Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 442 Harmonious Pepper

What a gathering of brilliant minds!
Zhang Dai watched as Ji Wen eagerly stepped forward to pay his respects, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He hadn't really paid much attention to who his uncle's circle of friends was before, but now he realized there were indeed some impressive figures among them!
He didn't pay much attention to Jiwen, nodding slightly in response before looking at the others, wanting to see if there were any other capable people among them. The remaining people didn't include any ruthless characters like Jiwen; their backgrounds were quite diverse, including sons of noble families and street heroes—none of them were ordinary people.

Zhang Dai was somewhat surprised that Zhang Yang knew quite a few ordinary people.

His uncle was an anomaly in the family. His father, Zhang Jun, and his second uncle, Zhang Ji, were obsessed with fame and fortune and associated with scholars and celebrities. But Zhang Yi was different. He couldn't even graduate from the Hongwen Academy, which was known as the nursery for nobles. You can imagine how terrible he was in his studies.

But Zhang Yang was not anxious at all, and continued to do things his own way and remain calm. This kind of mental fortitude is something that ordinary people cannot match.

Many people might think that giving up is a simple thing, but Zhang Yang has a literary master as his father, a famous scholar as his elder brother, and a rising star as his nephew. The fact that he can be so shameless about his lack of learning and skills shows that he does have some talent.

As human beings, no one can be entirely without merit. Although Zhang Yan had no sense of shame, he also didn't have a strong sense of social class or status. Unlike Zhang Ji, who always tried to put on airs of seniority in front of Zhang Dai, Zhang Yan could get along well with his nephew. In the outside world, he could also mingle with people from different social classes.

Take, for example, the friends he introduced to Zhang Dai today. They not only spanned different social classes but also included both Chinese and foreigners. While these people certainly had the ambition to curry favor with the powerful, it was a skill in itself to bring them together without them disliking or arguing with each other.

"It is by chance that we gather here today. However, I have just been transferred to the post of governor and have many duties to perform, so I dare not enjoy myself all night. I offer this cup of wine to express my gratitude for your congratulations."

Zhang Dai first raised his wine cup to the crowd, and after drinking the wine in one gulp, he continued, "You all frequent the marketplace, uphold righteousness and keep your promises, and naturally you can distinguish right from wrong and hate evil! Now that I am in the Censorate, I have the opportunity to speak out for justice. If you see any officials being corrupt and breaking the law, powerful people bullying the old and weak, people suffering injustices, clans committing atrocities, or men and women engaging in illicit sexual relations, you may all come and tell me. I will then report the matter to the Emperor to uphold justice in the world!"

These people are of mixed character and cannot be relied upon to build any intelligence network, but they are sufficient to serve as eyes and ears.

As an imperial censor, Zhang Dai's job and his political achievements lay in investigating, impeaching, and reporting various malpractices by both officials and the common people. If he lacked the courage to impeach officials or if his impeachments were insufficiently forceful, he would be ridiculed as incompetent.

There's an interesting anecdote from the Tang Dynasty about officials in the Censorate using metaphors: different growth stages of peppercorns were used to represent censors of different ranks.

The Sichuan peppercorns are poisonous when they are unripe and closed in the mouth. This is used as a metaphor for the inspectors, because they are not regular officials. In order to become regular officials, they must constantly impeach and attack personnel to achieve political achievements. The peppercorns are most poisonous and potent during this period, hence the name "unripe peppercorns".

When a censor is promoted from a junior official to a full-fledged censor, the toxicity of the pepper decreases, and it becomes known as "open-mouth pepper".

As for the Palace Attendant Censor, it's not Sichuan peppercorns, but radishes or ginger, spicy but not poisonous. The Attendant Censor is like a crisp pear, gradually becoming more delicious. If he is transferred from the Censorate to the Southern Province as a Gentleman of the Palace, then he is like a sweet potato, which can be consumed for a long time without harm.

By the Song Dynasty, the performance requirements for censors were even higher. In fact, if a censor did not impeach someone within 100 days of taking office, it would be considered dereliction of duty. The punishment ranged from a fine of salary and payment of a "humiliation fee" to being dismissed from office altogether!
Zhang Dai is currently in a phase of adjustment. Although he doesn't have much performance pressure—his seniority and age are the main factors limiting his promotion—he naturally needs to demonstrate his abilities in this position. And all sorts of injustices and illegal activities in society become his targets!

Upon hearing this, everyone readily agreed. They might not necessarily be truly altruistic, but at this age, they were in the prime of their lives, dreaming of making an impact and change on the world. Unfortunately, they lacked the corresponding abilities, and Zhang Dai had provided them with a channel, so they were naturally happy to join in.

After drinking a few cups of wine, Zhang Dai got up and left, leaving Zhang Yang to entertain his friends in the hall. Back in his courtyard, Zhang Dai had Aying come forward to serve him ink, and he picked up his brush to list out the important matters. He had many public and private affairs to attend to these days, and if he didn't regularly summarize and organize them, he would overlook some things.

He had assigned personnel to handle all matters in Guandong, and Zhang Yi, Nan Jiyun, and others had all left Chang'an after the Shangsi Festival to return to their respective posts. With Zhang Dai's development plan in place, they only needed to execute it step by step.

In these matters, Zhang Dai needed to pay attention to the return of able-bodied men from the Henan weaving workshops to their hometowns.

Back then, he proposed the idea of ​​relocating soldiers to avoid disaster, and many Henan soldiers were moved to places like Youzhou in Hebei to cultivate land and settle on the border. As for Hebei, because Yuwen Rong implemented a plan to reopen the Wang Mang River, many soldiers were left behind and not relocated, so the project was abandoned halfway. Now that the disaster has basically passed and people's livelihoods are recovering rapidly in various places, those Henan soldiers who were relocated will naturally return to their hometowns one after another and begin to rebuild their homes.

Zhang Dai had previously proposed this plan, so he naturally also had to take responsibility for some of the follow-up work. At present, most of his fellow graduates were serving as officials in Henan, which was perfect for handling related matters. After these things were properly arranged, the disaster relief efforts would have a successful conclusion, and Zhang Dai and his fellow graduates would also be able to achieve good political results.

As for the Guanzhong region, the main focus is naturally on building tea plantations. Two villas in the Weijia Garden in the southern suburbs have already been acquired, and workers are gradually arriving to begin preparing the land.

With Meng Haoran providing planning and guidance, Li Xia and Dou E also helping out, and his uncle Zheng Yan providing official support, and Pei Dunfu providing the Ministry of War's list of retired soldiers as laborers, things progressed smoothly.

However, tea gardens are difficult to establish in a short period of time. If Zhang Dai wants to get involved in foreign trade as early as possible, he still needs to buy tea from production areas such as Shannan and Jianghuai, which already have a solid industrial foundation, and then process and handle it in Guanzhong.

His grandfather's good friend Zhao Dongxi served as the Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud, in charge of official and pastoral affairs, while Prince Xin'an was the military governor of Shuofang. In addition, the Turks had a strong demand for various commodities, so Zhang Dai planned to try transporting several thousand catties of tea to Shuofang this year to test the waters.

As for the low-rent community in Guiyifang, construction has been in full swing recently. In particular, those soldiers who originally lived in the community and were preparing to leave for the border were working day and night to rush the construction so that their families could move into new houses before they left home for the border again. Even Chen Dong, the supervisor, could not stop them from doing so.

Zhang Dai's residence in Pingkangfang was completed shortly after the start of summer. Now, it was just a matter of more detailed carving and decoration by tile setters, lacquerers, painters and so on. Moreover, all of these things were taken over by the County Magistrate of Yunyang, so Zhang Dai didn't have to worry about them at all.

However, due to his aunt's previous statement, Zhang Dai no longer dares to openly and without any regard for appearances at the Prince of Qi's residence.

Before this, it was nothing unusual for young men and women to admire each other, but when Consort Wu Hui expressed her intention to marry off her daughter, Zhang Dai refused on one hand and was also clingy with other people on the other, which was undoubtedly disrespectful to his aunt.

Therefore, until a clear solution is found, Zhang Dai must at least maintain a certain distance from the county princess on the surface. Currently, the Qi Prince's family is busy building the temple, and his cousin won't be ready for marriage for at least several more years, giving Zhang Dai ample time to resolve this issue.

In his personal life, things are going smoothly, and even if there are any oversights, there are ways to remedy them. However, in official matters, even greater rigor is required, and there is no room for carelessness. Especially now, although a new prime minister has taken office, the new political landscape has not yet stabilized and consolidated, and any unexpected situation could still arise.

To ensure things go smoothly, one doesn't necessarily have to be a coward. Especially in times of rapid change like the present, inaction means utter uselessness.

The power structure among the prime ministers is still unstable, especially for Pei Guangting, who needs to expand his territory and consolidate his power. If one does not perform well under him, one will soon be marginalized. As for the other two groups, Xiao Song's leader is indifferent to him, while Yuwen Rong's subordinates are full of resentment towards him.

Zhang Dai's safest course of action is to remain in Pei Guangting's camp, fully utilize the toxicity of his peppercorns, find his target, and paralyze them halfway through their body, thus demonstrating his combat prowess!
After much deliberation, the night had grown deeper. Just as Zhang Dai was about to get up and tidy up for bed, Zhang Yang stumbled in, drunk, and said with a smile, "Tonight I'll introduce you to a group of disciples. Will they be of any help? It's just the two of us tonight, so don't be shy. If they're no good, I'll find you more help!"

"These people are all quite good, so there's no need to recruit more. Uncle is older than me, so I can't lecture you on choosing friends carefully, but in short, no matter what others do, they shouldn't distort one's own morals and principles. Some people can be employed, but not to be close to..."

While Zhang Dai was still considering how to phrase his words, Zhang Yang had already laughed: "You mean Ji Wen? I know exactly what kind of person he is. He only follows those who are profitable and abandons those who are not. It's hard to entrust him with anything of great importance."

However, his family has been ruthless officials for generations, which suits your needs perfectly, hence my introduction of him to you. You possess the qualities of your grandfather and are far more astute in dealing with people than I am; you will naturally be able to utilize him without suffering harm. As for me, I will not have any deep dealings with him; we are fundamentally different paths.”

(End of this chapter)