After lunch, Li Renshou went back to the house directly, he has been appointed as the Taishou of Zhao County, and he will go to Zhao County to take office in two days.

Although he was about to go to Zhao County to take office, Li Renshou was really unhappy in his heart, mainly because his son Li Qingming refused to attend the reception banquet today, which made him feel very annoyed.

In fact, his son Li Qingming has always been his pride, among the children of the major families in Hebei, only his son is the most promising, serving as the squire of the military department and the record of the king of Qi to join the army, not only has an official position but also a military position, and has won the trust of the king of Qi, even Lu Zhuo's son Lu Qingyuan is not comparable to his achievements, that is the brother of the princess of Qi.

Li Renshou returned to the mansion, his anger calmed down a little, he knew that his son was a very cautious person, and he would not refuse to attend the banquet for no reason, there must be some reason.

Li Renshou sat down in the study and said to the maid: "Go and find the second son!" ”

Li Renshou has three sons, the eldest son Li Qinghua manages the clan affairs at home and is ready to take over the position of the head of the family, the third son Li Qingping is currently studying at home, and the second is Li Qingming, who is also Li Renshou's most important son.

Not long after, Li Qingming hurriedly came to his father's study, he was the day before yesterday to return to Zhongdu, the day before yesterday to go through the entry procedures, yesterday went to the barracks for another day, really a little tired, so he used physical discomfort as an excuse to push away the wind and dust washing banquet specially prepared for him by his father.

Li Qingming walked into the room, knelt down and bowed, "The child greets his father!" ”

Li Renshou glanced at him and said coldly: "I can't see where I'm sick!" ”

"Back to my father, the child is indeed not sick."

"Then you just deliberately don't give me face, do you!" Li Renshou's anger rose again.

Li Qingming still said calmly: "It's not that the child doesn't give face to his father, it's just that some parties are never attended by the child, this is a matter of principle." ”

Li Renshou was stunned in his heart, and the anger that had just risen in his heart disappeared immediately, he felt that his son had something to say, so he asked: "Tell me, what kind of party will you never attend?" ”

"Children will never participate in factional gatherings that form parties and friends, such as the gatherings of the Hebei Shi clan, and the children also want to persuade their fathers not to participate anymore, which is the source of trouble in the future."

Li Renshou somewhat understood what his son meant, and he pondered for a moment and said, "Do you think that the Hebei Shi clan has formed a party and become friends?" ”

Li Qingming nodded, "It is understandable that the Hebei Shi clan took over the party for self-protection when they were in Jiangdu, but it should be disbanded after arriving in Yidu, there should be no more statements about the leaders of the Hebei Shi clan, let alone regular gatherings, this will gradually evolve into the second Guanlong noble, I know His Royal Highness the King of Qi very well, he will never allow the Shi clan from all over the country to form a party and become friends, my father stays with them, and sooner or later something will happen." ”

Li Qingming's words made his father Li Renshou really surprised in his heart, in fact, he also faintly felt that something was not quite right with the Hebei Shi clan, there are Shi clans in all regions of the world, but they are not closely combined through marriage like several major families in Hebei, one is prosperous and the other is declining.

"Did King Qi tell you anything?" Li Renshou asked cautiously.

"King Qi didn't tell me, but there are some things that don't need to be said, many people who are a little politically minded know how to choose, such as this imperial examination, although I don't know the final result, but I can be sure of one thing, the Hebei Shi clan will definitely not have an advantage, and it will be suppressed, I think it should be this result."

Li Renshou was stunned, he suddenly realized that Su Wei's plan was most likely Zhang Xuan's instructions, not Su Wei's own decision, this plan was obviously aimed at the Hebei scholars, with Su Wei's peacemaker's character, he would not reduce the number of Hebei scholars from forty percent to less than two percent at once, he would never do this kind of offending people.

Li Renshou couldn't sit still, pacing back and forth in the room with his hands in his hands, he also gradually woke up, although Zhang Xuan could not return from the battle in Liaohe, it did not mean that he didn't care about the imperial examination, this was the first imperial examination, it was very important, Zhang Xuan would definitely convey his will to Su Wei through letters.

Thinking about this, Li Rentong was almost certain that Su Wei's plan was actually Zhang Xuan's plan, but unfortunately Lu Zhuo and Cui Huan didn't think of this.

In fact, even he himself is not unaware? If it weren't for his son's reminder, he would still be ignorant and indignant at the unfair admission.

At this moment, there were faint shouts outside, Li father and son couldn't help but be stunned, Li Renshou walked out of the study quickly, and saw the housekeeper hurriedly coming, "What's going on?" Li Renshou asked.

"Master, there are thousands of scholars marching outside, and they have walked from Taixue in the direction of Ziwei Palace."

Li Renshou was secretly taken aback in his heart, "Could it be—"

He hurriedly walked to the gate of the house, where many families stood on the steps of the house, tiptoeing to look across the river, which was located in the easternmost part of the new city, and was only separated from the old city by a river, and the willow trees on both sides of the river had not yet become shaded, and they could see the situation on the other side of the river. I saw thousands of scholars on the other side of the river carrying the statue of the master in a demonstration, constantly chanting slogans, and the crowd seemed excited.

Li Renshou had already faintly heard the word 'Hebei' in the slogan, and he became more and more frightened, and urgently ordered his family to inquire about the situation.

Not long after, the family came to report, "Master, they are all Hebei scholars, they said that the imperial court is deliberately suppressing Hebei scholars, and they demand that the imperial court return justice." ”

Li Renshou was stunned, the matter was really big, at this time, Li Qingming stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "The news shouldn't have spread so quickly, it has nothing to do with the morning's resolution, it should have been planned a few days ago, but the timing of their appearance is too unfortunate, Lu Shangshu and Cui Shangshu are probably to blame." ”

Li Renshou sighed and said to his son Li Qingming: "You have a point, this matter is indeed not as clear as you can see through this matter." ”

He muttered to himself again: "Lu Zhuo really shouldn't have told this matter, how can he explain it to His Royal Highness King Qi?" ”

Li Qingming smiled and said: "Actually, there is no problem now, at least before the unification of the world, King Qi will not make any big moves against the Hebei Shi clan, it will only be slowly weakened, although my father also participates in the gathering of the Hebei Shi clan, I just have to grasp the principle, and persuade everyone not to do too much, especially to pay attention not to raise too many Zhuang Ding, this is a big taboo, frankly speaking, I don't want to see the Hebei Shi clan be purged in the future." ”

Li Renshou nodded silently, he knew what to do.

Li Renshou could not have imagined that the march of thousands of scholars was related to the Li family of Zhao County, one of the organizers of this march was his nephew Li Zhaoxi, and the organizer was Lu Chu's nephew Lu Han, and there were also two grandsons of Cui Hongsheng, the Taishou of Zhuo County, Cui Guangping and Cui Guanglin brothers, these four people heard the news of the stalemate of the collegial group from the family elders, and in order to fight for the rights and interests of the Hebei scholars, the four of them organized 3,000 scholars to march on the streets in a few days to put pressure on the imperial court.

These four people are all hot-blooded young people, and it is not a problem to be admitted to the imperial examination with their talents, but in order to pursue fairness and justice, they resolutely organized this parade, and their organization was very effective, all the way to Ziwei Palace, and there was no excesses of smashing and looting.

At this time, tens of thousands of soldiers rushed from the north gate of the city gate to surround the three thousand scholars, and at the same time, the imperial court was also alarmed, Su Wei and Pei Ju walked out with a large group of officials, and Lu Zuo and Cui Huan also rushed out when they heard the news.

"What are you doing?"

Lu Zhuo was furious, rushed forward and said angrily to the scholars: "This is an important place for the imperial court, do you want to rebel?" Give me back, all go back! ”

The scholars all lowered their heads, no one said a word, at this time, a guard set up a wooden platform, two guards supported Su Wei trembling up to the wooden platform, Su Wei said loudly: "Old man Su Wei, I think everyone also knows me, I know why you came, you feel unfair to Hebei scholars, ask for an increase in the quota, I can understand your feelings, but everything can't escape a 'reason' word, I will reason with you." ”

Lu Zhuo was ashamed and anxious, he hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Su Xiangguo, let me talk about it!" ”

Su Wei waved his hand, and said loudly to the scholars: "There are indeed many scholars in Hebei, there are 16,000 people, but only 900 people are admitted to the top 5,000, have you ever thought about what the reason is?" In fact, everyone should understand in their hearts that Zhongdu is located in Wei County, Hebei counties are stable, water and land transportation is convenient, as long as people want to come to Zhongdu to try their luck, so there are a large number of talents, but the talent is uneven, this is a fact, you ask for fairness and justice, so we admit according to the talent, is it not fair and unjust? ”

At this time, Li Jing also stepped forward and shouted in a loud voice: "I am Li Jing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, I advise everyone to focus on the overall situation, His Royal Highness the King of Qi is leading the army to fight fiercely in Liaodong and the army of Goguryeo, and we need stability in the rear, not only do we not support His Royal Highness the King of Qi to fight against foreign races, but we are still gathering people here to protest, have you ever thought about the impact on the soldiers in front, have you thought about the responsibility on your shoulders?" ”

Li Jing's tone was very stern, and the scholars lowered their heads in shame, at this time, Lu Han stood up and shouted to the scholars: "Li Shangshu is right, the former enemy is in a big battle, we can't make trouble for His Royal Highness the King of Qi anymore, right and wrong, I believe His Royal Highness the King of Qi will give us an explanation, let's go back first!" ”

Lu Han was the leader of this parade of scholars, although he could not fully accept Su Wei's reasoning, but Li Jing was right, now that the former enemy was fighting, they could not make trouble in the rear, Lu Han had a high prestige among the scholars, since he proposed to go back, the scholars got up and dispersed.

In just a moment, there were only more than 100 sparse scholars left in the square, and most of the scholars went back separately, at this time, Pei Ju stepped forward and smiled at Lu Zhuo: "The scholar headed just now seems to be the nephew of the Lu family!" ”

Lu Zhuo's face suddenly became extremely ugly.

(To be continued.) )