Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4999: Put down your posture
Xu Jingzong looked at Cen Changqian with a smile: "Changqian is very intelligent and has a profound family background. It is no problem for her to pass the imperial examination. Maybe her ranking in the palace examination is unpredictable, but she is sure to win the Ministry of Rites examination."

Cen Changqian said modestly: "I am a young generation with limited talent and knowledge, how dare I underestimate the heroes of the world? The path of the imperial examination is to do my best. No matter how far I go, I dare not be complacent or arrogant. I should study hard, work tirelessly, and study wholeheartedly."

These words were humble and low-key, without any loopholes. Xu Jingzong pointed at Cen Changqian and said to Fang Jun with a smile: "Young people should be arrogant, with a sharp spirit and looking down on all directions. But this boy is old-fashioned and mature. This is not good, not good."

Fang Jun didn't want to pay any attention to him at all. Is he as low in emotional intelligence as you?
This man had profound qualifications, outstanding talents, and amazing knowledge, but as a minister in the Emperor Taizong's secret residence, he always wasted his career because of his excessive greed for money and low emotional intelligence.

Is it possible for a normal person to laugh out loud at Ouyang Xun's ugly appearance at Empress Wende's funeral?

Fang Jun ignored Xu Jingzong and asked Cen Changqian: "Where are we going?"

"Students need to obtain written documents to return home to avoid being questioned by officials on the road. Li Siye invited officials from Jingzhao Prefecture to the academy and they worked on the spot behind the house under the mountain gate to facilitate the students. I am here to help."

Fang Jun nodded and said, "Then go ahead. Be careful when you return home. The Shangyu Ancient Road is thick with snow and difficult to walk on in the dead of winter. Don't be careless."

"Well, the student is leaving."

Looking at Cen Changqian's back, Fang Jun said, "Li Jingxuan is very talented and has extensive connections. He has a promising future."

Xu Jingzong stroked his beard and said, "This academy will foster the careers of countless people, but people like Li Jingxuan may not follow the same path as us."

The two walked slowly side by side.

Fang Jun understood what Xu Jingzong meant. Li Jingxuan came from the Zhaojun Li family, a true Confucian family. Although he worked in the academy, his studies and ideas were contrary to those taught in the academy.

Fang Jun said: "Don't think in terms of either this or that. Although the academy teaches various scientific subjects, it does not exclude Confucianism. On the contrary, Confucianism is the best for moral cultivation, the tempering of human nature, and universal values. If you only learn science and don't understand Confucianism, you will be superficial and stop at technology. It is not a good thing to focus too much on benefits. On the contrary, Confucian students can also learn our arithmetic, physics, and medicine."

The most perfect education is one that has Confucianism as the core and science as the supplement; the most perfect official is one who has the moral character influenced by Confucianism and the skills mastered by science.

Xu Jingzong didn't quite understand: "But now the Confucianists have already sharpened their knives and are going to severely inflict heavy damage on the students of the academy in this year's imperial examination!"

Fang Junqi asked, "Aren't you a Confucian disciple?"

Xu Jingzong said proudly: "My Gaoyang Xu family is a family of metaphysics!"

Fang Jun was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized.

Xu Xun, the seventh-generation ancestor of Xu Jingzong, was a famous scholar and master of metaphysics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. He was talented and his poems and essays were beautiful. What later generations talked about most was his close friendship with Wang Xizhi. He once participated in the "Lanting Xiuxi" with Wang Xizhi. At that time, Wang Xizhi wrote the "Lanting Preface" with his brush, which was the best running script in the world. The 41 people sitting on the left and right were all famous scholars in the world, and Xu Xun was among them...

Looking at Xu Jingzong's behavior in history, although he did not do anything extremely evil, he was indeed incompatible with Confucian teachings and even went against them. Although many of his deeds could be certified as smear campaigns against him in later years, he still contained almost all of the Confucian taboos such as disloyalty, unfilial piety, unkindness and injustice.

This is an example of someone who values ​​profit over morality.

Fang Jun didn't care whether he would become a treacherous minister or not, and he patiently said, "So you will have a heavy burden in the future. All the disciples in this academy are yours, and they will naturally become your most solid backing in the future. But as the saying goes, you must give first before you take it. Before that, you must do your best to protect these disciples. You have been in the academy for a long time, and you know these disciples very well. You should know how outstanding they are. Every loss is an immeasurable loss."

Although he now holds a high status and holds military power, it is not advisable for him to interfere too much in the affairs of civil servants, as it may easily backfire. With Ma Zhou and Xu Jingzong, two officials, one good and one evil, looking after these academy students, taking into account both the positive and negative aspects without any omissions, he has used twenty years to lay the foundation of natural science, making it mutually reinforcing and inclusive with Confucianism, and then the task is accomplished.

Xu Jingzong didn't quite understand Fang Jun's deepest plan, but he had already climbed onto Fang Jun's big ship, and the two had the same interests, so he naturally understood the reason. He nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, Taiwei. Although I have been questioned and criticized for my character, I have never changed my principle of protecting my students! Since these students are my disciples, I will naturally treat them like my sons!"

After expressing himself passionately, he turned around and saw Fang Jun looking at him with a playful look. His heart trembled and he suddenly came to his senses. However, he didn't know what to say and could only smile awkwardly.

Having said that, he really doesn't treat his own children like a loving father...

"Erlang was farsighted when he advised Emperor Taizong to establish the Zhenguan Academy. He cultivated the world's talents into practical talents, which formed a sharp contrast with those Confucian students who were boastful but useless. The empire prospered and China flourished because of this. A hundred years later, Erlang's name will probably be on par with Confucius and Mencius, and it is not impossible for him to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple!"

As an elder, a minister in the secret residence of Emperor Taizong, and the current Minister of Rites, Xu Jingzong was not the least bit arrogant. He flattered Fang Jun with endless flattery and without any bottom line, and even said things like "he deserves to be worshipped in the Taimiao".

Fang Jun couldn't stand it, glared at him and said: "How dare you say such words? It's just like what many ministers in the court said, 'Xu Yan's family has the appearance of treacherous and treacherous'!"

Unexpectedly, Xu Jingzong did not take it as an offense at all. Instead, he laughed and said, "Loyalty, treachery, good and evil are nothing but empty words of the world. They are all superficial and it is difficult to see the real heart. Have you, Fang Erlang, never been accused of being a 'flatterer' by the censors? You and I are like-minded. We should go hand in hand and forge ahead, haha!"

Fang Jun was speechless.

Therefore, even if he was a treacherous minister who was famous throughout the ages, he had superhuman abilities. Regardless of Xu Jingzong's talents, his mentality of swallowing humiliation and entertaining himself with humor alone far surpassed many people who claimed to be honest officials.

*****
The entire Tang Dynasty was excited about the upcoming imperial examination, but there was a cloud of gloom in the Zongzheng Temple.

Li Xiaogong's body became increasingly fatter and his spirit became increasingly listless. He sat there in a bloated robe, his eyes half open and half closed, and he said nothing.

Li Yuanjia took a sip of tea and said, "Li Shenfu has been secretly executed, along with more than ten people. The rest have been stripped of their absolute rights and fiefs, and more than twenty people... After this incident, the royal family suffered heavy losses and their vitality was greatly damaged. It will take at least twenty years to recover."

Li Xiaoyi, the Junior Minister of the Imperial Clan, wiped his face, sighed heavily, and said helplessly: "Your Majesty has forgiven them many times before, but they have no loyalty at all, their greed is insatiable, they are disloyal and unjust, and they are digging their own graves. What can we do?"

Ever since Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty first expressed his intention to change the crown prince, members of the royal family have been involved. Later, when Li Chengqian ascended the throne and encountered a mutiny, members of the royal family got involved and stirred up trouble. There were two consecutive mutinies, with many members of the royal family participating.

But Your Majesty knows that the royal family is the cornerstone of the empire and it is not easy to hurt them, so you have been patient again and again, but these people are stubborn and stubborn, which has finally led to the current situation...

Li Shenfu was his uncle. Dozens of his family members, young and old, were executed, leaving only a few children under five years old and some female relatives. Their titles were taken away, their fiefs were cancelled, and their family was expelled from the Prince's Mansion and moved outside the city. This branch of their family was completely ruined, with almost no hope of rising again.

Even his own branch was implicated. Fortunately, His Majesty was magnanimous and did not pursue the matter. Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous...

Li Yuanjia shook his head and said, "It is useless to regret now. We are the ones who are in charge of the royal family and have the responsibility to revitalize it. We should devise good strategies to deal with the crisis. If the royal family is not revitalized, the country will be unstable. How can we face Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong in the afterlife?"

"If the King of Han has any good ideas, please tell me all of them, and I will certainly do my best to help."

After listening to Li Xiaoyi's statement, Li Yuanjia looked at Li Xiaogong.

The latter raised his eyelids, then drooped them again, and said weakly: "What's the next solution? Tell me."

Li Yuanjia said: "First, we advise Your Majesty to allow the royal family's children to participate in the imperial examinations and serve as officials."

Li Xiaoyi frowned, "How can this be possible? Although the imperial examination has been decreed as the only way to enter the government, the highest official rank granted is only the sixth or seventh grade, and there is no real power in the various government offices. After more than ten years of hard work, you can't become a third-grade official. What's the point? We can't wait! It's better for His Majesty to decree the official position. In this way, you can hold a high position and maintain the foundation of the royal family."

Although the imperial examination was the only way for students across the country to enter officialdom, royal family members were an exception. Their descendants could hold official positions through the emperor's edict.

Li Yuanjia said: "But if you become an official through the imperial decree of His Majesty, you can either be in a special government office like the Zongzheng Temple or in the imperial family's territory like the Imperial Guards. But if you want to hold real power in various government offices, you must take the imperial examination."

An official appointed by imperial decree may be of noble birth, but if he lacks ability, who in the government will take him seriously? Although the royal family is prominent, the children of the noble families are not much worse!
What's worse, there is a high possibility that you will be killed by those evil people...

Only by growing up step by step through the imperial examinations can one cultivate one's own abilities, occupy real power, and in turn boost the foundation of the royal family.

This will be a long and difficult process and cannot be achieved overnight.

Li Xiaoyi pondered for a moment, looked at Li Xiaogong and asked, "What do you think, my brother?"

Li Xiaogong did not comment: "How about the second one?"

Li Yuanjia said: "Secondly, send all the children of the royal family who are of appropriate age to the Zhenguan Academy, choose subjects according to their interests and talents, study hard, humble themselves, and start from the bottom."

Li Xiaoyi was speechless. This was to completely demote the royal family members. They would no longer have the high and noble status and would have to start from the bottom...