Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 59: Trivial Skills and Paper Expenses in Luoyang (4k)

In the small courtyard at the back of the residence of Cui Guang, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, Cui Guang, wearing a loose Confucian robe, sat at a table. Opposite him, Li Daoyuan, wearing a red official robe, sat upright, holding a tea bowl and sipping tea.

Cui Guang's sitting posture was not so serious. He sat cross-legged, holding a bamboo piece in one hand and a pen knife in the other, and was carving on the bamboo piece.

After finishing the carving, Li Daoyuan took the bamboo slip from Cui Guang's hand, looked at the lifelike insect characters on it, and couldn't help but exclaimed:

"Mr. Cui's insect writing is becoming more and more exquisite. Even Mr. Chang's insect writing is slightly inferior to yours."

Chang Gong is Chang Jing, the master of Northern Wei literary world. When Emperor Xiaowen carried out reforms, he served as a recorder and doctor of law. He assisted Emperor Xiaowen in drafting the laws of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The names of palaces, neighborhoods and city gates in Luoyang were all named by Chang Jing based on classics.

Chang Jing was also good at poetry and parallel prose. His writing style was simple and ancient, different from the gorgeous parallel prose of the Southern Dynasties, and was also very popular in the north.

Cui Guang put down the pen in his hand and said, "This is just a trivial skill. Shanchang's annotations to the Water Classic will surely be passed down through the ages, which is much better than my book of insects."

Cui Guang then picked up the tea bowl, sipped the tea and asked:

"Shangshang, you are not in Henan Prefecture to handle official business. Why are you here to visit me, your sick husband?"

Ever since Cui Guang was ordered to investigate the Yongning Temple case last time, he has been at home on sick leave, so even though today is a working day, he is wearing casual clothes and carving insect books for fun at home.

Li Daoyuan looked at the lively and vivid worm-shaped writing on the bamboo slips. Worm-shaped writing was a basic course for scholars in the Qin and Han dynasties to practice writing, and carving insects has always been a popular elegant activity in Luoyang.

However, Li Daoyuan could not stand the fact that Cui Guang, an important official of the court, did not go to work in the Imperial College but stayed at home doing trivial things.

Li Daoyuan put down the bamboo stick and said to Cui Guangzheng:

"Mr. Cui, I have already handled the official business in Henan Prefecture, and I have also sent someone to investigate the case."

"I came to Lord Cui's residence today to recommend two talents to him."

Cui Guang held up a tea bowl and said, "Recommend talents? Go to the Ministry of Personnel to find Shangshu Cui Liang. Shanchang, you came to the wrong place?"

Li Daoyuan said sternly, "Minister Cui is very busy with his official duties. Besides, Cui Liang and Mr. Cui are both from the Qinghe Cui family. If I ask Mr. Cui to recommend a talent, wouldn't that be the same as recommending a talent to Minister Cui?"

Cui Guang smiled and said, "Cui Liang is from the Qingzhou branch of my Qinghe Cui family, and we are not from the same branch. How can we talk about family affairs when we are dealing with official business in the court?"

Li Daoyuan cursed inwardly again. No wonder people said that Mr. Cui was an old turtle. He was really slippery.

Li Daoyuan continued, "Mr. Cui, the two talents I recommended are both capable people that the court needs right now."

Then Li Daoyuan told Cui Guang the story of Su Ze and Su Chao without caring whether he wanted to listen or not.

After Cui Guang finished listening, his expression finally changed. He sighed and said, "I am really old. It is a blessing for the Wei Dynasty that the country has talents in reserve."

When Li Daoyuan heard Cui Guang praising the two, he quickly asked, "Lord Cui, are you willing to recommend these two capable people to the court?"

Cui Guang said, "No."

"Why not?" Even Li Daoyuan, who was well-mannered and tolerant, was confused by Cui Guang's flat refusal, so he asked directly.

Cui Guang said, "This Wugong Su Chao hasn't been crowned yet, right? The twenty-one crown is the policy I submitted to the court, how can I go back on my word?"

"What about Suze?"

"That's even worse. Emperor Xiaowen personally reviewed the aristocratic families and set four ranks, A, B, C, and D, and granted official positions to the aristocratic sons who had come of age according to their family background. Now that Su Ze is not one of the four ranks, how can he be granted an official position?"

Li Daoyuan asked: "When Emperor Xiaowen was in power, there were also people from humble families who were promoted from humble backgrounds. Su Ze's father was a Yulin Lang. Why couldn't Su Ze be appointed as an official?"

Cui Guang said, "Shanchang, you also said that it was the emperor who personally selected him. If Su Ze can be selected by the empress dowager or His Majesty, he can also bypass the shackles of the aristocratic family."

Li Daoyuan said: "Is there no place for talented people in my Great Wei?"

Cui Guang said: "Since Su Ze is a Yulin, he can first serve as a Yulin military officer, and then wait for the selection to become a court official."

Li Daoyuan snorted coldly and said, "Since the new emperor ascended the throne, no one in the Imperial Guards has been promoted from a military officer to a minister. There has been a lot of discussion among the Imperial Guards. Doesn't Lord Cui know about this?"

Cui Guang said calmly: "I am not in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, so what can I do?"

Li Daoyuan knew that Cui Guang was pretending to be ignorant. Cui Guang once served as the Minister of the Chancellery and had extensive connections in the Chancellery. The Personnel Department was the head of the thirty-six officials under the Chancellery, and Cui Guang had many old subordinates among them.

Cui Guang looked at Li Daoyuan again and said, "There is another way."

"Please let Mr. Cui know."

"If Shanchang can open a government office soon, he can recruit Su Ze as an official."

Li Daoyuan stood up from his seat, swung his sleeves and said, "Why does Mr. Cui have to tease me?"

Cui Guang sighed and said, "I am not kidding. The use of talents by the court is a matter of the utmost importance. How can it be easily changed? The noble son of Jia who is waiting for the selection in the Ministry of Personnel has not been appointed yet, so how can we appoint these two officials?"

Li Daoyuan was silent.

He continued: "If this thing doesn't work, is there another thing that works?"

Cui Guang did not speak, Li Daoyuan continued:

"Gaoyang Governor Jia Sixie once recommended paper to me. During the Western Jin Dynasty, court documents were mostly written on paper, and even ordinary people began to use paper to copy articles. There is already an allusion to Zuo Si saying that paper was in great demand in Luoyang."

"It's a pity that during the chaos at the end of the Jin Dynasty, all the paper mills in Luoyang were burned down. Jia Sixie gathered craftsmen and restored the papermaking technique. I have also seen it with my own eyes. The mulberry and hemp paper he made is light and easy to carry, and it is not easy to smudge when writing with ink. Can we set up a paper mill again in Luoyang and use paper to circulate documents again?"

"Mr. Cui, who is in charge of the Imperial College, could also use paper books to copy articles. Wouldn't that be much more convenient than the current bamboo slips?"

"I heard that the Southern Dynasty now has an official paper mill to copy Buddhist scriptures. Do we in the Great Wei still have to use bamboo slips?"

Cui Guang remained silent.

This is not okay, that is not okay, Li Daoyuan couldn't help it this time, he said:
"Mr. Cui! What are you worried about? Where is Mr. Cui who competed with Wang Fuguo to offer advice and promote reform?"

Wang Fuguo is General Wang Su, who was an important official who assisted Emperor Xiaowen in his reforms together with Cui Guang.

Only twenty years after Emperor Xiaowen's death, Wang Su died suddenly, and Cui Guang retired from the court. Li Daoyuan could not help but ask:
"Mr. Cui, are you clear about what Su Ze said about the Six Towns? If Li Wohu can see it clearly, can't you see it clearly with your wisdom?"

Cui Guang remained silent. Li Daoyuan finally sighed deeply, saluted to Cui Guang, and prepared to leave his house.

Cui Guang suddenly said:
"Isn't it clear about Wang Fuguo's background, Shanchang?"

Li Daoyuan nodded and said, "Wang Fuguo is the descendant of Wang Dao, a famous prime minister of the Niu Jin Dynasty. His family is very prominent. During the Niu Jin Dynasty, there was a saying that 'Wang and Ma shared the world.'"

"The ancestors of Wang Fuguo were still from the Southern Dynasty, but the Wang family was involved in the turmoil of Liang and Qi, and their father and brother were killed, so they fled north to our Wei."

Cui Guang said: "Wang Fuguo's talent is far superior to mine. If your majesty can live longer, and Wang Fuguo can assist your majesty for a few more years, then the court will be better."

Li Daoyuan knew that the Majesty that Cui Guang mentioned was not the puppet-like young emperor in the Taiji Hall, nor was it the Emperor Xuanwu who died a few years ago, but the Emperor Xiaowen who had passed away twenty years ago.

Cui Guang suppressed his emotion and said, "Shanchang, when you take office as the governor of Henan, please help me find a book." "Looking for a book?"

Cui Guang said solemnly: "When Wang Fuguo fled north, he said that a close friend of his in the Southern Dynasty, Fan Zhen, was implicated by him and was exiled by the Southern Liang court. Fan Zhen wrote a book called "Theory of the Extinction of Gods."

"The thief Xiao of the Southern Liang Dynasty once summoned eminent monks, scholars and ministers to debate with Fan Zhen for a day and a night, but he was unable to refute him, so he could only order the banning of Theory of the Extinction of Gods."

Li Daoyuan asked sternly, "Mr. Cui, Mr. Cui wants to write a petition to destroy Buddhism?"

Cui Guang remained silent again. This time, Li Daoyuan bowed respectfully and said with deep admiration:
"I will definitely help Mr. Cui find this book."

At the same time, Su Ze and Su Chao were both standing on the Yongkang Bridge, watching the Luo River tumbling under the bridge.

Yongkang Bridge is a floating bridge. Skilled craftsmen worked on a cowhide raft and used eighteen semicircular brackets to support the bridge, which was then built by laying wooden planks on top.

Because of this structure, there are gaps between the arches under the bridge. Su Chao is directing the soldiers to use ropes to enter these gaps between the arches to look for clues.

Su Ze asked Su Lin beside him:
"Can we shoot into the Siyi Pavilion from here?"

Su Lin estimated the distance, felt the shaking frequency of Yongkang Bridge and said:

"I can't do that."

Only when standing on the Yongkang Bridge did Su Ze realize the difficulty of hitting the target in the Siyi Pavilion from here.

People can indeed be hidden in the gaps between the arches, but this place is two hundred steps away from the Siyi Pavilion. And it's not just the distance that is a problem. The Yongkang Bridge is a floating bridge, and the bridge body is always shaking slightly, and this shaking is even more violent in the gaps between the arches.

The difficulty of archery here is about the same as that of hitting a target 200 meters away while riding a horse.

Su Ze continued to ask: "If you can't do it, can anyone do it?"

Su Lin thought for a moment and said, "If it can be done, then only the archers of the Qihuo Army can do it."

"The Beggars' Army? Does the Beggars' Army still exist?"

Su Ze was a little bit unbelievable. The Begging Army that Su Lin mentioned was an army during the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China two hundred years ago. Its leader was also very famous. The country he established was also called "Wei". It was Ran Min, the Heavenly King Daowu, who issued the "Kill the Barbarians Order".

The army that Ran Min led to conquer all directions was an army called the "beggar army".

As the name suggests, this is also an army of refugees. However, unlike other refugee armies, under the background of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, the Begging Army is not only composed of refugees who cannot survive, but also a large number of Han military generals and soldiers have joined.

Su Lin nodded and said, "The military manuals of the Qihuo Army have been passed down from generation to generation. After the fall of Ran Wei, many Qihuo Army households were scattered all over the world. The Qihuo Army was especially famous for its sharpshooters. Back then, there was a Qihuo archer group under Fu Jian's command. When the Eastern Jin Dynasty gathered refugees to establish the Northern Palace Army, there was also an army composed entirely of Qihuo archers. The two sides may have fought each other in the Battle of Feishui."

Su Ze didn't expect there was such history. He looked at Su Lin with even more admiration. The followers summoned by the system not only had abilities, but also had knowledge and experience that matched their identities.

Just like Su Dao knew the unspoken rules of the Beimang Mountain Ghost Market, Su Lin was also very knowledgeable about archery.

"Are there any descendants of the Beggars Army in Luoyang?"

Su Lin shook his head and said, "Today, the descendants of the Begging Army no longer survive under the banner of begging. Maybe they are inherited among the Yulin Huben in Luoyang."

"What are the characteristics of the Beggars' Army?"

Su Lin said: "In addition to being good at archery, the descendants of the Qihuo Army will inherit the family military books, and also,"

"What else?"

"The Order to Kill the Hu."

Su Ze had a headache. Should he reply to Li Daoyuan and ask him to search for the "Kill the Hu Order" among the Yulin Huben Army? To find a descendant of the Qihuo Army?

"Brother Su."

Su Chao waited until the soldiers who were investigating the bridge arch connection came up to report, and then said to Su Ze:

"According to the soldiers' report, the largest bridge arch is suitable for standing and shooting arrows. The soldiers tried to aim, but the floating bridge was too swaying to aim."

This result is similar to Su Lin's conclusion. At this distance, if you want to hit the target while standing on a shaking floating bridge, ordinary archers are not enough. You must be a sharpshooter who is good at long-range shooting.

There probably weren't any clues in the bridge arch, so Su Chao looked towards the Siyi Pavilion in the distance and said:

"Brother Su, it looks like we need to go to the Siyi Pavilion."

Su Ze looked at the position of the sun, but shook his head and said, "No."

"Why not go? Isn't Brother Su curious?"

"The governor promised me that I could use the archery range in Henan Prefecture. I am going to practice archery now."

Su Chao immediately said, "You can practice shooting anytime. Brother Su, don't you think this case is more interesting? Brother Su, don't you want to verify your guess?"

After such a short time together, Su Ze discovered a characteristic of this future important official of the Western Wei Dynasty -

Chatterbox.

From the beginning of the investigation, Su Chao started talking incessantly and asked Su Ze for his opinion on everything.

In addition, he has a strong curiosity and wants to get to the bottom of everything.

From "Captain Su, what do you think?" to "Brother Su, what do you think?"

The relationship between Su Chao and Su Ze became closer and closer, and they talked more and more.

Su Ze couldn't help but wonder, historically, Yuwen Tai always accepted Su Cho's advice, could it be that it was because Su Cho was too nagging that Yuwen Tai would keep talking endlessly if he didn't listen to his advice?

Su Ze's original intention was to disrupt the direction of the investigation and prevent Li Daoyuan from following the case of Longhua Temple. He was not very interested in investigating the case.

Su Ze would naturally not miss the opportunity to practice archery while getting paid, so he turned around and was about to leave.

When Su Chao saw Su Ze was about to leave, he thought for a moment and quickly followed him.

"Isn't Lingchuo going to the Siyi Pavilion to investigate?"

"Brother Su is right. It's already late today. If we go, we will only alert the enemy. Let's go tomorrow morning. I haven't touched a bow for a long time. I want to practice shooting with Brother Su."

Please continue reading, thank you all.

I am still reading historical materials. The Southern and Northern Dynasties followed the Wei, Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It was truly an era of great struggle with turbulent historical changes and many heroes emerging.

Before Feiniao started writing, he had only read two general histories of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Now that I read more and more, my eyes have really been opened. I am especially nervous when writing, for fear that I will mess it up and let down such a good "stage".

Thank you all for your support!

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(End of this chapter)