Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 65: Advice
Shortly after meeting Sun Jian, the time moved to the second year of Zhongping.

By New Year's Day, although the battle situation in Longxi had become deteriorating and the soldiers of Liangzhou were struggling to confront the rebels in the northwest, the city of Luoyang was still decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, the streets were bustling with people, and children were running around in the alleys playing drums, as if the chaos in Liangzhou had nothing to do with Luoyang.

Since it was Zhang Yu's first time to celebrate the Spring Festival away from home, he specially invited Sun Zi, who was studying at the Imperial College, to the palace for a gathering.

It has been a year since Sun Zi and I parted at Dalu Mountain.

When Zhang Yu first arrived in Luoyang, he missed his classmate Sun Zi. However, due to his busy official duties and Sun Zi's heavy academic workload, the two did not spend much time together.

When the two met for the first time, Sun Zi was shocked at first and then delighted when he learned that Zhang Yu and Wang Ji were engaged. He had persuaded Zhang Yu to marry Wang Ji purely for the sake of giving it a try, and he himself did not have high expectations. However, Zhang Yu really married Wang Ji, which was beyond his expectations.

But what made Sun Zi even happier was that although Zhang Yu was gradually showing his talents and they had been separated for a long time, he still remembered him when he came to Luoyang. Therefore, in recent months, Sun Zi and Zhang Yu would invite each other, and Zhang Yu even introduced Sun Zi to Zhong Yao and Yuan Mi.

Zhong and Yuan did not reject Sun Zi, who came from a poor family but had outstanding literary skills. Instead, they received him warmly, which made Sun Zi even more grateful to Zhang Yu.

Now that he knew that Zhang Yu had invited him to spend the Spring Festival with him, Sun Zi bought a gift from the market and, driven by Zhang Feng, went to the palace to pay New Year's greetings.

Since Sun Zi was recommended by Wang Hong, he had been in contact with the brothers Wang Chen and Wang Gai for a long time, but they were not very familiar with each other. When the two Wangs learned that Zhang Yu intended to invite Sun Zi, they naturally welcomed this fellow countryman.

The mansion was bustling with laughter everywhere. Several people sat in the hall, burning incense, drinking tea and discussing matters.

Although Wang Gai is not the oldest person, his tone is more serious because he has been hanging out in the Shangshu Terrace for many years.

"How is Ji'an doing in the guest quarters?" Wang Gai asked.

Zhang Yu drank a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Because I know the Hu language, Cao Zhong often uses me when communicating with the three Hu tribes, Xianbei, Xiongnu and Wuhuan. If there were no tribute from the three Hu tribes, I would take care of some trivial matters. Liu and Deng, the two assistant ministers, treat me well!"

"That's good!"

Wang Gai nodded slightly and said, "The Minister treats you kindly and will never say anything bad about you. There should be no problem in assigning you to an official post."

Sun Zi asked, "Ji'an has been in Taiwan for two months. I wonder when he can be assigned to an external post?"

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "As usual, in March, the Secretariat will discuss the vacancies for this year and gradually arrange for the Shangshu Lang to serve in other places. If there are not many vacancies this year, they will be sent out one after another."

Wang Gai revealed the inside story and said, "Last year, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, the local governors of Ji, Yan, and Yu were either killed by the bandits, surrendered to the bandits, or abandoned their cities and fled, leaving a large number of vacancies. This year, they will not be sent out one after another, but will be sent out in March. Otherwise, the local governments will not have governors to govern, which will not last long."

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were more than 1,500 counties in the country, plus the positions of chief officials in the prefectures and states, so there were not many positions that could accommodate the position of Shangshu Lang. Therefore, even if many Xiaolians passed the assessment and were appointed Shangshu Lang, they still needed political manipulation and outstanding personal performance to become regional magistrates.

Zhang Yu was very lucky as he was appointed as Shangshulang this year, as he encountered the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which caused chaos in the country. The Yellow Turban Rebellion directly reshuffled many places, and there were a large number of vacancies in the limited official positions, so there was no need to wait for the positions as in the past.

Wang Chen suddenly spoke up and asked, "My father is very concerned about Yanlong's academic performance. I wonder how he is doing now? Can he pass the A-level exam? Or the B-level exam?"

Previously, the two systems of recommendation and recruitment were the main ways to enter officialdom, but there was another channel, which was to become a student of the Imperial College and participate in the A and B examinations held every two years.

Before Zuo Xiong reformed the official selection system, students of the Imperial College were assessed through the shooting test, which involved drawing lots to assign test questions. Based on their test scores, the students' names were listed on two lists, A and B. Category A was for Langguan and Category B was for Liyuan.

Zuo Xiong felt that without a unified system, it would be easy for favoritism and fraud to occur, so he used Mingjing to unify the examination and limited the number of admissions to ten, with the first five being Class A and the last five being Class B.

Compared with being selected as an official by a filial and honest official, the career of a student of the Imperial Academy was more difficult, but it was more suitable for children from poor families to succeed. Wang Hong had high hopes for Sun Zi, so he recommended him to study in Luoyang last year.

The examinations for categories A and B will be reopened next year. However, considering Sun Zi's situation, it is unlikely that he will pass the examinations for categories A and B next year, and he will have to wait until the year after next. If he fails the examinations the year after next, he will have to wait another two years.

Sun Zi put down his teacup and said respectfully, "My Lord, I will take the first-class exam next year. If I fail, I will take it again the year after next."

"Don't want to take Subject B?" Wang Chen asked.

Sun Zi shook his head and said, "If I pass the second-class exam, I will be a county official, but that is useless in my situation. I only want to be ranked in the first-class exam, be appointed as a county official, and be the chief of the county. That is what I want!"

Sun Zi was determined to pass the first-class exam to become a palace official. This was not only because he was inspired by Zhang Yu's recommendation of a filial and honest official, but also because there was a huge difference between the first and second classes in terms of his future. With his current level of knowledge, if he returned to the county, he would most likely be recruited by the county governor, so being ranked in the second class would not help him at all.

Winning the first-class examination and becoming a palace official would have a great impact on Sun Zi's life. After all, although it is possible to be promoted between county officials and county magistrates, it is extremely difficult and takes a very long time to be promoted, unless one is a natural political genius and is appreciated by a noble person.

"color!"

Zhang Yu admired Sun Zi's idea of climbing the mountain despite the dangers and said with a smile, "I hope we can celebrate for Yan Long next year!"

"Thank you, Ji'an!"

Sun Zi bowed to Zhang Yu and said with a smile: "I wish Ji'an good luck and may he be appointed as the county magistrate and the governor as soon as possible."

"I also wish you a successful career..." "Congratulations!"

Wang Chen smiled and said, "I wish Yanlong to finish his studies soon, get the top score in the first class, be promoted to the rank of a minister, and serve as an official in the same court as us."

“Thanks for the message!”

"please!"

The four of them drank tea instead of wine and thanked each other.

After chatting for a while, the four of them finally dispersed. As it was getting late, Luoyang was under curfew, so Zhang Yu and Sun Zi slept together, sharing their aspirations and deepening their friendship.

.........

There were only three days off during the Spring Festival, and time passed quickly before Zhang Yu had to go back to the Shangshu Tai to work.

During the first month of the year, the busiest time for the Ke Cao had passed, and the officials in the Cao basically went to get off work and left work on schedule.

At the same time, the officials who were promoted because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion were successively moved from the local areas to Luoyang. For example, Zhu Jun was appointed as Guanglu Dafu, Zhao Qian, the governor of Runan, was appointed as Guanglu Xun, and Huangfu Song was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Soon, time turned to February.

The imperial court finally took action against the northwestern rebels. To prevent defeat, Emperor Ling of Han ordered General Huangfu Song to lead a large army with 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, a total of 35,000 people.

At the same time, before Huangfu Song went to war, he submitted a petition to the court requesting that 3,000 Wuhuan soldiers be sent to the expedition. The court had its own opinion. Zou Jing, the lieutenant of the northern army, had another opinion, saying that the Wuhuan should not be conquered, but the Xianbei could be recruited as soldiers. Emperor Ling of Han then ordered the four ministries to discuss the matter.

On that day, Zhong Yao learned the news and came to ask Zhang Yu.

"The court wants to recruit Xianbei as soldiers to join the northwest rebel army. Ji'an is familiar with the affairs of the Hu people. I wonder what they think?" Zhong Yao asked.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu's face changed, he stood up from the table and asked, "Who proposed this strategy?"

"Northern Army Lieutenant General Zou Jing!"

Zhong Yao asked, "Is it inappropriate?"

Zhang Yu frowned and said in a serious tone: "Not only is this inappropriate, this is also intended to cause another war on the border!"

After saying this, Zhang Yu didn't bother to pay attention to Zhong Yao and immediately went to find the Minister Deng Guang.

Seeing this, although Zhong Yao didn't know why Zhang Yu had such a big reaction, he followed Zhang Yu closely out of his political sensitivity.

"Minister!"

After walking a few dozen steps, Zhang Yu found Deng Guang, who was sitting at a table reading a book, and said in a deep voice, "The report of Zou Jing, the lieutenant of the Northern Army, on military affairs is not appropriate. We must not recruit Xianbei Hu people as soldiers now."

"Why?"

Deng Guang restrained his expression and asked.

"In terms of bravery, the Xianbei cavalry is better than the Wuhuan cavalry, but the Xianbei usually live in the desert, with dogs and sheep as groups, and live in huts. They are greedy and violent by nature, fear power but not virtue. Since your majesty ascended the throne, they have frequently invaded the frontiers and there has been no peace for a year. When it comes to trade, the Xianbei have submitted to the Central Plains."

Zhang Yu analyzed the internal affairs of the Xianbei in a serious tone, saying: "The reason why they are submissive is because of China's iron, food, and scarves, not because they are afraid of China's military force. If we recruit Xianbei as soldiers, they must be brave to resist. If they go to China to fight, if there is not enough money and food, they may join forces with the northwest rebels; if we give them plenty of money and food, they will have the intention of looting the border cities."

"We will join the army to march west, teach the Xianbei cavalry and military formations, and teach the Hu how to fight. If we wait until the war is over and let the Xianbei return to the desert, it will be like letting a tiger return to the mountains, which will cause future troubles. Yu thought it would be better to recruit brave men from Longxi, which would not only strengthen the army but also prevent them from being used by the rebels."

Zhang Yu was not optimistic about recruiting Xianbei as soldiers. Although the Eastern Han Dynasty often recruited Hu people as soldiers, many rebellions were caused by recruitment.

Xianbei were not Wuhuan or Southern Xiongnu. Xianbei were cruel by nature and would inevitably rebel if something went wrong. For example, if an Eastern Han official embezzled military funds given to Xianbei, Xianbei would definitely rebel.

The rebellion of the Xianbei army was not something that the weak Chanyu could control, and with the manipulation of people with ulterior motives, it would inevitably cause a chain reaction. Once it echoed with the northwestern rebels, the entire northwest war situation of the Eastern Han Dynasty would be corrupted, and his hometown would be plunged into war again.

"good!"

Deng Guang's expression also became serious, and he said: "Ji'an, please prepare a memorial quickly. I will go with you to see Liu Lingjun and discuss the pros and cons of recruiting the Xianbei."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)