Soon, Zhang Chao and Li Shimin walked into Chang'an City side by side.

"Long live the emperor!" "Long live the emperor!" "Long live the emperor!" ……

The people of Chang'an City cheered, and then they were glad that they had survived. And Li Shimin also raised his hand to salute, because this time Datang was considered to have survived a catastrophe that almost destroyed the country. So everyone is also very happy, whether it is officials or ordinary people, they are celebrating that they can survive safely. Because everyone knows that after this catastrophe, the Central Plains will be peaceful from now on, and no force can organize the situation of the Tang Dynasty to dominate the world, and everyone will be able to live a stable life at that time. The last Liang Shidu, this has completely "forgotten" him in everyone's eyes, because for everyone, he is already a dead person, and he can't die anymore. Because Datang can send troops to destroy them at any time, it doesn't have to spend too much strength at all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I would like to introduce a hero of my Tang Dynasty, that is, Zhang Chao, the palace attendant. If she hadn't been able to discover the traitor Luo Yi's conspiracy in time, if she hadn't been able to find out in time that Luo Yi had betrayed my Datang, and made preparations in advance, seized the military power, and rushed to my Chang'an to support, then Chang'an, the capital of my Datang, might have experienced a catastrophe. At that time, the lives of the people of Chang'an were devastated, and they were all going to suffer heavy losses, and even my Datang was in danger of overturning. Therefore, from me to the ordinary people, they have all thanked Zhang Chao Yushi, otherwise our Datang will be ravaged by vain, it will really be a tragedy for my Datang. Li Shimin said.

Someone immediately said: "Your Majesty, you must reward Zhang Yushi!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, you must reward Zhang Yushi, and you will be rewarded heavily."

And Li Shimin also ordered on the spot. said: "Zhang Chao listens to the seal!" ”

Zhang Chao took the initiative to come to Li Shimin, and then said: "Minister Zhang Chao listens to the seal!" ”

"Zhang Chao, the palace servant, led the troops to rescue Chang'an, saved my Tang capital, and was specially named the Marquis of Weinan County!"

Hearing this reward, Zhang Chao didn't feel too much. Because the title of a county marquis is really nothing. For Zhang Chao, the title is also a thing to obtain a stable income, to be able to have his own fiefdom people, and a county marquis can get money compared to later generations every year, that is, to get an income of about hundreds of thousands to millions every year, which is very good. With this title, it means that Zhang Chao doesn't have to worry about economic matters at all. With this title, his annual income is enough to live for many years. Even in later generations, the income of officials is not so high, which is the benefit of the title.

The ancient feudal aristocracy was actually a parasite, and they parasitized on those people. The people provided for them. However, Zhang Chao didn't feel anything when he received this money, because he knew that other nobles were thinking about how to continue to exploit them while taking money, while Zhang Chao was thinking that if he took the money, he would do things for the people, which was the biggest difference. Therefore, Zhang Chao took this money, and he was at ease, and he would not have any inappropriate thoughts. If you take the money to do things for the people and fight for the interests and power of the people, this one is also a public servant in the future.

"Your Majesty. The celebration banquet in the palace is ready, and the emperor and the ministers are invited to taste it. A eunuch said.

"Let's go. Let's go to the celebration banquet with me. Li Shimin said.

Soon, the group came to the Taiji Palace, and the officials above the ninth rank in Chang'an also came, and this celebration banquet was that everyone came here together, ready to taste this hard-won victory. This time it was the hardest time, and everyone felt very relaxed. After this most difficult hurdle, what is there to worry about next, and the next time is for everyone to enjoy peace and prosperity together. Next, everyone can also ride on the heads of the people, do a good job, and then think about how to enjoy life. For example, go to the woman today, and go there tomorrow to get money and have fun.

"Zhang Chao, sit next to me!" Li Shimin said.

And this situation made many people feel very shocked, because you must know that Li Shimin actually invited Zhang Chao to be next to him. Of course, this side is not really next to it, but the first position below Li Shimin's highest position, and next to the emperor is only the position of the empress, and it will not be easy for the courtiers to sit, unless the emperor is ......

And Zhang Chao sat in the first position on Li Shimin's left, which is generally given to those princes and kings, and ordinary people cannot get it. But Zhang Chao can sit here, it is obvious that Li Shimin attaches great importance to him. So this is also to commend Zhang Chao's merits, to commend the ability to save Datang this time, and to save Datang back.

"It seems that the emperor attaches great importance to him!" Someone immediately said.

However, one of the Shi clan officials immediately snorted: "Don't climb higher and fall harder when the time comes." He actually wants to go against our scholars, if there is no emperor to cover him, then we can let him go to Hades every moment! ”

"Yes! He actually has the courage to go against our scholars, and the emperor's favorite is this kind of person, so he can get so much attention. A Zhang Chao is not terrible, and the most important thing is the emperor behind him. He is not enough to be a dog of the emperor, let it out and bite people. Someone snorted.

Everyone also agrees with this statement, thinking that Zhang Chao is just a dog raised by Li Yuan and Li Shimin, and it was Li Yuan and Li Shimin who specially asked him to bite the Shi clan and deal with the Shi clan. And without Li Yuan, the emperor, and without the help of imperial power, it would be easy for them to clean up Zhang Chao. The scholars only focused on the open and secret battles with the emperor, but they seriously ignored the rise of the Hanmen Shu clan, and not an emperor could help. The rise of the Hanmen Shu clan is not so simple, it represents the interests of a class, rather than the emperor using them to balance the Shi clan.

However, from today onwards, everyone also knows that a political rookie has also begun to rise, and everyone knows that Zhang Chao will inevitably be reused, and he will definitely be able to soar into the sky in the future. Such a big credit, how can it be done if it is not reused. If such a big credit is not reused, everyone must doubt whether Li Shimin's reward and punishment are fair.

The banquet was soon filled with the pleasures of the guests and hosts, and then everyone was ready to disperse.

"The emperor has an order, the marquis of Weinan County, and Zhang Chao, the servant of the palace, go to the Liangyi Hall to see the emperor!" Zhang Chao said.

Li Shimin sat in the study of the Liangyi Palace. And there is another woman next to her, this woman Zhang Chao also knows, it is the princess of Qin back then, and the eldest grandson of the current Tang Dynasty Queen. Zhang Chao began to speculate from a certain psychology that generally speaking, an official asked his wife to come forward to receive him, which means that he clearly regarded this person as a closer person. Of course. This is only in private, if it is official, this is not the case. But now this is the Liangyi Palace, which is the emperor's study, but Li Shimin brought the queen with him, which means that he is closer to Zhang Chao.

Zhang Chao quickly came to the conclusion that this time was a good thing, not a bad thing.

"Zhang Chao, you have also been in the position of serving the imperial history in the palace for two years, right?" Li Shimin asked.

Zhang Chao replied: "Yes, it's been two years." ”

"It's been two years. And this meritorious service is also very small, so it should be possible to get a promotion. I have four positions to give you a look at where you want to go. Li Shimin said.

Hearing that Li Shimin planned to promote himself, Zhang Chao was still very excited, because only by being promoted can he grasp greater power, and only by promotion can he gain greater political influence, so that more poor people can also unite around him, and he can make himself a leader of more and more poor officials. So promotion is a must. is also what Zhang Chao is pursuing. However, hearing that there are four positions to choose from, this makes Zhang Chao feel a little strange in his heart. Li Shimin will choose a position for himself, which makes Zhang Chao start to be on guard in his heart. Zhang Chao didn't amplify his words immediately, he planned to let Li Shimin say what position option he gave him.

"I have a few positions, you can take a look. The first is Zhan Shizhi. Li Shimin said.

Hearing the first official position, Zhang Chao frowned, this Zhan Shi is straight. The position is actually a subordinate officer under the crown prince. According to the practice of many ancient feudal dynasties, the prince's East Palace has a set of administrative teams, which are called subordinate officials of the East Palace. This team is actually a miniature version of the central government, in which the crown prince Zhan Shi is the "prime minister", which is equivalent to Shangshu Province. The left and right Chunfang correspond to the province of Zhongshu and the province of Menxia.

And Zhan Shisi is directly equivalent to the Imperial Historical Tower. The Department of Economic Affairs is equivalent to the secretary and supervisor, and there are many corresponding positions that have so-called positions. And these are a miniature version of the central department, only with much less power and much lower grades. And this setting is actually to hope that the prince can learn how to manage the country, and then he can gradually take over the country in the future, and then he can gain the management ability step by step. It can even train a group of talents for the crown prince, so that the prince can form his own team, and then be able to take over the country smoothly after the death or abdication of the previous emperor.

And Li Shimin proposed to let himself serve as the head of the Zhan Shizhi, in fact, it is equivalent to not changing the "system", which is equivalent to being transferred from the national "Discipline Inspection Commission" to the "Discipline Inspection Commission" in a department, which is equivalent to the bottom, and it has also been promoted to a certain level.

But Zhang Chao heard the meaning of this, Li Shimin hoped that he could go to Li Chengqian, a princeling's subordinate official, and he would serve as Li Chengqian's team in the future. But now Dong Liang City Wall is just a child who has just been eight years old, and it is impossible for him to exercise power. So once he goes to the prince's Zhan Mansion to take up a post, it will inevitably cause him to sit on the cold bench for several years. Once you go here to take up a post, then the next power is not as good as your own palace servant. The palace can check the history of any department, especially the economic side, which has great power. However, in the East Palace, where the crown prince was established, I am afraid that the scope of power is very small, and he can only serve in a small area, and he cannot expand the scope. Although the prince's East Palace looks very noble and has a certain future in the future, this Zhang Chao is still not optimistic.

Once he went to Zhan Shifu, it meant that his future was tied to the crown prince, and he couldn't get out of the relationship. At that time, I am afraid that I will be the prince's lackey, and I will not be able to get rid of this fate. This is definitely not the result Zhang Chao wants, not to mention this Tang Dynasty prince Li Chengqian, but he is a guy who wants to rebel! Once Li Chengqian rebelled, he would really be on wax, and he would be implicated at that time.

"Your Majesty, what about the other one?" Zhang Chao asked.

Li Shimin saw Zhang Chao and asked another, and then took the initiative to say: "The second one, that is, my living room." ”

Zhang Chao listened to this. This housekeeper was actually a "historian", a person responsible for recording the emperor's every move. What the emperor did and what he said, it was necessary to record it one by one, and let the compiler of the history book check it in the future as evidence for the evaluation of an emperor.

Be a historian. You have to have a hard bone. And all dynasties and dynasties have been more respectful of historians. In many cases, the prime minister personally supervises the revision of history, and the person in charge of revision of history is also one of the important links. The housekeepers are the most important, responsible for almost every move of the emperor, the supreme core of the country, and are very respected.

But Zhang Chao didn't want to go to this position, because the living house looks noble, but in fact he has very little power. The resident is a historian, and the historian's duty is to record the history as it is, not to express his own opinions. Once you become a resident of this house. There is no chance to exert his opinion in the court. In fact, the housekeeper is a "video camera" and a "tape recorder", which can only record the emperor's words and deeds, but cannot express his own opinions. Once a historian has expressed his opinion, he is not a historian. Therefore, it is impossible for Zhang Chao to be this housekeeper, because it is impossible for him to give up the influence of the imperial court. It is impossible for Zhang Chao to give up his power to be this noble official position.

Seeing Zhang Chao's reluctance, Li Shimin continued: "The third." That is, to give up people. ”

In fact, it is one of the high-ranking groups equivalent to the head of state in later generations. This general secretary is actually like a senior secretary in the "XX Comrade Office" of the Central Committee in later generations. This office is dedicated to serving a senior leader, and every person in it is an ordinary "miscellaneous worker", but they are all hanging high-level officials. Tongshi Sheren is dedicated to doing things for the emperor, responsible for handling documents on behalf of the emperor, and helping the emperor to do some official things to usher in.

However, the power of this position is all dependent on the emperor's trust. If the emperor trusts you. Then you can express your opinion, but if the emperor doesn't trust it, then I'm afraid you will go to the cold bench.

However, once he becomes this generalist, it means that he has become Li Shimin's "lackey". Both ancient and posterity. Anyone who becomes the "secretary" of the leader will inevitably be branded with this leader, and he will not be able to get rid of it if he wants to get rid of it in the future. Don't think that being a leading secretary is a good thing, Zhang Chao's experience as an old civil servant tells him that becoming a leading secretary is certainly a quick promotion. But your future is tied to the leader. If the leader has a future, you will also have a future, and once the leader is unlucky, then you can only be silent with this broken ship, and you can't change jobs like other officials.

If the leader retires peacefully and "lands safely", it is still good, but if the leader commits something and "enters", then I am afraid that you will not be able to avoid it at all, and I am afraid that you will become the leader's "cellmate".

So once Zhang Chao became this general, although he seemed to have a very high status, he was actually completely tied to Li Shimin, and he was branded by Li Shimin, and he couldn't get rid of it at all. Don't want to be a leader of the poor family at that time, and you will definitely become a lackey of Li Shimin, the emperor. Becoming the emperor's lackey, this is definitely not what Zhang Chao wants.

"Your Majesty, what about the last one?" Zhang Chao asked.

"The last one? That is to go to the four schools to become a doctorate, and I can put you in charge of the entire four studies. Li Shimin said.

The so-called four schools are a school under Guozijian. Guozijian was actually a very large department, equivalent to a university directly under the central government in later generations, and was also responsible for the education administration of the whole country. And under Guozijian, there are two schools, Taixue and Simenxue. Guozijian is only responsible for teaching the royal family, and the descendants of officials above the third rank are a place to study. Guozijian's status is equivalent to that of a top aristocratic school, with a small enrollment and excellent teachers. The next Taixue is generally a place for the descendants of officials from the third to the fifth rank to learn, and a place for the second generation of middle-level officials who belong to ordinary officials.

As for the last four courses, they are all places for outstanding students selected from low-level officials and ordinary people.

"Li Shimin, this is really testing himself!" Zhang Chao thought in his heart.

The first three official positions actually mean that Zhang Chao gave up his identity as a leader of a poor family and became a senior lackey for Li Shimin. However, the last doctor of the four disciplines, that is, the senior teacher of the four disciplines, is actually a position that is conducive to Zhang Chao's development.

There are 1,200 students studying in the four schools at all times, and these people are all outstanding students selected from among the low-level officials and ordinary people. They were either low-level officials, generally not of high origin, and most of them were not scholars. On the other hand, they are all students selected from ordinary poor families, and they have little to do with the background of the scholars.

If Zhang Chao becomes the actual person in charge of this four-door study, it means that he can quickly win over a group of people and then form his own future faction. In the future, many of these students will enter the officialdom and become an important reserve force for poor officials. At that time, Zhang Chao was actually from the four schools, so he still knew a lot about the four schools.

If he can become the actual person in charge of the four schools, then the next is equivalent to becoming the "Chairman Jiang" of the later generations of the Huangpu principal, the meaning is almost the same, they will all become the leaders of the poor officials in the next ten years. In the future, a large number of students from these four disciplines will come to the officialdom, so Zhang Chao also has a teacher-student friendship with them, so it is completely possible to form a big faction with the help of this teacher-student friendship. In the later Ming Dynasty, many political factions also relied on this kind of inheritance between teachers and students, so the relationship between students and teachers was very important, and even related to the continuation of a political faction. Especially in ancient times, the prince of heaven and earth, that is one of the very important relationships, and it is not so easy to get rid of. Therefore, this four-door study is a good shortcut to form a faction.

"Your Majesty, the minister chose to go to the four schools to study." Zhang Chao said.

How could you not eat such a big pie?

"Do you want to know what I mean?" Li Shimin asked.

Zhang Chao knew that Li Shimin was a little dissatisfied with himself. Zhang Chao wants to go to the four schools, so he thinks that this means not forgetting that he wants to form a faction, instead of being Li Shimin's senior lackey. Although the Emperor knew that factions were inevitable, he would never support them. Li Shimin wants Zhang Chao to be Li Shimin's senior lackey, which can be used better, instead of making Zhang Chao the leader of a big faction. A big faction leader, where is there a high-level lackey who is useful? But Zhang Chao refused, and he still didn't forget his idea of forming a faction.

"Do you know what I'm going to think? Everything you have is given to you by the royal family, and if the royal family wants to take it back, it will be easy. Even your life could be threatened at any time, do you still want to do it? Li Shimin asked.

When the eldest grandson queen next to her heard Li Shimin's words, she was obviously very surprised, and the eldest grandson queen didn't know what was going on, Li Shimin would treat Zhang Chao so harshly. Zhang Chao was the hero just now, didn't he be particularly commended just now? But now it's so harsh, it's obviously not quite in line with the norm.

"If the people of all people die for profit, will they avoid it because of misfortune and fortune!" Zhang Chao replied blandly.

Zhang Chao changed Lin Zexu's words by two words, and then told Li Shimin. And Li Shimin was also surprised, obviously not knowing that Zhang Chao would answer him like this.

"Okay, I will make an order tomorrow to appoint you as a doctor of the four disciplines, and actually be in charge of the four disciplines." Li Shimin said.

"Obey orders!" Zhang Chao replied.

And Li Shimin looked at the back of Zhang Chao leaving, and then said: "It seems that my father is right, he is either a great sage or a great traitor." (To be continued......)