The Great Han Dynasty: From Feng Lang Juxu to the Eternal Emperor

Chapter 362 Supervising the Country

As a member of the royal family, the most important and solemn thing you do in your ordinary political career must be sacrifices.

The clothes worn for each sacrifice are different. The Ministry of Rites will stipulate what kind of clothes and crowns should be worn by which sacrifices. The color of the clothes and the style of the crown will change depending on the sacrifice.

On October 15th, after the sacrifices were completed, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty announced that the crown prince would supervise the country. He took Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and several officials from the Ministry of Rites to the north to inspect the management of the Yellow River.

Late at night, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty called Wei Ning to him.

Wei Ning said it was impossible not to be nervous. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had been with him before. Every decision he made was checked by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so he didn't have to worry about doing something wrong.

Now that I have to face this alone, I feel a lot of pressure.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty smiled and comforted Weining: "Don't worry about making the wrong decision, Zhao Zhou and others will also check it for you."

"It's not like I won't come back. Feel free to do your thing boldly."

Wei Ning hesitated and said, "I'm afraid that something I think is right will be opposed by three provinces and six ministries, and I don't know how to judge."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: "Then it's up to you! Supervising the country is like the emperor, and Qiangang is arbitrary. If you think what you do is right, then do it!"

"But an emperor who is too arbitrary will plunge the country into chaos. What if I am wrong?" Weining said uneasily.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty smiled and said: "I am not dead. I will come back sooner or later. You have done something wrong. I, the father, will just mend the hole for you. What are you afraid of?"

Wei Ning nodded and said gratefully to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: "Thank you, father."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty rolled his eyes at him and said, "Look at your potential, what will you do if I die?"

Wei Ning hurriedly said: "Father, please stop saying unlucky words."

During these days together, Weining could deeply feel Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's favor for him.

……

Early the next morning, Wei Ning led a hundred officials to see off the inspection team of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty at the south gate of Chang'an.

The first batch of new money has been minted by the Ministry of Industry.

The Ministry of Rites has long been building momentum and spreading public opinion among the people. Most of the people know that the Han Dynasty wants to reform the currency.

The implementation of new coins cannot be rushed, but must enter the market little by little until all old coins are banned.

The bronze coins collected from the old batch will no longer be issued to the outside world. They will all be dissolved and made into new coins. In this round trip, the old coins will completely disappear from the stage of history in about ten years.

In addition, Weining has begun to sell cotton-padded clothes privately.

There were not many cotton-padded clothes in the first batch, and each piece cost up to a thousand gold. Although they were linen clothes, they were still swept away by the powerful after being put into the market.

Things are rare.

The income was not much, and all went into the inner treasury of the East Palace.

After the people in Chang'an and Gyeonggi Province knew about the existence of cotton-padded clothes, their desire for them could not help but grow stronger.

So Weining ordered Lu Chongguo, Minister of Industry, to distribute all cotton seedlings, and Lu Chongguo personally taught the people how to cultivate cotton.

Wei Zifu also set an example and taught women all over the world how to spin cotton, weave clothes and quilts, etc.

These textile skills need to be conveyed to local peasant women by local governments. Among them, Weining particularly emphasized the need to focus on Jiangnan.

The cotton planting pilot project can be used in Guanzhong, but for large-market farming, Weining wants to put it in Jiangnan. This will balance the economic gap between the North and the South.

In the early morning of the third day of Emperor Wu's northern tour, Fu Yan, the Minister of Rites, wrote to Wei Ning about the scientific examination next year.

Next year will be the first year of the imperial examinations in the Han Dynasty. The imperial court attaches great importance to this. Starting from February next spring, counties across the country will begin to organize two small exams, one for counties and one for counties.

The quiz is relatively simple. Only those who pass it are eligible to participate in the national examination. After the examination, they need to come to Chang'an to take the final imperial examination.

However, Zhu Fuyan raised a problem, that is, the national examination seems to be taken so seriously, but in fact it is of no use. It is no different from the small examination, and those who pass the examination do not have any vested interests. This shows that the level of the national examination is not enough.

Only then did Weining realize the problem. After the imperial examination system was originally proposed, many other things had to be improved in practice.

After Zhu Fuyan raised the question, Wei Ningcai said: "Anyone who takes the national high school entrance examination can be exempted from agricultural tax, but commercial tax is not included."

The master's father's eyes lit up. This suggestion put forward by Wei Ning was excellent. It did not cost the court any money. It only exempted it from taxes. However, it was a real benefit to the people. In this way, private scholars could Take the Chinese exam with the greatest motivation!

Zhu Fuyan also proposed that for those who passed the quiz, the court could symbolically ask the local county government to distribute a certain amount of daily necessities such as Lumi, oil and salt every year to ensure that their families would not have to worry about food and drink for a year.

This amount of expenditure is completely acceptable to the court.

However, when interests are involved, whether it is a small exam, a national exam or even a major exam in Chang'an, we need to attach great importance to it and strictly guard against fraud and favoritism.

In China, whenever a system is enacted and there is a profit to be made, there will be people who will take advantage of it and start to exploit loopholes in the policy. Wei Ning asked his father Yan and the Ministry of Punishment to formulate the punishment consequences for favoritism and fraud, and strictly prevent the imperial examination scholars from cheating.

He wanted to ensure that the imperial examination was absolutely fair and just, rather than just a formality. In the end, the imperial examination became a tool for the powerful to make money.

Lord Fu Yan and Minister of Punishment Wang Zang clasped their fists to accept the decree. The court meeting was over and they each returned to their government offices to start handling political affairs in an orderly manner.

……

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's northern patrol team has arrived at the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Jia Rang met with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty immediately and accompanied Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's team to inspect the management of the Yellow River.

He told Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty one by one about his thoughts and achievements in regulating the Yellow River. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty nodded with satisfaction. How could Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty be unhappy that such a savage beast was docilely tamed by Jia Rang?

People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait knelt on the ground and bowed down to the emperor from a distance, kowtowing three times and bowing nine times, and shouted long live the emperor.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was filled with joy and bathed in the gratitude of the people.

He was happy from the bottom of his heart. These would be his solid political achievements under Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the future! Historical records will never forget this scene!

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also brought the historian Sima Tan, who recorded all today's grand events and praised Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

After a short stay, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's team continued northward, accompanied by Jia Rang all the way to Zhao Di in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

After arriving in Zhaodi, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty couldn't help but sigh with emotion as he looked at the singing and dancing of the Hebei counties.

While resting in Zhao Di, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard that the people of Zhao Di were rumoring that there was an immortal alchemist in the deep mountains of Zhao Di, who had long predicted that the Yellow River would be regulated.

As early as half a year ago, he predicted that a saint would come to the Yellow River and so on.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty didn't really believe this. Ever since Li Shaoweng deceived him and was exposed by Wei Ning, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty didn't trust the alchemists very much.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had always longed for immortality and sought the fate of the immortal family. At this time, he had forgotten all about it. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still decided to meet the immortal alchemist mentioned by Zhao Di.

　I'm really sorry. I was busy yesterday and I didn't touch my computer all day. I'm really sorry.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)