Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 63 Langguan's First Day

The Shangshu Tai, which developed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, would form the Shangshu Province in the Tang Dynasty. The six ministries under the jurisdiction of the Shangshu Province could be roughly called the Six Caos during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han.

The head of the Six Ministries was called Shangshu, and together with Shangshu Ling and Shangshu Pushe, they were collectively known as "Eight Seats". They had the power to "issue the king's orders and govern the country", and were in charge of the main government affairs of the court.

The Kecao to which Zhang Yu was assigned was similar to the Ministry of Rites in later generations. It was responsible for managing affairs of ethnic minorities and foreign countries, and was in charge of protecting the emperor's court.

Because it was near the end of the year, the Shangshu Tai was busy with the year-end audit and needed people to share the pressure. So the next day after the notification of passing the test, the Xiaolian who passed the test was sent to the Shangshu Tai.

On that day, when the sky was just beginning to brighten, Zhang Yu, led by Wang Gai, rode in a carriage with him to the palace.

Why did they go to the palace? Because the Shangshutai had not yet been separated from the Shaofu. Therefore, the officials of the Shangshutai had to work in the palace. Also, because they were in charge of the affairs in the palace, the Shangshutai was within the influence of the eunuch group.

In the carriage, Zhang Yu held the carriage rail and asked, "I wonder where your brother works?"

"Two thousand stone Cao is in charge of litigation and legal affairs."

Wang Gai said, "Although the guest department is one of the six departments, it is much less busy than the three ministerial departments and the personnel department. After you enter the court today, don't make decisions on your own. Listen more and learn more, so as not to cause trouble and displease the minister."

"promise!"

The Three Dukes' Cao was in charge of state and county affairs at the end of the year, and the Personnel Department's Cao was in charge of official elections and sacrifices. One can imagine how busy they were at the end of the year.

Although the above two Caos are more powerful than other Caos, they have nothing to do with Shangshu Lang, because the position of Shangshutai is extremely scarce, and it is difficult to stay unless there is a person with great power, such as Yuan Shu. Most of the Xiaolian will be sent to serve in local areas after the assessment period.

Although Zhang Yu didn't know why Wang Gai was able to stay in the Secretariat and even get the position of Vice Minister, he believed that Wang Hong and Wang Yun must have put in a lot of effort.

Soon, with the permission of the gate guard, Wang Gai and Zhang Yu walked to the Shangshu Terrace. Under Wang Gai's guidance, Zhang Yu saw the pavilion belonging to the Kecao at a glance.

Before leaving, Wang Gai suddenly asked, "Do you know Cai Yong?"

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "When Master Cai was exiled to Shuofang, my father led his troops to escort him for a while, so I had some contact with him."

"It's good to know!"

Wang Gai lowered his voice and said, "When Cai Yong was a counselor, he secretly submitted a memorial to Your Majesty. When Your Majesty was in the toilet, the memorial was seen by Cao Jie, who was furious and imprisoned him. If it weren't for Lü Qiang's words and help, Cai Yong would have died in prison. Now that you are in charge of the Shangshutai, there are many eunuchs around you, so don't talk too much about state affairs."

"Remember my brother's reminder!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu was instantly shocked. The saying that a king who is not discreet will lose his ministers actually came true to Cai Yong. Moreover, this incident highlighted the fact that the eunuchs had such a huge influence in the palace that even the secret memorials submitted to the emperor could be blatantly spied on by the eunuchs when he was not paying attention.

Although Cao Jie was the leader of the previous eunuchs, we can understand from a glimpse of the situation that the Ten Attendants headed by Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang were not much less powerful.

After parting with Wang Gai, Zhang Yu climbed the stairs and entered the palace.

When Zhang Yu entered the pavilion, he was delighted to meet Zhong Yao, who was also assigned to the Guest Department. He was standing nearby, and it was unknown what he was waiting for.

"Brother Yuan Chang!"

"Jian!"

Because they were in an unfamiliar environment, Zhang and Zhong became more enthusiastic when they saw each other.

Zhong Yao asked happily: "After parting with Duan, Yao thought it would be difficult to see Ji'an again, but he never thought he would meet Ji'an again in the guest house."

"Do you know where Yongning is going?" Zhang Yu asked.

Zhong Yao pointed to a pavilion opposite and said with a little envy: "Yongning is a member of the Yuan family. He has a long history with the Shangshu of Zhongdu Cao, so he was appointed to Zhongdu Cao."

Zhongdu Cao was in charge of fire, water, and thieves, and was not a busy department either. Zhong Yao's envy might be due to Yuan Mi's background. After all, Yuan Mi's work in the Shangshutai would be particularly smooth if he had a history with the Shangshu of Zhongdu Cao.

Zhang Yu looked around and saw that there were about 20 to 30 people in the hall, including them, so he asked, "What's going on?"

Zhong Yao whispered, "Wait for Lingshi and Shilang to come and give instructions. You and I can stay together so that we can take care of each other in the future."

"good!"

Zhang Yu nodded and said with a smile, "I am lucky to be able to work with Yuan Chang in the guest department. I have little experience as an official, so I hope Yuan Chang can help me in the future."

"Easy to do!"

In the Ministry of Personnel, the Shangshu is the top leader, and the Lingshi is his deputy. The Shilang reports directly to the Shangshu and cooperates with the Lingshi. The Shangshulang is the person who does the work and is responsible for handling specific affairs.

Interns like Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao were like cattle and horses. During the busiest time of the year, filial and honest people from the local areas would be recruited to share the pressure of the officials in the ministry.

When the assessment period is over, the busiest time is over, and those who pass the assessment will be sent out. This cycle repeats every year, which is considered to allow the Xiaolian to adapt to work and life in advance.

Of course, sometimes because official positions are in short supply, not all filial and honest people have the opportunity to hold official positions. It still depends on their performance during the internship.

After chatting for a while, as everyone was waiting, Lingshi came with three assistant ministers.

The clerk said a few nonsense words in an official tone, and then, because of the urgent need for work, he asked the five assistant ministers to take away a group of filial and honest people each.

Zhang Yu, Zhong Yao and five others were taken away by a minister named Deng, who called himself Deng Guang. From his Nanyang accent, we can tell that he was from Nanyang.

Deng Guang was a kind person. In a gentle tone, he introduced the work content of the guest department to the five people and reminded them of the things to pay attention to during the assessment period.

After taking Zhang, Zhong and the other five people on a tour of the guest palace, Deng Guang assigned them corresponding miscellaneous tasks, such as carrying tribute goods from the four barbarians or sorting out the tribute process. As for Zhong Yao, he was assigned to sort out the matters of the court ceremony.

Perhaps it was because they knew in advance that Zhang Yu was proficient in Xianbei language, so Zhang Yu was sent by Deng Guang to deal with the Hu people, which aroused the envy of everyone. After all, communicating with the envoys who came to pay tribute was nothing more than a waste of words, unlike them who needed to run around and do hard work. Zhang Yu was arranged to deal with the Hu people, and on the same day he followed the clerk surnamed Li to meet the tribute-paying Dai County Wuhuan.

Because they belonged to the same Donghu ethnic group, and although the grassland was vast, its language was quite single, so there was almost no difference between the Xianbei language and the Wuhuan language. There was no problem for Zhang Yu to serve as an auxiliary translator.

However, the level of Assistant Minister Liu who assisted in the interpretation was really average. When he encountered difficult words or phrases, he stuttered and his words were not able to express his meaning clearly.

"Minister!"

In order to save Liu Shilang's face, Zhang Yu leaned close to Liu Shilang's ear and said in a weak voice: "dγa means book. The Wuhuan people want us to give them some books on doctors and craftsmen!"

Minister Liu glanced at Zhang Yu, then lowered his head and translated it again to Li Lingshi.

Upon hearing that the Wuhuan in Dai County wanted to learn books on crafts, Li Lingshi's expression changed slightly and he said, "The law says that doctors and craftsmen cannot be taught. Our dynasty is kind and willing to teach Confucianism and give back food and cloth according to the specifications."

Obviously, the Eastern Han Dynasty was very clear that the basis for the Han people's victory over the Hu people was their technological advantage. They used sturdy armor, sharp weapons, and super-long bow and crossbow range to maintain the combat capability of individual Han soldiers.

After Minister Liu translated it, the Wuhuan leader showed regret, but he had no choice but to accept it.

After some conversation, the Wuhuan people in Dai County presented two thousand horses as tribute to the Eastern Han court, and the court rewarded them with food rations, ironware, and cloth according to the specifications.

In Zhang Yu's opinion, if calculated by market price, Wuhuan would have a better deal. But Zhang Yu could actually understand that the Wuhuan in Dai County had the military mission of guarding the frontier, and the court had to provide a certain amount of military expenses to maintain the border defense system outside Youzhou.

At the same time, from the perspective of cavalry, the Eastern Han Dynasty's military system was mainly composed of Hu servants, unlike the Western Han Dynasty which developed large-scale cavalry. Therefore, the Eastern Han Dynasty's horse policy did not continue the Western Han Dynasty's policy of large-scale horse breeding, but adopted a policy of obtaining horses through multiple channels, and tribute was the main channel for the source of war horses.

Because he helped Minister Liu, Minister Liu kept Zhang Yu with him all day long, and his speech and expression were much kinder than before.

After sending away the Wuhuan in Dai County, Zhang Yu, due to his low status, was not qualified to participate in high-level meetings, so he was sent to a corner to rest.

But Zhang Yu was happy to have some free time, so he took some time to visit Zhong Yao and help with some manual work.

It was not until almost the end of get off work time that Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao were called by Deng Guang to have lunch.

The custom of government canteens actually existed very early. In the pre-Qin period, because there was no salary system, the monarch would provide meals for his subjects. However, as the Qin Dynasty implemented the salary system, the monarch abolished the tradition of providing meals, unless the monarch took the initiative to provide meals.

During the Han Dynasty, the system of government canteens was restored, but those who could eat in the government canteen (Taigong) had to be officials with a salary of 800 shi or above, basically high-ranking officials in the central government. Ordinary officials had to bring their own meals.

During the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, Yao Song, a palace official, was on duty at the Shangshutai. As his family was poor and he did not have any supper to bring, he had to eat on bamboo mats when he was extremely hungry and thirsty. When Emperor Ming of Han saw Yao Song doing this during his night patrol, he granted the Shangshu and other officials two public meals a day, and this became a custom.

I never ate in a government canteen in my previous life, but in this life I ate in a more upscale central government canteen.

Because Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao arrived earlier, they occupied the table in advance and ate face to face. Many filial and honest people who arrived later had to carry the lacquer boxes distributed by the Imperial Palace back to the palace to eat, and then return the lacquer boxes to the Imperial Palace.

Zhong Yao was eating rice and suddenly smiled, saying, "I heard that the food in the Imperial Palace is delicious. I tasted it today and it is indeed as people said."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Then you should eat more. If you are sent out from now on, I don't know when you can eat the food of the Imperial Palace again."

Zhong Yao nodded and sighed, then buried his head in his meal.

Following the principle of not talking while eating, everyone in the Imperial Palace was very quiet, with only the sounds of people enjoying their meals and whispers.

When Zhang Yu was about to finish his meal, a man suddenly ran into the Imperial Palace and shouted to the people who were having the meal, taking a deep breath.

"Good news!"

"General Huangfu first defeated Zhang Liang in Guangzong, captured 30,000 heads and more than 50,000 prisoners. Now he has defeated Zhang Bao in Quyang, capturing more than 100,000 prisoners. Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao were beheaded, and the Yellow Turbans in Hebei have been pacified."

"General Zhu broke through Wancheng, beheaded Han Zhong and Sun Xia, captured more than 10,000 people, and captured more than 100,000 people. Now the Yellow Turbans in Jingzhou have been pacified!"

Upon hearing the news that the Yellow Turbans had been suppressed, the atmosphere in the Imperial Palace first became heavy, and then erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

Zhang Yu raised his head and looked around. Not only were the officials of the Secretariat cheering excitedly, but even Zhong Yao looked quite excited.

The crowd did not celebrate for long before another attendant came over and said loudly, "Your Majesty changed the reign title to Zhongping. All officials at all levels of the Secretariat will be rewarded. Tomorrow they will have a day off to celebrate the defeat of the moth bandits."

"Long live your Majesty!"

"Long live your Majesty!"

With the reward, the celebration in the Imperial Palace became more enthusiastic. Someone took the lead in shouting "Long live the emperor", which led many people to respond.

When Zhang Yu heard the word "Zhongping", a look of astonishment appeared on his face. It turned out that the Yellow Turbans rose up in the first year of Zhongping. Because the Yellow Turbans were suppressed, it was called Zhongping!

"Ji'an, the moth thieves have been defeated, and your majesty has changed the reign title. This is a great joyous event!"

Zhong Yao took Zhang Yu's hand and laughed.

"Yes!"

"Perhaps the world will be at peace because of this!"

Zhang Yu smiled meaningfully and said.

The first year of Zhongping has arrived!

A bigger storm is coming!
(End of this chapter)