"I didn't expect that Xu County, known as the capital of the Han Dynasty, would be so dirty and messy, and there would be no place to relax. Alas."
After arriving in Xu County, two days after submitting the memorial, Zhuge Jin fell into a state of boredom and was disappointed with the current capital.
He had also read many time-travel novels in his previous life, including those with the background of the Three Kingdoms. When the protagonist arrives in a big city, he can wander around in restaurants and teahouses, drink and taste good food, and meet various civil and military talents.
But when he came this time, he didn't see any other entertainment venues except the tavern run by the county residence itself.
Needless to say about teahouses, tea in the Han Dynasty was still soup boiled with onion, ginger, pepper, salt, and teahouses did not exist at all.
As for cleaning buildings... In this era, only dignitaries kept slaves for the enjoyment of their friends, or the army had female battalions responsible for washing clothes.
Some people may wonder: Didn't it say that Guan Zhong invented the "nulv" as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? It is also said to have seven hundred practitioners.
But the "nulv" was actually Qi Huan's use of idle palace maids to make extra money, and even the business premises were opened directly in the palace market. It is the same as the down-and-out nobles in the late Han Dynasty who asked their slaves to be sold back to their families.
It was during this random wandering that Zhuge Jin realized firsthand why Mi Zhu wanted to embrace her and achieve a class jump.
In this era, nobles from aristocratic families really had the confidence to say, "It's great to be rich" when faced with huge wealth.
Even if you have money, you still need to match your social status to buy many things.
…
Zhuge Jin, who had wandered around for two days without gaining any knowledge at all, was very depressed when he returned to the county residence, so he chatted with Chen Deng about what he had seen in Xu County:
"Brother Yuanlong, you have never been to Xu County before, right? Why don't you think anything of the depression here?
When I was in Guangling, I saw that there were restaurants and pilgrimage houses in the city. Why was the trade in Xu County not as prosperous as in Guangling, and there were not even pilgrimage houses? "
Chen Dengze joked familiarly: "Xuxian County is not known for its commerce. There are several counties around it, and Chenliudi is connected to the divide and has the most prosperous business travel. It's just that there are too many Yingchuan scholars under Cao Cao's command, and they all want to glorify their hometown, so they urge Cao Cao to settle down All in Yingchuan County.
However, there should have been some places to sit and visit in Xu County originally, but it was only two months since the capital was moved, and everything was waiting to be done. There were not enough imperial residences, so Cao Cao requisitioned all the private residences.
We are pretty good, after all, we are official state and county envoys, and we can still live in the county residence. If you are seeking an official position for free and come to Xudu at this time, you may have to live in Yizhou County Residence. "
Zhuge Jin listened very carefully and gained some common sense.
The Han system required the establishment of county residences for all counties in the world in the capital to accommodate officials from various places who came to Beijing to report on their duties. This was similar to the "provincial office in Beijing" in later generations, but there were differences.
The offices in Beijing in later generations were all supported by the provinces out of their own pockets, which was a way of making money at a loss. The county residences of the Han Dynasty were centrally managed and expenditures unified by Da Honglu, one of the nine ministers of the imperial court.
Dahonglu was similar to the later Ministry of Rites, which was responsible for the tribute reception of envoys from various countries and the reception of envoys from various states and counties.
Three months ago, Xu County didn't have a single county residence. Now it suddenly upgraded. Cao Cao was no longer allowed to expropriate all private commercial places as government property.
No wonder Xudu is in such a depression that it will probably take several years of construction to restore prosperity.
In addition, there was another detail in Chen Deng's words that aroused Zhuge Jin's curiosity, so he continued to ask:
"Just now you mentioned that 'I'm afraid I can only live in the county residence in Yizhou'. Could it be that the county residence in Yizhou is particularly bad?"
Chen Deng showed a "you know" expression: "Yizhou hasn't sent anyone to the court for many years. I heard that Cao Cao didn't plan to set up Yizhou and Jiaozhou county residences at the beginning.
Later, it was discovered that the county prison was even more useless, so it was temporarily changed back to Yizhou County Prison - I think no one wanted to live in the place where it was originally intended to be a prison cell. "
Zhuge Jin suddenly realized.
The county prison can also be regarded as a place of pilgrimage for later generations of accounting majors.
Later generations of accounting students often say: AI can never replace humans, because AI cannot replace people in jail.
Jundi Prison is the earliest "specialized accounting prison" in China.
Responsible for imprisoning those who committed fraud in the "Shangji" in various counties of the Han Dynasty.
That is to say, officials from various counties who went to Beijing to file tax returns would be thrown into jail if they were found to have evaded taxes or concealed their household registration.
The county prison in Luoyang was already a mere decoration as early as the Huanling period. Emperor Ling could not collect local taxes at all, so he relied on selling officials to maintain finances.
So in Xudu, Cao Cao was also very hot-headed at first. In order to maintain his dignity, he commandeered a monastery as the county residence and prison. Later, it was found that the normal county residence was not enough, so it was changed to Yizhou County Residence.
What stands out is the randomness of a grass-roots team.
Anyway, the world is in chaos, and it is impossible for those states and counties that are not under Cao Cao's actual control to give Cao Cao "high tax" tax and household registration.
Chen Deng also knew that Zhuge Jin just wanted to see the world, so after explaining, he gave him some advice:
"If you are free and want to find a place to visit, I think the only place in Xudu now is to go to Yongning Palace. Now that the Emperor has just arrived, Cao Cao only had time to build the Jingfu and Chengguang Palaces in the south.
Yongning and Yongshi in Beigong, as well as the gardens and teaching workshops, are still undergoing extensive construction, and outsiders are not allowed to approach. It just so happens that the Yizhou County Residence is also nearby, located northwest of Shangshu Terrace. If you want to find the sages who failed to seek official positions for Xuande Gong, you can also try your luck there. "
Zhuge Jin quickly wrote it down to show that he had been taught something.
When he was wandering around yesterday, he had already noticed that Xudu today was basically a large construction site, but he didn't expect that even the palace had only been built with only two rooms. This shows that Cao Cao moved the capital in a hurry.
Since there is really nothing to do elsewhere, then go to the unfinished palace to check in, and then visit the place where tourists gather. If you haven't harvested anything yet, just stay at the county mansion and wait for the summons.
…
On the third day after arriving in Xudu, Zhuge Jin finally completed the strategy. He took Chen Dao early in the morning, called Chen Deng, went around to the northernmost part of the palace city, climbed to the earth mountain of Yongshi Terrace, and took a look. The construction scene of the royal palace.
Because it is still a large construction site, no one will care about you as long as you stay away from the southernmost palaces that are already in use.
Qinglu River, a tributary of Yingchuan River and a tributary of Yingchuan River, flows just far west of the imperial palace, still a few miles away from the palace city.
You can see countless watercrafts carrying earth, masonry, and wood to the dock a mile or two west of Yongshi Terrace, and then unloading the goods. The scene was chaotic, with tens of thousands of people struggling as slave laborers.
Earthwork and masonry are fortunately transported to the construction site on loaders or oxcarts. As for the huge trees cut down from Songshan and Funiu Mountains in the northwest of Xudu and used as pillars in the palace, it was very troublesome. The only way was to lay rolling logs on the ground, and then hundreds of corvee workers worked together to push the giant trees, little by little. The construction site rolls.
Although Zhuge Jin didn't understand architecture, as a modern man, he had some management common sense, and he frowned at first sight.
"This minister who is coordinating the palace construction project must be a idiot who doesn't understand practical knowledge. It's really inappropriate to waste people's energy at the expense of the near and distant." Zhuge Jin couldn't help complaining to Chen Deng, who was traveling with him.
But Chen Deng smiled and motioned for him to collect his words: "I don't dare to say this - the person who is now serving as the chief craftsman and coordinating the construction of the palace is a good friend of Xuande Gong. He was killed by Yuan Tan three months ago. Kong Beihai was defeated.
After he lost the county and entered the imperial court, Cao Cao thought that since he was Confucius and his family was well versed in etiquette, he asked him to temporarily take charge of the formulation, examination and construction of the palace regulations. "
After hearing this, Zhuge Jin nodded thoughtfully and remembered a question: "Have you been to Luoyang before and seen the palace in Luoyang?"
Chen Deng: "I've seen it from a distance, but I haven't seen it inside."
Zhuge Jin: "That's just looking at it from a distance. Do you think the outer walls and gate towers of the palace today are higher or lower than those in Luoyang?"
Chen Deng shook his head: "It's not as good as Luoyang, but I don't know if it will be even more grand in the future."
Zhuge Jin has already grasped the truth through the clues in these answers:
"I understand. Cao Cao also knows that Kong Rong has no talent in practical planning. But he bears the name of a descendant of Confucius, and he has the final say in the world's etiquette. Let Kong Rong also nod and repair a money With fewer palaces, Cao Cao would not look like he was bullying the emperor and his master."
When Chen Deng heard this, a strange color flashed in his eyes. He thought about it carefully and felt that it made sense.
Brother Tzuyu's observation is still keen, and he can indeed see the subtleties.
If Cao Cao takes it upon himself to save money, he will be criticized by everyone in the world. With Kong Rong as a shield, anyone who criticizes Cao Cao can say: I also want to give His Majesty the best enjoyment, but Kong Rong said that this is enough and in line with etiquette. I can't be more polite...
However, after all, Chen Deng had friendships with Liu Bei and Kong Rong. After thinking about this section, he couldn't help but mention:
"In this case, with your practical talents as a good brother, why not find an opportunity to teach Kong Wenju a thing or two? After all, he is an old friend of the late Tao Gong, and he also had a close friendship with Xuande Gong."
Zhuge Jin: "Let's talk about it when we have the chance. If we're not in our position, we won't do anything. There's nothing to visit in this palace. Let's go to Yizhou County to have a look and talk about it later."
——
PS: A new week is coming soon, so today we need to split three updates. The third update will be left until after 12 o'clock in the evening, counting as the update in the early morning of Monday.
This update is actually only 300 words less than the 3K chapter, and it is not considered a small chapter. I am a person who cannot break chapters well every time, so I will give you a few hundred more words.
