This was the case with vast and populous empires.

The Western Expedition to Yan seems to be a major event that the whole country should focus on, but in fact it is not the case, this is a major event that is almost related to the survival of the country for the Western Yan Kingdom, and for the Tang Dynasty, it is just an expedition that can be afforded, and only the Ministry of War and the Privy Council have been paying attention to this matter.

After reading the chapter in his hand, Li Shimin was very angry, and all the prime ministers in the Taiji Hall could feel Li Shimin's emotions, but in the end, Li Shimin suppressed all his emotions and said: "The customs of the Western Regions have been for a long time, and they have returned to the Tang Dynasty for a short time, and they can't change the customs. ”

Seeing that Li Shimin was not carried away to launch an expedition with no results, all the prime ministers who sat down breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone here is very busy at hand, and almost all of them are busy with things, and Li Shimin's lack of any prime minister will lead to the accumulation of court affairs.

……

Among the prime ministers, there is a very special existence, that is, Luo Xuanchen, the governor of the Ministry of Shangshu, who has not participated in almost half of the hundreds of political affairs hall meetings held by Zhenguan in the past eight or nine years.

Because he is often absent from Chang'an.

He is the official department of the secretary, responsible for the selection of officials for the imperial court, known as the heavenly official, although he is ranked lower in the political hall, but the power is great, if it is only the past one or two hundred years of the official department of the book, the scope of power can be roughly felt, but now there has been a huge change.

That is the large-scale implementation of the imperial examination, and how to promote this policy is a very serious issue, which determines the level and quality of officials in the next few decades and even a hundred years of Datang, and it is a veritable century-old plan.

Especially after Luo Su proposed to separate the list and subject exams for Hu Ren, Luo Xuanchen thought of doing the same within Datang, because within Datang, the level of education is also very uneven, and some states and counties, such as the prefectures in Hexi, and the states in Lingnan, may not be able to produce a Jinshi in a hundred years.

Luo Xuanchen summoned many people in several key states in the Tang Dynasty to investigate the acceptance of this policy and how it was more appropriate to implement a complete imperial examination at the local level, so he did not stay in Chang'an for half of the time, but after researching for a long time, Luo Xuanchen canceled the idea.

Because the resistance is too great, several areas where the traditional scholar clan is very strong, and the areas with the highest level of education, in other words, the places with the most court officials, all oppose this policy, and the reason is also very just, "Selecting talents for the country and advancing with talents, is the imperial court discriminating against our origins?" ”

After the bankruptcy of the policy of dividing the state into states, the rollout of the imperial examination in various places can be said to be relatively smooth.

It is very counterintuitive that the imperial examination is not actually that much of a threat to the scholars.

Because reading is a costly affair, they can hardly see any harm to the scholars everywhere.

Because of the previous economic form, it was advantageous for the scholars to be local officials, but with the development of emphasizing the inside and ignoring the outside, the power of the central government became more and more heavy, and the corporal people in the world sharpened their heads and went to the center, and there was even a saying that the officials of other states were automatically lower than the officials in Beijing.

The Jinshi Branch must be selected by the county, state, and officials, and the appearance, talent, and morality must be good, which is obviously the selection of important ministers.

In the past, if the scholars wanted to become officials, they needed to exchange intertwined interests, and it was so easy to recommend where to recommend, and many talented scholars even had to be a staff member for the princes and kings first, or a staff member for their relatives, before they could embark on the road of becoming an official.

But what about now?

As long as you sign up for the imperial examination, you can rely on what you have learned since you were a child, as well as the insight of being born in a wealthy family, to become a jinshi, a jinshi who will be awarded by the imperial court.

Above board, with the ability to come up, this is the right way, this is the new circle of contempt, that is, I am a jinshi, and you rely on the shadow of the ancestors to come up.

The children of the big family can compare everything, and the status of Jinshi will be a new thing for them to compare.

……

In the hall of officials, Luo Xuanchen was carefully looking at the performance assessment of state officials at the end of Zhenguan's eighth year, as well as the information of alternative officials who had not yet been awarded.

Why is the official department Shangshu called a heavenly official, because he is really powerful, as long as Luo Xuanchen is willing, he can reasonably and legally let a scholar not be an official for the rest of his life.

"Wow."

A footstep walked in from the outside, and then walked to Luo Xuanchen's side, Luo Xuanchen raised his head, he was one of the principals of the ministry, and he said with a flattering smile on his face: "Lord Shangshu." ”

Luo Xuanchen raised his eyebrows, although with Luo Xuanchen's status and prestige in Shilin, it is okay to call an adult, but generally only those who are obviously younger will shout like this, and most of them will call him Luo Shangshu.

Nothing to do, Luo Xuanchen knew that there was something wrong, so he asked solemnly: "What's the matter?" ”

The principal looked left and right, and then said in a low voice: "Lord Shangshu, there is an invitation handed over, it is from the Wei Palace." ”

I see.

No wonder this principal spoke so diligently, but he didn't expect it to be for King Wei to come over to set up a relationship.

Luo Xuanchen's mind was racing, and he said slowly: "I have never had any friendship with King Wei, and the prime minister and the vassal king should not meet in private, and please return to King Wei." ”

After saying that, he stopped talking, and the main thing could only leave in a huff when he saw this, and that was indeed the case.

When the principal walked out, Luo Xuanchen's expression suddenly became serious.

This is not a good signal, what can the king of Wei ask him to do, it is nothing more than hoping that he will make it easier for him when selecting officials.

After Luo Xuanchen let go, he thought for a while, and did not go back to his mansion, but turned around and went to the Zhou County Mansion first.

After the death of Princess Zhao from Pingyang, in order to no longer see things and think about people, Luo Xuanye moved to the palace of Zhou County.

When Luo Xuanye heard that Luo Xuanchen was suddenly visiting, he knew that something must be wrong, if it was just a daily gathering, he would definitely notify him in advance, and he would also call Luo Xuanling and Luo Xuanjing, and now that he came by himself, I am afraid it is not a trivial matter.

Sure enough, as soon as Luo Xuanchen entered the mansion, the solemn expression on his face foreshadowed something, and after the two hurriedly entered the house, Luo Xuanchen immediately said: "Ah Ye, today the King of Wei sent me an invitation and invited me to the mansion for a banquet." ”

Luo Xuanye was first taken aback when he heard this, and then said slowly: "Fourth brother, you shouldn't come to me to say this, it's not good for you." ”

Today, Luo Xuanchen's visit to Luo Xuanye's Mansion is not a secret, King Wei will definitely know, and King Wei is very favored now, which is indeed not a good thing for Luo Xuanchen.

But Luo Xuanchen didn't care, and said casually: "It's nothing more than the worst thing is to remove me, but the prince is not wrong, King Wei has no great merit and no great virtue, but he directly seeks to seize the throne, which is not in line with my style of acting." ”

Luo Xuanchen's words are very clear, the crown prince Li Chengqian is not bad, your King Wei is not very good, you have no great credit to the Tang Dynasty, and it is not that you will die if you don't fight for the throne, this is different from Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, then you King Wei is trying to seize the throne, you really have nothing to do.

If you Wei King Li Tai really have Li Shimin's ability, you don't need to say it, I will help you, but you don't, then you are thinking about peaches.

Luo Xuanye was quite moved when he heard this: "Fourth brother, don't talk about today's affairs anymore, don't get involved in the affairs of the prince and the king of Wei, to tell the truth, there are too many princes who can't inherit the throne in this history, Your Majesty asked me to be the prince and the prince, and I will do it, but I never thought of letting you participate in the affairs of the prince's East Palace." ”

Luo Xuanchen understands Luo Xuanye's hard work, the storage position is the source of trouble, with Luo's status, he doesn't get much by participating in it, but once he fails, he loses too much.

Luo Xuanye said again: "Recently, I have been to the East Palace more often, and after seven years from Zhenguan, Juncheng said that the prince often cries, so I will go to see him more." ”

Luo Xuanchen's heart froze, and he asked in a low voice, "Is the prince so badly injured?" ”

The people don't know about royal affairs, how can high-ranking officials like Luo Xuanchen not know.

Since Zhenguan recovered from a serious illness in the seventh year, Li Chengqian's foot disease began to affect walking, and now at the end of the eighth year of Zhenguan, and since the beginning of the ninth year of Zhenguan, Li Chengqian sometimes even has to drag his legs to walk, in other words, Li Chengqian has really become a lame, and it is becoming more and more serious lame.

This seriously affected Li Chengqian's mental health, he was not the kind of person who was as determined as iron, if it weren't for Luo Juncheng to accompany him and a few younger sisters to enlighten him, Li Chengqian would probably be autistic and distorted.

But even so, Li Chengqian often woke up in his sleep, hugged his legs and cried.

Luo Xuanchen pondered for a moment and said, "Ah Ye, you have to think of a way, if you can't think of it, go to Lingtian Pavilion, the old ancestor will always make valuable proposals." ”

Luo Xuanye nodded silently.

When Luo Xuanchen walked out of the palace, he turned around and looked at the majestic and deep regulations of the palace, the lantern was hung high, but there was a trace of sadness, he got into the carriage, and he was a little confused in his heart, "Can Datang really accept a lame king?" ”

Li Shimin didn't know, Luo Xuanye didn't know, everyone didn't know, but almost everyone was trying their best to convince Li Chengqian that his legs would not affect his inheritance.

In order to prove that his importance to Li Chengqian has not changed in the slightest, Li Shimin has equipped Li Chengqian with a luxurious group of teachers from the East Palace, and almost every one of them is a prestigious and well-known figure.

Luo Xuanye thought for a long time and came to the Spirit Heaven Pavilion.

"Ancestor, please give me some advice, how can I cheer up the prince?"

Luo Su didn't speak, but carefully looked at Luo Xuanye's eyebrows again, and said after a long time: "The Son of Heaven has equipped the prince with a teacher who looks luxurious on the surface, but in fact it can't.

The Son of Heaven wants to use the method of exercising himself to temper Li Chengqian, which is difficult for a strong man, and those who advise Li Chengqian are too harsh, although Li Chengqian is not a rotten wood, but he is not a pillar either, so tempering will only break it, you have to pay attention to this.

Wei Zheng is a person who is famous for his admonition, although he often jumps Li Shimin's angry feet, but in fact, his admonition is skillful, but sometimes there is a skillful persuasion, but he can't be persuaded.

If you can get the Son of Heaven to transfer Wei Zheng and Li Jing to the East Palace, plus you, you may be able to restore Li Chengqian's confidence and not worry about his position all day. ”

This is not a simple matter, and Li Shimin must be made aware of this situation in order to achieve this goal.

Luo Xuanye left Lingtian Pavilion, Luo Su looked at the figure of Luo Xuanye leaving, determined something, slowly closed his eyes, and began to recall the few people he had seen before, and then fixed his gaze on one person, Wu Wang Li Ke.

……

The atmosphere in the East Palace is very tense, and there is a very bad atmosphere in the current East Palace, that is, several ministers who taught Li Chengqian are all learning from Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng's status in the Zhenguan Dynasty is getting higher and higher, and when Li Shimin commented on the prime ministers, he even said that he relied on Fang Du to fight the world, the eldest grandson Wuji relied on the world to win, and Wei Zheng relied on Wei Zheng to govern the world.

Of course, this does not mean that Wei Zheng has really contributed more to governing the world than Fang Xuanling, but it means that in Li Shimin's heart, Wei Zheng has been ranked with Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and the eldest grandson Wuji.

When Luo Juncheng walked into the East Palace, he heard Kong Yingda say sharply: "His Royal Highness the Prince, do you want to learn from Emperor Yang Guang of Sui?"

His Majesty sent the ministers to teach His Highness, and the ministers could not sit idly by and watch His Highness be abandoned, and asked His Highness to quickly repel those who could only flatter. ”

Kong Yingda's voice and tone were very intense, Luo Juncheng felt his blood surging when he heard it, he walked into the hall quickly, and saw that the prince was a little dazed, his face was flushed, it was obviously the shame of being reprimanded, Luo Juncheng immediately said sharply to Kong Yingda: "Master Kong, are you coercing the prince?" ”

When Kong Yingda heard the sound, he turned around and saw that it was Luo Juncheng, and still said sharply: "It turned out to be the prince of Zhoujun, as the prince's companion, but he tolerated those servants who could only have fun to appear next to the prince, is this correct?" ”

Luo Juncheng naturally did not accept this accusation, and immediately shot back: "Master Confucius is a descendant of the Confucian sage, don't you know the truth of teaching according to aptitude?"

Master Confucius is His Majesty's courtier, don't you know that Your Majesty said that the prince can talk about the truth as long as he can?

What did you teach the prince by scolding him like this?

Who is considered a servant in the mouth of Master Confucius, am I a servant? ”

Although Luo Jun's adult age is not particularly large, he is already extremely tall, and his voice is loud, at this moment, it is like roaring on the battlefield, so close to Kong Yingda, that Kong Yingda's eardrums are buzzing.

Luo Juncheng's attitude made Kong Yingda very angry, and he threw his sleeves away angrily and said: "Since the prince said so, then let Your Majesty judge it." ”

Li Chengqian was a little scared when he heard this, since he became more and more inferior to his legs and feet, he didn't want to see Li Shimin, but Luo Juncheng said in a low voice: "It's okay, my father is in the palace, and he will definitely let these people go around without eating." ”

Hearing that Luo Xuanye was in the palace, Li Chengqian calmed down.

(End of chapter)