Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 109 South Supervisor of Dongdu Garden
Among the poets of the High Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei was not only highly talented but also a typical example of someone who achieved success at a young age.

He gained fame at a young age, traveling to the mansions of powerful families in both capitals, making him a darling of the world of fame and fortune. Later, at the tender age of twenty, he passed the imperial examination and was appointed as the Assistant Director of the Imperial Music Bureau.

However, perhaps because his life was too smooth, Wang Wei became less cautious. Not long after taking office, he was demoted because the actors of the Imperial Music Bureau were banned from performing.

This incident caused quite a stir back then. Not only was Wang Wei demoted, but Liu Kuang, who held the official position of Taile Ling, was also severely punished. His father, the famous historian Liu Zhiji, defended his son and was even exiled and died.

Wang Wei was demoted to Jizhou and is now returning to the capital after completing his term. He came to pay his respects to Princess Yuzhen, which is how Zhang Dai was able to meet him.

After exchanging pleasantries, the conversation quickly turned to the Prince of Qi.

Zhang Dai had just served as the mourner for Prince Qi, who was Wang Wei's benefactor. When he spoke of Prince Qi's untimely death, he couldn't help but shed tears on the spot, repeatedly lamenting, "The sudden death of a famous prince is a tragedy, a loss of heaven's favor. It is truly heartbreaking! When I first heard the tragic news in Jizhou, I was so shocked that I couldn't stop crying. I wish I could fly back to the capital to mourn his passing."

At this point, he stood up and bowed to Zhang Dai, saying, "Huiwen is my benefactor, and Zhang Lang has assisted me in this matter. I must bow deeply in gratitude!"

Zhang Dai naturally dared not accept such a courtesy, and hurriedly rose from his seat. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Wang Wei of today still lacked the detached and indifferent temperament of the later poet-Buddhist, and was still full of emotions and intense feelings towards people and things.

When Zhang Dai heard that Wang Wei had just returned from Jeju, he couldn't help but ask about the disaster situation in Henan and Hebei after the previous rainstorm.

When this topic came up, Wang Wei sighed and said, "A few days ago, a torrential rain caused the river to breach its banks in Weizhou, and soon it spread to Jizhou. The flood was difficult to control, and the people suffered. Fortunately, Prefect Pei led the people of the prefecture to fill in the gaps and build embankments, which slightly controlled the flood. However, it was still inevitable that the grain was destroyed and the prefecture was desolate."

Prefect Pei was originally expected to enter the court due to his merit in the previous year's Eastern Expedition and Prefectural Administration, but he was instead transferred to Jiangnan due to natural disasters..."

Wang Wei was previously demoted to Jizhou, and the governor of Jizhou was Pei Yaoqing. Last year, when he passed through more than ten prefectures on the Eastern Expedition, Pei Yaoqing was the best at managing the affairs of the prefecture. With this achievement, he was originally expected to enter the court, but he was still trapped in a foreign prefecture due to the natural disaster.

Speaking of this, Wang Wei couldn't help but feel deeply sorry for his superior, Pei Yaoqing.

During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the central government prioritized internal affairs over external ones, and also favored the north over the south. Pei Yaoqing had made meritorious contributions as the prefect of Jizhou, so it would have been the best situation for him to enter the court. However, he was now directly sent to take up an official post in Jiangnan. In Wang Wei's view, this was naturally a demotion due to natural disasters.

However, Zhang Dai had a different opinion. Henan and Hebei had already spent a lot of money on the Fengshan ceremony, and this year, due to the severe disaster, the harvest would inevitably be poor. Under such circumstances, it would be necessary to mobilize resources from other regions for disaster relief. The region with sufficient material reserves at present was naturally Jiangnan.

Therefore, Pei Yaoqing's appointment should not be seen as a demotion, but rather as a timely appointment to make use of his talents. After all, Pei Yaoqing's timely and appropriate actions during the Fengshan ceremony fully demonstrated his ability to allocate resources and personnel. This appointment was necessary at the right time and should not be judged solely by the rise and fall of his position.

This shows that Wang Wei's understanding of current affairs and personnel was not as comprehensive as Zhang Dai's, but that's okay, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

Even if a person is not a polymath, it cannot be said that his existence is entirely worthless or meaningless. Zhang Dai could never have come up with those magnificent and eloquent verses by Wang Wei if he hadn't resorted to plagiarism.

He originally wanted to continue to inquire with Wang Wei about the disaster situation along the Yellow River, because this natural disaster in the fourteenth year of the Kaiyuan era was a very important beginning and trigger for the political and institutional development and social development in the mid-Kaiyuan era, and even determined the internal and external situation in the late Tianbao era to a certain extent.

However, Wang Wei was eager to return home and had no time to investigate the disasters along the way. In addition, Princess Yuzhen was not concerned about the matter and steered the conversation away from there.

Zhang Dai did not try to disrupt the atmosphere by displaying any patriotic sentiments; he simply kept the situation in mind and planned to gain a deeper understanding and make arrangements through other channels later.

He had come to pay his respects to Princess Yuzhen today for no particular reason other than to express his gratitude after passing the imperial examination. Meeting Wang Wei here was an unexpected delight, and knowing that his grandfather would be hosting a grand banquet for guests at home the following day, he also extended an invitation to Wang Wei.

Wang Wei had completed his term of office and had nothing pressing to attend to, so he readily accepted the invitation. Zhang Dai then inquired about his address in the capital, intending to have his family formally present the invitation later.

He was unsure how close Wang Wei and Princess Yuzhen were, or whether there were any other activities planned. After sitting for a while longer, he got up to take his leave.

When Zhang Dai returned home, a young man dressed in black, who had been standing respectfully in the front courtyard for some time, rushed forward and knelt down before him with a thud, crying out in a sorrowful voice, "My lord, my... my mother has also passed away..."

The young man was Zhou Lang, the son of Zhou Liang. Zhang Dai had recently gone to Chang'an as a mourner for the Prince of Qi to assist with the funeral arrangements, leaving only Zhang Yi and others to help the Zhou family with the funeral. Zhou Liang's wife had been ill for many years, and after burying her husband with her ailing body, she finally succumbed to her illness and passed away.

Zhang Dai had already learned about this from Zhang Yi, but he had been too busy to visit him recently.

Upon seeing Zhou Lang, he quickly stepped forward, bent down, and helped him up. He patted the weeping boy and comforted him, saying, "Your mother had no regrets when she passed away, and now that you and your husband are reunited in the afterlife, it is her wish fulfilled. As long as you were able to fulfill your filial duties in life, you don't need to grieve too much now, nor do you need to feel isolated from the world. You have family here too!"

"Master..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lang burst into tears. Having lost both parents in such a short time, the grief accumulated in the young man's heart was as vast as a mountain. He buried his face in Zhang Dai's arms and cried, "My parents have both left me. If it weren't for the great kindness of my master that I need to repay, I... I really want to go with my parents!"

He cried for a while before gradually stopping, and then followed Zhang Dai into a room in the front courtyard.

After they were seated, Zhang Dai pointed to his black clothes and frowned, asking, "What's going on here?"

During the mourning period, a filial son must be mindful of his clothing and diet. Zhou Lang is currently still in the midst of mourning, so he cannot change his clothes casually.

"Recently, there was heavy rain in the capital region. Because the Henan Prefecture followed my advice, dredging the Luonan River and repairing the dikes, it did not suffer major disasters. Officials all praised my virtue and saved countless lives. They also reported this to the court, and the court, with special grace, bestowed upon me an official post despite my mourning period..."

Zhou Lang sobbed as he explained, “I am currently serving as the Assistant Director of the Southern Palace of the Eastern Capital Garden, and my daily duties are overseen by the Mingde Palace in the Western Garden. Yesterday, I heard in my office that Your Highness had become famous in the capital, and that is how I learned that Your Highness had returned to the capital. So I came to pay my respects this morning.”

After Zhang Yi and the others helped Zhou Lang with his parents' funeral, they left two servants behind and returned home. Then, a series of events occurred in the Zhang family, such as Zhang Jun reporting the family business and Zheng Shi seizing the villa. Zhang Yi and the others were busy with their own affairs and had no time to inquire about Zhou Lang's situation.

"I see!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai nodded. In ancient times, people had to observe a three-year mourning period after the death of their parents. However, if the mourning period was interrupted by other matters, they had to wear black mourning clothes, which was called "mo si zai shi".

Zhang Dai had originally planned to help Zhou Lang get a good official position after he finished mourning and was removed from the mourning period, but he did not expect that the boy had already been appointed to an official post.

Previously, thanks to Zhang Dai's memorial to the throne, Zhou Liang was posthumously awarded the rank of Fifth-Rank Official and was able to grant one of his sons an official position.

However, entering officialdom through family connections did not mean immediate appointment. One could either become a student at the Imperial Academy and take the imperial examinations to assume an official position, or serve as a guard officer in the Three Guards and be promoted after completing the examinations, or serve as a steward in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, etc. In short, one had to endure several years before being eligible to participate in the selection of officials.

Zhou Lang is currently in mourning, but because his father's dying plan saved many people around Luoyang, he was granted an official position directly, bypassing the intermediate procedures.

Moreover, his position as Assistant Magistrate of the Southern Palace of the Eastern Capital was a rank of eighth grade official, which was higher than the rank of eighth grade official who was granted the title of fifth grade official through hereditary privilege. He started far ahead of his father, Zhou Liang.

After learning all this, Zhang Dai couldn't help but sigh inwardly that a family that accumulates good deeds will surely have abundant blessings. Although he had contributed greatly to Zhou Liang's posthumous conferment of the fifth rank, the opportunity his son had now obtained was the result of Zhou Liang's own hard work.

Zhang Dai knew that Zhou Liang had expended a great deal of effort on this, and that his eventual accidental death was even related to it. But his efforts were not in vain; not only did they save many people in Luoyang, but his son Zhou Lang also benefited from this blessing.

Good deeds are rewarded, which is the most gratifying thing in the world!
“I was unwilling to take this position, and I didn’t know how to handle it, but the court forced me to accept it, so I dared not refuse. But now that the prince has returned, I will resign from my post and stay by the prince’s side to serve him!”

Zhou Lang, however, disregarded this rare opportunity and was single-mindedly focused on following his master to repay his kindness.

"No! This is the blessing your father accumulated for you through half a lifetime of hard work. How can you so disregard and discard it! If you don't know how to handle things, then learn. You must do things well, accumulate merit and strive for progress, so as not to let down your father's legacy!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai immediately frowned and reprimanded him, "Besides, I don't lack people around me. I have Ding Qing as my personal servant, and An Jiu as my bodyguard. I don't need you to waste grain! If you really find learning too difficult, I'll arrange two clerks to assist you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lang immediately responded respectfully, not daring to utter any more words about resigning from his post.

Zhang Dai sized him up, his mind racing. He had previously mentioned wanting to provide insurance for the eunuchs and palace maids in the Eastern Capital, but he hadn't found a concrete approach yet, especially in the initial stages. Neither Gao Lishi nor Consort Wu Hui was suitable. It would be even better if he could keep it a secret forever.

Now that Zhou Lang has become the Assistant Minister of the Southern Palace of the Eastern Capital, in charge of managing the affairs of the Mingde Palace in the Western Garden, this is a very good starting point. He can gradually expand from the inconspicuous outer palace servants in the Western Garden inwards, to the Shangyang Palace, then to the Luoyang Palace, and then from the Eastern Capital to the Western Capital!

(End of this chapter)