Two white cranes took off from the Luoshui River, soared twice in the sky, and landed above the Mingtang. They flapped their wings and looked proudly at Xue Bai on the other side of the railing.
Immediately, the eunuchs diligently brought out dried shrimps and small fish and handed them to Xue Bai.
Seeing this, the two white cranes staggered forward and looked at him with round eyes. After waiting for a while, they saw that he was still in a daze and spread their wings impatiently.
"Your Majesty, Yu Ling and Qing Ming are back."
"oh."
Only then did Xue Bai come to his senses, took the jar, and fed the two cranes leisurely.
They were donated by Tian Chengsi and are extremely spiritual.
Xue Bai had never liked the matter of donation. He had previously released many rare and exotic animals in the palace. If he had followed his original intention, he would have scolded Tian Chengsi. However, Pugu Huai'en was causing trouble at that time, so he had to fight him.
Out of strategic considerations, Xue Bai only said "I understand" to Fan Yang's envoy.
He didn't even say "no next time", which didn't mean he allowed it this time. Tian Chengsi couldn't figure out his intentions, and felt that the tributes he had worked so hard to collect were not worth it.
After taking the trouble to feed the shrimps and dried small fish little by little, the two cranes spread their wings and flew into the sky without even looking at Xue Bai, looking very arrogant.
No matter how great the emperors in the world are, they don't understand or care.
When Du Wulang came to have an audience, he saw this scene of "cranes circling the bright hall" and couldn't help but sigh: "It's really like banishing an immortal."
"That's just pretending." Xue Bai stood on the railing, overlooking Luoshui, consciously feeling Wu Zetian's state of mind when she ascended the throne here.
After taking all the officials away from Chang'an, he felt that his control over the court was a little stronger.
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask about the provincial examination." Du Wulang said: "The imperial court said that household registration is not restricted, so can slave registration also be taken?"
"Do you want to take the exam for slave status?"
Du Wulang looked at Xue Bai's surprised expression and knew that Cui Dong was right. The so-called "independent household registration" in the official list was to break the mutual exclusion between regions, and it could not be to allow slaves to participate in the imperial examination.
.
He then scratched his head and said, "Although there is, I misunderstood. Also, if the servants are allowed to take the imperial examination with the children of the aristocratic family, there will be no trouble."
If this sentence had been put forward by someone else, it would probably have been a roundabout way of saying it. Xue Bai took a deep look at Du Wulang, but knew that he said it unintentionally.
It was this unintentional remark that made Xue Bai fall in love.
"Shall I take part in the imperial examination as a slave? It's a good idea."
Du Wulang was a little confused when he asked, "Ah? I'm here to give your Majesty some advice?"
Xue Bai had long ago had the idea of abolishing the slavery system in the Tang Dynasty.
Many years ago, he felt the pain of being a slave and being bought and sold like pork. If it was out of passion at the time, now it is a more realistic consideration.
Nowadays, the national treasury is empty, but the burden of tax collection on the people is still very heavy. In other words, they are always collected from ordinary people and the poor, and they have never collected more money. One of the reasons is that there are a large number of people who have fled their households.
.
As for where the fugitives fled to? Xue Bai and Yan Zhenqing had seen this when they went to catch fugitives. They often broke off their citizenship and became slaves, farming land for large households without paying taxes.
The master-servant relationship may not be abolished in one generation, but if the slavery system can be abolished, at least officially the reason for large households to avoid taxes will be removed.
Of course, this matter was not something he said he would abolish if he said it would be abolished. There must be an opening.
Du Wulang's proposal this time is good. Start with slaves who are ambitious and can read, and open a clear channel for demobilization. Even if there are very few people who can change their destiny through this channel at the beginning, it can be expected that quantitative changes will cause
Qualitative change.
Xue Bai thought about it, tapped his fingers on the railing for a while, and murmured to himself: "Can the court issue a regulation that if any slave can pass the child test, he will be given a white body?"
Du Wulang asked suspiciously: "Tongshi?"
Xue Bai said: "You must be sure of this matter, otherwise the imperial court has issued a decree but there are no slaves to take the exam. This example of buying horse bones for a thousand gold will not be erected. Instead, our ideas will be exposed and we will lose face. It will be difficult to do it next time."
Already."
"What do we think?" Du Wulang said, "But I just want to ask..."
"In this way, I will ask someone to write out a paper of test questions. You can give it to the slave who wants to refer to it. First, try to see if he has real talent and learning. If so, you can set a model."
"All right."
Although Du Wulang didn't pay much attention to Xue Bai's thoughts, he still knew what to do.
"I see that the inkstone looks very good at reading, so he must have real talent and learning."
~~
"Oh oh oh——"
When the sound of cockcrow came, Yanfang had just fallen asleep and was very sleepy. However, he struggled a few times and managed to get up from the couch.
His head was a little dizzy, and he didn't dare to make a sound, so he put on his clothes lightly and left the ear room.
In fact, Yan Fang was not the book boy of Cui Sanjiu Lang and Cui Dong, but followed Cui Jing, the Forty-third Lang of Cui. At this time, Cui Jing was lying on the couch, snoring loudly.
Even though he has been with Cui Jing for ten years, Yanfang still cannot sleep peacefully amidst this kind of snoring.
He walked slowly to the bed, leaned down in the darkness, sniffed, distinguishing the smell of wine and fishy smell, stretched out his hand, and touched the urinal.
The urinal was very heavy, and Cui Jing was full of urine, and there seemed to be a layer of foam floating on it.
This was something that bothered Yanfang very much. He thought that he must find a way to remind Lang Jun today that he would rather urinate in two basins than urinate in one basin so full.
He had no choice but to hold the urinal with both hands and stand up carefully.
"ah!"
Cui Jing suddenly shouted.
Yan Fang was startled and shook his hand, urine spilled on his hand and a lot of it was stained on the ground.
"Mr. Lang? What are your orders?"
The snoring started again, and Cui Jing was still sleeping. It seemed that he was just frightened by the nightmare.
Yanfang then took the urinal and went out to empty it.
In the Cui family's villa, the servants and maids are all awake. They are sweeping the house and preparing the dishes, but they all move gently without making a sound. They want the master to wake up in silence and see the spotless house.
In the yard, water with the right temperature is used.
So it wasn't until he left the dormitory that Yanfang could finally breathe normally. Before, he had been holding his breath and walking slowly on tiptoes.
"Yanfang!" Suddenly, a middle-aged man shouted to him softly.
"I've seen the third steward."
"You're slow again. How many times have I told you that you have to take out the chamber pot before this path is swept. If it drips onto the ground, wouldn't it be a delay?"
"Yes, I know my mistake."
Yanfang did not dare to say a word of defense and immediately lowered his head to admit his mistake.
Even if the chamber pot in his hand has not dripped urine at all; even if he knows that there is no way he can be faster than A Zengbo who started sweeping in the middle of the night; even if he knows that the flowers and plants on both sides of the path are watered with urine.
, two drops of urine on the chamber pot in his hand would make no difference.
He admitted his mistake with experience and only hoped that the third manager would say less.
"Is it useful to know your mistakes? You always say that you know you are wrong, but you will do it again next time. I think you don't take it to heart at all. Do you think you just learned a few words in secret and just like other slaves?
Is it different? What bothers me the most is a restless and self-reliant person like you..."
Yanfang stood there helplessly holding a pot full of urine and listening. He could smell the smell of bacon from the third steward's mouth, and thought expectantly that maybe he could have bacon for breakfast today.
His hands became more and more sore, and his urine became more and more bloated. What he was more worried about was that after such a long delay, it was already too late to do other errands.
It happened that the third manager scolded him for a while before letting him go.
"You are a sneaky lazy guy. If you dare to show off in front of your husbands again, I will punish you without eating for three days. Go ahead."
"Yes, third steward."
"Wait a minute! I let you go this time, and you didn't even say a word of thanks?"
Yanfang rolled his throat a few times and finally said: "Thank you, San, for taking charge."
He finally arrived at the latrine and couldn't wait to put down the chamber pot, first letting out his own urine that had been soaked all night.
"Which room has a book boy so slow?"
Behind him, the dirty old man carrying dirty water came over cursing and his mouth was not clean.
"Those with delicate skin and tender flesh are often favored by your husband, right? You hesitate to do something because I'm tired of waiting!"
"I'll do it." Yanfang was still pulling his pants, but when he saw the dirty old man reaching for the chamber pot, he quickly said, "I'll pour it."
It was too late, so the dirty old man picked up the chamber pot and poured it into the bucket. He deliberately dropped the chamber pot at his feet and splashed the rest of the urine on his trouser legs.
It was sewn by his mother-in-law herself.
"Come here? How can you, a book boy, do such dirty things?" The old dirty man muttered and pushed the dung cart away.
Yan Fang knew that he could not compete with the other party, so he picked up the chamber pot and hurried back, but this time he had to speed up his pace.
It's too late for him.
I fetched water, washed the chamber pot, made sure there was no smell, and put it back beside the couch. I fetched water again and wiped the floor clean... After all this work, Yan Fang had already missed the morning meal.
He thought that other bookboys might leave a portion for him, and maybe he could barely make up for it by two mouthfuls, otherwise he would be hungry until evening.
"Boom——"
When the bell rang, he had to wake Cui Jing up immediately to wash up.
The Cui family has strict upbringing, so it's not too late now.
"Langjun, Langjun, wake up quickly."
Cui Jing yawned, and the smell of alcohol hit his nose. Yanfang was immediately startled. He couldn't stop Lang Jun from sneaking out last night. Now the consequences are here. If Cui Jing is punished, he must take him with him He was punished together.
"Mr. Lang, are you drunk?"
"No, it'll be fine after I peed. Just take care of it."
Yanfang looked down and was startled. At this time, there was a faint light coming through the window. He saw an overturned chamber pot on the ground. When he picked it up, there was still urine in it.
Last night, Cui Jing actually peed on two pots and knocked over one. Now he didn't mop the floor. The steward will come to check the ward again soon.
"You didn't fall down? Did you oversleep again?" Cui Jing muttered: "It's okay, I don't blame you, I'll finish it quickly."
Yan Fang had a thousand words to say, but he just responded: "I know my fault, I shouldn't have overslept."
"Hey, I know you're lazy, so what should I do?" Cui Jing smiled heartlessly.
Yan Fang picked up the chamber pot.
He knew that it was okay to admit that he was lazy and stupid, and the children of the aristocratic family would not personally care about it. But if he wanted to defend himself, the master's family would feel that he was criticizing the master's family... Once before, he just opened his mouth to defend himself. He was almost beaten to death.
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
The whip struck Cui Jing and Yanfang three times on the backs.
The person holding the whip was Zhao Hua, a famous scholar invited by the Cui family.
Zhao Hua was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Kaiyuan, along with Xiao Yingshi and Li Hua. Later, he started his career as a prince and was awarded Dali to judge affairs. He was demoted for offending Li Linfu. Later, An Lushan's rebels attacked When he came to Henan, he surrendered. After the imperial court regained Luoyang, he fled here and became a teacher to the Cui family's children.
He is really knowledgeable and disciplines his students very strictly.
Today, Cui Jing was a full moment late, and when he came, he was forced to do so by a scholar. This made Zhao Hua very unhappy, and of course he had to be severely punished.
Although he was whipped three times each, he didn't hit Cui Jing lightly. After all, he used less force. The three blows to the book boy were the ones that really vented his anger, leaving bloody marks on the clothes on his back.
"If you don't focus on your studies and spend a lot of time and money, can you live up to the reputation of your ancestors? And you, as a scholar, should have urged him to improve and study hard. If you are in your position and do not seek your job, you should be beaten."
After Yanfang was whipped, he was even more in awe of Zhao Hua. He had always admired Jinshi. If he could study under the great Confucian scholar after being whipped a few times, he would have wished to be whipped every day.
After finally calming down, Cui Jing sat down in the school. I don't know if he was studying or not, but he looked like he was listening.
Yanfang, a book boy, cannot stay in the school and wait outside. This is one of the few times he can rest. But he does not go to the river to bathe and fish like other book boys. Instead, he leans against the wall and steals listen.
He is so eager to learn, but in fact he does not really like those classics and history collections, but hopes to change his own destiny.
These days, no one told him that studying was useful. On the contrary, everyone told him, "With your status, it's useless to imitate Langjun's study." The reason why he is still like this is because he has no There is no other way.
As he listened, he was also sleepy, because Cui Jing was struggling every night. After escaping from the house, he asked him to keep watch and open the door. Cui Jing didn't come back until the third watch last night.
Now Cui Jing is sleeping in class, but Yanfang is trying hard to pinch himself to prevent himself from falling asleep.
This is the only time in the day when he can work hard.
A bell rang in the distance and school was over. Yanfang suddenly felt sad. He had to wait for Cui Jing to eat, drink and defecate again at night.
When he looked up, he saw Cui Jing and Cui Dong walking out side by side.
"Mr. Thirty-nine Lang."
"You, a book boy, why do you look so tired?" Cui Dong said, "Let's do it this way, Forty-Third Master will come to my courtyard to study tonight, and you will have a day off."
Yanfang was overjoyed and quickly thanked Cui Dong.
If he had a choice, he would prefer to be able to learn more poetry and calligraphy by Cui Dong's side, and Cui Dong was famous among the servants for being more considerate of his servants.
~~
Jinping Mountain is adjacent to Luoshui River, and there are fields beside the river.
There are two rows of farmhouses beside the field, and several women are gathering together to weave nets and chop firewood.
"Aniang!"
After hearing this, a woman turned around and said happily: "My son."
When people around saw that Yan Fang was coming, they started talking.
"I heard that the son of the old Yuan family works as a bookboy for Mr. Lang."
"Yes, if my dog Sheng is as smart as Mr. Yuan, he might be able to do some errands in the house..."
Yanfang was not happy after hearing this, and his joy at seeing A Niang was diluted.
His mother-in-law was originally very happy, but soon she became worried. She pulled him into the house and asked, "Son, why are you back at this time? You must have done something wrong again and asked your master to come back."
"It would be nice to be driven back." Yan Fang said, "You don't have to wait there waiting for others."
"What are you talking about? Can you do the rough work your grandpa does?" His mother-in-law cried immediately, "It depends on the weather whether you will starve to death or not."
"Auntie, my son was not driven back because my husband appreciated me and allowed me to rest for a day."
"It's good to appreciate you. I just hope that if you can become a steward in the future, not to mention a big steward, but a small steward in charge of a room in the house, it will be the Buddha's great mercy."
"Okay." Yanfang smiled, but his eyes were still dim.
"You kid, why don't you wear the pants that grandma made for you?"
"My son can't bear to wear it." Yanfang said, "I have something to ask my grandpa. Is he in the field?"
"Look what you said, otherwise where else could I be?"
Yan Fang glanced at the wall and saw a dry wreath still hanging there, his eyes dimmed.
He went out and walked up the field stalk.
"Grandma!"
An old farmer who was cutting weeds on his back turned his head and saw Yanfang coming back. He was very happy, with pride in his eyes.
The farmers not far away also cast envious glances.
Yanfang stepped forward and saw that his grandfather had no spare sickle, so he bent down and pulled out the grass.
The father and son were silent for a while before he spoke.
"Grandpa, our family name is Yuan, do I have a name?"
"You were only two years old when we escaped to Cui's house. It was the housekeeper who named you."
"This is the name of the bookboy in the mansion. The bookboy who died before was named Yanfang. Master, do I have my own name?"
"You don't have it, but your sister does..."
The father and son were silent for a while.
Yanfang said: "Master, our family used to be a Ding household in Shouan County, right?"
"That's not true, good people."
"I heard that the imperial court announced that if Ding households are willing to go back, each Ding will be allocated one hundred acres of land. They will be free of rent for one year and half of the tax the next year. After three years..."
"How can we go back?! If we encounter a disaster, we will starve to death!"
Yanfang said: "My uncle farmed land for the Cui family. The land belongs to the Cui family and the grain also belongs to the Cui family. Even our people and our descendants all belong to the Cui family. We grow so much grain in a year. How can we hand it over?" The rent is three times that of the New Deal, is it worth it? Let’s go back, we won’t starve to death, the court has Chang Pingcang in disaster years, and there is also Chunmiao Loan..."
“Where can I find such a good host again?!”
Old Yuan Tou became anxious, waved the lawnmower in his hand, and asked: "Where did you hear this? Did the new official from the county say it? He took over the little widow and was about to be raped by the countryside. He's in a pig cage, do you listen to him?"
"What? It's far impossible for Shao Wen to occupy the widow."
"Silly boy, you have only taken a few grains of salt. You are restless when meeting such a good master. We only hope that you can become a steward, marry a maid in the palace, and have several fat boys. .”
"Are you going to be a slave again after birth?!" Yanfang suddenly broke down and shouted, "I don't want to be a slave anymore!"
After he shouted, he saw his grandpa dumbfounded and quickly lowered his voice.
"Grandpa, please go back and register. My son wants to take the imperial examination. He will become a high official in the future and I will respect you two elders."
"No wonder, the Third Steward said last time that you have too much ambition and too little skill."
Yanfang was surprised: "What did he say?"
"The master is very kind to us. If the third steward hadn't lent us money, I would have died of illness a long time ago. Later, there was a famine and we owed three years of rent. If the third steward hadn't persuaded the master to buy us out. , this family is gone a long time ago. It took a lot of effort to raise you to such a big age, and now you want to leave your country, what can you do to repay the kindness of the master's family?"
"Don't worry, Grandpa, when I become an official..."
"You can't be an official. None of our ancestors were officials. How dare you daydream like this?"
"Because I study!"
"Crack."
Yanfang wanted to say more, but was slapped on the face.
It didn't hurt, but the kind of grandfather he had been doing all his life was extremely determined.
"You go back overnight to serve your husband, kowtow to the third steward and admit your mistake, and say that you will never dare to look down upon your superiors again."
After Old Yuan Tou finished speaking, he left, leaving Yanfang alone next to Tian Gang.
He sniffed and walked to Cui's villa alone.
~~
"Yanfang, you are back. A gentleman is looking for you. Come with me."
Chuntao, the maid who was looking at the small door, was very happy when she saw Yan Fang coming back and waved to him impatiently.
"Come on, don't be miserable all day long. The book boy in Lang Jun's room is the most honorable job in the house, what else is there to do?"
Yanfang didn't answer and asked, "Who called me?"
"Anyway, he is a husband. He looks ordinary, very, very ordinary." Chuntao hesitated for a while and then added, "He is not as handsome as you."
After speaking, she lowered her head shyly.
Yanfang seemed not to hear it.
He knew that Chuntao wanted him to ask her husband for mercy and let her have a couple with him, so that she would not be promised to the outer court to talk dirty. It was not that he didn't like her, but he did not want to have a slave with a slave.
When I walked to the courtyard of Cui Dong, a figure came out to greet me.
"Yoshiro-kun?"
Yanfang saluted quickly.
"Come here." Du Wulang whispered, took the inkstone aside, and asked, "Do you really want to take the imperial examination?"
"Yes, the villain wants to refer to it even to death."
"Well, I want to help you too, but I have to make sure you have real talent and learning first."
Yanfang was overjoyed, his eyes lit up instantly, he nodded repeatedly, not knowing what to say.
Du Wulang then took out a paper and handed it to Yan Fang.
"This is difficult. I've read it and can't answer a single question. You try your best to answer and I'll see how far you have learned. Don't try to show off. There will be more people criticizing you in the future. If you have some talent, we will Just do a few things."
"Thank you, Mr. Yoshiro!"
Yanfang took the paper and glanced at it. There were many questions on it.
First, there was a test on the interpretation of a collection of classics and history; then there were twenty civil case questions; a poem and poem; and finally, a policy question about Chunmiao Loan.
Yanfang made some assessments, and although he wasn't very confident, he was determined to do the best he could.
He once again thanked Du Wulang deeply.
"I also passed the Chunwei exam. It only takes three days to write the questions." Du Wulang said: "Then I will pick it up in three days, okay?"
Yanfang originally wanted to say that he had to serve his master every day and had very little time to spare. But thinking that this was a test for himself, he quickly agreed.
"Don't worry, Yoshiro-kun, I will finish it within three days."
"Okay, I'll come and get it then."
Du Wulang smiled, patted Yanfang on the shoulder, and turned to look for Cui Dong.
In the courtyard, Cui Dong was playing the harp to the moon.
When Cui Jing saw Du Wulang coming in, he couldn't help but ask: "Brother Ji, did you think my brother's music was unpleasant and ran away on purpose?"
"No, I'm just going to relieve myself."
Du Wulang thought to himself that if he wanted to redeem Yanfang's body at that time, Cui Jing would have to agree, so he asked: "By the way, how will he learn from the scholar who just met you?"
Cui Dong stopped stroking the string and said, "Speaking of this matter, why don't Forty-Third Master give Yan Fang a future? How about sending him to Brother Ji?"