Han official!

Chapter 160: Spring and Autumn Judgment
The Western Han Dynasty used slang to refer to various places. Guanzhong refers to the area around Chang'an west of Hangu Pass, which was also the former site of the Qin State during the Warring States Period. Shandong refers to the six states in Shandong east of Mount Xiao and Hangu Pass.

It had rained for several days in Guanzhong, and the roads were muddy. However, there were still many ox carts coming and going on the rural roads. Merchants transported specialties from Shandong, Jingchu, Wuyue, Shujun and other places to the nine markets in Chang'an, or went to the border markets for trade.

On the road west of Huaili County, several Hexi horses were moving forward at a moderate speed. These Hexi horses were much more majestic than ordinary garden horses, and they were rare fine horses even in the border towns.

The man in the lead was wearing a silk robe. The silk material was not tight to the skin in summer and was very cool to wear. He looked like a powerful nobleman in the Chang'an mausoleum.

On his feet, however, he was wearing the leather shoes commonly seen in border counties. He looked dusty and exhausted, and had a bit of the air of a frontier county official.

This man was Guo Jie, the chief accountant of the Right Secretary of the Interior, who had settled in a border county. He stayed in Jinchenglu for more than ten days on the pretext of escorting food, military equipment, and laborers to the border as part of the Right Secretary of the Interior's official duties, and then returned to Chang'an.

The fine horses ridden by Guo Jie and his companions were all from the pastoral gardens of the border counties. They were such good things that even with money one could not buy them, and even with power one could not buy them. They were only circulated internally within the beacon tower system of the border counties.

Ever since Guo Jie agreed to sell a batch of new two-ox plows to Xu Houguan, the farming efficiency of the beacon tower garrison soldiers has greatly improved. Each beacon tower has opened up more official fields, and their lives have become more prosperous.

Guo Jie's name spread to many beacon towers within a few days and was still spreading at a very fast speed.

His guests Zhao Guo and the people of Jincheng also became the most popular guests at the border beacon tower.

The thing that many beacon towers looked forward to most every day was that Zhao Guo brought the people of Jincheng with him, bringing a new plow pulled by two oxen, and teaching the tower soldiers a new and more efficient farming method.

The commander of Longxi County was a Zhongdu official from Chang'an, a standard bureaucrat who only regarded the title of commander of the frontier as a way to gild his reputation.

He was always thinking about how many days it would take to promote the governor of a wealthy county in Shandong, and he didn't pay much attention to the matters concerning the beacon tower.

The captain is a temporary official.

Liuguan means circulation, with a new person replaced every few years.

It is different for middle- and high-level military officials such as Houguan and Houzhang. They are native to border counties and their families have been military officials in the beacon tower system for generations, and this tradition is deeply rooted.

The huge border army composed of the beacon tower system was basically controlled by the county-level officers.

After discussing with several other officials, Xu Houguan decided to let a few horses from the border counties die of illness and give them to Guo Jie and others as a thank you for their hard work.

Guo Jie never expected that his original decision would allow him to completely open up the situation in the border counties.

Anyone who used the beacon tower pulled by two oxen owed Guo Jie a favor.

In an atmosphere where life is valued more than death.

This favor is very valuable.

In addition, Guo Jie also obtained several fine horses, which were only inferior to the red horse that Princess Pingyang gave to Wei Guang. They were also among the best horses in the mansion.

It can be seen from the look on the face of the eldest son, Chong Huangrou, who is reluctant to let go of it.

In the eyes of the powerful and wealthy children in the imperial court, these garden horses are rare and fine horses.

After all, there were only a few Stanley horses in the entire mansion.

"I really regret not going to the border county together."

In a school outside Chang'an City, Yan Yi, wearing a linen jacket, was drawing water from a well. He heard the sound of horse hooves at the door and looked up.

The Hexi horses ridden by Guo Jie and his companions were all about six feet tall, and were rare fine horses in the whole of Chang'an.

The six arts of a gentleman include archery and charioteering. Yan Yi immediately dropped the bucket and didn't care about the splash of well water on him. He hurried to the door and looked at the fine horse being bridled under the persimmon tree.

A large area of persimmon trees was planted at the entrance of the school, forming a persimmon forest. The trees stretched out for a long time. All the trees were transplanted by the parents of commoner students in return for not charging Yan Yi a penny or grain.

Yan Yi had already planned to wait until the persimmons were ripe in the autumn, and then spread a reed mat under the persimmon tree to give lectures.

More is a beautiful thing.

In addition, persimmon trees can be used as horse posts, and when they are ripe, they can also allow common people and students to taste the taste of sugar.

Just as Guo Jie was tying the reins, Yan Yi, whose linen jacket was stained with water, was standing nearby, turning around and around, looking at the fine horse with envy on his face.

Compared to the good horse, Guo Jie valued Yan Yi as a person more.

"If you like white nose, I can give it to you."

Guo Jie threw the reins over and said, "This fine colt is called Baibi, and it's very rare even in the border counties. You don't have to regret it. I can give it to you. If you prefer Chong Huangrou's horse Chiba, I can't help you."

Whitenose is a fine horse with a completely black body and a patch of white mane at the nose position, so it is called Whitenose.

Chonghuangrou's Chiba is a good horse with a red body. Its age is eight years old, so it is called Chiba.

"Don't even think about it!"

The Insect Emperor glared at Yan Yi with his beautiful eyes. "You stayed in Chang'an to build the school and were unable to go to Jinchengluli with me. You lost a good horse. It was your own choice and the consequences were different. Don't even think about snatching my Chiba away from me."

Yan Yi smiled helplessly: "A gentleman does not take away what others like. Don't worry, I won't take the White Nose that Guo Jun gave me, let alone Chiba."

Although he envied the majestic horses White Nose and Chiba, he would not ask for other people's good horses.

No matter how good a horse is.

He won't take away someone else's favorite thing.

In Yan Yi's heart, the real good horse is a completed school.

This school has enrolled hundreds of students.

According to the official household registration records, they were all small families with assets below 100,000 yuan, and poor people with assets below 20,000 yuan.

Only 20% of them are from small families, while 80% are from poor families.

"Master Yan."

At this time, a group of villagers wearing tattered jackets and trousers came from outside the persimmon forest at the entrance of the school. They seemed to be poor people with a net worth of less than 20,000 yuan.

However, from the fair faces of these villagers, it can be seen that they are not the poor people who have dark and yellow faces due to being exposed to wind and sun all day long.

This group of villagers arrived at the school gate and immediately began to beg for mercy.

"My family is very poor and my son cannot afford to go to school. I beg Master Yan to accept my son into your family."

"Yes, my son is also too poor to go to school."

"I beg Master Yan to accept my son as an additional student. He doesn't have to live in the school. My home is nearby, so I can walk here every day to study."

Yan Yi was not a fool. He could tell at a glance that something was wrong with this group of poor villagers.

He said sternly, "You don't need to disguise yourself as poor people. In just a few days, I've seen dozens of middle-class families, powerful people, and even nobles disguise themselves as poor people and send their sons to study here. I have only one answer."

"Take the official temple's student register. If there are truly poor people with a salary below 20,000, we can enroll them when we expand the school next time."

Fu Ji's words choked all the pleading parents.

These parents from middle-class or higher families were embarrassed and could only leave with their children.

As soon as this group of people left, a large group of disguised parents appeared behind them.

Yan Yi hurriedly said, "Mr. Guo, please come in quickly. The school has been completed. I will take you inside for a tour. After all, the construction of this school is inseparable from the money you donated."

"The Book of Rites: The Record of Learning" says, "In ancient times, teachers had private schools at home, academies in their communities, and the art of teaching was organized and the country had schools."

Schools are divided into xiāng, xu, xiao and shuā.

Village schools, called lvshu, were mostly private schools or run by clans in the lv.

The rural school, also called the rural prefecture or rural academy, is relatively small in scale and is a grassroots educational place.

A county school, also called a county academy or county school, is generally an educational institution established by the government and is also the highest educational institution in the local area.

The school that Yan Yi built with his own money could only be considered a rural school. It was relatively small in scale and only enrolled a few hundred students.

Small but complete.

Guo Jie walked into the gate of the village and saw several corridors on each side of the road. The corridor on the east side was called the East Veranda, and the corridor on the west side was called the West Veranda.

The east wing is where the students of the township study and also where they store their books.

Guo Jie saw many students kneeling in the east wing, most of them dressed in linen jackets and trousers. Some of the students were reading, while some were grinding stones to make them into the shape of the jade ring on Yan Yi's waist.

Yan Yi shook his head and said, "I've said it more than once, a gentleman wearing jade is just a personal preference, students don't need to follow suit. These students come from poor backgrounds and can't afford jade, so they picked up some stones and polished them into jade rings."

He did not approve of students doing these useless things, and it would be better for them to spend all their time studying.

Polishing the stone is really a waste of time.

"otherwise."

Guo Jie, however, had a different view: "With perseverance, an iron rod can be ground into a needle. If students use their spare time to polish stones, it will be able to hone the perseverance of these young scholars."

Grind an iron rod into a needle?
Yan Yi's eyes lit up and he slowly chewed over this sentence. The more he thought about it, the more meaningful it became.

He sighed, "I never thought Mr. Guo could say the wise saying of grinding an iron rod into a needle. It seems Mr. Guo is quite knowledgeable. Why don't you come and become a teacher?"

Guo Jie turned his head and glanced at Yan Yi with a half-smile.

He saw what Yan Yi was thinking.

He was drafted into the army by Yan Yi.

There was only one abbot in the township, Yan Yi, who had very high expectations for his teachers. He planned to recruit Guo Jie to be the abbot to teach archery and charioteering.

The great name of Guo Bianhu.

It was enough to make Yan Yi's heart moved.

"Of course."

Guo Jie said with a smile, "Then please leave me a room in the west wing."

The east wing is where students study.

The west wing is where teachers rest and mark homework.

At the entrance of the east wing corridor, wooden tablets on which students practiced calligraphy were hung on the pillars for them to observe each other.

"really?"

Yan Yi was delighted: "A gentleman cannot go back on his word. Mr. Guo must teach students in the village."

Guo Jie smiled and continued walking forward, heading towards the lecture hall of the township government.

There is also a small room in the village where wooden tablets (tablets) of Confucius and his disciple Yan Hui are enshrined.

The Shidian ceremony held in spring and autumn is held here.

The house next to the east wing is the dormitory and study.

This is where students live. The conditions are simple and each room can accommodate more than ten people. Students cut down wood and build their own wooden beds.

Next to the schoolhouse is the Cuan room, which is the dining hall.

This room was where meals were provided. There was no dedicated cook, but some ceramic stoves and grain storage jars were built. The students all cooked for themselves and took turns cooking.

Every day a student is responsible for cooking for the schoolmaster Yan Yi.

From now on, I will have to cook for one more person, Guo Jie.

"This is the shooting range."

Yan Yi pointed to a large open space behind the cooking room and said, "Mr. Guo will teach archery and charioteering in the Six Arts here. It's a little rudimentary, but once I take some more money from the wealthy families, I'll make the archery ground even better."

Shepu was a place where archery and charioteering, two of the Six Arts, were taught, as well as where etiquette such as the Zhou Li was learned.

There is a small door next to the cooking room, and when you go out of the door you can see a large open space.

The ground was rammed and leveled, and several archery targets were set up.

Normally, the shooting range should be surrounded by a low wall.

Yan Yi had limited money and grain, so for the time being he could only level the land and build a low wall around the archery ground, and then rebuild it when he had more money.

The innermost part of the village is the lecture hall.

This was the place where Master Xiang usually taught. When Guo Jie walked in, he saw a relatively high couch at the northernmost side of the lecture hall.

Yan Yi lectured while kneeling on a mat, his elevated position embodying the dignity of a teacher. On the surrounding walls hung bamboo slips of textbooks such as the Analects and the Book of Filial Piety. The rammed earth floor was covered with reed mats, where students sat to listen.

Today was not a day for lectures, so Yan Yi sat on the reed mat. Guo Jie, Chong Huangrou, An Guo Shao Ji and others also knelt on the reed mat.

Two students brought over a bucket of water with a few wooden ladles in it.

"The village official's money and silk are gone."

Yan Yi frankly admitted his poverty: "I can only use well water to entertain Mr. Guo. If Mr. Guo is not used to drinking it, I can only send someone to the accountant's seat to bring some wine."

Look at him, he looks like he's taking advantage.

He is nothing like Yan Zi’s tenth generation grandson.

Guo Jie burst out laughing, then quickly regained his composure and inquired, "I heard the debate between Dong Zhongshu and Xiaqiu Jianggong has concluded, with Dong Zhongshu winning. This event will bring about significant changes to the court. I'm afraid Dong Zhongshu will be revered as the modern-day Confucius by Confucian scholars throughout the world."

Dong Zhongshu is about to become the Sage Dong.

Because the debate between Dong Zhongshu and Xia Qiu Jiang Gong involved a major event.

Depose hundreds of schools of thought and only respect Confucianism.

Yan Yi, however, had a look of contempt on his face: "A bunch of petty Confucian scholars are arguing with each other. Don't be afraid of him. Although many of the children of the powerful and wealthy have studied under Dong Zhongshu, don't worry about them. If anyone dares to use the identity of Dong Zhongshu's disciple to threaten Mr. Guo, I will smash his head!"

Emperor Wu of Han was a very goal-oriented and pragmatic emperor.

The real purpose of abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone.

Public opinion is unified.

Prepare public opinion for attacking the Huns.

Since the Battle of Baideng by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, several emperors have always sought development by reducing taxes and levies internally, and have made peace with the Huns through marriage.

Not everyone wanted to fight a war, especially one against the Huns.

There is no shortage of surrenderists in the court and among the people.

Doctor Di Shan is a typical capitulationist.

Di Shan supported the marriage with the Xiongnu, which made Emperor Wu of Han furious. He sent him directly to the border to guard the fortress, and he was eventually beheaded by the Xiongnu.

Confucianism does not have only one school. There are five schools in the "Spring and Autumn Annals", namely Gongyang School, Guliang School, Zuo School, Zou School, and Jia School.

The current popular schools of thought are Gongyang School and Guliang School.

Dong Zhongshu was a great scholar of Gongyang School, and Xia Qiu Jiang Gong was a great scholar of Guliang School.

The debate between the two was actually a dispute over the orthodox doctrines of Gongyang School and Guliang School.

Who's winning.

If Confucianism is the only school of thought that should be respected, then that school should be respected.

That school became the official school of the Han Dynasty.

Dong Zhongshu won the debate, and the supremacy of Confucianism meant the supremacy of Gongyang School.

The core ideas of Gongyang School just happened to meet the needs of Emperor Wu of Han to unify the court and public opinion.

Gongyang Confucianism and later Song Confucianism are completely different things.

Compared to the weakness of Song Confucianism.

Gongyang Confucianism emphasizes "If revenge can be taken after nine generations, it can be taken even after a hundred generations."

Meaning: Can revenge be taken after nine generations? Even after a hundred generations, it is still possible!
Emperor Wu of Han respected only Confucianism, and the only school of thought he respected was Gongyang Confucianism. He also respected the idea that if there was a grudge, revenge would be sought even after a hundred generations!

The fundamental purpose of promoting Confucianism as the only doctrine was to unify thoughts and public opinions for the Han-Xiongnu War.

Unite the thoughts of the people of the world, eliminate the ideas of the surrenderists, and take revenge on the Huns together.

On the way to Chang'an, all the post stations, big and small, were talking about the supremacy of Confucianism, Dong Zhongshu, and Gongyang Confucianism.

After Confucianism became the only official doctrine.

What worried Guo Jie the most was that a large number of Confucian scholars entered the officialdom and served as officials in the capital and county magistrates.

The Spring and Autumn Judgment is coming.

Dong Zhongshu, who promoted Confucianism as the only doctrine, created the Spring and Autumn Method of Judgment, citing the meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals to examine the subjective motives of criminals before making a ruling on the case.

Dong Zhongshu was very ambitious.

The purpose of the Spring and Autumn Period's judicial decisions was to allow Confucianism to intervene in judicial trials.

Once the Spring and Autumn Judgment came into being, Guo Jie could no longer wantonly execute the powerful and tyrants.

We can only wait until cruel officials officially appear on the stage of history.

After the Confucian scholars appeared, the cruel officials came on stage next, but it would take a long time to wait.

No one knows when Wei Guang will be transferred from Maoling County.

Guo Jie's time is running out.

Can't wait.

With the intervention of Confucian scholars in judicial decisions, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang were afraid that killing dozens of powerful clan members was within the scope of reasonable law enforcement.

It is not illegal.

The Confucian scholars, whose status had greatly increased, thought that the killing was too severe.

Illegal.

This is also the reason why Guo Jie values Yan Yi.

What Dong Zhongshu and Xia Qiu Jiang Gong were fighting for was the right to interpret the "Spring and Autumn Annals".

Yan Yi is the tenth generation grandson of Yan Hui!

Yan Hui was one of Confucius' most proud disciples and was respectfully called Yan Zi.

The surname is followed by a "zi" just like Confucius.

The Spring and Autumn Annals is just one of the Confucian classics.

Yan Yi has the final right to interpret "The Analects of Confucius"!

The Analects of Confucius, which records the words and deeds of Confucius, even has more than 20 records about Yan Hui.

Which Confucian scholar dared to refute Yan Yi, the tenth-generation grandson of Yan Zi?

Questioning Yan Yi.

It is questioning the orthodoxy of Confucianism!
Therefore, when Yan Yi heard the debate between Dong Zhongshu and Xia Qiu Jiang Gong, he showed a look of contempt.

Dong Zhongshu and other Gongyang Confucians fought for the right to interpret Confucianism throughout their lives.

Yan Yi was born with it.

Or the right to interpret "The Analects of Confucius".

Guo Jie breathed a sigh of relief, but soon couldn't help laughing.

With Yan Yi by my side, I no longer have to worry about the Spring and Autumn Judgment.

Instead, they can use the Spring and Autumn Judgments that the Confucian scholars fought hard for to question the Confucian scholars.

Guo Jie was looking forward to seeing the Confucian scholar's expression of doubt about life.

"Mr. Guo."

Yan Yi didn't take Dong Zhongshu seriously. He was completely focused on the powerful. He asked impatiently, "It's been twenty days since the last inspection. When will you go to inspect the villages around Chang'an again?"

He didn't want to go on the inspection, but he missed the money and grain in the warehouses of the powerful.

When Yan Yi mentioned the powerful, his eyes brightened up a bit, and his palm kept stroking the scabbard of the two-foot sword.

His two-foot sword had long been thirsty.

"This can't be rushed."

Guo Jie also wanted to confiscate the property of the powerful, but he was struggling with a lack of a suitable excuse: "Inspection is easy. We can inspect the twenty-seven counties under the Right Secretary of the Interior at any time. However, we can't find any evidence that the powerful have violated Han law. Going there will be a wasted trip, and we won't be able to confiscate the powerful's property."

In order to annex land, the powerful people in the Han Dynasty often used various means to exploit the common people.

Nine out of ten powerful people are engaged in the business of loaning money.

Zidai is usury.

When common people borrowed a pound of grain, they were forced to sell their land and children by various means of compounding interest.

The family was broken up and people died.

These wealthy and unkind tyrants can only be dealt with by cruel officials.

"Hidden household, hidden farmland, tax evasion"

Yan Yi listed a long list of behaviors forbidden by Han law: "Among these crimes, there must be one that is suitable for powerful people. How about this? I will accompany you to the accountant's office for the next few days. I will do nothing but investigate the violations of Han law by powerful people."

He secretly regretted it.

At the beginning, when he was serving as an accountant, he failed to find out whether the powerful people were hiding their land and evading taxes.

If the truth is revealed, Yan Yi can directly call Guo Jie to investigate together and confiscate the property of the powerful.

It was just the right thing to do to use the money and grain that the powerful people got by squeezing the common people.

To educate the common people.

"How did the powerful man offend you?"

At this time, a man walked in from outside the door. He was wearing a black robe with crimson edges, which is a kind of Hanfu with red edges and black main body.

He wore a mink-tail crown on his head.

Not someone else.

It was the Minister of the Interior Sang Hongyang.

Guo Jie, Yan Yi and others in the lecture hall immediately stood up from their reed mats and stood up to greet them.

Guo Jie was surprised and said, "How could Minister Sang have the time to come to a rural village when he is not building a garden in Nanshan?"

"hehe."

Sang Hongyang smiled and said, "Yanzi's tenth-generation grandson established the Xiangxu, which is a great contribution to the government and the temple. How could I not come? However, I am short of money and have no money to offer as a gift. So I went to the Chang'an magistrate to ask for a land deed certificate to expand the Xiangxu."

Yan Yi hurriedly stepped forward and took the land deed from Sang Hongyang's hand.

He spread out the letter and took a look at it, his expression filled with joy. Hundreds of acres of land surrounding the village now belonged to the village.

It solved Yan Yi’s biggest headache, the problem of eating.

From then on, Yan Yi could lead the students in farming and studying, while cultivating fields and vegetable plots, and studying in the village.

Yan Yi bowed solemnly and said, "Thank you, Minister Sang."

Sang Hongyang smiled bitterly and said, "If you can find a way to keep Prince Wuqiu Shou from leaving his house for half a month, that would be my true gratitude."

Wuqiu Shouwang was one of Dong Zhongshu's most proud disciples among his many students.

Guo Jie was puzzled and asked, "Is there a rift between Minister Sang and Prince Wuqiu Shou? That shouldn't be the case. Dong Zhongshu and his disciples were completely absorbed in the debate between Gongyang and Guliang schools. How could they have provoked Minister Sang?"

Sang Hongyang smiled bitterly and said, "It's not about provoking, it's about governing. You just came back and you don't know about governing."

(End of this chapter)