Han officials

Chapter 147 Urgent Issues [2/2]

It is said that Zheng Xuan taught for decades, and he had at least 8,000 disciples.

As for the disciples who accompanied him to attend lectures all year round, there were more than a thousand of them.

However, although Zheng Xuan had many disciples, only a few of them became famous.

Apart from Sun Yan, who is known as the "Great Confucian Scholar of Dongzhou", Guo Yuan is the most famous person at present.

However, compared with Sun Yan, Guo Yuan did not choose the path of academic research, but the path of official career.

Guo Yuan was in charge of the logistics throughout Wei Zhe's battle to destroy Goguryeo, which made the battle a complete success.

Therefore, after the fall of Goguryeo, in addition to Wei Zhe's fame, Guo Yuan also became famous.

Nowadays, everyone in Qingzhou knows that the nun from the Imperial Academy is proficient in internal affairs and has the talent to serve in government offices!
If Luoyang was not currently preoccupied with factional struggles that led to chaos in the government, Guo Yuan would have been enough to become a prefect just based on this achievement.

Even people like Shi Yi and Sun Shao, who were not well-known in Qingzhou in the past, are now quite famous.

In such a situation, it is natural for Zheng Xuan's disciples to be tempted.

They are not saints, and they study and do research just to become officials.

There are so many opportunities in Liaodong right now, so they naturally want to follow the example of their senior brothers.

Therefore, compared to going to Xuzhou and competing with local nobles and powerful families for official positions, they would rather join Wei Zhe, their fellow villager.

Yes, Wei Zhe, who was originally just a son-in-law of Qingzhou, is now regarded as a fellow villager by the people of Qingzhou.

Who made Wei Zhe not only have his ancestral home in Donglai, but also be granted the title of Marquis of Buye, and the court also gave Qingzhou as his fiefdom!
Not to mention that since Wei Zhe took office, he has frequently recruited people from Qingzhou, and many of his officials are from Qingzhou.

Under such circumstances, it is normal for the people of Qingzhou to regard him as a fellow villager.

Zheng Xuan was not obsessed with these friendships among fellow villagers, but he attached great importance to the relationship between teachers and students.

Seeing the anticipation in his disciples' eyes, he thought for a moment and changed his mind.

Liaodong is Liaodong, that’s fine, just consider it as a change of place for giving lectures.

Since Guo Yuan, Sun Yan and others were serving as officials in Liaodong, Zheng Xuan did not hesitate too much.

Originally, the bitter cold in Liaodong was a problem, but with Wei Zhe's rising fame, kangs were introduced from Liaodong to Qingzhou, and Zheng Xuan installed one in his house. He used it and it worked very well.

Even Zheng Xuan felt that it was too comfortable, making people drowsy and not conducive to studying.

Therefore, in the past, after winter came, he never heated the kang during the day, but only used it at night.

With this thing, Zheng Xuan doesn't have to worry about the bitter cold in Liaodong.

But then again, it was not easy for Zheng Xuan and his more than a thousand people to go to Liaodong.

Putting aside the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou who were wreaking havoc outside Buqi Mountain, just crossing the sea for more than a thousand people was a hassle.

After Zheng Xuan made the decision, Cui Yan and other disciples began to brainstorm.

At first, they wanted to ask for help from the people in the Buye Marquis' Mansion. After all, Wei Zhe controlled the three counties of Buye, Buqi and Dangli, and there should be officials from the Marquis' Mansion staying here.

However, after Cui Yan and others ventured out to inquire, they found out that the officials who stayed behind in the marquis's mansion had already left.

To be precise, it was the officials of the marquis's mansion who brought the officials and people of the three counties to seek refuge with their own marquis.

There is no way. The officials in Qingzhou are really useless, and the people in the three counties are extremely disappointed.

Compared to staying in Qingzhou and waiting for death, they would rather surrender to Wei Zhe, the ruler of a marquisate!

After all, the people of these three counties can barely be considered Wei Zhe's compatriots.

As a result, although Wei Zhe's fiefdom had only 6,000 households, over the past two years, more than 20,000 households, including the elderly and children, came to him for help, totaling nearly 100,000 people.

Except for a very small number of powerful people who had strongholds to rely on and chose to stay and take advantage of the situation, most other people chose to go to Liaodong to try their luck and find a way to make a living.

Of course, this is also because they have a special subordinate relationship with Wei Zhe.

Wei Zhe does not have such appeal in other counties and prefectures of Qingzhou, at least not that great.

Fortunately, Cui Yan and others were not destined to die. Just when they were at a loss, they happened to meet Zhu Xu Guan's convoy.

……

"Kang Chenggong?"

After hearing Cui Yan's statement that Zheng Xuan was actually in Buqi Mountain, Guan Yue hurriedly said:

"Please come quickly... No, wait for me to come and welcome you personally."

It’s not that Guan Yue lost his patience, but that Zheng Xuan’s status was very important.

Let’s put it this way, Zheng Xuan is no longer interested in officialdom.

Otherwise, if he was willing to take up an official position, according to past conventions, he would almost certainly have secured one of the Three Dukes.

Compared with Zheng Xuan, Guan Ning, his fellow junior brother, is really nothing.

So under Guan Yue's order, the convoy that was originally preparing to go to Huangxian immediately turned and headed towards Buqi Mountain.

Seeing this, Cui Yan, who had been anxious for the past few days, finally felt relieved.

With the help of Zhuxu Guan, sailing at sea should not be a problem.

But when he relaxed, he found that Guan's convoy was a bit exaggerated.

This doesn't look like a caravan, it looks more like moving.

In fact, Cui Yan’s guess was correct. Guan Yue was indeed planning to move to Liaodong this time.

The Guan family of Zhuxu County will definitely keep some people here, and even the Guan family's caravans are still operating, but now they almost all travel by water.

However, considering the safety of family members, Liaodong is obviously a more ideal place to live. In this regard, Zhuxu Guanshi has an advantage that others cannot match.

It is no exaggeration to say that Guan's family might have developed better if they had gone to Liaodong.

If Guan Yue had not been determined to contribute more to his son-in-law's great cause, he would have moved to Liaodong long ago to live a life of idleness and wait for death.

But at this moment, Guan Yue couldn't help but feel lucky. Fortunately, he left late, otherwise he would have missed Zheng Xuan and the others.

To be honest, when Guan Yue learned that Zheng Xuan and his students were also preparing to cross the sea to Liaodong to escape the war, he almost laughed out loud.

In this case, let alone Youzhou, the prosperity of culture and education in Liaodong may be the best in the north!

In fact it is so!

……

In the sixth year of Zhongping, in the sixth month of summer, on the day of Xinyou.

Officials in Luoyang buried Emperor Xiaosi Liu Hong in Wenling.

At the same time, Wei Zheze welcomed Zheng Xuan and his party outside Xiangping City!
To be honest, when Wei Zhe received the letter from his father-in-law, he even thought it was forged by someone else.

After confirming it again and again, Wei Zhe burst into laughter.

How should I put it? This is simply pie in the sky, and it’s a golden pie at that!
If Wei Zhe was confident in the past that Liaodong County School would become a holy place that scholars in Youzhou yearned for, then after Zheng Xuan came, he was confident that Liaodong County School would become the academic center of the entire north!
At a time when the Imperial Academy was in disrepair, he even felt that Liaodong could become a paradise in the hearts of most Han scholars.

In fact, we are already beginning to see signs of this.

Before Zheng Xuan boarded the ship in Donglai, the news that he was coming to Liaodong had already spread throughout the four counties of Liaodong, and it was estimated that it had almost spread throughout Youzhou.

However, it is inconvenient for people to travel west of Liaoze, so most of the people welcoming us outside Xiangping City today are powerful people from Liaodong.

When Wei Zhe saw a little old man with gray hair and beard getting off the carriage, he quickly stepped forward and helped him down himself, and asked with concern: "Mr. Kang Cheng, are you feeling unwell after all this travel?"

Zheng Xuan smiled heartily upon hearing this and said, "Thank you for your concern, it's nothing serious."

After saying that, Zheng Xuan couldn't help but look at Wei Zhe carefully, and then couldn't help but nodded.

It is said that Zheng Xuan had heard of Wei Zhe for a long time, and he was very curious about this young man who could convince Guo Yuan.

"I heard that you, the Lord, also studied the Book of Rites?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe immediately said modestly, "It can't be called academic research, it's just my own thinking."

At this point, Wei Zhe laughed again and said, "Mr. Lu also asked about this a few days ago. If he hadn't been so busy with official duties recently, I'm afraid Mr. Lu would have already been lecturing at the county school."

After hearing what Wei Zhe said, Zheng Xuan guessed what Lu Zhi was thinking. He couldn't help but secretly complain that Lu Zhi had no martial ethics and didn't even follow the rule of first come first served.

Zheng Xuan then lost all restraint and patted Wei Zhe's hand with a smile, saying, "Since you are interested in the Book of Rites, you can come to me if you have any questions in the future."

After saying this, Zheng Xuan chuckled to himself and said, "For the next few years, I will inevitably have to stay in Liaodong and bother you, Your Highness. This will make it easier for you and me to communicate."

After chatting with Zheng Xuan for a few words, Wei Zhe finally had time to greet his father-in-law.

Guan Yue didn't care at all. Instead, he smiled and acted as a guest.

He didn't know if it was due to preconceived notions, but no matter how Guan Yue looked at Wei Zhe, he felt that he had an inexplicable aura of an emperor.

When chatting and laughing with Wei Zhe, Guan Yue didn't even dare to be as casual as before.

While a few people were greeting each other, the people around them were looking at this place with anticipation.

After all, in the current Han Dynasty, academic stars like Zheng Xuan are really popular among people of all ages.

Especially for Liaodong, which was once an academic desert, Zheng Xuan's temptation was even greater.

So before the two of them even entered the city, the city gate was surrounded by people.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe had no choice but to call in the county soldiers to clear the way. He personally escorted Zheng Xuan and his party to the Liaodong County School before he left with peace of mind.

In fact, in order to accommodate Zheng Xuan's disciples, Wei Zhe temporarily requisitioned a number of houses.

Because wealth is a small matter, retaining talented people is a big matter.

If you have not traveled back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, you cannot imagine what it means to have more than a thousand disciples.

Let’s put it this way, these people are more than just literate.

The fact that they were able to accompany Zheng Xuan and listen to his lectures all year round shows that these disciples basically understood the Spring and Autumn Annals, which was enough for them to be employed as minor officials in the countryside.

The more outstanding ones among them would probably have no problem serving as local village chiefs.

What Wei Zhe lacks most now is not talents who can assist the king, but a large number of administrative officials.

Because with the influx of a large number of Qingzhou immigrants into Liaodong, in addition to providing sufficient manpower to the Liaodong County Government, it also brought them a lot of management troubles.

You should know that the registered population of Liaodong County was only 80,000 before. Even after Wei Zhe had cracked down on the powerful for several years and sorted out a new group of people, it was only about 150,000.

However, in recent years, with Wei Zhe recruiting refugees and the active influx of immigrants, the population of Liaodong County has approached 300,000.

Wei Zhe naturally could not let these additional foreign immigrants do as they pleased.

Otherwise, once they form a group, it will be difficult for Wei Zhe to split them up again.

However, in order to register the people and resettle them, a large number of minor officials were needed to carry out the work.

Talent cultivation takes time, especially cultivating a large number of talents.

The results of two years of training at Liaodong County School are definitely not as effective as Zheng Xuan’s many years of teaching.

Therefore, Zheng Xuan's arrival brought Wei Zhe not only long-term benefits, but also made Wei Zhe rich immediately.

That night, Wei Zhe, overjoyed, hosted a banquet for Zheng Xuan and Guan Yue at his own residence.

Just when Wei Zhe was overjoyed, the news that Zheng Xuan had settled in Liaodong County School began to spread rapidly throughout Youzhou, and gradually spread to Bingzhou, Jizhou and others.

For a time, I don’t know how many people were jealous of the Liaodong people’s good luck.

After all, they were both from a border county, and they couldn't even keep a decent scholar, let alone Zheng Xuan.

But despite their jealousy, some people still packed up their bags honestly after cursing.

In this way, Liaodong has inadvertently formed a phenomenon of talent siphoning.

Whether they realized it or not, the various counties of Youzhou began to attract a large number of talented people to Liaodong...

(End of this chapter)