Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 426 The storm is coming

Xun You, who served as the governor of Henan and the prefect of Henei, hated these nobles who were trying to curry favor with them even more than Xun Yue, but he had to entertain them. Two years of flattery made the already taciturn Xun Gongda even more silent.

But suddenly a clerk came to report something, which made his face change drastically, and the bamboo slips he picked up fell on the table.

"Oh!"

Without even bothering to pick up the bamboo slips, Xun You immediately stood up and asked anxiously, "Has anyone called a doctor? Why did Lord Kang Cheng suddenly become seriously ill? Did he catch a cold?"

The secretary also answered anxiously with his hands clasped, "Reporting to Lord Xun, a doctor has gone to treat him and given him some medicine, but Lord Kang Cheng is still getting worse. Two hours later, Imperial Physician Hua went to diagnose him and finally shook his head and sighed: The disease came too fast and there is no way to save him. Perhaps Lord Zheng only has two or three days left."

Upon hearing Hua Yuanhua say that Duke Kang Cheng was at the point where no medicine could cure him, Xun You fell silent for a long time, saying nothing, and finally lowered his head and sighed.

In the past two years, Liu Yao, Liu Dai and Zhang Xian died of illness one after another, and Zhang Jian almost died of illness. Fortunately, he was saved by Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Yuanhua.

The emperor also issued an imperial edict to send Guo Jia, Chen Deng and others to the imperial physician's office in Luoyang for recuperation.

Then the emperor issued an imperial edict to inform the prefects and county magistrates in various places to pay attention to drinking water and typhoid fever. If they were extremely weak or seriously ill, they could report to the court to send medical officials to treat the disease. County affairs could be entrusted to senior officials such as Gongcao and Zhubu.

Since the empire was first settled, plagues have occasionally broken out in various counties, but fortunately, the scope of the outbreak is small, and the symptoms come and go quickly.

When His Majesty learned of the situation, he added another medical school in Luoyang, and gave it equal importance to the Imperial College and the Agricultural College. They were known as the Three Universities of Kyoto by people all over the world. The doctors and chief priests there taught almost the same things, but with different emphases.

"Life has an end, how can anyone live forever? It's a pity that Lord Kang Cheng will not see the day when the "Han Ji" is completed..."

Xun You put away the sadness in his heart, raised his sleeve to wipe his eyes, and said to the secretary: "Let's go and see the great scholar of the time."

"I wonder how many years it will take for a great Confucian scholar like Duke Zheng to appear in the world... a master who has mastered all the ancient and modern scriptures."

By the time Xun You arrived at the courtyard where Zheng Xuan lived in Luoyang, many officials and scholars had already gathered in groups of three or five, all of them with worried looks on their faces and sad brows.

More and more scholars came upon hearing the news, but they could not squeeze in, so they had to surround the courtyard and stand outside waiting for news.

Everyone lowered their heads and spoke in low voices, not daring to speak loudly.

A scholar happened to look up and saw Xun You, and immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Xun!"

Xun You immediately returned the greeting and sighed, "No need for courtesy, everyone. We are all here to save Kang Chenggong's life. I have ordered my subordinates to bring water on a cart to quench your thirst."

"We would like to thank Lord Xun first!"

Many Confucian scholars had been thirsty after staying for a long time, but were too embarrassed to leave to drink water. When they heard what Lord Xun said, they could not help but feel happy and immediately bowed to express their gratitude.

Xun You nodded all the way and entered the courtyard with green tiles and white walls. He saw many famous Confucian scholars such as Taifu Lu Zhi, Zhang Jian, Zhao Qi, Xun Yue, Hua Xin, etc. standing outside the house waiting quietly.

Upon asking, he learned that in addition to Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Yuanhua who had arrived early, other doctors known as good doctors in the Imperial Physician's Office were also in the house treating Lord Kang Cheng.

Lu Zhi saw Xun You coming and led him to a corner of the courtyard. He sighed and said, "How many years have passed? People live to be a hundred, and seventy is rare. Kang Cheng lived to be over seventy, which can be considered a long life. There is no need for us to feel sad for him. Everyone will grow old and die one day."

"At fifty, one knows the will of heaven. After knowing the will of heaven, one gets older and weaker every day. However, if one can accomplish great things, then the fate of life and death cannot be explained. Gongda, please do not feel sad about this..."

After Lu Zhi arrived, he had already comforted many people. Seeing Xun You coming to visit Zheng Xuan, he took him to a corner to comfort him.

In fact, as early as the end of last year, Zheng Xuan had already vaguely felt that his health was about to fail, and he wrote a letter to the emperor to explain the situation, saying that he was no longer able to preside over the compilation of the Han Dynasty Records, and perhaps he would not be able to see the prosperous scene of no dogs barking in the Han hometown. Fortunately, he had seen the revival of the Han Dynasty, and it was his disciples who risked their lives to complete it. Just this one point made him die without regrets, and his wish in this life was enough.

After Zheng Xuan finished writing the letter tremblingly, he found his old friend Lu Zhi and told him bluntly that he might die.

Lu Zhi had arrived in high spirits, but when he heard Zheng Xuan's sudden words, his face immediately became gloomy and he almost wanted to curse.

But Zheng Xuan's next words blocked all his thoughts in his heart. He only saw the other party gasping and saying: "Zi Gan, I have written a letter to inform Your Majesty that the compilation of the Han Dynasty Records is entrusted to you. Please don't let me down."

"If I die suddenly, you must comfort and care for all the visitors who come to visit me, so that we will not let down our friendship for so many years!"

This was the reason why Lu Zhi took over Zheng Xuan's instructions and suppressed his sadness to entertain everyone.

If he didn't comfort the visitors for his old friend, who else could use his status as a great scholar to comfort everyone? He was naturally sad, but the sadness did not come from today, but from the day he heard the news and cried loudly when he returned home.

After hearing this, Xun You looked at Lord Lu who was comforting him, bowed and said, "I am fine, and I hope you take care of yourself. The affairs of the world will be entrusted to you."

Without being explained, Lu Zhi already understood what Xun You was hiding.

Since scientific examinations were promoted throughout the country, they have aroused discussions in many places.

In particular, the nobles in Jingzhou, Yizhou, Yangzhou, Youzhou and Bingzhou, as well as the wealthy families with a rank of two thousand stones, were all discussing the matter enthusiastically.

In the end, there is only one opinion. We could have recommended filial and honest people to be officials, and at most we could have waited two or three more years. Why should we now compete with the local gentry in remote areas for official positions?
One must also pass four examinations at the township, county, prefecture and capital levels before becoming an official.

Their clan has produced many people with the rank of two thousand stones, which is much better than those who come from county and township nobles and can only become county or state officials at best.

Why should they let their children compete with ordinary wealthy families in examinations?
As the noble families with the rank of 2,000 stones began to discuss, some of the gentry who had annotated classics at home could not help but speak out. The classics of the sages collected in their homes did not cover a wide range of topics, but the subjects they examined were numerous.

The strategies for governing a country and the six arts of Confucianism are both within the scope of the examination. You can't just borrow classics from someone else's house to learn, right?

Someone could not help but retort: ​​"The imperial court has already had imperial edicts. You don't need to be proficient in these, as long as you can apply them to the world."

The nobles who had stored countless annotations of their ancestors were immediately furious and scolded, "You young man, you don't understand the classics of the ancient sages. If you don't study them carefully for a lifetime and only seek a rough understanding, how can you govern the world well?"

"Shut up, young man! Don't say anything more!"

Faced with such a situation, Zheng Xuan, relying on his status as a great Confucian scholar of the time, personally wrote letters to various clans to give heartfelt persuasion, and invited some clan leaders and family leaders to Luoyang, and set up a stage outside the city to argue with the other party. Only then was the resistance of clans in various places to the investigation gradually suppressed.

Now that Zheng Xuan is suddenly ill, I am afraid that the gentry and wealthy families in various places will once again begin to dislike the imperial examinations.

That's why Xun You thought that the heavy burden fell on Lu Zhi, and hoped that the Grand Tutor would replace Kang Chenggong as the connecting bridge.

Otherwise, if things develop to the end, I am afraid that war will break out...

"It can be said that the storm is coming!"

Xun You's gaze passed through the courtyard, as if he saw Guanzhong in the distance. He wondered how the imperial court, which had now been able to free up its hands, would curb the Guandong gentry. He only hoped that there would be less bloodshed.

(End of this chapter)