Zhurou

Chapter 263 Fairness
No matter whether he was demoted or stripped of his official position, Zhang Li was not afraid at all. After all, as long as he had a good reputation, it was like having a magic weapon to protect himself. Even the emperor might not be very afraid of him, so how could he be afraid of his superiors?

To put it bluntly, given Zhang Li's current situation, he is worried that he will be suppressed by the royal family if he cannot make a big fuss about it.

Only by enduring "great suffering" can one gain fame, raise the banner among the scholars, and then look back to take control.

But the worst suppression he could imagine that he might suffer did not include being forced to go to the Northern Dynasty again.

If it was still the situation at the end of last year or the beginning of this year, it would be fine. At that time, the young emperor's throne was still unstable and the people of the Jin Dynasty had no backbone. As long as the emperor returned to the court, it would be unknown who would sit on the throne.

In this case, even if the Di people wanted to rely on the return of the old emperor to stir up trouble and destabilize the situation in the Jin Dynasty to benefit the Northern Dynasty, they would most likely be eager to send the retired emperor back so as to form a restraint on the current emperor.

At that time, if he were to go on a diplomatic mission to the Northern Dynasty, he would only have to offer more gold, silver, people and animals, endure humiliation for a while, and wait for the emperor to return to the capital. Sooner or later, he would get a reward.

But up to now, the Northern Dynasty has been defeated to this extent. The current emperor is becoming more and more powerful and his throne is becoming more stable. Even if the emperor emeritus returns to the court, he may not be able to control the situation.

The Northern Dynasty held on to the man like a jade, a rare treasure that they could not keep. They knew that he might not cause much trouble, and perhaps he was preparing to ask for a huge sum of money. So why would they be in a hurry to let him go?
Now there is a ready-made reason - the treasury is so empty - there is no need to rush to recruit people.

Both sides have their own thoughts, and the negotiations are bound to be protracted.

The Di bandits have always been afraid of power and disregard for virtue. It would be better if someone could come from the Privy Council or even the Council of State, and it would be best if it could be Pei Yong - this man has frightened the Northern Dynasty, and if he comes forward, they can be subdued.

But the chief envoy this time is actually a new prince who has no power or influence at all. What use can he be?
After he arrived at Xingqing Prefecture, being rejected and looked down upon was the worst thing. The worst thing was that he didn't get any good at all.

The emperor was in the Northern Dynasty, so he could still use his "loyalty" to gain fame and protect himself, and then try to turn things around in the future. If the emperor returned to Beijing...

"I... your humble servant... the journey to the north is long, and I am a little old and my eyesight is blurry. I am afraid I am not up to the task..." he murmured.

"Just now you were walking 100,000 steps a day, how come you are old and your eyesight is blurry now? You are such a clear-minded person, but you shouldn't talk nonsense. If the emperor knows about it, the emperor hears it, and the people in the court and the public know about it, it will cause misunderstandings and that will be bad."

"Your Highness knows that you are very concerned about the Emperor, so even if he asked you to stay in the capital, he must be very anxious. In addition to the imperial decree, he also issued a separate decree. Now the guards are outside, waiting for you to pack up and take you to the camp west of the city..."

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites was still smiling, but in Zhang Li's eyes, he didn't know if he was dazzled or not, he just felt that he looked ferocious and vicious.

Although he had not yet set out, he felt as if he had returned to the bitter cold land in the north. His hands and feet were cold, his back was cold, and his mouth and nose were filled with the smell of horse manure in the shed. He saw stars and could hardly stand.

***
The next morning, the delegation set out to the north.

Dozens of envoys, three hundred imperial guards, and two teams of escorts accompanied them. A group of over a thousand people set out from the main gate of Xuande Gate, which was enough to show the importance of the royal family.

In the past, when the court and the public were discussing this, scholars and officials often said that the current emperor ignored the retired emperor. Although there were reasons, it was unfilial. Now that the diplomatic envoys to the north have set out, more people have become nervous, worrying about whether they can really welcome the retired emperor back.

The delegation passed through Liangmen Street, set out from Wansheng Gate, and went around to take a boat. Passers-by could see it clearly, especially at the market outside the West Gate. People who gathered there to do business watched the delegation of thousands of people set off. Among them, the guards all looked energetic and could not help talking about it.

"The emperor still has a few years to go before he can come of age. If the one from the north really comes back and brings back many corrupt officials, they are a sister and a brother, of a lower generation, young, and with a small population. How can they fight against him? Maybe the throne will be taken back. What should they do then?"

"We finally made it through, and the thieves were driven away. We've only had a few days of peace, so we won't go back to the old ways again..."

"Didn't the official who brought the letter last time say that the emperor only wants to come back? When the time comes, no matter which mountain or temple, just give him a place to retire. He won't fight for a seat."

This statement caused many people around to sneer. However, an old woman squatting and selling autumn pears sneered and said, "Such words are just used to deceive children. If he really comes back, how can he not fight? Not only will he fight, but those royal relatives, princes and ministers who went with him will also fight. You are afraid of trouble, but I, an old woman, am not. In my opinion, it is best not to come back. Your Majesty is still young now, and it is best for you to be the emperor..."

Before she could say anything else, the old man standing nearby slapped her on the mouth and cursed her a few words, and the couple started arguing.

However, once the conversation started, there were no soldiers or government officials here, and most of them were refugees who had not yet returned to their hometowns and were temporarily living here. Naturally, there were few taboos in their conversation and they continued the conversation.

This one said, "If you ask me, I will say the same thing! Look at how the battle with the north went before, and what's the situation now? If the emperor hadn't been replaced...if the emperor hadn't come in person, and if Pei Jiedu hadn't led the troops, the capital would definitely not be able to be defended. If we run south again, common people like you and me don't know if we will still be alive..."

Someone asked, "What military governorship? Didn't Mr. Pei get promoted to Deputy Privy Councilor? Now we have to call him Prime Minister Pei!"

"I was just telling them that the princess was very smart in choosing this consort. Maybe it was for today - it would be best if Pei Xianggong returned to the northwest as soon as possible. He has always been at odds with the man in Xiazhou, and he certainly can't watch his rival snatch his brother-in-law's position. With him around, at least we have the Western Army to support us from behind, so we don't have to be too afraid..."

"What do you mean by 'Western Army is here to support us'? Are we the only ones who need to be used and the soldiers in the city will just watch helplessly? Do you believe that as long as someone steps forward, we who have defended the city can gather together on the spot to protect the emperor and the princess?"

When everyone heard the words, they looked and saw the man who was speaking squatting beside a stall selling persimmons. As he spoke, he took out a copper coin from his pocket and handed it to the vendor. As soon as he finished speaking, he propped himself up and stood up, grabbed a crutch beside him, frowned, picked up a bag of persimmons and left.

The peddler didn't know at first, but from what he said and his appearance, he could guess that he was a soldier who had been disabled while defending the city, so he hurriedly chased after him to return the copper coin.

The man refused to accept it.

The peddler had no choice but to run back, scooped up a few big red hard persimmons, chased the man halfway across the street, and stuffed all the persimmons into the man's arms before returning.

After being interrupted by this, everyone expressed their feelings and the topic was changed.

Although this place is outside the city, as the sky is bright, the flow of people is no less than that in the city, so every family is busy with their own business. They don't have the leisure to talk about the emperor. They are only busy making more money to make a living.

***
After the delegation set off to the north, Zhao Mingzhi put this matter aside and freed up his hands to urge the court to finalize a list of generals to quell the rebellion. There was also the matter of disaster relief, arranging officials to take up their posts in the north, troop rotations, and the approaching autumn harvest, etc. He was really busy all the time.

But apart from all these, there was one very important thing, which she completely handed over to her brother, and that was to take the imperial examination.

Zhao Hong was dissatisfied with the civil and military officials in the court, especially the officials of the two governments, and he had long wanted to select talents himself. Now he was rubbing his hands, hoping to quickly choose the talents he wanted.

He was determined to achieve perfection and originally wanted to personally review the autumn examination papers in various places. However, before that step came to hand, as soon as the decree to hold an imperial examination was issued, countless submissions came in like snowflakes from all over the country.

First, because people in many places in the north had been displaced and even officials had not yet arrived, there was really no one to prepare for the autumn examination. Many officials requested to either close or merge county-level examination sites, but they had to come up with a standard for which one to close and which one to merge into.

In addition, many scholars in Beijing and in the south requested permission, saying that they had fled south to seek refuge and could not return home for the time being, and hoped to take the imperial examination there.

However, many local scholars who were preparing for the autumn examination were very dissatisfied and also wrote to the emperor to ask for permission, saying that such an action would occupy local quotas and was very unfair. Many other places also asked for permission, saying that the local area had just suffered from floods and was busy with autumn harvest and disaster relief, and hoped to postpone the autumn examination.

Zhao Hong was overwhelmed after hearing this.

There was naturally little reference to such trivial details in the clan archives, and he was also very fair and did not want to hurt the scholars' loyalty to the emperor. He was so anxious that half of his gums were swollen because he could not think of a truly fair solution.

Zhao Mingzhi was really distressed by his busyness for seven or eight days, and could not help but persuade him a few times, but Zhao Hong was always very stubborn and said, "Forget it before. This is the first time that my sister asked me to take charge of something, and it is not a difficult matter. If I do it in a mess and it is not fair at all, and if outsiders and scholars know about it, how will they look at me as an emperor? In that case, what is the difference between me and the guy in Xiazhou?"

Seeing that he was going to get stuck in a rut, Zhao Mingzhi didn't try to persuade him anymore. He asked someone to bring a bamboo basket of newly harvested rice ears and put it on the table in front of his brother. He asked, "If I give you one stick of incense to work with and only two helpers, can you divide this rice into ten equal parts?"

As he said this, he called over two eunuchs.

Zhao Hong was very smart. He first asked one person to get a scale, and asked another person to get several containers of the same size. He then roughly divided the rice ears into ten parts. After the two people came back, he hurriedly weighed the total weight and sorted them again.

It took the three of them two incense sticks of time to finally divide the things.

Zhao Hong felt a little regretful when he saw this, and said, "If I could have two more people and a little more time to prepare, I think I would be able to divide it within a stick of incense."

Zhao Mingzhi smiled and said, "Even if I don't count your overtime, does that mean we're even this time?"

Zhao Hong was stunned.

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Zhao Mingzhi did not say anything else. He just picked up two small ears of rice at random, weighed them on the scale and found that they were the same weight. Then he asked, "Should we divide them equally?"

Zhao Hong nodded immediately.

Zhao Mingzhi also asked people to bring five or six different scales, some large and some small. The smallest one was a balance scale, which could measure to the very beginning of a millimeter. The starting point was no more than five cents, and the largest limit was no more than one and a half cents. It could even measure a difference of one centimeter.

She put two ears of rice in her brother's hands and pointed at the scale and said, "Try it again?"

Zhao Hong was prepared in his heart, and he did as he was told. As expected, he found that the last time he weighed, he had clearly measured the same weight, but now he just changed the scale, and the weights obtained on both sides differed by half a penny.

He was speechless for a moment.

Zhao Mingzhi said, "Half a penny is not much. When the court collects grain, the vessel used is qualified as long as it is level with the stone mouth. If we want to be completely fair, do we have to use a scale like this to weigh the grain one load at a time? Not to mention that there is not enough manpower, even if there is enough manpower, wouldn't it be a waste of time to weigh it slowly?"

He added: "But if it is for merchants to exchange gold and silver, for families to sell expensive pills, or for buying spices, can we really use a large scale?"

"It is said that one thing is different from another, and that one should tailor one's clothes to one's own needs. This is it - if you want to do everything to perfection, how can you have time to do other things?"

At this point, she smiled and asked, "For example, today, if you were given another chance, what would you do to divide the money the fastest and most accurately?"

Zhao Hong lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, "I will ask Wang Shu to come over..."

He hesitated for a moment, shook his head again, and said, "I'll ask Wang Shu to transfer two eunuchs from the Imperial Pharmacy. They use scales every day and are very experienced. They know how to do it the fastest better than me and the others."

"After deciding on the people, we'll set the rules and give a reward to the one who works faster..."

Zhao Mingzhi smiled slightly, picked up one of the rice ears, and asked, "If you give the rice ears the same weight, is it really fair?"

Zhao Hong was stunned.

Zhao Mingzhi said, "From your point of view, the same weight is fair, but you can ask the farmers to see which is better, the rice stalks or the rice grains?"

Compared with rice grains, rice straw is far less useful.

Zhao Hong understood this principle, and he immediately said, "Of course it's rice!"

Zhao Mingzhi took the two ears of rice again, asked someone to pluck the rice grains from them, and weighed them again. This time, the difference in the amount of rice in the two ears was a full penny.

Zhao Hong just felt his toothache again.

Zhao Mingzhi divided the rice into two and asked, "Is this fair?"

Zhao Hong wanted to nod, but after what he had just experienced, he felt that there must be more to the matter than this. Neither nodding nor shaking his head was right.

Zhao Mingzhi smiled and said, "If I grind the rice into white rice, what will be the result?"

Zhao Hong listened, his expression no longer relaxed. He didn't need Zhao Mingzhi to finish what he said, he had already drawn inferences from one example, and said: "If rice is ground into white rice, the husks of different rice grains must have different weights, and the weight of the white rice obtained will also be different - if you can choose, for ordinary people, white rice is naturally better."

If storage is not taken into consideration, what is the point of comparison?

How much does rice cost? How much does white rice cost?

Zhao Mingzhi gently pushed two small piles of grains in front of his brother and said, "Fairness is of course important, but in some cases, we can only try to be fair in a hurry. For example, when distributing relief porridge, if we insist on being truly fair, don't we have to weigh and count the number and size of rice grains in each bowl of porridge first? Otherwise, it would be unfair? If we keep delaying this, what will happen to the lives of the people?"

He added: "Now the imperial examination has been suspended for many years, and all industries are declining. There is a lot of waste to be rebuilt, and the scholars in the folk are waiting anxiously. Under such circumstances, we need to select talents early and focus on the big ones and let go of the small ones. If everything needs to be done to the extreme, do you have to do everything yourself?"

"For example, when it comes to governing, Yang Ting and Sun Chong are naturally the best, but now there are so many important things to do, can we ignore the priorities and ask them to preside over the imperial examinations and implement the details?"

The words have been made so clear, how could Zhao Hong not understand?

After this, he really no longer fretted over the details as before, and waited until the autumn examination was successfully concluded before carefully selecting outstanding scholars from it.

Sorry for the long wait. I wanted to post it all at once after it was finished, but it got stuck because I kept procrastinating. I will try to update it daily. Please don't chase me. Wait until it's finished before you read it.