The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 397 Volume Pillow Wind

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After spending a night at Zhen Mi's place, Liu Xie finally understood how Koudan disappeared.

Liu Xie threw the horsewhip on the bed to the side of the bed and lay down tiredly.

Next to Liu Xie was Zhen Mi, who was numb to the point of losing consciousness...

At this moment, Zhen Mi's mind was as brilliant as fireworks. It was not until her body slowly returned to normal that Zhen Mi's consciousness returned with her soul.

"Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask..."

"besides?"

Liu Xie looked at Zhen Mi's body in astonishment, which seemed to be shattered, and shook his head decisively.

"no!"

Zhen Mi gently lifted the quilt to cover her body and responded to the emperor: "It's not like that, it's just that my brother came to Chang'an a few days ago."

Zhen Mi came from the Wuji Zhen family, a prominent family in Hebei.

Now that the Hebei noble families have been purged, they will naturally come to Chang'an to embrace Zhen Mi... or to cling to the emperor's thigh.

So Liu Xie knew what was going on as soon as he heard it, and asked immediately, "Do you want me to arrange something for you to do?"

"Your Majesty is indeed very smart."

"Then why didn't he take the imperial examination?"

Zhen Mi was shocked and realized that her pillow talk did not penetrate the emperor's defenses and went straight to his heart.

She stretched out her slender legs again seductively and placed them on Liu Xie's body, revealing a round curve at her waist and hips.

Zhen Mi explained for her brother: "My brother has never been an official before, and has been busy taking care of the family business...so he has always been lacking in studying."

"But although my brother is not well educated, I hope Your Majesty will understand that although he is a businessman, he has a very good reputation and does not do things that harm others and benefit himself. He came here today to ask Your Majesty to give him a job."

While Zhen Mi was speaking, she pulled Liu Xie's arm over and placed it around her waist.

But Liu Xie kept frowning and didn't relax.

"No one can enter the government without passing the imperial examination. This is the national policy and cannot be changed."

You know, even a super genius like Zhuge Liang did not make an exception! Even famous people like Chen Gong and Ju Shou were retrained by Liu Xie. Isn't all this just to maintain the fairness and selflessness of the imperial examination system?
The more the court defended the imperial examination system, the more it completely opposed the investigation system.

The total rejection of the system of investigation means the total rejection of the system of hereditary succession by aristocratic families.

If Zhen Mi's brother were promoted to a high official at this time, what would be the national policy of the court?
Not to mention that Zhen Mi's brother was a businessman.

Even if his relative is Wei Qing or Huo Qubing, he has to either take the imperial examination or go to the military camp to gain experience!
So no matter how seductive Zhen Mi is now, Liu Xie remains unmoved.

But Liu Xie seemed to have thought of something...

"You said he was a businessman?"

"Exactly."

Zhen Mi was already disappointed, but now seeing the emperor asking, she knew there might be a chance of a turn of events.

"Give your brother a message and tell him that I will never let him be an official, and tell him to give up this idea as soon as possible."

"But if he is willing to just work for me, I can meet him."

After hearing this, Zhen Mi's feeling of loss turned into joy. She suddenly turned over, creating ripples, and came to the top of the emperor.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

……

It is no coincidence.

When Liu Xie was with Fu Shou, Fu Shou also mentioned this matter vaguely.

Facing Fu Shou, Liu Xie was not that tough after all.

But he was still curious: "Fu Wan is also a famous scholar in Guandong. Why did he study the ways of officialdom instead of studying hard?"

Fu Shou was wearing a goose yellow tasseled gauze and bowed slowly towards Liu Xie.

"Father said that he has lost some of his understanding of current knowledge."

"The current knowledge cannot be explained by the ancient text classics, nor can it be explained by the modern text classics. Even the theory of the great scholar Zheng Xuan cannot be explained clearly."

"My father went to Taibai Academy several times to discuss with great scholars like Cai Yong and Liu Biao, but he could not come up with any conclusion. So he could only think about seeking to enter the world and improve his knowledge."

Only then did Liu Xie realize that he had misunderstood Fu Wan.

The world has changed drastically now.

Especially as the emperor respected the law and the imperial examination system became popular, the previous Confucian classics were obviously about to be abandoned by the times.

Not only Fu Wan, but also great Confucian scholars such as Cai Yong, Liu Biao, and Kong Rong were also looking for ways to organize a new set of knowledge to guide scholars.

In this way, retreating from the world and studying hard as in the past was obviously a closed-door approach and would not last long, so Fu Wan thought of entering the world to pursue knowledge.

But even so, Liu Xie still shook his head.

"The imperial examination system is the foundation of the country."

"If my father-in-law really wants to study in society, he must have experienced life from the bottom of society, right?" "The knowledge of the pre-Qin philosophers was not gained through official careers, but was gained through the people's livelihood."

“If you don’t even know how to ‘enter’, if you don’t even know how to ‘be in the world’, then how can you talk about ‘entering the world’? If you don’t even ‘learn’, if you don’t ‘ask’, then how can you call yourself ‘learned’?”

After hearing what the emperor said, Fu Shou was stunned.

Seeing this, Liu Xie asked, "But did my words upset the Imperial Concubine? Did she think I was unwilling to help you?"

The emperor's words made Fu Shou shake her head quickly.

"I just feel that there seems to be some knowledge and truth in what Your Majesty said."

"I know I cannot trouble Your Majesty with such a matter, but I feel guilty for giving birth to you, so I came here to ask Your Majesty a question. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

Fu Shou bowed and saluted, revealing a large area of ​​white.

Liu Xie reached out and pulled Fu Shou into his arms: "Your parents have raised you, so it is not a guilt to speak for them."

"I have heard of your father's reputation. I know he is not a scheming, competitive person, nor does he covet power. He just wants to explore knowledge."

"Today you will tell your father what I said. If he understands, then he will understand. If he doesn't understand, just tell him not to get angry at you. If you have the guts, come and argue with me!"

Fu Shou lowered his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The next morning.

Several hours after the emperor left, Fu Shou wrote the emperor's reply in a letter and sent it to Fu Wan outside the palace.

Although Fu Wan was a relative of the emperor by marriage, he lived in a humble room outside the city of Chang'an, which was planted with bamboo and cypress trees.

His hair and beard are all white, as if he has cultivated a great spirit!
He has a slender appearance and his eyebrows seem to have the style of an ancient person!
After reading Fu Shou's letter, Fu Wan was not discouraged. Instead, he was very excited and began to study the words of the emperor recorded by his daughter.

“If you don’t even know how to ‘enter’, if you don’t even know how to ‘be in the world’, then how can you talk about ‘entering the world’? If you don’t even ‘learn’, if you don’t ‘ask’, then how can you call yourself ‘learned’?”

Fu Wan read this sentence carefully and found it easy to remember, as if he was reading the profound words of a saint.

"Your Majesty, what you said is very good and wonderful."

When Fu Wan thought of this, he gave up his previous plan and asked his son Fu Dian to find him a copy of "Jian'an Law" and some questions from the imperial examinations in recent years, and really began to prepare for the exam.

Fu Dian passed the imperial examination in the first year of Jian'an, but his ranking was not high.

Seeing that his father had just started to study at this age, Fu Dian couldn't help but tease, "Father, are you trying to emulate the Prime Minister Gongsun Hong of the first Han Dynasty and become a 're-recruited doctor'?"

Gongsun Hong, the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Wu, broke the law when he was young and had to make a living by herding pigs at sea.

It was not until Gongsun Hong was over 40 years old that he picked up books again and studied the Gongyang Chunqiu again.

In the first year of Emperor Wu's Jianyuan reign, the sixty-year-old Gongsun Hong was recommended to Emperor Wu of Han and officially entered the officialdom.

After several more years of twists and turns, Gongsun Hong finally revealed his extraordinary talents. He was granted a title of nobility and appointed as prime minister, and became one of the few talented people in the reign of Emperor Wu who was able to serve as prime minister until his death.

Fu Dian used the name Gongsun Hong to compare his father Fu Wan, obviously with the intention of making fun of him. He wanted his father to give up the idea of ​​taking the imperial examination and live out his life in peace.

Unexpectedly, Fu Wan didn't listen at all!

After asking for the book, Fu Wan locked himself in the room: "I will make a final judgment after I finish reading it!"

Fu Wan, a great scholar, actually began to study the imperial examination in seclusion, which inevitably caused the people of Chang'an to talk about it again.

Ordinary people just thought that Fu Wan was trying to please the emperor and were somewhat disdainful.

Only Cai Yong, Liu Biao, Kong Rong and other great scholars of the time praised Fu Wan after hearing his actions: "We are not as good as Fu Wan!"

After hearing this, the emperor specially summoned Fu Shou and gave her a set of books as a gift. It can be seen that the emperor was also happy about this matter.

There was also a group of people who felt a little disappointed after hearing this.

"If we tell the emperor now that we don't want the high positions of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers and are willing to take the imperial examination, will he still be willing?"

These people were Tian Feng, Cui Yan and others.

Tian Feng sighed: "Of course not."

"In the past, we all laughed at Ju Shou for actually starting over again. We thought he was taking the imperial examination because he had no other options."

"But now it seems that the imperial examination is the only way out that the emperor has left for us old people!"

As the Hebei aristocratic families were purged, although people like Tian Feng were still alive, they were basically the same as being dead.

Everyone knew that the emperor would execute them.

Everyone also knew when the emperor would execute them.

The feeling of watching your own death approach is really painful!
"How about we go meet the emperor again and ask him to show mercy?"

Grand Minister of Agriculture Xing Yong suggested.

"Now, whether the emperor kills us or not is actually meaningless."

"In that case, if you behave yourself..."

Before he could finish his words, Tian Feng interrupted him: "Don't say that again!"

"At this time, whether you beg the emperor or scold him, you can't change his mind."

"In that case, we can wait until next year's grand court meeting and let the emperor deal with it."

Tian Feng no longer had the high spirits he had before.

Just as he said.

Now, they no longer have the qualifications to even beg for mercy from the emperor...

(End of this chapter)