I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 546 Lu Jun's Suggestions

Lu Jun felt that he was somewhat unlucky.

In his early years, he was a palace official because of his father's influence, but he had no chance of promotion for a long time, and was forced to be involved in Zhou Hui's conspiracy. Fortunately, he finally took advantage of this opportunity to turn bad times around and became the lord of a county.

Lu Jun cherished this opportunity very much. He knew that he was not talented enough, so after becoming the county magistrate, he would do everything he could do personally, and he would work hard and willingly for any hard and tedious work.

God will not let down those who work hard. Under Lu Jun's governance, Guanjin County can definitely be called a paradise. In the past few years, Jizhou has been in chaos many times, but Guanjin County has always been like a lone boat in the lake during wind and rain. Although it looks dangerous, it has never capsized.

Lu Jun felt that from now on, he would have the confidence to face the emperor and his father.

The good political situation and harmonious people in Guanjin County are inseparable from his governance.

In the eighth year of Guangxi, Lu Jun received another transfer order, and he was to serve as a counselor in the court.

Lu Jun was extremely delighted about this, as it meant that his achievements in office over the past few years had been noticed by the emperor and the court. He could not wait to send a letter to his father, then packed his bags and prepared to hand over his work and go to Luoyang to take up his post.

However, things did not go as planned. Just as Lu Jun was about to leave, Jizhou fell into chaos.

The newly appointed head of Guanjin by the imperial court had not yet taken office, so Lu Jun had to make an emergency decision. It happened that Lu Jun had not yet handed over his county chief seal to the Prime Minister of Anping. So after communicating with the Prime Minister of Anping, he decided to stay in Guanjin County and appease the people.

In the years since he took office, Lu Jun has visited every village in Guanjin County. Under his appeasement, there has been almost no unrest in Guanjin County.

Even when a new Guanjin chief arrived, Lu Jun did not leave immediately. After all, in his opinion, Sima Lang, his successor, was tall, eloquent, famous, and a child prodigy who had passed the test of a boy.

Thinking of this, Lu Jun suddenly felt a little sour in his heart. He was neither as talented nor as tall as Sima Lang.

However, he was not worried about this. In Lu Jun's view today, such a person would probably be high and mighty, and might not be liked by the officials and people below him. It all depends on what he does.

At this time, General Cao Cao led his troops here and quelled the unrest in Le'an State and its surrounding areas. After seeing that Sima Lang had done nothing wrong in pacifying the people, Lu Jun finally decided to leave Guanjin County and go to Luoyang to take up his post.

Lu Jun thought Cao Cao was a very good person. It was not because Cao Cao had been praising him since they met him, but because he had heard that Cao Cao accidentally trampled on a farmland while riding his horse and gave the BMW to the owner of the farmland. He also heard that Cao Cao had strict military discipline under his command, and that the Han and Xiongnu soldiers under his command had to pay for them if they wanted to eat fruits along the way.

There was also the Governor Ying Shao, whom Lu Jun had always admired. He heard that he was also praising him.

Things like working diligently, winning people's hearts with virtue, and being a role model for senior officials.

Lu Jun felt a little embarrassed by the praise. He really didn't think he did a great job. He just did what he was supposed to do.

When he was leaving, although Cao Cao and Ying Shao were unable to leave due to official business, they still sent people to see him off.

Lu Jun just felt that they were too polite. He guessed that this was their upbringing!
On the way, he finally had time to think about what he would do after becoming a counselor.

The main job of a counselor is to provide advice to the emperor. In Lu Jun's opinion, the main reason why he could achieve such good results in Guanjin County was that he acted in accordance with the court's decrees. If he was asked to give any suggestions, he could not think of it for a while.

Although there was no explicit regulation, Lu Jun had been a palace official in Luoyang for many years and was aware of some of the conventions. A newly appointed counselor like him would always have to write a memorial after taking office.

It was his housekeeper Lu Liu who reminded him: "Don't gentlemen often face many troubles and worries when doing things? Why not sort out these troubles?"

Lu Jun was moved after hearing this. It wasn't that he was complaining, but he did find many differences between his time as a county magistrate and when he was a palace official.

As soon as this thought came to his mind, he started to tidy up his things on the way.

Originally, in Lu Jun's simple understanding, as long as the officials attached importance to culture and education and set an example, the people would naturally follow.

But in reality, Lu Jun found that only a few people could really see his exemplary behavior. The people living in the county town were slightly better and generally had some knowledge, but in Guanjin County, the people in the county town did not even have half of that.

For a long time, the common people living in the countryside were still afraid of him when they saw him, just like they were afraid of the petty officials in the countryside.

This brings us to another issue - the influence of petty officials in the village was too great. There were officials such as Zhifu, Sifu and Tingzhang, who were in charge of the village's taxation, case handling, and government decrees... Moreover, although the emperor ordered people to reorganize the laws and send them to various counties, in fact, the people still lacked knowledge of the laws.

They have a very simple concept of right and wrong - which is fine in most cases, but in some cases, this ignorance is fatal - such as the payment of taxes, obedience to corvée, and even the punishment for accidental crimes... =
It can be said that the common people in the village who lack the ability to discern will believe whatever the petty officials say.

Once these petty rural officials join forces with the knowledgeable and influential families... No, not once, because many of the petty officials come from this group, the ordinary people can only be at their mercy.

However, according to Lu Jun's observation, even though they all came from prominent families, those minor officials who had read the books of sages and passed the imperial examinations generally performed better.

Lu Jun’s experiences over the years are not fake. When it comes to his experience in grassroots governance, he can hardly stop writing once he starts.

……

After several years, Liu Bian saw Lu Jun again and felt that he was quite different from the fair-skinned scholar with clear eyes.

The most striking point is that Lu Jun has become darker.

"I have read all that you said in your memorial." After reading it, Liu Bian was very sure that Lu Jun had indeed made progress.

He was just about to discuss some serious topics with Lu Jun, but unexpectedly, when Lu Jun saw his serious expression, he panicked before Liu Bian could continue speaking.

He quickly said, "Your Majesty, this memorial contains only my humble opinions during my tenure. There are definitely mistakes and omissions in it. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me..."

Hearing this, Liu Bian resisted the urge to curl up the corners of his mouth.

Right.

The Lu Jun he knew was back again.

Liu Bian first affirmed: "What you reported is very important in my opinion!"

"But in your memorial, both the rich and the poor in the county are eager to participate in the test, and they all hope to participate in the test selection when there are vacancies in the future... As far as I know, there are not many counties with such a situation. Why do you think it is?"

Lu Jun was stunned when he heard this. So he was the special one?
He always thought that there was no difference between his jurisdiction and other counties!

Lu Jun smiled awkwardly and explained, "Since there have been officials who passed the examination, I have been worried that they would be bullied, so I often pay attention to them."

"Later, these officials who passed the test performed well and were able to implement government orders at the fastest speed, so I was more willing to use them."

Liu Bian looked at Lu Jun, wondering if he knew that this behavior was a hint that only officials who passed the test could be valued by the Ming court. And looking at Lu Jun's reaction, could it be that he really hit the jackpot?
Liu Bian asked again: "Have you ever punished officials who oppressed their colleagues?"

Lu Jun thought about it and replied, "That's not the case."

"But the county officials who were born in the examination system did expose the crimes of some criminal officials, including two who were officials of the rank of 100 shi!"

Lu Jun emphasized: "In fact, it was the criminal officials who framed me first. I checked it over and over again before I confirmed that it was a false accusation."

Liu Bian asked: "Is the person who was falsely accused an official from the examination system?"

"How did your majesty know?" Lu Jun was a little surprised, but he soon seemed to understand the reason why Liu Bian made such a guess, and added, "Although they were both candidates for the imperial examination, the person who was framed and exposed was not the same person..."

Liu Bian:...

He suddenly felt that this could be considered Lu Jun's talent! Strength comes from lack of desire?

Although Lu Jun's ability to discern people's hearts is a little poor, he is able to employ people, is serious about things, and dares to fight against evil.

If a person with such virtues governs a place and uses laws and regulations to support it, there is no need to worry about the place being in trouble.

Lu Jun sensed something was wrong and asked, "Your Majesty, is it possible that my suggestion to improve the performance of officials who were selected through the imperial examinations is not feasible?"

Liu Bian replied, "Of course not. If everything goes well with the farmland survey this year, I will implement this plan and follow the experience of the five states in Guandong. Your words are exactly what I want."

But Lu Jun thought more, and said with a disappointed look: "But it may not be appropriate now..."

Liu Bian continued: "Not necessarily."

"After listening to your experience, I think the imperial examination is feasible. At least under your rule, there are far more scholars who are willing to take the imperial examination than those who are unwilling to take it."

After another war, the states and counties were indeed short of minor officials again.

There are many vacancies not only for county and township officials, but also for state and county officials. Without destruction, there is no construction, and now is a good opportunity.

Liu Bian thought that in today's era, the development of the imperial examination system had an advantage that was difficult to reproduce after the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties - although the situation of looking down on clerks had appeared a long time ago, but now the officials have not been divided into different streams, and there is no so-called ceiling for low-ranking clerks to become high-ranking officials - as long as they do not dream of becoming high-ranking officials.

The imperial examination can start directly from the lowest level of Doushi and Zuoshi.

Thinking of the two rounds of trial elections in counties and prefectures that he had originally planned, Liu Bian felt that now was a very feasible time to expand it.

A more radical approach would be to directly combine the highest examination with the assessment of the officials in the three offices.

A more conservative approach would be to restore the state of the imperial examination system in its infancy, that is, to conduct a unified examination of the talents recommended by the prefectures and counties.

However, Liu Bian had no good solution for the problem raised by Lu Jun that the people did not understand the law.

He certainly knew that with the current productivity, it was impossible to promote universal education.

Nowadays, when children reach the age of understanding, most of them do not study but help their parents and help the family share farm work.

Even Zheng Xuan, who had a family tradition of inheriting books, was forced by his family to work as a minor official to earn a salary and support the family when he was a little older. The survival pressure faced by ordinary families would only be greater.

Come step by step!

Seeing that the meeting was coming to an end, Liu Bian said at last: "You can be more confident and don't let your imagination run wild. You were appointed as a counselor because the Shangshutai examined your achievements and reported them to me."

"In the past, whenever the Shangshutai reported this matter, I almost always responded."

Lu Jun was stunned when he heard this. In fact, he saw the letter written to him by his father Lu Kang on the way to Luoyang, and he had some doubts in his heart.

But now that the emperor has said so, could he still lie to him?
Thinking of this, Lu Jun suddenly realized that he became the counselor today entirely because of himself!

It's all up to him!
When he looked up, he happened to see the emperor's kind and smiling gaze.

His heart warmed, and he bowed to Liu Bian and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After leaving Yuntai Palace and arriving at his office, Lu Jun still couldn't hide his excitement.

He suddenly thought of the kindness Cao Cao, Ying Shao and others had shown him. Lu Jun originally thought that they were well-mannered, but now it seems that their praise for him must be true!
that's nice!

Lu Jun couldn't help laughing out loud.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a person suddenly appearing outside the government office, and his laughter stopped immediately. All of a sudden, he was completely embarrassed, not only his face, but also his ears turned red.

He also knew this person. After being embarrassed, he could only bow even more awkwardly and said, "Mr. He..."

He suddenly couldn't remember the words to greet him.

Although He Yong didn't know why Lu Jun was so happy, he was young once and knew when he couldn't help himself.

So, he just pretended to ignore Lu Jun's attitude just now, returned the greeting to Lu Jun as usual, and went to his seat.

But there was no regular work for a Counselor. In fact, there was nothing special for him to do. He just wrote a few memorials to the emperor occasionally to make his presence felt, so that the emperor would not forget him and think of him when there was a vacancy in a county or an important position in the court.

However, He Yong was an exception. It was already a blessing for him to return to the officialdom of Luoyang from the fields of Fufeng, so he naturally would not want a bicycle.

——Although he can accept simple meals, who would deliberately live a hard life if they could eat well and live well!

After sitting down, He Yong saw that Lu Jun was still embarrassed, so he spoke again as an elder to break the silence: "Speaking of which, you came from Jizhou, and I also experienced rural life in Youfufeng a few years ago... There is a difference between Guanxi and Guandong."

Lu Jun immediately responded: "Just as Mr. He said, there are many military farms in Guanxi, so it should be easier to govern than in Guanxi..."

The two sides chatted happily, and that day, Lu Jun was almost about to tell He Yong the color of his underwear.

(End of this chapter)