Chapter 123: The emperor dares to touch his head

There are many candidates waiting outside the palace gate - no, they should not be called the candidates now, they should be called Huiyuan. In the second year of Yuanyou, the number of candidates in this class was slightly smaller, and there were about 6,000 juren who participated in the provincial and ministerial examinations. 137 Huiyuans were admitted to undergraduates, and after completing the palace examination, they should be called "Junior" students.

There are three people in the Jinshi list, with three people in the first list, namely "the top scorer", "the second scorer" and "Tanhua". These three people are called "the second scorer". The number of people on the second list is not limited, and they are called "the Jinshi origin" and the third list is called "the same Jinshi origin".

Zhao Xing sat on a red chair - the last one in the provincial and ministerial examination. Unless the salted fish turned over, he was the third-ranked material, so he was not in a hurry and walked slowly. This made him look arrogant in front of the group of trepidators. Especially his follower Cheng Xia also rode a rare tall horse, which made them even more angry.

"Who is this? A celebrity? So arrogant?" A whisper rang out in the venue.

"I don't know, I heard from the prosecutor that there was no one sitting on the red chair. The last one this guy must have arrived was the one who came from the red chair."

It was indeed a red chair. After Zhao Xing reported to him, the prosecutor announced that everyone had arrived and led the candidates into the palace. He was in a hurry and Cheng Xia was left outside. Zhao Xing had only time to wink at the other party, and the palace gate swallowed him.

The prosecutor led the candidates into the hall and began to guide the candidates to salute respectfully to an empty chair, while the officials corrected their actions one by one...

Zhao Xing was big, and among a group of people who passed the exam by pale face, thin skin, malnourished, and only studied hard and recited hard, he looked extremely eye-catching. However, this man was not humble or arrogant when he was performing rituals, and he did not have the kind of fear and fear trembling. Therefore, he was given the key attention of officials of the Ministry of Rites and educated him several times. Seeing that Zhao Xing was still so casual, the Xuanli Officer only wanted to expel him from the auditorium. However, an official leaned down and whispered in his ear, and then the Xuanli Officer simply ignored Zhao Xing.

Soon, Zhao Xing was transferred to the last row of the team. He watched the group of candidates saluting the empty chair with nothing to do, and wanted to laugh. The Xuanli Officer was circling around him, just ignoring Zhao Xing. After waiting for a while, an official quietly called the Xuanli Officer out. The people who were on the scene were standing obediently with their heads down. Zhao Xing looked around, looking for Zhou Bang-style figure.

Zhou Bangyan didn't find it, and his eyes occasionally turned to the palace walls. He suddenly remembered that he had never seen a house with brick and stone structures elsewhere. It is said that the archaeological excavation of Bianliang City did not find that the Bianliang houses had brick and stone structures. However, according to the records, the palace was obviously brick and stone structures... Thinking of this, he turned his eyes to the palace walls and carefully looked at the brick and wood structures of the Song Dynasty.

The brick and stone structures in the Song Dynasty were rare. In modern times, except for some broken religious buildings, only Ganzhou still retains the original shape of the Song city wall, and you can see the Song bricks from it. The existing Song bricks are thick and sturdy, rectangular, pure gray-blue bricks, high in temperature, and excellent texture...

Before Zhao Xing finished watching, a sound of boots sounded behind him. A teenage child walked into the main hall of the Ministry of Rites with his hands on his back. He walked around with his hands on his back, stood in front of Zhao Xing looking around, and asked with his face raised his face: "So tall! Such a majestic man can write poetry and essays, why not practice martial arts?"

If Zhao Xing was born and raised in Song, he would definitely not dare to move around at this moment. Perhaps he could guess the identity of the boy from his clothes. But he was a history idiot. Seeing the crimson robe worn by the other party, he was still wondering: "Didn't it mean that Zhao Kuangyin was wearing a yellow robe? Why did the red robe worn by this child run around the imperial city... Well, those who dare to wander around in the imperial city must be disciples of the royal family - members of the royal family."

The child wore a crown of the sky, with twenty-four curled beams on it. In front of the crown was decorated with a Jinbo Mountain and a cicada. He was guided on his hair with a jade rhinoceros hairpin. The button on the crown was a "Northern Bead". He was wearing a crimson purple gauze robe with a cloud dragon pattern, a white gauze mid-single, and a square heart curved collar (the square heart curved collar in the Song Dynasty was a decoration with a round upper and lower shape, which looked like a lock piece, which was placed between the neck to prevent the collar from rising, meaning that the sky was round and the sky was round). He was tied with a large gold and jade belt, with a front cover and a ribbon on the side.

The child was innocent. Zhao Xing saw the other party's pink face and saw some mud on his robe. He squatted down gently, patted the child's head first, interrupted the curious baby's question, and then carefully dusted off the mud on the other party's robe and said with concern: "The road is muddy, the weather is cold and the road is slippery. Be careful when walking, look, you are covered in mud!"

After Zhao Xing squatted down, he focused all his thoughts on the child. He didn't notice that the candidates around him were trembling. Especially when he was stroking the child's head, one or two candidates fainted on the ground, while the child was carrying his hands behind his back and gestured straight behind him.

The child saw Zhao Xing squatting down, still taller than him. He also touched Zhao Xing's shoulder calmly and asked curiously: "If you don't learn martial arts, why are you doing so tall?"

Zhao Xing was amused by this childish saying, and he continued to squat down and joked: "People say they stand tall and can see far. I tried my best to grow so high, just to see far."

The child nodded in an aging manner and asked again: "Then what did you see?"

The Song people admired Buddhism, and this child seemed to be fighting Zen with Zhao Xing, also called "killing the game". Zhao Xing just kept talking and opened his mouth: "I..."

After a pause, he continued, "The fog ahead is too strong, I can't see clearly."

Zhao Xing originally planned to say: He saw the destruction of the country; saw the party struggles; saw the suffering of the people, etc., and used these heavy topics as early warnings, but he thought about his current identity and said this a bit inappropriate. Immediately, he wanted to say some interesting words, but he couldn't think of it for a while, so he simply vaguely said.

Fortunately, his words sounded so mysterious, like a Zen word. The child nodded worldly, raised his hands behind his back, and left without saying a word.

As soon as the child left, the candidates in the yard fell down. It seemed that they had been holding their breath for too long and their weak body could not hold on. The officials of the Ministry of Rites who arrived did not rebuke this phenomenon. They explained a few words to the candidates in a kind manner and hurriedly ended the etiquette training.

"It's over. I haven't learned to kowtow yet. Didn't I say I would kneel three times and nine times when I see the emperor?" Zhao Xing was puzzled. He was about to talk to the Xuanli Officer, but he didn't expect that when the Xuanli Officer saw him, he looked respectfully and pointed to the door firmly: "Go out."

"Fortunately, the word "get out" was not added in front of this sentence." Zhao Xing walked out of the main hall of the Ministry of Rites in wonder. Several eunuchs blocked the view of the person who was in the fore as a screen, and hurriedly led everyone out of the palace. Zhao Xing followed the crowd out of the palace gate. On the way, he found that the guards of the palace suddenly became strict. On the way, he met Tong Guan, who once said he was a friend, and he didn't get along with him, so he stood in the distance and snarled at Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing vaguely felt that the problem might be that child. He walked to the door of Donghua. There were many imperial guards at the door. A large eunuch was guarding the door with a knife. When he saw Zhao Xing coming, he waved at him majestic. The person next to the eunuch said loudly: "The commander of the front office of the palace, Feng Shining, the Grand Marshal, had something to ask, and the general name came up."

"Huangzhou student Zhao Xing and Zhao Li have met a high-ranking official," Zhao Xing bowed and replied.

Taiwei Feng looked at Zhao Xing, nodded with satisfaction, raised his sharp voice, and gave a meaningful instructor: "We guess you are just Zhao Xing. Zhang Yong said that you are rare... Go back and serve me well in the future."

After leaving the imperial city, Zhao Xing saw that the imperial guards suddenly increased around him, and he thought. Suddenly, he felt that he had found the answer, so he turned over and ran towards his horse, regardless of Cheng Xia's shouting from behind, and rushed towards his home.

Zhao Xing was anxious to come back. Originally, Cheng Azhu wanted to learn from the group of Japanese girls and hold a welcoming ceremony, but Zhao Xing hurriedly broke in. At that time, Cheng Azhu was chatting with Mrs. Wang, Chaoyun and Chen Yiyi. When she saw Zhao Xing coming in, she stood up to greet her. However, Zhao Xing nodded sloppyly and immediately asked Mrs. Wang: "Where is the teacher?"

"Short after the morning court today, the eunuchs in the palace came to summon the news and asked the court officials to enter the palace regardless of whether they were on duty or not. He rushed into the palace, and you were in a panic. What's wrong?" Mrs. Wang replied.

"No," Zhao Xing looked in disbelief: "What a big deal - wasn't it just slapping someone's head? Why did he make such a big noise?"

Mrs. Wang teased, "What? Leaving people, before they were appointed as officials, began to care about major affairs in the court. I have never seen you like this in the past."

Cheng Azhu looked at him with concern and walked up to help Zhao Xing clean up Li's hair that was messed up due to running. Chen Yiyi didn't get the job, so she quickly reached out to take over the whip in Zhao Xing's hand.

Zhao Xing's expression was funny and helpless: "I might have caused a big disaster... I touched a child's head in the palace, and that child might be a clan of the royal family."

Mrs. Wang laughed and laughed enough. She asked again: "What clothes does that child wear and what crown?"

Zhao Xing described the child's clothes in detail, and specifically mentioned the child's hat: "The hat is very special, with 24 beams in a circle, and the hat is decorated with pearls and beautiful jade..."

Everyone in the room was so happy that they couldn't breathe. Cheng Azhu had just finished laughing and looked at Mrs. Wang with a melancholy expression. Mrs. Wang stopped smiling and said, "That kind of hat is called 'Tongtian Crown' - Tongtian, who would wear such a hat?"

Zhao Xing had already guessed the truth vaguely, otherwise he would not have said "I caused a big disaster", but he still refused to admit his mistake: "But he was wearing a crimson robe. The emperor, shouldn't he wear a yellow robe?"

"Who said that the officials should wear yellow robes... You are still a big cloth merchant. You dyed cloth all day long, and you can't even tell the court clothes or crown clothes. I ask you, what color of clothes are worn by the officials of the Ministry of Rites present?"

"It seems... the officials of the highest grade were wearing vermilion purple, and those with lower grades were wearing green robes. We wore white robes that day," Zhao Xing replied while thinking.

"This court advocates fire virtue, crown robes, and rosy clothes are precious..." Mrs. Wang said meaningfully: "It is not a poem that says: The emperor values ​​heroes, and his articles teach you all the best, but only those who study high... all the red and purple clothes in the court are scholars..."

"Then..." Zhao Xing opened his mouth and asked-"So, who did the yellow robe? Didn't Zhao Kuangyin be put on the yellow robe by his subordinates in Chenqiao Post and become the emperor?"

But he opened his mouth and thought that this was too taboo, so he quickly swallowed the following words back.

After changing his mind, Zhao Xing understood that Zhao Kuangyin's "yellow robe" was not done by the Song Dynasty.

People in the Song Dynasty thought that they had inherited the virtue of fire, and "gold, wood, water, fire and earth" was an important part of Confucian theory. It believed that changing dynasties was the "five virtue cycle", including the demise of the country and the invasion of foreign races, and it was also a kind of "five virtue cycle" - this was the most firm worldview of the ancients.

Since the Song Dynasty advocated fire virtue, of course, clothing was of vermilion and purple. The Ming Dynasty advocated earth virtue, and clothing was of yellow. Therefore, it should be made by people in the Ming Dynasty!

"I was actually confused by the 'yellow robe' for a lifetime..." Zhao Xing figured out this problem. He immediately understood his situation and couldn't help but exclaim: "I actually touched the emperor's head and patted his shoulder to tell him to walk carefully - when I left the palace, the imperial guards were all out, and the imperial city seemed to be martial law..."

Mrs. Wang laughed even louder: "I have ruled the world with the scholars and officials. You are not the only one who patted the emperor's shoulders. As for this, is it that the additional guards were sent to the palace? If you were to punish your crimes, you would not have let you go out of the palace... It's not you. When my family's official was called away, the high-ranking official said it was for the 'Qing Tang Rebellion'!"

The Qingtang Rebellion, the Qingtang Rebellion, and the war broke out again? Zhao Xing's heart sank.

Zhao Xing didn't know that from this year on, the Song Dynasty once again fell into continuous wars. The heavy wartime economy and corrupt officials and party struggles eventually dragged down the Song Dynasty.

The cause of the Qing Tang Rebellion was still "returning land". When Zhao Xing rushed to Dayue Kingdom, he saw Dayue Kingdom cheering for regaining the five northern provinces. Shortly after that, the Song Dynasty continued to return the strategic key areas and border provinces that captured Xixia in previous wars and the five border provinces to Xixia in order to show his "morality".

Sima Guang's idea was advocated by Confucianism for thousands of years - "not hearing from foreign enemies with strength".

The Great Yue was also a Confucian country. They received the land they returned and felt this kind of benevolence. After several years, they took in the fugitive emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, buried him after his death, and set up the "Flying Dragon Emperor's Tomb" for sacrifice. However, the people of the Western Xia could not feel the "benevolence" of the Song Dynasty.

In July 1086, Emperor Bingchang of the Western Xia died and Qianshun ascended the throne at the age of 3. His mother, Liang and uncle Liang Yibi jointly assisted the government. In order to stabilize the regime, he immediately launched an aggressive war. In the following 13 years, the Western Xia launched more than 50 major and large wars against the Song Dynasty, some of which reached more than six or seven times in a year. The fuse of this long war was the "Qing Tang Rebellion".

It is difficult to describe the messy "Qing Tang Rebellion" in the simplest words. The beginning of the war can be derived to the Tang Dynasty...

Zhao Xing only remembers: After the founding of the Western Xia Dynasty, in order to attack Xixia, the Song army focused on winning over the "Qing Tang regime" located in Xining, and achieved fruitful results. The land Silk Road was reopened, and Roman plate armor was introduced into the Central Plains, known as the "Qing Tang Armor". As a result, advanced iron smelting methods and a smooth trade route were introduced.

When Wang Anshi was in power, he sent Wang Shao to take advantage of the inheritance rights dispute in Qingtang and seized part of Qingtang's territory to the rule of the Song Dynasty. This is the "Wang Shao restored the five provinces". However, this work ended in a dire way, the relationship between the local kings and the local government was not straightened out, and local administrative management had not yet been established and stable. It was just a symbolic occupation, so he hurriedly recalled Wang Shao.

So, the hornet's nest was stabbed, but the Song Dynasty did not wear protective clothing well. Qing Tang's land changed from a stable allies to a rebellious enemy with ulterior motives.

In the seventh year of Xining of Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty, the Song army and Qingtang's army fought in Tabai City, and the Song army was defeated. From then on, Qingtang general Guozhuang Qingyijie (one work: Gui Zhang Qingyijie) was proud and sent troops to plunder the Song Dynasty. The Song army surrendered when they arrived. Dong Wen, the leader of the Qingtang clan who fought after the Song army left, recovered the land of the original clan after the Battle of Tabai City, and also sent troops to collect the countries in the Western Regions, and their power gradually became stronger.

After that, Ete Linggu of Qingtang ascended the throne and wrote a letter to Liang Yibi, the dictator of the Western Xia prime minister. The two sides agreed to launch an attack on the Song Dynasty at the same time. At the beginning of this month, Qingyijie from Guozhuang led his army to launch an attack on Taozhou, looting Zhao Chunzhong, Bao Cheng, Bao Shun and other leaders who surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and killed thousands of other Qingtang leaders Jingwumu and others, and then stationed troops in Changjiashan to build Taozhou City...

Shortly after Zhao Xing entered the palace, the battle report of the "Qing Tang Rebellion" spread to the palace, and the palace suddenly became a mess. The court officials finally tasted the bitter fruit of "encouraging invasion", but they did not think that this was the fault of Confucian theory. The whole court was in chaos to find the responsible person.

Zhezong Zhao Xu is still young. In other words, most of the time he is just a decoration. When ministers quarreled in the court, they might look at the pen on their desks, but they would never bother to look at Zhezong. The bored Zhezong took a few confidant eunuchs to take a walk in the palace, walking and walking, and walking to the hall where the new Jinshi practices etiquette...
Chapter completed!