Confucianism, non-Taoism, non-legal, and he has studied in Jinling and studied in hundreds of schools. Because of its complex knowledge and poor family background, it was quite crowded out by Confucian scholars and scholars.

When the minister saw that he was alone and pitiful, he talked to him. I don't want to talk to each other very happily, and I am a confidant. As the saying goes, 'the Tao is the same, but it coincides'. Therefore, I recommend it! ”

Xiang Yanran said with a smile, "It's a 'the same way, it coincides'." Yang Qing acted, and sure enough, he was still a maverick as always. ”

This year's list finally has such a candidate, which interests him.

There is nothing wrong with this list of years.

But Chu Tianxiu, the little dusk marquis, was not included in the list.

"Xiao Duhou's self-recommendation letter was rejected by the prime minister?"

Xiang Yanran asked with a smile.

Lord Xie Huyong's face was a little aggrieved, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of the Dull Mansion is a 'hereditary replacement' marquis, and the minister is just a 'generational descendant' and other marquises, so he doesn't dare to reject the self-recommendation letter of the Marquis of Xiao Dull without authorization."

But Xiao Duhou said nothing in the self-recommendation letter, and actually claimed that 'I have the qualifications of a prime minister, and I am willing to share my worries for Your Majesty!' ’

Because his remarks involve Weichen... The minister does not dare to make the decision, please ask Your Majesty to decide, whether to allow him to participate in the annual ceremony! ”

Xiang Yanran went down the steps of the hall and came to the middle of the ministers, in front of the bamboo slips of the ox cart.

A pile of hundreds of bamboo slips.

He was a little curious about what Chu Tianxiu had written in his self-recommendation letter. casually flipped through a few volumes, and it was really refreshing for him... Alternative and stunning feeling.

For the first time, he found out that Xiao Duhou was so able to make up other people's words, and he just wrote a story of thousands of words.

However, there are too many of them, even if it takes an early dynasty, you can't finish it. I can only wait for the retreat from the dynasty and take the time to look at it.

Flip through the last roll of bamboo slips.

Xiang Yanran opened it and took a look, and at the end of the scroll, he saw the angry words of the little faint marquis, Prime Minister Xie Cheng. It was also annotated by Prime Minister Xie in red: Vertical, angry old man.

Xiang Yanran already understood what Prime Minister Xie meant.

Prime Minister Xie was reluctant to dismiss it himself, and wanted to ask the emperor to come forward to dismiss it.

"What do you think?"

Xiang Yanran was noncommittal and asked.

"Your Majesty, if the Marquis of Xiao Duan has the qualifications of the prime minister, where should the two prime ministers live?"

The little dusk marquis was speechless and collided with the prime minister. I beg your Majesty to reject the self-recommendation letter of the Marquis of Xiao Duan! ”

Immediately, several officials who were good friends with Xie Cheng stood up for the prime minister and asked for a performance.

...

Taiwei Li Rong led the military attache to rank above the court, and the audience and ministers criticized Xiao Duhou one after another, and they couldn't help but have a headache.

He was preparing to say a few good words to his son-in-law who was in a dark cloud and did not see the light everywhere in the morning today, so that the emperor could change his opinion of the little dusk marquis, and after the palace tried to ask, he could give his son-in-law a petty official.

But this ox cart's self-recommendation letter compares itself to the prime minister, and it makes Prime Minister Xie angry enough... How can this make Prime Minister Xie Cheng dissipate his anger and redeem the bad impression in the emperor's heart?

He was about to come out and take it easy.

"Wait! Minister, there is also Jane on the play! ”

But seeing that the imperial historian Kong Hanyou had already stepped forward, he directly interrupted the discussion of the ministers.