Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 429 Ding Wei and Yang Yi (Special thanks to book friend 2022…7873 for two monthly tickets!)
The young man looked at the candidates around him who mostly supported his opinion, and continued:
"As for what this worthy brother said about your majesty having many beauties in the harem, the relationship between men and women is natural.

With your Majesty's unprecedented achievements, you only have 2,000 concubines in your harem. Compared with the 30,000 beauties in the harem of Emperor Wu of Jin and the 20,000 beauties in the harem of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, isn't this already very restrained?
As scholars, who among us doesn't want to have many wives and concubines and enjoy the happiness of having many wives?"

Chai Zongxun was delighted and stepped into the circle and said:
“This scholar is absolutely right!
Taoist thought is one of the roots of Chinese civilization, and it is also the most tolerant and equal thought towards the people.

In the past, during the time of Empress Dowager Dou in the Western Han Dynasty, the teachings of Huang-Lao were highly respected. Government officials did not disturb or harm the people, so the people became prosperous themselves, and thus the "Reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing" was achieved.

This laid the financial foundation for Emperor Wu of Han to eliminate the threat of the Huns!

The current emperor promotes Taoism, which means he is promoting Taoist thought and encouraging the development of folk industry and commerce, which is why we have today's prosperous era!
What is the name of this candidate? Where is your hometown?

The chief eunuch He Yao and the imperial guards surrounding Chai Zongxun all looked envious:
This candidate happened to meet the emperor today, and some unintentional words he said won the emperor's approval. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him not to pass the imperial examination.

The young man, who was about 25 or 26 years old, saw that Chai Zongxun was dressed in gorgeous clothes, had a noble temperament and looked down on the world. The attendants around him were all extraordinary and there were many of them. He knew at a glance that he was an extremely noble person, and his heart was moved.

The young man saluted and said:
"My name is Ding Wei, and my hometown is Changshu, Suzhou.

I am so lucky to meet you today on the Lantern Festival!"

Chai Zongxun was startled, and immediately thought of a person from his previous life, and said:
"When was Mr. Ding born?"

Ding Wei performed the ceremony more respectfully and said:

"My Lord, I was born in the seventh year of Kaixi (966), and I have wasted 26 years this year.

I hope this gentleman will give me some advice!"

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly, confirming that this person was the Prime Minister Ding Wei in his previous life, who had talent in finance and accounting, was at odds with Kou Zhun, catered to the superstitious ideas of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, and suppressed dissidents in the court.

Ding Wei was born in the seventh year of Kaixi. His courtesy name was Weizhi, which he later changed to Gongyan. He was from Changshu, Suzhou, and his ancestral home was in Hebei.

Ding Wei was studious since childhood, smart and intelligent, and he could remember everything he read.

When they were young, Ding Wei and his good friend Sun He were famous for their talents. Ding Wei and Sun He once paid a visit to Wang Yuzhen, the magistrate of Changshu County, Pingjiang Prefecture, with their articles.

Wang Yuzhen was full of admiration for the two men's literary talent and immediately gave them a poem: "Literature has been in decline for three hundred years, from Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan to Sun Ding". Therefore, later generations often referred to the two as "Sun Ding".

Wang Jun, the former chief military officer of the Divine Guards of Yizhou, rebelled. The imperial court dispatched the barbarian armed forces of Shi, Qian, Gao and Xizhou to resist Wang Jun. However, these ethnic minority armed forces, who had long been unable to bear the oppression of the imperial court, turned against the imperial court and became bandits.

Ding Wei, who was the Transport Commissioner at the time, was ordered to go and investigate. He summoned the leaders of various ethnic minorities, announced that they were pardoned for their crimes of rebellion against the Song Dynasty, and engraved an oath on a stone pillar and placed it on the border to make the leaders surrender.

Later, Ding Wei learned that ethnic minority areas were rich in grain but lacked the necessary salt, so he proposed a strategy to exchange salt for grain with the barbarians. The barbarians were very happy. From then on, the people in the border areas no longer had to do the labor of transporting grain, and all parts of the border areas were self-sufficient in food.

During the period when Ding Wei was governing the frontier, some individual Ximan troops rebelled again. Ding Wei sent tribal leaders such as Gao and Xi to lead their troops to fight back, and they won a great victory.

Ding Wei then presented a memorial to the Song court, stating that the barbarians were good at raising horses and hoped that the court would reward the barbarians with cotton and silk and purchase their horses. The Song court agreed to his request.

After that, Ding Wei settled the ethnic minorities in the border areas in Kuizhou City. Later, Ding Wei was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice for his meritorious service in border governance and was awarded 300 taels of silver.

Ding Wei had great talents in economics and accounting.

In the previous life, in 1005, Ding Wei was promoted to Right Counselor and concurrently served as the Three-Department Envoy.

At that time, the bureaucracy of the Song Dynasty was complex, the number of officials was redundant, and the powers and responsibilities of various departments were unclear. The privileged class took advantage of the loopholes and used their power to levy heavy taxes and make huge profits, which made the tax situation in the country very chaotic. There was a lack of unified standards and rules, and the people were exploited at all levels. After Ding Wei was appointed as the Three Commissioners, he ordered people to conduct investigations, re-formulate tax policies, stipulate the exact tax collection standards and bases, and compile monographs such as "Accounting Records" and "Jingde Agricultural Land Tax", which ended the long-term chaotic situation of financial management, increased the court's fiscal revenue, and appeased the people.

The word "accounting" was first coined by Ding Wei. His "Accounting Records" measured the country's land and population for the first time. It is said that Ding Wei's name will appear on the first chapter of any accounting book.

Ding Wei was indeed a resourceful man. He made overall arrangements, focused on breakthroughs, and accomplished the important task of rebuilding the imperial palace during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song by "achieving three goals in one stroke."

Chai Zongxun thought:
"This Ding Wei seems to be a great talent.

As the saying goes, "what goes around comes around." Song Zhenzong was a tyrant who loved to use superstitions about gods and Buddhas to gild himself. Naturally, Ding Wei did everything he could to please him.

In my Great Zhou court, Ding Wei may have been a loyal minister who was upright and caring for the people."

Chai Zongxun nodded, turned to look at the young man of seventeen or eighteen years old, and said:

"Young people, don't be ignorant of the immensity of the world and be reckless!
Don't think that just because you have some talent for poetry, you can be so arrogant and rude as to dare to criticize His Majesty!"

The young man also sensed Chai Zongxun's powerful aura. He knew that Bianjing was the capital of the emperor, and that royal relatives and dignitaries were everywhere. He might even run into important officials of the court, or even the emperor Chai Zongxun himself, on the street.

The young man also felt that he had spoken inappropriately about the current emperor, so he bowed and said:

"Master, you are right! I spoke out of turn.

Your Majesty's achievements are unprecedented in history. You put the people first and created the current prosperous era for our Great Zhou. I was indeed nitpicking and had the habits of a corrupt scholar just now.

I should reflect on myself.”

When Chai Zongxun heard this, his anger immediately subsided and he said:
"good!
The worst thing for young people is to have little talent or even nothing at all, but be arrogant and conceited.

You can realize your mistakes immediately, so you can't be considered stubborn!

"What's your name, Mr. Scholar? Where is your hometown?"

After what happened just now, the young man was somewhat reluctant to give his name, but seeing the momentum of Chai Zongxun and others, he dared not not give his name, let alone false one, so he immediately bowed and said:

"My Lord, my name is Yang Yi, and I am from Changle Village, Pucheng.

I made a mistake in my words, so I will go back to the inn to study poetry and classics. Please forgive me, sir."

Chai Zongxun said:

“Confucian scholars are teachable!
I was inspired to write a poem to let you know that there are always better places and you should never be arrogant because of your talent. "

Ding Wei, Yang Yi and other candidates all bowed and said:

"I am all ears to listen to your masterpiece!"

After this discussion, everyone had already determined that with Chai Zongxun's temperament and style, he must be either a high-ranking official or a noble. Ding Wei was even more 5% sure that the "master" in front of them was the emperor who was on a secret visit. Everyone became even more respectful.

(End of this chapter)