Hearing that Cui Youfu was coming, Xue Bai shook his head and looked at Du Wulang who looked confused.
"I bet he's going to come and tell me not to rush things."
"Ah? How did he know?" Du Wulang said, "This hasn't even started yet."
"Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet." Xue Bai said, "There is nothing new under the sun, it is just a little care. The Cui family has a great cause and will not openly disobey me. It is nothing more than bowing its head and being submissive. I will take the opportunity to release the news and let those people Loyal ministers put pressure on me."
He had gone through many court meetings, and there was nonsense like this every day. Xue Bai didn't have to listen to what Cui Youfu had to say.
Naturally, he was too lazy to summon him. After thinking for a while, he approved a note and asked the eunuch to hand it to Yan Zhenqing.
"Cui Youfu disappeared. Send this to Zhongshu Province."
"According to the decree."
Du Wulang watched Xue Bai handle the matter calmly, avoiding the dispute with the courtiers like before, and couldn't help but whisper: "Your Majesty is more sophisticated."
"After all, he is a skilled worker."
Outside the Qianyuan Gate, Cui Youfu waited for a long time, feeling more and more anxious, but he was not summoned by the emperor. Instead, Yan Zhenqing sent someone to summon him.
Zhongshu Province is not far away, just pass through Xihua Gate.
After several wars, the imperial court actually used the official offices in Luoyang, and they have been slowly renovating them. There are craftsmen outside Zhongshu Province who are painting the palace walls with red paint.
The fresh color is brushed down vertically, covering the old, blackened color, giving a pleasing look.
Cui Youfu felt a little relaxed when he saw this scene. He actually stopped and watched for a while, and his original anxiety also eased a little.
When he walked into the official house, Yan Zhenqing was standing in front of the table, boxing slowly. When he saw him coming, he signaled with his eyes to let him wait a little longer.
Cui Youfu originally thought it was Wu Qin Xi, but after observing it, he found that it was not, so he couldn't help but curiously asked.
"It was taught by a saint a while ago. It's called 'Ba Duan Jin'. It's said to have the effect of dredging the belt and rushing meridians and curing waist and neck ailments." Yan Zhenqing stopped his movements and said slowly: "I didn't believe it at first, but I thought to myself How old is the saint? How can he know how to maintain his health? But after practicing it, he found that it has miraculous effects."
After that, he laughed at himself and said with deep emotion: "The same is true for many things. Because of my age, I always say that young people do something wrong. In fact, you have to do it to know everything, don't you think so? ?”
The topic then got down to business, and Cui Youfu muttered: "I heard that Du Wulang did something very ridiculous."
"oh?"
"Du Wulang took a slave away from the Shouan Cui family and said that he wanted him to take the imperial examination. Most of the lowly slaves in the world have not enough to eat, and less than one in 10,000 people can read. This matter is meaningless. It will make this year The provincial examination became a laughing stock.”
Yan Zhenqing said: "It is precisely because of the absurdity that it can break the world's 'established impression' of the imperial examination and restore the confidence of the children of the common people who are disappointed with the court and feel that their talents are not appreciated."
Cui Youfu said: "I'm afraid it will only make the truly talented and learned people feel ashamed to associate with lowly officials and be ashamed of taking the imperial examination."
"It's better this way. The imperial court only wants to appoint people based on their talents, so those who take the exams will be those who care about the poor people."
"Master Yan." Cui Youfu said helplessly: "No matter how high-sounding this matter is, to put it bluntly, it is not the saint's personal likes and dislikes."
"Is that what you think?"
"This is what the saint experienced when he was young." Cui Youfu said: "He once hid himself as a slave and had a good impression of the humble slaves. He was promoted through the imperial examination, so he wanted everyone to be able to take the imperial examination. But we cannot govern like a castle in the air. Lowly slaves were not able to read and write, and all they wanted was food and clothing. The imperial court revised the Tang Dynasty laws. Originally, slaves with lowly status could be bought and sold, but it was changed to three years before they could be bought and sold. The original penalty for killing guilty slaves was a hundred sticks, but it was changed to five years. It’s a method of being down-to-earth and gradual.”
He knew he had said too much, so he said: "Mr. Yan, I don't want to speak for the Cui family. If it is really to protect the Cui family, I don't have to offend Yan Zhijian like this."
"I know." Yan Zhenqing nodded and said, "But the saint wants to give strong medicine."
"What I am opposed to is strong medicine." Cui Youfu asked, "Why has Mr. Yan sided with the saints in so many things lately?"
Yan Zhenqing said with emotion: "That has to be a saint to be reasonable. You were once the captain of Shou'an County. Let me ask you, what was your greatest political achievement during your tenure?"
"If you don't count the major water transportation case in Yanshi that I and the saint worked on together, it will be a tax."
Cui Youfu said this because the most important criterion used by the imperial court to measure the performance of local officials was taxes, and one of the duties of the county captain was to collect taxes.
"During my tenure, I counted the acres of land, reclaimed wasteland, improved the civil service, and brought fleeing households back to their hometowns to farm. The rent paid on time was 30% more than the previous year..."
"Look at this." Yan Zhenqing handed over a thick pile of official documents, "Your achievements are true, but less than a year after you left office, are those fields and households still there?"
Cui Youfu took it and looked through it carefully. He found that the tax figures he paid during his tenure were quite outstanding, which was unprecedented in the past few years. Looking at the acres of land, the same was true.
It seemed that the person who succeeded him as captain of Shouan County was a mediocre person. Within a year, he forced away the farmers who had returned to their hometowns.
Scroll further down, the number of registered cultivated fields in Shouan County reached its highest in the seventh year of Kaiyuan, and then declined year by year. By the fifth year of Tianbao, it was already less than in the reign of Emperor Gaozong, but the rent paid was still there. Increase. And compared with the growth he brought during his tenure, it is only a drop in the bucket compared to the Kaiyuan period.
"Your achievements back then were gifts given to you by wealthy families. But they can't change the fate of those people. Not even two years after you left, they took them all back, even worse."
As Yan Zhenqing spoke, he also thought of the years when he was the captain of Chang'an County, and said slowly: "Although gradual progress is good, it is also easy to be deceived and violated. It has been a long time since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and land annexation has become more and more intense. Without drastic measures, we cannot show the imperial court So determined."
Cui Youfu said: "The Tang Dynasty has not reached the point where drastic measures are needed."
"What we want is not to maintain stability, but to revitalize the country and create a more glorious and prosperous age."
Cui Youfu didn't know what to say. Looking at Yan Zhenqing, he felt that he was more and more influenced by the emperor, and his way of speaking became more and more like him.
And he probably knew their ambitions.
Methods such as amending the laws of the Tang Dynasty to allow masters to buy and sell slaves within three years were too slow. They wanted to abolish slavery so that fugitives would have nowhere to hide, so that wealthy families could not use it to hide their fields and people. This was just The first step they have to take.
~~
In the autumn of this year, in order to increase the number of people taking the imperial examination, the imperial court added an additional children's examination.
It is stipulated that as long as you pass the children's examination, you are eligible to take the imperial examination. No matter your age, you can take the examination. The children's examination is divided into three sessions, the first is the county examination.
Compared with the previous selection of rural tributes, the biggest difference is that in order to encourage poor children to take the imperial examination and become officials, the imperial court specially issued an edict. Those with excellent scores in the county examination can enter the county school to study, have a house to live in, and are provided with food on a monthly basis.
The new policy has just started to be implemented, and many people are waiting and watching. However, the scholars who originally participated in the imperial examination were either from the Imperial College or the rural tribute, and had already qualified for the imperial examination. Therefore, most of those who participated in the child examination were mediocre in talent and academics, and had no expectations for an official career. A person with expectations.
On the day of the test, Yanfang was very nervous.
When he arrived at the examination room in Shouan County, he heard the discussions around him. Most of them were saying that they would be satisfied as long as they could become a junior student in the county school.
"Yuan Zhiyuan."
"Yuan Zhiyuan."
The clerk called him twice before Yan Fang realized what he was doing. He quickly stepped forward and said, "It's me."
"Let's search you."
"yes."
He walked into the examination room with his new name. He looked back and saw that Du Wulang was here in person today, and standing behind Du Wulang was his mother-in-law.
In a blink of an eye, it was the day when the county office released the results.
"Yuan Zhiyuan!"
"I saw it, I saw Yuan Zhiyuan!"
Yuan Zhiyuan raised his head and stared blankly at the list, counting forward from the end. It took a long time before he saw his name.
He counted from front to back again and found that he was thirteenth, and he suddenly became even more excited.
"I got it? I got it!" Yuan Zhiyuan quickly turned around, pulled his grandpa over, pointed at the list and kept chanting, "Grandpa, did you see it? I got it."
"Grandma is illiterate."
Old Yuan Tou tried his best to squeeze into the crowd and scanned the list with his eyes. He felt that the names on it were as dense as flies and could not be identified at all.
He followed the direction of his son's finger to find the word "Yuan". When his neck was sore, he finally shouted: "Okay, okay, grandpa saw it!"
The actions of the father and son made the candidates around them quite dissatisfied.
"I've been standing here for too long, let others take a look."
"I don't know how to read but I still come here to look at the list. I smell like sweat..."
Old Yuan Tou giggled twice, not daring to offend these scholars, and stepped back angrily. He was also reluctant to leave the glory that his son had earned so hard, so he looked back at the list every three steps, fearing that he might accidentally move it.
If you look around, you will no longer be able to find the word "Yuan".
"Ouch, you old man, you stepped on me!"
"Plain guilty. Accused."
Lao Yuantou only thought in his heart that this was the smoke coming from the ancestor's grave, and he had to go back to complain to his ancestors.
Not far from them, Cui Dong and Cui family teacher Zhao Hua were also looking at the list.
"Sure enough, he won." Cui Dong said, "Yes, with Du Wulang's relationship, how can he not win?"
Zhao Hua said: "Without Du Wulang's relationship, he can win."
"Sir, what you are saying is that Yanfang outperforms many scholars in the county because of his true talent and practical knowledge."
"The Cui family has a rich collection of books, and many annotations on scriptures and meanings that are not found elsewhere have been read by Yan Fang." Zhao Hua said, "In the past, Cui Jing's poems and poems were all written by him. It is not unusual to be included in the list. The ranking is too low."
Cui Dongdao: "Sir, you taught me well."
Zhao Hua sighed: "I'm afraid we will be in big trouble next time."
Cui Dong felt deeply and couldn't help but sigh.
He knew that Yan Fang was now Du Wulang's slave, so if Du Wulang's slave passed the county examination, it would inevitably arouse dissatisfaction and doubt among many people.
Those children from aristocratic families who think highly of themselves will inevitably cause trouble if they think of taking the imperial examination with such people in the future; those old scholars who consider themselves to be honest are sure that there is fraud in this matter, and they will inevitably cause trouble.
This will inevitably involve how Yanfang studied. When the time comes, Mr. Zhao Hua, who surrendered to the rebels, will be implicated, and the Cui family will also have to take sides.
Cui Dong originally wanted to be an idle cloud and wild crane, but this time, he had to get involved in the official career economy, and it was someone else's official career economy.
He turned back, looked at the name on the list, and murmured: "Yuan Zhiyuan?"
The forgotten memories suddenly reappeared, and he vaguely thought of what Chunzhi said in his arms.
"Remember it, my original maiden name... Yuan Zhiqian."
~~
"Mr. Lang."
As soon as Yuan Zhiyuan saw Du Wulang, he knelt down and thanked him, and Du Wulang quickly helped him up.
"Let me tell you, you are not yet a junior student in the county school. Because you were born as a slave, many people will suspect you of cheating. You will have a harder time than all the students in your class. You have to prove yourself time and time again.
So, if you don’t have real talent or are afraid, I will admit my defeat now and let others say that I manipulated the imperial examination..."
"I'm not afraid!"
Of course Du Wulang was provoking him, and Yuan Zhiyuan immediately expressed his position before he could finish hearing it.
"Since Mr. Lang trusts me, I will never embarrass Mr. Lang! I work harder than all the children of the Cui family. True gold is not afraid of fire."
"That's good." Du Wulang said: "You only need to study and take exams, and don't worry about the gossip. When you prove your true talents to the world, that's when you will truly become Yuan Zhiyuan."
It would be a very simple matter for Du Wulang to restore Yuan Zhiyuan's status as a husband, but obviously, he would have to do more than that.
He deliberately asked Yuan Zhiyuan to take the exam as a slave, and he was a bait, just waiting for the fish to take the bait.
Sure enough, on the day the results were released, Yuan Zhiyuan's success aroused the dissatisfaction of many scholars, claiming that the county examination was unfair.
Although anyone who cares can see that it is not necessary to get a quota for a county student. Moreover, there have been many injustices in the past years, and there are not many people making trouble.
But the usual injustice is that the rich and powerful get the benefits, and the poor people have to endure the injustice. This time is different. This time, a lowly slave takes the place of the rich and powerful. It is against Tiangang. If it is not stopped in time, it will be punished in the future.
Remarkable?
The Cui family actually wanted to settle the matter, but someone behind the scenes was fanning the flames and making the matter bigger.
Therefore, the county office first came forward to investigate the county examination fraud case, but found nothing. After this investigation, the matter reached Luoyang Prefecture.
The trouble reached Luoyang Mansion, and soon everyone knew that Du Wulang bought the slave from the Cui family.
In the past, Du Wulang was one of the "Five Sons of Spring" who upheld justice for the imperial examination, but this time he was dismissed as the mastermind behind the manipulation of the imperial examination.
Luoyang Prefecture had no choice but to conduct a retest and took Yuan Zhiyuan's exam again.
But at this point, no matter what the result of the re-examination is, it can no longer calm the situation. On the contrary, every time the investigation is conducted, the theories of conspiracy behind it will become more and more popular.
Some people even say that today, in order to save Du Wulang's face, he secretly issued an edict to the Luoyang Mansion to admit that the slave was really talented.
Some people even said that the emperor was manipulating this in order to slap the face of the wealthy family.
Amid such turmoil, few people mentioned the children's examination. Among the successful candidates in various counties across the country, there were a large number of children from poor families.
Compared with the "no talented people left in the wild" in the sixth year of Tianbao, this introductory examination of the imperial examination seemed to be a deliberate search for talented people left in the wild, but people's eyes were attracted by the most ridiculous thing.
Finally, the matter came to the forefront.
During the court meeting, Xue Bai seemed to have heard about this for the first time and said: "Is there such a thing? Go and summon Du Li, and I will ask him personally."
All the officials knew it well, but they could only accompany the performance.
When Du Wulang arrived, Xue Bai immediately scolded with a straight face: "I heard that you manipulated the child test in Shouan County for a slave. Is this true?!"
"Your Majesty, I would never dare to do this." Du Wulang then told how he met Yuan Zhiyuan at Cui's house, and added: "I just helped him because I cherished my talent. As for manipulating the county examination, I
Why take such a big risk for a slave you just met?"
After hearing this, a censor couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, I have heard that Du Qi loves that slave very much, so that's why."
"Are you slandering me?" Du Wulang turned around and asked.
Then, he immediately realized that he had been rude, turned around honestly, and replied: "Your Majesty, he ruined my reputation. I don't care about this in advance. If I want to support Yuan Zhiyuan, I will most likely find a way to arrange a future for him. Why bother to let him go?" He took the imperial examination? Of course he took it because he was talented and learned, so why did I manipulate the county examination?"
At this point, Cui Youfu, the censor Zhongcheng, could only stand up.
He first reprimanded the censor who had just spoken rudely, and would inevitably have to apologize later. Then he elaborated on his views.
Cui Youfu is the person who knows the ins and outs best and is also very familiar with the Cui family.
"According to what I said, Yuan Zhiyuan comes from the Cui family in Shouan. It is not surprising that he passed the county examination. He must have studied under Zhao Hua, a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Kaiyuan..."
With these words, the tone of the matter in the court could be set.
Yuan Zhiyuan definitely did not commit fraud, but he and Du Wulang were criticized so much that all the officials inexplicably came to stand against the emperor.
Sure enough, the emperor on the imperial couch snorted in displeasure and said: "This trivial matter of catching wind and shadow has made a big fuss."
"I am guilty."
Many officials from the Ministry of Rites and Luoyang Prefecture had no choice but to plead guilty.
But a group of officials have realized something is wrong.
These people were all from noble backgrounds, and most of them entered the officialdom through their backgrounds. They felt humiliated by having their bodies searched during the imperial examinations, and they simply could not bear the thought of more lowly people entering the officialdom in the future and sitting alongside them in the imperial court. superior.
What they protested from the beginning was not that Du Wulang manipulated the imperial examinations, but that slaves with low status should not participate in the imperial examinations. But things happened so fast that the results of the county examinations were not released until the results were released, and the trouble immediately reached the imperial court, and they had not even reacted.
How can they have time to keep an eye on the child test results in so many counties?
At this time, it seems that the emperor deliberately guided and directed public opinion to attack Du Wulang.
"I believe that the uproar in the Shou'an County Examination is not due to Du Qi, but to Ji Ji..."
"That's enough!"
"Your Majesty, the law of the Tang Dynasty strictly prohibits robbing a good person and turning him into a lowly person. If a lowly person is the family member of a criminal or a prisoner of an enemy country, it is necessary to sell oneself to atone for one's sins. Is there any reason to expel one's citizenship just because one can pass the county examination?"
"Because they read the books of sages and sages, they should know how to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty, unlike some people who tell lies with open eyes. If there are really no people who 'rob the good and despise the poor', where are all the disappeared household registrations in the world?!"
Following these words, many officials in the palace who were about to speak opened their mouths and quickly closed them again.
They felt that the emperor was well prepared. If the argument continued, the topic would be brought to the issue of escaping from the household. This was something that should not be brought up in court.
There is no point in arguing with the emperor. Long Yan will be angered and another edict will be issued to abolish slavery, or to ask large families to pay a population tax for slaves, and things will be in trouble.
For a moment, everyone was silent.
Xue Bai didn't wait for the opportunity to stir up trouble. He waved his hand and said, "I'm tired."
~~
Shou'an County Department.
Zong Han looked at the official document in front of him, frowned slightly, and then quickly unfolded it.
"Now that Yuan Zhiyuan has become a student member of the county school and the court has new policies, the county office will compensate his master, Wu Lang, at the market price."
"No, no need." Du Wulang waved his hand, "I don't need to compensate."
"It has to be supplemented." Zong Han said: "Otherwise, there will be no masters willing to let slaves take the county examination in the future, and there will be fewer talents who can read the books of sages. This is the imperial court's compassion for all people, Wu Lang has to accept it.
.”
What he said was sincere, but Du Wulang could smell a bit of yin and yang in it.
Zong Han took out an arithmetic chip, made some calculations, and said: "Yuan Zhiyuan's family of three will supply Wu Lang with sixty-three stones of grain according to the market price, okay? As for the extra money, Wu Lang has to pay for it himself."
"Okay, as many as you want."
"Then the official will now give them the documents to transform them from lowly to good, and then they will be Ding households in Shouan County again."
"It's time for the clan leader to register."
"Don't dare. It's an honor for me to serve Wu Lang."
After the two of them finished the matter amicably, Du Wulang left with the three members of the Yuan family.
Zong Han watched the group of people leave carrying more than sixty stones of grain, frowning slightly, and fell into deep thought.
"Master, it's too much to allocate so much grain at once." A clerk said, "If someone wins a lowly status, the county will have to redeem his family, and the burden on the county will be too great.
"
"Idiot, how many slaves can pass the child exam?"
Zong Han scolded the little official and said to himself: "There won't be one in a year. They just play the role of 'buying horse bones for a thousand gold' without even spending a thousand gold."
He knew that this was a very unlikely event, so the opposition from the DPRK and China was not huge.
The problem still lies with Du Wulang. With Du Wulang watching over him, Yuan Zhiyuan and his family have returned to his hometown and settled down. Should they divide the 100 acres of land?
The fields have been divided, and when spring comes, do I need a spring seedling loan?
It would be fine to say that Du Wulang only focused on Yuan Zhiyuan's family, but the emperor was lucky to be in the east, and Shou'an County has become the place where the emperor is at his feet. Now that the wind of restructuring is blowing harder and harder, it will hit here first.
"Master, the county magistrate calls you over."
"For what?"
Then a minor official came to Zong Han's ear and whispered: "Someone in the county wants to borrow all the spring seedling loans next year. The county magistrate cannot afford to offend. I want to ask how your relationship with Du Wulang is..."
~~
"Okay, you will all be good citizens from now on."
Over there, Du Wulang patted the sack full of grain and said to Old Yuan Tou: "You can let Zhiyuan prepare for the exam at the county school and prepare for the next exam. With this grain this winter, when the fields are divided, next year