Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 381 The People's Mouth
"Now that there are more people doing practical work, I feel a lot more relaxed."

An Taixuan sat in the imperial study, leisurely flipping through memorials.

Because of the new political reforms, I have been dealing with a lot more affairs than usual recently.

Fortunately, An Jing rushed back from outside and helped him deal with some of the memorials.

He also took advantage of the disturbance caused by the new poetry in Tai'an City to dismiss some officials with bad reputations and who were in office for nothing, and replaced them with people who could get things done.

After some warnings, officials in the court became much more efficient in their work, and some new policies have already been issued and implemented.

An Jing walked briskly to the imperial study. After she and An Taixuan made it clear that she wanted to seize the throne but her power was not taken away, she had been very motivated these days and strived for better performance.

Recently, she has even been frequently visiting various ministries and departments to discuss new policies with officials and deepen her ties with them.

An Taixuan saw it but didn't care much.

He didn't think An Jing could win over all the officials so easily.

If the officials knew that An Jing was planning to seize the throne, they would probably be scared and stay away from him.

"My son, I pay my respects to my father!"

An Jing bowed to An Taixuan and presented some memorials, discussing official matters.

An Taixuan listened quietly and said calmly: "Yes, you have worked hard these days."

An Jing quickly said, "Sharing the worries of my father and the people of this country is my duty..."

An Taixuan smiled and said, "Now that the new policies are being implemented in all prefectures and counties, I'm afraid there will be considerable resistance if we want to truly implement them locally. I'd like to have some of the princes and grandchildren of the emperor serve as supervisors in various prefectures. What do you think?"

An Jing said without hesitation, "Since they are receiving state salary, they should work for the country. There is nothing wrong with what Father has done. They should indeed be allowed to go out and gain experience, rather than letting them be content with pleasure and live like caged birds. Your descendants should not be mediocre and incompetent."

An Taixuan smiled and said leisurely, "You are right. I will give you three days to draw up a list."

An Jing was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that such an important appointment would require her to draw up a list.

There are not many opportunities for royal descendants to hold important positions. Even if it is a temporary position, everyone is trying their best to show their performance.

There are quite a few supervisory positions this time, but we still have to select people. We can't just send some playboys to be supervisors.

An Jing thought for a moment and said, "Can a woman from the royal family go?"

An Taixuan looked at An Jing and said calmly, "Yes."

An Jing nodded and said, "I have something I want to discuss with my father."

"Go ahead." An Taixuan said.

An Jing said, "I intend to establish a new school in Tai'an City to recruit talented people from all over the world for the country of An."

An Taixuan narrowed his eyes slightly. Are they starting to think about recruiting and cultivating other talents so soon?

An Taixuan couldn't help but ask, "Aren't those students in the Imperial College enough for you to choose from?"

An Jing said solemnly, "What I want is not a scholar who can only read the books of sages and compose poetry, but a pillar of society who can wholeheartedly serve the people."

An Jing raised his hand and handed over a thick stack of plans.

An Taixuan showed a hint of curiosity, then took it and slowly looked through it. It contained a very detailed educational philosophy. The new institution would cultivate various professional talents, rather than being an institution founded for Confucian and Taoist scholars.

Among the officials in the court, there are Confucian scholars, warriors and Qigong practitioners, and these various forces form checks and balances on each other.

Now An Jing is actually thinking of cultivating a new force to enter the court.

An Taixuan was thinking, and he realized that there would be a lot of resistance to doing such a thing.

"These..." An Taixuan looked at the plan and said quietly, "It was Lu Zheng who proposed it, right?"

He didn't believe that An Jing would come up with such a novel educational concept and make such detailed plans to cultivate various types of talents.

An Jing said, "It was indeed Lu Zheng who proposed it. He said that people cannot be complacent and that the new era should have new talents... He didn't have the time or energy to do these things, so he asked me to help establish the school."

"Heh..." An Taixuan couldn't help but smile, "It seems he really cares about the country and the people. At such a young age, he's still thinking about how to teach and educate people."

An Taixuan paused, then added: "Since you have such an idea, go ahead and do it, but I won't let the national treasury allocate funds."

He wanted to ask the national treasury for funds. If it got out, it would be said that he was the one who ordered the establishment of some kind of school.

By then, there might be some great scholars coming to argue with him. It’s annoying just thinking about it.

All the schools and academies in Anguo, big and small, were related to Confucianism, and the school that An Jing wanted to establish would obviously break away from the framework of contemporary Confucianism, which would easily attract criticism.

As the king of a country, it is not easy for me to stand up and express my opinion.

Seeing An Taixuan's approval, An Jing said happily, "I can use my own money to establish a school."

An Jing got a satisfactory answer and left the imperial study excitedly.

Not long after she left, Xu Shou came back and went straight to see An Taixuan.

When An Taixuan learned that Xu Shou had returned, he immediately dismissed his attendants.

An Taixuan smiled and said, "Master Xu is back so soon? Have you seen him?"

Xu Shou said slowly, "I found him in Yunmeng Sect..."

Xu Shou told everything about his experiences of the previous few days.

Hearing that the leader of Yunmeng Sect valued Lu Zheng, An Taixuan was surprised.

An Taixuan stroked his chin in thought. "Recent news from several countries suggests there's no clue about that classic. They're even secretly searching for someone... If the Yunmeng Sect member is helping, then Lu Zheng might be behind it." An Taixuan added a hint of doubt, "Could a fourth-level Confucianist or Taoist really compile a Saint-level classic?"

Xu Shou thought for a moment and said, "Some people are born with extraordinary visions, and have the potential to become great scholars and sages. It is not uncommon for ordinary people to devote their life's learning to compile a book of sages."

"That's true." An Taixuan nodded slightly. "Those poems weren't written by him. As long as he's qualified to write them, compiling them into a book wouldn't be too difficult..."

It is not difficult to say. In fact, An Taixuan has tried it privately. There are some poems that he cannot write into literary treasures even though he is the emperor. Obviously, his state of mind has not reached that level.

However, An Taixuan was quite relieved. After all, he was the emperor of a country, and it was not easy for him to resonate with the suffering people in the poems.

An Taixuan asked, "Did he say when he would be back?"

"No." Xu Shou replied.

An Taixuan couldn't help but say, "He doesn't worry about his own safety at all."

Xu Shou said, "Auspicious people are blessed by heaven. Your Majesty, there is no need to worry so much."

An Taixuan smiled lightly. He did care about Lu Zheng.

There are many reasons, one of which is because of my own ancestor.

He wondered if he could ask Lu Zheng to lend the classic to the ancestor for a period of time. Perhaps it could speed up the ancestor's comprehension and breakthrough, and then Anguo would have a true literary saint.

But when I think about it, even my ancestors didn't do this, so it seems like I'm being a bit nosy.

Xu Shou asked softly, "Your Majesty, have you recently needed me for any important matters?"

"Hmm? Master Xu is going into seclusion again?" An Taixuan asked.

Xu Shou nodded and said, "I've learned a lot from this trip. I plan to research some artifacts. If I can make them, perhaps they can help ease some of Your Majesty's burden."

"Oh, really?" An Taixuan was curious. "What kind of artifact is it?"

Xu Shou said, "It's similar to a high-level array disk, but it's more complicated to make. If it's created, it can be used in all aspects..."

An Taixuan couldn't help but say, "If Master Xu needs anything, just ask and I will send someone to assist you."

……

Yongzhou and Mifu of the Chu State.

Mi Gu was drinking spiritual tea in the yard, and his face did not look very good.

He finally made some political achievements and was respected by the people of Yongzhou, and the incense he worshipped was much more prosperous than before.

As a result, an official document came down from above, holding him accountable and asking him to make corrections.

"Jealousy, this is all naked jealousy..."

Mi Gu hummed in dissatisfaction.

The names of those projects were destroyed, but fortunately the local water conservancy projects were still in operation, and the people did not forget his kindness so quickly.

At this moment, Judge Zhao Ming came hurriedly.

Zhao Ming's face darkened slightly as he whispered, "Lord City God! Tengshan Jun's tablet exploded. He must have met with misfortune and perished."

"Ok?"

Mi Gu couldn't help but sit up straight and looked at Zhao Mingdao: "Dead? What happened?"

He remembered that Zhao Ming had gone to Teng County to look for Tengshan Jun before, so how could he suddenly die?
Zhao Ming quickly said, "We don't know what happened yet, but I've already sent someone to investigate."

"Oh……"

Mi Gu lay down again. It was just a Tengshan Lord who died. He would enthrone another god later.

Anyway, Tengshan Jun was not under his jurisdiction, so he had no responsibility.

Sending someone to check on the situation symbolically is almost enough to fulfill one's duty.

Zhao Ming whispered, "Sir, do we need to investigate this carefully?"

Mi Gu narrowed his eyes and said, "Why do we need to investigate carefully? What if we find something?"

Zhao Ming thought about it and didn't know how to refute.

Mi Gu said dimly, "But after the death of such a righteous god, we still have to give an explanation to the higher-ups. We can't be careless in our work. At least we should do our job well on the surface. Go and tell the other gods..."

"Okay." Zhao Ming nodded and said, "One more thing."

Zhao Ming said, "Recently, some poems have been circulating in many places in Yongzhou, and they can't be stopped at all... I sent someone to inquire about it, and they found out that they were spread from Anguo."

Mi Gu had received the notice a long time ago and had even read some of the poems. He didn't expect that someone was actually spreading those poems, and they came from An Guo.

Mi Gu raised his eyebrows, "They have ulterior motives. Are they trying to incite rebellion?"

Zhao Ming couldn't help but say, "I'm afraid it's not likely, because many people in Anguo are singing it, and it is said that even children can sing some poems."

Mi Gu blinked and asked, "Sing it for me?"

Zhao Ming's expression changed, and then he coughed dryly and sang in a sing-song voice: "Government warehouse hamsters, government warehouse hamsters, government warehouse hamsters are as big as buckets, and they won't leave even when people open the warehouse! The soldiers have no food and the people are starving, who sends them to the emperor's mouth every morning!"

Mi Gu twitched the corner of his mouth when he heard this. This kind of poem could be sung everywhere. Are the people of Anguo crazy? Are they really going to die?

(End of this chapter)