The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 497: Rules Become Written

In the imperial palace, at the Taiye Pond to the north of the Xuanwu Gate, Li Chengqian stood by the pond and listened to Su Tan's explanation.

If we use Wang Jiusi as a comparison, then compared to the idealistic Wang Jiusi, young people like Yao Chong are radicals.

Li Chengqian looked at the water and said, "New policy? I don't know where the new policy is going."

Su Tan said: "They all said that His Majesty is actually preparing a new policy."

"Hehe..." Li Chengqian smiled, looking at the deer walking comfortably by the pond. "In fact, I have never thought of any new policies. I just think that what is suitable is useful. I cannot change everyone in the world, but I can use some power to change some methods. It's just that it will be slow and cannot be achieved overnight."

"Hmm..." Li Chengqian walked by the pool and asked, "How is the arrangement for this year's teaching?"

Su Tan followed His Majesty's footsteps and said, "Six hundred teachers have been selected this year, and there are three thousand people who want to participate in the teaching."

"The Chongwen Pavilion does not need to worry about money. The court is not short of money at the moment."

"I understand."

Selfishly speaking, Li Chengqian did not want anyone to study hard in the Tang Dynasty. Saying that one has to study hard for ten years to pass the imperial examination was too cruel. There are only a few decades of time in a person's life.

Employment has always been the top priority, just as the teaching program of Chongwenguan has always been a huge expense, but for the country, this investment is very cost-effective, there is nothing more cost-effective in the world.

Under the operation of the teaching support program, a fifteen-year-old child can participate in the teaching support and teach children who are in elementary school.

It is indeed a bit early to let children start teaching at the age of fifteen.

But this is also arranged according to the current situation, so that the teaching support can be rolled out smoothly and there will be no gap in manpower.

The Qianqing Dynasty could only borrow some people from the future to allow younger students to start teaching early.

Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, whose population was just over 16 million and had just reached 20 million, the distribution of resources was still very abundant.

This population is the number reported by various counties and regions after several censuses. This account is actually very easy to calculate. It can be obtained based on the taxes on land per capita and the number of acres of land in various places.

The censors killed so many people that most of the hidden households were forced to return their household registration.

There is also a Li Yifu. For him, to solve the problem of the remaining hidden households, he must solve the problem of Buddhism.

So far, after several thorough investigations and clearances, this is the population that could be found.

Or it could be that Nanzhao, which has not yet become a part of the Tang Dynasty, should also be part of the population of the Tang Dynasty in the future.

Besides, there are still tens of thousands of Tang people in the Western Regions, and nearly 100,000 troops are being dispatched to the Western Regions.

At most, before the land resources and production resources are exhausted.

At present, it is probably not too late to start creating more production tools.

Once the population of the Tang Dynasty exceeds 30 million or even 50 million, the distribution of resources will become very crowded.

What else can we do? We can only continue to expand, continue to explore, and continue to create new means of production.

Su Tan asked, "Your Majesty?"

Li Chengqian was absent-minded for a moment, then pulled his thoughts back, "Practice is very important. In fact, I think that in addition to studying hard, our students must also practice. What they see with their own eyes is the most important."

"Your Majesty is holy."

Looking at the court, Duke Ying nodded to His Majesty, and this father-in-law was responsible for calling His Majesty wise and wise.

Su Tan added: "The poor children will receive teaching for seven years, and then they can participate in teaching, and then they will take the imperial examination for two years and train in the army for two years."

"Then the total will be eleven years."

"Exactly."

Li Chengqian said: "I don't care how talented the ministers of the Tang Dynasty are, nor do I care how outstanding their poetry and prose are. I just want their talents to be suitable for the country."

"Here."

This Central Plains land is really nurturing. It always cultivates a large group of talented people, allowing talented people from the Central Plains to emerge generation after generation.

"I hope that these eleven years are no longer an unwritten rule. I hope that this is a written rule of Chongwen Hall."

Su Tan said: "I can write down the rules in Chongwen Hall."

A deer walked over and Li Chengqian patted its neck gently.

Not to mention the young students, as long as they start teaching, they can get a monthly stipend from the court. After the teaching is over, if they join the army, they will also receive money and salary. If they become an official in the court, they will receive rice salary.

Step by step, a young man starts with teaching. As long as he can persist, he can even save some money in the next few years.

And during these four years, they did it at almost no cost.

A conversation between Li Chengqian and Su Tan determined the talent screening strategy for the next few decades.

In Guanzhong, at the Qianniuwei Zhechongfu, Cheng Yaojin sat in front of the camp gate and complained, "That bastard Niu Jinda went to the Western Regions. Damn it! All the hard work here fell on my head."

Hou Junji said with a smile: "Among us old brothers, you are the only one who can still be used."

Cheng Yaojin said: "It's a pity that the health of Qin Erge and Jingde is getting worse day by day. The elder brothers are all old."

Hou Junji, who had white hair, saw a group of people approaching from a distance. He pushed Cheng Yaojin who was stunned and said, "People are coming."

When the group of young men came closer, Cheng Yaojin stood up impatiently and said loudly: "Boys!"

A group of young people wearing blue shirts or cloth clothes came quickly.

At this time of year, the weather in Guanzhong was still a little hot, and the wind was hot and dry. Cheng Yaojin adjusted his armor and asked loudly, "Are all of you guys from Chongwenguan?"

These students handed in their documents one after another.

Most of these students will become civil servants in the future, and even they have to serve in the army for two years of training.

Seeing that there were still a few skinny students, Cheng Yaojin smiled and joked, "You've suffered a lot in the army. It's not too late for you to leave now. I won't make things difficult for you."

A young man stood up and said, "General, we have heard that Di Renjie and Pei Yan also entered the government through the imperial examination. Who says that civil servants can't join the army?"

"Okay!" Cheng Yaojin said loudly, "If you want to make military achievements, go to the Western Regions or Nanzhao. Why are you coming to me?"

The young man who just spoke said again: "General, military achievements are not judged by time. We are all here under orders. When the court needs us to put on armor and go into battle, we will not retreat."

Cheng Yaojin reached out and patted the young man who was speaking on the shoulder, and asked, "Boy, tell me your name!"

"I am Song Zhiwen."

Someone else stood up and said, "Zhao Yanzhao, please give me some advice, General."

"Shen Quanqi!"

"Li Qiao!"

"Xu Qidan!"...

Cheng Yaojin listened to the names one by one. A total of forty students were assigned to the Qianniu Guard, and the rest were assigned to Zhechoufu in various places.

"It's a great bargain for you to be appointed officials so easily. The court sent you to the army to let you suffer more. How can you easily get a position as an official if you want to be one?"

Song Zhiwen bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, General."

Cheng Yaojin patted the warhorse beside him and said, "If you want to enter the camp behind me, each of you must ride your horse around the camp. If anyone dares not to ride a horse, you can go back now."

Xu Qidan immediately stepped forward, pulled the reins, turned over and got on the horse's back, saying, "General, watch carefully."

The warhorse neighed, and the student spurred his horse to action. In a moment he had run a mile, raising a cloud of dust behind him.

Cheng Yaojin signaled his men to bring up the war horses in the rear, and each man rode a horse around the camp.

Looking at the way they rode their horses, many of them were clumsy in their movements, and some even lay on the horse's back, not daring to move. There were also three or five who ran in the wrong direction, but didn't know how to make the horses turn back. There were even war horses that fell off before they had even taken two steps. The scene was chaotic and awkward.

Looking at the group of young men who were still inexperienced, Cheng Yaojin leaned against the gate and said worriedly, "What kind of job did I take?"

Hou Junji advised: "Your Majesty hopes that civil servants can also go to the battlefield. It is not enough if they cannot ride horses. Let them come to the army to train for two years. Your Majesty is really wise."

Cheng Yaojin smiled bitterly and said, "This is really difficult for me. I really envy Old Niu. He must be very happy in the Western Regions."

Hou Junji stroked his beard and laughed.

Cheng Yaojin couldn't bear to watch this anymore, so he asked the soldiers in the camp to go out and help these students.

For several consecutive days, hard training began in the camp of Qianniu Guards. Song Zhiwen and his group will finish a day of hard training tomorrow, and their clothes are soaked with sweat.

Li Qiao just took a sip of cold water and held the water tank and said, "Not to mention the two years of teaching, I also have to endure two years of hardship in the army."

Song Zhi asked, "Why, you, a descendant of an aristocratic family, regret it?"

Li Jiao turned his head and breathed out through his nostrils.

"Do you know the current crown prince?"

Several people looked at the person who was speaking.

The man said, "The current crown prince has been able to train in the army for three or two years, regardless of the cold or heat, and has been so tired that he couldn't move his feet many times. Now he has gone to the Western Regions and may have to kill the enemy. What kind of aristocratic family kid is this? Are you as precious as the current crown prince?"

Li Jiao's face turned red, he put down the water scoop and bowed.

Zhao Yanzhao came running over with a basin of grapes and said, "Brothers, the general gave us some grapes to eat."

The group of young men were tired after a whole day and were already hungry and thirsty. Upon hearing the news, they rushed forward to grab the grapes. The fact that they could get so many grapes in the army meant that there was a bumper grape harvest in Guanzhong.

In late September of the tenth year of the Qianqing reign, there was a bumper grape harvest in Guanzhong and all the counties celebrated.

People entered the autumn amidst celebration.

Looking west from Guanzhong, you can also see cartloads of fruits and vegetables sent from the Hexi Corridor. The fruits and vegetables in the Western Regions are harvested a month earlier than those in Guanzhong. Now that the fruits and vegetables in Guanzhong are harvested, the fruits and vegetables in the Western Regions are also transported to Chang'an.

Outside Chang'an City, Xu Jingzong held a piece of paper in his hand and asked Shangguan Yi, who was eating melon, "What does this mean?"

Shangguan Yi said: "It is the new policy."

There were indeed only two words written on the paper: "New Policy". Xu Jingzong sat by the city wall and bought a piece of melon from a melon farmer nearby. He ate it while thinking.

The melon farmers stood at the edge of the city, selling the melons they grew to passers-by.

Guanzhong has unique climate and light advantages. Every time this season comes, persimmons and melons and fruits will have a good harvest.

After an hour, the old farmer sold all his melons and pulled his cart away from the city gate.

Xu Jingzong was still sitting by the city wall, having finished his melon, and asked in confusion, "Is your majesty going to formulate a new policy?"

Shangguan Yi said: "There are now twenty Zhongshu Shilang, this is one of the new policies."

Originally, there were only two positions for Zhongshu Shilang in the Zhongshu Province, but the number was suddenly increased to 20, which actually spread the power of the Zhongshu Province evenly.

Whenever there were political affairs, the Secretariat was always arguing.

More and more people attended the morning court, starting from the General of the Central Army, all the fifth-rank lieutenant generals had to attend the morning court, and the civil servants starting from the fifth-rank officials had to attend the morning court as well.

Shangguan Yi stood up, stretched and said, "It's getting more and more lively."

Xu Jingzong said: "It's not just the court that is bustling. There are also more and more students in Chongwen Academy, Hongwen Academy, Sifang Academy, and Wenxue Academy. If you pick up any twelve or thirteen-year-old child in Chang'an, they are all students."

There is no way around it. With the development of Guanzhong, the most scarce resource now is not housing, but admission places.

The children who were able to enroll in the four schools were carefully selected from various counties in Guanzhong. The rest of the children who were not selected could only study in other counties.

It is also because of this that the students in Chang'an City are the best among their peers, which also leads to an excessive concentration of talents in Chang'an City.

Even the young talents who could be counted among the best in the Central Plains had to come to Chang'an City in the end. Even if they did not take part in the imperial examination, if they had not been to Chang'an, they could not be considered to have seen the heroes of the world, and they did not know how vast the world was.

In the next ten years, Chang'an City will continue to be a talent siphoning point because of these four academies that have been in operation for a long time.

Whether it is for teaching or to enter officialdom, as long as the emperor allows the imperial examination to be held in Chang'an, all the talented people in the world will come to Chang'an City.

Du Zhenglun appeared beside the two of them at the right time, picked up the other half of the melon that had not been eaten, and ate it in his hands. The crisp sound of chewing the melon came from his mouth.

Xu Jingzong turned his head to look at the uninvited guest. Sometimes he really disliked this guy and wanted to beat him up. He thought to himself, no wonder this guy never got a promotion.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm only eating half of your melon."

Xu Jingzong retracted his gaze and looked at the busy official road, and then asked: "What are you doing here?"

Du Zhenglun said: "Eat melons. It would be a pity not to eat melons in this season."

Seeing that the two were still looking at him, Du Zhenglun whispered, "Half an hour ago, His Majesty sent an order."

"What's the purpose?"

"Your Majesty has ordered that two more left and right servants be appointed beside the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. Xu Jingzong will serve as the Left Servant, Chu Suiliang will serve as the Right Servant, and Shangguan Yi will serve as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and in charge of the Imperial Censorate. He will be given the title of Silver and Green Guanglu Dafu."

Xu Jingzong slapped his thigh and said, "This melon is worth eating."

Shangguan Yi left quickly and found another melon farmer on the official road. He used silver to buy a cart of melons and said loudly, "Minister Du, I'm sorry for being rude before. This cart of melons is for you."

Du Zhenglun smiled and said, "Thank you very much."

Xu Jingzong said in annoyance: "This Chu Suiliang..."

He was happy about the promotion. The court originally centered around Duke Ying, Ma Zhou, and Yu Zhining was expanded to five people, that is, the left and right Pushe, ranking above all the vice ministers, and still serving as the Shangshu.

But there is one more Chu Suiliang.

(End of this chapter)