During this southern tour, the emperor planned to stay in Yangzhou for four days. On April 30th, before dawn, Li You got up and hurried to the palace to ask for a ride. He thought too much at night, and he only slept for a few hours.
That's all.
A folding dining table was set up in the garden pavilion. In addition to the ten kinds of meals prepared by the inner prison, Mr. Li, on behalf of the Yangzhou region, presented crystal elbows, bird's nest and boiled tofu, bad duck, crispy chicken, rolled Chengsha buns,
Chicken cakes and some side dishes on a silver plate.
The emperor would definitely not be able to finish such a luxurious breakfast, so the rest was given to the queen and concubines, euphemistically called rewards.
After using it earlier, the emperor began to inspect Yangzhou City. On the first day of his stay, forget about sightseeing. He must fulfill the responsibilities of the emperor's job, otherwise he may see "Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty" in the memorial.
Three dazzling words.
The city of Yangzhou was relatively small, and the roads were not as wide as those in the capital. It was very inconvenient to display all the emperor's standard ceremonial guards, so the order was kept simple, with only hundreds of soldiers accompanying him to protect it.
First, there was a tour of civil and military affairs. The first stop was the Dongzi Temple, which was newly built under the orders of Li You. Emperor Jinghe and his accompanying ministers laid a few sticks of incense on the Confucian master from two thousand years ago and left a message:
Prepare to be made into an imperial monument.
After that, he came to Jiangdu County School to visit and express condolences to the instructors and students at the school. More than a dozen monarchs and ministers entered the school palace. Emperor Jinghe looked up and saw a huge stone in the courtyard, with the four characters "Chen Shi Day" written on it.
So, he asked his left and right: "What does this mean?"
None of the ministers accompanying him knew it. No matter how thick-skinned the local official Li You was, he was too embarrassed to explain, so he had to answer the question: "You can ask the county school to tell you."
Some ministers reprimanded: "Mr. Li, you don't know either? You have been in office for one year. Have you not visited the county school inspector in person? You have no intention of educating. This is a great dereliction of duty. Your Majesty, please inspect!"
Li You thought it was Li Denggao who had spoken out of ignorance, so he turned around to look. The person who spoke was actually An Shilang of the Ministry of Rites.
The Ministry of Etiquette is in charge of the school, and it was within the scope of responsibility of Minister An to rebuke him, but Li You always felt that he could smell something different from it.
Was this man and Li kneeling down at the palace gate yesterday and became angry because of their humiliation? Or was it because the ministers who were accompanying him couldn't bear to see him being in the limelight and had a common hatred of the enemy?
The county school Pang Jiaoyu was a low-ranking instructor with no rank. He was originally on the periphery of the crowd, but at this time he was lucky enough to be in front of the emperor. He replied with a trembling voice: "This is when Governor Li first arrived in Yangzhou.
These are words of encouragement to students. Prefect Li means that students are the foundation of the country’s education, and the sun is already shining brightly, but it is still necessary to study hard. Only in this way can the sun shine in the sky."
Immediately, the emperor and his ministers were stunned. From the emperor to Lin's consort, they were all scholars who had read poetry and books. They were all guessing which sage's words these four words were, and thinking hard about which classic they came from. It took a long time to guess. It turned out that
This is the famous saying of Li You, a great living person...
Li You was a little nervous. Ideological things have always been very unreasonable. After a while, he heard the emperor cheering: "This is a very good idea! You can write a picture and put it in the Wenhua Hall. I should encourage myself."
The emperor spoke, and the nature was determined. Yuan Ge, the scholar of Wenhua Palace who was accompanying him, was speechless. Li You's luck was really speechless. He had seen it with his own eyes countless times.
.I can imagine it. The reason why the emperor appreciates it is probably because this "day of Chenshi" is very in line with his thoughts.***
Isn't it the "day of Chenshi" when the young emperor first takes charge? After the day of Chenshi, there will be a lot of good fortune, but it is not as straightforward and explicit as the day of Chenshi, so of course the emperor likes it.
Li You, who had been silent for a long time, then opened his mouth and said sincerely to Minister An: "This official is really incompetent in teaching, and his language is vulgar, which makes Young Zongbo laugh."
Minister An's expression turned cold and he turned his head and looked away.
Li You was too lazy to continue to pay attention to him. He still had something important to do and he had to seize the opportunity. He also asked the emperor: "The county's teaching edict is responsible for instructing the local area, but it has no rank and no rank. It is just an official of low rank, and often
He was looked down upon by the officials who were promoted by fighting. Therefore, the superiors and subordinates were rash, and the teaching methods were not established. How can we train the scholars? I would like to report that the teachings of the counties in the world should be promoted to the ninth rank, and the professors of the government should be promoted to the eighth rank."
The emperor glanced at Pang Jiaoyu for a few times and found that he was only wearing scholar's clothes. He turned his head and asked Mr. Yuan Ge: "Does the instructor have no rank?"
Yuan Ge Laozhuo replied: "I am appointed as a low-ranking official at the county level, and as a nine-level official at the government level."
"What Li You said is absolutely true. How can we ignore the dignity of a teacher? I should accept it to show that I respect the teacher." After confirming it, Emperor Jinghe decided that this matter is not difficult to handle and there is no need to hesitate at all.
Pang Jiaoyu immediately kowtowed and said: "God's grace is so great that it is hard for me to repay it even if I am shattered to pieces!"
After coming back to his senses, all the ministers accompanying him felt sad. Such a good thing had allowed Li You to steal the limelight again!
When the emperor takes charge, just like when a new official takes office, of course he urgently needs to do something to express himself. Li You is like giving a pillow to the emperor when he is dozing off. This move of promoting a school instructor is a wonderful move!
There are only more than a thousand prefectural and county schools in the country, and each promotion is only the lowest grade. The salary is not high, and the annual state expenditure only costs tens of thousands of silver.
But the emperor's reputation for respecting teachers and respecting morality has spread greatly. Compared with the cost, it is very cost-effective. There is no emperor who doesn't like such things that are cheap and plentiful. You know, it costs hundreds of dollars for the emperor to build a tomb for his own family.
Ten thousand taels of silver.
As an important result of the emperor's grassroots inspection of the local area, after this matter spreads out, even Li You, who has been admonishing the emperor, can take advantage of it and gain his reputation, and it can be accurately spread to every county and every county school in the country.
study.
That's why the accompanying ministers were so sad. Why did they turn a blind eye to such a beautiful thing that was almost worth a million bucks and never thought about it, but let Li You take advantage of it?
The plan succeeded, and Taishou Li, who was once again feeling a little proud, secretly told the official: "This dear friend is so kind-hearted. Could it be that I saw him in the palace? You have worked hard, don't forget to record it."
After he had just traveled through time, he was surprised. In his impression, the county school teaching edict should be the same as the master register, so why was it not popular in the country? In fact, in another time and space, it was not until the early days of the "Pseudo-Qing Dynasty" that the county school was not included.
The teachings promoted him to a stream official. In this time and space, this achievement was finally achieved by himself.
The emperor summoned some more students. He learned that the monthly endowment in Jiangdu County was half more than the imperial quota. After a few questions, he granted them the qualifications to study in the Imperial College. The trip to the county school ended here.
After reading the civil affairs, he went to the garrison department of the government to review the military equipment. The monarch and his ministers went up to the general platform, and all the officers and soldiers of the three battalions of the garrison department lined up below. When the order was given, they began to perform martial arts.
The equipment of these 1,500 to 600 battalions was very ordinary and ordinary, and they did not show much during the battle. But as soon as the martial arts performance began, the officers and soldiers became lively and energetic, and their morale was high. Suddenly, the sound of killing in the school field was heard. The generals were ordered to take the stage.
The emperor and his ministers were moved.
All the commander-in-chiefs have received orders from Li You. If they don't work hard today, they will not be able to investigate smuggled salt in the second half of this year.
The emperor looked around and said curiously: "All the way here, there are few inland soldiers with such courage. I have only seen it in the elite soldiers of Jinzhi. This Yangzhou army is well managed and deserves a heavy reward! Where is the garrison commander?"
Li You was a little embarrassed and humbly came forward to pay homage and said: "I am a minister who is in charge of both. I do not dare to ask for credit or reward for my duties."
The accompanying ministers couldn't help but cursed in a very uncivilized manner in their hearts.
The emperor was also speechless. Suddenly he remembered that last year, the emperor's sister asked him to seal the appointment and appoint a local civil servant to take charge of the camp. It turned out to be Li You... and he never mentioned the reward again.
Secretly glancing at the expressions of the people around him, Li You had a rare moment of conscience and felt that he might have gone too far in promoting his political achievements.
After reviewing the officers and soldiers of the government's garrison department, the emperor drove back to the palace. After eating in the afternoon, he continued to perform his work duties. The main task in the afternoon was to meet with representatives of local elders and salt merchants.
Since the time of Taizu, the state has attached great importance to the role of local elders. It has established the position of an elder to deal with rural disputes and has very simple judicial powers. It also stipulates that local officials hold regular rural drinking ceremonies and gather with local elders to discuss policy.
Gains and losses. At that time, local elders could even jointly petition the imperial court to recommend or impeach local officials.
But now a lot of it has become just a formality, but there is still a formality.
This time the emperor summoned the elders in the main hall of the palace. Most of them were over sixty years old. After the whole hall was full of white-headed wengshan and shouted long live, they all received heaven's grace and were given seats.
Facing the sage's inquiry, an old man named Renrui, who was nearly a hundred years old, tremblingly replied: "The common people were born in Tianqi and grew up in Chongzhen. After five generations and more than ninety years, only last year until now has been the most peaceful! Since then!
I feel that the government is harmonious with the people, the administration is simple and the punishments are clear, and it benefits the whole country. The widows and widowers are lonely, and the community is educated in the countryside, and the bridges and roads are all provided."
All the ministers in the palace were in an uproar. The old man Rui, who was born in the Tianqi Dynasty, was confused. Is he talking about the Ming Dynasty? Is this the time of the ancient kings?
Among the attendants, Mr. Yuan Ge was the most familiar with political affairs. He immediately said: "Old man, please don't deceive the emperor by making false statements and exaggerating."
He knew that most of the money and food income of the local government had to be shipped, and there was really not much left. After all the expenses were paid, there was not much left. According to what the old man said, he didn't know how much financial resources would be spent. It sounded false at first glance. It must be
Li You taught me in advance for the invitation.
In fact, it is normal to make up something nice to make the emperor happy. The emperor definitely likes prosperity and does not want to see decline. But the problem is that the editor cannot make it so absurd and untrue, as it would insult the intelligence of these ministers.
The old man Renrui trembled and kowtowed: "The common people dare not deceive the emperor."
The other elders nearby each took out a stack of lists and presented them: "We have made a number of lists before to prepare for the Holy Inquiry. All of them have real evidence."
There are names of people and places in these lists. The names of the people are probably the so-called widows and widowers, and the names of the places are maybe Bridge, maybe Road, maybe Social Studies. Although they are only within a few villages, we can still get a glimpse of the whole story.
There is also a silver figure. However, most of the money is not fully covered by the government, but only 20 to 30% is subsidized by the government, and the rest is raised and worked by each township.
The emperor then said to Yuan Ge: "With ten thousand taels, you can do what fifty thousand taels do. Yangzhou is rich, so it's not surprising that you can accomplish things by gathering money."
The old man Rui Rui's words, "Lonely widowers, social studies in the countryside, and building bridges and paving roads are all given." is a bit exaggerated, but it cannot be said to be false. He did not say that it was all given by the government.
Mr. Yuan Ge glanced at the list hastily, and then said: "Jiangdu County has an annual income of 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, but can't keep more than 10,000 yuan. The government expenses in this list are no less than 10,000 yuan. I don't know where the money came from."
An Shilang said: "I heard that Li You amassed money and extorted places. He probably used the money to buy his own reputation. This is a treacherous way, so we must pay attention to it."
Li You, who had no sense of presence for a long time, went out to the emperor and said: "I have always believed that the way to be an minister is to be practical and practical. It should be noted that empty words will mislead the country, and high-minded talk will be of no use. Most of the people who worship Zhen's state affairs are worse than this generation.
!”
Although he didn't mention anyone by name, everyone who said it knew it well. People who are familiar with Li You are slandering you, Li You, don't you talk eloquently enough?
The two criticized each other, but the emperor was noncommittal. After meeting with the elders, he summoned the salt merchant again. This time the emperor visited the south, and the salt merchant had made great efforts to repay the loss, so he wanted to meet him.
This group of salt merchants was actually more than twenty general merchants, and they were basically the group that contributed the most to the emperor's southern inspection tour.
The emperor commended you with a few words, "The imperial court will not be unaware of your effective intentions. I can give you the title of general merchant. I only hope that you will report to the state and do good in the countryside in the future."
The salt merchants thanked them, and Mr. Yuan Ge asked, "Has the local government in Yangzhou ever tried to force wealthy merchants to accumulate money?"
He Yunzi, the general manager of the Salt Industry Association, categorically denied this, "There is no such thing! We were inspired by Prefect Li to voluntarily collect new taxes for the benefit of our neighbors. How can we say that we are threatening? This old man will not organize it out of thin air. Even if there is
If people with evil intentions spread rumors to cause trouble, then rumors will only stop at the wise!"
After the salt merchants withdraw, today's inspection of the place will be settled.
Logically speaking, the emperor should have encouraged the local officials at this time. However, Li You's political performance was almost impeccable, and he could only give it a perfect score. He could be called the best among the best, and he just missed having the words "Don't promote me" written on his face.
It's not enough for the common people to be angry." Jing He, the emperor, came all the way south and has never seen anything like this. Now he doesn't know how to express it.
If others were like this, the emperor would just open his mouth and give him a reputation as a capable minister, reward him with some items, and promise to reuse him. But Li You is really a special one. Whether he rewards him or promotes him, he is very technical.
Regarding work, the emperor could not make up his mind for a while.
Let’s not mention the gold book and iron certificate. It’s not as easy to get rid of as the bullfighting suit. How can you reward me with a python robe for such a trivial thing?
As for the promotion and appointment of Li You, the emperor feels that this is not entirely up to him. He is afraid that it will affect the minds of many people, from his mother to his eldest sister, to the palace bachelor, etc. It is not something that can be decided easily. And the young emperor's face is not something that can be decided easily.
It's not so thick that it can make false promises without changing face.
The emperor was confused. Is this what the book said means no reward? Li You didn't do anything earth-shattering or great in Yangzhou, so how come he has no reward?
It's really too much. Li You sighed secretly when he saw this, he'd better find the steps to go down by himself. (..)
