The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 376 Answering the Scholars' Questions
As soon as the flames of war were ignited, they were suppressed.In the first half of the night, Daxing Palace was still shrouded in an atmosphere of joy, but in the second half of the night, there were loud shouts of killing from the direction of the imperial city. Even if ordinary people were making loud noises at home, they could not suppress the earth-shattering sound of fighting.

For this sudden war, the whole city was terrified.

What happened to Daxing Palace?The people in Chang'an City can vaguely guess it.

After all, this is not the first time that this kind of war has happened in Chang'an. Could it be that Chang'an was retaken by the Sui Dynasty less than half a year ago, and the emperor changed again?
The people stayed up all night, and the men in the family held various 'weapons' anxiously and looked at the gate of their own house vigilantly. If any rebels broke into the house and committed violence, they would have to fight hard.The women, the old and the weak, hugged their children and hid in a corner they thought was safe, struggling to suppress the fear in their hearts, and comforted the children who were talking in their dreams from time to time with their trembling voices.

People don't care who is the emperor, as long as they live a good life, they are satisfied.

Without too much ambition, naturally without excess troubles, you will not think so deeply and so far...

But generally speaking, the people sincerely hope that the Great Sui Dynasty will persevere. Only when the Great Sui wins, will the freedom, land and various benefits they get soon belong to them. If others win, everything they just got will be lost. Then live like a dog again.

While the common people were looking forward to the dawn, they were afraid of the dawn at the same time, because they didn't know what consequences this huge coup would bring to them, and all of this could only be revealed tomorrow.

I don't know how long it took, the shouts of killing from Daxing Palace gradually disappeared, but the dawn became brighter.

quickly!

The doors of each workshop are opened!
The officials and soldiers of the square cooperated with the army and dispatched one after another. They shouted loudly in the streets of the square and told the people not to panic. It is clear that Li Tang's plot failed, and all the remaining forces were put to death.

At the same time, tell the people that Suzaku Hengjie is under martial law, and everyone should avoid detours. It is not because the war is not over, but because the scene is too tragic. His Royal Highness King Qin does not want the people to be frightened, and hopes that the people understand King Qin's painstaking efforts.

With those words, all the people in Chang'an City settled down. When they braved up to go out of their homes, workshops, and streets, they found that everything was as usual, and they were completely relieved.

The people are at peace!
But for General Sui, this night battle was not the end, but a brand new beginning.

Li Jing and other generals brought their soldiers and horses, and within one day, they captured all the dark forces in Chang'an City that were related to the rebellion that night.

As for public opinion and public opinion, Yang Tong has been keeping a close eye on it. During this day, all the major restaurants, teahouses, and neighborhoods are full of storytellers, and they explain the cause and effect of this incident to the people:

Unwilling to fail, the remnants of the aristocratic family tried to seize the land from the common people several times and tried to burn down the school of righteousness, so that the common people could continue to be ignorant. King Qin took care of his kinship, endured it, and even forgave them, the descendants of the noble family and domestic slaves. Unexpectedly, these people were not only ungrateful, but intensified, and this time they raised their troops openly, wanting to take advantage of the Qin King's inspection of Chang'an to take advantage of the opportunity to seize Chang'an, capture Daxing Palace, take away everything from the people, and overthrow the Sui Dynasty. King Qin, only after the war, had the next matter of arresting the remnants of the family.

The story is indeed beautified, but it is generally well-founded and not just fabricated. It is this rapid public opinion offensive that quickly fades the fear of the people in Chang'an. Storytellers and officials in the Guanzhong area were ordered to disseminate the content among the people before the news spread to Chang'an.

. . . . .

Another three days later, a thousand young scholars selected by the imperial court came to Chang'an from Yecheng, and stood in the Hall of Liangyi, all of them well-dressed and energetic.

Yang Tong sat high on the dragon chair and said with a smile, "I would like to congratulate you all first. From today onwards, you are official court officials."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Everyone quickly bowed and saluted.

"You are the best selected from among the many reserve officials. The oldest is only 35 years old. All of you are outstanding talents in the Sui Dynasty. The current arrangement is just the beginning for you, so you must not Swell."

"Your knowledge is very good, but it will take time and your achievements to prove whether your actual ability can be compared with your knowledge articles, so you can only start as county-level officials." Yang Tong laughed: "You Do you have any opinions on the arrangement of the imperial court?"

"I have no objection!"

A group of scholars who were about to become officials hurriedly bowed and said, "County magistrates are not difficult at all for the children of aristocratic families under the rule of other princes, but for the children of poor families, such an opportunity to prove themselves is not easy.It was also in the Sui Dynasty, if you go to Li Yuan and Xiao Xian, there is nothing wrong with them at all.

"Your Highness, I don't understand something." A man stood up from the line and bowed to salute.

"Please speak!" Yang Tong looked at the other party encouragingly.

"Thank you, Your Highness." The scholar bowed and said loudly, "Your Highness's collection of poems and essays will not only have two or three books, but everyone has one copy."

Everyone nodded.

Yang Tong laughed and said, "That's the concubine and the others who compiled my calligraphy works into a book. It's a gift for me. You don't have to take it seriously! Your family is not very good, so don't worry about it because it's me, Yang Tong." Follow the trend to buy things, everything should be considered from your own affordability.”

"Thank you, Your Highness." Everyone said gratefully.

"Please continue!" Yang Tong said to the scholar.

"Here!" said the scholar, "Your Highness's poems, pros and articles have all been read intensively. Any poem or article is a masterpiece through the ages."

Yang Tong smiled slightly. Could it be that the masterpieces of many gods and men are not the masterpieces of the ages?

"What I want to say is that Your Highness is the emperor among literati! But why, whether it is the subject of the scientific examination or the courses taught in the training class, are all focused on governing the country? I am not saying that the way of governing the country is not good, but the way of governing the country It’s not all that you have learned, but why does His Highness only focus on governing the country?”

"That's a pretty good question."

Yang Tong first praised, and then said: "Other knowledge is also very important, but I think that life is limited and learning is boundless, and one person cannot cover everything. The mission of an official is to govern the people, so other than governing the country Knowledge is secondary, but what about the common people? What they care about is three meals a day, enough food and clothing, and whether local officials can lead everyone to get rich. They don’t understand the profound Confucian classics either! Speaking of which, I would like to ask everyone: Do you think that the books of sages and sages can make the people healthy and well-fed?”

"This... is impossible, but the learning of sages is about enlightenment, not..." The scholar wanted to explain, but was interrupted by Yang Tong.

"It is true that the way of sages can educate the people, but I want to emphasize again: the first task of officials is to make one side safe and peaceful, and the people prosperous. If they can't even eat enough, who is willing to listen to the teachings of sages?"

Yang Tong looked at the crowd with majestic eyes, and said in a deep voice: "The way of sages, poetry, piano, calligraphy and painting can make people cultivate themselves, but the way of being an official is to do practical things for the people and share the worries of the court, especially in troubled times. , What I need are talents who can govern the world, not those who talk about empty words, so the officials of the Sui Dynasty are all pragmatic."

"Your servant is taught!" The scholar said no more, bowed and returned to the queue.

"The people really need the way of sages and sages, poetry, calligraphy and painting, but that is something they consider after they have settled their food and clothing, have surplus food and money at home, and know how to read and write. What the people need, I don't count, and neither do you. Only the people have the final say. I think the first thing you do after you take office is not to consider how to be a good official in a locality, but to visit the people as ordinary people and ask for their opinions. Only by hearing the voices of the people, Only then do you know what you should do and how you should do it. After listening too much, you will naturally understand it. You must remember: sitting in an official office is a place that cannot be governed well, and it is not a good place to be an official. Therefore, everyone We must go out and listen to the voice of the people!"

"Here!" Everyone bowed in response.

"Your Highness, I also have a question." Another person came out and bowed.

"Excuse me!" Yang Tong nodded.

"As far as I know, this time I recovered five counties in the Sui Dynasty, and took down Mingyue County. There are only six counties in total. It stands to reason that we don't need so many people."

"Three aspects: [-]. During the period of Emperor Wen and Wu, the term of office in our Great Sui Dynasty was three years, and they were not allowed to be re-elected in the local area. It was changed to a five-year term, but in order to consider the problem of ability, each official has a one-year internship period. Only after passing the qualification can he continue to fill his position, otherwise he will be dismissed. However, Liangzhou and other places are far away. If you are dismissed, the position will be idle for a long time. It is definitely not possible to lack officials in a place, so twice as many officials are invested at a time;
[-]. Once the Silk Road is opened, there will be endless business trips from various countries, and disputes will inevitably arise during the business journey, which requires the mediation of our court officials;
[-]. After the Sui Dynasty, we will station three principal and deputy envoys in each of the countries in the Western Regions. These envoys will communicate with other countries in time on behalf of the Sui Dynasty and seek benefits for the Sui Dynasty.I asked you to communicate with Hu merchants on the Silk Road. The real intention is to let you get tempered and accumulate experience for later stationed in the countries of the Western Regions. At that time, envoys from various countries will be selected from among you. The time limit is still five years and they will return to China . "Yang Tong looked at the officials with a smile.

As soon as this remark came out, the whole court was in an uproar.

The next moment, everyone was excited.

Zhang Qian and Ban Chao were envoys to the Western Regions, and their great deeds are still talked about so far, but now, Yang Tong gave them a chance to be famous in history, which also gave everyone a more lofty goal, and one and two were very excited.

"If you still have questions, you might as well tell them one by one. I will give you a satisfactory answer." Yang Tong looked at everyone with a smile.

A group of people shook their heads. The previous two points were the two points they were most concerned about. The former was a long-term puzzle, while the latter was the future. Now that Yang Tong has given an explanation, the doubts in his heart have been eliminated.

Seeing this, Yang Tong said loudly: "The six counties of Zhangye, Dunhuang, Yiwu, Shanshan, Qiemo, and Mingyue are remote, but each has value and potential for development. Therefore, I want to make rational use of one of them. Although the environment is quite harsh, it is also a good place to make contributions and prove yourself. If you can make a barren county rich, your merits will be far greater than the merits of governing a rich county, and you can prove your ability even more."

"Because a land of abundance only needs to be done step by step. No matter how well it is managed, its potential has already been exhausted, and it cannot reflect your own value and talent. Only those who can manage the remote land well are the real talents. They are the talents I really need, and I think these places are a good whetstone, and in the next five years, you will be able to prove yourself in the borderlands, and I look forward to your encouragement."

"The ministers will live up to His Highness's trust!" Everyone hurriedly bowed.

(End of this chapter)