Although the men on the grassland were rough in behavior, they were also very trustworthy. In addition to strong force, Liu Xin was able to conquer them because he promised to provide them with tea. Last year, he was not able to fulfill his promise. If he can't provide it again this year,
As for tea, Liu Xin's status in the hearts of the Huns will probably plummet. This year's batch of tea must not be lost, so Liu Xin emphasized that Zhang Zhao must personally escort it.
In fact, there is no need to worry about safety along the way, otherwise Liu Xin would not let Zhang Zhao be responsible for escorting the transportation, but would choose a military general who is accustomed to fighting. It is rainy and humid in the south of the Yangtze River, which is the enemy of transporting tea. As long as it is wet
If it rains, no matter how good the tea leaves are, they will become worthless. Zhang Zhao is very knowledgeable about astronomy and geography. He also tried his best and used all kinds of skills along the way to ensure that the tea leaves can reach Xiangyang smoothly.
After reading the list presented by Zhang Zhao, Liu Xin nodded with satisfaction and said, "Last year, the tea production was only a hundred catties. This year, it will reach three thousand catties. This is already a big improvement."
Zhang Zhao cupped his hands and said, "Unfortunately, most of them are inferior leaf tea."
Liu Xin waved her hand and said: "Those Huns on the grassland bought tea leaves to make milk tea. Leaf tea is already good for them. If we really provide them with bud tea, it would be a waste of natural resources."
Tea was produced at Liu Xin's suggestion. Naturally, there are not so many varieties. It is simply divided into bud tea and leaf tea. As the name suggests, bud tea is the young tea picked from the tea tree, while leaf tea is the mature tea.
Leaves. However, whether bud tea or leaf tea, the processing technology is the same. Not to mention the Huns, even ordinary Han people, only wealthy people can drink leaf tea.
Despite a year of hard work, the production of tea is still very low and not enough to meet the needs of public consumption. This time Zhang Zhao came to Xiangyang and brought all the tea produced this year, and even he himself did not dare to keep it
One or two.
I heard that the Huns bought tea and boiled it with goat's milk or mare's milk. I couldn't help but expressed regret and said repeatedly: "Those Huns are really wasting a good thing. My lord, you won't want to sell all the tea leaves to them."
"
Liu Xin smiled and said: "Things are rare and valuable, how can I sell all the leaf tea to them? Let's do this. One thousand catties of bud tea will be distributed according to the official grade, one thousand catties of leaf tea will be sold to various grassland ministries, and one thousand catties of leaf tea will be sold to various grassland ministries.
Qianjin leaf tea, as a government exclusive product, is sold to countries in the Western Regions..."
While talking, Liu Xin saw a petite figure flashing past the hall door. He had very good eyesight and recognized it as a little maid in Cai Jue's room. He couldn't help but waved his hand and said: "Zi Bu, these are
You have worked so hard to transport the tea, so it is up to you to decide how to distribute it. Remember to take some from my share and give it to the Qiaoxuanqiao member of Lujiang County."
When Qiao Xuan arrived in Xiangyang a few days ago, he complained to Liu Xin that he couldn't drink the best tea. In fact, Qiao Xuan not only couldn't drink the best tea, he couldn't even drink ordinary tea.
, because there was no tea for sale on the market, the tea he drank in the past was given to him by Liu Xin when he was in Lujiang.
Zhang Zhao didn't know about Liu Xin's visit to find the "Second Bridge", but he did know that Liu Xin appointed a private supervisor to supervise officials at all levels, and this private supervisor was Qiao Xuan in Lujiang County. To be honest,
, Zhang Zhao still admires Qiao Xuan. Under his supervision, Lujiang County, from the prefect to the subordinate officials, all perform their duties conscientiously. The development of Lujiang City is also much faster than other places.
To some extent, Qiao Xuan also deserves some credit.
I heard that Liu Xin wanted to send tea to Qiao Xuan, which showed that Liu Xin was very sure of Qiao Xuan's achievements. Naturally, Zhang Zhao promised and resigned.
After Liu Xin waited for Zhang Zhao to leave, she walked out of the hall, but the figure of the little maid was nowhere to be seen. The rules in the Zhou Mu Mansion were very strict, and the little maid was someone close to Cai Jue. Logically speaking, she should not appear in the hall.
Here. Now that this little maid has appeared here, there is only one possibility, that is, Cai Jue has something to tell her.
Cai Jue spends most of her time in the house taking care of the children, and occasionally checks the accounts of the shops, and never takes the initiative to interfere in political affairs. But she is a member of the Cai family in Xiangyang after all, and she doesn't care about the family affairs at all.
It doesn't seem to make sense. There must be something wrong with her sending her maid here.
Liu Xin suddenly remembered that Cai He was here. Cai He was Cai Jue's youngest brother and the first student of Xiangyang Academy. Liu Xin was very satisfied with the results of his mission to the Western Regions last year. Liu Xin had also promised to arrange a mission for Cai He.
It's a suitable official position, but there haven't been many things recently. Liu Xin is also very happy and leisurely, spending all day at home with his wife, concubines and children, and he even forgot about Cai He.
Needless to say, Cai Jue sent his maid here to ask about his arrangements for Cai He. As for why Cai Jue didn't ask a few days ago and sent someone to ask today, it must be because someone from the Cai family asked him to talk to him in the past few days.
Alright.
Liu Xin thought she had thought of the crux of the problem, so she couldn't help but laugh, and repeatedly ordered: "Come here, please go and ask Mr. Tian Feng to come over."
Since Cai He was to be assigned an official position, Liu Xin was prepared to make it more formal. Tian Feng was the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and the official position arranged through him was considered official. This was not only a recognition of Cai He, but also a tribute to Cai Jue.
Account.
Tian Feng and Ju Shou are both old men who followed Liu Xin when he was in Jizhou. Their talents and learning may not be as good as those of Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and others, but their loyalty is unquestionable and they are the most trusted by Liu Xin.
.However, since Jushou is in charge of the Phantom Secret Agent, he has more opportunities to contact Liu Xin, while Tian Feng rarely has the opportunity to be summoned by Liu Xin alone.
Tian Feng was startled when he heard that Liu Xin sent someone to invite him. He thought something big had happened. He didn't even have time to change his clothes, so he hurried over in his home clothes.
Liu Xin couldn't help but smile and said: "Yuan Hao, it's not a big deal. Don't worry. Come, sit down and have a sip of tea first."
Only then did Tian Feng realize that he was strange. He smiled sheepishly, sat down opposite Liu Xin, drank two sips of tea, calmed down, and then asked: "I don't know what the Lord has called for.
Order?"
Liu Xin nodded and said: "It has been ten years since Xiangyang Academy was founded. The first class of fifty students will graduate this year. I don't know what arrangements will be made for them. Do you have any plans?"
The original intention of the establishment of Xiangyang Academy was to cultivate talents for the Han Dynasty. Unless the students of the Academy do not want to, they will join the court as officials after graduation. Tian Feng is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials all over the world. Naturally, he has already
Prepare.
When Liu Xin asked about this matter, Tian Feng thought for a while, handed over his hands and said: "Although the students have achieved some success in the academy, they have not practiced enough. My subordinates thought that they should start with small things first, and then assign them to
In Zhong County, he serves as county magistrate or arrest envoy. He will be evaluated after one year before being entrusted with important tasks."
Liu Xin nodded and said: "Although this method is safe, have you ever thought about it. The construction of Chang'an City will be completed soon. By then, all the six ministries will be moved to Chang'an. The institutions of the six ministries will also be enriched and improved, which will require a lot of manpower.
, if we leave these college students alone, why don’t we have to go to other places to recruit talents?”
In the past, the Han Dynasty used a recommendation system from the countryside to select talents, and most of the people who could be recommended were the children of the gentry. When Liu Xin established the academy, he adopted a policy of dividing gentry students and students from poor families in half, in order to inject more talent into the court officials.
Fresh blood to avoid the situation where the gentry family is dominated by one family.
In order to prevent backlash from the noble families all over the world, these plans are still highly confidential. However, there is no need to hide these secrets from Ju Shou and Tian Feng. Therefore, after listening to Liu Xin's words, Tian Feng has generally understood Liu Xin's plans.
He couldn't help but lean forward and said: "If this is the case, my subordinates think that these students can be arranged into the yamen of each of the six departments."
In the future Han Dynasty, there will no longer be the positions of the three gongs and nine ministers. Of course, the former officials like Yang Biao and Huang Wan who chose to join Liu Xin will still retain their official positions, but they will not have real power.
.In other words, from now on, the three ministers and nine ministers only have the qualifications to discuss politics and have no power to govern. Instead,
The center of the imperial court will be the cabinet and the six ministries re-established by Liu Xin in Xiangyang. Therefore, Tian Feng will be very cautious about the candidates who enter the six ministries. These officials in the six ministries are equivalent to the three ministers and nine ministers in the past, so that those who have just stepped out of the academy will
Students should take on important positions. If Liu Xin hadn't specifically pointed it out, Tian Feng would not have dared to take this idea.
Unexpectedly, Liu Xin waved her hand and said: "That's not necessary. It's just that at the right time of employment, if these students are allowed to start from the county, the starting point is too low. If they want to take on important responsibilities, they will have to wait until the year of the monkey. Liu
meaning, can
They can be assigned to counties with better conditions to serve as county magistrates or chief historians. If they are proficient in martial arts and military arts, they can also serve as captains in the local army. After half a year, if they are of great use, they will be transferred to the Sixth Army.
Take office."
Liu Xin had no choice but to make such an arrangement. Both the cabinet and the six ministries are just empty frames now. The several bachelors in the cabinet and the six ministers are just fulfilling the duties of counselors. But after the capital is moved to Chang'an, everything should be
To move towards formality, the six ministries must also be enriched as soon as possible.
Now, all the six bureau yamen in Chang'an City have been built, and what needs to be supplemented is nothing more than the personnel inside. There are many scribes and handymen, but the most lacking ones are the ministers of the six bureaus and the doctors and foreign ministers of the subordinate departments.
Chief officials and other officials. In peacetime, these people can
They were transferred from various counties and counties. However, the world has not yet been peaceful. As the foundation of the Han Dynasty, it is very necessary for counties and counties to maintain relative stability. Liu Xin, the official there, will not be easily transferred, at least for the time being. Therefore, this batch of
Students from Xiangyang Academy became the best candidates.
In fact, Liu Xin's arrangement is not inconsistent with Tian Feng's. They both let these students train at the grassroots level for a period of time before being entrusted with important tasks. However, Liu Xin's arrangement has a higher starting point and a shorter training period.
Tian Feng was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood what Liu Xin meant, quickly cupped his hands and said, "I will make arrangements right away."
Liu Xin nodded and suddenly asked: "Yuan Hao, Cai He, how do you plan to arrange it?"