Chapter 21 Read through Sanchun

Many, many years have passed, so many that I can't even remember which year it was. The desolate border town post ushered in a long-distance traveler.The postman hurriedly greeted him with a smile on his face.After asking for his name and official title, he realized that the dusty man in front of him was Li Xiang, the former governor of Mengzhou who had returned to Beijing to stand by. According to "Minutes of Fangyu", the area of ​​Mengzhou "shielded Zhaowu, controlled the barbarians, and intervened in the Lijiang River", which was a real place of barbarians.Li Xiang, who had just resigned from Mengzhou, was unwilling to return to this smoky place no matter what.However, a sheriff in a frontier area has no relatives or old friends in the pavilion; once he returns to Chang'an, he is like a boat in the sea, not knowing where to go.Seeing Li Xiang's preoccupied appearance, the postman asked him attentively what worries he had.After all, it is nothing more than four words: the future is uncertain.

After hearing the clue, the postman enthusiastically told Li Xiang: There is a witch living in seclusion here, who can know the future, why not ask for advice.Li Xiang couldn't help but move in his heart.He knows that the folk customs in this area have been fond of ghosts and witches since ancient times. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" once said that the southern barbarians and the southwestern barbarians "love the taboos of witches and ghosts".At this moment of confusion, if someone can predict a thing or two about his future, that would be great.The postman was very attentive and invited the witch to the posthouse.

The witch in front of her was as old as a half-cut piece of rotten wood, which would turn into dust if she twisted it.There is only one pair of eyes, which are shining brightly.There is a kind of indescribable weirdness in the description.Li Xiang felt a little trust in his heart.After exchanging a few pleasantries, the witch already knew what Yuan Ke meant.She also told Li Xiang frankly that she did have the supernatural ability to talk to ghosts.But...the witch changed the subject and told Li Xiang: there are two kinds of ghosts wandering in the world.One is the ghost of fortune, with a good spirit, who can talk to people by himself; the other is the ghost of poverty, with a bad spirit and haggard spirit, who can only talk about ghostly things through the mouth of a witch.Whether what the ghost said is true or false depends on how powerful the ghost is.The witch can't guarantee that those ghost words are credible.

After pondering for a while, Li Xiang asked: Then how can we talk to ghosts? Under the catalpa tree in front of the hall, there is a soul dressed in purple and gold, which should be the ghost of fortune.The witch said: That is Lu Pushe, you might as well ask him for advice. Is there a servant named Lu in Chang'an?Li Xiang searched in his mind, and suddenly realized: it should be Lu Congshi, the envoy of Zhaoyi Jiedu.In my impression, the imperial court once gave him an empty title of servant.After being captured alive by Tutu Chengcui that year, Lu Congshi was first demoted to Huanzhou Sima, and then exiled to Kangzhou soon.The envoys sent by Li Chun (Tang Xianzong) caught up with him here with the death edict. Maybe Lu Congshi died in this courtyard.

Thinking of this, Li Xiang couldn't help shivering.After he regained his composure, he turned around and went back to his room, changed into his official uniform, and walked out with a bamboo slip in his hand. Just after Li Xiang lifted up his long clothes and knelt down to bow to the catalpa tree in the atrium, the witch whispered to him beside him: Pu She has already said goodbye.After hearing this, Li Xiang straightened up, bowed again, and raised his legs to go up the steps.I only heard a faint voice in the air: I was strangled to death by a bowstring in this post hall, I hope you can take the bow off the bed.

Li Xiang hurried forward, took away the carved bow on the case table, and was about to sit down on the bed.At this time, the witch reminded him: Pu Sheguan Gao, how can you sit and ask questions like you treat officials? At this time, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the cold air moved slightly, as if the invisible ghost was drifting away.Li Xiang also realized that he had been rude, and hurriedly crawled down the steps, toward the direction where the ghost was drifting away, bowing every step, dozens of steps.At this time, Lu Congshi's stern voice came from the sky again: Your official position is not as good as that of a lieutenant general under my command, how dare you sit in front of me?

Li Xiang was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe out, and apologized repeatedly.Under the guidance of the witch, he placed another couch in the post hall and respectfully invited Lu Congshi to take his place.It wasn't until the witch told him that Pu She had already taken his seat that Li Xiang apologized respectfully and carefully sat down beside him. At this time, Lu Congshi in the air spoke: What do you want to ask? Li Xiang respectfully asked Lu Congshi to guide his future.After a while, the voice in the void said: After arriving in the capital for a month, he will be appointed as the governor of Wuzhou.

In the end, I still have to return to this smoky place.Li Xiang was somewhat frustrated.However, Wuzhou is still better than Mengzhou.According to Li Jifu's "Yuanhe County Tuzhi", the number of households in Wuzhou is 1,871.The number of households in Mengzhou is only 272, which is only a fraction of that in Wuzhou.This made Li Xiang feel a little better.He wanted to ask about what happened later, but the ghost didn't say anything. After asking about himself, Li Xiang asked Lu Congshi casually: Pu She has been away from the human world for a long time, why would he rather live in the lonely Hades than return to the mortal world?

After a long silence, Lu Congshi's ghost sighed faintly, and said: "Woo! What are you talking about. The world is full of hard work, and all worries are entangled in the heart. Between square inches, there are turbulent waves, and jealousy and thieves are as fierce as a hero." Beast”, I have escaped from this suffering world, how can I turn back? In the first act of "King Lear", Shakespeare also used Gloucester to reveal such a depressing and hopeless picture: "Dear people are alienated from each other, friends are turned into strangers, and brothers are turned into enemies. , there are riots in the city, the country, civil strife, conspiracy hidden in the court, father is not father, son is not son... Our best days are over, now only conspiracy, fraud, treason, chaos follow us, Drive us down to the grave"—this is the chaotic world in the eyes of a ghost, and this is the image of the chaotic world after the Yuanhe Palace Change.

When Li Chun's coffin was carried out of the Taiji Palace, the rough cry of the wild owl was still echoing in the silent air.The coffin has the most exquisite patterns and the heaviest weight in the world, so heavy that people can't breathe.There is no sound of breathing, only the emperor who sleeps forever.From then on, that person named Li Chun, who vividly influenced the fate of the dynasty, no longer exists.Only the temple name "Tang Xianzong" has been written into the pages of history. In the eyes of Chang'an people, the long line of plain clothes slowly moved towards Jinzhi Mountain.The Jingling Mausoleum built by Li Chun for himself is located here.The green hills under the sun are like hanging flags, solidified in the wind, hence the name.When the funeral procession disappeared at the end of the long road and was never seen again, it was already dusk.The wives and daughters of Pei Tongyuan, the former Sima of Jizhou, walked back through the Tonghua Gate in a depressed mood.At this time, they suddenly realized that it was almost time for the curfew in Chang'an.When the "day engravings" of the copper leaks in the yamen are exhausted, six hundred "closed door drums" will be beaten.No one can walk on the street outside Lifang for no reason before the 400 "door-opening drums" are played at 5 o'clock in the morning of the next day.Otherwise, according to the "Palace Guard Order", it is a crime of "committing the night" and will be beaten twenty times by Jin Wu who is watching the night.

Pei's family is in Chongxian, not close to Tonghua Gate.Pei Tongyuan's wife and daughter hurriedly urged the slaves to drive away quickly.When they arrived at Pingkang North Street, they suddenly saw a white-haired old woman who, at some point, staggered and followed the car on foot.When the car arrived at Tianmen Street, the sound of night drums chiming the time finally sounded.The door of Chang'an Lifang is about to be keyed.The Pei family's chariots and horses moved even faster.The exhausted old woman seemed to be unable to catch up.The old maid in Tsing Yi and the four young girls in the car asked her from a distance: Where do you live? The old woman panted and said: Chongxianli. The girls on the bus said: Since we are in the same Lifang, let's get on the bus and take a ride.Otherwise, Jin Wu's whipping would be unavoidable. The horseshoe was light, and finally rushed back to Chongxianli at the moment before the gate of the square closed.The old woman, whose breath was gradually calming down, thanked her repeatedly.Before getting out of the car, she took out a kit from her sleeve and graciously gave it to the girls of the Pei family.The girl opened the kit curiously, and looked inside, and saw that they were four small mourning clothes that Poirot had cut out! The girls of the Pei family screamed in fright and hurriedly threw the kit on the road.Looking back, the twilight was dim, washing away the figures on the road little by little.The white-haired old woman disappeared into the air like a ghost—at this time, Chang'an was a bleak scene of "the moon sets in an empty city and ghosts howl long". Ten days later, a shocking news spread in Chang'an: four young girls in Pei Tongyuan's family died mysteriously overnight. You may be very surprised, why I would suddenly talk about two ghost stories after interpreting Yuan and Gongbian layer by layer.Didn't the bloody and gloomy Yuan and Gong Bian already show a degenerate late Tang Dynasty?No, don't be troubled by the erratic voice of the ghost interfering with the statement of the historian Zizhengyuan.Let us transform the sanctimonious historical sites into beautiful ghostly phantoms.Only when the chirping and ghost sounds faintly come from between the lines, can we truly understand the absurdity of this world, and only then can we think about why the creation myth of dragons and tigers became a late Tang nonsense, and when did it become a nonsense. Just like Mrs. Zheng in the movie said: "In the peaceful world, humans and ghosts are separated; in today's world, humans and ghosts are mixed." We believe that history has long been a hallucination, and ghosts are running around.All kinds of nonsense combined to form a world full of fiction.It is a mirror that shows the world, reflecting the world and its plight.How can we understand the fragmented world after the Yuanhe Palace change without the end-time scene where humans and ghosts are mixed together.In this sense, the series of nonsense stories deviated from the logic of the real world, but they were clearly revealed in the late Tang Dynasty. Fraternal fratricide, nothing to worry about; the indifference of the world, just laugh it off——In ghost stories, there is a swaying style at the end of the century, which finally turned into the desolation in my pen. I look up at the blue sky: the sky is like washing, empty. Facing the endless sky, I am like Li Xiang in the post station, imagining that there is a wisp of ghost floating invisible on the top of the catalpa tree in front of the court—that is the dead Li Chun. "Looking back and looking down at the world", is he, like Lu Congshi, disgusted with all kinds of worldly things? There are actually two Li Chuns we know, and the complexity cannot be covered by any word in the posthumous name or temple name: one Li Chun listened to the opinions of ministers in Yanying Hall, and confidently issued one statement after another to the world. Another Li Chun is materialistic and sensual, he likes to fantasize about getting a pill of immortality in front of the alchemy furnace, or playfully sing against the old-fashioned bureaucrats.The former is political, the latter is life; the former is apotheosis, the latter is secular; Hands, but it has been said by the commentators of the past dynasties that it is self-inflicted—but both Li Chun are true. The two images with such a big contrast, when superimposed, become a flesh and blood, vivid and colorful person, a historical figure who is full of contradictions. But this stalwart and vivid historical image still collapsed in the night.The spiritual pedigree of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty has since split into two groups: one group is represented by Li Han (Tang Wenzong), Li Chen (Tang Xuanzong) and even Li Ye (Tang Zhaozong), who are rational, rigid, diligent, and similar to those recorded in history books. Ming Jun looks like a god; the other group has souls possessed by Li You (Tang Muzong), Li Zhan (Tang Jingzong), Li Yu (Tang Yizong) and Li Xuan (Tang Xizong), interpreting the emotional hedonism to the extreme , and finally settled in the dock of the historical trial.However, they are all incomplete and defaced Li Chun, and no one can truly reproduce the soul of that Yuanhe era.After the fission, the two groups of souls are equally thin, incompetent, and lifeless... The Daming Palace in the late Tang Dynasty was filled with fragments of Li Chun's soul. Only by understanding Li Chun, who has turned into a ghost, can we see how his death profoundly affected the final death of the entire dynasty.In this sense, we are going to tell the story from the early spring of the fifteenth year of Yuanhe to the late spring of the second year of Changqing, and all the way to the autumn of the thirteenth year of Dazhong, when the yellow leaves are swaying, all because of him, because of a sudden death. After talking about Li Chun who was murdered, let us go back to the plot of "Macbeth" again to experience the state of mind of the regicide and patricide Li You. We clearly heard Lady Macbeth complaining bitterly on the stage again: "We have tried our best, but we still get nothing. Although our goals are achieved, we are not satisfied at all. If we use the means of destroying others to put ourselves in the In the midst of joys full of doubts, it would be better for the one we have killed to be free from worries." Her husband fell into the same pain: "Why should we eat with worry, and sleep with the banter of the nightmare that terrifies us every night?" Henceforth, "Macbeth has killed sleep—the sleep of innocence, the sleep that weaves the tangled threads of care." He has endless nightmares, even with his eyes open.At the banquet, Macbeth shouted hysterically to the ghost that only he could see, "You can't say I did it, don't shake your blood-stained hair at me".No one saw the blood-stained hair, but they all heard the confession.People not only have nightmares, but also face ghosts in broad daylight. This is the most extreme form of human self-judgment. When we take our eyes back from Scotland and re-examine Li You in Daming Palace, will we find that: one person has obtained everything in his dreams: the Beaulieu Throne, Daming Palace, Chang'an, Tianxia... Get that big At the same time, will you lose the peace in even the smallest corner of your heart forever? It seems not. The guilt that wrapped Macbeth like a cold corpse seems to have never wrapped Li You. Tell us: On the fifth day of February, when Li Youyu came to the Danfeng Gate Tower, he put on music, dances and acrobatics; ten days later, he visited the Zuo Shence Army again, this time to watch the wrestling and acrobatics of the soldiers in the army.After his father's mountain mausoleum was placed in peace, Li You's time was completely occupied by singing, dancing and entertainment.In just one year, Zhao Zhiwei from Hengshan, Li Jue from Shiyi, Zheng Tan, Cui Yan, and Ding Gong from Hengshan all wrote letters for Li You's extravagant pleasure.But all advice is like a small stone thrown into the abyss, without even a ripple. Is this the joy a regicide should enjoy?I don't believe, I don't believe that there is retribution after death. I would rather believe that Li You is using endless entertainment to appease his frightened soul. He was such a young man.Simple, and maybe a little weak; he is greedy for enjoyment, likes to swing on the back of a horse and play polo ball, and likes all the beautiful things in the world: fine wine, beauties, beautiful dances, and Liu Gongquan's beautiful calligraphy and Yuan Zhen. Beautiful poems—maybe you think Li You is mediocre, not inheriting his father's wisdom and charm.What does it matter to a man who spends his life in the splendor and tranquility of the Sixteen Houses? However, the voice of the desire witch's blessing, as well as various forces, urged Li You to stretch out his pale hand towards a bloody knife.After sitting on the throne of the emperor, he was destined to be tortured by his own evil deeds. Li You is a well-educated person from the royal family and has read many books, so the shackles of civilization have been imposed on him.No matter how impulsive Yuanhe Gong was before the change, he could only be a sober patricide.Li Chun's blood, Li Kuan's blood, and the colorless, odorless blood that couldn't be washed off his hands.Li You, who is familiar with history books, knows what kind of trial a patricide like him will suffer: Shang Chen, Mao Dun, Yang Guang... names flashed through his mind.He was about to stand with them, under the pillar of shame. This thought is like a blunt knife, sawing back and forth on the nerve line.Li You can only comfort himself in this way: his father is old, his brilliance and prowess are gone, he has become arrogant, tyrannical, favoring courtiers and alchemists... In short, his father can no longer continue the good times of the dynasty.Instead of letting the dream of dynasty revival serve as the father's sacrificial object, it is better to let the young self replace the aging father and lead an era back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty.Just like Macbeth, Li You told himself tremblingly: "No matter what happens, the most embarrassing days will pass." However, the facts are relentless.Li You can't stand shoulder to shoulder with his father at all. No foresight, no wrist, everything that a promising emperor should have, he doesn't have.Li You is doomed to be troubled by one or another bad news: Lulong Mutiny, Chengde Mutiny, Wei Bo Mutiny, Wuning, Zhejiang West, Xuanwu and Zhaoyi... The achievements of his father's painstaking efforts for more than ten years will soon come to an end. It was buried cleanly in Li You's hands.Imagine, in the middle of the night of "Three o'clock in the middle of the night", the gate of the palace was knocked open again and again by flying cavalry who rushed from six hundred miles away.The knock on the door is not as terrifying as what Macbeth heard, but it seems endless.Li You also didn't understand why the bad news from all over the world was always sent to the Daming Palace at the deepest hour of the night, waking him up from his dreams again and again, making him painfully open his sleepy eyes, and listening to it was heart-wrenching. Report. Tomorrow, during the daytime, Li You, who has been sleepless all night, will face the censure of the officials in the court hall, and there will be meaningless quarrels and internal friction.He can only anesthetize himself with alcohol, singing and dancing, so that he can fall asleep after being exhausted.But Li You knew that there must be an even worse news at this time. He was running on an unknown section of Changchang Post Road, and he would be sent to the bedroom in the next dark night to wake him up from his short-lived dream. Not once did the knock on the door sound for his crime of regicide and patricide.This made Li You deeply afraid of imaginary punishment: "The horror in imagination is far greater than the horror in reality." He had to endure the torture from his heart before the final judgment came.The soul is trapped in the wine glass. One year later, Li You is no longer as transparent and pure as sunlight. When Macbeth climbed to the high place, what he saw was a magnificent sight: the vast Birnam Forest was slowly moving towards Dunsinen High Hill.That is the army wearing leaves approaching the city.According to the witch's prophecy, this is the end of Macbeth.For Li You, the news of mutiny, rebellion and death is like the legendary Bonan Forest, slowly coming... On a cold day, Li You played polo with a group of eunuchs in order to kill time.Suddenly, an eunuch accidentally fell off his horse.He hit his head on the ground, blood spattering everywhere.The horse under Li You's crotch was frightened by the accident, hissed and stood up.At this moment, Li You widened his eyes in panic, as if he saw something. People saw that Li You fell heavily into the dust like a falling meteorite. What did Li You see?Did he, like Macbeth in the banquet, see the blood-stained hair and the face of the ghost hidden under the hair?Otherwise, how could Li You, who is excellent in riding skills, be frightened by such a common stagger!Since then, Li You was bedridden, and after more than a year of suffering, he closed his eyes before the darkness struck. If Li You could predict on the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month in the fifteenth year of Yuanhe that what one night of crime would bring was nothing more than four years of extremely bleak imperial career, would he have made a different choice? have no idea.Only one eternal lamp of crime and punishment is still flickering in the world. "Macbeth" is the last of Shakespeare's four tragedies.In my narrative it is the first act of the story.Now that Li You played the regicide Macbeth, let his taciturn younger brother Li Chen (Tang Xuanzong) play the vengeful Hamlet—in this way, our story begins in the classic tragedy, and in the classic tragedy Finish.I clearly heard the actor who played Macbeth lamenting painfully on the stage: "From now on, she has died, and from now on there will be such a word—tomorrow." At this point, the actor paused meaningfully for a long time, Only then did the famous monologue, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, climb into this small space day by day, until the last syllable of history..." On the stage, the love and hatred of the emperor's family climaxed one after another; off the stage, there were crowds of people. Those scholar-bureaucrats who claim to "self-cultivate themselves, regulate their families, govern the country, and bring peace to the world" are like me, standing by and watching, acting as indifferent spectators of tragedies.The so-called elites keep their eyes on the door, and they have nothing to do.They despise the bureaucrats who are good at judging complicated dramas, and they themselves know nothing about military strategy and civil affairs;All they got from their ancestors was a noble surname and county prestige.Eunuch Zhang Chengye once asked with disdain a disciple of Fan Yang’s Lu family who was citing his family and acting arrogantly: “What can the public do?” Just as the "New Tang Book" said, "At that time, the literati and bureaucrats were respected for their quality, and those who were famous for virtue were the first."Apart from the so-called morality and fame, they can't talk about any high-profile morals, which are just a mask to whitewash their obscene selfish desires.The hypocrisy of elites is so prominent in this decadent history.Li Chun's death, Li You's drunkenness and dreams, death is worse than life... They all turned a blind eye.They don't care about anything but themselves. In the eyes of scholar-bureaucrats, there are only Changjie Kuaguan, Qujiang Liyan, Moonlight Playing Ball, Apricot Garden Visiting Flowers and Wild Goose Pagoda inscriptions.The Jinshi Division determines the status of a person and a family in Chang'an.That's all they care about.Those extravagant and flashy ceremonies to the extreme are nothing but a performance of their self-feeling. In the first year of Changqing, when "birds scattered flowers and people got drunk", we peeled back the cocoon of a fraud case, saw the relationship between party struggle and imperial examination, and also saw through the true colors of scholar-bureaucrats.These elites have such influence on the design and operation of institutions related to their own interests that they abuse their various advantages to harm the lower classes and benefit themselves.First-class figures like Duan Wenchang and Wang Bo, as well as Yuan Zhen, started from a poor family, relying on super-class intelligence and acquired hard work, they rose to the top of the temple.But on the road to success, they are also contaminated with selfishness and obscenity that are difficult to get rid of. The entire elite class has collectively degenerated, and what best reflects this degeneration is precisely the imperial examinations that are most closely related to their political status and interests. It is said that one year, Weng Yanshu, the son of Gusu, went to Beijing to participate in the Spring Festival that year.Before entering the house, Juzi went to the temple to pay homage to a monk who had met in his hometown in the old days.Meeting old acquaintances in a foreign land is of course a pleasant thing in life.The two of them talked about the old days, and the topic of course was the exam.The old monk suddenly asked Weng Yanshu: What do you think about the future of fame and fame? Weng Yanshu sighed, frankly saying that there are many things in his heart.Everyone in the world knows that when you leap from the dragon gate, you are worth a hundred times.But how many carp can complete the leap of turning a fish into a dragon.Every spring, there are only more than 20 people who are proud of the spring breeze.How could a Jiangnan talented person wandering alone in the imperial township dare to have too many extravagant hopes?Seeing his hesitation, the old monk asked bluntly: "Which place do you want?"Weng Yanshu thought the old monk was just joking, so he replied casually: The eighth place is fine. The next day, the old monk came to the servant Pei Yuan's residence.He is a guest of Pei's mansion, and he can often come and go in and out of the middle gate.The old monk held the twirl beads and chanted sutras with his eyes closed.No one evaded him in what he said or what he did.Pei Yuan has been ordered to enter the palace to preside over this year's imperial examination.His two sons, Pei Xun and Pei Zhi, are happily talking about the secrets of Chunwei at home.Who was in high school, who failed, and who recommended them, the two talked logically, but the much-anticipated imperial examination had not even begun.The two young masters of the Pei family didn't notice that the old monk who looked like a haggard tree beside him had clearly grasped the secrets revealed by them, just like the twirl beads in his hands.The two were talking happily when they suddenly saw the old monk's eyes that seemed to be sleeping but not sleeping suddenly opened, and his eyes were shining brightly. The old monk said sternly: Is your father the chief examiner, or are you the chief examiner?Selecting scholars through the imperial examination is a major national event. The imperial court appointed a minister to preside over it. The original intention was to ask him to get rid of the accumulated disadvantages and let the poor scholars have a way to be promoted.The Jinshi you brothers want to obtain are all from the high school, poor scholars with a way to go.Today's imperial examinations are presided over by your father. Is he a puppet who is at your mercy?Besides, the ones you brothers have chosen are all the children of the rich and powerful, descendants of high families, and you have not even mentioned a single poor student.I said, can I not admit it? After finishing speaking, the old monk raised his fingers and counted from the beginning to the end, all of them were not bad.The cobweb-like relationship behind everyone is exactly right, without omissions.Pei Xun and Pei Zhi were stunned, not knowing what to do for a moment.If the old monk leaks the details he knows to his father's political opponents, another storm will set off in Chang'an.Like Qian Hui in the first year of Changqing, Pei Yuan was severely condemned and even demoted thousands of miles away. The two dudes suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation, jumped off their seats, and humbly begged the old monk to keep the secret.Gold, silver, money and silk, everything you want is easy to negotiate.Then the old monk slowly said: I am old, what is the use of money?Weng Yanshu, a fellow from the same village, must obtain a Jinshi in this subject. Pei Xun and Pei Zhi hastily agreed that Weng Yanshu must be ranked last.The old monk stared: It must be the eighth! As a last resort, the two sons of the Pei family had no choice but to grieve, and nodded in agreement.The old monk immediately fetched pen and ink and asked them to make a written statement.A few days later, the list of Jinshi was posted on the south wall of the Ministry of Rites, and Weng Yanshu was the eighth in that year... This is the imperial examination that made Tang Taizong (Li Shimin) boast that "the heroes of the world are in my pocket".From Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and then to Wu Zetian (Wu Zhao), many emperors tried their best to break the abuse of "the upper class has no poor families, and the lower class has no noble families".When history enters the late Tang Dynasty, I find that everything seems to have returned to the last years of the Han Dynasty, when the nine-rank official law was popular.Driven by personal and family interests, the children of Quan Hao wantonly trampled on the fair value of the imperial examinations.For a while, the number of Jinshi was completely monopolized by the family of the public minister and the family of generations.Looking at Chang'an, how can there be a little bit of Chu Tang's mind to recruit talents from all over the world? Prime Minister Linghuyu's son directly took the Chang'an imperial examination without being expelled from the local area, that is, examination and recommendation. Juzi Lu Jian was recommended by the local government.When I was able to enter Beijing to take the exam, it happened that the city of Chang'an was broken.He managed to catch up with the exiled emperor.Lu Jian wanted to become a Jinshi as soon as possible, so he begged Prime Minister Wei Zhaodu several times to hold the imperial examination.Wei Zhaodu was also regarded as a "celebrity of the old family", but his character was extremely low. Even the eunuchs dared to ridicule him for "opening a shop to sell officials in Zhongshu, and borrowing pens from others when he lives in Hanlin".However, Wei Zhaodu admired Lu Jian very much and wanted to support him.But the prime minister also has a dilemma: the imperial examination is held in spring, known as Chunwei.But there are only a few days left in the summer, and it is not a trial period, how can we hold the Spring Festival?Besides, who will be the examiner?Lu Jian immediately said: It is very suitable for Zhongshusheren Zheng Shun, who lives in the same room as him, to be the examiner.Wei Zhaodu also agreed and let him lobby by himself.As for the book stickers and list articles, they were all created by Lu Jian.In the last month of that summer, Lu Jian, who directed and acted on his own, got his wish and won the first prize.Later, when he entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, it was summer, and his colleagues jokingly said to him: Such a hot day is very suitable for making the list of Jinshi. In any case, Lu Jian is quite talented.Cui Zhaoju of the Qinghe Cui family is mediocre.On the day before his elder brother Cui Zhaowei became prime minister, he was like a top student in high school.Coincidentally, on the second day after Wang Tizhong won the first prize, his father Shangshu Prime Minister Wang Shun also paid homage to him.The mystery of this is self-evident.According to the etiquette of a prime minister saluting the number one scholar, the father congratulated his son for monopolizing the claws.Perhaps because he couldn't bear such etiquette, the new number one scholar died a few months later... What's more, his son Pei Yun proposed to Prime Minister Xiao Yu in order to win the exam.A few days after he asked Xiao Yan's daughter's birthday, she was already in high school.Luo Yin, who was talented but failed in the ranks, blurted out: "It's still interesting to look closely at the moon, and believe in Qinggui near Heng'e", to ridicule Pei Yun and the entire imperial examination system. All kinds of bizarre things show that under the erosion of the elites in the late Tang Dynasty, the imperial examinations became a mere formality and lost the core value of rewarding talents.Jinshi Huang Tao once pointed out sadly: "The nobles and nobles block the road to Longmen, and the average artist will lose nine times out of ten." The scholar-bureaucrats played with the imperial examination system, which reflected the excessive self-inflation of this class, and did not take into account the lower class. feel.The attitude of self-importance arouses resistance from other classes and causes vicious interactions among all classes of society.But they remained indifferent, "until the three spring flowers are exhausted". Many years later, it was another spring when the warbler flowers and feathers fell.Thousands of people are eagerly looking forward to the moment when "the list goes to Jinmen, and the name comes from the jade case".When the announcement slowly unfolded in the eyes of everyone, different faces showed different expressions.Some people immediately knew what "the world's pride is the spring breeze", while others lamented that "every spring brings sorrow".They are all talented talents who are full of ambitions. They are two points in the world in front of a list, and they are completely different from then on. At the moment when "the white horse whizzes the wind with thirty bridles, and the noble families hold candles to a thousand families", there is a burly figure hidden in the stream of people leaving sadly.His name is Huang Chao. A few years ago, Huang Chao and his elder brother Huang Kui came to Chang'an to take the exam.Despite feeling good about themselves, they've lost their names.Just when the two brothers were packing their bags and preparing to leave, Cui Qiu, the doctor of kaogongsi, came to visit.He told Huang Chao that he had read his test paper and was impressed by the boldness revealed in the text.It's a pity that Huang Chao didn't apply to famous officials and officials before the exam, and no one recommended him.His name will not be on the long-established list.Cui Jiao told Huang Chao not to forget to make arrangements early when Ying Chunwei came back next time.Huang Chao nodded movedly.A few years later, when Huang Chao stepped into Chang'an again, he brought a letter of recommendation from Cui Qiu.However, "flowers are similar every year, but people are different every year."In the fierce party struggle, Cui Qiu has become a loser.He has no ability to give Huang Chao a great future. In this way, Huang Chao lost again. In the spring of Chang'an, "thousands of hands compete to climb willow belts, and thousands of flower branches are interspersed".But Huang Chao knew that such a charming spring scenery did not belong to him.Decades ago, Chunming Sect sent away a man named Zhu Kerong.When he walked out of Chang'an, he looked up to the sky and howled like a wolf.Now, Huang Chao strode across the Chunming Gate and walked towards the devastated land.At this fateful moment.He suddenly remembered something from his childhood.According to the "Guier Collection" by Zhang Duanyi of the Song Dynasty, when Huang Chao was five years old, he accompanied his elders to watch chrysanthemums, and casually recited a sentence, "Kanyu Baihua is the leader, and nature bestows ocher yellow flowers".Yellow ocher is the color of imperial clothing.The ambition flowing out of this line made his father secretly startled.Now, Huang Chao thinks of the chrysanthemum, which symbolizes death.Instead of screaming, he recited a poem, which was more powerful and clearly expressed his thoughts than the five-year-old's poem: