A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 38 Carp leaps over the dragon gate

noon,

The sun was scorching outside, and Li Yi was taking a class in the east wing.

"Are all the sticks I asked you to prepare ready?"

In the classroom, the sixty children who had eaten their fill at noon all hurriedly raised the small wooden sticks in their hands.

"Very good, today we will start our math class. Let's start by counting to ten using our little sticks."

Li Yi took out a stack of A4 white paper with eleven Arabic numerals written on it, from zero to ten.

However, they cannot be called Arabic numerals at this time because the Arab Empire has not yet appeared. These numbers should be called Indian numerals, which were invented by ancient Indians.

But it is still different from what Li Yi took out now.

Li Yi felt that Arabic numerals had many advantages. They were concise, clear, easy to write and calculate, so he did not mind spreading them to his students. Chinese culture was very open and inclusive.

There is an Arabic numeral on each piece of white paper, followed by a corresponding Chinese uppercase numeral. To make it more vivid, he also drew the corresponding number of toads on it.

"Here is a toad, I have one finger raised, and I have a pointer in my hand, which we can represent with the number 1,"

"Students, please take out one of your little wooden sticks..."

The children found it very interesting. They took out a stick from their own and sat on the ground, listening attentively.

"How do you write the number 1? Does it look like the wooden stick in your hands? But it should be written at a slight angle. These numerical symbols come from India, the birthplace of Buddhism. Learning these Indian numerical symbols will make it easier to write and calculate..."

I had four classes in one afternoon, which were actually just learning the Three Character Classic, memorizing and writing it, and arithmetic class, learning to count from one to ten.

"The get out of class is over. That's all for today. get out of class dismissed."

Squad leader Luo Shitou immediately shouted, "Stand up,"

All the children, big and small, stood up and followed the stone to bow to Li Yi.
"Goodbye, classmates,"

Shitou took the lead in shouting, "Goodbye, teacher." and bowed.

Li Yi was very satisfied with the fact that these children had already learned the etiquette of entering and leaving get out of class after only a few days of classes. He also thought that Shitou was a good choice as the class monitor and he was quite prestigious.

"Shitou, you arrange for the students to take turns on duty,"

"Okay, teacher."

Li Yi walked out of the classroom,
The room suddenly became noisy.

Wuji Courtyard was busy. The craftsmen digging the well in the east courtyard had already started working under the scorching sun. The craftsmen repairing the house were also working with their workers and the villagers. Some were clearing the cliff slope behind the courtyard and taking soil to build the foundation of the cave. In the future, they would dig a few more caves close to the mountain.
The three back houses and four side rooms in the east courtyard also began to be built on the foundations.

The ground in the west courtyard has also been leveled and construction has begun. Li Yi now has sufficient funds, so he directly hired several craftsmen, including many skilled and skilled workers. The villagers in the village also paid them with food as wages, so everyone was very motivated.

We only took a break for about an hour at noon and then went back to work.

The carpenters were already in place, working on the wood with axes and saws.

Li Yi greeted everyone and went back to the kitchen to ask someone to make some more mung bean soup for everyone. He thought that maybe he should go to the pharmacy to buy some ingredients and make some herbal tea for everyone.

"Wu Yi!"

There were shouts from outside.

It was Township Chief Wang who arrived. He was sweating profusely. Seeing him come out, he excitedly said, "Wuyi, quickly change into clean clothes and follow me to Chang'an."

"It's already this late, why go to Chang'an?"

"Good news, great news, stop talking so much, and hurry up."

When Li Yi asked him further, Township Chief Wang said that he was on duty at the county government office today. As a result, the Ministry of Personnel of the Shangshu Province sent someone to the Wannian County Government Office to notify Li Yi, the village chief of Luojiabao Village in Yusu Township, to go to the Ministry of Personnel of the Shangshu Province immediately.

"What are you going to do at the Ministry of Personnel?"

"That person asked you to prepare the money and pay for the red glue silk scroll when the time comes."

"What's the fee?"

Mayor Wang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, paying the red glue silk scroll fee is like paying the official complaint fee. It means the Ministry of Personnel has granted you an official position. Isn't this a great thing?"

Li Yi was still confused.

"According to the old rules, when the Ministry of Personnel issued a certificate of appointment, it would first require the person to pay the money for the red glue silk scroll."

Only after Lao Wang's explanation did Li Yi finally understand that the appointment procedures for all official appointments, as well as titles, honors, etc., were that the Secretariat, under the imperial order, wrote the appointment words in the emperor's tone, which was reviewed by the Ministry of Personnel and approved by the emperor. The original imperial edict was then filed and a copy was sent to the Ministry of State Affairs to go through the formal procedures.

Civil servants' applications were handled by the Ministry of Personnel, which had a special agency for handling official certificates. Generally speaking, they would first copy their hometown, origin, age and appointment letter onto jute paper, which would be reviewed at each level and finally stamped with a special "Shangshu Libu Official Certificate Seal" and then framed into a scroll with brocade silk.

When an official receives a certificate of official appointment, he must first pay money, which is called Zhujiao Lingzhu Qian, which is equivalent to the cost of labor, also known as official certificate money.

This is quite a lot of money.

Of course, in addition to this brocade scroll certificate, officials also had to receive an official document issued by the Secretariat, called an imperial edict.

This thing is actually equivalent to a letter of appointment and is the official's credential.

Now the higher-ups have informed Li Yi to bring money to the Ministry of Personnel to get his official certificate.
That naturally means that he was granted an official position.

"I'm an official now?" Li Yi was puzzled. Last time, Li Shimin wanted to recruit him into his court, but he only gave him a position as a clerk in the Qin Palace, a minor official, without any official certificate at all.

"How could it be wrong? Let's hurry up. We're dozens of miles away from Chang'an. We have to ride as fast as we can. I ran back from Chang'an non-stop just for your sake. I was afraid of being late."

"Thank you, mayor."

"Call me uncle."

"Thank you, uncle."

Although he was confused, Li Yi did not delay. He changed into a long gown with a crotch cut, put on a soft-footed hat, took the Turkic horse from the stable, and rushed to Chang'an with Village Chief Wang.

Passing the bridge,

Sanniang was still guarding the stall, and when she saw Li Yi, her eyes evaded. After that night, Sanniang avoided him, and Luo Er's family even moved back to their original cave dwelling.

No one mentioned what happened that night.
Li Yi stopped his horse beside Sanniang and asked, "How's business today?"

"Well, it's good. We sold quite a lot of bean curd sheets today." Sanniang lowered her head. "I have to go to Chang'an for something. Do you have anything to bring?"

"No."

Li Yi nodded to her and rode away on his horse.

Luo Sanniang stared at his receding figure in a daze.

Although the sun was still high at around four o'clock in the afternoon, it was not as scorching, and the two of them did not suffer so much while riding their horses.

After running for more than half an hour, they finally arrived at Chang'an City.

The city gates are still guarded by soldiers.

This time, Li Yi brought the official certificate, which was completed a few days ago. He had also planned to come to Chang'an during this period.

The two men took out their official identification cards and entered the city smoothly.

It's getting late.
The sound of drums has been heard outside the city gate. This is the closing drum. When the sun sets, the city gate will be completely closed.

"We will stay in Chang'an City tonight. Don't worry, we have a place to stay."

The nephew of Township Chief Wang, who is also the elder brother of Village Chief Wang, works as a money collector in the Ministry of Revenue. There is definitely no problem for him to stay overnight.

Village Chief Wang was familiar with Chang'an City and took him straight to the Ministry of Personnel in the Imperial City.

Li Yi was very curious about Chang'an City.
I thought it would be prosperous.
But it's a ten-mile journey from the south gate of the city to the imperial gate. All the neighborhoods in the south city are haunted, with wheat fields, vegetable plots, and orchards everywhere. There isn't a single house to be seen. Village chief Wang said there are wolves and foxes, as well as quite a few wild boars and rabbits in the neighborhoods of the south city.

There are more houses near the imperial city, but the streets are lined with high rammed earth walls.

There are no bustling streets or bustling crowds at all.

The streets in the city are as closed as the viaduct.

Very disappointing.

The hundreds of government offices in the capital were basically concentrated in the imperial city.

The guards at the imperial city gate became increasingly strict. After another careful check, the two entered the imperial city.

Mayor Wang led them to the Ministry of Personnel.

I found the Ministry of Personnel and explained my purpose to a clerk in a crimson robe. The clerk pointed in a direction indifferently and said, "Go to that room." Then he left.

They hurried over.

There was an old official in the room, also wearing a crimson robe. After checking the identities of the two men, the old official said:
"If I hadn't been waiting for you, I would have gone home long ago. Hurry up."

The brocade certificate of appointment and the jute imperial edict are all ready. You just need to pay the money and receive them.

At this time, Li Yi didn't even know what official position he held.

The old official said impatiently, "You'll know after you lose money and receive the official complaint."

"How much?" Li Yi asked.

The old official stretched out one finger, then another, but Li Yi didn't understand.

Li Yi asked, "Two strings of cash?"

The old official shook his head: "Twenty pieces of silk."

"so much?"

The old official scoffed and said, "If you think the official certificate is too expensive, then don't be an official."

Mayor Wang pulled Li Yi aside and said softly, "Ten pieces of silk are for the red glue silk scroll, and the other ten strings of cash are for the officials in the Ministry of Personnel. These are all customary regulations."

Li Yi understood that this kind of unspoken rule existed in every era.

He then took out a tael of gold and handed it over, "Thank you for your help."

The old official was a little surprised to see the ounces of gold. "Is the quality good enough?"

"Sufficient."

"I can't find it."

Li Yi smiled and said, "No need to change, I'll treat you to tea with the remaining money."

The old official was now even more surprised. He had thought this man was a poor fellow who couldn't even afford the twenty-horse carriage, but now he was willing to pay eight hundred coins for tea. His expression changed immediately, and he became more enthusiastic. "How can you be so polite? I'll go get the money for you right away," he said, but he didn't move.

Li Yi didn't care about the few hundred coins. After pushing and tugging for a few times, the old official accepted it with a smile, then took out the certificate and imperial edict that he had prepared earlier, and even chatted with him for a few more words, such as that he had to report to the Donggong Sijing Bureau within three days, and that the official robe had to be collected from the Shaofu Weaving and Dyeing Office, etc.

Walking out of the Ministry of Personnel,

Li Yi looked at his certificate carefully.
Township head Wang also came closer to watch.

"The Eastern Palace's Gate and Underground Office, Jingju, is a ninth-rank official of the Crown Prince's rank, and is a ninth-rank official."

This was a small official in the Eastern Palace, whose annual salary was only thirty stones.

But this is an official of the Crown Prince, and Township Chief Wang was envious, "Wu Yi, you have made a great leap forward. The Crown Prince's official name is both pure and noble."

At the young age of sixteen, he was granted the ninth-rank title of Prince Zhengzi by the village chief.

This is the treatment only children of noble families can enjoy.

Li Yi was confused. He thought that Li Shimin had recommended him for an official position after he had rejected the position of clerk last time.
Who would have thought that he was actually the prince's concubine.

Could it be that even Crown Prince Li Jiancheng has heard of Li Yi's name?

The Crown Prince is competing with the King of Qin for talent?
impossible.

At most, he is a little famous in the villages around Yusu Township, but not famous enough for the prince to hear of.

"It's getting late, hurry to my nephew's house. Otherwise, if you walk on the street after curfew, you will be caught by the patrolling Marquis."

(End of this chapter)