A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 466 Little Friends

"Da da, da da".

On an autumn morning, Li Yi rode his horse along the banks of the Hao River. The cool morning breeze caressed his face, and the air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees.

The Hao River is much shallower now, and a clear stream flows quietly.

The wild grass on the riverbank and the rice in the fields are all turning yellow. The five-arched Luojiabao Stone Bridge spans the two banks and has a beautiful design.

Several steps were built under the bridge, and the water flow here forms a small waterfall due to the difference in height, adding a touch of dynamism.

The weather was fine, and the Zhongnan Mountains to the south stood so majestically.

On the riverbank, a shepherd boy was tending his cattle.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that several of the children looked familiar.

"Lanxiang, Shitou, Gousheng, Shuanzi, Zhu?"

Several children were tending a cow. The red Qin Chuan cow was eating grass covered in dew, chewing heartily. In the distance, a calf was running around with great energy.

When the group saw Li Yi riding over, they were happy, but also a little reserved.

"It really is you guys! What are you doing herding cattle here?"

Lanxiang stood up, holding a half-woven grasshopper in her hand. Her face was full of joy, but she stood there without coming over. Her lips moved, but she seemed not to know how to address her.

"Lanxiang, don't you recognize your brother? Quickly call me brother."

Hearing him say that, Lanxiang's face finally lit up with joy, and she stepped forward with a smile, "Brother."

Stone and the others grew bolder and came closer, saying, "Brother."

Li Yi dismounted, patted the two brothers, Shuanzi and Zhuzi, a few times with a smile, and said, "You two have to call him Uncle."

A few years ago, when Li Yi first came here, he had a very good relationship with these kids in Luojiabao, but in the blink of an eye, they have all changed a lot.

Lanxiang has gained weight. The little yellow-haired girl has become a chubby girl. When I first met her, she was eleven years old, but she was as thin as a stick. Now she is over fourteen years old. In the countryside, this age is already considered marriageable age, and some people are even married.

Li Yi estimated that she must have been over 1.6 meters tall, which was considered tall for a country girl. She must have weighed around 120 or 130 kilograms, which would be considered very fat in later generations.

In this era, people in the countryside are also quite fat, but it's actually a kind of fat that people find endearing.

Being fat represents wealth and health.

It's like how Chinese people consider fair skin to be beautiful, while white people in Europe and America insist on getting a tan.

Many people in the countryside had not yet solved their basic needs for food and clothing, and lacked oily and non-staple foods. They were generally thin and sallow. Lanxiang, who was fair and plump, stood out from the crowd and looked like a crane among chickens.

Li Yi carefully examined Lanxiang for a while and found that although she was fat, she was still over 1.6 meters tall, and her fat was well-proportioned. Moreover, her skin was fair and rosy, which made her look healthy.

"Why are you herding cattle here?"

“Brother, today is the ten-day holiday, and there are no classes at the academy. Don’t you remember this cow, brother? It’s the cow you bought back then. It’s had four calves in the past few years.” Lanxiang’s voice was quite pleasant.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi carefully examined the Qin Chuan ox. No wonder it looked familiar; it was the ox he had bought from Guo Erlang.

The little ones chattered excitedly as they talked to Li Yi about the cow.

Li Yi has risen rapidly in recent years, and his family business has grown day by day. As the first cow that Li Yi bought, Luo Er and Luo San have treated this cow very well in recent years. They have long since stopped letting the cow work and just kept it as a pet.

Like a mascot, it had four calves in four years and was always fed and cared for.

Even the children she gave birth to were taken away by other farms after they grew up and were treated as mascots.

When we bought this cow, it was a young cow. After raising it for a few years, it grew strong and healthy. It didn't work and was very shiny and healthy.

Fourteen-year-old Lanxiang was still studying at the academy, but instead of studying Confucian classics, she was studying medicine.

"I'm studying gynecology and pediatrics," Lanxiang told Li Yi, her tone tinged with pride. She wanted to become a female doctor, a highly respected profession. Her current teacher was a female doctor from Chang'an, brought to the Wuji Medical Clinic, who used to treat the women of noble and high-ranking families.

"Then you should study hard."

Twelve-year-old Shi Tou said, "My father said he's going to find a family for my older sister."

“Your father is wrong. Why are you in such a hurry to get married? Women can also study medicine. Study hard. Your brother supports you. It’s not too late to get married when you are seventeen or eighteen. Your brother will help you find a good husband.”

Lanxiang blushed.

Shi Tou and the others burst into laughter.

Li Yi, leading his horse, was also grazing nearby and chatting with them.

Shi Tou is twelve years old. He is very smart and studies hard. He is currently studying Confucian classics at the academy, mainly the Book of Poetry and the Book of Changes.

Ten-year-old Gousheng was also studying the classics. Luo San still had high hopes for his two sons, wanting them to take the imperial examinations and pursue official careers in the future. Although Gousheng was brought by his second wife, he treated them equally.

The brothers Shuanzi and Zhuzi are now quite tall. Their mother, Xiuzhi, is the tutor of the sixth prince in the palace and has been granted the title of a third-rank county lady. In recent years, Li Yi has helped her acquire a lot of property, so the two brothers have been living a life free from financial worries.

Now the two brothers are studying the classics at the academy while also practicing riding and archery. The family has hired a professional instructor, which they can afford.

Li Yi looked at the four boys. He had named them Guodong, Guoliang, Guoqiang, and Guosheng. Now they were all tall and strong, and they were all studying very hard.

Their future has indeed transcended the countryside.

"How is it at the academy?" "It's great. Although there are a lot of rules, we learn a lot and have so many classmates."

Wuji Academy has over a thousand students. The primary school section has students who all start at age six. They have a one-day break every ten days. The primary school section is three years of junior primary and three years of intermediate primary. Each grade has an elimination exam, and only those with excellent grades can continue.

Even self-funded students who pay tuition assistance cannot continue their studies if their grades are not up to standard.

The main campus of the academy that Principal Dong Xiucai is now pushing forward is actually the Department of Classics, where students study the Nine Classics and aim for the imperial examinations. The requirements for entering this campus are even stricter.

You need to be naturally intelligent, have good grades, and of course, have a family fortune to afford it. Although there are scholarships, the number of places is limited.

Many villagers and the children of Li's tenants and servants, after completing three years of primary school, would be selected by shops, workshops, and estates to sign contracts as targeted training students, enter various technical training classes to learn professional knowledge and acquire a skill.

The advantage of being a sponsored student is that you don't have to pay for tuition and living expenses yourself. If you do well in your studies, you will receive rewards. After completing three years of study, you will be assigned a job and receive wages. Unlike apprentices who have to go through several years without receiving wages, these sponsored students can start earning wages as employees right away. They are the ones who are given special training.

Although the academy has more than a thousand students, divided into several groups, the rules are equally strict, and the academic atmosphere is very good.

Li Yi has been too busy to manage the school in recent years, but Dong Xiucai and Dong Qilang have managed it quite well. Ultimately, this is largely due to the academic society that Li Yi established at the beginning. The academy is not short of money, and with money in hand, many things are easier to handle.

In addition, Li Yi has always held the title of headmaster of the academy, which is a prestigious title, and in recent years he has invited many renowned scholars and teachers to give lectures.
Many of the society's members are prominent and influential figures.

In terms of privately run schools, Wuji Academy has already caught up with the scale of those aristocratic families.

Next year, the imperial court will restore the imperial examination system, with the specific subjects being five: Mingjing (Classics), Jinshi (Advanced Scholar), Mingfa (Law), Mingzi (Character), and Mingsuan (Calculation). In addition, there will be new subjects such as Xiucai (Talented Scholar), Tongzi (Child), Mingyi (Medical Scholar), and Daoju (Taoist Scholar).

This suggests that next year's imperial examinations will be extremely lively.

Although the Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system, the number of people admitted through it was never large, serving only as a small supplement to the national civil service examination system. However, this small supplement opened up a channel for many scholars from humble backgrounds.

Even though the imperial examinations still favored the sons of aristocratic families and officials, since the examinations were not conducted anonymously in those days, the candidates were mainly from outside the examination hall. Those with family backgrounds and reputations would go to the capital early to submit their papers to powerful officials. As long as they gained the favor of the officials, they could secure a place in the examinations in advance.

If one can promote one's articles and poems in Chang'an, and gain fame, the examiners will likely admit one during the examination.

Unless one truly lacks any real skills, one cannot even do something as simple as pasting scriptures and interpreting their meaning.

It's only September now, and the imperial examinations next spring are still a long way off.

But now many scholars have come to Chang'an, and even many scholars have come from Jingxiang and Jiangnan, regions that have not yet been unified. Scholars have even come from Lingnan.

Everyone knows that the unification of the Tang Dynasty is an inevitable trend. Scholars study hard, but they are all trying to sell their knowledge to the emperor. Naturally, they want to come early.

A large number of scholars flocked to Chang'an.

Rents in the neighborhoods surrounding the Imperial College have increased, and prices have risen somewhat due to their arrival.

As soon as Li Yi returned to Chang'an, candidates began sending him their examination papers and visiting cards every day. They meticulously copied and presented their best works to Li Yi.

If Li Yi could offer a few words of praise, he could become famous in Chang'an. If he could even gain Li Yi's favor, he could put in a good word for the examiner and pass the imperial examination.

And if one could become Li Sikong's disciple, then the future would be even brighter.

No one cared that Li Yi was only nineteen years old.

After all, Li Sikong was not only a pioneer in the calligraphy world with his slender and sinewy style, but his poems and essays, though few in number, were also very famous and were all excellent works.

Li Yi disliked these investment bank drafts.
Let's see who's truly capable in the imperial examination hall.
Of course, he also acknowledged that many talented people are indeed overlooked in today's imperial examinations due to their background and other factors.
But he really didn't have the time or inclination to look at those documents.

He now hands these documents over to his advisors, including Ma Zhou, to screen them. After several rounds of screening, he selects the best ones and will come to see them when he has time.

He wouldn't mind meeting and chatting with truly outstanding talents, and if they felt they clicked, he might even offer them some guidance.

My senior fellow student, Sun Fujia, was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) during the Sui Dynasty.
They actually plan to take the imperial examination next year, and still aim to become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial examinations).

He was already a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice, yet he still wanted to take the imperial examination. Li Yi didn't know why he was so obsessed with the imperial examination.

If he was still a legal officer in Wannian County, then it's understandable that he passed the imperial examination.

In reality, even if one passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi (进士), even if it was only the highest-ranking Jinshi, the most one could do was be appointed as a county magistrate, a ninth-rank official, a truly insignificant position.

Sun Fujia held a powerful fourth-rank official position; perhaps it was a scholar's obsession.

He once invited Li Yi to take the imperial examination together, but now that Li Yi is in a position of power, it is impossible for him to take the examination. Moreover, to be honest, Li Yi is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. Take the nine classics that are required for the imperial examination, for example. Even if Li Yi chooses one or two classics, he cannot pass the exam. He finds it difficult to fill in the blanks and explain the meaning of the classics.

As the Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary, even though this was just an honorary title, Li Yi was no longer the same person he was a few years ago, and he still had some understanding of how the court operated.

The so-called imperial examination was not about fairness and impartiality in selecting officials. It was merely a tool to serve the court's rule and to appease scholars, especially those from humble backgrounds. Nowadays, the country mainly selects officials through family connections and recommendations, which, to put it bluntly, is monopolized by the upper class.

Therefore, the imperial court introduced the imperial examination system to give a few places to scholars from poor families, allowing them to compete for them, in order to appease the people.

The main purpose of the imperial examination was not to select the most talented people, so there was no need for anonymous examinations.

This is similar to Zhu Yuanzhang's system of dividing the imperial examinations into northern and southern sections. If all those admitted to the examinations were from the south, Zhu Yuanzhang would carry out a massacre. No matter how much the examiners said there was no cheating, it was useless because the result did not conform to Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention.

In fact, the imperial examinations of the Sui Dynasty were not primarily for scholars from humble backgrounds, but rather to appease the gentry of Shandong and Jiangnan. The Sui Dynasty was led by the Guanlong Group, which conquered the north and south and unified the country; the Guanlong Group was in power.

The gentry of Shandong and Jiangnan needed to be appeased, so the imperial examination system was established to allow these scholars, especially those from powerful clans and wealthy families, to enter the ruling class and win them over.

What chance do truly impoverished scholars have to compete with those powerful and wealthy families?

Scholars like Ma Zhou, despite their abundant talent, would find it difficult to pass the imperial examinations without a recommendation from others, no matter how well they performed.

The quota for the imperial examinations was almost predetermined before the exams even started, so he had no chance.

(End of this chapter)