Xue Li and Heiya Changzhi smiled, and hurriedly ran back to their dormitory with the futon, their dormitory was not smaller than others, but there were more brooms, dustpans and other utensils stacked inside, all of which were used to do volunteer cleaning.

The life of the freshmen in the military academy is not as good as they imagined, and every day is a boring drill and housekeeping.

Wang Bao, the attendant who followed Wang Yizhang to the military academy, slammed the quilt that had just been formed, and complained: "Brother Wang, we came to the military academy to be officers here, not to make beds and quilts for others!" What's the point of doing this like a subordinate every day? ”

Wang Yizhang didn't raise his head, and continued to tidy up his futon and said, "What's the matter, do you still want me to help you tidy it up?" Don't forget how Lutong was punished last time. You can also do nothing, and if you don't want to be fired, just sleep on your own with a wet quilt! ”

Wang Bao sighed when he heard this, he roared, smashed his futon a few times, and got out of his chest, and then began to tidy up little by little.

The military cadets were reluctantly practicing, and the fact that they were admitted as protégés of the Son of Heaven was quickly spread to all directions and to their hometowns. The family was startled when they heard the words of the protégé of the Son of Heaven, and then celebrated vigorously.

In Xiu Village, Longmen County, Jiangzhou, Shanxi, Xue Li's home. At this time, Xue Li's mother was entertaining her in-laws from the city.

The Xue family and the Liu family were originally both big families in Hedong, and Xue Li and Liu Yingchun were also married since childhood. However, after Xue Li's father died early, the Xue family had already fallen, and Liu Yuanwai thought about quitting this family business and climbing the high branches with the new county guard Wang Wenxiu.

However, the girl Liu Yingchun just didn't agree, and threatened with death, which made Liu Yuanwai not angry. So he tried another way to prepare to save the country, and he wanted to use silver to buy Xue Li's mother and let them take the initiative to quit their relatives.

When he arrived at Xue's house, he was forced to withdraw from his relatives, and Xue Li's mother saw that there was no other way to withdraw from his relatives, so he had to be ready to agree; But she returned all the money that Liu Yuanwai had brought. Although the Xue family was poor, they could not suffer such insults.

Liu Yuanwai took the divorce letter and walked out happily. As soon as he arrived at the door, he heard a gong and drum outside the door, and before he could understand what was going on, the door of the Xue family was pushed open with a bang, and a group of people broke in from outside.

Liu Yuanwai was taken aback, he thought that the Xue family must have offended someone or borrowed debts and was blocked at home.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, let the big master in." The messenger outside the door shouted and opened a road; A blue-robed official came in from outside with a grin.

Liu Yuanwai knew that this person was Sima Shu, the county magistrate of Longmen County, and this person was also from the Wang family; On weekdays, a majestic look, it is not easy for Liu Yuan to see others; I didn't expect to deign to come to the Xue family today.

Liu Yuanwai hurriedly ran as if he wanted to go up to meet him, but was pushed away by the messengers as idlers. Sima Shu didn't speak, he laughed first, and then said, "This is the lady of the Xue family?" ”

Xue Li's mother was also taken aback, although she didn't know Sima Shu, she could say that she knew that she was a big man when she saw this posture, so she hurriedly gave a salute and said, "Don't dare, it's a people's woman." ”

"Well, I have long heard that the lady of the Xue family is from a famous family, and she is really different. You gave birth to a good son for the Xue family, and you also won glory for our Longmen County.

You may not know that your son Xue Li was successfully admitted to the military academy and became a protégé of the Son of Heaven. Do you know what a protégé of the Son of Heaven is? That's a long-lived disciple! The future is limitless.

I also heard that Xue Li was very favored by the Great Demon County King, and it was the County King Chitose who personally ordered him to enter the military academy, and also introduced Liao Guogong to personally guide his martial arts. Xue Li will definitely be able to become a famous general of the Tang Dynasty in the future.

Lady of the Xue family, you have made a great contribution to the Xue family and our Longmen County! In recognition of your achievements, we will set up a monument for you in Longmen County; At the same time, this is 100 taels of silver as a reward for you. ”

Xue Li's mother shirked again and again, and Sima Shu's face sank and said: "Lady of the Xue family, you are not right, these silver taels are to commend your merits and educate the people." Are you too little, or are you unwilling to fulfill the work of your own officials? ”

Xue Li's mother hadn't spoken yet, and Liu Yuan flattered her: "Mother-in-law!" Don't shirk it, there are so many folks here, and there are also errands that need to be taken care of, how can you do it without money? Besides, this is also the hard work of the old man, but I can't live up to it, hurry up and take it! ”

Xue Li's mother had no choice but to stop shirking and accept the congratulatory gift. Sima Shu smiled and said to Liu Yuanwai: "This squire is very kind-faced, it seems that he has seen it somewhere?" ”

Liu Yuanwai's face smiled like a flower, and secretly tore the divorce document to shreds, and said: "It's really an honor for adults to remember villains." The villain's name is Liu Junyin, who is Xue Li's father-in-law. ”

The lady of the Xue family is a loyal person, and she did not reveal the true face of Liu Yuanwai. Liu Junyin's long-sleeved dance took the place of Xue Li's mother to arrange the things here, and both the government and the neighbors were very satisfied, and Xue Li's mother was saved a lot of things.

Since Liu Junyin no longer mentions the matter of divorce, and Liu Yingchun is known as a virtuous person, Xue Li's mother has never mentioned the matter of divorce.

Time flew by, and soon at the end of the year, Li Shimin personally presided over the assessment of military cadets.

In the final assessment, Xue Li ranked first, Qin Huaiyu was second, Wang Xuance was third, Gao Kan ranked fourth by leaps and bounds during this period of time, Wu Deng was fifth, and Wang Yizhang was sixth. Tsuneyuki Black Tooth also finished ninth. Both of them finished in the top 10 and successfully became full-fledged cadets.

After the exam, Cheng Zhijie organized a confrontation act, and the 1,000 military cadets were divided into two teams, one team was led by Qin Huaiyu as the red team; The first team was led by Xue Li as the blue team, and they pulled to Lishan for a martial arts competition.

Although these famous generals on the battlefield of the future are still young, they are also witty and do everything; Li Shimin, who watched it, was so addicted that he couldn't wait to go up and meet them in person.

In the end, Qin Huaiyu and Wang Xuance, Wu Deng and others were slightly better because of their more tacit cooperation, but Xue Li and others were also very unconvinced, and vowed to win back in the next competition.

Cheng Zhijie called everyone to the auditorium and asked Li Shimin to comment on their battle. Li Shimin is itching in his heart, he pointed to the map of the mountains with a whip, pointed to the country, stirred up the words, and spoke with great enthusiasm. Cheng Zhijie applauded with his head, which greatly satisfied Li Shimin's vanity.

After Li Shimin went back, he sighed to his eldest grandson, why did Cheng Zhijie's military academy see results so quickly, and the effect was quite good; The imperial examination system that he has worked hard to build is struggling under the constraints of all parties!

The eldest grandson said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the fifth brother is only facing the army, which is relatively simple, and the management is more strict and extensive, while Your Majesty is facing the elite of scribes in the whole country; And the power of the family is also stronger, so naturally it is a little more difficult. ”

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "What Guanyin said has some truth, but it's not all like that. Seeing that Brother Cheng Wang's military academy has been open for half a year and has achieved results, we are still arguing and prevaricating about the establishment of libraries everywhere. This is not going to work, I am ready to appoint Cheng Zhijie as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the power is responsible for the affairs of the imperial examination and education. ”

The eldest grandson Wujian was startled and said, "Your Majesty, let's ask the fifth brother before deciding!" Let's see if he has any good idea to make another appointment. ”

Li Shimin nodded slightly and said: "What Guanyin said is reasonable, someone is ...... here."

"Your Majesty! It's the middle of the night, and there's something we can't talk about tomorrow. ”

Li Shimin hammered his head and said, "Really, I'm confused, I'll talk about it tomorrow!" We'll talk about it tomorrow! Guanyin, you don't know how shocking I was when I watched the performance of the military academy today! I think that with the military academy, Datang no longer has to worry about the shortage of military talents. ”

The eldest grandson looked at her husband's excitement and said, "Okay! Good! Your Majesty, just talk about it for me! ”

The next day, as soon as the court meeting dispersed, Li Shimin left Cheng Zhijie behind, and the others went back to their own yamen to work.

Cheng Zhijie was slightly stunned, I don't know what His Majesty left him for today? Li Shimin announced that he had entered the study, and Cheng Zhijie found that the eldest grandson Wujian was also there, and he was just about to salute. Li Shimin said: "Okay, fifth brother, this is not the court, so there are not so many rules." In the future, I will give you the right to see the king and not worship when there are no outsiders. ”

Cheng Zhijie grinned and stood next to him with a bow.

Li Shimin went on to talk about yesterday's events, and finally said that he wanted him to preside over the imperial examination and promote education for the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

Cheng Zhijie was also taken aback, he thought that Li Shimin was going to ask about his military academy, but he didn't expect it to be for the imperial examination. ”

The power of the family is extraordinary, but it has always held the power of the court in the Tang Dynasty, even the prime minister Wang Wei and others are also proud to be able to marry five surnamed women. It was not until the end of the Tang Dynasty that it was completely eliminated due to the erosion of the imperial examination and the killing of peasant uprisings.

Now is the time when the family is at its strongest, and Li Shimin is a little too anxious to eradicate the family soon.

Cheng Zhijie's mind spun and said: "Your Majesty, the imperial examination is a way to weaken the family, but it is not a good prescription for special effects. It can't be done overnight.

It makes sense that anything exists, since the Han Dynasty, the selection of officials has been carried out to carry out the inspection system, and in the Later Han Dynasty, the Nine Grades of Zhongzheng System have been implemented since the Two Jin Dynasty. At the beginning of the establishment of the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, the standard for evaluating the characters was family background, morality, and talent, but later it was a mere form and only focused on family history, which made the Jiupin Zhongzheng system exist in name only.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty began to implement the imperial examination in the first year of his great cause, and it was still being perfected here by His Majesty. We can't expect the imperial examination to wipe out the family all at once, and it will take a long process of perfection and popularization. ”