In August of the third year of Guangxi, two notes from Youzhou gave the imperial court a headache.

The song is from two people, Youzhou Mu Liu Yu and Youzhou General Gongsun Zhan.

As Guo Jia worried, the contradiction between the two is already very deep.

Speaking of which, the feud between the two is not because of personal grudges, but because of their political discord, specifically in the treatment of Xiongnu Xianbei and other aliens.

Liu Yu advocated a policy of gentleness towards the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other ethnic groups, focusing on pacification. In Youzhou, he is deeply loved by Xianbei and other ethnic minorities.

Gongsun Chan thinks that it is not my race, its heart must be different, and he implements an iron-blooded policy towards foreign races, and repeatedly ignores Liu Yu's opposition and leads troops to attack Xianbei Xiongnu and other tribes, and a few times even Liu Yu has just finished his condolences in this tribe, and then Gongsun Chan led troops to slaughter the tribe, and adults and children did not let go. The white horse under his command fought fiercely, coming and going like the wind, causing the aliens to look at each other when they saw the white horse, and fled in the wind.

The two people did not give in to each other because of their different political ideas, and finally accumulated grudges, if the two had fought at this time in history. It was only after Liu Wei succeeded to the throne that he persuaded the two to reconcile many times, so the time for the conflict between the two to break out was delayed. This time, the lawsuit was only brought to the court.

Looking at the two people's movements, Liu Wei really made a difficulty.

Psychologically speaking, Liu Bianzhi has the same martial arts character as Gongsun Zhan, but being on the throne, it is naturally impossible to deal with affairs one-sidedly. Blindly Huairou is likely to raise a white-eyed wolf, but self-sustaining and coercion by force is not the way to develop. Successive wars may also drag down national strength and prolong the people.

Although the way to govern the country is good, it is naturally a combination of rigidity and softness, and grace and power. But the stubborn Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan didn't understand this, and the two sides insisted on their own opinions and quarreled endlessly.

Liu Wei thought of Guo Jia's words in the teahouse, and the contradiction between the two was deepening, and if they were not careful, they would be taken advantage of. Liu Wei couldn't think of a way to crack it, so he had to ask Yu Yu to plan it, in fact, there was no good way for others, but Yuan Kui suggested that Liu Yu and Sun Zan should be transferred to one to solve the contradiction between the two.

The method is very good, and Liu Wei has also thought about it. However, out of caution against Yuan Kui, Liu Wei suspected that Yuan Kui had some conspiracy and did not agree. Moreover, the Gongsun clan is a big family in Youzhou, and Gongsun Chan is deeply rooted in the Youzhou area, and he is a local snake, and it is impossible for the court to transfer him away. And Liu Yu is the royal prince of the Han family, Liu Wei needs him to sit in Youzhou to ensure that Youzhou is loyal to the centripetal force of the imperial court.

In the end, Liu Wei had no choice but to lay out the facts and reason with them, and personally wrote to them, persuading them that now is the time of the national crisis, and that they should be sincerely united to deal with the national crisis, and not affect national affairs because of personal grievances. also cited the story of Lian Po Lin and the story of making peace, hoping that the two of them can understand and improve their relationship.

Lu Zhi also wrote a letter to comfort his disciple and let him live in harmony with Liu Yu.

However, what happened later made Liu Wei regret that he did not transfer the two early. He underestimated the contradiction between Liu Yu and Gongsun Chan and ignored Gongsun Chan's ambitions.

The letter was sent to Youzhou, and it will be seen whether it can appease Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan later. By August 13, the imperial examination in Luoyang had begun. Three hundred and sixty-seven scholars took part in this examination, and the imperial court would select 100 of them as jinshi to serve in the imperial court or local official positions. At the same time, among the 100 jinshi, the top three will be the champion, the list eye, and the tanhua, and the Son of Heaven will give a wine banquet, and he will be personally supported on the horse at the Canglong Gate of Nangong, and parade around the city for three days to show glory.

Although this imperial examination is only a sketch, it is not as formal and perfect as those imperial examinations in history, and it is not even scored in the hall examination, which is basically completed in a courtyard of the Tai Academy, and then the name, transcription, and marking of the papers. The list will be released in seven days.

Rao is so, the imperial examination still opened a precedent for the imperial court to directly select talents, especially some of the small details, such as the banquet of the Son of Heaven, the cross-horse parade street, etc., which greatly stimulated the vanity of the scholars at this time, so that those scholars who were still waiting for the imperial examination began to be eager to try.

Many people, including those who did not take the imperial examination, are looking forward to the results of the examination in seven days, although they have not been screened by the township examination, the general examination and other examinations, this imperial examination may have a mixed situation, but after all, it is the first time that the country has held this kind of prosperity, Liu Wei still hopes to select some talents in this examination, so that the imperial examination system has a good start.

At least, that ghost Guo Jia is still worth looking forward to.

Seven days later, the list was released, and the result surprised Liu Wei. I thought that with Guo Jia's ability, I could take the lead and win the top position, but I didn't expect that Guo Jia was just condescending to Tanhua, and the champion turned out to be Sima Lang.

Of course Liu Wei knew what kind of person Sima Lang was. However, what he knows better is Sima Lang's younger brother, Sima Yi, a generation of traitors who are famous in the Three Kingdoms and can confront Zhuge Kongming.

The Sima clan is a large clan in Hanoi, and Sima Lang's father, Sima Fang, is now in charge of the imperial history in the court. When Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, Sima Fang saw that the situation in Luoyang was chaotic, so he ordered his eldest son Sima Lang to return to his hometown Wen County with his family. Unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo was quickly settled by Liu Wei, but Sima Fang still sent his family back to his hometown, but the eldest son Sima Lang stayed.

At this time, Sima Lang had just won the crown, and Sima Fang kept him in Luoyang, in order to find a way out for him in the imperial court, just in time for the imperial court to implement the imperial examination, and Sima Lang suddenly took the lead.

To be honest, because he was not as famous as his younger brother Sima Yi, Liu Wei was initially skeptical that Sima Lang would be able to win the top prize. However, thinking of the integrity of Lu Zhi, the chief examiner of the imperial examination, and Cai Yong's caution in learning, he should not be favoritism towards Sima Lang.

However, Liu Wei took out the exam papers of Sima Lang and Guo Jia to check, but found that the problem still appeared in Lu Zhi and Cai Yong.

The content of this imperial examination is neither the Jingyi nor the Ming and Qing dynasties, but the policy theory, a total of ten policy topics, covering the management of the court and the local government, political and military aspects. Lu Zhi and Cai Yong are both standard Confucian scholars, and Sima Fang's strategy is also based on Confucianism, which is naturally more valued by Lu Zhi and others than Guo Jia's Mohist thought.

This has nothing to do with fairness, no matter how perfect Liu Wei does in the imperial examination system, it is also a person to evaluate the papers. Especially for things like policy theory, the opinions of the benevolent and the wise will inevitably be mixed with the personal likes and dislikes of the examiner. Therefore, Guo Jia succumbed to Sima Lang, not that Guo Jia's talent and learning were inferior to him, because his strategy and ideas were not in line with the examiner's taste.

But fortunately, Lu Zhi and Cai Yong are both great Confucians in the world, and it can be seen that Guo Jia is also very human, although the article is not to their liking, it did not make him fall behind, but just made him succumb to the position of Tanhua.

Liu Wei didn't care too much after being stunned, what ranking Guo Jia got in the exam was not very important to him, the important thing was that Guo Jia had entered the court and was under his control. That Sima Lang is also good, he has been a magistrate for a long time in history, has outstanding political achievements, and is deeply loved by the people. Especially his brother, who is almost a demon, is definitely a noteworthy person.

However, what Liu Wei paid attention to now was the person who was in the top spot in the imperial examination - Xu Shu.

This name appeared in Liu Wei's eyes, and he was even more stunned than Sima Lang suddenly obtaining the position of champion. How can this great god come, in Liu Wei's eyes, Xu Shu's ability is no less than that of Wolong and Phoenix.

suddenly thought of the gray-clothed scribe who was sitting with Shi Guangyuan in the teahouse, Liu Wei had been guessing his identity since he came back, could it be Xu Shu?

sent someone to look for the post house where Xu Shu lived, but the news of the return was even more shocking, and the person was gone.

In the first imperial examination of the Han Empire, the second-place list ran away, which was undoubtedly a slap in the face for Liu Wei. Thinking that Guo Jia might know the inside story, he called him to Maolongyuan to ask.

Guo Jia, who came to the Dragon Garden, did not feel restrained, nor did he mention Liu Bian's disguise in the typhoon shelter, so he gave Liu Bian a deep salute and said, "Guo Jia, a grass man, greets Your Majesty." ”

Liu Wei also brazenly pretended not to have that thing, and raised Guo Jia's arm lightly and said, "You don't have to be polite to be filial. ”

Liu Wei pointed to the chair in front of the long table and said, "Fengxiao, please sit." ”

Guo Jia took a deep breath. Since Liu Wei succeeded to the throne, Maolongyuan has gradually become the political center of the Han Dynasty, and it is the glory of all ministers and scholars to be able to sit and discuss with the Son of Heaven here, and only the important ministers and cronies relied on by the Son of Heaven have this kind of treatment. Liu Wei let him sit here undoubtedly to show him that you are my own person.

Even if Guo Jia has a free and easy temperament, people who are used to seeing light clouds and light breezes will inevitably be shocked. He hesitated and didn't dare to sit down, and muttered, "Your Majesty? ”

Liu Wei said with a smile: "That day, when I talked about the typhoon shelter teahouse, I knew that Fengxiao was a talented person in the world. Now that the imperial examination is in high school, Fengxiao has entered the imperial court, and I am going to rely on it more in the future, which is regarded as the humerus. ”

Liu Wei's words were sincere, and he was happy in his heart. Guo Jia's heart was hot, and he said loudly: "Your Majesty is not stupid as a minister, treat me as a countryman, and I will also serve the king as a countryman." ”

Liu Wei laughed happily, patted Guo Jia's shoulder, and said, "Dahan Jiangshan, in the future, we will rely on you and my monarchs and ministers to work hand in hand." ”

"The minister must die forever!"

Guo Jia sat down, the yellow gate brought tea, knowing that the Son of Heaven must have something to do when he called him, he asked, "What is Your Majesty's order to summon the ministers this time?" “

Liu Wei replied: "I came to you this time for Xu Shu's business, do you know why he left quietly in high school?" ”

Guo Jia had already heard about Xu Shu, and he did know why he did it. At this time, he did not hide it, and told Liu Wei what he knew and thought:

"Xu Shu's original name is Xu Fu, the character is straight, and the minister is from Yingchuan, although he has never met, but the reputation of the other party has long been heard. This person is chivalrous, good at fencing, and often considers himself a benevolent man. Specially designed for fellow villagers and neighbors to fight grievances, evil hoes and rape. His friend was ruined by a grudge against a local bully, and Xu Shu avenged his friend, painted his face with chalk, and stabbed the bully to death with a sword. Later, he was pursued by officers and soldiers and was captured, and was severely punished in prison. In order not to betray his friends and injure his mother, he always refused to reveal the truth and his true identity. The government tied him to the pillar of the torture car and paraded him through the streets with drums, so that the surrounding people could identify him, but the people felt his chivalry, and no one identified him. The government was helpless, and after being rescued by friends, Xu Shu escaped from the cage. Since then, Xu Shu has abandoned the sword to study, changed his name to Xu Shu, and studied hard at Yingchuan College. Although his classmates hated him for violating the ban with force, he didn't care about it, and still went his own way and studied tirelessly. When Jia entered Yingchuan College to study, Xu Shu had already studied in other places, Jia had only heard of his deeds, but had never met, but I heard that he had similar interests and close contacts with Shi Tao in the same county. This time, Xu Shu took the imperial examination in high school but quietly hidden, probably because he was afraid that the imperial court would find out his true identity and investigate him for going to kill. ”

Xu Shu's public case Liu Wei also understood, but he began to be influenced by "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", thinking that Xu Shu changed his name and surname to Shan Fu to avoid pursuit, and Xu Shu's name appeared for a while and did not think of going there.

Guo Jia's explanation Liu Wei could also guess that Xu Shu must have realized that Xu Shu was highly talented, and couldn't help but want to participate in the imperial examination and compete with other scholars. After high school, I was afraid that the murder would happen, so I quietly left.

Thinking about this matter, Liu Wei felt very sorry, Xu Shu was a good talent, so he sneaked away, and that Shi Tao Shi Guangyuan, there is also a talent who has passed through the heavens and latitudes, and he didn't even see his name in this imperial examination, so he didn't participate at all, and he should have some opinions on the imperial court to open the imperial examination.

I was remorseful and angry, I wanted to issue an edict to pardon Xu Shu's crimes, and publicly praised his chivalrous spirit of avenging his friends, hoping that Xu Shu would change his mind and return to the court after knowing it, who knew that Guo Jia persuaded him: "Your Majesty, it is taboo for Xu Shu to violate the ban by force, if this matter is made public, it will inevitably attract the opposition of the ministers of the DPRK and China, Xu Shu also thought about this reason before leaving quietly." His Majesty should secretly visit and find Xu Shu back, and he must not make such a big fanfare. ”

When Liu Wei heard the reason, he had no choice but to nod his head stupidly.

The matter was temporarily suspended, and Lu Zhi asked the list of missing people whether he should be promoted to the next ranking. Liu Wei disagreed, and still vacated the position for Xu Shu. He also sent members of the Coordination Society to secretly visit everywhere.

The scholars in the middle of the court were all officials, Sima Lang was sealed to Chenggao County as a county order, and the Tiger Prison Pass was subordinate to Chenggao County, which was a place where soldiers must fight, and Liu Wei was relieved to put Sima Lang here.

Guo Jia was named Shangshu and stayed by Liu Wei's side to give him advice at any time.

Most of the rest of the sergeants were sent to the localities, either as county magistrates in large counties or as county magistrates in small counties.

After the end of the imperial examination, although there was a small regret that the list was missing, it was still a happy scene on the whole. The state has a large number of talents, which has laid a good foundation for future reforms.

The next thing, Liu Wei focused on one person. To be continued, stay tuned for the next chapter.