Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 342 Thousand Characters

As the monk most trusted by Xiao Yan, there was naturally no obstacle for Bian Ji to ask Xiao Yan for the "Thousand Character Classic". Xiao Yan very generously gave Bian Ji the original copy written by Zhou Xingsi in the royal treasury and allowed him to go home and copy it.

After Bian Ji finished copying the Thousand Character Classic, he sent it to Su Ze, who then gave it to the woodblock engraver Su Ke (a stone engraver who was able to draw inferences from one instance to another) to make the woodblocks.

When Su Cho saw the Thousand Character Classic with the scent of ink, he was shocked beyond words. When they heard that he was going to use the Thousand Character Classic to teach disabled retired veterans to read, the scholars in the shogun's office wanted to object, but they couldn't say anything to object.

According to Su Ze's arrangement, those veterans who were disabled and retired on the battlefield and have good conduct can be appointed as the three leaders.

As the three most basic leaders, they are the most basic tentacles of the entire court, and literacy is the most basic requirement.

Therefore, the three leaders in many places were often sons of noble families.

However, a position like Sanchang requires going deep into the countryside, which ordinary sons of the gentry are unwilling to do.

In the past, the more outstanding sons of the aristocratic families would go to Luoyang to serve as officials. At the very least, they would seek to become an important official or general.

Therefore, Su Ze only took away the unhealthy positions of the Three Chiefs, which the scholars were not willing to take, and the gentry did not object too strongly.

But for Su Ze, teaching disabled retired soldiers to read and write is of course only the first step.

These soldiers who were injured on the battlefield could be granted sufficient amounts of land because of their merits. If they served as the three heads of the countryside, they would basically become rich farmers in the local area.

For these people, who have been injured on the battlefield and experienced the hardships of fighting, they would definitely prefer their children to study.

The "Thousand Character Classic" given to them at this time can become the enlightenment teaching material for them to educate their children.

When this generation grows up, Su Ze can open schools in the prefectures and counties to enroll these enlightened children from farming families. The outstanding ones can then be selected and sent to Chongwen Pavilion, thus effectively cultivating scholars.

Ten years of trees, a hundred years of trees.

Su Ze does not need to grow trees for a hundred years. He only needs to grow trees for ten years. By cultivating a group of scholars who are loyal to him, he can check and balance those aristocratic families.

The troubled times are coming, and the military group and the emerging landlords under the equal-field system are the two cards that Su Ze uses to suppress the powerful aristocrats.

The rise of these two groups will inevitably break the monopoly of knowledge by the aristocracy.

Look at his subordinates again. The Su brothers, Wei Xiaokuan and Wang Sizheng are all from aristocratic families. Aren’t they also working for him?

The so-called interest group is just a general concept, but in fact it is not a closely connected group. The scholars of this period have experienced the massacre of the Five Barbarians, which is the low point in history.

Some scholars can be won over, some scholars can be bribed. In short, dividing the scholar groups and recruiting the elites among them to serve under one's own command is what Su Ze has been doing.

Su Ze thought of something else and said to Su Chao:

"What do Longxi Li say? Are there any suitable women?"

Yesterday, Princess Chenliu talked about her matchmaking for Hou Jing again. His wife planned to introduce a legitimate daughter of the Longxi Li family to Hou Jing. It was said that the Li girl was related to Su Cho's wife, so Princess Chenliu asked Su Ze to entrust Su Cho to inquire about the attitude of the Longxi Li family.

Su Chao said with some headache:
"In fact, this Li girl is now in Yongle City. Her father once assisted his subordinates in building Yongle City, and now he is a doctor in the Ministry of Public Works."

"Oh, the direct descendant of the Longxi Li family is actually willing to work in the Ministry of Works?"

In the eyes of the gentry, civil service positions close to the center of power are noble and beautiful positions, but civil engineering jobs like those in the Ministry of Works, which involve dealing with construction sites all day long, are dirty positions that everyone avoids.

Su Cho said:

"This Doctor Li Gou is quite interested in construction methods. I heard that many of the Li family's fortresses in Longxi were built under his supervision."

Su Ze secretly wrote down the name. He was from the noble family of Longxi Li clan, but was willing to deal with civil engineering. This was a talent!

"This girl from the Li family is in Yongle City. She often visits my wife. However, she is proud and arrogant. She has been determined since she was young to marry only a hero."

Su Ze said playfully:
"So this Li girl thinks Hou Jing is not a hero?"

Su Cho nodded helplessly.

In fact, Hou Jing's birth was too low. The legitimate daughter of Li was from a noble family with the surname Jia, and could intermarry with the royal family. If she married a wild monkey from the Six Garrisons, she would probably be ridiculed by other nobles.

Li Gou was Su Cho's old subordinate, and the Li family's daughter was dating his wife, so he didn't have the heart to make things difficult for the Li family.

Su Ze did not change his expression, he asked back:
"Does Li Gou have only one daughter?"

Su Cho said:

"This daughter is the only legitimate daughter. There are two illegitimate daughters."

"That's easy. Tell Li Gou to choose one of his two concubines to marry Hou Jing."

Su Cho thought about it and thought that if he was just marrying a concubine's daughter, Longxi Li should not object. If she still objected, it would be shameless.

Su Chuo nodded and said:
"I will ask my wife to go back and tell her now." Su Ze said again:
"So Li Gou is good at construction?"

Su Chao nodded.

Su Ze said again:
"If all the grain from various places is transported to Yongle City, it will be wasted. I plan to build granaries in Jincheng (Lanzhou) in Hezhou and Hanzhong City in Liangzhou. In the future, grain and grass from nearby prefectures and counties will be transported to these official granaries."

"At the same time, a department was set up in the Shogun's office to be responsible for the construction of granaries, the transportation of grain and the supervision of the granaries."

Su Chao's eyes lit up, as he had seen the Six Towns Fire Dragon burning the warehouse in the past.

There is no telling how many rats and termites are living in the granaries where grain is stored in these states and counties, and no telling how much water there is in the stored grain.

Setting up granaries directly under the jurisdiction of the Shogunate can indeed better ensure food security.

This job is a tough one, but with General Su's character, as long as he does the job well, he will be rewarded and have a future. Is this the sweet reward that General Su gave to Longxi Li after forcing her into marriage?

In this way, Li Gou could no longer refuse Hou Jing's marriage proposal.

Su Chao was even more impressed in his heart that General Su's skills were becoming more and more mature.

Now, every move and gesture of Su Ze was filled with the unfathomable power of a superior. Even a close junior brother like Su Chao couldn't help but feel nervous when facing Su Ze, not to mention those newly promoted officials.

Su Cho returned home and told his wife about this matter. Su Cho's wife rushed to Li Gou's house overnight and finally arranged the marriage between Li's concubine's daughter and Hou Jing.

When Hou Jing heard the last news that Longxi Li was willing to marry her daughter to him, he was already ecstatic!

Hou Jing didn't care at all about legitimate daughters or illegitimate daughters.

The key point is that this is the Longxi Li family! It is the top Jia family in the world!

When he was in the Six Garrisons, Hou Jing also boasted after drinking that he would marry a rich and noble lady when he became rich, but after drinking, he only thought about the daughters of the military commanders in the military garrisons.

I didn't expect that after following Su Ze for so many years, I would be able to marry a girl from the Li family!
Hou Jing went to the Su Ze couple's house in person to express his gratitude. Princess Chenliu saw Hou Jing's winking eyes and was quite fond of her husband, a monkey-like general. She even gave him an embroiderer and the fabric for his wedding dress.

Hou Jing knelt on the ground and expressed his gratitude to Princess Chenliu with such a pious attitude that Su Ze even suspected that he wanted to acknowledge her as his godmother on the spot.

Just as Hou Jing was happily preparing for his wedding, two inspectors, Su Wen (a cruel official who spoke out rumors) and Su Renjie (a judicial official who solved cases like a god), went to Liangzhou with orders from the Government Affairs Hall to investigate the land taxes in two counties.
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In the third year of Xiaochang, March, Lingqiu.

After nearly a month of wrangling, the expeditionary commander-in-chief Yuan Shen finally received an order from the court allowing him to send troops to attack Ge Rong.

But by March, Ge Rong had already annexed Xianyu Xiuli's former subordinates and had long missed the best opportunity to attack.

However, the military supervisor who had previously refused to allow Yuan Shen to send troops now urged Yuan Shen to do so every day. In addition, because Yuan Shen was unwilling to send troops, the military supervisor wrote a letter to impeach Yuan Shen for ignoring the court's order to attack and harboring enemies in Lingqiu.

There was also Yang Yu, the governor of Dingzhou, who stationed his troops in Wulu. He had too few soldiers under his command. Although he killed Yuwen and his son with an ambush, he still had no chance to receive support from Yuan Shen.

After Ge Rong had digested it, he ordered Yuwen Luosheng to lead his troops to attack Wulu.

Yuwen Luosheng was filled with hatred for the murder of his father and brother, and the soldiers he led were more elite than Yang Yu's. Yang Yu was defeated at the first blow and had to retreat again, giving up the territory he had captured last time.

Yang Yu suffered a great defeat and took out his anger on Yuan Shen. On the one hand, he wrote a letter urging Yuan Shen to send troops, and on the other hand, he wrote a letter to the court to impeach Yuan Shen for missing the opportunity to fight.

At this point, Yuan Shen had no choice but to raise an army. The only good news was that Yanzhou Governor Yuan Yanming also led an army to attack Jizhou from the south, which could tie down some of the rebel forces.

However, the situation on Ge Rong's side is not so optimistic either.

After all, Yuan Shen was a famous figure, and he led the court's elite troops, so Ge ​​Rong had no confidence of winning.

And when Yuan Yanming attacked from Yanzhou, he also had to send troops to defend.

Ge Rong convened a military meeting to discuss how to deal with the government troops.

Naturally, we have to do our best to fight Yuan Shen, and Ge Rong must lead the troops personally. The main topic of discussion this time is the selection of the troops to defend against Yuan Yanming.

This is obviously a bad job.

Yuan Yanming was also a famous general among the Northern Wei royal family. He had defeated many rebel armies that marched southward in Yanzhou.

This time he came with great force. He captured the ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River in one day, and captured two cities within three days. He had already established a firm foothold on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Moreover, Yuan Yanming could attack and defend. As long as he crossed the Yellow River, the rebel army that rushed there would return empty-handed.

It would be better to follow Ge Rong and fight Yuan Shen, at least you can get some military merit.

But as soon as the military meeting started, Gao Huan stood out and said:

"Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Jizhou and stop Yuan Yanming!"

(End of this chapter)