Chinese New Year

Chapter 642: Bureaucracy (Part )

"Mr. Liang is here!" a loud voice came from outside the door.

Yu Hua was shocked and tried to hide the Wu Shi Powder in a panic, but he had taken off his pants and couldn't hide it. In a hurry, he stuffed the yellow paper wrapped in the Wu Shi Powder into the Jinxian Guan and started to get dressed.

Halfway through, he saw Hu Wu Fuzhi leaning against the door frame with a smile on his face. He knew he had been tricked, and he became angry and anxious, and almost cursed at him on the spot.

"Why is Yan Guo joking with me?" Yu Hua put on his clothes silently, took out the Wu Shi San, threw it into the corner, and he no longer had the interest to take the powder.

"It's really urgent." Hu Wufuzhi came over, took Yu Hua's hand, and said, "Mr. Liang is building a secret chamber, and we need you, Shaofu Yu, to come forward."

Yu Hua was stunned.

Liang was a principality, and there was no official position like the Chief Architect. Many construction works required the participation of the Minister of the Imperial Household, and Yu Hua could not escape. So he stopped talking nonsense and immediately followed Hu Wu Fuzhi to the Liang Palace construction site.

The two walked around the site of the secret pavilion designated by Lord Liang. During the walk, Yu Hua asked a lot of questions about Lord Liang's requirements, and he had a rough idea in his mind.

The so-called secret pavilion is where the palace stores books and also serves as an archive, so it is quite important.

While the two were discussing, a carriage passed by, carrying a large number of books, heading towards the Huangnu Palace.

A few houses have been built in this palace and can be used to temporarily store books.

"Those are the books sent by Liang County Wuxue, and some are collected from Youzhou and Jizhou." Hu Wufuzhi stopped the convoy, walked over with Yu Hua, opened a box, pointed to the neatly stacked wooden tablets inside, and said, "This is the Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals annotated by the Yang family of Quanzhou. The Yang family has studied this book for generations and has a very deep understanding of it. They regard it as the foundation of their family. It is not easy to collect it."

After that, he opened another box, stroked the bamboo slips inside, and said, "This is the Zuo Zhuan handed down by the Kou family in Changping. Although I can't say it's the best, it's also quite impressive."

"This is the commentary on the Book of Songs, the Book of Rites, the Laozi, the Zhuangzi, and the Book of Changes by the former Shangshu Ling Yue Guang."

"This is the "Book of Documents in Ancient Chinese" and "Miscellaneous Notes on the Book of Documents" handed down by the Zhou family of Runan. It has been passed down from generation to generation and it is difficult for outsiders to understand its mysteries."

"This is the Mengshi Yi and Difficult Records of the Yuan family of Runan. I will not show it to outsiders easily. If it were not for war, how could I give it up?"

"This is the "Dissenting Views on the Five Classics" and "Explanation of Characters" handed down by the Xu family of Zhaoling..."

"This is the 'Compendium of Laws' and 'Postscript to the Book of Han' handed down by the Ying family of Nandun..."

Yu Hua calmed down, looked at the books, and gently stroked them with trembling hands.

Since the Later Han Dynasty, cultural scholars and local tyrants have merged and gradually evolved into today's gentry.

Every family has its own unique skills, which are not easily shown to others, because they are the foundation of the family's survival.

For example, when talking about the Book of Documents, you cannot argue with the people of the Zhou family of Runan. They are the authority, have been studying it for generations, and have the highest right of interpretation. No one else can do that.

In such a situation, if you want to organize an exam, the conditions are really not ripe.

First of all, high-level teaching materials are hidden in the homes of a few people. It is a good thing for them to accept disciples from outside, but most of the time they keep their own materials to themselves.

Secondly, in an era when aristocratic families used a mixture of paper, wooden tablets and bamboo slips - in the past twenty years, although wars have been frequent, papermaking technology has developed, the price of paper has dropped, and paper is used more and more - running a school is also a costly affair and is often the privilege of aristocratic families.

To put it bluntly, knowledge is monopolized by aristocratic families.

An ordinary person with great talent will not be able to achieve anything if he cannot receive a qualified education.

Wu Qian was Shao Xun's senior, but he was only an eighth- or ninth-rank official. The reason was simple. He was not good at fighting and could not read. How could he be promoted?

Therefore, Shao Xun was often helpless in employing people because the selection range was so small that all he chose were from gentry families, either big or small.

The students trained in Liangxian and Xuchang martial arts schools can only be considered to have a basic understanding of literature and their cultural level is really not high.

Most people at that time did not know or had never heard of the historical stories that are familiar to people in later generations.

Or maybe you have heard this story, and I have heard that story, but the stories we have heard are different.

For example, the contents of the "Han Shu Houxu" written by Nandun Yingfeng were very familiar to the children of the Ying family. When they went out to debate, they could often make others blush, thereby enhancing their fame and being recruited by high-ranking officials.

Knowledge is hidden tightly within the family by aristocratic families and not easily leaked out. Every family has unique skills, which are studied by several generations to form a systematic theory, which is then taught within the family to enhance the competitiveness of the family's children.

Yu Hua knew this all too well.

So when I saw these books, my hands shook.

He seemed to see the scene where the family members wailed in pain when Mr. Liang asked for these books.

He thought about it and realized that there had been endless wars for more than ten years, but no military leader had ever wanted to do these things. Lord Liang was truly a remarkable man.

"What does Lord Liang want to do?" Yu Hua asked, "Isn't it just for the secret collection of books?"

"Lord Liang wants more talented people to serve him. Zisong, can't you see it?" Hu Wu Fuzhi asked.

It was like a flash of lightning, and Yu Hua suddenly understood.

"Taixue?" he asked.

Hu Wufuzhi laughed and said, "Liang is a principality, how can there be an Imperial College? But it is certain that there is a school, it's just a different name."

Yu Hua suddenly felt a little distracted.

If Liang Xing Guoxue used the private collections of the gentry as teaching materials and recruited many students, it would be a big deal. After all, some local tyrants, merchants, and even the families of Hu chieftains may not be unable to afford to read.

Are they short of money? No! What they lack is a way to learn.

Yu Hua didn’t know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, and felt it was quite a shock.

If businessmen and the children of wealthy people were allowed to obtain knowledge, the family background that he valued would not seem so glorious.

You know, the combined number of merchants, local tyrants, and chiefs far exceeds that of the nobles, big and small. It is a revolutionary change.

"Let's go and take a look at Huangnu Palace." Seeing that Yu Hua was stunned, Hu Wu Fuzhi laughed, pulled him along, and followed the carriage forward.

In a side hall that had not yet been renovated, several officials sat there, leading dozens of people in robes of various colors who were writing furiously.

It can be seen that most people were conscripted temporarily, which was a kind of conscription, but it was only for scholars.

Hu Wufuzhi explained, "When Liang was first established, the Lord ordered the establishment of a number of secretaries, secretaries, writers, and proofreaders to lead the secretariat. In addition to the secretaries, there were also a number of clerks, bookkeepers, running script writers, regular script writers, rubbing script writers, pen makers, paper makers, and decorators. These were all temporary officials who would be dismissed when their duties were completed."

"No secretary supervisor?"

"How can a principality have a secretary general? Zisong, you are joking. In fact, the secretary general is overstepping his authority."

Yu Hua nodded.

The Secretary General, Secretary Lang, Editor Lang, and Proofreader Lang were all serious officials, most of whom were recruited from Chenliu, Yingchuan, Runan and other counties, and even a number of people may have been recruited from Luoyang.

The clerks under the Langguan, if nothing goes wrong, are selected by themselves. After finding them, they submit a list to the Ministry of Personnel and start working.

Yu Hua took a few steps forward, looked at an official who was writing in the relatively rare regular script, and asked, "What is your name?"

Kaishu's hand trembled, and an ink blob appeared on the paper. He suddenly became annoyed and turned to look at Yu Hua.

Yu Hua smiled and looked at the words on the paper: "Guan Zhong said, 'The so-called heaven is not the vast heaven. The king regards the people as heaven. If the people are with him, he will be safe; if they support him, he will be strong; if they oppose him, he will be in danger; if they betray him, he will perish.'"

"This is Shaofu Yu." Hu Wu Fuzhi introduced on the side.

The calligrapher was startled and immediately replied respectfully, "Chenliu Biancheng."

Yu Hua thought to himself that he had guessed correctly. It turned out to be the descendant of the Chenliu Bian family who was about to be buried in the ground.

These people have low requirements. As long as they can have a chance to be connected with the government, they are willing to be regular script calligraphers. They don't even need money, just food.

Of course, their behavior is rewarded.

The names of the names have been reported to the Ministry of Personnel. If there are vacancies in the future, they will be given priority in recruitment.

"After copying this book, was it kept in the library?" Yu Hua asked again.

"After proofreading, Liang County, Xuchang, and Junyi will each keep a copy." A secretary came over and answered.

"Thank you for your hard work." Yu Hua said.

Copying a book is indeed hard work, and proofreading is also very hard work.

He remembered the "woodblock printing" that Mr. Liang had mentioned to him.

The Shaofu asked someone to try it, but there were many problems.

First of all, the ink is not good.

Many characters were not full of ink, with missing strokes and unclear handwriting. It would have been fine if it was just unclear, but some parts were blurred and some parts had flying white, meaning they were not printed.

Secondly, paper doesn’t work.

The paper used at this time is called "hard yellow paper" or "hard white paper", which emphasizes its hardness, thickness, and looseness. It is tolerable when writing, but not when printing, so the paper needs to be improved.

Therefore, books will still have to be copied for a long time in the future, unless the Shaofu or folk craftsmen make new paper that is soft, smooth, compact, tough, easy to absorb ink and not prone to bleeding.

The ink may also need to be improved.

However, when talking with him, Mr. Liang suggested that woodblock printing could be promoted even if the conditions were not met.

He believed that even if the printing was a mess and no one liked it, there would always be people in the society who would study and improve it. Wouldn't it be better than your Shaofu working behind closed doors? How many people were there in the Shaofu? How many craftsmen were there in the world?
Yu Hua could see that Duke Liang attached great importance to this matter. He particularly wanted to spread knowledge and let more people learn it.

"All day long I've been thinking about expanding the number of scholars and increasing the scope of selection for bureaucrats so as to dig out the roots of scholars!" Yu Hua thought angrily.

However, as long as Lord Liang can preserve the status of the Yu clan, this is not impossible.

Anyway, their family is rich and powerful, so they can’t care whether other people live or die. It’s not that they don’t want to care, but they really don’t dare, and there is no need to.

Yu Hua then looked at the clerks who were writing in the palace. Most of them were educated men from low-class families.

These people are all reserve officials of Liang State.

The changing world, the rise and fall of families, the alternation of the old and the new, are all included in it.

(To avoid people saying that I have time to write a single chapter but no time to update, I will post it in advance after I finish writing it. The second chapter will be published in the afternoon. Also, please vote for me if you have a monthly ticket. Thanks.)
(End of this chapter)