Chapter 117: Bribing People's Hearts
In fact, Li Shimin and Zhu Di are two good templates for clan rebellion in history.
One is to launch a small-scale mutiny, control key figures, and quickly seize power.
The other one fought through it step by step and finally seized power.
If Yelu Chongyuan had a way to use it, he would naturally prefer the Song Dynasty to send troops to contain some of the Liao army.
As for whether the Song Dynasty would take the opportunity to recapture the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, it was not something that Yelu Chongyuan should consider at that time.
After all, if the rebellion fails, everything will be lost. If it succeeds, even if Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures are lost, there is still a chance to take them back.
But if he wanted to use a small-scale mutiny to seize power, he naturally did not want the Song Dynasty to send troops.
After all, he had not yet completely taken power at that time, and people were panicked. It was difficult to predict what would happen if the Song Dynasty sent troops.
It was based on these that Zhao Xingcai judged that Li Ge's so-called loyalty was to test whether the Song Dynasty really did not intend to send troops.
The reason why he didn't pretend to be more like him was because he wanted to mislead Zhao Xing and make Zhao Xing mistakenly think that he just wanted the Song Dynasty to send troops.
And if he pretends to be too similar, the Song Dynasty originally did not intend to send troops, but ended up sending troops because of him. How could he explain to Yelu Chongyuan?
As for Yelu Chongyuan’s desire for wine, it’s easy to understand.
The wine now named Palace Royal Liquid by Zhao Xing is very popular among the nobles of the Liao Kingdom.
Yelü Chongyuan wanted a large amount of wine to win over some Liao dignitaries.
Of course, wine is just a stepping stone. Whether you can win him over or not depends on the benefits he promises.
Zhao Xing had anticipated this possibility before, so even though many nobles of the Liao Kingdom contacted Sheng Wei and offered a price higher than what he had traded with Li Ge, he did not agree.
In the Liao Kingdom, I always only trade with Li Ge.
The purpose is to let Yelu Zhongyuan use wine to win over people, so that even if he doesn't make more money, he can still have more capital.
Zhao Xing also thought about whether he could take advantage of this incident, but gave up after thinking carefully.
Even if civil strife breaks out in the Liao Kingdom, given the current situation of the Song Dynasty, it is almost impossible to recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun at once.
If we cannot drive the Liao Kingdom back to the grassland and seize one or two states, it will not only be meaningless, but it will also drag the Song Dynasty into the quagmire of war.
At that time, Taizu Taizong made several Northern Expeditions to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun. Although they failed, they did not fail at all.
Some cities were recaptured, but they were eventually recaptured.
In order to solve the problems of Liao and Xixia, we must first solve the internal shortcomings and strengthen the country first.
With the economy and population of the Song Dynasty, as long as the internal disadvantages are solved, it is not as difficult to deal with the Liao Kingdom and Xixia as imagined.
Take the Liao Kingdom, which will be destroyed by the Jin Kingdom in a few decades.
He is only a teenager now. As long as he can live well, he can take advantage of the war between Jin and Liao to take back the Sixteenth State of Yanyun.
So Zhao Xing is not in a hurry.
……
On March 16, the 14th year of Tianyou's reign, Zhao Xing packed up early and took a carriage to the Ministry of Rites to meet with the officials who were invigilating the exam.
In this examination, in addition to Zhao Xing, the chief examiner, and Hai Wenyou, the deputy examiner, there are sixteen invigilators.
These people are responsible for patrolling during the exam.
“Greetings to His Highness!”
Seeing Zhao Xing’s arrival, everyone quickly stood up and saluted.
"No courtesy." Zhao Xing said with a gentle smile on his face: "I am still young, and it is my first time to preside over the imperial examination. I have to ask you all to help me, so that I can live up to my father's trust."< br>
"I will do my best to assist His Highness!" Everyone said in unison.
Everything that needs to be said has been arranged in the past few days, and on the day of the examination, there is nothing left to say.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Zhao Xing said, "Please follow me to Gongyuan."
Gongyuan is next to the Ministry of Rites, not far away. The group left the gate of the Ministry of Rites and did not take the bus. We took the car and sedan chair and walked directly to Gongyuan.
The gate of Gongyuan was crowded with people rushing to take exams and sending them off, making it very noisy.
The Forbidden Army of the East Palace separated a road from the Ministry of Rites to the Gongyuan. When he saw a group of officials approaching a young man, he slowly became quiet.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is presiding over this examination. All the reference students already know it, so the identity of the young man in front is very clear.
Zhao Xing smiled and nodded to the students around him.
After entering the Gongyuan, Zhao Xing led everyone to a brief inspection of the examination room, then came to the front hall and sat down.
At Si hour, the reference students outside the Gongyuan lined up under the command of the imperial army. Dozens of petty officials began to check the students' identities and let the scholars enter the Gongyuan for examination.
The officials in charge of invigilating the examination also went out to supervise, leaving only Zhao Xing and Hai Wenyou in the hall.
Zhao Xing felt a little bored and said, "Master Hai, let's go out with Gu to have a look."
Hai Wenyou naturally would not object and followed Zhao Xing out.
When students enter Gongyuan, they must be inspected.
The examination lasts for nine days, and each subject is tested for three days. During this period, you are not allowed to leave the examination room, and all eating, drinking, and diarrhea must be completed in the examination room.
Therefore, candidates need to bring bedding and food, but pens, ink, paper and inkstones will be provided by Gongyuan.
In order to prevent entrapment, students are required to take off their clothes for inspection, and there must be no layers between the clothes they carry and the bedding they carry.
Once an abnormality is discovered, the reference qualification will be cancelled, and in serious cases, you will be charged.
After leaving the room, Zhao Xing had a gentle smile on his face again.
This smile is his mask. Over time, Zhao Xing has become somewhat accustomed to it.
After a tour, Zhao Xing couldn’t help but sigh that the ancient imperial examinations were really hard.
Although it is March and the weather is not hot, the conditions in the examination room are limited, so most of the food students bring are steamed buns.
If the conditions are better, just bring some snacks.
However, the imperial examination search was very strict, and any steamed buns or snacks they brought would be broken open and inspected.
Let’s not talk about whether the hands of those who inspected it are not clean. How can we eat it if it is just broken into pieces like this?
Zhao Xing frowned and said: "Master Hai, why don't you provide food for the reference students?"
When the imperial examination reaches the level of examination, there are only a few thousand people left. It doesn't cost much to provide meals.
"Your Highness, when heaven is about to entrust a great responsibilities to this people, they must first work their muscles and bones and starve their bodies and skin. Those students who pass the exam will become officials. This will also let them understand that this official position is not easy to come by. . Only in this way can you withstand temptation when you become an official.
Moreover, students cannot be disturbed when answering questions. If meals are provided, the time must be unified. If someone is concentrating on answering questions, they will inevitably be disturbed. "Hai Wenyou said.
"What about drinking water? "Zhao Xing asked.
"The examination room will always provide hot water. If students need it, they can wave to the patrolling yamen and the yamen will add it when they see it. "Hai Wenyou said.
Zhao Xing heard the words and said in a deep voice: "The navy asked people to inform them, saying that rice porridge will be provided for this examination, and students who need it will be like adding hot water, signaling to the patrolling imperial troops that they will be there soon. Can. "
"This..." Hai Wenyou was a little embarrassed when he heard this.
Thousands of people were provided with rice porridge for nine consecutive days, and a lot of food was needed.
The problem is that this kind of thing is not just a matter of mouth. The Department of Household Affairs will allocate food only after the Ministry of Finance agrees.
It’s too late now.
Zhao Xing knew what he was in trouble for and said: "This matter will be handled by the Gu family, and the rice and grain required will be provided by the East Palace."
It's just a matter of spending some money, and The benefits are nothing to mention in comparison.
These thousands of people gathered together some of the most elite people from all over the world.
If he does this, both those who pass the exam and those who fail will be grateful.
When those students who failed the exam go back, this matter will soon spread throughout the world.
Spending this little money can win over the hearts of scholars all over the world, which is not a good deal at all.
(End of this chapter)