Chapter 9 Chapter Eight: Fanhan Double Champions

It was late at night.The autumn rain has not stopped for a whole day, everywhere is wet, the imperial city has already fallen into a deep sleep, quiet and serene, without a single sound.It's just that when it was midnight, there was a faint sound of "Du-duk-duk--", which was slow and gloomy. At this moment, a sheep cart came out from the Queen's Palace.The green top is red, covered with gold and silver.The carriages are painted with tortoise-patterned phoenix wings, and the wheels are inlaid with rhinoceros horn jasper.The door curtains and curtains are embroidered with auspicious sheep and auspicious clouds.The green ox drives the shaft, and the auspicious sheep pulls the harness.More than a dozen Gong'e Xiaodi guards waited on them.There is a person sitting in the sheep cart, it is Xiao Guanyin, Empress Yide.

Sitting in the goat cart, Xiao Guanyin looked at the falling autumn rain outside the cart and the puddles of underground water, and her thoughts went back to the distant past.In the second year after Emperor Daozong held the rebirth ceremony, she gave birth to the prince Yelujun.Daozong liked little Yelujun very much, and often held him in his arms and played with him.Yelujun was white and fat, with two dimples on his face when he smiled.Whenever Dao Zong teased him, he always smiled at Dao Zong, babbling, as if talking to Dao Zong, and stroked Dao Zong's mustache with his small hands.Daozong was so happy that he kissed him on the face.

At the age of four or five, little Yelujun started to read and study. He was very smart and could recite many ancient poems and prose within half a year.Daozong loved him even more, and once said: "This son is so smart and intelligent, it is really a godsend!" When he was six years old, the Taoist envoy named him King of Liang.In the second year, he went hunting with Daozong, and happened to meet ten deer coming out of the dense forest. Xiao Yejun urged his mount to chase after the deer.The deer were frightened and ran away with all four hooves.The herd of deer ran fast, like a meteor lightning.Little Yelujun raised his whip to urge the horse, and chased after him relentlessly.While chasing, he drew his bow and set up an arrow, aiming at the herd of deer. With a sound of swish, the arrow came out, and a deer fell to the ground in response.Little Yelujun suddenly regained his energy, and only heard "Whoo! Whoosh! Whoosh!...," fired nine arrows in succession, and all nine arrows hit.When the tenth arrow had just been shot, the remaining deer had already run behind the hillside, and the feathered arrow shot into a crack in the rock.

Little Yelujun was just seven years old, and he hit nine out of ten shots, which is amazing!The officials were shocked, shouting long live!Daozong was even more ecstatic, hugged Ye Dejun in his arms, and said happily to the officials, "Since my ancestors, he has been riding and shooting, and his power has shocked the world! Although the prince is young, he has the legacy of his ancestors. God bless you! I, Daliao, have a successor to Huang Zuo. Congratulations, congratulations!" Immediately, a banquet was held in the imperial tent to celebrate the crown prince's achievements. In order for the prince Yelujun to better learn the way of being a king and the strategy of governing the country, Daozong specially selected Yelu Yinji, the envoy of Hakka province, to tutor the prince.Yelv Yinji not only has profound attainments in Sinology, but also is proficient in classics and historical anthologies;Under his guidance and influence, Yelujun developed a good character of admonishment, aversion to flattery, closeness to loyalty and goodness, and far away from treachery.Daozong was overjoyed.In order for him to learn the ability to deal with major affairs of the country, it is decided that he will be in charge of the government affairs and concurrently manage the affairs of the North and South Privy Councils from tomorrow.Daozong attached so much importance to him and entrusted him with the power of the court, Xiao Guanyin, as a mother, was both happy and uneasy.I am happy that my son has grown up and is promising. There are successors in the Daliao Dynasty, and the emperor's veins are prosperous!What made her uneasy was that her son was still a child under twenty years old after all, and important government affairs were not trivial, and a slight mistake would lead to a big mistake.Besides, among the princes and ministers, although there are many loyal and dedicated people for the country, there are also many treacherous and cunning villains.How can a mother feel at ease when her son is in charge of major affairs for the first time?Xiao Guanyin was thinking about her son, so she couldn't fall asleep on the imperial couch, so she got up in her clothes, got into the sheep cart, and walked to the Taiwomen in the rain.

Xiao Guanyin's goat cart arrived outside the gate of the Crown Prince's uterus, and he had already reported it to Prince Yelujun.Yelujun was studying under the lamp. When he heard that his mother was coming, he hurried out with his concubine to meet her.Before they could go out, Xiao Guanyin had already walked in. Yelujun and his concubine asked Xiao Guanyin to sit down and knelt down to pay her respects: "My son and daughter-in-law pay respects to the queen." "Get up." Xiao Guanyin lovingly helped them up. Yelujun said guiltily to Xiao Guanyin: "What's the matter with the queen, please send someone to call me. Why don't the mother come here in the rain, the son is too unfilial."

Xiao Guanyin smiled kindly, and said, "I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to go out for a walk. Is Yanxi's grandson getting better?" The princess replied: "After returning to mother, after asking the monks to recite the scriptures, he took the medicine prescribed by the imperial doctor. His illness is much better, and the fever is gone." Xiao Guanyin nodded: "That's good, you go and take care of him." The Crown Princess agreed and walked into the East Nuan Pavilion. After the princess left, Xiao Guanyin asked Yelujun seriously: "Jun'er, you will be in charge of the government tomorrow, what are you doing tonight?"

"After returning to mother," Yelujun said, pointing to the book case, "my son copied those two articles for my son after reading it." "But those two articles of Ouyang Xiu's "On Cliques" and "Biography of Actors and Officials in the History of the Five Dynasties"?" Xiao Guanyin asked anxiously. "Exactly." Yelujun nodded. Xiao Guanyin walked slowly towards the desk.Two articles were spread out on the desk, and they were the two articles she had copied in small letters.She excitedly picked up the two articles, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

Xiao Guanyin has been familiar with classics and history since she was a child. She feels that the history and culture, laws and regulations, and methods of governing the country of the Han people in the Central Plains are more advanced and complete than the Liao Dynasty.She really wanted to know more about the Han people in the Central Plains.Therefore, whenever the imperial court sent envoys to the Song Dynasty, she always asked the ministers to pay attention to whether there were any new collections of articles in the Song Dynasty. " and "Biography of Actors and Officials in the History of the Five Dynasties" were brought back by the envoys from the Song Dynasty last year.After Xiao Guanyin got these two articles, she couldn't put it down and read them. The more she read, the more excited she became. "...The theory of cliques has existed since ancient times, but fortunately, a gentleman can distinguish between a gentleman and a villain. ... Therefore, if you are a gentleman, you should abandon the false friends of the villain and use the true friends of the gentleman, and the world will be governed!" At that time, He couldn't help shouting: "That's great! It's really a clear statement of self-cultivation and rule of the world! Your Majesty and the crown prince should read these two articles carefully."

So, she copied two copies respectfully with Mrs. Wei's beautiful hairpin font, and sent them to His Majesty and the Crown Prince respectively.On the eve of the eve of taking charge of the government, the prince was still studying these two articles carefully. Xiao Guanyin's worries and worries disappeared suddenly, and a satisfied and gratified smile appeared on his face. After Xiao Guanyin returned to the bedroom to rest, it was already late at night.But Yelu Yixin's mansion was still brightly lit, singing and singing, dancing shadows, cups and cups interlaced, and the smell of wine.It turned out that Yelv Yixin was holding an all-night banquet.All the people who came to the banquet were Yelu Yixin's close friends, and two of them stood out the most, namely Yelu Yange and Xiao Shisan.Brother Yeluyan was originally a relative of the Liao family, and a descendant of Duowen, the younger brother of the Liao Taizu. In terms of seniority, he was the cousin of the prince Yelujun.After quelling Yelu Chongyuan's conspiracy, Yelu Yixin became a minister of meritorious service and was appointed as the Privy Envoy of the Southern Court.Yelv Yixin was very smart, he was very good at understanding Daozong's thoughts, he acted according to Daozong's winks, and he liked Daozong very much.Daozong almost obeyed him.This little palm-print Taibao suddenly became famous and became a very popular figure.

At first, Brother Yeluyan took refuge in Prince Yelujun's sect, because he knew that the prince was the heir apparent and would be the emperor in the future.He flattered and flattered Yelujun in every possible way.But Yelujun not only didn't agree with him, but he was very disgusted and disgusted with him.Years passed, and he was still a little southern forest tooth.He was very dissatisfied and resentful towards Yelu Jun.At this time, Yelu Yixin became the privy envoy of the Southern Court, and his power became more and more powerful. He changed his family and joined Yelu Yixin's sect, becoming Yelu Yixin's eyes and ears.Anyone who expresses dissatisfaction with Yelu Yixin in private, or has a slight complaint, as long as he finds out, he will definitely report it to Yelu Yixin.Many people were killed because of this.But he won the favor of Yelu Yixin, and was promoted to be Zuoyi Libi who was in charge of the prison.Xiao Shisan is the son of Duo Luhan, the Jiedu envoy, but he was only a small guard at first, and later became the deputy inspector in front of the palace because he took refuge in Yelu Yixin.

Singing and dancing added to the fun, accompanied by Shan Deng and her sister Qing Zi.After Yelu Zhongyuan's plot to usurp failed, Mr. Zhang Zhang wanted to pay a fine to guard the imperial tomb. Thanks to Yelu Yixin's help, Shan Deng was allowed to stay in the palace.You can often see Emperor Daozong in the palace.She was born handsome, good at singing and dancing, flirting with eyebrows and eyes, acting coquettishly and cheaply, and soon won the favor of Daozong, who often sent her to play, sing and dance.Therefore, she is very grateful to Yelv Yixin. Yelv Yixin has his own plans, he has admired Qingzi's beauty for a long time, but he has no chance to act.Shan Deng has benefited so much from Yi Xin, so he is naturally willing to recommend him.Qing is originally an actor in Jiaofang, so if he can curry favor with such a high-ranking official as Yi Xin, is there any reason why he should not allow it?In this way, Yelv Yixin hooked up with Qingzi.Feasting and having fun, singing and dancing, flirting and making fun... They hang out together almost every day. Yelu Yixin was a little drunk.Sitting in his arms, Shan Deng put the golden rhino horn-encrusted wine glass to his lips, winked at him coquettishly, and said coquettishly, "Come... have another drink... drink, drink! You If I don't drink it, I will be angry!" Yelv Yixin twisted Shan Deng's face with his hands, and said, "Drink! Shan Deng's toasted wine, even if I'm drunk to death, I still... have to drink it!" After speaking, he raised his head and drank it.As soon as he looked up and saw Qingzi, he said lasciviously, "Qingzi, you... you said you learned some new dance, come... come... dance for me... dance..." Qingzi said: "My lord, I have learned a new dance called the step dance. I heard from the master that Zhao Feiyan, the queen of the Han Dynasty, danced it." Yelv Yixin regained his energy all of a sudden, and hurriedly said, "Okay! Come quickly! Let me have a look." Kiyoko danced to the beat. While drinking, Yelv Yixin watched Qingzi dance.He was completely attracted by Qingzi's graceful and novel dancing posture, he stretched his neck in a daze, and actually forgot to swallow the sprinkle in his mouth.Brother Yeluyan had something to say to Yelu Yixin, but seeing that he was so fascinated by it, he had no choice but to swallow the words that came to his lips.After Qingzi finished dancing and Yelu Yixin returned to normal, Brother Yeluyan put his mouth next to Yelu Yixin's ear and whispered to him: "Your Majesty, the crown prince will be in charge of the government tomorrow. The crown prince is not as good as Emperor Daozong." Easy-going, he is a guy who doesn't know good and bad, and doesn't take hard things, you have to..." After hearing Brother Yan's words, the smile on Yelv Yixin's face suddenly disappeared.Since he was promoted to be the Privy Envoy of the South Court, many princes and ministers have been vying to make friends with him, and even flatter him in every possible way.Only the Empress Xiao Guanyin's family didn't take him seriously. The Empress' father, Xiao Hui, always looked at him with contempt and disdain when seeing him, and seemed to look down on him.He tried his best to please the prince, but the prince became more and more disgusted with him.It was a sickness in his heart that made him worry, worry, feel unhappy, and feel disturbed when he thought about it. At this moment, the deacon of the porter came in with a brocade box in his hand, and said to Yelu Yixin tremblingly, "My lord, there is a man surnamed Zhang outside the door asking to see you." Yelv Yixin was getting angry, and shouted: "Bastard! Have you forgotten the rules I set?" The porter said timidly: "There will be no outsiders during the banquet, I have not forgotten." "Since you haven't forgotten, why did you come to report?" Yelu Yixin gave him a hard look. The porter said embarrassingly: "If I don't notify him, he won't leave. He has been waiting in the rain for more than an hour." "Oh?" Yelu Yixin felt a little surprised, turned his head to look at Brother Yeluyan and Xiao Shisan, and asked the porter: "What's his name?" "Zhang Xiaojie. This is his admission ceremony." The porter deacon handed the brocade box to Yelu Yixin. Yelu Yixin opened the brocade box and was stunned for a moment.It turned out that there was a shining golden horse in the brocade box.Yelv Yixin weighed it in his hand, it was heavy, it was undoubtedly pure gold.Yelu Yixin thought to himself, who is Zhang Xiaojie?Why do you want to give a heavy gift?Thinking of this, he said to the porter, "Tell him to come in." Not long after the concierge went out, a white-faced scholar walked in from the door.Yelu Yixin took a look, and saw that the scholar was personable, elegant and handsome, his eyes were very flexible, as if he could talk.Yelv Yixin could tell that this person was extremely intelligent and good at observing facial expressions.He walked up to Yelu Yixin, bowed lightly, and said in a loud voice: "I came to pay my respects in the middle of the night, and I am bothering you. The student is sincere to the king, and I hope to beg for forgiveness." Yelu Yixin nodded slowly, and said in a tone: "You came to find me late at night in the rain, what's the matter?" Zhang Xiaojie said humbly, "Students traveled from thousands of miles to the imperial capital to participate in the Qiuwei Palace Examination, in order to win the laurels in the Toad Palace and serve the imperial court. The students have heard for a long time that the king appoints talents and supports the younger generation. That's why I visited on rainy nights to show my admiration Sincerely, I hope Your Majesty will understand.” Yelu Yixin had already understood Zhang Xiaojie's purpose for coming, to use this golden colt to buy a champion Dangdang.To be honest, he has plenty of gold, silver and jewels in Yelv Yixin, and he doesn't care for a golden pony. Then he thinks, most of his confidants are rough Rufus, but there are no scribes like Zhang Xiaojie, so it's not enough that they will be useful in the future.Besides, tomorrow is the first day for the crown prince to be in charge of the government. I propose Zhang Xiaojie as the number one scholar to see if his attitude will give me face. I can also take this opportunity to test my weight in the crown prince's mind. Wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone? Good thing, so I agreed. In the early morning of the next day, the chief examiner presented the examination papers of the top three in the palace examination to Daozong Yulan.After Daozong read it, he handed it over to the prince and all the ministers for circulation.After everyone circulated it, Daozong said: "Everyone loves you, the number one scholar in this department, which one should you choose?" All the ministers looked at me and I looked at you, but none of them came out to answer.Because they didn't know what Yelv Yixin was thinking, they were afraid of answering rashly and offending him, so they couldn't afford to be offended. Seeing that no one dared to answer, Yelu Yixin was very proud, and went out to play: "Your Majesty, I read these three examination papers, and I recommend Zhang Xiaojie's one as the best, and this person should naturally be the number one scholar." All the ministers echoed, and some said: "What King Yi Xin said is very true, and Zhang Xiaojie's articles are gorgeous and graceful." Some said: "Zhang Xiaojie's articles are rich in content and sonorous in rhyme." Some said: " With Zhang Xiaojie's writing style being elegant, timeless and elegant, he must be the No. 1 scholar." Voices of praise filled the palace. Dao Zong smiled and said to the crowd: "What do you mean, is Zhang Xiaojie the number one scholar today?" "Yes, it must be him." All the ministers replied in unison. "Okay, let's order..." Before Daozong could say the word Zhang Xiaojie, Prince Yelujun suddenly said, "Slow down!" Daozong turned to Yelujun and said, "What is it? Your son..." Yelujun bowed and saluted, and replied: "I think that although Zhang Xiaojie's articles are rich in words and elegant in style, they are empty in content and meaningless, and they are less effective in governing the country. It is better to compare Xiao Yanshou's plain and simple articles. , the content is solid, and quite insightful. My son thinks that the number one scholar should be Xiao Yanshou." "This..." Daozong couldn't make up his mind for a while, and said to the ministers: "What do you love?" On the one hand, the power is in the hands of the government and the opposition, and on the other is the future emperor and prince Yelu Jun. Neither party should be offended, and everyone bowed their heads. Yelv Yixin's face was very ugly, and his chest was bulging with anger.No one was so bold as to flirt with his face and refute his face.He wanted to explode, but finally held back.The prince is the crown prince, so I can't offend him too much.Otherwise, after he succeeds to the throne in the future, he will not have good results.But, is it just like this to admit defeat in front of the ministers?How will they see themselves in the future?No, you can't, you have to think of a good way to get the best of both worlds. Yelu Yixin walked out of the train unhurriedly, and said to Daozong: "Long live Chen Qi, according to my opinion, Xiao Yanshou and Zhang Xiaojie's articles are comparable, one of them is a Khitan, the other is a Han, Yi Chen From my point of view, it would be a great event for my court to have the top two champions of the new division at the same time. Daozong praised: "Wonderful! It's so wonderful! I'll order a double champion of Fanhan and Han!" All the ministers knelt on the altar in unison, and shouted: "Your Majesty is holy! Long live! Long live!"