Chapter 255: You bastard, are you worthy enough?

The reform of the imperial examination system was approved by the vast majority of people in the court.

That is not because they have made so much progress, but because their descendants have another path to follow called Enyin.

Are you kidding? When my father was fighting with His Majesty the Heavenly Khan at the Xuanwu Gate, I suffered all the hardships in my life!
There's actually nothing wrong with this. After all, this is a feudal society. You can't just not allow people to have influence over their descendants, right?
The so-called Enyin refers to the fact that due to the status of ancestors and parents under the feudal system, the descendants enjoy special treatment in terms of admission to school and entry into officialdom, which is called "Enyin".

Of course, the imperial favor in the Tang Dynasty is somewhat different from that after the Song Dynasty.

It has to be admitted that the system of yin and yin is a backward and closed system for selecting officials, because the basis for selecting officials is not talent, but the political status of their father, brother or family, and blood relationship.

Although some capable officials emerged under the system of imperial favor, such as Su Wu and Huo Guang, the majority of them were mediocre and incompetent.

The system of nepotism violated the principle that society should be run by qualified people and corrupted officialdom. It was criticized by righteous-minded scholars at the time. However, it was retained because it protected the privileges and vested interests of landlords and bureaucrats.

However, it is difficult to say that there is an absolutely fair political system in this world. From ancient times to the present, whether at home or abroad, the way power is spread is similar to AIDS - yes, mother-to-child, blood or sex.

Until the court was dismissed, Li Tai felt a buzzing in his head and something was not real.

No, why did you agree to it?

According to the script, shouldn't it be you, Li Simo, who scolds me and sternly rejects my proposal?

Why do you suddenly accept it all?
You don't play by the rules!

As he walked, Li Tai felt as if he had slipped into the East Palace.

Looking more closely, he found that the people on the left and right were Li Chengqian and Li Zhi, with Li Xiaoxiang following behind them.

"Brother, Zhinu?" Li Tai suddenly realized.

"You, Qingque, are so low-key, yet you are making such a big deal?" Li Chengqian said with a smile, "Since you are so arrogant today, I will keep you in the East Palace no matter what, so that the three of us can have a good drink!"

"Ah?" Li Tai showed the typical cat-like surprise again.

"Second brother is really amazing." Li Zhi gave a thumbs up: "Such harsh conditions can actually force Li Simo to accept, you are really the number one king of the Tang Dynasty!"

The first king of the Tang Dynasty?
When Li Tai heard this flattery, he felt elated at first.

There is no other reason, this is the evaluation given by his younger brother...

Then he realized something was wrong. Wait, there seemed to be something else behind this sentence!
Such harsh conditions forced Li Simo to accept?

Holy shit, are you saying I’m the bad guy who forced Li Simo?

"Zhi Nu, you kid..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Chengqian interrupted him.

"Oh, what Zhinu said is indeed true. Qingque is willing to sacrifice his own face and become the bad guy for the benefit of our Tang Dynasty. He is truly respectable. Let's go, big brother will toast you——"

"I'm not, I didn't!" Li Tai wanted to cry but had no tears.

"You are, you have." Li Zhi was also joining in the fun, obviously someone who enjoyed watching the fun and not minding any trouble.

Li Tai took a deep breath and felt that sooner or later he would be killed by this elder brother and this younger brother.

"These are all elephants..."

He was interrupted by Li Xiang before he could finish his words.

"Second Uncle is so courageous today! He's even more courageous than Uncle!"

Li Tai, who originally wanted to put the blame on Li Xiang, was immediately attracted after hearing this sentence.

"What did you say? Oh, no, no, no, how can I be as courageous as Aye." Li Tai looked humble, but seemed very complacent.

"No need to say anything, nothing else." Li Xiang gave a thumbs up: "Just because you dare to stand up and speak, while Aung only dares to hide behind you, you are definitely more spirited than Aung!"

"Yes! Very energetic!" Li Chengqian and Li Zhi looked at each other and echoed in unison.

"Hey, hey." Li Tai smiled and expressed his sincere happiness for the recognition of his family.

The four of them returned all the way to the East Palace, and in order to show his "respect" for Li Tai, Li Chengqian even asked the kitchen to take out the beef and cook it.

Today, we three brothers will not eat anything else, just beef!

When he heard about eating beef, Li Tai forgot about the previous incident and went to Persia.

Nothing is better than beef!

"Cheers!" The four of them held up their wine glasses and drank the wine happily.

Li Chengqian was happy that Li Tai took on a job that he couldn't do but had to be done by someone else. Li Tai was happy that his eldest brother, third brother and eldest nephew recognized him. Li Xiang was happy that someone finally put forward such a condition to Li Simo.

As for Li Zhi? He simply felt that everyone was happy together, and he was also happy.

Environment can change a person. Li Zhi, who was under pressure from his elder and younger brothers, didn't think about anything else. All he wanted was to be happy every day.

As for old silver coins? Actually, they are not natural, but also need to take into account the course of history.

Li Shimin sent Wang De to the Prince of Wei's palace to summon Li Tai, but he summoned no one.

He originally wanted to ask Li Tai to come to the palace for a good chat, but he was told that the King of Wei had not returned to the palace.

After asking around, he was informed by the guards that the King of Wei was in the East Palace, drinking and having fun with the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince's grandson and the King of Jin.

Hearing that the three grown-up boys were so happy, Old Li also became interested.

When he arrived at the Eastern Palace, he saw Li Tai holding a beef rib in his hand and stuffing the meat into Li Zhi's mouth.

"Zhi Nu, eat more, eat more, you are still so thin..."

"I can't eat any more, second brother." Li Zhi begged for mercy.

Li Chengqian and Li Xiang sat aside, watching the interaction between the two with joy.

Seeing his son being bullied like this, Li Shimin trembled and shouted, "This has an extremely bad influence!"

Hearing the voice, Li Tai asked in a daze, "Who is it? Minding my business!"

As a result, when I looked up, I saw Li Shimin's dark face.

"Aye!" Li Tai immediately let go of Li Zhi and hid the evidence behind him. He looked at Li Shimin with bared teeth and shook his head continuously.

Li Shimin snorted and walked up to the four people.

"Greetings, Aye (Grandfather)." Several people hurriedly bowed.

"There is delicious food, but you didn't call me?" Li Shimin glanced at them and kicked Li Xiang.

Li Xiang understood, since he was full anyway, so he stood up and made room for Lao Li.

Li Shimin patted Li Xiang's shoulder with satisfaction, sat on the stool, and reached out to grab a piece of beef ribs.

"How do you eat this?" "Just chew it." Li Xiang said with a smile, "This is brushed with honey..."

Before he finished speaking, Lao Li opened his mouth and bit the ribs.

"Not bad." Li Shimin commented.

For the Tang people, more meat means more deliciousness.

The four of them continued drinking with Lao Li. They originally thought that he was here to cause trouble, but unexpectedly, Lao Li was just here to eat.

It was not until sunset that Li Shimin left with satisfaction.

Before leaving, he did not forget to tell Li Xiang that he wanted to eat this tomorrow.

Li Xiang curled his lips and said, "With your three highs, you only need to eat one or two meals. Why are you still thinking about the next meal?"

The people in the East Palace are happy, but Li Simo is not so happy.

After returning to the Prince's Mansion of Huaihua, Li Simo faced the chiefs of various Turkic tribes.

"Uncle Simo, how is the negotiation on surrender going?" asked his nephew Ashina Hongen anxiously.

This name was given to him by Princess Yicheng.

Ashina Hongen was also the chief of a large tribe and had a lot of say within the Turkic community.

The matter of the Turks' submission was not only Li Simo's idea, but also a decision made after discussions among the Turks.

The Turkic people do not have a one-man show under the Great Khan, so Li Simo’s opinion does not count.

What's more, when Li Simo was in the Turkic region, he was ostracized because he looked more like a Hu than a Turk.

Of course, Li Xiang still can’t tell the difference between the Hu people and the Turks. Aren’t the Turks included in the Hu people?

But this was not a casual definition made by Li Xiang. It was the definition given by the Turkic Khan at that time.

Li Simo glanced at Ashina Hongen, shook his head and said, "His Majesty the Heavenly Khan has not made a clear statement on the Turkic submission, and the court officials have also rejected the submission."

"This...are we still going to live a miserable life in Dingxiang?" Ashina Hongen spat and glared at Li Simo viciously.

The meaning is clearly to put the blame on Li Simo. It is clearly you, Li Simo, are useless and have caused us, the tribesmen, to suffer.

"Yes, Simo." The elder Ashina Dulu also said, "Did you say something wrong that caused the Tang court to be offended?"

Nowadays, the Turks did not dare to curse the Tang Dynasty.

After all, the Turks had been conquered by the Tang Dynasty. Who would dare to say a word against the Tang Dynasty? Did they think that Jie Li Khan did not dance vigorously enough?

Since this anger did not dare to be directed at the Tang Dynasty, it would naturally be directed at Li Simo.

"How dare I, uncle?" Li Simo began to complain: "Who dares to question my respect for His Majesty the Khan?"

"Then why is the Tang Dynasty unwilling..." Ashina Hongen sighed.

"If this is true, this winter will be another sad year." Ashina Koga also sighed.

For a moment, sighs were heard in the room.

Seeing that everyone was depressed, Li Simo knew the time had come.

He said to everyone: "Actually, there is still room for change."

"Oh?" Upon hearing that there was a turning point, everyone stopped sighing and looked at Li Simo eagerly.

"Hurry up and tell me!" Ashina Dulu said hurriedly.

"The King of Wei did make a suggestion, but he was afraid that his clansmen might not agree..." Li Simo said pretentiously.

"Just say it directly. As long as we can submit, even if the conditions are harsh, what does it matter?" Everyone said, "The Tang Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, and it will definitely not make things difficult for us."

Li Simo had no choice but to say, "At the grand court meeting, the King of Wei proposed that if the Turks could get rid of their country name, give up their identity on the grassland, completely submit to the Tang Dynasty, and disperse to the inland to farm, then he would accept the Turks' submission."

After hearing this, the room fell silent.

Then a fierce quarrel broke out.

"What?!" Everyone shouted, "How can this be possible? The King of Wei is clearly trying to cut off the foundation of our Turkic people!"

"Yes, who says it's not true?" Ashina Dulu said, "Since ancient times, we Turks have lived by nomadism. How can we give up nomadism and turn to farming? This is absolutely not possible."

Ashina Hongen suddenly said, "I think this is clearly a trap set by you, my cousin, for your greed for wealth and status in the Central Plains and the Tang Dynasty court!"

Hearing this, Li Simo was really unwilling.

Damn it, you are such a jerk with your words. Am I, Li Simo, such a person?
I would like to set up such a plan, but they have to take me with them!
I think this ≠ I do this.

"You're talking nonsense!" Li Simo shouted angrily, "I, Li Simo, am a man of steel. How could I sell out my people for the sake of wealth and fame?"

"Look, you bastard, you still say that you and the Tang Dynasty are not the same?" Ashina Hongen slammed the table, "Damn it, you don't even want your own surname anymore, and now you call yourself Li Simo? And you still say that you and the Tang Dynasty are not in collusion?!"

"Ashina Hongen!" Li Simo was angry: "Don't be so presumptuous! No matter what I say, I am still the Great Khan of the Turks!"

Unexpectedly, Ashina Hongen was young and energetic and didn't care about this at all.

He slammed the table, pointed at Li Simo and cursed: "You son of a bitch, are you worthy? You are nothing but a dog of the Khan!"

"Asshole! Then whose dog are you?" Li Simo was not to be outdone and cursed back.

Hearing this, Ashina Hongen sneered: "That's better than you wagging your tongue and wagging your tail at the Khan!"

"You have guts, you are a man!" Li Simo kicked over a stool. "But don't you see your behavior? In the end, you still want to submit to the Tang Dynasty but are not allowed to do so? Don't you still have to live a miserable life in Dingxiang and have to depend on the Tang Dynasty for everything?"

"Wow!" Ashina Hongen was a little overwhelmed.

Li Simo pressed the issue: "You? You want to be a dog for the Heavenly Khan, but you are not even qualified to be one!"

"It is the greatest honor to be a dog for His Majesty the Khan! Unlike some stray dogs who bark all the time and don't even know who their masters are!"

"Li Simo! You're bullying me too much!"

Ashina Hongen shouted loudly and leaped towards Li Simo.

Li Simo was certainly no pushover. Even though he couldn't defeat the Xueyantuo, he was still able to defeat his junior Ashina Hongen.

Although Ashina Hongen was young, he was inexperienced in battle and was knocked to the ground by Li Simo after just a few rounds, who punched him several times while he was pinned to the ground.

After being hit hard several times, Ashina Hongen became obedient and lay on the ground gasping for breath, like a dead dog.

Li Simo patted Ashina Hongen's face and spat, "Fuck it, if I can't beat Xueyantuo, can I beat you?"

(End of this chapter)