I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 615: Scholar Huang Chengyan

"Bian'er, is infanticide so rampant among the people?" This was the first time Empress Dowager He had heard of such a thing. She looked unbearable, "How could such a thing happen to our own flesh and blood?"

Liu Bian also felt heavy-hearted about this issue.

He sat beside Empress Dowager He and talked about his various ideas for the Salesian Church, hoping that the existence of the Salesian Church would one day prevent infant drowning.

"The baby boys in the Salesian Hall can still be adopted, but the baby girls...even if someone is willing to adopt them, I'm afraid they have bad intentions. I want to promise those who have daughters who are difficult to raise to make them maids, and then marry them off and become good women when they grow up." Soon, Liu Bian talked about the baby girls.

Empress Dowager He was not ignorant of the suffering of the people. Seeing Liu Bian worried about this, she took the initiative to say, "Let me and the queen take care of the baby girl's affairs. You don't have to worry too much."

After hearing what Empress Dowager He said, Liu Bian felt much more at ease.

He never fights alone.

Tang Wan, who accompanied Liu Bian to Nanyang, had been listening to Liu Bian and Empress Dowager He's conversation silently. After hearing this, she stood up and saluted, saying, "I am willing to help the Empress Dowager!"

There is no doubt that abandoned baby girls are more vulnerable to harm as they grow up than baby boys.

The Salesian Home, which Liu Bian had founded on a whim, was still in the exploratory stage, and its specific effect would have to be seen over time. However, Liu Bian believed that with the participation of several women of the highest status in the Han Dynasty, it should not be too bad.

However, after Liu Bian paid homage to the Zhang Mausoleum and old house of the ancestors of the Guangwu lineage, he returned to Wancheng where the He family residence was located.

Here, he met an old friend, the former Shaofu Yin Xiu.

Yin Xiu once did not take the right stand on some issues and went against Liu Bian. It was because he was relatively flexible that he was able to land safely, be dismissed from office and return to his hometown Xinye.

"I, an old country bumpkin, pay my respects to Your Majesty!" Yin Xiu was very excited to be summoned by the emperor.

"My family is unfortunate to have a treacherous villain like Yin De in our clan. I am deeply grateful to Your Majesty for pardoning the crimes of my clan members!" When he said this, Yin Xiu pretended to be filial.

Liu Bian extended his hand to support Yin Xiu, indicating that there was no need to be polite.

"I heard that you have opened a school in Xinye and taught many students," Liu Bian asked.

When Yin Xiu heard Liu Bian still calling him "Qing", his eyes suddenly became sore again.

He could have been a harmonious ruler and his subjects, but he made a mistake.

After experiencing the ups and downs of his official career, Yin Xiu, like many traditional Han scholars, taught and educated people in his hometown - "I returned to my hometown and saw that even poor families knew the benefits of studying after the imperial examination. However, most poor families did not have the money to support a scholar. Seeing this, I could only waive some of the tuition fees. I would not refuse any poor children who were willing to study the classics."

"Today, the spirit of learning is becoming stronger and stronger among the people in the village. This is all due to your majesty's benevolence!"

After all, Yin Xiu had left his post as an official and returned home in a not very glorious manner. The villagers did not dare to talk about him in front of him, but they could not help gossiping about him behind his back.

But after he did this, few people dared to talk about him behind his back.

Liu Bian said: "I heard that even children of seven or eight years old in Xinye County can recite a sentence or two from the Analects. Now it seems that you have made an indelible contribution!"

"I am ashamed to accept this!" Yin Xiu declined hastily. "Nowadays, there is cheap bamboo paper and printed books in the countryside. It is much easier for poor children to study classics than before. Moreover, the government is clean and honest now, and the people have more money. Otherwise, if you don't have enough food and clothing, you will have a hard time knowing honor and disgrace, let alone studying and learning."

However, after talking about the good side, Yin Xiu also pointed out the current problems: "Many poor children who want to study may not be able to persist due to their family conditions and their own intelligence."

This is a problem brought about by poverty - children from poor families lack the capital for trial and error, and these are development problems.

After meeting Yin Xiu, Liu Bian did not want to recruit him as an official again, but kept him in the countryside... Perhaps he would be more useful in the countryside than in the court.

When Yin Xiu was leaving, Liu Bian gave him four words: "May your house be filled with peaches and plums."

After years of training, Liu Bian's handwriting could only be described as very rigid, so after he wrote these four words himself, he asked Zhang Xu, the Yellow Gate Minister, to write four large characters and gave them to Yin Xiu, asking him to hang them in his own school. This could be regarded as Liu Bian's recognition of him.

Yin Xiu happily left with Liu Bian's handwritten letter.

In fact, when he was summoned by the emperor, he had considered the possibility of being re-recruited - but he knew better that the mistakes he had made were even bigger, and the court no longer needed someone like him.

After devoting himself to teaching and educating people, his state of mind became increasingly positive: if I get it, I am lucky; if I lose it, it is my fate.

Afterwards, Yin Xiu did not return to Xinye County immediately, but stayed in Wan County temporarily. His disciples were still teaching in his school, so there was no need to rush.

During the time when Xingzai arrived in Wan County, the wealthy He family of Nanyang held a grand banquet in the name of the emperor to entertain the elders of his hometown, especially those over 70 years old, and gave them many gifts.

More and more officials and celebrities came to Nanyang, and they were no longer limited to Nanyang.

"Brother-in-law, Wan County is just ahead. Please don't talk about going back again."

Huang Chengyan felt helpless when he saw his brother-in-law Cai Mao holding his hand tightly.

These days, Cai Mao used almost all his means, whether it was his sister who married Huang Chengyan or his niece who was always smart, and he also relied on the means of eating and living together to finally bring Huang Chengyan, who was only willing to teach disciples and had no intention of a career in politics, to come.

Seeing Wancheng was right in front of him, Huang Chengyan, who was reluctant to come in the first place, became even more reluctant to move forward.

He said to Cai Mao: "My brother-in-law was originally the Sima of the General's Mansion in Annan. He just didn't get selected last year because he happened to be ill. If my brother-in-law wants to enter the government again, he only needs to find Jingsheng and recommend him. Jingsheng married my sister-in-law and is the Minister of Agriculture. He is better than a country idler like me!"

"I have said it many times... Yin Xiu was praised by the emperor himself because he taught many students. Although my brother-in-law did not teach as many students as Yin Xiu, his students were all talented and some of them came from humble backgrounds. Moreover, they were directly recruited by the court in Luoyang last year and went to Shuofang and Beidi." Cai Mao never concealed the purpose of his visit to Huang Chengyan. "In my opinion, my brother-in-law will definitely be summoned by the emperor when he arrives in Wancheng."

"Besides, the disciples you have carefully trained are much older than Yueying. They are not suitable for marriage. It is a good opportunity for you to come to Nanyang to see if there is a good son-in-law here."

Even if Huang Chengyan himself does not care about his official career, he cannot completely ignore his clan and the future of his children.

After saying this, Huang Chengyan, who was once again in a dilemma, was pushed into the carriage by Cai Mao. This time, he went straight to Wancheng.

Seeing Wancheng in front of him, Cai Mao couldn't help but recall the past - when Liu Biao first entered Jingzhou, it was with the help of the Cai and Kuai clans in Xiangyang County, Nanjun, that he opened the first gap in Jingzhou. In return, during Liu Biao's tenure as General of Annan, the Cai and Kuai clans received generous rewards.

As the Sima who was in charge of military affairs for Liu Biao, Cai Mao had many old officials among the soldiers in the prefectures and counties of Jingzhou. When Liu Biao was in power, the Cai family's momentum in Jingzhou was much greater than that of the Kuai family.

But all this went wrong when Liu Biao was about to step down.

Without General Annan, who was in charge of the military affairs of Jingzhou, what would it matter if Cai Mao had many connections in the army? There would be no more wars to fight, so it was time for civil governance. Moreover, without wars, the governors would have no military power, and each county would act on its own. The connections that once existed would also be lost because of the counties acting on their own.

In theory, with Cai Mao's achievements as a Sima, even if he could not be appointed as a prefect, he would be more than qualified to be a captain or a colonel with a salary higher than 2,000 stones. However, Cai Mao fell ill last year and had to resign due to illness, so he missed this opportunity.

Now that he had recovered from his illness, he happened to hear about Yin Xiu's story, and he finally persuaded Huang Chengyan to go with him.

In Cai Mao's opinion, if his name could be mentioned before the emperor through the hermit Huang Chengyan, it would certainly be better than the words of the Minister of Agriculture Liu Biao.

After the group passed the checkpoint and entered Wancheng, Cai Mao found that Wancheng was much more lively than he had imagined.

Not just the population, but also the atmosphere.

At this time, Cai Mao's friends had already come to greet him, and Huang Chengyan, a well-known hermit in Jingzhou, had also come. Cai Mao's friends were even more delighted and hurriedly asked Cai Mao to introduce him to Huang Chengyan.

At this time, Cai Mao finally dared to let Huang Chengyan get off the car, because Huang Chengyan could no longer turn back.

Thanks to Cai Mao's various tactics, the news of Huang Chengyan's arrival in Wancheng quickly spread and inevitably reached Liu Bian's ears.

Liu Bian was happy to give face to this famous scholar who had cultivated talents such as Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Meng Jian and Shi Tao after he took the initiative to arrive in Wancheng.

Although after knowing that the person traveling with him was Cai Mao, Liu Bian had already guessed what Cai Mao was thinking based on Cai Mao's resume.

For him, appointing Cai Mao to be an official outside Jingzhou was a good choice, including Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue.

Huang Chengyan was younger than Liu Bian thought, and looked to be in his 50s. In contrast, Cai Mao, who married his sister to Huang Chengyan, was only 40 years old... a typical old man and young wife.

Thinking this in his mind, Liu Bian remained calm on the surface. He didn't chat with Huang Chengyan for many words before going straight to the point and asking about the gains and losses of the government.

After all, the two of them don't have much in common, so they can't just ask ghosts and gods instead of asking the common people.

Huang Chengyan was able to cultivate talents like Xu Shu together with Pang Degong, so his own accomplishments must have been remarkable.

Although he was not in the court, he knew the sufferings of the people. After speaking of some teachings of sages as a prelude, he quickly brought up two problems he had discovered - one was that officials would even violate laws and moral principles in order to achieve political achievements.

This is what Liu Bian had learned from Zhao Yi at the end of last year, and he is currently making corrections.

The second is that the trend of extravagance among the people is becoming more serious.

This is another new angle.

Huang Chengyan said: "Since your majesty ascended the throne, you have been keeping things simple and thrifty. Although I live in the countryside, I have long heard that your majesty is not fond of extravagance."

"But in the early years, whether it was the royal family or the powerful merchants, they all loved luxury. It is said that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. I have been studying the classics for many years and I know how difficult it is to cultivate oneself. There are many people who start frugality well, but few who can complete it to the end."

Frugality itself is also one of the requirements that Confucian scholars set for themselves.

However, there are only a few great scholars who have the conditions to enjoy but can always restrain themselves and not be pleased with material things.

Even Liu Bian didn't dare to say that he could do it.

"In order to show their integrity, officials would only slightly repair government offices, counties and temples, even if they were dilapidated over the years, or even leave them to fall apart, in order to show their frugality... Then, in the courtyards, they would have wives, concubines and slaves in large numbers, and all of their clothes and jewelry were of excellent quality..."

Huang Chengyan almost said bluntly that there were two-faced people in front of the emperor. Their frugality was only on the surface, and who knows how extravagant they were behind the scenes.

In contrast, Yuan Shu, who maintained a luxurious life from beginning to end, seemed to stand out because of his consistency.

Yuan Shu was too lazy to pretend.

Liu Bian accepted all of Huang Chengyan's objections and said to him, "Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers. I know this, but the world's affairs are hard to predict, only human hearts are hard to predict. It is usually difficult to find things that are inconsistent with one's true self... As the saying goes, greed is insatiable. Do you know what happened in Yiyang?"

Huang Chengyan gave his answer to Liu Bian's question: "Use the classics of rituals and music to educate the people and guide them to distinguish good from evil. Whether it is the incident in Yiyang or the incident of frugality at the beginning and extravagance later, they are not things that outsiders cannot know. When the people understand these evil things and are willing to report them, and it becomes a trend, they will be two-faced and afraid of this, and they may be frugal all their lives!"

After hearing the end, Liu Bian laughed and said, "Can you say a gentleman judges by deeds instead of heart?"

Huang Chengyan replied, "Your Majesty is wise."

Huang Chengyan believed that the solution to the problems he raised lay in education and in guiding the customs of the people.

There is some truth to that.

Huang Chengyan was relieved to see that the emperor had no other thoughts about his remarks and seemed very satisfied.

Even if he came to Wancheng not for his career, it would inevitably cause criticism if the news got out. Therefore, what he said to the emperor today was the result of careful consideration.

As long as his words spread, after today, he will still be the country scholar who is unwilling to enter the officialdom. Coming to Wancheng is just doing what a Han citizen should do.

After finishing these questions, Huang Chengyan took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, in the early years, the court promoted water wheels, but these water wheels were of different sizes and were mostly used in large rivers. I have seen a method for designing a small water wheel, which may be feasible after trial. I would like to present it to Your Majesty!"

Hearing Huang Chengyan's words, Liu Bian, who had originally been thinking of tentatively recruiting Huang Chengyan, was immediately attracted.

Before looking at the waterwheel design presented by Huang Chengyan, Liu Bian asked, "Who designed this waterwheel?"

(End of this chapter)