The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 464 The Favored Fool
Seeing how hard he was working, Li Chengqian instructed the eunuchs around him, "You guys go help him."

The remaining few eunuchs also hurried into the rain to help carry the boxes.

"His Majesty."

Li Chengqian looked sideways and saw his uncle, then smiled and said, "Uncle, please sit down."

Gao Shilian sat aside and said, "You said you are the emperor now, do you know what your country looks like?"

"My grandson's country should be based on the soldiers' thoughts on how to expand the territory. Even though they are now staying in Chang'an, their hearts have already flown to the Congling Mountains. Don't think I don't know. They secretly sent people to the Congling Mountains to investigate. Xue Rengui, Wang Xuance, and Pei Xingjian bribed several merchants to get information."

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "Some people say that the production in Luoyang and Guanzhong has reached a bottleneck, and the population and productivity have reached their limits. In fact, my grandson doesn't think so. The production method can be further simplified, and the production model can be further improved. It is far from reaching a bottleneck now."

After thinking for a while, he said, "The states that need to farm should do more to cultivate the land, and manage river transportation to see if there is a need for water management. Then have someone check the salt and turn the seawater into edible salt as much as possible."

"My grandson has a lot to do. When I was still the crown prince, I was used to planning. I made a plan every three years and made adjustments during the implementation process. I always feel that I am not doing well enough, but it will not be worse than before."

"If we divide the Central Plains into several regions, trade, farming, and workshops, some places may become rich and some places may become poor. It's like governing a country! There are always people who think that the emperor is a tyrant, and there are always people who say that the emperor is wise. Being an emperor may not feel tired, but the emperor's ministers will most likely feel very tired."

After saying this, Li Chengqian looked back and saw that his uncle had closed his eyes and was lying there with a relaxed body.

Watching his uncle's breathing rise and fall, Li Chengqian covered the old man with a blanket, then picked up a book and sat aside to read.

"Your Majesty, I have a letter of resignation."

Li Chengqian casually ordered: "Let the Ministry of Personnel handle it."

"Your Majesty, the people from the Ministry of Personnel said that it would be best if your Majesty knew about this matter. They said it was Zhang Xuanbi's son."

The rain showed no sign of stopping. Li Chengqian took the resignation letter and glanced at it, then said casually, "It's just resignation. It's no big deal."

"Here!"

In Chang'an City, Li Zhi and Li Shen were watching Zhang Jianzhi wolfing down his meal.

"Brother Jianzhi, you took the exam for so many years and finally passed the imperial examination. Why did you suddenly resign?"

Zhang Jianzhi ate his soup noodles and sniffed, "I can't display my talents in the court."

Li Zhi suddenly smiled and said, "How high are your ambitions? Isn't this court enough for you to display your talents?"

Zhang Jianzhi picked up the bowl and drank a mouthful of soup, then heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I'm not interested in this."

Li Zhi stood aside with his arms folded. He had just wanted to go find the craftsmen with the drawings he had just received from his brother. But when he heard that Zhang Jianzhi had resigned, he thought he had suffered another blow. But when he came over, he saw that he seemed to be in a good mood and was even eating and drinking to his heart's content.

Li Shen advised again: "You endured four years to pass the imperial examination, and endured two more years to teach in the Western Regions. Now you are back to serve in the court, but you resigned again. Why did you do that? Are you worthy of your father?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "Prince Jin, Prince Ji, you are not serving in the court. Don't you know how many talented people there are in the court? My talent is really not worth mentioning in front of them. I am just a mediocre person."

As the three were talking, an official from the Ministry of Personnel came and asked Zhang Jianzhi why he resigned.

Seeing that the person coming was Du Zhenglun, Li Zhi asked in surprise: "Is Du Yushi working in the Ministry of Personnel?"

"I am now serving as the Minister of Personnel, which can be considered a promotion." Du Zhenglun sighed, because the current emperor will fill in wherever he feels there is a shortage of people.

It may be that many years ago, when Your Majesty was still the Crown Prince, he committed some offense, and now he is often transferred once or twice a year.

Besides, there are not many people in the court who are as versatile as himself and can serve in all six ministries.

Du Zhenglun sat down immediately and asked, "Zhang Jianzhi?"

"It's down."

Du Zhenglun handed over a memorial and said, "Your resignation has been approved by the Ministry of Personnel. His Majesty has approved it. However, according to the procedures of the Ministry of Personnel, every official who resigns must be asked the reason by the Ministry of Personnel."

Zhang Jianzhi was puzzled and asked, "When did the court have such a rule?"

Du Zhenglun smiled and said, "It's all rumors that people in our Ministry of Personnel don't recognize their relatives."

Zhang Jianzhi said to himself: "Really?"

"In fact, our Ministry of Personnel still cares about the court officials." Du Zhenglun spread out a piece of paper, then picked up the pen and said, "I will ask you a few questions, and you answer truthfully."

"Here."

Li Zhi and Li Shen walked outside the restaurant. Not long after, Di Renjie arrived and asked, "Did he resign?"

Li Zhi nodded and said, "This bastard will most likely be beaten to death by his father."

Li Shen asked worriedly, "How about we go and stop Zhang Xuanbi?"

After a few questions in the restaurant, Du Zhenglun wrote down the words and left with satisfaction.

When Zhang Jianzhi came out, Li Zhi stood with his back against the wall and asked, "What? Are you going to mess around like before?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "I have my own place to go."

After saying this, he gave everyone a very profound look and left.

Li Zhi said: "Brother Shen, prepare some plasters for the wound."

"Here."

That night, Zhang Jianzhi was beaten badly by his father.

Until Zhang Xuanbi couldn't beat him anymore, he pointed at his son and said, "I am old, and I can't beat you anymore?"

Zhang Jianzhi lay on the table and said, "Hit me a few more times. If you die of old age, you won't be able to fight anymore. Come on! Hit me more!"

Hearing his son's provocative words, the white-haired Zhang Xuanbi breathed heavily, dropped the whip in his hand, sat down, patted his chest, and breathed deeply.

Zhang Jianzhi also stood up again, limping, and said, "I really want you to hit me a few more times."

Zhang Xuanbi's old face flushed from fatigue, and he added, "Why didn't you tell your father if you wanted to resign?"

"I am in the court as a ceremonial officer, which is nothing more than delivering documents and copying documents. There are many capable officials in the court, and they all have a place like me. I am far behind them."

Zhang Xuanbi's breathing became much smoother.

"I will continue to teach. Only when I teach do I feel that what I do is meaningful. Goodbye, old man."

The next day, Zhang Jianzhi came to Chongwenguan.

Lu Zhaolin met him and asked, "Do you still want to work at Chongwenguan?"

Zhang Jianzhi shook his head and said, "I will go to any place that lacks teachers to teach."

"You resigned just to teach?"

"I am a mediocre person, unlike you who are all very talented and outstanding." Lu Zhaolin took out a list from the side and said, "This year's quota for each state is full."

Zhang Jianzhi hurriedly took the list and took a look at it himself. He said, "How is that possible? Even if the court has sufficient manpower, the teachers in Chongwen Hall are definitely not enough."

"Brother Jianzhi, you may not know that there are 2,000 teachers working in Chongwenguan this year, and there may be more after the imperial examination. If you had come two months earlier, you would probably have had a vacancy."

"This..." Zhang Jianzhi scratched the back of his head. His previous decisiveness to resign was gone. He looked through the list again and again to confirm that there were really no vacancies. He sat down dejectedly, holding the back of his head with both hands, and said in great annoyance: "Why am I pretending! I should not have resigned earlier..."

"Ahem..." Lu Zhaolin knew the rumors about Zhang Jianzhi and felt quite embarrassed at the moment. He added, "However, there is a place that is lacking a teacher."

Zhang Jianzhi suddenly looked up and asked, "Where?"

Lu Zhaolin took out a list from the bookshelf and explained, "A new school has been built in Weinan County. It teaches students between the ages of twelve and thirteen. Most of the students are knowledge that is closer to the court. Originally, the court wanted to arrange for officials from Jingzhao Prefecture to teach there, but Jingzhao Prefecture has not been able to find anyone, so someone is needed to take over."

Zhang Jianzhi slammed the table and said, "I'll go."

"Wait." Lu Zhaolin continued, "To teach them, you need to understand Jingzhao Prefecture and be familiar with the procedures of Guanzhong. These children will not serve as officials in the court in the future, but will move around in the villages under the jurisdiction of the counties. They are officials outside Jingzhao Prefecture. Most of them are children of bad people. You also know that bad people need to make meritorious deeds to restore their status as good people, but their children cannot..."

"I go!"

Zhang Jianzhi said loudly again.

Lu Zhaolin sighed, "Have you thought about it?"

Zhang Jianzhi nodded heavily.

Lu Zhaolin thought for a moment, took out a contract and said, "Write your name and sign it."

Seeing that the other party didn't even look at it, but wrote down his name immediately and signed it with his finger bitten, Lu Zhaolin felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness in his heart, and then said: "The Ministry of Personnel called the school a street office, which maintains the stability of the counties and handles the conflicts in the villages. The children taught are all sent by Jingzhao Prefecture."

After that, Lu Zhaolin held up a stack of books with both hands and said, "These are the essentials for writing. Take them. You will go to Lantian County to take up the post tomorrow. You will be on trial for a month. If Jingzhao Prefecture is not satisfied after inquiring, you can replace me at any time."

"Here."

Zhang Jianzhi walked out of Chongwenguan holding a pile of books, walked along Zhuque Street, found an empty street corner, sat down cross-legged, and flipped through the books.

What he saw were the governance issues that Jingzhao Prefecture had faced over the years. He pondered over them for a long time, then picked up the books again.

The rain had just stopped and the imperial examination had not yet begun. The Grain Rain lasted for three days before stopping.

Di Renjie was sitting in Jingzhao Prefecture, reading documents, but he saw the sunlight in front of him blocked by a figure. He also saw a stack of books placed in front of him. He looked up and saw Zhang Jianzhi with a smile on his face.

"Your father didn't beat you to death?"

Zhang Jianzhi said: "I am going to teach."

"Teaching?"

"Zhaofu has gone to the Western Regions, so I can only ask you for help. You also grew up in Jingzhao Prefecture."

Di Renjie put down the file in his hand and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhang Jianzhi slapped the stack of books in front of him heavily.

After reading the contents of the book, Di Renjie knew what Zhang Jianzhi was going to do. This matter had indeed been left unsolved for a long time.

In this way, Di Renjie helped Zhang Jianzhi explain the regulations of Jingzhao Prefecture.

He talked like this all night, and at dawn he went to Lantian County.

Lantian County is located in the southeast of Guanzhong, adjacent to Baqiao, connected to Mount Li in the north, and close to Weinan. It is one of the five counties in Guanzhong, along with Weinan, Gaoling, Jingyang, and Weibei.

The location of Lantian County is very important. It is a strategic place among the three auxiliary provinces and is located on the southeastern road from Guanzhong to Luoyang.

Zhang Jianzhi carried a bag of books and documents from the Chongwenguan to the county government office in Lantian County. The chief clerk there was a young man named Yuan Gongyu.

After confirming the other party's intention, Yuan Gongyu led the people to the street office and explained: "The children will not be here until noon. There is a place for you to stay here. You can live here during your term of office."

After saying this, the chief clerk left.

The door plaque of the street office seemed to be newly hung. Zhang Jianzhi walked into the small courtyard and realized that this would be the place where he would shine.

At noon, a group of children came as expected. They were all teenagers, about ten years old. Because their fathers were all bad guys, these children sat here with a bit of ruffian spirit.

Zhang Jianzhi counted the number of people carefully, and found that there were about fifty of them. He then said, "Listen carefully, from now on I will be your teacher, and you will study here from now on."

"What's the point of studying? We can't become officials!"

Zhang Jianzhi slammed the table and said, "Who says that you must become an official after studying? If you are illiterate, you won't even be able to write your name when you go out in the future."

"They can become officials through studying, but we are bad people and cannot become officials."

"Yes, my father works for Jingzhao Prefecture. The people in Jingzhao Prefecture said that if you want to return to the good family, you have to make meritorious deeds. It is better to join the Wei Prefecture so that you can kill enemies and make meritorious deeds in the future."

"Yes! What's the point of us studying here?"

……

Listening to the children's discussions, Zhang Jianzhi also sat down dejectedly and whispered, "Actually, I can't be a good official either."

Seeing a group of children stop talking, he told them about his own experience.

Zhang Jianzhi said: "My father is a disciple of a great scholar. As his son, I am really useless."

For some reason, Zhang Jianzhi suddenly found that he could get along very well with this group of children, whose fathers were all bad guys and often worked for the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Zhang Jianzhi found that there was no need to teach them the rules of conduct, as they knew everything about Jingzhao Prefecture.

The questions I asked Di Renjie before are no longer useful.

It would be enough if we could teach them to read and write.

When the imperial examination was held again in Chang'an City, Zhang Jianzhi also started teaching in Lantian County and got along well with these children.

A teacher who can't be a good official and a group of bad boys who can't be officials, inexplicably collude with each other.

The vast majority of people in this world are ordinary. Zhang Jianzhi feels that he is just an ordinary person. He teaches to the best of his ability. He cannot be compared with Di Renjie, Pei Yan, Wang Jiusi, and Lu Zhaolin. Realizing his own ordinariness, he lives an ordinary life.

Inside the palace, Li Chengqian looked at the new blueprint that Zhinu had sent over, and listened to Du Zhenglun's report. He looked calm and said in a normal tone, "Since Zhang Jianzhi is suitable for the position, from now on... this matter will be handed over to him."

Your Majesty would not care so much about Zhang Jianzhi because Zhang Jianzhi's current position is very important. For Jingzhao Prefecture, future people who want to serve as officials in Jingzhao Prefecture must be trained by Zhang Jianzhi.

Only Zhang Jianzhi himself didn't know how lucky he was to get this position.

Du Zhenglun took his leave and walked out of the hall, coming to a conclusion in his mind: God really favors fools.

(End of this chapter)