The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 858 News from Shu County

When Yang Tong came out of the restaurant, the guards hidden in an alley came out surrounded by a gorgeous carriage. The guards disguised themselves as ordinary attendants, and the carriage was ordinary, no different from ordinary carriages.

After Yang Tong and Fang Xuanling got into the carriage one after another, the carriage started slowly, with Luo Shixin guarding the side.

In the car, Yang Tong asked, "What do you think of this Shangguanyi?"

"Know the work from the small, see the beginning and know the end, he is a good seedling." Fang Xuanling replied with a sincere heart:
"Want to rob someone?"

"A little bit." Fang Xuanling didn't deny it either, he smiled and said, "Shangshu Province has ten ministries of civil affairs, officials, rites, soldiers, criminals, workers, imperial officials, scholars, martial arts, and merchants. , Si Si is short of people, so every time the scientific examination is over, the ministers start to snatch people. Now that I have finally met a good talent, I certainly want to be one step ahead."

"I can't give you this."

"How does the Holy Majesty plan to arrange it?"

"Shangguanyi has good talent, but he is too young, and there is still a lot of room for growth. I don't want him to enter the officialdom too early and kill his potential in the busy government affairs. He still has a lot to learn. In the future He will be the pillar of our Sui Dynasty. Therefore, I plan to send him to the place to work for a period of time, to integrate the knowledge he has learned, and to realize the purpose of applying what he has learned. After that, he will return to Luoyang Academy to continue studying and accumulate more Knowledge." Yang Tong looked at Fang Xuanling: "Your Fang Yizhi also came up step by step in this way, tell the truth, how is today's Yizhi compared to before?"

Fang Xuanling was taken aback for a moment, then seriously recalled what the eldest son did.

Fang Yizhi started from the remote county of Luoyuan County, Honghua County. It took two years to manage the place effectively. However, in less than a year, all kinds of things have been taken care of in an orderly manner, especially the Han and Qiang ethnic issues, and it is even easier to solve them. Fang Xuanling asks himself at this moment, if he changes Become yourself, I'm afraid that's all.

"Compared to before, it is indeed a little bit better." Fang Xuanling said.

Yang Tong laughed. With Fang Yizhi's current ability, he is more than enough to be a prefect, but Fang Xuanling has always been modest, so naturally he would not praise his son, "So, learning is very important. Except for your Fang Yizhi and Shangguanyi, as well as Yang Zen Master, Yang Sina, Yang Sijian, Yin Hongzhi, Liu Rengui, Ma Zhou, Lai Ji, Du Gou and other young people, I plan to arrange this way."

"The sage is wise." Fang Xuanling's cheeks twitched. The person in front of him was younger than some so-called 'young people'. His feelings were that he had forgotten his age. Of course, no one regarded him as a young man. Because everyone has to teach and receive his education like a student most of the time, it is natural to regard him as a peer.

But he also heard that Yang Tong had great expectations for these young people with potential, and planned to train them with all their strength.

As Fang Yizhi's parent, Fang Xuanling naturally liked it.Although the eldest son can inherit the title, which father doesn't want his son to have real talents?Green out of blue and blue in blue?

Yang Tong suddenly remembered that Shangguanyi claimed to be "the tallest among the shortest", and said to Fang Xuanling, "How is the popularization of the three learnings?"

The reason why the imperial court produced a large number of stationery and lowered the prices of books and paper was to make books affordable for more people. However, if there were no schools and teachers to bring them in, books and paper would still not produce knowledge.

After Yang Tong left the school to Kong Yingda, he paid less attention to education. Although Fang Xuanling was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, many things in the school required the cooperation of officials from all over the country. He was no stranger to education in the Sui Dynasty.

Mentioning this, Fang Xuanling immediately looked excited: "The situation is very good! According to the original idea, every time we recover a place, the officials who go to office will maintain law and order, restore people's livelihood, and build school buildings at the same time. The second school in the county and county has already been established. In the coming year, the Second Department of Official Studies will strive to extend the rural studies to every township in the Sui Dynasty. Then the rural studies will be enlightened, the county studies will be solidified, and the county studies will be divided into disciplines to train specialized students. Then the county studies will be admitted to the palace. Pursue advanced studies and receive a more refined and higher-level education.”

"Where is Master? Is it enough?"

"That's enough. Due to the age limit of the scientific examination, the elderly scribes gave up their desire to become officials and returned to their hometowns. Some elders with both talents and virtues were hired by the Ministry of Education as teachers of local township and county schools."

Yang Tong nodded happily. This is almost the backbone of national education after the imperial examination system matured.

But he still warned: "The imperial examinations can continuously provide talents for the Great Sui Dynasty, but our family has a long history, and our culture not only includes poetry, rituals, music, classics and history, but also agriculture, engineering, law, mathematics, Gewu, astronomy, geography, yin and yang. , Art of War, etc., we should set up more subjects in the county schools and county schools, so that every student can learn as much as possible, and there is absolutely no need for nerds who can only study hard in the Sui Dynasty!"

"Our knowledge is dazzling, but in the end, apart from the legalists who have to rely on the 'rupi and legal bones' to survive, Taoism preserves its inheritance because of its advocacy of nature, Mohism, yin and yang, farmers, miscellaneous, military, and doctors may suffer Exclusion, or suppression, etc. have all become unpopular theories, and even the classics handed down from generation to generation are gradually lost, which makes future generations sigh. Confucianism is good, but can only rely on Confucianism to ensure development and progress? We must From the beginning of the establishment of the imperial examination, it established the tone of a hundred schools of thought contending and advancing side by side."

Fang Xuanling naturally knew Yang Yu's intentions. In order to let the students learn in many ways, he did not hesitate to add topics such as agriculture, law, arithmetic, and history to the scientific examination questions. I understand, there is a lot of resistance."

Yang Tong nodded slightly, and understood where the resistance Fang Xuanling was referring to came from.

It is the will of the emperor that the content of other subjects is mixed in the imperial examination questions, and no examinee can change the fact that they can only study according to the examination papers, unless they do not want high scores.

However, the Confucian scholars who compromised the emperor's tough attitude at the upper level turned their heads and set up layers of fetters at the lower level, sparing no effort to suppress it.The "resistance" that Fang Xuanling refers to comes from the bottom.

"Every school is under the supervision of the government. The school buildings, teachers, and funds are all in the hands of the government. However, Confucian scholars have great influence among the people. These pedantic scholars have countless old friends and many disciples. Just pick them up It is a large network that spreads widely among the people. They dare not resist educational decrees, but the secret methods are hard to guard against. Some people deliberately blur the content of other schools when teaching students, so that students cannot learn other schools of knowledge. The yin and yang smearing of other schools makes students feel disgusted... All kinds of chaos, even Kong Shangshu, who is committed to restoring the authenticity of Confucianism and advocating the development of Confucianism in competition, can't help." Fang Xuanling shook her head and smiled bitterly, sighing again and again.

Yang Tong pondered for a long while, "Bring the Masters of the Three Schools into the supervision of the Second Department of Criminal Justice. If anyone dares to violate the law, he will be removed from the position of Master and given a certain punishment. A disciple who misunderstood others."

Fang Xuanling's eyes lit up, and he understood Yang Tong's meaning at once. The master of the county school and the township is almost a native of the township, and is deeply admired by the local people. He also enjoys this kind of worship. The person who cuts off the rise of the common people will not only fall into the dust immediately, but also be rejected by the common people every day, poking his spine, the consequences are more uncomfortable than killing him.

"Besides, being a teacher is not a career for a lifetime. If you can't do it yourself, you have to make way for someone who is capable." Yang Tong glanced at Fang Xuanling, and continued: "In the rural school, if you add a relatively simple course of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, After several years of learning, if the children can't even understand addition and subtraction within one hundred, it means that even if these masters are virtuous, they are also lacking in talent, and it would not be a pity to dismiss them."

"I understand." Fang Xuanling smiled slightly. If it is said that the publicity of the immoral teacher is to remove his name, then dismissing him is to cut off his profit. The imperial court has the power of his name and fortune, which will make some masters be honest. Real, serious lectures.

Yang Tong asked again: "Do you have any other ideas about the Three Studies?"

"My minister has two suggestions." Fang Xuanling said.

"Please say."

"Emphasis on education and spreading righteous learning are actions that benefit the country and the people, but education is different from war, and the fruits of victory cannot be reaped in a few years or ten years. The seeds planted by the Holy Majesty today will take at least 20 years or even a hundred years." It will become a big tree, it takes ten years to grow a tree, and a hundred years to grow a person. So there is no need to rush.”

Yang Tong nodded: "There are too few literate people now, and I also understand that the road to education is a long way to go. I still have some patience. Please continue."

"The second suggestion Weichen made is imperial examinations and official education courses. If cheap stationery and school buildings are the seeds and soil for more people to read and have a place to study, and the master is an old farmer who caress the seedlings, then a more complete imperial examination The system, as well as the three education courses, are sunshine and water, and only when the number is available, can the seeds take root, strive to grow, and eventually become towering trees.”

……

At this time, the carriage had slowly stopped in front of Shangshu Sheng's official residence, and the two got out of the carriage and met Yang Shanhui head-on.

Yang Shanhui greeted him with a happy face, saluted and said: "My humble minister sees the Holy One."

"Exemption!" Seeing that he was holding a stack of manuscripts, Yang Tong smiled and said, "It seems that I have thrown myself into the net."

Yang Shanhui also laughed and said: "This minister has something important to report to the Holy Majesty, and it is about the Ministry of War."

"Let's talk inside."

"Here."

When they arrived at the main mansion, they found that Yang Gongren, Wei Yunqi, Yang Shidao, Wei Zheng, Kong Yingda, Ling Jing, and Pei Renji were arguing passionately about something, one and two blushing.

"Don't you guys have swords and swords? Since you can't argue, you can just fight one-on-one. Whoever persists until the end will win." Yang Yu stepped into the room and said jokingly.

"Cough cough!"

The faces of everyone who stood up to greet him turned dark.

This made everyone sound like a bunch of hooligans.

Yang Tong took the seat reserved for a long time, and asked, "Why does everyone have such a stinky face? What happened?"

"It's the Ministry of War!" Yang Shanhui said with a wry smile: "The Department of Driving under the Ministry of War is very important, but it has suffered huge financial losses year after year, and this loss is increasing every year. Everyone is very distressed."

"You Pushe is talking about the station under the driving department?" Yang Tong asked.

The post station has existed since the Qin Dynasty, and its tasks are all-encompassing. It is not only responsible for the transmission of official documents and letters of the state, but also conveys emergency military information. Manage shipments of tribute shipments and other small items.

There are three types of post stations: land post, water post, and combined land and water, like a large network densely covering the traffic road.Each post station has post houses, post houses, post horses, post donkeys, post boats and post fields. There are currently 220 water stations and 1100 land stations. There are more than 20000 members who specialize in post services. The level and the number of station equipment are also different.

"It's the post station." Yang Shanhui said: "The post station is only useful when it has tasks. It is almost idle at ordinary times, but it has to be set up, so it needs to spend a lot of money every year to maintain it. Now "Da Sui Ban Yue Tan" is also produced by it. Passing, that is to say, there are 24 large-scale operations in the country's post stations every year, and if the special issues printed from time to time are added, the number will be even more, which also means that the losses of the post stations will only increase.

"The post station not only shoulders the mission of transmitting military information, official documents, half-month talks, etc., but also takes care of the board and lodging of officials." Yang Shanhui said again: "The board and lodging of officials is a uniform standard, and the expenses are not large, but horse feeding, carriages, and ship maintenance The extravagance is huge, so the accumulation of expenses is not a small amount of consumption."

"Is this what you are fighting for?" Yang Tong said with a dark face.

Yang Shidao smiled wryly and said: "Yes, although the imperial court can afford it, it can't stand the long-term consumption of the station. This thing is completely like a wild animal that can only enter and exit. It only eats money and food, and there are a lot of them."

"Then let it turn losses into profits." Yang Tong shook his head, the brains of the ancients are too rigid, and they cannot be changed day and night.

Yang Shanhui frowned and said, "But how to make the station profitable? Could it be possible to make it a business?"

"It can't be regarded as a business, but to use the long-term idle post station for the convenience of everyone in the world." Yang Tong is like Huang Rong. After a long time, he has already become accustomed to everyone's rigidity, and now he is not in a hurry. Also have patience.

Fang Xuanling had a flash of inspiration and asked, "The Holy Majesty intends to let the post station deliver letters to wanderers?"

"That's right." Yang Tong said, "For border guards, wanderers from other places, officials who take office in different places, and business travelers traveling around the world, the most worrying thing is the relatives who stayed behind in their hometown. Conversely, their relatives are also worried about their relatives abroad. , for both parties, reporting each other’s safe family letters is worth ten thousand gold. However, for this kind of people who are far away from their hometowns, meeting people from their hometowns is a fluke, but people from their hometowns may not return to their hometowns immediately, even if they return , It was also a few months later, the person who entrusted the delivery sometimes returned home, and the letter was still on the way.”

Everyone nodded silently. As senior officials of the Sui Dynasty, they naturally had some privileges, but it was too difficult for ordinary soldiers and ordinary people to communicate with their relatives far away.

"The mission of post stations is to transmit official documents and military information. Before the appearance of "Half Moon Talk", many post stations were rarely used a few times a year. It is so empty, it is better to let them deliver messages for everyone. With this huge and perfect post station network It is said that as long as there is an accurate address, the letter can be delivered to the destination, and the sender only needs to spend a small amount of money."

Yang Tong said with a smile, "According to the way of delivery, it only takes about ten days from Daxing to Jiaozhou. If there is an urgent matter, you can use six hundred miles to expedite the express. It is very attractive. Tell me, do you want to do this convenient business?"

"Do it, of course." Yang Shanhui said decisively, "Take the Ministry of War as an example. Every year, a large number of soldiers leave their hometowns and go to various borders to serve. If you report safety, you can achieve the effect of stabilizing the morale of the army, so that the soldiers can rest assured to guard the border."

"Yes, there are also officials who are officials in other places, and they also need such convenience." Fang Xuanling also said: "In addition to soldiers and officials, there are also students who go to study in other places. Relatives share love together, if the post station communicates with them and announces good news to relatives far away, what a beautiful thing is this?"

Kong Yingda agreed: "Such a feat that benefits the world, even if the post station loses more."

"You can't lose!" Yang Tong said, "Based on the huge population base of the Sui Dynasty, even if each person communicated half a year, there would be 2000 million letters a year, and it would be calculated on the basis of one penny per letter. , that’s [-] guan. Of course, this is only [-] miles for ordinary mail. If it’s [-] miles for express delivery, the fee will naturally be higher. In addition, different charging standards can be set according to the weight. I dare not say that it makes money, but it maintains the station’s balance of payments. Shouldn't be a problem."

Expediting the [-]-mile trip would take too much manpower and horsepower, so Yang Tong doesn't plan to open it to the private sector, and just continue to use it exclusively for the official.

"In this way, the station may not be manned enough."

"As long as the post station has income, it is absolutely possible to recruit retired and wounded soldiers who do not affect horseback riding." Yang Tong said.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Yang Shanhui agreed: "The person who delivers the letter needs to know how to ride a horse and drive a cart, not to mention that sending a letter is not a physical job, the wounded soldier is completely capable of it, and it can be regarded as a long-term livelihood for the soldiers."

"My lord!" Wei Zheng cupped his hands and said, "If money is involved, corruption must be prevented. Only the people at the station know how many letters have been exchanged. If there are criminals who send away thousands of letters, only report one letter. Isn’t the imperial court suffering a great loss? That’s why I thought that a more detailed regulation was needed.”

"You only need to imitate the silver bills and print exquisite pictures with the amount instead of money. When the people send letters, they need to buy pictures from the post station to paste on the envelope, and stamp the seal at the post station. In this way, If you don’t have a picture, you can’t send a letter. You can send as many pictures as you want to the post station, and you can get back as much as you want, so that you can avoid corruption at various post stations. This picture can be called a stamp.”

"Secondly, in order to prevent the courier from negligent administration, the serial number must be recorded in detail every time it is transferred, and the stamp of the local post station must be printed on each transfer to prevent the letter from being lost. Sign or print your handprint on the receipt, and keep it for later verification to prevent the courier from being lazy, and at the same time use it as a basis for rewarding the courier.”

"Third, letters are very easy to get wet. The carriages and packages need to be well sealed and waterproof."

"Fourth, the content of the letter is a private matter. No one wants their innermost thoughts to be peeped into by outsiders, so the envelopes are uniformly made of flexible and durable paper by the imperial court. This is the income of the station."

"fifth……"

Yang Tong eloquently explained the various measures of postal and express delivery, and everyone who listened to them was enlightened and stunned.

They can't even find the problem, but Yang Tong has the problem and the solution, and then everyone just needs to follow suit.

At this moment, everyone was hit again.

Ling Jing said: "My lord, a letter has to travel thousands of miles, which is also a huge expense. How much is enough for stamps and envelopes? If every letter loses money, the loss will be even greater. , How can this be a balance of payments?"

"It's good to add it from other places. For example, "Half Moon Talk", after arriving in a different place, the price has increased several times. In this case, we simply hand it over to the post station to double the sales. The court only charges half of the money, and the other half is owned by the station. .”

"How do you get the exquisite stamps?" Yang Shanhui's head is as big as a bucket, and the post station is under the management of the Driving Department of the Ministry of War. Now Shangshu Li Jing and Zuo Shilang Qin Qiong are away, so he can only take care of it.

"Leave it to me." Yang Tong suddenly had an idea: "I will draw the original picture of the stamp, and hand it over to the Shaofu to supervise the mold printing. The design is the head of the King of the Sui Dynasty and the Duke of the State."

Swish!
Everyone blushed with excitement.

In the whole world, only Yang Tong, Changsun Wugou, and Lu Qinghua can draw human-like figure paintings.

The figures of the three of them are all lifelike, which is no secret in the court.If everyone's avatars are used as stamps, then your own portrait will be spread all over the world with letters.

what is this?
glory.

Great honor.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Yang Tong was happy.

Say something.

The ancients were simply unable to extricate themselves from fame, fame, and fame.

However, it is a good thing to hope to achieve a good reputation. As long as you do not use means to gain fame and fortune at the expense of others, you should be encouraged and appreciated.

If a dynasty doesn't care about its reputation, that's the most terrible thing in the world.

"As long as any family collects a complete set of used stamps, stamped and printed with the date of the year." Yang Tong said with a smile on his face, "then it can be exempted from tax for one year."

Every household wants to be tax-free, so naturally they will not give away the used stamps to others. Even if someone collects them, they are very few. This has little impact on the large population of the Sui Dynasty.

When the popularity of stamp collecting rises, some people will buy a whole set of collections, which is one of the benefits of the post station.

Yang Tong couldn't help but praise his method. In this way, the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs can be satisfied, happy, and excited, and encourage everyone to work harder and harder. At the same time, they can use their avatars to sell money and alleviate financial losses. It really kills two birds with one stone. Things.

boom!
Everyone became even more restless.

……

At this moment, the guard outside the door reported: "Report to Your Majesty, Princess Lujiang urgently asks for an audience."

"Please come in!" Yang Tong said.

"Here."

After a while, Yang Qinfang hurried in with a red eagle letter in her hand, saluted and said: "The last general will see the Holy Majesty."

"Where did this come from?" asked.

Yang Qinfang presented the eagle letter to Yang Tong: "It is Yizhou that sent urgent information."

Yang Tong took a look and gloated: "Dugu Wu has been quiet for so long, I thought he had already disbanded. I never thought that this guy would hide in Daba Mountain, and now he is avoiding the truth, bringing the remnants of the Guanlong nobles with him." The soldiers suddenly killed Shu County, where the new capital of the puppet Tang Dynasty is located, and Li Yuan may not have a good New Year's Eve."

"Pretty!"

Everyone was overjoyed, and the moment they had been waiting for finally came.

(End of this chapter)