usatvline Chapter 73 0071 [When One Person Attains Enlightenment, Even Their Chickens and Dogs Rise to Heaven]
Chapter 73 0071 [When One Person Attains Enlightenment, Even Their Chickens and Dogs Rise to Heaven]
Chapter 73 0071 [When One Achieves Enlightenment, Even His Chickens and Dogs Rise to Heaven]
The next day.
Yang Xun did not go to the grain transport office immediately; he wanted to go back to his hometown first to borrow low-interest loans from wealthy members of his clan.
Last year, I was conscripted into the government service and had no choice but to sell my land to raise money to avoid disaster.
This time, however, it's different.
He's become an official; it's a promising career, a worthwhile investment. His family members are willing to lend him money!
Yang Xun's social experience is far richer than his younger brother's.
He planned to use his own money to win over the soldiers who escorted the grain transport vessels. It wouldn't require too much money; he would simply interact with the soldiers regularly, eat and live with them, occasionally treat them to drinks, and help those in need at home.
During the process of escorting official salt, treat the laborers even better.
As long as the canal soldiers and laborers are united, they can withstand any obstacles others may create. He is acting under orders; anyone who dares to make the conflict public would be slapping Cai Kang and Chen Congyi in the face!
Yang Xun also carefully explained these principles to his younger brother, hoping that his brother could learn them when he became an official in the future.
"Your brother is very capable," Xu Lai commented with a smile.
Yang Shu said, "Actually, I understand these principles. My elder brother taught me them a long time ago."
Xu Lai asked curiously, "What kind of business did your brother do?"
Yang Shu said, "He had studied at the prefectural school before, but he could never get into the inner academy, let alone take the imperial examination. His family felt that he was not cut out for studying, so they sent him home to farm."
"Your brother is unwilling?" Xu Lai guessed.
"He definitely wouldn't want to," Yang Shu said in a low voice. "My brother, relying on his skill with a gun and a staff, changed his name and became a wandering knight-errant. He used to be even more stubborn than me, but then something happened and he went home and hid for a whole year. Since then, his temperament has changed drastically, and he has become very calm and composed."
Well, he's someone with a story to tell.
As the two were chatting, their roommate Wen Zhonghe ran back, holding a piece of paper in his hand, and said, "New forbidden characters have arrived. Quickly copy them into the appendix of the 'Rhyme Dictionary of the Ministry of Rites'."
Yang Shu leaned closer to take a look and said with a sigh of relief, "Luckily, my character 'Shu' is in the level tone, while the official's name is in the falling tone. Otherwise, I would have to change my name before taking the imperial examination."
With the new emperor's ascension to the throne, a whole host of prohibited words have been added to the list.
All words that sound or have the same tone as "曙" are prohibited, such as: 树, 署, 属, 赎, etc.
There were also some things that Xu Lai could never have imagined.
For example, the character "睹" in "睹睹" (dǔ) has a different pronunciation, but it is an alternate form of "曙" (shǔ). Therefore, it is also prohibited.
Xu Lai had a headache, but he had no choice but to copy it down. It couldn't appear in the imperial examination essays, nor could it appear in official documents in the future.
Trees should be written as wood!
How did the name "yam" come about?
It used to be called "shuyao" (薯药), but after Zhao Shu ascended the throne, it became "shanyao" (山药).
If I were to preside over the reforms in the future, once the overall situation is settled, I would change the rules regarding prohibited words as well. I would only prohibit identical characters, not homophones.
So, study hard!
Given the situation in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, it was impossible to conquer Kaifeng by force, so the only option was to take a military exam to enter Kaifeng.
Because he abhorred forbidden words, Xu studied even harder, striving to finish learning the Zuo Zhuan as soon as possible before studying the Book of Rites.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and mugwort and calamus were hung up at the entrance of the dormitory.
Dragon Boat Festival is here.
The other students all ran to the Pearl River to watch the dragon boat races, but Xu Lai didn't go to join the fun. The sun was blazing, so let whoever wanted to go go.
Yu Jing didn't send anyone to invite him to celebrate the festival, so Xu Lai felt embarrassed to visit him first and simply stayed in the dormitory to continue studying.
However, the mulberry scissors he invented began to spread during the Dragon Boat Festival.
A few days ago, Yu Jing summoned blacksmiths from Guangzhou to forge more than twenty mulberry shears, sending one to each of the prefects in Guangdong and another to each of the county magistrates in Guangzhou.
The mulberry shears are not expensive; a pair only costs a few dozen coins.
Therefore, the prefects were very enthusiastic about promoting mulberry shearing. After all, it didn't cost much, and they could both fulfill Lord Yu's task and gain a good reputation within their jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, in Qingyuan County, Magistrate Shen received the mulberry scissors and immediately ordered the blacksmith to make a copy.
Taking advantage of the official Dragon Boat Festival sacrificial ceremony, Shen Zhi summoned all the elders and heads of households in the county. After the ceremony, he said, "This item is called mulberry scissors, or wooden scissors. It was made by Xu Lai, a great talent of this county. The military commissioner, Lord Yu, greatly admires it and has specially ordered all prefectures and counties to promote its widespread use—"
The elders and village heads frowned, wondering what kind of trouble the magistrate was up to this time.
Taking advantage of the situation to make money?
Hey, that's not true at all. Magistrate Shen is giving away scissors for free.
This thing is cheap to make; he gave one to each head of household, so it didn't cost much in total.
He doesn't have many opportunities to boost his political achievements, but promoting agricultural tools is one of them.
"Someone, bring over the mulberry branches!" Shen Zhi shouted.
Two officials stepped forward, each carrying a bundle of mulberry branches.
Shen Zhi picked up a mulberry branch and snapped it off. Because there was no spring, he had to use his pinky to flick it before making the second cut.
It's not that convenient, but it's perfectly acceptable.
The elders and heads of households who were summoned by the county magistrate to perform the sacrificial ceremony almost all owned mulberry or lychee trees, and some mountainous areas even had tea trees.
They watched as the magistrate made a few quick snips, their expressions a mixture of surprise and delight.
An elder asked, "Commander Shen, what is the price of this item?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhi stood tall and proud beneath the altar, hands clasped behind his back: "Our county has always valued agriculture and sericulture, and now, thanks to Lord Yu's order, we will not charge a single coin. Each person can take a bunch home."
The elders and village heads showered him with compliments, and flattery poured in like a tidal wave.
Shen Zhi continued, "After you return to your hometowns, if any farmers come looking for these items and want to buy them, have them come to the county town to have them made. The blacksmiths in the county town have already learned how to make them; these mulberry shears were made by them. For villages farther from the county town, show them to the blacksmiths nearby and have them make copies to sell to the farmers!"
The elders readily agreed and happily stepped forward to receive the scissors.
Yu Shanyuan, as an advisor, was standing next to the county magistrate at this moment. He winked at one of the elders.
The elder immediately shouted, "Commander Shen is so compassionate towards the people that he has used his own salary to create this scissor to encourage farming. How can we farmers ignore such a selfless and noble act? I propose that each household donate money to erect a monument commemorating his virtuous governance!"
The elders thought to themselves: Well, they've come after all. I told you there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Out of respect for Sang Jian, they weren't too opposed this time. It was just erecting a monument to good governance; if everyone chipped in, the cost wouldn't be much, and they could even use the remaining construction funds for a meal.
This thing is really useful; it saves a lot of time when pruning trees.
Shen Zhi continued, "These scissors were invented by the great scholar Xu Lai. Do you remember Xu Lai? He's the Xu Sanlang who killed bandits and protected treasures. He's now a disciple of the military commissioner Yu Xiangong and the head of the Dafu Township. From now on, he must not harass Qingxi Village without cause!"
Did Xu Sanlang become Master Yu's disciple?
Several elders from Dafu Township felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.
Seeing this reaction, Shen Zhi couldn't help but laugh.
Promoting mulberry shearing is too easy; every county will definitely do it on a grand scale, so it's unlikely he'll stand out. But helping Xu Lai become famous is a different story.
Qingxi Village has benefited greatly, and Xu Lai will most likely have to reciprocate by saying a few good words for him to Master Yu later.
Hey.
After discussing the matter of the mulberry branches, Shen Zhi announced, "The sacrificial ceremony is over; now, let's begin the dragon boat race!"
The dragon boat race began soon.
Teams from various townships in the county set off from Yinshabu in dragon boats, racing to the south of the city to win the championship.
The riverbanks were lined with people, and as the gongs and drums sounded, shouts filled the air.
Yu Shanyuan looked at the dragon boat with a smile on his face, but his mind was on Xu Lai and Yang Shu.
Those two virtuous brothers are doing very well at the state school, while I have to serve this stupid county magistrate all day long.
He also planned to help the county magistrate reform the clerks, secretly collecting a large amount of information on them. Full of anticipation, he presented it to Shen Zhi as a suggestion, but Shen Zhi said, "The way of an official is to remain calm rather than act rashly. As long as the annual tax quota is collected, there is no need to worry about so many other things."
Upon hearing this, Yu Shanyuan wanted to kick Rui Shen.
In the Song Dynasty, local officials were considered competent if they collected 90% of the tax amount. This 90% had to be turned over to the public; any excess could be used as one pleased by the officials.
Generally speaking, the officials take the lion's share, and the rest is divided among the clerks.
If the county magistrate can't control the clerks, those clerks can be incredibly ruthless. Who knows how much they actually take? They deceive their superiors and subordinates, engaging in all sorts of corrupt practices, frantically lining their pockets and leaving the county magistrate with a bad reputation.
Yu Shanyuan couldn't help but look at Luo Jun beside him.
Luo Jun is a newly arrived acting county magistrate of Qingyuan, concurrently serving as acting registrar. He is from Duanzhou, Guangdong. He is a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination) and has only been an acting official for a few years.
Seemingly sensing Yu Shanyuan's gaze, Luo Jun turned his head and smiled at him.
Then, they both gave a wry smile.
Not far away, Chen Han, the richest man in Qingyuan County, was watching the dragon boat race, one of the bidding teams being sponsored by him.
How did Shen Zhi know that Yu Jing had taken Xu Lai as his disciple?
It was Chen Yanhong who wrote the letter to Chen Han, and Chen Han then "accidentally" told the county magistrate.
"good!"
Old Master Chen suddenly shouted, jumping up despite his advanced age.
The team he sponsored won the championship.
This time he spent a lot of money to hire the best boatmen from the Tanka tribe, and also had some members of the Chen family help out.
Rounding down, it can still be considered that the Chen family's son won the championship.
The elders from Dafu Township, however, had little interest in watching the dragon boat races and had already secretly instructed their servants to go home and deliver a message.
Before noon, people were already heading to Qingxi Village with gifts.
"Woof woof woof!"
The guard dog kept barking.
The able-bodied men in the village gradually made their way to the village entrance, carrying various farm tools as weapons.
The visitor quickly introduced himself and then said with a fawning smile, "I've come to deliver a gift to Xu Sanlang's family for the Dragon Boat Festival."
Xu Yongnian also arrived, looking confused, and asked, "Are you sending gifts to my family?"
"Is this Xu Sanlang's father?"
The visitor exclaimed with exaggerated expression, "Your son is truly remarkable! He's only been in Guangzhou for a few months, and Master Yu has already taken him on as a disciple. He's brought honor to Dafu Township and to our Qingyuan County!"
No sooner had this person finished speaking than another group of people arrived from outside the village.
They're here to give gifts too.
They had bullied Qingxi Village for years, and when they heard that Xu Lai had become Yu Jing's disciple, they quickly came to apologize and offer money to clear up the "misunderstanding".
One of them even declared in public: "If my family is ever assigned to be a village scribe, we will absolutely not assign any service to Qingxi Village."
The villagers looked at each other in disbelief.
Will I not be bullied anymore?
Xu An turned to his mother and said, "Mom, Sanlang has made something of himself!"
"Good, good, good—" Bu Erniang could only laugh.
She laughed and then cried. If Sanlang had been more successful earlier, her Dalang would definitely not have died.
One moment she was happy, the next she was sad; Bu Erniang stood there with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.
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