The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 496: Determined Followers

Facing the old man's questioning, Yao Chong took out five copper coins from his arms and handed them over.

The old man who had just been cursing took the copper coin and was speechless for a moment. He picked two bunches of heavy grapes from the vine, put them in a cloth bag and handed it over.

Yao Chong took the grapes and said, "If you hadn't come to Guanzhong, you wouldn't know what Guanzhong is like now."

The old man took the copper coin and waved his hand to signal the villagers who were about to help drive the people away to leave.

Then he said, "Little kid, the grapes here are not ripe yet. It will take another half a month before they can be picked. If you want to eat them, go to Jingyang. The grapes there are ripe."

Yao Chong said: "The grapes here are also very good."

"I am the old man guarding this grape field. If you don't pay me, you will be in the county government office now."

Yao Chong put another grape into his mouth and said, "Can everyone in Guanzhong still get a piece of land now?"

Guanzhong has been changing all the time, but the people in Guanzhong have not changed much. The people here are still simple and tough.

Seeing that the other party was willing to give money, the old man didn't care anymore.

The young man looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. If he didn't give me money, it wouldn't just be a case of yelling or scolding.

When the old man heard the other party's question and looked at his clothes, he was most likely a student.

Nowadays, there are more people in Guanzhong who can read, and children of this age all have some literary air, and people are no longer surprised by it.

The old man heard the other person speaking with a Guanzhong accent, so he sat down by the edge of the field and said, "Don't you know?"

Yao Chong said: "I have been traveling and studying for two years, and now I have just returned to Guanzhong."

Yao Chong, who was born in Guanzhong, has been traveling around the Central Plains in recent years. It was the 15th year of Zhenguan when he was a child, and now another 15 years have passed. He has acquired knowledge under the guidance of volunteer teachers since he was a child.

At that time, the teachers of Chongwenguan had already started to teach, and Yao Chong's cognition also began to be established from that era.

To be precise, he is a new student of the moment, and all the knowledge he has acquired is new to this era.

The old man looked at the scenery in the distance and said, "There used to be a lot of land in Guanzhong, but it has become much less recently. It has become less and less since the emperor's expedition to the east."

This is also Yao Chong’s memory. His memory began after Tian Khan’s eastern expedition.

The old man whispered, "The court rarely distributes land. Nowadays, land is precious. Anyone with a few acres of land should be able to live well. We in Weibei have also heard that people in the north are still well off. Weinan and Lantian County are no longer able to distribute land."

Yao Chong stood facing the wind, his hands behind his back, "The land is limited, and the population will increase. There is only one way for Guanzhong to get out of the predicament, and that is to continue to build more workshops. Your Majesty is wise."

The old man laughed and said, "Officials nowadays are very tired. The emperor is good and has always been good."

Yao Chong walked away from here, eating grapes.

The old man also stood up, humming a Guanzhong ballad and continued looking at the grape field.

After all, Guanzhong today is different from what it was before. The silt dams built in the past now look a bit old. When Yao Chong was still very young, he saw King Wei and the villagers building a silt dam. At that time, the newly built silt dam was washed away several times and also flooded some fields.

After that, it was destroyed and rebuilt, and then destroyed again, and this cycle repeated for three or four years. Now, several silt dams in Guanzhong stand firmly on the river channel, making the water of the Yellow River much more stable.

Especially in Tongguan in the downstream, there are large areas of river beaches that can be used as new land.

Next to the silt dam is a large piece of silt land, on which grow red and golden flowers swaying in the wind. If you look farther away, you can see a dam located on the wide river channel, with flowers planted on both sides of the dam. When the wind blows, these flowers surge like waves.

Come here to see it in your spare time. After looking at it for a long time, you will be intoxicated by the beautiful scenery and even forget the time.

On the edge of the silt dam, there were several geese swimming, startling a flock of birds in the distance.

Yao Chong listened to the sound of the flock of birds flapping their wings. They spread out like a net, flying over the surface of the river and then landing on a wetland in the distance.

No one knows where these migratory birds come from. Maybe Guanzhong has become better now, so they are willing to stop in Guanzhong during their migration.

Yao Chong looked up and saw rows of wild geese flying silently under the blue sky.

The land in Guanzhong was limited, but the emperor was creating more land.

Land can be created. Wasteland has become arable fields, and the river beach has become a fertile wetland. These were all created by the people of Sinong Temple.

The land in Guanzhong was limited, so the Sinong Temple patched up the land everywhere and opened up more arable land in various parts of Guanzhong, but it looked like there were only a few new arable lands here and there.

But if you really measure it, you will find that tens of thousands of acres of fertile land have appeared in Guanzhong out of thin air.

This is Guo Luotuo's ability, and one of the achievements of Sinong Temple.

Shazhou and Guazhou have been planting trees for a long time. In the past, people just thought that it was the emperor's will, but they didn't expect that this kind of tree has been planted for seventeen years.

Starting from the construction of the Hexi Corridor, the Tang people planted trees there for seventeen years.

If the land outside the Hexi Corridor is fertile, and the new land created by planting trees has a new owner, that is the wealth of the Tang Dynasty.

So land can be created. In a sense, creating land is also recreating wealth.

Just as the knowledge of Chongwenguan said, land itself has no value, but as long as there are people, the value of land can be infinitely raised. Value is created by people and has nothing to do with land.

Therefore, this crude method of land annexation has long been abandoned by today's students.

With these thoughts in mind, Yao Chong walked into Chang'an City.

This place was still bustling with people, just like when he left. As soon as Yao Chong entered the city, he saw restaurants lined up at the city gate. Chunming Gate was the busiest gate in Chang'an City, and it was also the market place with the highest concentration of restaurants.

Yao Chong walked into a restaurant and the waiter came to greet him as soon as he sat down.

Here you can hear loud conversations, people are still discussing food, the current canal, Luoyang, and some trivial conversations.

"Guests? What would you like to eat?"

Yao Chong straightened his sleeves and asked, "What's there to eat?"

The waiter smiled and said, "We have the best mutton in our store. They are all raised in Yinshan. The sheep are driven all the way from Yinshan to Guanzhong. They are all raised on the grass on the grassland. We also have good wine here. The wine is made from wheat in Hengshui, sorghum rice in Shuzhong, and good vinegar from Shanxi."

Yao Chong said: "Give me a bowl of rice and two ounces of mutton."

The waiter added: "It would be a shame if this guest didn't order some drinks."

"We still have to go to Chongwen Hall, and we can't drink."

The guy nodded and went to give the order.

A plate of mutton and a bowl of rice were served, along with some vinegar celery.

"The words in the court are so strictly controlled nowadays, and we can't get any news at all."

Yao Chong was eating his meal while listening to the conversations at the next table.

"There will probably be more war in the Western Regions." "I could hear some rumors before, but now there is no news at all."

"Maybe the emperor didn't even say he wanted to go to war, but you guys are just believing rumors."

……

After hearing these words, Yao Chong finished his meal, got up and left, heading towards Chongwen Hall.

When I walked to the middle section of Zhuque Street in Chang'an City, it was not as crowded as the city gate. Then I walked a little further and came to the intersection of Zhuque Street, where there were more pedestrians again.

The prosperous city of Chang'an has a population of one million. The markets here are like square grids arranged in the city. Some of these markets have more people, while others have fewer.

Among the markets in Chang'an City, Jinchangfang is one of the busiest ones.

Yao Chong walked into Jinchangfang and came to Chongwenguan.

The reason why Jinchangfang is so lively is that there is a Chongwenguan here, and the young people here are the most numerous.

When he reached the gate of Chongwenguan, Yao Chong saw that there were many people of his age here. Perhaps some of the people here would serve as officials in the same dynasty as him one day, and everyone was arguing about it at the moment.

An older student, who looked to be around 20 years old, handed everyone a piece of paper and said, "Everyone! Let's each write a sentence, express our own ideas, and discuss what should be done in the court now."

Su Weidao said happily: "Yao Chong, you're back!"

"Yes, I stayed in Luoyang for two months."

The person who was speaking was Yao Chong's childhood playmate. Su Weidao asked again, "I heard that Luoyang is also very lively now?"

"Yes."

Su Weidao sighed, "I want to go to Luoyang to take a look."

A piece of paper was placed in front of him, and Yao Chong watched the students around him start writing on the paper.

Looking at what everyone wrote, they all saw their understanding of the court's policies.

After everyone has finished writing, hand in their opinions.

Finally it was Yao Chong's turn.

Someone came closer, saw Yao Chong's paper, and said loudly: "Why are there only two words?"

Yao Chong said: "Two words are enough."

Lu Zhaolin looked up and saw these two words, and when the paper was presented to everyone, the words "New Deal" were clearly written on it.

Lu Zhaolin asked: "What is the New Deal?"

Yao Chong stood up and said, "My Lord, the so-called new policy is to strive to build a new world. You all say what the Tang Dynasty lacks and what it needs, but in my opinion, what the Tang Dynasty needs is a new policy! Abandon the old ideas of the past, there is no construction without destruction!"

"well said!"

Someone slammed the table and stood up, saying: "The Tang Dynasty needs new policies and new reforms. The world needs a new look."

Yao Chong continued, "Your Majesty has built official residences, recruited officials, established a canal, built Anxi Town, set up new official residences, appointed more than a dozen Zhongshu and Shilang, and redefined the powers of the six ministries. Isn't what Your Majesty wants to change and become stronger?"

The voice became more and more excited, and Yao Chong said loudly: "Since the Wude period, the aristocratic families and the noble families have been annexing land on a large scale. A large number of people have been confiscated and enslaved and lost their land. Since the Eastern Expedition, the new emperor has ascended the throne and killed many people. The laws are so strict that they are rare in ancient and modern times. After doing all this, does Your Majesty want to let the Central Plains live again?"

Su Weidao raised his hand and said, "New policy!"

Amid this uproar, there are still people expressing their opposition. Some are against this new policy which has no prototype yet. So where is the future of this new policy?
Yao Chong stood in front of everyone, standing on the table. He said loudly: "Since the Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people have been unable to see or touch the court as if it were a veil. People do not know what the court is, and the court does not know the sufferings of the world. Now it is different. Your Majesty will inform the people of the world of your decrees."

"The government's orders are well known, even to the old farmers. Everything the government says and does is related to people's livelihood. Your Majesty wants to tear off the rag and make sure there is no barrier between the court and the people. If Your Majesty is eager for a new policy, we should take the lead and help Your Majesty overcome all difficulties!"

Fourteen-year-old Luo Binwang and Yang Jiong watched their peers shouting loudly, and he couldn't help shouting too.

Lu Zhaolin walked into the room, came to Su Tan and said, "Teacher, this..."

Su Tan smiled and asked, "Do you think what Yao Chong said is too much?"

Lu Zhaolin whispered, "It's probably not a good idea to incite people like this."

Su Tan whispered: "Actually, this is fine. Your Majesty needs such students."

The scene before him made Lu Zhaolin, who was familiar with San Cang and Er Ya, feel confused. There was a huge gap between this and what he had learned in his youth, and the books did not teach students to do this.

Su Tan said: "Look at him, this Yao Chong seems to be your Majesty's most steadfast follower, they will support your Majesty."

Looking at Lu Zhaolin's expression again, Su Tan asked him, "What do you think the Tang Dynasty lacks now?"

Lu Zhaolin whispered: "It is just as Yao Chong said, we need the courage to make changes."

Su Tan nodded and said, "Your Majesty hopes that the people of Tang today will have the courage to take risks. It takes courage to make changes, whether it is daring to go out of the Tang Dynasty to take risks, or like them."

As Su Tan said, Lu Zhaolin felt that a radical and brave person like Yao Chong should be the most staunch supporter of the current emperor.

As the bell rang, the students were about to go to class again.

Yao Chong came to a study room in Chongwenguan, and in front of him stood Su Tan, the head of Chongwenguan.

“You want to teach?”

Yao Chong said: "I have been studying abroad for two years and I have seen that there are still many places in the Central Plains that do not have teachers."

Su Tan said: "I will teach for two years and then take the imperial examination. I will go to the army for another two years to gain experience. Then I will go to Wenlin Academy to study. Four or five years will pass by in this round."

“Students understand.”

When the imperial examination system was first introduced, it was still very convenient to appoint officials in the court.

But in recent years, the court has become increasingly strict in employing people.

Although Your Majesty lacks capable ministers, you would rather have nothing than have unqualified ones. You would rather keep the status quo and select reliable ministers as much as possible.

"Let alone how loudly you shout outside, you will need to travel back and forth for the next four years." Su Tan handed him a document and said, "You will go to teach in Shuofang after the Lantern Festival next year."

"Here."

Now, if you want to be an official in the court, you need to teach abroad for two years, train in the army for two years, and then take the exam in the Wenlinguan before you can be officially recruited by the court.

After four or five years, a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old has reached the age to become an official, and is now in his twenties.

Only after that will one officially serve as an official, which starts at around the age of 20.

(End of this chapter)