For the new Sui court, the great court will rarely be held, and some ceremonies are generally held, such as the new emperor's enthronement and the regent canonization, and then the New Year, the mobilization of the capital, etc., which are generally presided over by the queen mother, with strong symbolic meaning, and so far the new Sui has only held three great dynasties.

The small court meeting is the real militaristic discussion, presided over by the regent, from the third rank and above high-ranking officials to participate, but also includes some officials who hold real power, such as the official minister, the household department, the military department and senior civil officials on behalf of the military.

There is no fixed time for the small pilgrimage meeting, it is usually held temporarily, and half an hour later, dozens of high-ranking officials gather together in the huge meeting account of the Ministry of Inner History.

The seat is in the shape of 'Hui', with two circles inside and outside, the inner circle is the seat of the core minister, Zhang Xuan's seat is on the main seat in the north, next to the two Xiangguo of the Inner History Ling and Nayan, the other six Shangshu and the internal history, the servant of the door and the military long history, a total of nine people sit on the east, west and south three sides, and they twelve of them form the core inner circle, and everyone has a small table in front of them.

In the outer circle, the chief officials of the temple and the imperial history platform are seated, and the officials, households, and soldiers of the three departments of the squire and Zhang Xuan's secretary Du Ruhui also sit in the outer circle, in addition, the generals of the various armies are also eligible to attend the small court meeting, but the only generals attending the meeting today are Wei Chigong, Li Jing and Xu Shiji, and the other generals are unable to participate.

There was a lot of discussion in the big tent, and at this time, a guard shouted, "His Royal Highness King Qi has arrived!" ”

All the officials got up one after another, only to see Zhang Xuan walking in briskly through the side door, he had finished washing, washed away the fatigue of a night of running, changed into court clothes, and became energetic again.

Zhang Xuan walked to his seat and waved his hand, "Ministers, please take a seat!" ”

Everyone sat down again, the big tent became silent, Zhang Xuan nodded to Su Wei, signaling him to preside over the proceedings, this is also a common practice, as the regent, Zhang Xuan only speaks at critical moments, and he is not responsible for presiding over the proceedings.

Su Wei coughed and said slowly: "What happened in Chang'an must be known to everyone, Li Yuan's founding and ascension to the throne, although it is expected, it will also have an adverse impact on us, and it will cause confusion among the people of the world, especially Chang'an has decided to hold the imperial examination at the same time as us, this is to challenge us, so His Royal Highness suggested that a court meeting be held to discuss countermeasures with everyone, and everyone can speak freely and work together." ”

The big tent is still very quiet, no one speaks, at this time someone needs to throw bricks and lead the jade, Zhang Xuan glanced at Pei Ju and said with a smile: "Pei Xiangguo should have considered it, why don't Pei Xiangguo talk about it first!" ”

Pei Ju bowed slightly to Zhang Xuan, and said to everyone: "This time Li Yuan's ascension to the throne is actually not the right time, there is no feeling of natural success, but a forcible act, on the one hand, of course, he is eager to eliminate the shadow of the failure of the Eastern Crusade, on the other hand, I think it is also the result of the pressure of the Guanlong aristocratic group, presumably Li Yuan himself understands, so he used the imperial examination to inspire people and attract the world's scholars to serve, as for holding the imperial examination at the same time as us, this is after his defeat on the battlefield, he wants to make up for it with the victory in the officialdom." ”

"What does Pei Xiangguo mean, is Li Yuan deliberately challenging us?" Li Jing, the secretary of the military department, asked.

Pei Ju nodded, "That's true!" ”

With Pei Ju's leadership, the big tent gradually became active, and Cui Huan, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, said: "I also agree with Pei Gong's thinking, the imperial examination has actually become a new battlefield for our two families, and it is no longer limited to the imperial examination itself, so how can we win this imperial examination battle?" First of all, what to attract scholars to come to the capital for reference, can the number of admissions be expanded? ”

As soon as Cui Huan's voice fell, Xiao Yu smiled and said: "I don't think we should make a fuss about the number of people, literati are light, and readers feel that others are inferior to themselves, even if we only admit ten people, every reader will feel that they have hope, so they should make a fuss from the awarding of officials, if the person who passes the examination can be awarded the position of county magistrate or even county order, it must have a fatal attraction to every reader." ”

"And what about the number of admissions?"

Cui Huan asked a little unconvinced: "We are scheduled to admit one hundred and twenty people, and the admission quota has been spread all over the world, but how can we have one hundred and twenty county orders and counties to give them?" ”

"It doesn't have to be a county official, court officials can also be appointed, our low-grade court officials are far from enough, didn't we just want to recruit scholars to serve as court officials? Scholars who do well in the examination can be rewarded with county officials, and as long as twenty county officials are awarded, this will cause a great sensation. ”

The servant of the Ministry of Officials said with a smile: "Xiao Shilang is reasonable, we can publicize it, so that the scholars know this, and we can also take the official positions of the Central Plains counties as a quota in advance, so that the scope of the official award will be expanded, and for the poor children, we can subsidize, such as providing free accommodation and food, and then providing round-trip travel expenses, which has a huge attraction to many candidates." ”

"I'll say a few words!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at each other. It turned out to be Lu Zhuo, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who had served as the priest of the country for a long time, and had dealt with the scholars for many years, and he had the most say in what the scholars needed, and everyone quieted down and waited for Lu Zhuo to speak.

Lu Zhuo said unhurriedly: "It is indeed a good way to consider the scholars in life, I know that in the last imperial examination, many poor scholars borrowed money to go to Luoyang, and their lives were very embarrassing, but they wanted to study and gain fame, and the children of poor families probably accounted for about thirty percent, so we can establish a Taixue student system, such as selecting 5,000 outstanding scholars to study in Taixue, called Gongsheng, not only free food and lodging in Taixue, but also the imperial court will subsidize money and food every month, and after a few years of study, they can be recommended as officials. Outstanding people can also be promoted to officials, of course, they can continue to participate in the imperial examination, which will be very attractive to the children of poor families, we should make a big publicity, we should make a list so that the world's scholars understand these benefits, and many poor children will choose Zhongdu, and will not consider Chang'an. ”

At this time, Zhang Xuan smiled and approved: "Lu Shangshu is worthy of being born as a priest of the country, and he is very thoughtful, so let's do it!" Let's hear what the military thinks. ”

Zhang Xuan glanced at Fang Xuanling, meaning to let him speak, and the ministers realized that in fact, going to the barracks as a civilian officer was also a very attractive option.

Fang Xuanling naturally has his thoughts, in fact, he discussed countermeasures with Zhang Xuan on this matter, and Zhang Xuan obviously asked himself to speak on his behalf.

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "Everyone said very well, very accomplished, as a military representative, my thoughts are similar to everyone, but there are some slightly different opinions, I think to attract scholars to serve for the new Sui is not only to lure, but also to stimulate their patriotism, come to the imperial examination to participate in the imperial examination is to serve the nation and the country, most of them are young people, as long as the blood in their chests is ignited, why worry that they do not agree with us?" ”

"What exactly does Fang Junshi mean?" Su Wei asked, puzzled.

"War!"

Fang Xuanling said slowly: "We need a war with foreign races. ”

Zhang Xuan nodded secretly, and Fang Xuanling said that his heart was on the line

Chang'an, Taiji Palace Wude Palace, this is a palace named after the Tang Dynasty, and it is also the location of Emperor Li Yuan's imperial study.

In the study, Li Yuanzheng was discussing the military situation with Pei Lian, Liu Wenjing, and his two sons Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.

Li Shimin defeated the attack of Liang Shidu in Honghua County and stabilized the situation in Longyou, and at the same time, Li Xiaogong also suppressed the centrifugal turmoil of Bashu in Chengdu and made Bashu regain allegiance to the imperial court.

But the pressure on Guan Long is still very great, Xue Ju, Li Rail, Liang Shidu three major warlords continue to challenge Guan Long, Liu Wuzhou also broke through Lou Fan Pass, into Lou Fan County, threatening the survival of Taiyuan, the increasingly severe situation greatly restrained the Tang Dynasty's national strength and army, forcing Li Yuan to redeem his 30,000 prisoners of war at an extremely expensive price, a total of 300,000 taels of gold and 600,000 stone of grain, which is actually a war reparation.

"I just got the news!"

Li Yuan said to everyone very slowly: "Zhang Xuan held a small court meeting three days ago to discuss the strategy for our imperial examination, and the plan they proposed was similar to the plan proposed by Liu Xiangguo before, but they proposed to use the war against foreign races to stimulate the morale of the countrymen, I estimate that it is the war against Goguryeo, I want to ask everyone, what countermeasures do we have?" (To be continued.) )