Chastity Layman

  Chapter 948 Wealth is in the sky

   "I brought Fang Gong some local products from Lingnan."

  Qin Lang walked into Fang Xuanling's public room with a smile. The furnishings in the room were similar to Qin Lang's, except that there were two more bookshelves filled with books.

   "There are no lychees in this season, right?" Fang Xuanling raised her head and said to Qin Lang with a smile. While talking, she put down the pen in hand, stood up, and walked to the door to greet her.

   "Several square inkstones, Duanxi inkstones in Guangzhou in recent years are not bad, so I brought some back."

  The literati are good at brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, which are called the four treasures of the study.

"Huizhou paper and Duanzhou inkstone are good things that have emerged in recent years. The First Emperor Ping Baiyue established Sihui County in the Duanxi area. After Han Wudi pacified Nanyue, he newly established Gaoyao County. Duanxi in the Western Jin Dynasty belongs to Cang Wu County, which belonged to Nanhai County in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

  In the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, Gaoyao County in the province was established as a county, and Duanzhou was established, leading Gaoyao and other five counties. In the third year of Daye, the state was changed to a county, and Duanzhou was changed to Xin'an County.

  Wu De five years, back to Duanzhou. Last year, Duke Wei reported to the imperial court that the provinces of Bingduan, Xin and Gang entered Guangzhou. The inkstones in Duanxi were all created after Duke Wei went south to Lingnan, he vigorously attracted investment, recruited craftsmen, supported funds, and helped sell them. "

  Fang Xuanling has an excellent memory, holding a Duan inkstone, but can clearly explain the history of Duanxi and the origin of the Duan inkstone, and talk about it with eloquence.

   "Fang Gong manages a lot of things every day, but he still has such a good memory. It's amazing."

  Fang Xuanling invited Qin Lang to sit down in front of the stove and make tea for him.

  Qin Lang showed Fang Xuanling the memorial that he had just written, and after reading it, the old Fang remained silent.

"Thanks to the great love of the sage, I took over Li and Pei's class and worked as the Prince Zhan of the Eastern Palace. However, I was young and had little experience. In addition, I have often traveled outside in the past few years. I have not been able to shoulder the great trust of Your Majesty. I feel deeply remiss. Now that the prince is full of blood, it is more necessary to have a good teacher and helpful friend to guide him correctly. Fang Gong is His Majesty's right-hand man, and he is the head of all officials. He is highly respected in court and China, and has both ability and virtue, so I boldly hope to invite Fang Gong to take over this burden."

"Fang Gong, don't refuse in a hurry. The crown prince has been the crown prince for ten years, and he has done a good job. His talents and virtues are obvious to all. Although there are flaws, they are not concealed. Fang Gong should be more careful, and the prince will not let him down in the future. The Licheng Fang family and the Qin family have been neighbors in the same city for hundreds of years, and they are good friends. Now they are both ministers in the same palace. I also have a little selfishness. Fang Qin will assist His Highness the Crown Prince together. In the future, the two families can also Even more brilliant."

  Fang Xuanling looked at Qin Lang, looked at his sincere words, but already understood the meaning behind the words.

  He put down the memorial.

"Now I am in the position of Shangshu Zuopushe. The Shangshu province has a lot of complicated affairs. It is the yamen with the most general affairs and the heaviest in the court. I can't wait for two days a day. I don't dare to sleep more than three hours a day. I still often burn out. I'm in a hurry. I can't do one job well, so how can I take another job."

   "Besides, Duke Wei has been working as Prince Zhan for many years, and his achievements are obvious to all. Now that you have returned to Beijing, you should still take on this errand."

   As expected, Fang Xuanling did not change her mind just because of Qin Lang's one or two words, and did not take the olive branch Qin Lang extended.

   Next, Qin Lang tried to chat a few more words, but Fang Xuanling was already unwilling to answer, and kept talking about him from left to right. Qin Lang had no choice but to get up and leave.

  After going out, Qin Lang couldn't help frowning even more.

   "Sanlang."

  At the door of Ma Zhou's public house, Zhongshu's servant, Ma Zhou came out and called him, "What does Sanlang think?"

   "A momentary distraction."

   Ma Zhou dragged Qin Lang into the house to enjoy the fire. Qin Lang saw that Ma Zhou's expression was not very good, "Has your thirst improved recently?"

"Using your pomegranate rind to make tea, it seems to be better after drinking it. I get up less at night, and my mouth is not so dry, but I get tired easily." Ma Zhou smiled, "The imperial doctor didn't I don’t even bother to think about any method, life and death are up to fate, wealth is in the sky.”

"You, it's useless to rely on folk remedies for diabetes. The key point is to work less, especially not to stay up late, and not to be too heavy. Besides, you still have to pay attention to your diet. Quit drinking, eat less greasy food, and eat less. Be lighter, especially don’t eat sweets. You have to exercise more, it’s best to take more walks every day, three to five times a day, it’s best to walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps.”

  Ma Zhou's diabetes has become more and more serious, and various complications have become more obvious, and have even begun to affect his eyes, kidneys, and feet.

   "Tell me to quit drinking, wouldn't it kill me. As for walking 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day, I really don't have the time. You see, I'm so busy every day."

  Zhongshu Shilang is the vice-official of the Zhongshu Province. This is not only the emperor's imperial pen, but also an important member of the imperial court's decision-making center. Ma Zhou is a minister in the political affairs hall.

  There are endless meetings and official documents that cannot be finished every day, and I often have to accompany the emperor and draft external regulations for the emperor. On the days when you are not in court, you also have to rush to the Yamen to work early.

  Although the officials of the Tang Dynasty dismissed their shifts early in the afternoon, it was not so easy for officials of Ma Zhou's level.

  It is not easy to be the emperor's secret, and it is even more difficult to be the prime minister of the court.

Ma Zhou often stays up late until dawn, and after a while, he is woken up to change clothes and go to court. How can he have time to go for a walk and exercise? Likes to eat meat and drink alcohol.

   This aggravated his condition. Not only the imperial doctor persuaded him, but Li Shimin also advised him several times to pay attention to maintenance, but he forgot all these when he got busy.

   "Old horse, you really don't want to die like this."

   "My grassroots scholar can get the grace of His Majesty's knowledge and experience, and can go straight to the political affairs hall to become a minister. What kind of grace is this, and the only way to repay it is to die and die."

   "Confused, if you die after a few years, wouldn't the saint use you in vain? You have to leave this useful body and do more for the saint."

Ma Zhou has been plagued by diabetes for many years, and he is troubled, but he has given up hope a long time ago. Now he is suffering from day to day, and because he doesn't know how long he will live, so he puts more effort into serving the emperor. I want to be able to repay the emperor more before I die.

Ma Zhou is still so young, he was in his prime at the prime of his life, but he got this kind of chronic disease that even the king of medicine can't cure in this world. .

   "I really want to read you a book with His Majesty face to face, kick you out of Zhongshu, let you go back to your hometown to recuperate for three to five or eight years, and come back when your condition improves."

Ma Zhou laughed loudly, "Sometimes I also think that if I can put down the business at hand and really find a secluded place to recuperate, in fact, your Bailu Technical School in Bashang is pretty good. I’m going to do it three or five times. The development is really good, but the more I look at it, the more I feel that it’s a pity. Those technical students in the technical school are actually working very hard and cherish the hard-won opportunities, but Bailu Technical School only teaches Their simplest things, the classic anthology, are just getting started.”

Qin Lang didn't think there was anything wrong, the students in Bashang Bailu Technical School were basically Wei Pei students, they were some young apprentices recruited by themselves from the Qin family's major workshops, etc. Some smart kids are sent here for further studies.

Before these children entered the company's workshop, etc., they had already signed a contract. It was not a contract of prostitution, but a contract of employment. The apprenticeship relationship was written in black and white. The various remunerations were very clear, but the obligations and responsibilities were also very clear. .

  They were selected to study at Bailu Technical School, and they had to sign another contract. After finishing their studies, they had to return to their original unit, where they came and went. If violated, the consequences are very serious.

  Ma Zhou said that these children are very smart, and many of them are good at studying, but Qin Lang didn't spend money on popular education, let alone cultivate talents for the imperial examination.

   That's what the Imperial College did.

  His technology is to train technical craftsmen, cultural knowledge is just basic education, getting started is enough, and more importantly, learn their own professional skills well, so that they can increase their salary when they go back in the future. And the capital that the Qin family invested in them in the early stage is meaningful.

  That is the benign and sustainable development. Otherwise, who would invest so much money and spend so much energy to build a technical school?

The children who go out of Bailu Technical School will basically return to the workshop to become craftsmen. In the future, there may be some poets, candidates, etc., and they may even pass the imperial examination to become officials, but they are definitely only a very small number, which is a special case. s things.

  Qin Lang also sent Ma Zhou a few high-quality Duan inkstones, as well as some dried longan.

  While warming himself by the fire, peeling longan and eating it dry, Qin Lang told Ma Zhou that he was worried about the prince without hesitation.

Ma Zhou also nodded and said, "Recently, the crown prince is greedy for **** and wine, and often associates with eunuchs who promote excellence. What's more, he listened to the flattery and slander of the Hou family and Pei family in the palace, so he arbitrarily arranged their relatives and clansmen to be officials, and the rewards were extravagant. .”

   "I also want to remind you, I heard that Pei's brothers and nephews make friends with rascals everywhere and recruit people. This is a very taboo thing under the feet of the emperor."

   "Lao Ma, I would like to ask you to enter the East Palace as well, and help guide the prince together."

   Ma Zhou did not refuse this, but just reminded Qin Lang that the current crown prince might not be easy to persuade. The crown prince would ignore the words of his uncle, Changsun Wuji, and Qin Lang's words might not be effective.

   "We have to find a way. The prince's nature is not bad, but now he has gone astray. We can't just abandon him like this."

  Ma Zhou also just smiled wryly. In fact, everyone couldn't figure it out. How can the good-looking Prince Shotoku change his gender overnight?

  In the end, everyone can only attribute it to the fact that the second wife of Marquis Pei bewitched the prince.

  (end of this chapter)