In the third year of Yonghui (652 AD), the eighth day of the lunar month.

Laba Festival was not popular in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no Laba porridge to drink, but for Wukang, it was an exciting day, and he didn't sleep all night. When the rooster crows, he gets up and gets up, like smoke, and Xiaocui tidies up his appearance. As soon as the morning dawned, I went out and went to the second hall of Wuzhou Yamen to join the year-end meeting of the army.

Hand over the black wind to the officer, and find that the venue is empty, and the bigwigs haven't come yet. The conference room is less than 50 square meters, and there are four desks on the west side, which are prepared for the scribes to record the content of the meeting. A modern conference table is placed in the center, and a Taishi chair is located in the north, which is the seat of Thorn Shi Cui Yixuan.

There are four high chairs on each side, which are recorded to join the army, the six major joining the army, and the commander of the regimental training. The Tang Dynasty had much more power than the provincial governors of any dynasty. Grasp the military and political power, go up and down to manage the government, and deserve to be a feudal official. They gradually became warlords, breeding the Anshi Rebellion, which led to the demise of the Tang Dynasty.

As one of the six major military members, Wu Kang was qualified to participate in the supreme meeting, and of course he was very excited. The Tang Dynasty respected the left, the left west, the right east, and the lowest seniority... Gray came to the east and sat in the fourth position. The briefcase was placed on the table, and the report that had been sorted out overnight was taken out, and the pages were checked and filled in the gaps.

About two quarters of an hour later, the door of the conference room opened, and Yuguan walked into the four scribes. Seeing Wu Kang, who was sitting in a precarious position, he hurriedly trotted over to salute. Wu Kang has been a fart for thirty years, and he is not qualified to put on a show, and he doesn't like to put it up, so he got up and smiled in return.

The two sides met the ceremony, and the scribes took their places and took out pen, ink, paper and inkstone to prepare. The white paper is tiled on the desktop, the brush head is straightened, and the inkstone is added with water to grind the ink. After getting ready, he was sitting on his lap, his eyes glancing over intentionally or unintentionally, staring at the big red robe, full of envy.

Wu Kang didn't care, or he was already numb. More than a month ago, in the building, at the promotion celebration, I shared the curved plough and the ox nose piercing ring with the second generation. I thought it was as plain as water, but I didn't know that the climax would come the next day.

Wuzhou officials with heads and faces, including those fox friends and dog friends, held a meeting to discuss the plan. After half a month of perseverance, it was successful, and the test effect was happy for everyone. Lao Cui immediately wrote to the imperial court, sorted out the design drawings of the plow, the steps and precautions for the nose of the ox nose and sent it to the post station, and ordered 300 miles to be expedited.

Just four days ago, the same three-hundred-mile urgent holy decree came to the door of Wu Kang's house. Li Jiu praised it in the holy decree and rewarded him with 50,000 gold, that is, 50 pieces of copper, which was converted into 50 li of silver. There is also a reward for chicken ribs, that is, a scarlet robe and a silverfish bag on the body.

At that time, I felt very pitted, there can be a reward, what is the matter with rewarding clothes, it is still red. secretly complained to himself, gave a tip to the eunuch of the decree, and asked him to bring the chicken fir fungus to Wu Zhaoyi in the palace. The little eunuch didn't do it, and a tael of silver smashed it over, and Mei Zizi took the errand.

Sending away the greedy eunuch, Jiu Niang came on a fast horse and shouted for him to change his clothes. Wu Kang didn't want to go against her thoughts, so he had no choice but to come to the bronze mirror and let Jiuniang and smoke toss.

After the red robe was added, Jiu Niang actually shed tears, and Wu Kang was inexplicable. Later, when I listened to her popular science, I was also scared. Officials above the third rank wore purple robes and goldfish bags. Sipin wears a dark scarlet robe and a silverfish bag. In other words, this dress is the head of the four-grade master, and it is not much different from Lao Cui's robe.

Officials below the fourth grade, if they want to wear dark scarlet robes, they must be rewarded by President Li Jiu, which is more difficult than ascending to the sky. If you are not a royal family, you must have great merit before you can be "given a scarlet and a fish bag". If you really want to talk about it, this piece is higher than Lao Cui's, after all, it was given by the emperor.

The so-called whitebait bag is the official card on the belt, more than ten centimeters long, with a sterling silver vertical bar in the middle, and three silverfish on each side. Wearing a scarlet robe with a fish bag, Jiuniang personally escorted him to parade through the streets, and traveled twice on Jinhua Avenue and Dongming Avenue, causing a large number of people to eat melons.

Wu Kang couldn't cry or laugh, and inexplicably thought of "The Emperor's New Clothes". After the tour was completed, Jiu Niang gave another death order, as long as he went out in the future, he must wear this clothes, and he was angry and scolded Li Jiu Ancestor. The heart said that as for being so excited, one day I will put on a purple robe, and you will not be able to go to heaven?

The door of the conference room opened, interrupting his thoughts, and a military attache walked in, it was Yu Hongzhi, the commander of the regimental training. Wu Kang hurriedly got up and left his seat, greeted each other, Lao Yu sat opposite him, looked at the scarlet robe and was surprised: "It's a good blessing, there are only two in the whole Wuzhou, Cui Gong is one for you, and you are really envious of others." I guess I won't be able to wear it in my life! ”

Wu Kang smiled and said: "Uncle Yu's words are wrong, where there is a will, there is a way, as long as there is clothes in your heart, there will be clothes on your body." ”

These words are a bit profound, and I am too lazy to think, so I pour bitter water directly: "I don't even have a grade, thanks to Cui Gong, I can afford it, and I will be accepted as a staff member." Let's just say that today's meeting, if it weren't for Cui Zhechong, it wouldn't be my turn at all. ”

Wu Kang was noncommittal, smiling and greeting him. The Cui Zhichong he said is Cui Xingfeng, the commander of the Zhichong Prefecture, the Commander of the Zhichong Prefecture, and the Zhichong Mansion is the military mansion. Jiangnan Province has a total of seven folds of Chongfu, and Wuzhou has a fold of Chong, and the level is still superior, with 1,500 government soldiers.

Li Jiu has 630 prefectures, most of which are located in Guannei Province and Henan Province, and it is a military layout of "heavy inside and light outside". The government soldiers of each state took turns to go to Chang'an Suwei, which is the "Shangfan" that Lao Yu said. From this year to the first half of next year, Wuzhou Zhichong Mansion happened to be on the list. Wu Kang couldn't help but secretly think, next year Chen Shuozhen rebelled, and he had the courage to send troops to Wuzhou, also because the government soldiers were not there.

Since Captain Choi was not there, the head of the militia group participated. However, Wu Kang knew the history and knew that the government military system was gradually collapsing, and the militia was gradually rising. For the commander of Lao Yu, of course, he is trying to win over, whether it is an ice village, an incubation center, or even a fertilizer storage plant, there are shares of Lao Yu.

The door was pushed open again, and Wei Dingzhou, who joined the army, came, greeted each other, and sat down next to Lao Yu. Seeing his sad face, Wu Kang couldn't help but wonder, and after a moment's consideration, he asked, "Uncle Wei, what's wrong with you?" It seems that you are preoccupied, and if you have something to worry about, you say, I will take care of it for you. ”

Lao Wei looked at Wu Kang, sighed again, shook his head and said, "At my age, the only thing that can worry about my children is my children. Your Qinghua brother's errand is bound to be in vain. I understand the kindness of the change, and no one can help me with this. ”

Wu Kang was even more puzzled, and lowered his voice and said, "No, uncle, the clerk has just arrived for less than four days, and Brother Qinghua has been appointed... The county lieutenant of Weishi County, Henan Prefecture, is it on the ninth grade, right? Why did you end up in the soup? The imperial court won't change its order overnight, right? ”

"It's under the ninth grade, and it's not the reason of the imperial court", Wei Dingzhou sighed and said helplessly: "My father was a lieutenant, and Tsinghua couldn't take office." Last time, I am really grateful for the change; Tsinghua's matter, blame himself for his bad luck! ”

The so-called last time was that the rain and dew of Quyuan plough and ox piercing the nose were all stained, and the court rewarded meritorious deeds, and Wei Qinghua was promoted to county lieutenant. Wu Kang was puzzled, gasped after a few breaths, looked up at Wei Dingzhou, and the two looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

If you want to be an official in the Tang Dynasty, you must first look online, you can not be handsome, but you must not be ugly. Zhong Kui was disqualified as the champion because of his ugliness. There are even more pitfalls, the names of your father and grandfather also affect your career. There is a law that the death of a person is not paid for, and if the name of your father or grandfather is offended by the name of the official, you cannot be an official in that position.

Wei Qinghua's grandfather is called Wei Rongwei, so he can't be a county lieutenant, as long as he has a "lieutenant" in the official position, he has nothing to do with him. There is even more cola, a person surnamed Ma can never marry a princess, and he can never be a lieutenant of a horse.

After thinking about it, I also felt that it made sense, the Tang Dynasty called officials, and added the name of the official to the official position. Called Wei Qinghua Wei County Lieutenant, his grandfather Wei Rongwei, like a brother, is indeed taboo. Even in the Hereafter, there are similar situations. The neighbor's child was named Wu Xiaobin, but another neighbor had an old man named Zheng Dabin. Because of the word "Bin", the two families fought.

Thinking of this, he pouted helplessly, buried his head and continued to read the documents, this kind of strange problem, President Li couldn't help it. Time passed minute by minute, and the bigwigs came one after another, except for Lao Cui. The atmosphere became more and more active, and the bigwigs made up all kinds of jokes around the scarlet robe to make fun of him.

The most helpless stalk is to laugh at him for being afraid of guilt, and before he and Jiuniang got married, he was managed to death. Wu Kang thought they were jealous and pretended to be stupid and didn't accept the offer. Soon Big Brother Cui arrived, and the conference room was quiet. Lao Cui saw that he was still wearing a scarlet robe, and he couldn't help but purse his mouth, sat down on the main seat, and announced the official start of the meeting.

Sun Yingyuan, who joined the army, first got up and made a report: "Cui Gong, colleagues, the household registration statistics in Wuzhou have ended, with a total of 20,315 households, 602 more than last year. There are 301 households, which are separated from the old households; There are 271 households, which are fugitives from the mountains who have settled down on their own initiative, and another 30 households have moved from Muzhou. ”

Hearing this, everyone almost cheered, and everyone was overjoyed. With a population of more than 20,000 households, it was reported to the imperial court for approval, and Wuzhou would be promoted to Shangzhou, and all those sitting there would be promoted. Cui Yixuan was promoted by one level, and the fourth product was promoted from the third grade; The record of joining the army was promoted to two levels, from the eighth grade to the seventh grade; The six major military members were promoted to two levels, from the eighth rank to the seventh grade.

Cui Yixuan glanced at everyone and said lightly: "Since you have reached the Shangzhou standard, let's go to the imperial court." The population can exceed 20,000 households, and the military has made great contributions. Our meeting to support farmers is the reason why the fugitives have taken the initiative to settle down. There are also those who are separated, and the military participation in the army is also indispensable, everyone says yes? ”

The bigwigs looked at Wu Kang, with a strong smile in their eyes, and Lu Huaiyuan, who joined the army, couldn't help laughing. As if it was a signal, everyone burst into laughter, and even the loyal old Yu couldn't hide the smile on his face. Cui Yixuan glanced at Bai Wukang, and his face seemed to be smiling. The four scribes were confused, and Wu Kang's old face was flushed.

The political achievement of later generations is to develop the economy, and the political achievement of the Tang Dynasty is to increase the population, and the local officials want to be promoted, as long as the household registration of the jurisdiction is up, they will naturally be promoted to the official level. The meeting ordered the fugitives to settle down, and there was a possibility of impacting Shangzhou, and the focus of work immediately shifted.

Wu Kang became a pioneer, he really racked his brains, and he also made a lot of ridiculous things, and became the laughing stock of the bigwigs. The first laughing stock is to write slogans and post slogans to encourage childbearing, such as: The most romantic thing for a couple is not to go on a date and go shopping, but to go home and have a baby; It is good to have children and daughters, and it is called blessing when the house is full of children and grandchildren...

Strange slogans were posted all over the streets and alleys, and they were soon called over by Lao Cui and scolded a bloody dog, on the grounds that it was a waste of paper and a waste of money.

The second laughing stock is the separation, which is divided into two situations. One is legitimate, that is, the parents and grandparents are gone. One is illegal, as long as someone is alive, it is a crime for the children to be separated.

Half a month ago, I handled a family separation case, and six brothers in a family have all started a family. The family conflict is relatively deep, and when the concubines are arguing, they shout to separate the family. The neighbors listened to the wind and rain, and the two families had conflicts, so they came to the judicial yamen to complain.

Wu Kang was angry, other people's housework, what are you involved in? Now that you are impacting Shangzhou, you jumped out and sang the opposite, can't you be killed? The red and black signatures landed, and the plaintiff was rewarded with 50 boards, on the grounds that he was nosy, and directly announced his withdrawal. Then send someone to secretly notify the defendant to go to the law firm for consultation.

The defendant came to the office, and Jiu Niang said to them, your old mother is still there, and the law does not allow the separation of the family. However, this law is useless at the local level, because the number of households is directly related to the performance of officials. They will open one eye and close one eye, and go to the Sihu Yamen to make documents.

The six brothers did as they were told, and sure enough, they set up household registration documents. The plaintiff was not satisfied, and appealed to the Wuzhou Zhengya, thinking that it was not heard last time, because the defendant only nominally separated the family and did not file a household registration document, and this time it should be sought. How do you know that Lao Cui upheld the original verdict and rewarded him with sixty boards, the reason is that he is not in harmony with the township.

Jiuniang hopes that her fiancé Jackie Chan will break the unspoken rules of the window paper, resulting in more and more family separations. When this matter reached the ears of the big man, Wu Kang once again became a laughing stock, on the grounds that he took advantage of his position to leak the rules to his fiancée.

The sound of knocking on the table and the atmosphere stopped, Cui Yixuan glanced at everyone and said lightly: "Don't be happy too early, the application for official documents arrived in Chang'an, and after being reviewed by the household department, it was finally submitted to the sage for approval." After the cumbersome process, at least by the end of next year, there will be results. ”

The bigwigs were still happy and didn't care about waiting for one more year, but Wu Kang was dumbfounded, and the corners of his mouth hooked up with a faint wry smile. Chen Shuozhen rebelled in October next year, Wuzhou became the main battlefield, and Shangzhou's application for official documents must be postponed. Fighting a war is to kill people, and after the war, the imperial court re-surveyed the population, and the bamboo basket was empty!

His sullenness went unnoticed, and the meeting continued, with the major participating armies reporting in turn. Wu Kang officially took office in November, and there was only one homicide case in the big case, and the others were trivial disputes, and there was nothing to say.

After everyone finished speaking, Cui Yixuan made a final summary and entered the free speaking time. Wu Kang got Lao Cui's approval, stood up and brewed his emotions, and said: "Uncles and uncles, there are some immature ideas about the post station system, dare to say it, and ask the elders to criticize and give advice." ”

When everyone heard the post station system, they couldn't help frowning, what is there to say? Cui Yixuan sat up straight and motioned for him to continue.

Wu Kang said: "As we all know, the post station is a place for post guards who transmit military information and official documents, provide food, lodging, and change horses. To put it bluntly, it's a corporate business. My idea is that the post station also accepts business to the people, and accepts letters and goods from the people, that is, the postal express system. ”

As soon as these words came out, the bigwigs all changed their faces, and Qin Li, who joined the army, said: "Change, don't talk nonsense." The imperial court is very strict with the management of post stations, even if we violate the regulations, we will also be punished, how can we send letters to the people? ”

The bigwigs nodded one after another, but Cui Yixuan twisted his eyebrows and pondered, Wu Kang continued: "My Chao post stations are all over the country, divided into three types: land posts, water posts, and water and land stations, with a total of 1,640 post personnel, and more than 20,000 post personnel. ”

After a change of voice, he continued: "But now that the world is peaceful and prosperous, how much military intelligence is there?" How many official documents can be sent and received in each state? It is not an exaggeration to describe it in a few words. For most of the year, the post station is idle, resulting in a lot of waste of resources. Dare to ask Uncle Sun, how much copper does the imperial court take out every year to pay for the post station system? ”

Sihu joined the army Sun Mao, thought for a moment and said: "The post man of the Wuzhou post house has 800 Wen, and for example, the post man alone is at least 20,000 yuan. Coaching horses, maintenance of stagecoaches, stationhouse entertainment expenses, etc. A conservative estimate is at least 50,000 per year. ”

Hearing this number, Wu Kang was a little stunned and thanked Sun Mao. He took out a piece of paper from the folder, with the words "waste of resources" on it, got up and walked to the east wall, where there were a few nails nailed to the wall, and hung the paper on the nails.

Turning to look at the big guy, he continued: "The waste of resources means that the post station has the ability to carry out postal express business, and the imperial court does not need additional investment." What do the uncles think about this kind of rhetoric? ”

The big guys looked serious, and after a while, they all shook their heads. Wu Kang took another piece of paper, wrote "demand", hung another nail on it, and continued to speak: "People are divided into four classes, agriculture, industry and commerce, and Wu Kang is brave enough to explain the needs of the four classes for express delivery. ”

Stretching out two fingers, he said: "First of all, it is a scholar, and officials serve in many different places, and what they desire most is a letter from home." There is also contact between friends, correspondence routines, academics, contacts and friendships, etc. The second is business, and merchants rely on business opportunities to do business, and letters are exchanged more frequently. ”

Stretching out two more, he said: "As for the needs of peasants and workers, they are mainly reflected in the government soldiers. The soldiers of various prefectures met and left their homes for Chang'an. Take Wuzhou Zhichong as an example, there is a soldier's wife who is about to give birth, and after giving birth to a baby, she must want to inform the soldier. ”

After speaking, he pointed sideways to the "demand" paper and said: "There are needs at all levels, how to solve the needs?" Those with good family backgrounds will send subordinates and slaves to deliver letters on horseback. But people along the way eat horses, the cost of delivering letters is too high, and there may be accidents; If the family background is not good, ask passers-by, monks, literati and other wanderers to do it for you, but the limitations are too great.

First of all, it's hard to find wanderers; Second, the place where they travel is not necessarily the destination of the message; Again, the speed of the wanderers is very fast, and when the letter is delivered, it will be the year of the monkey. Take the child just now as an example, the wanderers swam to Chang'an leisurely, and the soldiers also went home. ”

Wu Kang looked at the bigwigs and said solemnly: "Regard the post station as a seller, and the Shinong industry and commerce as a buyer, the seller has resources, and the buyer has demand." There is supply and demand, there is the possibility of trading, what do you uncles think? ”