Chapter 277 I want to improve so much! (ask for monthly ticket)
"In such a prosperous era, all the talented people are in the court, and there are no talented people left in the countryside!"

After Lao Li said that, someone stood up to support him.

Li Xiang looked up and found that this person... looked a little familiar.

This...also sounds familiar.

If he remembered correctly, this sentence should have been said by Li Linfu to fool Li Sanlang.

Back then, Li Longji issued an edict to recruit scholars from all over the world. As long as they were proficient in one skill, they could go to Chang'an for selection.

Li Linfu was worried that some scholars would criticize his evil behavior when he was discussing his plans, so he said to Li Laosan: "These scholars are all lowly and ignorant people. I am afraid they will talk nonsense and disturb the emperor's ears."

He suggested that county officials first select scholars, send the best among them to the capital, and under the supervision of the Chief Censor, have the Ministry of the Secretariat re-examine them and recommend those who match their reputation to the emperor.

In the end, the scholars sent to the capital were tested on poetry, prose, and essays, but no one passed.

Li Linfu congratulated Xuanzong and said that there were no more talented people left among the people.

Among them, there was a scholar who lost the opportunity to enter the officialdom because of Li Linfu's actions.

This person is also a little famous in the Chinese poetry world - yes, he is the Du Fu who is known as the "Poet Saint".

After hearing this, everyone immediately began to respond: "Minister Xu is right."

After all, on a day like this, it’s nice to say some auspicious words.

Hearing the voice of 'Minister Xu', Li Xiang suddenly understood.

Oh, it turns out it’s Xu Jingzong in person.

Speaking of Xu Jingzong, anyone who has some knowledge of the history of the early Tang Dynasty cannot skip this person.

Awu's rise to power was inseparable from the help of Xu Jingzong, BYD.

Of course, as one of the eighteen scholars in the Tian Ce Palace, he is now only a Yellow Gate Minister, which is also due to his laughter at the funeral of Empress Changsun.

In fact, he was not laughing at Empress Changsun. He just thought Ouyang Xun looked very funny when he cried, so he didn't hold it back.

With this smile, he laughed himself out of Chang'an and demoted himself to be a Sima.

Fortunately, his boss's surname was Li, not Zhu. Not only was Xu Jingzong's life not in danger, he even had the possibility of being reinstated. Old Li was also a magnanimous person and did not bear grudges, so he got the job back to him.

Just imagine if someone laughed at Empress Ma's funeral, then Zhu Yuanzhang...

Nine tribes: 6
Contrary to expectations, Li Shimin was not happy about this sentence, but frowned slightly.

When Xu Jingzong saw it, his heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, the flattery hit the horse's leg!
I thought that His Majesty was proud and complacent, which was why he said such words, but I never expected that His Majesty was actually sober!
The atmosphere was very good today, so although Li Shimin was unhappy, he did not get angry. He just said calmly: "Even if it is as well-governed as the Three Dynasties, we dare not claim that there are no talented people in the wild; even a wise and wise man like Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty had Jia Yi in Changsha; what virtue and ability do I have to dare to compare with the Three Dynasties and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty?"

There is nothing wrong with what he said. Li Shimin's idol has always been Emperor Wen of Han.

Even Emperor Wen of Han could not achieve the goal of recruiting all talented people from all walks of life. How could he be so arrogant as to think that he could compare with Emperor Wen of Han?
The good thing about Mr. Li is that he is very humble.

If it were an ordinary person, Old Li would not have given him such a face.

But there is no way, this person is Xu Jingzong.

At this moment, Li Shimin suddenly remembered Lao Xu's grinning expression at Empress Changsun's funeral.

After being saved by Li Shimin, Xu Jingzong stopped laughing.

He looked at Li Shimin awkwardly, then glanced around secretly, his hands so awkwardly that he didn't know where to put them.

Li Xiang smiled and said, "However, even if the way Grandfather perfected the imperial examination system cannot be called "all-powerful", it is no worse than Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty."

As a result, the awkward atmosphere was immediately eased a lot.

Xu Jingzong looked up at Li Xiang with gratitude, as if he saw a relative.

If anyone tells me, Old Xu, that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not a good Holy Grandson, I will get mad at him!
Since his eldest grandson said so, Li Shimin's expression eased.

You may not give face to others, but you must give face to your grandson.

"You, just flatter your grandfather." Li Shimin said with a proud look: "Flattery is outrageous!"

Li Xiang laughed and said, "My grandson, you are telling the truth. For example, during the Han Dynasty, the selection system required the father of a filial and honest official to live separately from his father, and the selection system required the scholar to be ignorant of literature. How can it be compared to the fairness of the imperial examination system today?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is right." Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling responded in unison.

Li Shimin cleared his throat and agreed to this statement very proudly.

After looking up at the sun, he sent someone to announce that the banquet had officially begun.

The banquet had a rich variety of dishes. According to Li Xiang's idea, this banquet was set up as a buffet. People could just take their plates and get whatever they wanted.

The ministers in the court were no exception, but they had another place to get their meals.

The scholars went in groups of three or five, accompanied by their good friends, chatting and laughing as they went to get their meals.

Li Shimin also found it interesting, so he took Li Chengqian, Li Tai and Li Zhi with him to queue up there.

Li Xiang originally stood up and wanted to get some food, but as soon as he stood up, he heard someone calling him from behind.

"Your Highness."

He turned around and it turned out to be Xu Jingzong.

"I would also like to thank Your Highness for helping me out of today's situation." Xu Jingzong looked grateful.

"Minister Xu, there is no need to be like this. Today is a happy day and I don't want to spoil everyone's fun." Li Xiang looked very businesslike.

He couldn't say he hated Xu Jingzong, but he definitely couldn't say he liked him either.

However, Li Xiang felt that it was worth taking this kind of person who likes to flatter the king and can help others do bad things with him when he went to Youzhou this time.

"If it weren't for Your Highness, I would not be here today..." Xu Jingzong stopped talking here and wiped his tears with his hand.

Li Xiang didn't say anything either, he just watched Xu Jingzong perform leisurely.

I just watch you show off quietly and never interrupt you.

Perhaps Xu Jingzong himself felt it was a bit abstract, so he rolled down his sleeves and began to make a final summary.

"In short, I sincerely thank Your Highness for rescuing me." Li Xiang has a strong ability to summarize, and he extracted a core idea from Xu Jingzong's words.

Your Highness, I really want to join the ministry!
Of course, wanting to make progress is a good thing. Li Xiang didn't say anything, but nodded without comment: "I know what you are thinking."

After that, he reached out and patted Xu Jingzong on the shoulder, and then said to Li Jingren: "Jingren, let's go get some dishes."

"Okay, brother." Li Jingren stepped forward and followed Li Xiang towards the dishes, leaving Xu Jingzong standing there with a complicated expression, not knowing what he was thinking.

Li Xiang drank to his heart's content at the Qujiang Banquet. He had not yet come out of the joy of Pei Xueqing's pregnancy, and he was already feeling a little intoxicated as the wine flowed.

While everyone was drinking and having fun, Lao Li started to ask the scholars and other jinshi candidates present to compose poems to liven up the atmosphere.

Luo Binwang and Lu Zhaolin each wrote a poem, but it can only be said that they were mediocre and would not be remembered forever.

Old Li was equally delighted. The mentally retarded master who had no "eminent knowledge for generations" came up with 1,800 poems that would last forever to disrupt the situation. Old Li was so excited that he even wrote a poem for Xiao Yu.

Yes, it is that “Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers” that moved Lao Xiao to tears.

Xiao Yu today is quite different from his previous life.

After all, he had a good student who was the crown prince, and he was also very successful, so he did not have any conflicts with Fang Xuanling.

Li Xiang was also trying his best to avoid this matter. When he had nothing to do, he would let Princess Gaoyang go to Xiao Yu's home and do business with her eldest aunt, Princess Xiangcheng, to supplement the family's income.

Of course, to supplement the family income, a business worth at least millions of guan would have to be done.

Although Xiao Yu came from a wealthy family, one million strings of cash is still not a small amount of money.

With Li Shu, the daughter-in-law of the Fang family, helping the Xiao family, his relationship with Fang Xuanling is pretty good now.

Today I received another poem from Li Shimin, which made me so excited that I almost did six poems with my left hand and seven with my right hand. I told everyone I met that His Majesty had written a poem for me.

Li Shimin felt a little regretful and wondered whether it was appropriate to write such a poem to his cousin.

The first Qujiang Banquet ended perfectly with the poetry selection activity. The winner of this poetry competition was naturally Li Shimin's poem dedicated to Xiao Yu.

To be honest, this poem is indeed of a very high level. Compared with a certain emperor who would like to put a chapter on the back of a passing mouse, Lao Li's artistic level is already quite good.

But I have to say, it's still a little less charming.

After returning to the palace, Li Shimin still felt a little unsatisfied.

He called his three sons and three eldest grandsons together in the palace to chat and eat some fruit.

Li Jue is seven years old this year and is quite tall. He still likes to stick to Li Xiang and pester him to tell stories.

Crown Princess Su Yi asked Li Chengqian to find a teacher for him. When Li Jue stopped pestering Li Xiang, it meant that he would accept the teacher's torture.

"Try this. This is fresh tribute from Lingnan." Li Shimin handed a small basket to Li Xiang. "Feng Ang sent Lingnan lychees to Beijing at an expedited speed of 800 miles. This is a rare and fresh thing. You will leave for Youzhou tomorrow. Try some first."

Li Xiang didn't like eating lychees in his previous life and was not very interested in it, so he pushed the lychees to Li Jue.

"Brother Jue, please eat it. I don't like it." Li Xiang rubbed Li Jue's head with a smile.

Li Shimin stretched out his hand and pointed at him: "You always give in to Juer and spoil him."

"Your grandson has only one younger brother, so of course you have to pamper him, right, Jue'er?" Li Xiang stretched out his hand, pulled up Li Jue's little face, and opened his mouth.

"Mm-m-m-m-m-m--" Li Jue also cooperated by making strange noises.

"You." Li Shimin smiled again and turned his gaze to Li Chengqian and Li Tai: "If your father can be as friendly and respectful to his brother as you are, I can rest in peace after a hundred years..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengqian grabbed Li Tai's fat face with his hands.

Haha! Li Chengqian was still happy in his heart, don't blame me, blame our Aye! This is what he wanted to see.

"Qingque, come and do a woosh!" Li Chengqian laughed, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

You fat chicken, you've come to this day?!

Li Tai didn't expect that his elder brother could be so arrogant. He couldn't scold him directly, so he could only say silently, "You're a monkey."

Watching the eldest brother teasing the second brother, Li Zhi laughed on the side.

Soon he stopped laughing. After Li Chengqian let him go, Li Tai became more and more fearful. He stretched out his hands and grabbed Li Zhi's face, pulling it left and right.

Ha, no wonder Xianger likes to pull people’s faces so much, it’s quite interesting.

"Okay, okay," Li Shimin said with a dark face as he tried to stop his three sons from hurting each other. He picked up a lychee, peeled it, and carefully opened the flesh to see if there were any bugs. Only after confirming that there was one, he put it in his mouth.

Li Xiang did not reach out to take the lychees, but reached for the boiled water beside him.

After drinking so much at the banquet, I still feel a little uncomfortable. It’s a good thing to drink more water.

"By the way, old man, my grandson would like to ask you to bring someone with him when he goes to Youzhou this time." Li Xiang suddenly said.

Li Shimin glanced at him and then asked, "Tell me, who do you want to take with you?"

Li Xiang chuckled: "Xu Jingzong."

Hearing the name, Li Shimin frowned.

"Xu Jingzong? Why did you bring him?"

"Of course it is of great use." Li Xiang said.

"Of great use? What's the point of keeping such a flatterer?" Li Shimin snorted with disdain. It seemed that he had not forgotten the grudge caused by Xu Jingzong's smile at the funeral of his beloved wife.

Let's say that Old Li is narrow-minded... Xu Jingzong is still alive and well, and even became the Imperial Court Minister; let's say that Old Li is broad-minded, he still holds a grudge, and nine years have passed and he still hasn't let it go...

"Could it be that just because Xu Jingzong flatters, Grandfather wants to punish him?" Li Xiang said this, looked at Old Li's angry expression, and said with a smile: "Not really, right?"

"There was a saint who once said that all flatterers should be taken out and shot... beheaded, but that was just an angry remark after all. From ancient times to the present, there has never been such a thing as killing flatterers."

"As the saying goes, be close to virtuous officials and stay away from villains. This is why the early Han Dynasty prospered." Li Shimin said earnestly, "Auntie is doing this for your own good. You are leaving so many virtuous officials in the court and not getting close to them. Do you want to keep Xu Jingzong by your side and listen to his flattery?"

"There is one more sentence, old man." Li Xiang looked at Li Shimin with his small eyes: "Being close to villains and keeping away from wise ministers is the reason why the Han Dynasty fell into decline."

"It's ok for the early Han Dynasty, but I'll just listen to what they said about the later Han Dynasty." Li Shimin didn't hold back and smiled: "The noble families started in the Han Dynasty. The so-called 'Three Lords', 'Eight Talents', 'Eight Gu', 'Eight Ji' and 'Eight Cooks' were the situations faced by Emperor Huan. At the beginning, the local tyrants had no culture, but they had a certain control at the grassroots level and could influence taxation to a certain extent. For example, when Emperor Wu of Han cracked down on the tyrants, they had no effective way to resist."

"But things were different during the Later Han Dynasty. The so-called 'virtuous ministers' were the Confucianized nobles. They had a strong influence in the local areas and could also influence public opinion. At this time, if the court had a policy that did not meet their wishes, they would quote classics to criticize the court or even the emperor. Some would even guide public opinion and force the emperor to make concessions on policies."

(Ask for some monthly tickets)
(End of this chapter)