Chapter 35 Picking chrysanthemums under the east fence

In fact, Ren Cong's previous guess was not entirely wrong. At least one thing he guessed correctly, Zhang Qian was indeed stimulated by Ren Quan's words that day.

As a Chinese in the 21st century, even a liberal arts student who knows more about history, he did not expect that the majestic Tang Dynasty, which he once talked about with relish and used as a proof of the past glory of Chinese civilization on social media, and fought countless verbal battles with others, was once so rotten!

From the prime minister to the county lieutenant, the price is clearly marked, and you can buy it with money!

The imperial examination system, which was founded in the Sui Dynasty and gradually developed in the early Tang Dynasty, was verified to be feasible and pushed to the peak of China's feudal society.

From the second accession to the throne of the "Son of Saint Tomorrow" Li Xian, to the third year of Shenlong, and now, in less than three years, the official positions "wholesaled" from the queen, the queen's brother Wei Wen, Princess Anle and Jieyu Shangguan Wan'er have been as high as more than 8,000!

What does this mean?

This means that as long as you have money, even if you are an idiot, you can blend into the ranks of state managers!

This not only means the complete collapse of the official selection system, but also means that the social order has reached the verge of collapse!

It is true that the imperial examination system, like the college entrance examination in later generations, has been repeatedly criticized by researchers.

However, the emergence of the imperial examination system has made it no longer just bloodline that determines people's fate. Theoretically, it provides a way up from the bottom of society. Let even those who are not "noble" enough to study with their own efforts, and one day become a participant in national policies, and sit and discuss with their phoenixes, dragons, and grandchildren.

It is true that an exam paper determines a lifetime, and there are many shortcomings. The imperial examination system may not be able to select qualified talents.

But the imperial examination system, for the most part, excludes fools from the ranks of state administrators as much as possible!

It is true that the imperial examination system, like the college entrance examination in later generations, will also be exploited by many people.

However, the imperial examination system, in this era, is the same as the college entrance examination in later generations, and it is the last hope and the last fairness for the descendants of those who are in the lower and lower strata of society in China not to change their fate through violent means!

And what did Zhang Qian hear from Ren Quan's mouth? It's money that decides everything!

Those "oblique officials" who were wholesaled from the queen, princess, Shangguan Wan'er and others did not just obtain the qualifications for waiting for the post. Ren Quan also told him personally that as long as the money is spent and operated properly, it is very possible to turn the candidate into a real shortage. In addition, a number of classic cases in reality were also cited! (Note: The oblique seal official is the official official at that time, the name of the buyer.) ）

Do you think that those guys who spent tens of millions of dollars to hang Yuan Tongbao, bought official positions, and spent thousands of dollars to run their posts, just to glorify their ancestors, or just to live an addiction to being an official? How can it be!

Zhang Qian doesn't even need to ask, he can deduce that those guys who spend money to buy official positions and operate to the point of real shortage, after taking office, will inevitably expropriate and extort money back ten times or even a hundred times the initial expenditure!

Greed will quickly turn them into a pack of tigers and wolves.

And the objects devoured by these tigers and wolves will definitely not be those with five surnames and seven hopes, nor will they be the descendants of princes and generals, let alone the phoenix sons and dragon grandsons of the Li family!

The goal of those who spend money to buy officials will eventually recover their capital, and there is no doubt that they will be ordinary people, especially those like Zhang Qian, who seem to be more oily and watery, but have no relatives in Datang!

From this point of view, the more Zhang Qian tries to nourish his small life, the sooner he will become the target of tiger and wolf's "hunting".

Although he clearly knows that for the towering Datang, these things in front of him are just "labor pains". It won't last too long, and after Li Longji ascends the throne, he will be quickly put in order.

Although he clearly knew that after Li Longji ascended the throne, the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty would follow, however, he could not guarantee that he would be able to live safely to the end of the "labor pains"!

That day, after chatting with Ren Quan, Zhang Qian immediately became distracted, even the sound of Zijuan counting money outside the door could no longer attract his attention.

After a night of tossing and turning, he finally came to three conclusions in pain and helplessness.

First, if he wants to live safely until the day Li Longji ascends the throne, he must stay away from Chang'an City. If possible, don't go into town once.

Second, unless he pulls the flag and rebels, even if he hides in the Zhuangzi and does not go out of the gate, he may not be able to escape the hunt of corrupt officials and corrupt officials.

Third, since you can't hide from it, you don't have the ability to rebel. His best choice is to turn himself into a "tiger wolf", at least, he has to use the fastest speed to disguise himself as an accomplice of the "tiger wolf".

To sum up, if he wants to "Gou" until the day when Li Longji becomes emperor, he must buy an official position as soon as possible. And the official position should not be too small. It's too small, it's still a small fish, not enough to be swallowed by a big fish.

Therefore, after a night of tossing and turning, Zhang Qian began a crazy career of perfume "research and development".

Through perfume, you can find the first pot of gold in your life.

Through the first gold in his life, he mixed himself into the "tiger wolf" team.

By sharing the huge profits brought by the perfume business with other vested interests, he will turn some "big fish" that others dare not easily provoke into his own accomplices as soon as possible, at least to create the illusion that he has many accomplices.

Through the cover of many "big fish", I hid in the shadows, got up, and lived in a troubled world!

The plan is not perfect, and it can even be said to be full of loopholes. However, this is already the best option he can think of at the moment.

In the case that he didn't carry his grandfather with him, didn't open the back door system, and was not lucky enough to be born as the crown prince, he was able to complete half of this plan, which was already a miracle!

The Great Wall was not built in a day.

The long march of 10,000 miles is not completed in one step.

Even if he has made a clear life plan for himself in his heart, Zhang Qian needs to follow the steps if he wants to realize it.

So, after successfully making perfume and wind oil essence, and getting the by-product of cool oil along the way, he suddenly became "idle".

It's not that he was tired and wanted to take a good rest, but the efficiency of the Tang Dynasty made him have to slow down the progress of the plan.

This is not the China of the 21st century, no matter what you need to buy, as long as it is legal, you can place an order through the Internet. As long as the payment is prompt, it will usually be delivered to you downstairs within three days.

Just the glass bottles needed to hold the first batch of perfumes had to wait for half a month to arrive. This is still in the case of the little fat man Ren Cong, who has a relationship with Wang Yuanbao, the boss of Liuli King, and clamped the bottle order in advance.

The porcelain bottle containing the essence of wind oil and the iron box containing the golden oil need to wait for a whole month. The former must first find the kiln owner and skilled craftsman to design the clay embryo and open the kiln separately for firing. And the latter, in this era, there is no tinplate and box making machine, and you can only rely on blacksmiths to slowly smash them one by one with hammers!

"Forget it, in the future, the golden balm will simply use the porcelain bottle!" Finding that he had made another mistake of taking it for granted, Zhang Qian decisively made adjustments.

Rao is like this, and he hasn't saved much time. And he wants to take advantage of the little fat man Ren Cong and the "stinky" Guo Nu to invite new shareholders to join the shares, and the idea of developing a few new flavors is even more wishful thinking.

Ren Cong and Guo Nu did go to Chang'an City with their respective tasks to get busy.

However, Zhang Qian wanted to develop new flavors, but he couldn't buy raw materials.

Unlike mint, holly leaves, peach kernels and dried peach blossoms can be bought in Chinese medicine shops. Right now, he wants to buy some other flowers that are common in the 21st century and can be easily refined, but he can't compare to the sky.

As for the 21st century, a large handful of roses, which are most easily used as raw materials for natural flavor extraction, are pitiful, and at this moment, they have just begun to be regarded as flowers in the Tang Dynasty, and there are few plants in the emperor's imperial garden, let alone want to be "wasted" by him casually.

Therefore, after beating the idea from rose, peony, peony, lotus, and jasmine in turn, Zhang Qian could only accept the reality painfully and choose the chrysanthemum with almost the least amount of fragrance among the common flowers. Immediately, he was slapped on the head.

Because of the unique aesthetics of the Tang people, chrysanthemums are unpleasantly scented, and there is not even a fragrance at all. Limited by equipment, craftsmanship and his personal hands-on ability, the essence refining of several common varieties of chrysanthemums soon failed.

In desperation, Zhang Qian could only carry the basket of medicine collection, a hoe, and a waist knife for self-defense, and go to be a medicine picker.

Zijuan will definitely follow him and "share weal and woe" with him. Even her thin body, compared to the medicine basket behind her, is so nondescript.

Zhang Qian refused once, only exchanged for two lines of her tears, and had to let it go.

The little girl didn't know what terrible things she had experienced before, and she was seriously insecure. Therefore, like a vine attached to a big tree, he was attached to Zhang Qian, and he was unwilling to stay away for a moment.

The only thing that can attract her and her attention away from Zhang Qian's side a little is probably only copper coins. Whenever she counts money, her countenance becomes extremely intoxicated and her gaze becomes extremely peaceful.

But the money can be counted, usually at night, when Zhang Qian is reading under the lamp, and she has nothing else to do. During the day, she was obviously more willing to follow Zhang Qian like a tail than to count money.

can't be shaken off either, and there is a family general. After receiving a few reprimands from Ren Cong, this person decided that the reason why Immortal Master Zhang's style had changed drastically was because he was stimulated by his words that day.

Therefore, in addition to guilt, this person vowed to atone for his sins. As soon as Zhang Qian walked out of the gate of his yard, he would immediately follow like a shadow, and the distance would always remain within ten steps, no more or less, no matter how fast or slow Zhang Qian walked.

"Forget it, whatever you want!" rushed to come a few times, but Ren Quan could only disappear from his side for less than a stick of incense, and Zhang Qian had no choice but to reluctantly accept this person's "atonement".

Zhang Qian doesn't know much about Datang, and he is even more unfamiliar with the suburbs of Datang. With Ren Quan, a thug who knows a little about martial arts and some knowledge of herbal medicine, follows behind, it can indeed increase a lot of security. At least, it avoided a lot of disciples and harassment of Zijuan.

From leaving the landlord's compound to walking into a hilly area that is not too high, in just over 40 minutes, at least three waves of sons and brothers who came out to step on the autumn rode their horses past Zhang Qian.

Seeing the purple cuckoo carrying the bamboo basket on his back, the eyes of the sons began to straighten. However, when they saw Ren Quan, who was carrying a knife and following Zhang Qian like a ghost, they clearly realized that Zhang Qian's social status might be similar to their own. immediately gave up the idea of "holding up" for the beauty, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble for himself.

"Picking chrysanthemums under the east fence, leisurely see Nanshan!" Leaning over to dig out a wild chrysanthemum that smelled strong, put it into the bamboo basket by root, Zhang Qian leisurely chanted.

Zhongnan Mountain is in the southeast, in fact, it is very far away, but under the clear blue sky, it seems to be within reach.

Zhang Qian got lost from there and accidentally came to Datang for more than a month.

He will eventually get lost here and slowly become a Tang man, whether he wants it or not!