Han officials

Chapter 17: Drunken Talk [4K]

After staying briefly at the inn, Wei Zhe went to Taishi Ci's house to visit his mother, Guan.

This was not the first time that Guan and Wei Zhe met. She was saved by him when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out half a year ago.

At that time, Taishi Ci had no intention of joining the army because he was worried about his mother's safety.

It was Guan who persuaded him, saying, "I have received great kindness from the Lord of Wei, and since you are my son, how can I not repay you?"

Simply put, this is a woman who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment.

However, Guan is sometimes too clear about gratitude and resentment, and too competitive.

When Guan Shi learned that Wei Zhe was about to take up his post in Daifang County but was planning to let Taishi Ci stay to accompany her for the New Year, her face suddenly darkened.

Guan Shi did not try to persuade Wei Zhe. Instead, she turned and glared at Taishi Ci solemnly, saying, "The Lord of Wei is in great need of men right now. How can you stand by and watch?"

Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci knelt in front of his mother with a bitter face, not daring to argue.

Looking at Taishi Ci who was in the dilemma of "difficulty in balancing loyalty and filial piety", Wei Zhe felt a little pity for him. After all, if he were his age in later generations, he would still be in college.

"Madam, this was my idea, and Ziyi is also filial." Wei Zhe took the initiative to speak up and said, "Besides, New Year's Day is a big day. Ziyi has been away from home for half a year, so he should really show his filial piety."

Unlike later generations, there is no term "New Year's Eve" nowadays, it is only called "Zhengdan" or "Zhengri".

In fact, in the pre-Qin period, festivals such as the Spring Festival had not yet taken shape and were still in their infancy.

After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, the calendars of various countries were in such a mess that some used the Xia calendar and some used the Zhou calendar, causing confusion in the seasons. So the First Emperor simply ordered the whole country to uniformly implement the Jianhai calendar as the first month, that is, the tenth month of the Xia calendar as the first month.

That is to say, October 1st was the "New Year" in the Qin Dynasty, when people could get rid of the old and welcome the new.

After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the early Western Han Dynasty continued to use the Qin Dynasty calendar and also celebrated the New Year on October 1st.

It was not until the Taichu period of Emperor Wu of Han that the Taichu calendar was revised, with the first day of the first lunar month in the Xia calendar as the "beginning of the year", and this calendar has continued to this day.

Since the Western Han Dynasty, a celebration ceremony has been held in the court on the first day of the first lunar month. The emperor would accept congratulations from all officials and envoys from the four directions of the barbarians on this day. After singing and dancing at the banquet, he would also offer sacrifices to the tomb and hold a "Dan Nuo" to drive away the plague ghosts.

As for the folks, they also hold various celebrations on the "Zhengdan" day, such as setting up peach figurines, hanging reeds, and painting tigers on the door to ward off evil and avoid misfortune.

Of course, the most important thing is that on this day the whole family needs to worship their ancestors together. After the worship, a sumptuous family dinner will be held, and then it will be time to visit relatives and friends and wish them a happy new year.

It can be said that the current "Zhengdan" is even more important than the "New Year's Eve" in later generations.

Because nowadays there are not as many holidays as in later generations, and things are valuable because they are rare!
Perhaps it was because of this that Guan fell silent as soon as Wei Zhe finished speaking.

However, just when Wei Zhe was relieved and thought he had successfully persuaded her, Guan suddenly said decisively: "Mr. Wei, what you said makes sense. Then I will go with Ci'er!"

After these words were spoken, not only Taishi Ci, but even Wei Zhe wanted to kneel down to Guan.

Although Guan is only in his forties and not too old, he can't be compared with young people after all!

If anything happened to her, Wei Zhe would have no way to explain to Taishi Ci.

However, no matter how hard Taishi Ci and Wei Zhe tried to persuade her, Guan was determined as ever.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe had no choice but to give up.

"It seems that the first thing we have to do after arriving in Daifang County is to set up the kang!"

After leaving Taishi Ci's house, Wei Zhe couldn't help but think so.

……

……

Not to mention how Taishi Ci sighed at home.

After Wei Zhe settled his entourage and guests, he began to look for a ferry.

After all, there were so many people and horses in their group that ordinary small boats could not carry them.

Fortunately, the shipbuilding industry in Donglai County is quite developed, and there are all kinds of sea vessels.

In fact, as early as the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, in order to attack the Wei Dynasty of Korea, the court sent General Yang Pu of the Tower Ship to lead 5,000 naval forces from Donglai County directly to the capital of the Wei Dynasty of Korea, Wangxiancheng (now Pyongyang, North Korea), and successfully landed.

After years of development, there are already countless people in Donglai County who make a living by sailing on the sea.

Otherwise, Donglai's maritime trade would not have been so prosperous.

Thanks to its strategic location on the sea route, Donglai merchants could be said to be the recipients of Liaodong's furs and medicinal herbs, while also shipping Jiangdong's specialties and southern provinces' exotic goods. Goods from both the north and south converged here before being shipped to the Qing and Xu counties.

As for where the wealthy merchants in Qingxu sell the goods after they get them, they don't care.

All I can say is that Donglai County is worthy of being the former site of Qi State, and it retains the legacy of Guan Zhong.

The next day, Sanshan Island.

The reason why Wei Zhe is here is because Sanshan Island is the closest ice-free port to Huangxian County.

A thousand years later, Yantai Port is now located in Dongmu County, Donglai County, far away from Wei Zhe.

Although Sanshan Island is said to be an island in the sea, it is actually only a dozen miles away from Huangxian by water and can be reached by a light boat.

Wei Zhe only knew about the existence of such an island after coming to this world.

As for why it did not become famous in later generations, it was because Sanshan Island was too close to the mainland. After the passage of time, it was directly connected to the land and became a peninsula.

By the way, the legend of the "Three Sacred Mountains" on the sea in the pre-Qin period came from this island. It is said that both the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han had come here in search of the elixir of immortality.

Of course, Wei Zhe was not in the mood to think about these things at the moment.

A wealthy old man in a brocade robe and a Jinxian crown appeared, smiling and pointing at a sea boat. He said proudly, "Lord Wei, what do you think of this boat? Is it still usable?"

Wei Zhe looked up and saw the boat was over two feet wide and about ten feet long, with an upturned bow and stern, a square bottom, and a flat bottom. It had four sails and two levels of cabins, looking rather bloated and clumsy. After asking around, he discovered that the lower level had nine separate compartments, each with its own ballast.

Hearing him say this, Wei Zhe immediately nodded in praise: "What a great ship! Guan Weng has great skills!"

The wealthy old man was obviously quite pleased with himself after hearing the praise, but he waved his hand and said, "I don't deserve to be called a giant ship. I heard that there is a seven-sailed ship in Kuaiji with a capacity of 20,000 hu that can sail the vast ocean without capsizing. Compared to it, this ship is just a small boat."

Wei Zhe smiled lightly upon hearing this and did not respond. Instead, he asked, "I wonder how much this boat can carry?"

"It can hold six thousand bushels of wheat and millet, and if it's carrying more than five hundred people, it can carry more than five hundred." The wealthy old man replied without hesitation, "Although the Lord of Wei has many guests, two boats are more than enough for both the people and the horses!"

Hearing this, Wei Zhe couldn't help but nod secretly in his heart.

There was no way, time was too tight, and this was the largest ship he could find.

Even the ship owner Guan Weng was introduced by Taishi Ci's mother Guan, otherwise he would not have known about the existence of this ship.

I don’t know if this Mr. Guan gave such a favorable price out of respect for the Guan family.

So, after just a few words, the two sides reached a deal. After the deal was done, naturally, there was a toast and an exchange of drinks.

It has to be said that in some respects, customs from ancient times to the present are surprisingly consistent.

However, Dongguan’s current specialty is still the Wanxi, so naturally there is no Wan-style massage to experience.

Fortunately, Guan Weng had a villa on Sanshan Island, which was quite elegant, so he asked his servants to prepare it and entertain Wei Zhe.

As they drank and chatted, Wei Zhe finally figured out why Guan Weng was showing his goodwill.

It’s simple to say, it’s actually all because of his official position.

Judging from the fact that Wei Zhe was already in charge of a large county at the age of just over 20, he must have some outstanding qualities.

This alone was enough to make Guan Weng make a slight concession on the price and establish a good relationship with him.

Guan Weng also almost figured out how Wei Zhe got this order.

Of course, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. You can basically find out the content of the imperial edict by simply going to any prefectural government office.

So after the two of them had a brief exchange, the atmosphere became more harmonious.

……

"Lord Wei, you are a hero who suppressed the rebellion. In your opinion, do you think the Yellow Turban rebels will come again in the future?"

When doing business, naturally, I hate this kind of unstable business environment the most.

Therefore, Guan Weng also wanted to seek the opinions of senior people like Wei Zhe.

However, after taking a sip of millet wine, Wei Zhe couldn't help but say:
"When the people are safe, the Yellow Turbans will be pacified, but the world we live in now... Alas! Without a true virtuous person to govern the country, it's like having no real medicine to cure an illness. Ginseng should be used, but licorice is used instead. How can this cure an illness?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

After hearing what he said, Wei Zhe simply spoke his mind. After all, there were many officials who cursed the court and the emperor, and some of them even became more respected by the world the more they cursed.

Then Wei Zhe drank the millet wine in the cup and pointed at the mountains and rivers and said:
"If a craftsman wants to do his work well, he must first sharpen his tools. During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, the army had just been away from war. The court paid close attention to military preparations, and funds were generous. The ruler personally took charge, so the soldiers were always strong and skilled. However, the world changes with time. Nowadays, greedy officials compete to embezzle funds, and cunning craftsmen steal them. As a result, armor made of inferior iron has become dull, and swords and spears have become blunt. Therefore, the border people who dare to fight against the strong men all make their own private soldiers and refuse to use official weapons."

At this point, Wei Zhe slammed the table in anger and shouted:
"The Han's ability to defeat the Hu was largely due to the superiority of their armor and crossbows. Now, their armor is weak, their crossbows are ineffective, and their reliance is gone forever. Even if all three armies were as brave as Meng Ben, they would still be constantly defeated!"

Yes, during this rebellion, Wei Zhe did witness how huge the Han Dynasty’s arsenal was.

However, Wei Zhe also encountered various inferior weapons, especially in local county arsenals, where high-quality ones were rarely found.

So the collapse of a dynasty seems to be a problem of a single point, but in fact it is a comprehensive collapse.

Besides, keyboard politics is something that every man is good at.

Wei Zhe, who was getting more and more excited, raised his glass and drank while speaking passionately:

"Besides, the disease in the world today is already terminal!"

"It is important to understand that the politics of all dynasties have long suffered from flaws. If these flaws are not addressed, disaster and chaos are bound to follow. Why? Discipline is like a person; as institutions weaken, the flaws only grow more severe! Once rewards are given without moderation, and taxes are levied without limit, people become bitter and resentful, natural disasters will suddenly arise, and all sorts of ills will descend like a tidal wave!"

Just as Wei Zhe was talking, an old man with a white beard, wearing a light blue silk robe and a cloak, walked slowly to the front of the courtyard, as if preparing to push the door open and enter.

However, the sound coming from the yard made him stop and listen.

Wei Zhe naturally didn't know about this, and said with drunken eyes:

"The Book of Changes says: 'When you are in trouble, change. Change leads to success, and success leads to longevity.'"

"This is truly the most profound truth in the world! When you encounter obstacles, find ways to adapt. If you can adapt, you will achieve long-term success."

"So, to save the people from suffering is to eliminate the malpractices in government and to reform the corrupted laws and regulations!"

"If benefits are not promoted, the country will be weak; if illness is not cured, the people will resent it; if evil is not eliminated, villains will prevail;"

"If the rotten flesh is not removed, the disease will be difficult to heal!"

"But now the people are trapped outside, the barbarians are arrogant, and bandits are rampant. The situation has become so serious that it is difficult to reverse..."

Seeing Wei Zhe's words becoming more and more explicit, Zhong Hu, who was standing by, could no longer bear it and could only step forward and say, "My dear, drinking is harmful to your health. You have other things to do today, so don't delay!"

Wei Zhe reacted after being reminded by him, and immediately pretended to be drunk and said: "This is all drunken nonsense, Guan Weng, please don't take it seriously!"

After saying that, he took advantage of being drunk and drove away with Zhong Hu.

As for the old man outside the door, he waited until the other man left before entering from another gate.

Guan Weng was still thinking about Wei Zhe's words. When he saw the thin old man with a white beard, he was immediately surprised and asked, "Brother, why are you here?"

"I have nothing to do, so I go out for a walk."

The old man with the gray beard pointed curiously in the direction where Wei Zhe was going and asked, "Who is this?"

"Haha~ Did you also hear his high words, brother?"

The old man with a gray beard nodded slightly when he heard this, and then he couldn't help but stroke his beard and sighed: "This man is truly a talent who can assist the king!"

Guan Weng was a little surprised to see the old man's high opinion of Wei Zhe.

So he didn't continue to keep the secret and directly introduced:

"This man's surname is Wei, his given name is Zhe, and his courtesy name is Gongwei. He is from Liaodong."

"People from Liaodong?" The old man with a gray beard couldn't help but frown and mutter to himself, "It seems that there are no noble families with the surname Wei in Liaodong?"

At the same time, Guan Weng remembered the origin of this transaction and immediately added:

"Oh, right. It seems this man joined the army to quell the rebellion this year, and was rewarded by the court for his meritorious service."

"He brought with him over 500 elite cavalrymen, all of whom were described as fierce and powerful. They were said to be warriors who quelled the rebellion. He also came to hire ships to transport his men and horses to Liaodong."

Hearing him say this, the old man with the white beard looked more surprised.

He originally thought that Wei Zhe was only a talent for assisting the king, but he didn't expect that this man was actually a fierce general on the battlefield.

Thinking of this, no one knew what the old man with the gray beard was thinking about, but he actually paced back and forth in deep thought...
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Thanks to [book friend 20211028212309583] for the reward.

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PS: Honestly, I've only read historical novels before, so I was really nervous about writing my own for the first time. Honestly, I have nearly 600,000 words of material in my draft box, all historical materials and essays. I also went to various libraries in Hangzhou and found a bunch of historical reference books. I was consuming them like crazy. I didn't even work that hard on my graduation thesis.

But the more information I looked up, the less I dared to write. As soon as I started writing, it felt too pale and unable to depict that world.

So I really appreciate your support. It turns out that there are still people who are willing to read what I write! Thank you!
I won't stop, I will continue writing even for these materials, otherwise it would be a waste! o(╥﹏╥)o
(End of this chapter)