Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Whether it is a Confucian temple or a martial arts temple, the ranking must first be politically correct, followed by the personal preferences of those in power.

The generals handed over their favorite lists, and Ju Ming looked dumbfounded.

Many generals are uneducated. I don't know who the good generals were in ancient times. Most of them are listed based on the impressions in Zaju operas.

Ju Ming simply took matters into his own hands and did it exactly according to his own likes and dislikes.

Officiant: Jiang Taigong.

Accompanying the priests: Zhang Liang, Zhuge Liang.

Ten philosophers: Guan Zhong, Sun Wu, Bai Qi, Wu Qi, Han Xin, Li Jing, Huo Qubing, Sun Bin, Le Yi.

Seventy-two generals: Li Ji, Wei Qing, Lian Po, Li Mu, Wang Jian, Zhou Yafu, Guo Ziyi, Murong Ke, Wang Meng...

Logically speaking, Huo Qubing shouldn't be ranked among the ten wise men, but he couldn't resist Prince Zhu's liking!

After confirming the list of sacrifices in the Martial Temple, Ju Ming felt that it would be better to build the Martial Temple and the Military Academy directly in Luoyang to avoid the hassle of moving the capital in the future.

"Invite Lu Haowen, Lu Benzhong and his son," Ju Ming said.

Bai Sheng immediately ran outside the palace and came back after giving instructions.

The Lu family and his son were officials in Kaifeng. They were called into carriages one after another and headed to the East Palace in confusion.

Because his grandfather and father were beaten as members of the Yuanyou Party, Lu Haowen was first assigned to Suzhou for seven years and then transferred to Zhenzhou Shipyard. He finally became a minor official, and because he offended Cai Bian, he was assigned to Yangdi for twelve years.

A descendant of a prime minister has wasted half his life like this.

His own father was in such a miserable state, so Lu Benzhong, as his son, was naturally not much better off.

Zhao Huan succeeded to the throne and brought order to the chaos. The father and son were recalled to the capital, but the Song Dynasty disappeared just halfway.

"The prince summoned me, I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse." Lu Haowen was worried.

However, Lu Benzhong was quite excited: "The prince is wise and powerful, and is good at appointing talents. Today's summons may be to re-appoint Lu!"

"Hard to say."

Lu Haowen had long been disillusioned with his official career.

This person has an even-tempered personality and is a "good old man", just like the ancestors of the Lu family.

Historically, he not only persuaded the puppet emperor Zhang Bangchang to welcome Zhao Gou. He also asked Li Gang, in this ghostly world where the king's career is difficult, it is normal to hide evil and evil. You punished those people (those who were forced to invest money) severely, and how can everyone work together in fear?

In the end, the two sides couldn't please each other and was killed by Zhang Bangchang.

"You two, please follow me."

"The noble man of labor will lead the way."

The father and son came to the East Palace and saw the prince reviewing documents, so they stood at the door and waited quietly.

After a while, the two were allowed in.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince." The father and son bowed and saluted.

Ju Ming smiled and said, "Sit down."

They thanked each other again and sat down upright.

Ju Ming picked up a book on his desk and said, "When I returned to Beijing a few days ago, Your Majesty showed me this book. I heard it was Mr. Lu's masterpiece."

"I don't dare to take it." Lu Benzhong said with cupped hands.

Ju Ming asked: "What are your current positions?"

Lu Haowen replied: "Reporting to your highness, I am participating in the compilation of "History of the Song Dynasty" at the History Museum of the Hanlin Academy."

Lu Benzhong replied: "I am working as a household servant in Kaifeng Mansion."

"This "Guan Zhi" is extremely well written and can serve as a guideline for officials all over the world." Zhu Ming praised.

Lu Benzhong said: "What is written in the book is a summary of the Lu family's official experience in the past dynasties."

Ju Ming nodded and said: "Excellent. But I don't agree with the sentence 'treat other officials like slaves'."

Lu Benzhong advocated that official affairs should be treated as family affairs, kings should be treated like parents, superiors should be treated like brothers, colleagues should be treated like family members, officials should be treated like slaves, and people should be treated like wives.

Lu Benzhong explained: "Your Highness has also been a local official. You should know that all the officials in the world are cunning and greedy. Many young officials take office with the intention of being honest and selfless, but they are often induced and instigated by the officials, and they accumulate wealth unknowingly." Small corruption turns into big corruption. Then the officials collude and prey on the people, and the government is ruined! Therefore, we must be cautious when dealing with the group of officials, treat them as slaves, and do not collude with them!"

"There are also honest people among the officials." Ju Ming said.

Lu Benzhong, however, was categorical: "Absolutely impossible! Even if the Ming Dynasty gave some public officials salaries, how could it stop them from enriching their own pockets? If they were not corrupt, how could they become public officials? They would not be able to get promoted! And those without salaries would not be able to do so! Private officials, if they are not corrupt, how can they make a living?"

It makes sense, and Ju Ming is speechless.

In ancient times, giving salaries to all officials would drag down the finances.

What Ju Ming can do is to divide the necessary civil servant positions into several levels and pay them for promotion, and even civil servants can be promoted to officials.

This kind of official with a salary has been called "public official" by the people.

When they need to perform busy official duties in the short term, such as collecting grain and collecting taxes, salaried officials will recruit temporary workers. This kind of temporary workers are called "private officials" by the people. The court requested to put an end to them but could not stop them at all.

Ju Ming said: "After all, it is still inappropriate. Let's change it to 'treat officials like students.' If students are not sensible, they will definitely make mistakes. Officials should correct them like teachers."

But Lu Benzhong said: "If I have such a student, I will definitely expel him from the school!"

"Don't change?" Zhu Ming asked.

Lu Benzhong said: "It cannot be changed."

Ju Ming sighed: "If it is not changed, the imperial court will not be able to help promote this "Guan Zhi"."

Lu Benzhong said: "This book can spread naturally."

Ju Ming still liked "Official Proverbs" very much. The book warned officials not to be greedy for petty profits, otherwise they would surely become corrupt officials. He also said that one must have the people at heart, and an official should work steadily and not cheat, etc.

And it is not just preaching, it is all derived from the interests of officials.

For example, if you don't levy excessive taxes on the people, your career as an official will go more smoothly and you will have fewer messy troubles. Another example is if you commit fraud as an official, and if things are exposed in the end, your promotion will be seriously affected.

This is a book that teaches people how to be honest and diligent, and how to be promoted to a high official based on political performance!

Ju Ming asked: "Do all Lu families behave like officials?"

"Of course, all the officials in the Lu family are honest and diligent!" Lu Benzhong said.

Ju Ming smiled and asked again: "Is it the Donglai Lu family, the Luoyang Lu family, or the Shouzhou Lu family?"

"All three Lu's are the same," Lu Benzhong said.

Lu Haowen felt something was wrong, and his son seemed to be falling into the prince's trap.

Zhu Ming asked again: "How about I promote you to the position of general magistrate of Luoyang Prefecture and go check out Lu's land in Luoyang? Lu's officials are honest and selfless, and they must have a strict family tradition, so they will not do anything wrong."

"This..." Lu Benzhong was a little dumbfounded.

The Lu family was originally from Donglai and moved to Henan in the early Song Dynasty. Two sons moved to become officials, one moved to Luoyang and the other moved to Shouzhou.

The Lu family of Luoyang and the Lu family of Shouzhou gave birth to eight prime ministers in the Northern Song Dynasty!

"Don't you dare?" Zhu Ming frowned.

Lu Benzhong said: "I was born in the Lu family in Shouzhou, but I was ordered to investigate the Lu family in Luoyang. This seems to be a bit inappropriate."

Ju Ming said: "It seems that we still dare not investigate, and the Lu family tradition cannot be scrutinized."

This was related to the reputation of the Lu family. Lu Benzhong was immediately angered. He stood up and said, "Why don't you dare? If there are people in the Lu family of Luoyang who corrupt the family tradition, I will definitely bring them to justice!"

"As expected of Mr. Lu!"

Ju Ming clapped his hands and praised: "If it is found that the Lu family of Luoyang has committed crimes and committed crimes, the guilty persons will be handed over to Yousi, and the rest of the clan will be divided and moved to various counties in Hebei. The freed land will be set aside to build a military school and a martial arts temple. .how?"

Lu Benzhong said: "Okay!"

Ju Ming added: "After checking the Lu family, how about checking other big families in Luoyang?"

"Okay!" Lu Benzhong gritted his teeth and said.

Lu Haowen almost fainted after hearing this, but he didn't dare to stop him.

Luoyang has numerous wealthy families. The number of acres may not be as high as that of Chengdu, but its political influence is lower than that of the wealthy families in Chengdu.

Once Lu Benzhong truly conducts a thorough investigation, he will definitely offend countless people, and the scholarly reputation of Lu family in Shouzhou will be completely ruined!

And if Lu Benzhong wanted to fool around, Prince Zhu would definitely settle the score in the future, and the career of the descendants of the Lu family in Shouzhou would definitely be ruined.

Ju Ming smiled and said, "I wish you success and go ahead."

Father and son resigned.

Ju Ming was in a very happy mood. The capital would be moved to Luoyang in the next few years, and the surrounding areas of Luoyang had to be sorted out.

At least, the land for the military academy and martial arts temple must be cleared first.

When the father and son left the East Palace, Lu Haowen kept sighing.

Lu Benzhong said: "Why does father sigh so much?"

Lu Hao asked: "Let Shouzhou Lu go to Luoyang Lu to investigate thoroughly. This matter should not be done at all. Just find an excuse to pass it by. Why do you need to accept this troublesome job?"

Lu Benzhong said: "The prince tempted me to fall into the trap, how can I back down when the trouble comes? Once I refuse, my life will be ruined."

"Your official career is ruined, but the descendants of the Lu family are still there," Lu Haowen said more and more urgently, "If you punish the Lu family in Luoyang and divide them into relocated places, the entire Lu family in Shouzhou will be stigmatized for being at odds with their kin from now on! "

Lu Benzhong muttered: "I will bear the infamy all by myself. The Lu family in Shouzhou has already had a thief, it's just another one."

The last family traitor was Lu Jiawen. The whole family opposed the reform, but Lu Jiawen supported it. After more than ten years of wandering around, he was not allowed to return to his hometown for burial after his death, and was ostracized by his entire family.

"You...you are confused!" Lu Haowen was almost furious.

Although Lu Benzhong was lured into a trap by Ju Ming, at this point, he didn't want to use it to show off his skills.

He boasts that he has the talent to manage the world and benefit the people, but due to Party restrictions, he has never been able to be promoted normally.

He has served as county clerk, state governor, and government official, all of which were assistant officials who had to actually handle government affairs. He is honest, selfless and conscientious, but all his political achievements belong to the chief official, and even his reputation belongs to the chief official.

He is already over forty years old. There are many heroes in the Ming Dynasty and the new dynasty, and the pressure of officialdom competition is extremely high, but now he is only Cao Yu of Kaifeng Prefecture.

If he didn't seize this opportunity, even if Lu Benzhong worked until retirement, he would probably be promoted to the fourth rank at most.

The fourth-grade official is indeed not low, but his ancestors were prime ministers for three consecutive generations!

However, Zhu Ming muttered alone in the east palace: "'Hate you is not like the moon on the river floor, north and south, east and west, north and south, east and west, we can only be together without separation. Hate you are like the moon on the river floor, for a while it is full and it is still a loss, for a while it is full and it is still a loss, until we are reunited When is it?' Without experiencing the ups and downs of the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Benzhong would not have been able to compose this poem."

Bai Sheng walked in from the outside: "Your Highness, the Duke of Shu and his wife are entering the palace to meet the emperor. The officials have asked you to take the princess with you."

(There was a mistake in the previous chapter. Wu Qi was included in the martial arts temple of Huizong Dynasty.)