The imperial examination has been in place for a hundred years.

The middle topic and the direction of emphasis naturally change.

But in the final analysis, it is still inseparable from the recognized works of sages such as the Four Books and the Five Classics.

Speaking from the heart, the topic personally proposed by Emperor Sutai this time is actually not difficult, at least it is not obscure at all.

It can even be said that as long as you are a reader, there is basically nothing you haven't read.

- "The king regards the minister as a sibling, and the minister regards the king as the heart; The monarch regards the minister as a dog and a horse, and the minister regards the monarch as a countryman; The king regards his ministers as mustard, and the ministers regard him as an enemy. ”

"In the past two months, all the scholars have been able to attack the Yanguo Mansion for their complacency and arrogance, but now Your Majesty has taken the words of the ancient sages to advise the princes at that time as the subject of today's examination." The invigilator looked around the field, and it was not surprising to see that many people's faces turned pale in an instant, and even some people couldn't bear it, and fainted on the spot, but they had no mercy, only sneered slightly, knowing, "These scholars are finished!" ”

Even if Emperor Sutai and the Duke of Yanguo will not continue to investigate what they have done before, the topic personally proposed by Emperor Sutai has already doomed the future of these people to be bleak: because these words were used by the sages in ancient times to persuade the princes to treat their subordinates well, and the emperor Sutai took the initiative to use them, which is not only a reflection on oneself, but also a concrete embodiment of strict self-discipline.

If Emperor Sutai and others take advantage of this spring to express their attitude: before asking his subordinates to be loyal to him, he will examine himself by himself, have he done the same as caring and trusting his subordinates as siblings?

It is conceivable that after the examination questions of this subject were released, the people of the world, especially the entire scholarly class, would be so moved to meet such a compassionate and humble king!

At that time, what will be the fate of the people who attacked the Yanguo Mansion this time?

They would be regarded as traitors - because even if Jian Xubai was not born in the imperial examination and had a natural estrangement from the officials who only entered the Golden List, they had something in common: they were all courtiers.

It is the class of "ministers".

It is this class, and no one wants to meet an emperor who is selfish and selfish, using his courtiers as pigs and dogs, and demanding that his courtiers be loyal to him.

And those scholars who attacked the Yanguo Mansion, in the previous discussion of Jian Xubai, blindly emphasized the various evil deeds and arrogance of the so-called Yanguo Mansion, and never mentioned the merits of the Yanguo Mansion over the years - if this kind of person and this kind of public opinion are allowed to prevail, how can they live as courtiers in the future?

No one wants to make great contributions to the country and the king, but because of the slightest negligence on the part of themselves or their families, they will fall into the dust.

So next, there is no need for Emperor Su Tai and Jian Xubai to make a move, some people will target these scholars.

They are already doomed to be victims.

"Your Majesty's hand is really ......," Yuan Xuepei sighed afterwards, "In contrast, what I thought before, Your Majesty would issue an order to reprimand, and even deprive these people of their fame, and ban them from the exam for life, which is already very merciful." ”

Emperor Sutai did not beat or scold these people, but let these people be forever excluded from the entire class of scholars and doctors - even their children and grandchildren will be affected for a long time, but the point is not actually the fate of these people, but that Emperor Sutai took advantage of this incident to greatly brush the reputation of "broad-minded, humble and compassionate" in the whole world!

To put it mildly, Emperor Sutai once again added luster to his Mingjun aura; In general, this is a big step in repairing and closing the gap between Da Rui's monarchs and ministers for decades.

After this incident, Lu's credit will definitely be able to recover a lot.

Of course, for Yuan Xuepei, what he was most pleased with was that "Since Your Majesty has done this, it can be seen that you will not easily cross the river and tear down the bridge." In the future, as long as Ah Xuan is cautious and self-controlled, it will not be difficult to achieve a good story with him. ”

- Even if Emperor Sutai is making a gesture, but if the posture is done like this, it is not easy to break the promise.

In the future, unless Jian Xubai commits the heinous crime, Emperor Sutai will not be able to treat him well.

After all, this emperor is now personally branding himself with the label of "sympathetic to his subordinates and always saving himself".

This label will bring him huge benefits, and once it is torn off, the result of the backlash will also be extremely heavy - even the entire Lu royal family will no longer be trusted by the people of the world, especially the scholars.

In that case, Lu's fate can be imagined!

With Yuan Xuepei's understanding of Emperor Sutai, this emperor would not do such a stupid thing.

It can be seen that the emperor really wants to cooperate with his courtiers, rather than following the example of his biological father.

"He is better than the first emperor." Emperor Sutai had already known about the exam questions, which was why he ignored many attacks, but at this moment, in front of his friends, he also bowed slightly, and said with a complicated expression, "He will become the emperor of the century." ”

"The same goes for you!" Yuan Xuepei raised his lamp to him with a smile, "How can Ming Jun not have the assistance of virtuous ministers?" No matter how future generations write Sutai Dynasty, it is impossible to bypass you. ”

Jian Xubai Wan'er, raised the teacup in his hand, touched him lightly, and drank it all - the spring of the ninth year of Sutai, at the cost of hundreds of scholars as sacrifices, eliminated the last estrangement between the great rui monarchs and ministers.

Since the spring of this year, the situation of intrigue and gangs in the court has decreased rapidly, and it has been replaced by a sincere plan for the dynasty and the people of the world.

In fact, most people don't like to spend time fighting in addition to dealing with busy government affairs.

However, in the Darui Dynasty, the monarchs and ministers in the past few decades calculated each other, completely eroding each other's trust.

The ministers were guarded against being unloaded by the emperor and killed the donkey; When the emperor is either obsessed with beauty, or he is worried that the courtiers will be disobedient and shake the imperial power - if the top level is like this, how can the people below be calm?

If it weren't for the fact that Rui Taizu's military exploits were too prominent, which established a good foundation for the dynasty, and Emperor Xianjia did have real talent and learning in governing the country, ensuring that even if the high-level intrigues continued, the low-level Li Shu could still live and work in peace and contentment, Da Rui would have been unable to maintain the prosperity of the world.

Even so, this seemingly majestic dynasty is actually on the verge of danger.

Fortunately, after ten years of cooperation, Emperor Sutai's continuous compensation, and Jian Xubai's continuous cooperation, this long-divided trust has finally been repaired.

Even with each other, they are not on guard.

But at least they can shift their main energy to how to continue and develop the prosperity of Darui, rather than how to restrict the other party, how to avoid being pitted by the other party, and how to compete with the other party for power......

After decades of mutual suspicion, the monarchs and ministers of this dynasty finally joined forces again.

The national strength, which was not weakened in the first place, is soaring almost at a rapid rate.

In particular, Jian Xubai's suggestion on attaching importance to merchants in that year greatly promoted the growth of commerce and trade in a stable environment.

From the prosperous imperial capital to the remote county towns, the streets are becoming more prosperous day by day, and the crowds are becoming more and more noisy day by day.

The number and number of faces from many foreign lands on the sea and outside the Cypriot land is also increasing day by day.

The specialties of Middle-earth since ancient times, silk tea, stoneware and fine porcelain, were sold to the north and south of the world like flowing water, and in exchange for gold and silver pouring into Middle-earth like flowing water.

In just three years, the country's profits have reached a jaw-dropping level.

The treasury could not even be placed, so the Ministry of Works had to rush to work overnight to expand the premises, so as to avoid that the taxes that had just been collected would have nowhere to be placed.

The richness and power of Darui spread to every corner of the world with every sail and caravan that went away.

So much so that Honglu Siqing has to apply to the imperial court for an increase in manpower almost every year.

Because of the large number of countries that came to pay tribute or surrender, this originally idle yamen is now from top to bottom, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and everyone is busy with their feet.

The white-haired historian recorded this glorious period with trembling hands: "The Eight Desolations are the only ones, and all the nations are coming to the dynasty, and there has never been such a grand occasion in the history of Middle Earth. Su Tai is really an emperor through the ages! ”

However, the emperor in the prime of life, and the prime minister in the prime of life, have never indulged in such an achievement, although the four countries have trembling and kowtowing under the glory of Darui, and dare not disobey in the slightest, but the appropriation and inspection of the military department have not been relaxed from time to time.

"For example, everyone knows today that the wealth of Middle-earth is strong, and they have sent envoys to worship." Jian Xubai warned those colleagues who got carried away, "If there is no strong soldier and a strong helmet and sharp blade in his hand, he will only remember the wealth of our dynasty and forget the strength of his dynasty, then the army can be expected, and the destruction of the country and the extinction of the species can also be expected!" ”

The prime minister made it clear that at this point, Emperor Sutai also praised it greatly, and the people below were awe-inspiring and obedient.

However, time has strengthened the dynasty and grown immature, but it will also be separated from life and death.

In the spring of the fifteenth year of Sutai, the Empress Dowager Su occasionally contracted a cold, and at first thought that she was fine, but in the end she did not get sick.

Even though the imperial court canceled the summer vacation for this reason, and the emperor and queen went to Mingren Palace to serve the decoction, the Empress Dowager Su still passed away in the Qingxi Palace in mid-June of this year.

Before dying, the Queen Mother took Empress Nie's hand and tried her best to point to Lu Mian, the Marquis of Xing'an, who was crying at a loss in front of the bed.

Lu Mian is the second son of the eldest princess of Yushan and Su Shaoge, after the full Zhou, he was sent to the imperial capital, and passed to the eldest princess of Changxing, and Emperor Sutai was named the Marquis of Xing'an.

Because the eldest princess of Changxing and the first concubine ended in peace, and died suddenly in the palace before leaving the cabinet for the second time, she did not set foot in the door of the He family after all, and the Empress Dowager Su was not very satisfied with the He family, so she simply let the Marquis of Xing'an follow the surname of the eldest princess of Changxing, surnamed Lu.

Lu Mian's biological grandmother, Concubine Jiang, is actually still there at this time, but Concubine Jiang and Empress Dowager Su are as old as ever, if they take over Lu Mian, they don't know how many years they can raise him? The most important thing is that Concubine Jiang and Emperor Sutai have an average relationship, and they can't bring enough shelter and glory to Lu Mian, so it is better to hand it over to Empress Nie to take care of, which will be more helpful to Lu Mian's future.

Queen Nie has gotten along very well with the Empress Dowager Su over the years, and she is like a mother and daughter, but she is already very sad at this moment, so she can't help nodding her head, promising that she will definitely treat Lu Mian as her own and ensure his glory and peace for the rest of her life, so as to continue the line of Princess Changxing.

Empress Dowager Su listened to her incoherent but heartfelt assurance, and swallowed her breath of relief - Emperor Sutai, who was kneeling beside Empress Nie, burst into tears and trembled her lips, but she couldn't say a word.

The last thing the Queen Mother thought about before she died seemed to be Lu Mian, but rather, it was the eldest princess of Changxing.

But the Queen Mother never told him a word about his biological son, but counted on Empress Nie, which shows how much the Queen Mother was angry about the emperor's pardon of Wei's mother and son, and even the Queen Mother never really forgave Emperor Sutai.

But Emperor Sutai knew that even if he was given another chance to choose, he would still do it - the prosperity of the dynasty, the prosperity of the world, and the inscription of history, from the moment he set his goal, he was destined to lose something else: the sweetness of a lifetime and a couple; unreserved trust and reliance between relatives; Friends who treat each other as equals......

In the future, he may continue to lose, but watching the rise of this dynasty little by little is better than the prosperity recorded in the history books; watched the court that originally had its own thoughts gradually eliminate prejudices and estrangements, and jointly seek the well-being of the world; Watching the subjects of this world become richer and more confident day by day—he felt that it was worth it.

If grievances are to be settled, not to end together, and to bury all love, hatred, and hatred in destruction, then someone will have to make sacrifices and concessions after all.

Su Tai's father and brother did not let it, and they refused to let it.

Therefore, the grievances before the founding of the country continued, and Emperor Xianjia's biological daughter, Princess Changxing, and Lu Chengxuan, the eldest son of Emperor Duanhua, were all victims of this grievance.

Therefore, Emperor Sutai chose to retreat, so that the future generations would no longer have to be affected by their predecessors.

Even if the price is that the biological mother will not forgive until death, it is his own inexhaustible guilt and pain.

"However, there is always someone to sacrifice." The emperor, who was in the prime of life, trembled and buried his face in the crook of his arm, and when he raised his head, his face had returned to calm, and there was a faint sadness between his eyebrows.

The example of the people of the world, the protection of all the people, how can they fall because of personal feelings?

All this pain and sorrow, the regrets and guilt of this life, can only be soothed by the peace of the country and the people, and the long prosperity of the world.

He has chosen this path, and he will continue to go no matter what.

…… After the funeral of the Queen Mother, Empress Nie took Lu Mian to Weiyang Palace to raise her according to her promise.

This is the first time the queen has raised a child, even if Lu Mian is no longer a baby in swaddling clothes, Queen Nie is still very solemn, for fear that she will not do anything good and live up to the queen mother's last wishes.

Therefore, Queen Nie summoned Song Yixiao into the palace from time to time to ask for experience.

Song Yixiao would occasionally bring a few boxes of pastries to share with the queen - the pastries at this time were not made by Jian Qingyue, the county lord of Leyuan, but by his sister Jian Qingzhang, the county lord of Pingshao.

…… Jian Qingyue, who was born in the twenty-second year of Xianjia, left the cabinet in the twelfth year of Sutai, and is now a mother of two children.

And Lu Zhuo'er, the half-sister who once made Song Yixiao feel embarrassed, also declined last year - Lu Zhuo'er recovered the year before last, as if she suddenly woke up. Song Yixiao couldn't believe it for a while, but after repeatedly confirming that it was correct, for more than three months, she couldn't help but cry with joy when she mentioned this matter.

Although Lu Zhuo'er is still very silent after recovery, she is already a normal silent speech, otherwise Song Yixiao will not worry about her getting married.

Rao is like this, Song Yixiao also deliberately stuffed her confidants for many years, Jin Xun and his wife, Bell, Moss Jin and others, all to her as a dowry, lest she suffer a loss - Jian Qingyue complained half-truthfully when she returned to her parents' house for this, thinking that her mother was better to her aunt than to herself.

However, this Leyuan county lord is not a careful person, and after being coaxed by Jian Xubai for a few words, he smiled happily and didn't mind.

Oh, the reason why it is said that Lu Zhuo'er is declining, not out of the cabinet, is because after the turmoil in Sutai for nine years, the Empress Dowager Su personally issued a decree to accept Lu Zhuo'er as a righteous daughter and be crowned Princess Chang'an.

So she is descending, she has her own princess mansion, and she doesn't have to live with her in-laws, which makes Song Yixiao very grateful to Empress Dowager Su and Empress Nie.

Because Empress Dowager Su came forward at the request of Empress Nie.

In addition to these two, Jian Qingshi, the son of the Duke of Yanguo, who was born in the first year of Sutai, has also reached the year of marriage.

But because his eldest sister Jian Qingzhang is still young, Jian Xubai and his wife are not in a hurry to show him, and they hope that he can have the heart of his uncle Lu Guanyun back then, and take the test to make a name for himself and then consider family affairs.

"Time flies so fast, it seems that two days ago, Qingyue was still laughing on our lap, and in a blink of an eye, Qingzhang can make pastries." Empress Nie picked up a piece of pastry, and there was a faint warmth and embarrassment in her soft eyes, "This is a special use of vegetable oil?" Qingzhang is really careful. ”

The Queen Mother is newly mourned, Queen Nie naturally has to keep filial piety, she really respects the Queen Mother Su, she is very serious, and has already ordered that the diet during this period should not be meaty, even the meat oil is not allowed to be put aside. And the pastry made by Jian Qingzhang is actually made of lard in most cases, and the reason why it was changed to vegetable oil is obviously made specifically for the queen.

"You love her so much, how can she not care?" Song Yixiao chuckled, picked up the tea, and was about to take a sip, but when she saw Queen Nie suddenly frowning, her face immediately changed, and she didn't wait for Song Yixiao to ask, she hurriedly threw down the pastry, raised her sleeves to cover her mouth, and hurried out of the inner hall!

"?!" The palace maids who were waiting around were stunned and hurriedly caught up.

Song Yixiao was startled, but followed outside the hall, watching Queen Nie leaning over the railing, vomiting at the flowers, she observed for a moment, and the original stunned expression gradually turned into joy and apprehension, and hurriedly pulled a palace maid: "Quick!" Hurry up and get a doctor! ”