Li You's Tang Dynasty

Chapter 358 Taizong Supports Ma Zhou's Arrival
One wheelbarrow, two wheelbarrows, ten wheelbarrows, twenty wheelbarrows Many poor students looked at the arrival of wheelbarrows in surprise.

But after the two big wooden barrels on the wheelbarrow were unloaded, steamed buns, rice, meat buns, mutton, fish soup, and pickles appeared one by one. Chun Niang happily stood beside the wheelbarrow and shouted to the poor students who were working: "Children, don't do it anymore, come and eat!"

Yao Yi stepped forward slightly, looked at the many delicious foods in the bucket, looked at Chun Niang with some surprise and asked: "Auntie, can we eat these things too?"

Yao Yi thought that the food was given to the artisans who worked just now, because the food was really too rich, and many of these poor students didn't know the taste of meat for three months.

They would never have imagined that the king of Qi had already given them a place to live and so many things for life, and now the king of Qi gave them food. This was really a big touch.

"Don't be polite about what you eat. The young master said, you can eat as much as you can. Although the young master can't give you money now, the food will be guaranteed. This is some of our young master's wishes for you. !"

Chunniang said to me, all those poor students felt a little warmth from the bottom of their hearts.

This incident soon caused some repercussions in Chang'an City. In the hearts of the people, Li You's image was once again positively praised. However, in the hearts of those aristocratic families, what Li You did seemed to be doing something. Childish behavior that only a child would do.

Everyone expressed disdain for Li You's behavior of subsidizing poor students. How can I say that at this time, although Datang said that he had an equal attitude, he did not provide equal help.

Let me give you an example. During the Qing Dynasty, everyone knew the location of the capital city. An examinee from Guangdong was almost separated by "[-] miles". How did they go to take the exam and how to solve the expenses on the way?
You must know that there were no planes and high-speed trains at that time. Even if you took a horse-drawn carriage, you would never reach your destination within a month. It is not as convenient as it is now. You can book a hotel online in advance and arrive the day before the exam.

At that time, I had to live on the road for a long time, and the various expenses for food, clothing, housing and transportation added up.

It’s fine if it’s from a wealthy family, but how can poor students afford it?
First of all, it is necessary to understand that the minimum test that can go to Beijing to take is the test.

In order to prevent poor students from abandoning the exam because they have no travel expenses, the dynasties of all dynasties will give candidates certain subsidies.

Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, nearby provinces such as Hebei could get 4 taels of silver, candidates in Anhui far away could get 20 taels, and candidates in Guangdong, Hainan and other places could get as much as 30 taels, equivalent to today’s The purchasing power is more than 2 yuan!
In fact, as long as you are qualified to participate in the examination, you don't need to spend any money along the way, because the imperial court will help the candidates free of board and lodging!
How to distinguish candidates from non-students?
The imperial court arranged a special car for each examinee, which was called a "bus". The letters initiated by candidates such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao in the late Qing Dynasty were also named "bus letters" for this reason.

The bus is not just a car. The Ministry of Rites will specially make a small yellow flag with the words "Ministry of Rites will take an examination" written on it.

After reading these, do you feel that the candidates in ancient times are very comfortable and have good benefits?
In fact, the benefits of candidates are far more than these, because the bus passes through the checkpoints along the way without inspection, so they are also the earliest "purchasing agents" in China.

Because of their special status, bandits and robbers would never dare to rob the bus when they saw it.

Otherwise, if the superiors are investigated, local officials at all levels will definitely do their best to suppress the bandits in order to keep the black hat.

In addition to economic and security guarantees, once they are qualified to enter the Beijing Examination, poor families can also become rich immediately.

As future officials, the local landlords and wealthy gentry would naturally have all kinds of benefits in order to win over them. They might even send their precious daughters to their door, in order to build a good relationship with this group of future officials.

With so many benefits and benefits, even poor students, once they pass the rural examination, they will no longer be poor.

But this is not the case in the Tang Dynasty. The poor students of the Tang Dynasty have not received the favor of the court at all. They have to rely on themselves, let alone the bus. Not many, and more importantly, 80.00% or even [-]% of them failed the exam in Beijing.

Without the positive support and presence of the imperial court, the value of poor students is very small, so what Li You is doing now seems very childish, stupid, and naive. It is said that Li Tai likes literati, so why doesn't he go Support poor students.

I think many people will definitely think that subsidizing poor students is a good move. With a little money, you can win the hearts of poor students, so why not do it.

But in fact, this is just your idea. If the imperial court does not give strong support, it just opened a gap, so it is ridiculous that you are doing such a thing.

When Wei Wang Li Tai and Fang Yiai were together, they mentioned Li You's sponsorship of poor students, and they used two idioms to describe what Li You did.

The first is grandstanding, and the second is that the gains outweigh the losses.

Needless to say, sensationalism, what does it mean to laugh at Li You for deliberately showing off his kindness, but the gain outweighs the gain? It's very simple, those poor students, now you give him help, but as long as they pass the imperial examination.

Marry a wealthy wife, then they will no longer be from a poor family, and all the good deeds of Li You in the past have become a stain on the poor family students, but some poor family students who have become wealthy son-in-law will deliberately wipe this disgraceful past.

This is also the reason why Li Tai and other aristocratic families did not do anything to support poor students. It is of no value. There are too few poor students in their early years. If someone really comes out, they will directly turn that poor student into one of their own. That's it, it's very simple!

But what Li You did was not so meaningless. At least he spent a little money, and he received the favor of two people. The first one was Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin is someone who wants to strongly support the poor students, but most of the time, Li Shimin has a lot of things to consider, so what he can do is to open a gap, and other Li Shimin can't do anything for the time being.

Because at this time in Datang, there are five surnames and Qiwang, as well as the Guanlong Group, and the Shandong Group established by himself, he cannot directly overthrow all of these, so he hopes that the students from poor families can make their mark, but he has no ability to help them.

Li You's approach directly picked Li Shimin's heart. On the second day, Li Shimin ordered to send many books in the palace to the bamboo house built by Li You to temporarily accommodate poor students.

And the person who sent these books was the official Ma Zhou who came from a poor family!

Ma Zhou is a representative of students from a poor family. Ma Zhou is a real poor family. There is no official father in his family, and his family is poor. Ma Zhou lost his parents when he was young. Respected by folks.

During the reign of Wude, he supplemented teaching assistants in Bozhou, drank alcohol every day, and did not take lectures seriously.

The governor Da Xishu reprimanded him many times, and Ma Zhou resigned angrily, wandering between Cao and Bian, and was insulted by Cui Xianshou, the order of Junyi, so he traveled westward to Chang'an in anger.Staying in a hotel in Xinfeng, the owner only entertained the merchants and did not take care of Ma Zhou, so Ma Zhou ordered a bucket of eight liters of wine and drank it alone, the owner was deeply surprised.

When he arrived in the capital, he stayed at the home of Zhonglang General Chang He.

Later, at the home of Chang He, the general of Zhonglang, Li Shimin invited Ma Zhou four times, and followed him to skyrocket.

In the end, he was selected by Li Shimin as one of the prime ministers of Prince Li Zhi. Li Shimin's favor for Ma Zhou was also the biggest reason why Ma Zhou was loyal to Li Shimin.

The sun was shining brightly, and Chunniang came again. This time Chunniang cooked a lot of braised fish for the students according to Li You's instructions, because Li You heard from somewhere that fish nourishes the brain.

Now one hundred bamboo houses have been built, and nearly 350 students from poor families have come here.

Chun Niang yelled: "The children have eaten!"

Follow along and you can see that scholars in twos and threes in the bamboo house will come out together, holding their respective trays and smiling out of the bamboo house together. Of course, there are also some scholars who are fascinated by reading. Fortunately, these poor students are more friendly, whoever reads fascinated , they will bring each other some meals.

"Auntie, what are you eating today?"

When she came to Chunniang's side, some sweet-mouthed students would call Aunt Chunniang, and Chunniang was also very happy with this auntie, and immediately replied: "Today I eat braised fish. There are also chicken soup, cabbage, pickled vegetables, and steamed buns. Rice, fill up.!"

"Wow!"

After listening to today's dishes, many students showed happy expressions.

Chunniang laughed and said, "Young master said, fish can nourish the brain. You are scholars, and you just want to supplement your brain. Hurry up and cook. Come, come, come...!"

Just when Chunniang called everyone to cook, a middle-aged man about forty years old smiled and walked up to Chunniang, looked at the food in Chunniang's bucket and asked: "Excuse me. Can I eat these too?"

As soon as Chunniang looked at him, she was dressed as a scholar dressed in coarse linen all her life. She knew that the family was poor, so Chunniang replied without thinking: "Of course. Come, I will give you a tray. What do you want to eat?" Just tell the servants!"

"Thank you so much. However, I eat a little too much. Is there any limit?" The middle-aged man asked again embarrassedly.

"There is no limit. My son said that compared with manual workers, students are mental workers. They also need to eat well and drink well. It's just that my son has been short of money recently, so he can only give these poor students some basic things. Guaranteed, otherwise, my son will prepare milk for the students!"

"It's already very good, it's already very good!" The middle-aged man was slightly moved, looking at the braised fish, rice, cabbage, steamed buns, and chicken soup in a wooden bowl on his tray.

The middle-aged man said slightly: "During the scientific examination, I ate only miscellaneous grains and steamed buns. I lived in an old temple in the mountains. Your Highness is kind-hearted. I want to thank him for the poor students of the Tang Dynasty!"

"My officer...?" Chun Niang was also taken aback, looking at the other party and asked, "Sir, who are you?"

The middle-aged man looked at Chun Niang and smiled slightly: "Let me eat these, and I will tell you who I am!"

(End of this chapter)