Liu E listened quietly to the conversation between Chun Yu Wanyun and Emperor Zhenzong, and the emperor said, "After the dawn, I want to go to the early court, and let Kou Zhun and Wang Qinruo put their respective reasons in front of the ministers......"

Wasn't the emperor's remark the fuse that caused the party struggle between the north and the south? Liu E pondered sharply in her heart; In this way, the struggle between the ministers of the north and south of the imperial court will be white-hot, and the current strong enemy is pressing; We had internal disputes first, and we hated to be black-eyed chickens, and you ate him, and he ate you......

Liu E was a political woman who was expelled from the Xiangwang Mansion by the edict of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty; Yishu Yuan has been reading books seriously for a few years, and has read almost all the books that can be read in every dynasty before the Great Song Dynasty; And realized a truth: the struggle for power and profit of the dynasty has never stopped, and the struggle between the north and the south has been a long time; After Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, he conquered several small states in the south by force.

However, a talented scholar like Li Yu in a small southern country was haunted by the legacy that southerners could not be prime ministers; Secretly accumulate strength to fight openly and secretly with the northern scholars.

Liu E is a Shu person, and it seems difficult to tell whether Shu is north or south; But Liu E classified herself as a southerner, and psychologically supported Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei as southerners.

Southerners and northerners compete with each other and are not convinced; It started with the imperial examination system, the champion.

The eight strands of literature examined by the imperial examination were made by the sages, and the form was fixed; The imperial examination enables scholars to devote all their efforts to it, and to gain fame and fortune as their lifelong goal.

The imperial examination is the only way for scholars to get out of the official ranks, and the champion standing at the top of the pyramid is the best admired by everyone.

The change in the origin of the champions also reflects the great changes in the economic geography of China, where the champions were mainly born in the north; With the shift of economic center of gravity from the Yellow River Basin to the Jiangnan region, the number of champions from the south has gradually increased.

Emperor Wen of Sui opened the imperial examination, and Emperor Yang of Sui set up the Jinshi department; However, the first well-known champion (liberal arts champion) in the history of the Chinese imperial examination was Sun Fujia in the fifth year of Tang Wude (622).

The word "champion" began in the Tang Dynasty, where people entering Beijing must first report to the Ministry of Rites; Therefore, people called Jinshi the first as the champion, also known as the head.

In the Tang Dynasty, the palace examination was generally not held, and the general examination was the last examination; Therefore, the champion is the first place in the examination.

The champion of the Tang Dynasty did not have a special glory higher than the ordinary jinshi, nor was it specially recorded in the history books; For example, Wang Wei, Liu Gongquan and others are only called "Zhongjinshi" in the history books, and their title of champion is not emphasized.

The reason for the low gold content of the champion in the Tang Dynasty is that the test papers of the Tang Dynasty are not only not vague; The examiner will also decide whether to admit or not to admit students based on the "line paper" handed in by the candidate's recommender.

The so-called "line scroll" means that the examinee edits some of the most proud poems and articles he usually writes into scrolls; Present it to the court magnates or celebrities and ask them to recommend it to the examiner.

The most famous allusion is that Wang Wei won the recommendation of Princess Taiping in order to win the top prize in the examination, so he played the pipa for Princess Taiping, who loves music, at the banquet and took the opportunity to send his own scroll.

Therefore, if you want to become the champion of the Tang Dynasty, you must not only fight for talent, but also for relationships; The advantages of a famous family like Wang Wei are quite obvious, and they have to take refuge in a powerful person like Princess Taiping to get a recommendation.

The famous families of the Tang Dynasty have the saying of "five surnames and seven hopes" - Longxi Li, Zhaojun Li, Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Xingyang Zheng, Taiyuan Wang, Wang Wei was born in Taiyuan Wang.

These famous families are all in the north, which is one of the reasons why the champions of the Tang Dynasty were mainly scholars from the north.

Compared with the north, although the south at that time had a large family that moved south after the rebellion of the eight kings; Rice production has also gradually become large-scale, but the number of champions is still crushed by the north.

What changed this situation was the Anshi Rebellion, which caused the loss of life in the north and the migration of people to the south; The economy of the South has been further developed, surpassing that of the North.

The proportion of the number of champions in the south has also risen from more than 10% before the Anshi Rebellion to more than 30%.

By the Song Dynasty, the south had become a veritable economic center; At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the southern grain transported to Kaifeng through the Grand Canal and the Bianhe River was 4 million stones, and this figure increased to 7 million stones a few decades later.

The entire northern Yellow River basin transported to the capital only 2 million stones, which shows the wealth of the south.

When the people are prosperous, they must start to increase their investment in education. The direct consequence of this is that throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the number of champions from the south has been able to keep pace with the north.

But the north is still a little ahead, and the reason is that the emperors and prime ministers in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty were all northerners; They were still somewhat prejudiced against the southern scholars.

The most radical is Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, one of his testaments is "southerners are not allowed to be prime ministers", full of "regional black".

is also unreliable in his method of selecting the champion - to participate in the temple examination, he must complete three questions; Whoever submits the paper first is the champion.

However, in the palace examination in the eighth year of Kaibao (975), Wang Sizong and Chen Shi completed it at the same time and handed in the papers at the same time.

This time, Zhao Kuangyin made a mistake and muttered for a long time; Ordered the two to wrestle in the court, and whoever wins will be the champion.

Isn't that too funny? Aren't all funny things done by people?

The holy order was difficult to disobey, Wang Sizong and Chen Shi did it; Because Wang Sizong was a little bald, Chen Shi had thick hair, so Chen Shi was grabbed by Wang Sizong's hair and fell to the ground; Wang Sizong won the champion in this way, so he was nicknamed "the champion of hand-to-hand fighting".

Zhao Kuangyin's play like this is related to his rough temperament, but Zhao Kuangyin is a martial artist who loves "Wenzhi" for ten minutes; On the basis of the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty, two major reforms were made.

First, the "public recommendation" system since the Tang Dynasty was abolished, and candidates could no longer get recommendations from dignitaries and examiners.

The second is to open the palace examination, and the jinshi have become "protégés of the Son of Heaven".

Both of these reforms can reduce the occurrence of malpractice, in order to prevent examiners from cheating in the selection; Later, there were "vague names" and "transcription methods", which greatly increased the gold content of Jinshi and even champions.

After the Tang Dynasty scholars achieved fame, they had to pass the training examination before they were eligible to hold official positions.

In the Song Dynasty, as long as it was a Jinshi or above, it could be directly awarded, and the speed and level of promotion were also incomparable to those who entered the ranks in other ways......

"Six-six, what are you thinking! I said that I would go to the early dynasty to solve the dispute between Kou Zhun and Wang Qinruo, why don't you say anything! Zhao Heng was talking to Chun Yu Wanyun, and when he saw Liu E bowing his head and pondering, he looked at her and asked: "Could it be that Liuliu does not agree with me to solve the contradiction between the two families of King Kou in the court!" ”

"No, no, no......" Liu E hurriedly stood up and took a few steps closer to Zhao Heng and said: "Liuliu and Sister Chunyu fully agree with the emperor to settle the matter of King Kou's two families in the court, Sister Chunyu, don't you say?" ”

Chun Yu Wanyun smiled and said, "The old body said so many words to the emperor, the purpose is to remind him not to be bewitched by Wang Qinruo's rhetoric; Kou Zhun is a staunch anti-war faction, and the imperial court must vigorously support him! ”

"It seems that my sister is still biased towards Kou Zhun! Kou Zhun is a staunch faction in fighting against the Liao State, but he is a good hammer to fight against the southern scholars! Liu E bluntly said what she wanted to say, looked at Zhao Heng and said: "Liuliu just recalled the troubles of the dispute between the scholars on the north and the south, but it is the masterpiece of the great grandfather!" ”

Stretching his neck and throat, he said: "Taizu has a testament: southerners are not allowed to be prime ministers. This is already ridiculous! ”

Zhao Heng and Chun Yu Wanyun saw Liu E bluntly say the absurd words of the grandfather, and they looked at each other in amazement; But now it's at home, so I don't care.

After Liu E said this, she swallowed her throat and said: "This is an ancient precept for the prime minister to be promoted from the champion, and Taizu set up a palace examination to select the sons; It is stipulated that all those who participate in the temple examination must complete three questions, and whoever submits the paper first will be the champion. However, in the palace examination in the eighth year of Kaibao (975), Wang Sizong and Chen Shi completed the simultaneous submission of papers at the same time; This time Taizu made a difficulty, and after pondering for a long time, he ordered the two to wrestle in the court; Whoever wins is the champion. Because Wang Sizong is a little bald, Chen Shi has thick hair; Chen Shi was grabbed by Wang Sizong's hair and fell to the ground. Wang Sizong won the champion in this way, so he was jokingly called the champion of hand-to-hand fighting......"

Zhao Heng laughed loudly after listening to Liu E's story, and Liu E said again: "Your Majesty, don't laugh, since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty; The two emperors Taizu and Taizong suppressed the southern scholars too much, which is a black region, and the concubines still hope that the emperor will be merciful; Aren't the southern scholars and the northern scholars all the emperor's courtiers? ”

"Well said Liuliu!" Zhao Heng clapped his hands excitedly: "I have long had such an idea, and I have confidence in the 661 prompt......"