Old Affairs of the Previous Reign
The new emperor's encounter with Li Shaojun was merely an unexpected event during his travels; his real concern remained the imperial examination.
Zhang Xuezhou could not freely enter the palace, nor was he required to attend court, leaving only the new emperor to leave the palace.
However, the new emperor did not come intentionally. He frequently visited the Marquis of Pingyang and only made this stop when visiting Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and others.
After Li Shaojun's alarmist remarks were put to rest, the new emperor was also invited to Zhang Xuezhou's study.
"Your room seems a bit cramped?"
Seeing that the place where the desk used to be had been covered with wooden planks and a makeshift bed set up, the new emperor felt that Zhang Xuezhou's residence was too cramped.
"I accompanied my cousin to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion to buy a house today, and it will be spacious in a couple of days," Zhang Xuezhou said.
"Oh? You're buying a house?" the new emperor asked suspiciously.
"Yes," Zhang Xuezhou said happily, "I originally wanted to find Scholar Kong Anguo, but I happened to meet a monk named Anguo while searching for someone. After learning that I was a court official, he gave me five hundred taels of gold."
"He's giving you five hundred taels of gold?" the new emperor asked in surprise. "Just because you have an official position, he's giving you money? And five hundred taels at that?"
"He said he'd already given gifts to many people, so one more wouldn't make a difference," Zhang Xuezhou said. "As long as I can say a few good words about him to His Majesty, he'll think the money was well spent!"
Zhang Xuezhou's recommendation of Anguo was a simple matter.
He even mentioned that he had received five hundred taels of gold, laying it all out in the open.
He currently holds no real power or official position, so this money is not considered bribery, and Zhang Xuezhou is not afraid of being implicated.
Not to mention Zhang Xuezhou daring to do this, the same logic applies to Marquis of Wu'an Tian Fen, who was removed from his position as Grand Commandant, opening his doors to accept gifts at this time.
Accepting gifts when you have the authority is considered bribery, while accepting gifts when you don't have the authority is considered a skill, and even the imperial court can't interfere.
"And what about your kind words?" the new emperor said, both angry and amused. "You took the money, so you have to do something for them, right?"
"He's trained in armored combat, so he's tough and can survive," Zhang Xuezhou thought for a moment and said, "He can handle some difficult situations without any problem; he'll definitely come back alive!"
That doesn't sound like a compliment!
The new emperor cursed under his breath, feeling that Anguo giving Zhang Xuezhou five hundred taels of gold was the worst luck imaginable, and that this method of recommendation was practically pushing him to his death.
However, compared to Tian Fen's recommendation of Anguo, the new emperor found Zhang Xuezhou's approach more acceptable.
Although the new emperor was eager to find talented people, he was unlikely to assign Anguo an important position just because of a few kind words from Tian Fen.
As Zhang Xuezhou said, only by doing some difficult things and handling them properly, thus binding himself to the imperial court, could the new emperor possibly give Anguo an important position. Otherwise, if the great cultivators of the world could come and go as they pleased, wouldn't his place become a vegetable garden where people could come and go as they pleased?
In hindsight, the new emperor realized that Tian Fen must have accepted a generous gift, which led Tian Fen to recommend Anguo.
Zhang Xuezhou had previously stated that he was not suited for important official positions and found it difficult to remain incorruptible. The new emperor was well aware of Zhang Xuezhou's character and knew that he was unreliable. However, Tian Fen had demonstrated excellent character over the years, and the sudden discovery of Tian Fen's bribery made him somewhat uncomfortable, Tian Fen had not informed him of this matter.
The worst thing is comparison. When Zhang Xuezhou Tian Fen are compared, the difference is immediately apparent.
The former was frank, while the latter was evasive, and the latter almost violated a royal taboo.
The Great Han imperial family feared two-faced people the most, those who could say one thing to others and another behind their backs.
The royal family entrusted these people with important responsibilities as trusted confidants, but at crucial moments, these people betrayed the royal family. This is a bloody lesson, not just empty talk, but a fact that has already happened.
A shadow inevitably fell over his heart, and his brows furrowed slightly.
But the new emperor quickly put aside this unpleasant matter.
"Back to the main topic, I asked you a question the other day, and you must answer it properly." The new emperor then added, "If you don't answer it properly, you'll have to return to the East Sima Gate!"
"I've been pondering this problem for half a month, and I've finally made some progress," Zhang Xuezhou said seriously. "But you'll have to come up with the specific solution yourself!"
"Oh?"
The new emperor let out a slight surprised sound.
He wanted to say something to Zhang Xuezhou but then tried to evade the question. However, when Zhang Xuezhou began to speak seriously, his expression changed slightly.
The new emperor posed a question to Zhang Xuezhou, Zhang Xuezhou then turned and took the question to ask Ren Yisheng.
However, Ren Yisheng did not directly answer Zhang Xuezhou's question about what to do. Instead, he recommended that Zhang Xuezhou read two books.
The book "The Development and Study of Social Formations" analyzes this social phenomenon in detail, citing not only ancient cases but also modern cases to illustrate its points, and mentioning various problems that have emerged in the development of social forms.
This is an unavoidable conflict. Anyone who tries to go against the grain will face backlash from interest groups. Those with large businesses can withstand it, but most people cannot.
As Zhang Xuezhou explained his theory in a low voice, the new emperor's expression grew increasingly serious.
Zhang Xuezhou's theories were profound yet simple, and his reasoning was extremely easy to understand. This finally made him understand why so many things were difficult to promote during Emperor Jing's reign, why loyal and upright officials could not rise to prominence, why many honest and capable people did not have good endings, and why those who changed their tune with the wind in the court were able to survive to this day.
Some people are originally of good character, but once they enter the corrupting influence of the system, they also find it difficult to remain pure. They are either discouraged and find it difficult to improve, or they are corrupted and assimilated.
This is also the reason why the Northern Border Military Region as a whole has been eroded.
"Can't this phenomenon be resolved?" the new emperor asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
"As I said before, you need to personally summarize how to solve the problem," Zhang Xuezhou said.
"I am very dissatisfied with your answer," the new emperor said.
"Then let me add some more!"
"Can!"
Zhang Xuezhou began discussing his second book, "The Invisible Currency Wars".
If the first book left the new emperor feeling heavy-hearted, as if no matter how much he investigated or how many people he replaced, it was all just a change of name without any real solution, and the problem would never be solved, then the second book offered a solution that addressed the issue intermittently.
Zhang Xuezhou is right. How to solve a problem does not depend on what suggestions Zhang Xuezhou makes, but on how the leader in power implements them.
Anyone who rashly gets involved in this kind of thing is unlikely to escape unscathed. If Zhang Xuezhou proposes a concrete solution, Zhang Xuezhou will become an enemy of the interest groups.
Zhang Xuezhou cannot do such a thing, and the other party cannot withstand the backlash from such a thing.
"The last person to do such a thing was Chao Cuo, who was the Emperor's mentor, yet he still couldn't escape it and met a bad end."
The new emperor even thought of the people who solved similar problems during the reign of Emperor Jing.
"Chao Cuo is a great cultivator who has entered the True Self Realm. Some people say that Father assassinated him, and even King of Liang believes so. But Father says that he has never used such a cruel method. So who did it?"
The new emperor never met Chao Cuo; he was born two years after Chao Cuo's death.
At that time, Emperor Jing was only in his thirties, a time when his mind and strength were growing the fastest, and also the age when he was most proud and ambitious and eager to explore new frontiers.
Chao Cuo, on the other hand, possessed extremely high cultivation and served as the Imperial Censor in the imperial court, wielding the power to supervise officials throughout the land. With great power in hand, he cooperated with Emperor Jing to purify the country.
But from that time onward, Emperor Jing faced a series of heavy pressures, with the various vassal states constantly rebelling, almost suffocating him.
Ultimately, Emperor Jing yielded, Chao Cuo lost his life, and a faction led by Zhou Yafu and others began to rise in the court.
Thinking of some past events, the new emperor couldn't help but feel a heavy cloud in his heart.