The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 410: Student Conflict
Looking at a group of monks walking in the desert, they walked very piously. Although their footsteps were messy, they were very quiet along the way. Lou Shide asked: "Are there many monks like this in the Western Regions?"

Before Pei Xingjian could speak, Bai Fang said, "In the future, there will be more students in Chongwenguan. We are the only ones who can save the world."

Hearing this, Lou Shide smiled again and said, "It seems that you like the knowledge of Chongwenguan?"

It is naturally a rare thing for a person from the Western Regions to be so loyal to Chongwenguan. This matter is so interesting that it should be written into a memorial and submitted to the court to let the court see the results of Chongwenguan's education of the Western Regions.

Bai Fang sat on the camel's back and said aloud, "The Western Regions that used to enslave people never thought about the productivity of the population. They were just plundering. First, when an individual's wisdom grows, his or her value will also be improved. Second, an individual's value is related to production, not where he or she is from. Third, the products produced are related to people's needs, not anything else."

Lou Shide thought for a moment, but didn't know how to comment.

Pei Xingjian let the camel continue to move forward and said, "Excuse me, Censor Lou, this guy has gone crazy."

Lou Shide said with a smile: "In fact, I have never learned the knowledge of Chongwenguan. After I passed the imperial examination and became an official, I have never had any contact with Chongwenguan."

Looking back, he saw that after Bai Fang finished speaking, his spirit and energy seemed to have risen to a higher level. Pei Xingjian shook his head and said, "When I have some free time, I will take the Imperial Inspector to have a good look at the Western Regions."

"Thank you, Protector Pei."

Wang Xuance was sent on a diplomatic mission to India, but there was no movement for half a month, and it seemed that there was no plan to increase the number of troops.

In fact, the troops from the Western Regions could only rush to Qinghai at most and were only sent as envoys to India. Besides, there were also troops from Tibet.

Pei Xingjian did not think that the military force of Anxi Protectorate could be used.

Of course, if there was any trouble in Tubo behind Wang Xuance when he was on a diplomatic mission to India, the troops in Songzhou and Qinghai would be enough to deal with it.

These days, Pei Xingjian took Lou Shide to travel around the Western Regions to familiarize himself with the situation there.

At the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, Lou Shide saw two tall statues, about three meters high, leaning against the Tianshan Mountains. They were Tian Khan and Guo Luotuo.

Of course, the Khan in this statue is already the emperor, but Guo Luotuo is still the same Guo Luotuo.

Under the statue, Lou Shide saw many fruits and vegetables piled up into a small hill. These fruits and vegetables were all fresh and seemed to be replaced frequently.

Pei Xingjian said, "It has been like this since the karez was built. There are not many fruits and vegetables at this time of year. When the harvest season comes, there will be more fruits and vegetables piled up here."

Lou Shide looked at the statue and bowed.

Pei Xingjian said: "In fact, the people of the Western Regions are very simple. Whenever the melons and fruits are harvested, they used to worship the gods or perform some sacrifices. Now it is different. They prefer to worship Tian Khan and Guo Luotuo."

Lou Shide smiled knowingly and said, "They are indeed very simple."

Afterwards, Pei Xingjian took the censor to Tingzhou again. They met the 30,000 soldiers under Liang Jianfang. These soldiers were all living in Tingzhou city. Since Yu Gushe was defeated that year, Tingzhou has been under the control of the Tang Dynasty. The control here is stricter than that in Xizhou.

Of course, this is also because this is a military city. Tingzhou is located in the north of Xizhou, so Xizhou City can be more relaxed. If there is any change, Tingzhou’s troops can reach Xizhou City in just one day and one night.

Generally speaking, the vast majority of people in the Western Regions live in Xizhou City, where there is the Anxi Protectorate. All people in the Western Regions live under the rule of the Anxi Protectorate. Pei Xingjian's way of governing the Western Regions is also very simple. He just requires all kinds of transactions to pay listing taxes. As for other things, the Anxi Protectorate will not participate.

Of course, Pei Xingjian also had problems. Every time the Protector General encountered difficulties, Bai Fang would kill a few of the troublemakers, so that the Western Regions would remain peaceful.

At night, a curfew was imposed in Xizhou City. Inside a mud house, an oil lamp was lit, illuminating the small mud house.

Lou Shide wrote down what he saw and heard in the memorial submitted to the court.

In fact, there are not many troops in the Western Regions. Including those led by General Liang Jianfang, there are only about 30,000 troops. This is less than originally expected. Due to the troop transfers in the court, there were originally 50,000 troops, and 20,000 troops were not transferred to the Western Regions. Instead, they remained in Qinghai due to the war with Tubo.

In the memorial, Lou Shide wrote that the vast majority of children in the Western Regions can now speak Guanzhong dialect, and that more and more Western women are bringing their children to listen to lectures by the volunteer teachers at Chongwenguan.

It would be a great honor for them if their children or they could become Tang people.

The fact that the Western Regions could be governed so well had little to do with the number of soldiers and horses, but rather it was due to the good education at Chongwenguan and the good teaching of the teachers who taught at Chongwenguan. They made the people of the Western Regions have propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame.

There is now a group of merchants in the Western Regions who can speak Guanzhong dialect. They are called the new aristocrats of the Western Regions.

Lou Shide was very satisfied with this memorial and believed that it would receive a lot of praise if he submitted it to the court.

In late autumn in Guanzhong, Lou Shide's memorial was finally delivered to the court after a month's journey from Xizhou.

It was late autumn and the beginning of winter. The weather in Guanzhong had become much colder and the wind often howled at night.

That morning, people who had slept peacefully in their homes listening to the wind all night had just woken up.

Guo Daiju, who had been teaching for two years, woke up early because the court was going to hold the imperial examination next year, which was an opportunity for him.

He had met His Majesty when he was teaching in Guanzhong. At that time, His Majesty asked a few questions about the book in his hand.

After putting on neat clothes, Guo Daiju went out early. Seeing a villager driving a donkey cart to Chang'an, he smiled and said, "Brother, can you take me to Chang'an?"

"Master Guo! Get in the car." The elder brother invited him to get in the car enthusiastically.

Then he carried some honeycomb coal to the side, leaving a clean place in the car for the teacher to sit down. He said, "It just so happens that my wife asked me to sell the coal."

Guo Daiju said, "I need to go to Chongwenguan. Thank you, big brother."

Now the volunteer teacher in this village in Weinan has been replaced by Guo Daiju, but the villagers here still treat him warmly.

At the head of the village, there is a group of houses under construction. It is an academy built under the auspices of the imperial court. Students from Guanzhong are divided by age. Children of different ages are taught by different teachers, and the subjects taught are also different.

Guo Daiju looked at the houses under construction with a smile on his face. He felt that Guanzhong would be better in the future and there would be more houses in Guanzhong.

Two years ago, when I first came to Guanzhong, there were not so many houses here, and there were many wastelands on the 800-li Qinchuan Plain.

Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer wastelands, more workshops and houses, more villages, and more densely populated areas.

It is said that Chang'an City and the counties in Guanzhong have a population of more than three million. In the future, the population will be larger, there will be more workshops, and people will have more hope on their faces.

Guo Daiju asked, "Brother, your child should be in the fourth grade next year, right?"

The elder brother driving the donkey cart had a dark brown face. He said with a smile: "After playing for a long time, the child wants to study, and after studying for a long time, he wants to play again. I don't know him."

Guo Daiju saw the happy yet distressed expression on his elder brother's face and smiled too.

On the official road, more and more carriages and horses were heading towards Chang'an City.

After walking for an hour, Guo Daiju helped the elder brother move all the coal out of the donkey cart.

The dark-faced elder brother said again: "You don't have to do that. You have to go see the official. You teachers have to come to Chang'an to see the official every year at this time. Don't get your clothes dirty."

Guo Daiju said, "That's fine." After that, when the young man was about to hand over the copper coins, the black-faced elder brother pushed his hand away and refused, saying, "In the future, please teach my youngest son more. You don't have to give me any money."

Guo Daiju clasped his fists and said, "I don't know what to call this big brother."

The dark-faced elder brother clasped his fists and said, "My surname is Zhong, and I have a younger brother who also loves reading."

Guo Daiju looked at the other person's rough face, nodded heavily, put away the copper coins, and walked into Chang'an City.

During the two years of teaching, Guo Daiju saved some money with the monthly salary given by the Jingzhao Prefecture. When he walked into the prosperous city of Chang'an, Guo Daiju felt a little emotional.

The Yingchuan Guo family was a famous family in the past, but now the family has fallen into decline and many branches have fallen apart. When he first came to Chang'an, he was penniless and had only talent and learning. He did not expect to fail the imperial examination on his first try.

Guo Daiju still remembers the number of talented people who took the imperial examination that year, including Guo Zhengyi, Pei Xingjian, Li Yifu...

Now these three are all famous people in the court.

After that, he had no extra money, but fortunately Chongwenguan had a teaching program, so he thought he could find a place to stay and a job. If all else failed, he could only go look for his cousin Guo Xiaoke, whom he had never met in his life.

I don't know if he still remembers me. Not only is there no way to find me, but I also heard that Guo Xiaoke died in the Hexi Corridor after he went on an expedition to the Western Regions.

After that, Guo Daiju could only make a living by teaching.

Walk to Jinchangfang in Chang'an City. This was originally Shengguang Temple. After Xuanzang returned, it was converted into the new Chongwenguan.

There are many scholars walking around here, many of whom are volunteer teachers like me, and they all come here to report on their work. Maybe some of them will be transferred to other places to teach next year.

Guo Daiju walked into Chongwen Hall, took out his teaching documents and handed them over. The clerk at the door pointed to a room nearby and said, "Go in."

"Thank you."

When Guo Daiju walked into a room, he met Su Tan, the current director of Chongwenguan.

I know Su Tan, but I don't know the young man sitting next to the person in charge.

Su Tan raised his head and asked, "What's the matter?"

Guo Daiju said: "Student Guo Daiju has been teaching in Weinan County for two years."

Su Tan took the document and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

"Take part in the imperial examination next year."

Su Tan said solemnly, "There will be many young talents participating in the imperial examination next year. Are you sure you want to take it next year?"

Guo Daiju said with a smile: "Master Su, aren't there a lot of young talents taking the imperial examinations every year? If you still fail, I will continue to teach."

Su Tan liked the attitude of this young man very much. At least he was a down-to-earth student who did not seek to curry favor with others. He accepted the document and said, "Since you have been teaching for two years, you will not need to teach again after you pass the imperial examination."

Pei Yan, who was sitting next to him, asked in confusion: "This..."

Su Tan explained: "It doesn't matter whether you teach for two years first and then take the imperial examination, or you teach for two years after taking the imperial examination."

Pei Yan understood and had a plan in mind.

Su Tan introduced: "This is Pei Yan, the young talent I mentioned."

Guo Daiju bowed and said, "I heard you are very talented."

Pei Yan also bowed and said, "I can't say I'm talented, but after coming to Chongwenguan, I realized how profound the knowledge is."

Su Tan took out a wooden sign from a bookshelf nearby and handed it to him, saying, "There will be a Confucian scholar giving a lecture in Huayin County this afternoon. If you are interested, you can go and listen. Take this wooden sign of Chongwen Hall and they will receive you. Go and get a horse at Chunming Gate."

"Thank you, Master."

"I hope you'll be on the list for the imperial examination next year."

"Here."

After Guo Daiju wrote down his name and native place on the list of Chongwenguan, the last step for the imperial examination next year was completed, and he just had to wait for the spring examination.

After finishing all these, he strode out of Chongwenguan.

It was not very close from Chang'an City to Huayin County. Guo Daiju had breakfast in Chang'an City and it was already afternoon when he arrived in Huayin County.

In a Yang family mansion in Huayin County, there were many scholars. Guo Daiju handed over the wooden sign and walked in.

But as soon as I entered the room, I heard people arguing.

A student in cloth pointed at an elderly teacher and shouted, "Why do we have to sit in the back? We were the first to get here!"

The group of young people dressed more luxuriously sat closest to the old master, and each of them looked angry.

Another student in plain clothes asked loudly, "Is it because they are from a noble family?"

There were also students from the common people, who shouted, "Why are you driving me away? Give them my seat. I sit down and that is my seat."

And it was obvious at first glance that those children of the aristocracy wearing silk were not from the Guanzhong aristocracy. The children of the aristocracy in Guanzhong would never be so ostentatious and were very low-key.

Facing the shouting and cursing of the students, the old master said: "These distinguished guests have come from afar, so they must be treated with courtesy."

Some students in common clothing kicked over the table and shouted, "So we have to rank them? Just because they are from aristocratic families? We want fairness!"

"Yes! Fair!"

A group of common people students shouted: "Fair! Fair!"

These common people spoke fluent Guanzhong dialect and were obviously from ordinary families, unlike those children of the aristocracy who were dressed in silk.

Guo Daiju watched this scene in silence. This kind of contradiction has been going on for a long time, and as the imperial examination approaches, such things will happen more and more frequently.

Seeing that the class could not be taught, Guo Daiju walked out of the door, mounted his horse and prepared to leave this place of trouble.

But they heard the sound of a fight in the courtyard, and a student shouted, "Now the imperial examinations in the court all have to be anonymous, and they don't look at their place of origin or their family background. You still want to divide the seats according to the aristocratic family. How pedantic! How pedantic!"

(End of this chapter)