The imperial examination ended, and after a few days of hurriedness, the results of the marking came out quickly. On this morning, Liu Xuan, Yang Gongren, and a group of Shangshu who served as marking teachers, escorted by a team of internal guards, took a sealed leather bag to the Chaoyang Hall of Shenwu Palace.

Yang Tong has been waiting for a long time.

Liu Xuan saluted and said, "See Your Highness!" ”

"Gong Liu, you've worked hard these days!" Yang Tong couldn't wait to smile and asked, "What is the result, I don't know who is the first place?" ”

Hearing this, Liu Xuan shook his head and said: "Your Highness, for the first place, Lao Yu and the adults have different opinions, and please make a decision!" ”

After Yang Tong heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned, and then he was overjoyed, in his impression, Du Ruhui was a veritable first place, who would have thought that the first place would be controversial, which also means that there are many people at the level of Du Ruhui.

He glanced at everyone and asked with a smile, "Different opinions, is it a controversy?" Let's talk about it! He held out his hand and motioned for everyone to sit down and talk.

After everyone took their seats, Liu Xuan said: "It can't be said to be a controversy, but there are five candidates, each with their own strengths!" ”

The examination subjects have scriptures, just like the fill-in-the-blank and silent writing of modern test papers. The teacher selects a sentence from the ancient classics, and according to this line of text, the candidate should fill in the context associated with it. After that, an explanation will be given to test the candidate's knowledge reserve.

The second subject of the examination is poetry, and when the subject is set up, some people think that the Ming Jing copies more righteous articles, and the discussion only talks about the old policies, and does not show the candidate's true talent and learning.

The third and most important subject of the exam, 'Counseling': Counseling, i.e., Discussion. Based on the questions raised about economic or political affairs, candidates are allowed to express their opinions and propose countermeasures. The scope of policy inquiry is wider, including politics, education, production, management, etc., which is more difficult than the scriptures and poems, and some also have some practical value. Equivalent to modern essay topics,

If the policy question is done well, even if you get a zero score in the post and poetry test, you will still be admitted and used, because the policy question is the subject that shows the candidate's real talent, and the other two subjects are all accompaniments.

And this time, it is difficult to choose the first place in the part of the strategy, and the question is 'how to strengthen the country'?

Some candidates write articles from a military perspective, while others write from the perspectives of morality, law, diplomacy, people's livelihood, etc., with different angles and connotations, so it is naturally difficult to judge the first place.

After understanding the reason for the first place dystocia, Yang Tong said to Liu Xuan: "Liu Gong, first show me the first place in your mind." ”

"Whoa!"

Liu Xuan handed over an exam paper and sighed: "Your Highness, this is the first place selected by Lao Yu, and it is also the most talented young man Lao Yu has ever seen, it is estimated that only Zhong Yuan can compare."

"Really?" Yang Tong was surprised, it was really remarkable to be comparable to Kong Yingda. Kong Yingda once learned from Liu Zhuo, recited a thousand words a day, was familiar with the scriptures, was good at words and chapters, at the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, he was selected as the "Ming Jing", he not only knew the scriptures, but also a political commentator, every time he pointed out the flaws, the gains and losses, in a word, he was a real talent, capable 'troll'.

Yang Tong hurriedly opened the exam paper, took the lead in looking at the name, and wrote the word "Xu Jingzong" on it, seeing this name, Yang Tong's face changed.

Xu Jingzong in history is a very controversial figure. Xu Jingzong was tired of serving as Zhongshu Ling and the young master of the crown prince, which was not only obtained by virtue of his support for Wu Zetian, but also supervised the revision of national history, and the two were emperors, and they were still talented. This is also one of the reasons why Li Shimin, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian admire him.

The reason why it is controversial is because he supports Li Zhili and Wu Zetian as the queen. In the official history of the feudal dynasty, Li Tang has always been orthodox, and Wu Zetian was called a usurper, so Xu Jingzong became a flattering snob. After Xu Jingzong's death, the draft text drafted by Yuan Sigu, a doctor of the dynasty, was generally objective: "Jingzong was promoted to the position of talent, and he was in the Qing ......"

Yang Tong's first thought was to kill a bastard, but after thinking about it, he still forgot it.

The historical Xu Jingzong was a good official in the era of Li Shimin's reign, why did he change during the Li Zhi period?

Political needs!

The emergence of some controversial figures has its own inevitability, and the person in power Wu Zetian needs Xu Jingzong as a quick knife for her to control the court, which created the controversial Xu Jingzong, if there is no Xu Jingzong, there will be others to do some bad things for Wu Zetian. That's why there is a saying that 'the times create heroes'.

Take Pei Ju and Yu Shiji as examples, when Yang Guang was virtuous, the two were first-class capable ministers in governing the world, and they were great contributors who assisted Yang Guang to lay down a great territory, even in the early stage of Yang Guang's fall, the two were still capable ministers and officials for the country and the people, until they were repeatedly disposed of by Yang Guang, and they were turned into traitorous prime ministers.

In fact, as long as the monarch is virtuous, then Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, and Li Linfu are capable ministers.

If he continues to be wise, will Xu Jingzong's life also change?

This is a false proposition, and no one can get an accurate answer.

If Yang Tong becomes Yang Guang in the later stage one day, who can guarantee Yang Gongren, Yang Shidao, and Fang Xuanling...... Won't you become a so-called traitor?

Therefore, it is undoubtedly unfair to him to look at Xu Jingzong from the perspective of future generations.

In an instant, Yang Tong had already thought of a lot, and then carefully read Xu Jingzong's article.

Xu Jingzong's literary brilliance and calligraphy are outstanding, and his understanding of Confucianism and rule of virtue is quite profound and thorough! However, in the paragraph of 'Theory of Soldiers' that Yang Tong attaches great importance to, although Xu Jingzong writes with great momentum, he feels like using an atomic bomb to kill Li Yuan's family, which is very unscientific and unreasonable.

After thinking about it slightly, Yang Tong looked at Liu Xuan, who was looking forward to it, and said with a smile: "In terms of the overall structure, it is a good article with majestic atmosphere and ups and downs!" Although it is unrealistic in terms of military theory and law, he has unique views on Confucianism and the rule of virtue. No one is perfect, it's impossible to do everything, and it's amazing to be able to focus on one and achieve amazing results. And a country can only thrive if it implements the principle of governing the heart by virtue and acting by the rule of law! Xu Jingzong's previous eloquent writing is rare"

Hearing this, Liu Xuan suddenly smiled.

"Liu Gong is worthy of being the first Confucian of our time, and Xu Jingzong will definitely become a capable official in the DPRK in the future! Although I haven't read the rest of his articles, in my opinion, the top four should not be a problem. "There are a total of eight articles that have not been able to reach a conclusion for a long time, and the reviews given to the top four are already very high.

"Your Highness is wise!"

Liu Xuan retreated, it doesn't matter if he is the first place or not, as long as he enters Yang Tong's sight, his purpose has been achieved.

At Liu Xuan's level, he no longer cares about personal gains and losses, and the reason why he insists on letting Yang Tong read Xu Jingzong's articles is just because he is worried that the country will miss a great talent.

Yang Tong said with a smile: "What Fang just expounded in this article is to rule the country by virtue, whether there is a rule of law. ”

"Really!" Wei Zheng said with a smile, "This is an article jointly recommended by me and Liu Zhenghui. ”

An article jointly recommended by a criminal department book and an imperial department book is naturally related to the law.

The article they recommend is written by a person named 'Han Shu', and the article is simple and down-to-earth!

Han Shu takes Xunzi's idea of 'human nature is inherently evil' as an argument, believing that human nature is like a baby, and in the process of growing up, it can be transformed into evil or develop into good. Because human nature is ignorant and easy to be influenced by bad people, once people become bad, moral influence will not play a role, so it is necessary to use "criminal name spells" to deter them, so that they understand how great disasters they will bring to themselves and their families by doing bad things. At the same time, it also emphasizes the necessity of the existence of the law, the importance of improving the law, and focuses on the separation of legislative, judicial, and supervisory values.

Nowadays, there are two laws in the Great Sui, one is the "Kaihuang Law" formulated by order of Emperor Wen of Sui, the "Kaihuang Law" represents the highest achievement of the Sui Dynasty's legislation, it inherits the experience of the long-term development of the legal system of the previous dynasty, and after deleting the complicated and simplifying, supplementing and perfecting, the compilation of the feudal code is further systematized and standardized, and has made an extremely valuable contribution to the finalization of the law of the "Kaihuang Prosperous Era".

After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he created the "Great Cause Law" according to the "Kaihuang Law", compared with the "Kaihuang Law", the "Great Cause Law" reduced more than 200 articles to the lenient code, reduced the joint sitting of the crime of great rebellion and rebellion, deleted two of the "Ten Evils" and included them in the corresponding articles, and divided the three articles of household marriage, stable and thief in the "Kaihuang Law" into 6 articles, and added 3 more articles, a total of 18 articles. It also absorbs the essence of the "Northern Qi Law", and the style of the chapter is more concise. It's even better than "The Law of the Emperor".

Yang Tong also wants to further improve on the basis of "The Law of Great Cause", but even if he is a traverser, but the traverser is also a human, not a god! Human energy is always limited. His strength lies in grasping people's hearts, knowing and employing people, and it is impossible to take care of everything, not to mention whether he has the energy or not, ability alone is not enough. Therefore, he just proposed an outline and threw it to Wei Zheng and Liu Zhenghui, asking them to form officials who were proficient in the law to compile it.

And the most refreshing idea of this Hanshu is: different places have different customs, and people's values are also different, just like governing a place, in addition to the law, we must also take into account different customs and customs. Therefore, he advocated the formulation of 'sub-laws' that are suitable for different regions and ethnic customs, but should not deviate too much.

In Yang Tong's eyes, this is the primary version of the concept of national autonomy, but in the eyes of the people of this era, it is a novel thinking that deserves to be valued and carried forward.

After reading it, Yang Tong said with a smile: "Han Shu, it won't be a descendant of Han Feizi, right?" ”

"It's possible." Wei Zheng's heart moved, and he said with a smile: "In the chapter of "Han Feizi Xindu", it is said, 'The rule of the sage is based on this, not according to his desires, but only for the benefit of the people. Therefore, it is not the wicked people who are punished with it, but the foundation of love...... Therefore, the rule of the lord of the Ming Dynasty is also, the reward is to persuade the people, and the severe punishment is to the people to obey the law'; and the reason for this is that 'the nature of the husband and the people, the evil work and the pleasure, the famine, the famine, the famine, the incurable, the chaos'. In other words, it is human nature to be 'indulgent and disliked', and in order to overcome this problem, we must rely on severe punishment. The laws of the Qin Dynasty are also very comprehensive, but they are so harsh that they destroy human nature and reason, so people only have fear of the Qin law, and no respect! And Han Shu's thinking attaches great importance to human nature, if he is really a descendant of Legalism, it can be seen that Legalism has undergone earth-shaking changes, which is quite a gratifying progress. ”

"Hmm!"

Yang Tong nodded and said: "Han Shu has a unique vision, and the ideas he put forward to 'seek common ground while reserving differences', 'harmony but difference', and 'big and different' are also extremely advanced concepts of governance, which are worthy of attention!" It was ordered that local officials should improve the local county and county records to provide a basis for governing the country. ”

"Whoa!" Yang Gongren bowed in response.

"Your Highness, then this Han Shu article ......," Liu Zheng said.

"Talent! Top 4"

"Give us the Imperial Department."

"That's not going to work!" Wei Zheng said loudly: "The Imperial Department is only responsible for supervision, and the task is simple, and our Criminal Department needs to deal with a lot of cases, and we need a talent like Han Shu." ”

"Who said the mission of the Imperial Department is easy! Who said that the mission of the Imperial Department is easy! Liu Zhenghui said without concessions: "If the Imperial Department does not have a large number of talents who advocate and are proficient in law, how can it supervise local officials, and how can it urge local officials to serve the people wholeheartedly." Don't forget, the officials of the Imperial Department investigated first, and then went to the Criminal Department to enforce the law. If there is no Imperial Department, where can your criminal department solve the case? ”

Wei Zheng also showed a trace of anger on his face, raised the decibels, and said angrily: "According to Liu Shangshu, our criminal department is picking your imperial department cheaply and eating dry rice?" ”

In the face of Wei Zheng's angry shouting, Liu Zheng did not change his color and said: "This is what you said!" ”

"Liu Zhenghui, you ......" Wei Zheng was even more annoyed, his eyes almost ate Liu Zhenghui, Liu Zhenghui's words were obviously ignoring the efforts of the Criminal Department, no matter how good Wei Zheng's cultivation was, it was unbearable, not to mention, he was originally a stubborn cow, so the two of them got up, each telling the value of the department to which they belonged, and provoked the thorn of the other.

In the era when Confucianism was the dominant family, there was no breeding ground for legal talents, and they were very rare. If it is divided today, there will be even fewer forces on the side of the Great Sui, plus Yang Tong does not want the children of the big family, and the people who finally fall into the criminal department and the imperial department are extremely rare. Wei Zheng and Liu Zhenghui have been 'contradictory' for a long time, and this quarrel is a big sign of being out of control.

Yang Gongren's face was scorched, and Fang Xuanling was also at a loss.

The two are both the first leaders of the legal department, loyal and strong, and have a good personal relationship, but both of them are the kind of people who admit death, and they have done a lot of work in official affairs.

Yang Tong took all the exam papers and read them carefully one by one, but he just didn't see them.

The more the reasoning is debated, the clearer the Tao is!

The minister is happy to think about state affairs, rather than Wen Tian and Wu Huan, which is definitely a good thing he likes to see.

These literati are very bloody, and their hearts are full of Akagi, which is fiercer and more ruthless than the generals. They can quarrel as much as they like, and it doesn't matter if they fight, just don't die or be disabled.

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