I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 611

"No, did Zhang Shuwei write you a letter?" That night, Fu Xie returned home and asked about his son Fu Gan who came to greet him.

As the scope of the three bureaus' officials became wider and wider, the actual responsibilities of Guanglu Xun, who was in charge of the officials, became greater. Although the appointment of officials still had to be reviewed by the Shangshutai, all the Shangshutai could get was the evaluation of the three bureaus on the various assessments of their officials.

Since he was promoted to Guanglu Xun from the post of Governor of Liangzhou, Fu Xie has become busier and more cautious.

"How did father know?" Fu Gan was a little puzzled.

Fu Xie replied, "At the court meeting today, Your Majesty ordered the ministers to discuss Zhang Shuwei's memorial. His memorial adopted the opinion of the Chief Secretary Handan Shang, saying that the four Hexi counties were remote and that the four counties were important for supporting the Western Regions. He requested that a new prefecture be established in the four Hexi counties and the areas where the Protector General of the Western Regions and the Chief Secretary were stationed."

Fu Gan immediately understood what Fu Xie meant and responded, "Don't worry, father. Shu Wei and I are good friends. He did write to me about this. I think this is reasonable and is a precautionary measure... However, the situation in the Western Regions is uncertain, so there is no need to rush to set up a new state. Therefore, I did not tell you about this, so as not to upset you."

Fu Gan didn't want to interfere with Fu Xie's judgment because of his personal friendship.

Sure enough, after listening to it, Fu Xie showed a look of approval: "Bie Cheng did the right thing. After the discussion in the court today, it is also believed that a new state can be established. The date is set for next year or the year after. It is not appropriate to make too many changes now. With your insight, I can rest assured that you will be an official in the future."

"However, in addition to his memorial, there is another matter regarding Zhang Shuwei... Zhang Shuwei used public power for personal gain."

As he spoke, Fu Xie told Fu Gan about Zhang Meng's failed attempt to rescue Linghu Mo and his resentful words towards Cheng Yu.

Then, Fu Xie added: "Linghu Mo ordered his servant to kill a passing Hu merchant, and then used the servant to take the blame. The case has been reported to the court by the governor of Dunhuang, and the evidence is solid."

After hearing this, Fu Gan sighed, "Shu Wei is a man of sentimental character. He was confused by the feelings of an old friend and indeed went a little too far... However, since Shu Wei's resentment was reported, it is not the Dunhuang governor who did it. Then who reported it?"

When Fu Gan saw Fu Xie shaking his head without answering, he roughly understood that it must be the work of the School Affairs Department.

"Father, how is Uncle Wei now?"

"He was demoted to the magistrate of Linjing County." Fu Xie said.

Fu Ganzi also understood that Zhang Meng had done a poor job in this matter, and keeping him in Jiuquan would also affect public affairs. Now he was only demoted to a county magistrate with a salary of 1,000 stones, which was good enough. If he performed well, he might be promoted to a magistrate with a salary of 2,000 stones next time.

Thinking of this, Fu Gan decided to write a letter to Zhang Meng to comfort his close friend.

Fu Xie saw that Fu Gan did not have the same tendency as Zhang Meng to put public affairs above private interests, so he did not say much, nor did he stop Fu Gan from continuing to associate with Zhang Meng.

The next day, Liu Bian handled official business in the Yuntai Hall.

After taking office again as the Minister of the Secretariat, Liu Bian's government pressure was once again relieved a lot.

Moreover, this time Liu Bian did not work in the same hall with the Shangshu Shi as before, but found a side hall next to the Yuntai Hall as the office of the Shangshu Shi.

In this way, Liu Bian could feel more comfortable in the Yuntai Palace and could slack off whenever he wanted.

After reading several memorials, Liu Bian suddenly saw a memorial in which Zhang Xu, the Yellow Gate Minister, apologized on behalf of his brother Zhang Meng.

Only then did he remember that Zhang Xu and his brother Zhang Zhi were both sons of Zhang Huan, one of the three famous masters of Liangzhou. Both were famous for their cursive script, especially the deceased Zhang Zhi.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" At Liu Bian's command, Zhang Xu soon appeared in front of him. "No need to be polite... I heard that Wenshu has made great progress in cursive writing?" Liu Bian didn't want to learn cursive writing, but cursive writing reminded him of simplified Chinese characters, or in other words, popular Chinese characters.

Zhang Xu originally came to plead guilty for Zhang Meng, but Liu Bian did not mention this matter at all. He quickly replied: "Your Majesty, I do have this hobby, and I have a little reputation among my peers."

"I have been reading memorials for many years and have found that some fonts are complicated and difficult to write. You may try to use the method of cursive writing and replace them with some vernacular styles." Liu Bian directly stated his request.

"only!"

"You go."

"I'll take my leave." Zhang Xu obediently accepted the task and left.

Strictly speaking, the official script that is widely used today is a vernacular script compared to the small seal script. In fact, it was a subordinate script of the small seal script when it was first created, used to assist the shortcomings of the seal script.

By the time of the Western Han Dynasty, Lishu had already surpassed Xiaozhuan and replaced it. Today, Lishu is still very popular, and the most important reason is that it is easier to write than Xiaozhuan.

Although Liu Bian did not conduct an in-depth study of cursive script, he roughly knew that although cursive script looks rough, there are actually rules in the omission of characters.

In addition, simplified vernacular characters can play a significant role in reducing the difficulty of education.

However, the development of vernacular characters cannot be achieved overnight. Liu Bian wants to try to set an example for others to follow, and he currently thinks it is feasible.

These are just small episodes in Liu Bian's life today.

That night, Liu Bian received an invitation to a banquet from Empress Dowager He.

During the banquet, Empress Dowager He mentioned an old story... When Liu Bian took Cai Yan and others on a tour to Jizhou, Empress Dowager He stayed in Luoyang to preside over the court. At that time, Liu Bian made a big promise to Empress Dowager He, that is, the next time Liu Bian went on a tour, he would go to Nanyang, and then he would leave Queen Cai Yan in Luoyang.

Empress Dowager He said in a depressed tone, "When you went to Hejian State in the past, I didn't say much. When you went to Kaifeng County before, I didn't say much because you went alone... But... When does the emperor plan to visit Nanyang?"

Since Empress Dowager He said so, what else could Liu Bian say?
He immediately promised: "Traveling to Nanyang is different from going to Kaifeng, so we need to prepare early... Don't worry, mother, I will go to Nanyang by tomorrow... by the end of this year at the latest, and take a look at the place where you lived in the past."

Thinking of the love that Empress Dowager He had shown him, Liu Bian finally changed his mind.

When Empress Dowager He heard this, the sadness on her face immediately disappeared.

Liu Bian could only smile. Even for him, it was difficult to act impartially.

In the following days, Empress Dowager He was in a good mood. Cai Yan even secretly told Liu Bian that Empress Dowager He's appetite had increased in recent days.

What else can Liu Bian do? Prepare to fulfill his promise!
On the other hand, Zhang Xu was very efficient. Within a few days, he came up with a plan. There were a total of fifty characters in it, which were simplified by Zhang Xu through cursive writing. Even people who had not seen these fifty characters before could roughly guess the meaning of most of them.

However, using it directly in official documents might still cause ambiguity, so Liu Bian ordered someone to bring Cai Yong, who was also famous for his calligraphy, to the Imperial Academy to showcase their calligraphy skills.

(End of this chapter)