Wei and Jin Cooks

Chapter 1215 Consensus

Zhao Cheng scolded Zhao Hanzhang until he was bloody, but Zhao Hanzhang was not angry at all. She was just a cover to scold Yuan Gang and others by scolding her.

Yuan Gang and others naturally did not want to stand and be scolded, so they listed how many people had died and how many tribes had been destroyed due to rebellions by Huns, Xianbei, Jie and other barbarians in the past ten years.

“The Hu tribe relies on them when they are strong and invades when they are weak. They should be wiped out to prepare for the future.”

Zhao Cheng was so angry at his remarks that he almost vomited blood. He pointed at his nose and cursed: "We Chinese people have never said anything about annihilating our clan. Since all things in the world are born between heaven and earth, they should have a place to stay." , even maggots, humans cannot be evil and destroy their clan. If you have such thoughts, you are worse than animals."

As soon as these words came out, those who had the same idea as Yuan Gang suddenly shrank their heads, silently stepped back, and stopped talking.

Zhao Hanzhang on the side nodded repeatedly, scold him, scold him as much as he could.

Yuan Gang was highlighted, and he became angry and quarreled with Zhao Cheng, "I don't seek fame and reputation like you. If I can permanently eliminate future troubles for future generations, I am willing to bear this infamy."

“To tolerate your enemies is to stand in opposition to yourself and your descendants.”

"The world is so big. Although your life is short, you have many opponents. Do you want to destroy your clan every time you meet an opponent?" Zhao Cheng said with a cold face: "Where is such morality and benevolence?"

Yuan Gang ridiculed: "When the Xiongnu went south, how did they show morality and benevolence? When talking about morality and benevolence with the enemy, Zhao Jijiu must have been stupid in reading, right?"

He suddenly turned his head to look at Zhao Hanzhang and asked: "Does General Zhao also believe in morality and benevolence? A general is most afraid of kindness. It is said that kindness cannot lead troops..."

Zhao Hanzhang: "Mr. Yuan, being compassionate does not lead the army. It means that a general must not disregard military regulations out of sympathy. Who said that a general cannot be compassionate?"

"Without compassion, how could I be of one mind and heart with my colleagues and achieve this feat?" She said: "It is also because of compassion that I can understand the suffering of soldiers and the suffering of the people, so that I can fight more bravely. enemy."

"I know what Mr. Yuan means. He is just afraid that the Hu tribe will take advantage of my weakness to invade the south again in the future. However, there are many ways to solve this problem. The annihilation of the tribe is the last resort, and it is too inhumane."

"Everything in this world has its pros and cons, it's two-sided," Zhao Hanzhang said slowly: "Killing too many people will arouse the ferocity in people's hearts. I feel that I am much more ferocious now than before, Ji Yuan , it is clearly foreshadowed that if I go on a killing spree in the future and cannot stop it, you should warn me more."

Ji Yuan and Ming Yu immediately raised their hands and responded respectfully: "Yes."

 Everyone:…

 Very good, this topic has been successfully concluded.

Yuan Gang also swallowed his saliva and stepped aside with a reddish face.

Zhao Hanzhang then turned sideways and said: "Everyone, please take a seat. Today is a day for you all. You don't need to be as nervous as at the court meeting. Let's talk about everyday things."

 Among the people present, few had been to the court meeting, so everyone quietly found a place to sit down.

Zhao Hanzhang sat at the top and raised his glass to everyone. Then he asked Zhou Qi and others, "Is there any son in the family who is an official in the court now?"

There are still some, but not in the central government. Most of them are in local areas, and they are all in counties and counties south of the Yangtze River. They basically cannot reach the north of the Yangtze River.

The Lu family was basically in the same situation. What surprised Zhao Hanzhang was that there was one in the Jiang family. The head of the Jiang family said that two years ago, several of his children secretly crossed the river to Yuzhou to take part in the talent recruitment exam. They passed by luck and were appointed as The county magistrate.

However, those two disciples were from distant branches. The head of the Jiang family didn't know about it before. It was only yesterday that he saw Jiang Pu who came to Beijing in advance and got the news from him.

 Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly, asked a few more companies, and found that the situation was generally the same.

He asked, "When was the last time each family had an official at court? How many were there?"

Before the Huns destroyed the country, some people from the south of the Yangtze River also served in the court. For example, Zhou Qi...his father once served as a censor in the center of the Jin court for many years.

 But for Jiangnan people, the fourth to third rank is a huge threshold that no one has been able to cross so far.

No matter how talented they are or how high their family background is in Wu and Chu, it is difficult for them to surpass the Zhongyuan family in the court. Their promotion path is blocked when the Zhongzheng is established.

 This is also one of the important reasons for the separation between the Jiangnan gentry and the imperial court.

After the Yongjia Rebellion, all the court officials who followed the late emperor in Yanzhou were basically massacred. The Jiangnan people who were officials in the court at that time were not spared either. After that, Zhao Hanzhang basically promoted himself except inviting some old ministers and hermits to come out. manpower.

 So now, in both the government and the public, officials from Jiangnan can be counted on one hand, and their official positions are still very low.

Zhao Hanzhang said: "Wu and Chu once belonged to the State of Wu, but before the State of Wu, both Wei, Shu and Wu State belonged to the Han Dynasty. The unification of the world is the people's great wish. From my point of view, all the rain in the world flows into Among the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, we drink the water from the same river and eat the rice and wheat produced by the land together. We are connected by blood and should not be separated anymore."

"I naturally hope that the officials in the court will have the world in mind and treat the people of their hometown and the people of the world equally, but I also know that most people in this world are unavoidable and partial, so I want to ensure that the people everywhere are benefited and not too much. If you are wronged, then you must ensure that there are officials in power everywhere."

The eyes of Zhou Qi and other Jiangnan nobles suddenly burst out with dazzling light, and they stared at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang: "In the past, when Cao Gong awarded the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, the ranking was based on talent and virtue. Later, it became completely based on family background. Judging from the chaos of the two dynasties, it is no longer suitable to determine talents based on family background."

 No one objected to this.

The people sitting here are all Jiangnan gentry who are bound by the decree, poor gentry like Ji Yuan, or Jiangbei gentry who have fallen into poverty because of fleeing. Of course, they will not oppose the new system that is beneficial to them.

Immediately some people proposed to restore the old system of the previous dynasty, requiring that the condition of family background be removed and that talents and character should be used to determine the quality.

 And then let it become the system it is today twenty years later?

Zhao Hanzhang is not that stupid. She said: "In terms of fairness, there is no fairer way to select talents than examinations in the world? Therefore, I will also conduct talent recruitment examinations in Jiangnan and recruit talents to the court."

Zhao Hanzhang praised them and said: "I know that you have many virtuous children in your family. They have been trapped in the Zhongzheng system for many years and mostly study at home instead of serving as officials. Today we will set up a talent recruitment test so that they can show their talents."

Zhou Qi thought for a while and felt that the children in his family would not have much trouble taking the exam. He heard that the top talent recruitment test in Luoyang not only had a literary test, but also a martial arts test. Those who were both civil and military would be more successful. The children of the Zhou family had no problem at all.

Lu Yuan had no expression on his face and suggested: "But I heard that anyone can take part in the talent recruitment exam. Even common people and newly renounced slaves can take the exam. This is too humiliating. Why doesn't the general combine it with the Zhongzheng system?" , divide the recruitment examination into three levels: upper, middle and lower. The upper-class nobles will participate, the middle-class and poor families and some small nobles will take the exam. For the lower-class, let the common people and those craftsmen take the test."

The more he talked, the more Lu Yuan felt that his proposal was good, "Let's decide on the official positions they will be after passing the exam. Like the lower-level recruitment exams for common people, they can become small officials in various counties." If you are a middle-ranking person, you can be a first-class county magistrate, and you cannot be promoted beyond the fourth rank. If you are a middle-ranking person, you can be awarded county magistrate and other official positions. Wouldn't this save effort?"

Anger arose in Ji Yuan's heart, and he sneered: "I thought the head of the Lu family would propose that if he passed the superior recruitment examination, he would be directly granted the title of marquis and prime minister, or he would be replaced by a general."

Lu Yuan's back stiffened, and he turned to look at Ji Yuan. He sneered in his heart, but his face remained unchanged. He said gently: "Of course, a minister like Ji Shizhong who protects the country is not limited by his family background."

He thought he was gentle, but how could people like Ji Yuan and Ming Yu not see the contempt underneath his skin?

 Hence, he still looked down upon his and Ming Yu's humble origins. Zhao Cheng, Zhao Ming, Zhao Xin and other members of the Zhao family did not dare to despise them. How could he dare to despise them so much?

Ji Yuan and Ming Yu only sneered in their hearts, but Chang Ning directly opened his mouth and sneered: "No wonder King Langya couldn't move even after he went to the south of the Yangtze River. It is indeed a barbaric land with no education. Such a wonderful national policy, the general, passed through your hands. It turned into a piece of meat stained with fly excrement.”

Lu Yuan glared angrily, "You said Jiangnan is a barbarian land?"

Chang Ning: "What are they if they're not barbarians? All I can think about is either exterminating the tribe or suppressing the Hanshu. Why are you so unsure of yourself? You know you can't pass the Hanshu test even before you take the exam?"

“Fart, how many words do you know? How many books do you, a humble commoner, have at home? I think your participation in the talent recruitment examination is just a waste of paper, pen and ink, and a waste of the efforts of court officials.”

"Bah, if you can't compare, you can't compare. Stop making excuses. Does our court lack those pieces of paper?" Chang Ning couldn't help but feel resentful when he mentioned the books and paper, "Do you think this is still the same time? Nowadays, paper mills are everywhere, and paper is no longer valuable.”

Chang Ning's family background was worse than that of Ji Yuan and Ming Yu. In order for him to study, the whole family spent all their resources, and the most valuable items were books and paper.

"You are really vulgar, you curse people in public..."

Chang Ning said expressionlessly: "I am a celebrity and not stick to one standard."

Zhao Hanzhang suppressed his laughter while listening to their quarrel. He choked on his saliva and coughed several times. Everyone couldn't help but look at her.

Zhao Hanzhang calmed down his cough and then smiled and said: "It is indeed a good idea to divide the examination into scores, but we need to discuss with the courtiers on how to do it. This matter will be ignored. Therefore, everyone here agrees that the examination will be held in Jiangnan. ?”

 Lu Yuan and the others looked at each other, and then nodded together.

Zhou Qi asked: "After talents enter the court, will the general restrict their promotion because the officials are from Jiangnan?"

Zhao Hanzhang said: “When employing people in the imperial court, talent and virtue should be the most important factor, rather than location and origin.”

Zhou Qi was relieved. Although she didn’t know if she could do it, at least she said so. With her attitude here, it wouldn’t be too outrageous in at least ten years, right?

 This is the opportunity for the Jiangnan gentry.

 After solving the issue they were most concerned about, Zhao Hanzhang began to mention Jiangnan’s military power, civil rights, and various economic developments.

 She advocated the appointment of officials in other places. It is different from the current situation where people from Jiangbei serve as officials in Jiangbei and people from Jiangnan serve as officials in Jiangnan. In order to restrict officials from benefiting themselves and their relatives, she demanded that officials should not return to their place of origin to serve as officials.

The county magistrate cannot return to the county, and the prefect cannot return to the county.

 About this point, everyone understands and supports it.

After all, this rule is a Qin rule. After the Han Dynasty succeeded the Qin Dynasty, it perfected this rule. For hundreds of years, this official rule has always been there. However, it has been too chaotic in the past hundred years. This rule has become No one obeys anymore.

Especially during the Three Kingdoms period, the State of Wu was so big, where could they go to become officials?

It is for this historical reason that the current situation of powerful and powerful forces has developed.

Zhao Hanzhang used this rule as a transition, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed. Then she mentioned the methods of dealing with military power and civil rights in Jiangnan.

 There is no need to talk about military power. Her attitude is very tough. She changed the general and the general in charge of the garrison took over the military power.

She knew that most of the troops in the Jiangnan area were currently in the hands of Zhou Qi. It was impossible for him to hand over a hundred thousand troops in vain. Zhao Hanzhang was also willing to give him time. We will talk about this later. The most important thing is the latter one.

The life of the people in the south of the Yangtze River is not that good now. Seventy percent of the land currently cultivated in the south of the Yangtze River is in the hands of powerful gentry, 10% has been purchased by the gentry from the north of the Yangtze River, and the remaining 20% ​​of the land belongs to the people of the south of the Yangtze River.

 This group of Jiangnan people accounts for 90% of the total population in Jiangnan.

Except for a small number of rich peasants, the rest of the people had to rent land from powerful families and depend on them for survival.

Zhao Hanzhang's data is very detailed. She can report how many households, how many people there are in Lian Jiankang, and how much land per capita is there. Excluding the land owned by the rich and powerful, how many people they have per capita, and how many people need to rent land every year. come out.

As soon as this data came out, everyone turned to look at Director Wang.

 Director Wang:…

King Langya also looked at him in shock.

 Director Wang: Well, the data should be obtained from him, villain Yuan Li!

Zhao Hanzhang: "My heart aches because of the hardships faced by the people, so I am willing to redeem the land from you in the name of the imperial court and rent it to the people."

 No one believed what Zhao Hanzhang said.

 She wants to buy property in Jiangnan.

It's really shameless. If you want to buy land, you don't go to their managers, but directly force them to buy it.

However, no one was looking down on Zhao Hanzhang. After all, she just bought a few pieces of land and regarded it as a gift from them. If they build a good relationship, it will be easier for them to communicate with her in the future.

This banquet lasted until evening. Everyone ate from noon to evening and talked a lot. Zhao Hanzhang not only talked with Zhou Qi and others one by one, but also talked with the returning survivors.

She allowed them to return to their hometown and take back their ancestral home from the county government. As for the land, there was no need to think about it. It had been too long and the land had basically been redistributed.

But they can still be allocated fields. The law stipulates that they should receive the Koubufen and Yongye fields, and she will definitely let the county magistrates from various places give them a small amount.

Of course, as returning talents, they will also have some rewards, but now that the treasury is empty, the rewards will be owed for now.

Then, she chatted for a long time with the poor scholars who came to the banquet. After hearing their difficulties, she planned to ask the Yamen to clear out two houses in the capital and put rows of beds inside. Charcoal and water to survive the winter.

She encouraged them to take exams and take part in the talent recruitment exam, "It doesn't matter even if you fail the exam for a while. You have read poetry and books. Nowadays, there are many large and small schools. What is most lacking is a teacher. You can first find one in Luoyang and nearby places." Become a teacher in the school, teach and study at the same time, and you can take the exam again after two years when you have enough time."

In addition to being a teacher, there are many other professions you can pursue. Nowadays, there is a shortage of literate people all over the country.

 Alas, the illiteracy rate in the Jin Dynasty is still too high, and there are not many people who can read.

  Two chapters combined into one good night

 (End of this chapter)