When Lu Yuan returned to Changsha Mansion, the mansion was filled with an atmosphere of excitement and tension.
It was nearly November, and soon it was time for the imperial examination that Lu Yuan had originally set for the founding of the country.
Now, as announcements from Nanhai and Ninghai were issued one after another, scholars from the two countries arrived in Changsha Prefecture one after another in October after spending more than a month on the road.
Now, tens of thousands of scholars gathered in Changsha Mansion, all pouring in to prepare to take part in the imperial examination on the first day of November.
The arrival of these large numbers of outsiders suddenly made the entire city of Changsha prosperous.
After all, most people who can afford the travel expenses and come all the way to take the imperial examination have some money.
These people spend money here, which naturally makes local businesses prosper.
There were even too many scholars from outside, so there were not enough inns in Changsha to stay in. Many scholars had to spend money to ask the residents in the city to give up a room for them to live in.
But even so, many people still cannot find a place to live.
This has become a serious problem.
"Back to your Majesty, although Changsha is a prefectural city, even a big one, the original household registration of Changsha Fucheng is only about 10,000 households, or 50,000 to 60,000 people.
Now the number of scholars pouring into the city has exceeded 10,000.
Among them, there are more than 2,000 scholars from the country, more than 4,000 scholars from the Nanhai Kingdom, and more than 3,000 scholars from the Ninghai Kingdom.
With so many people, almost every household in the city needs one more person, making it difficult to accommodate them. "
When Cui Changqing mentioned this matter, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Fortunately, the military camp built outside the city before the king is still there. The camp is quite wide and the roads are well placed.
I had people tidy up and some houses were sorted out, and they were rented to those foreign scholars at the price of three cents per room. "
Lu Yuan nodded slightly, quite satisfied with this arrangement, and then asked: "The accommodation problem has been solved. But do those people have any complaints about letting those scholars live in the military camp?"
Cui Changqing immediately said: "That's not the case. Not all the scholars who came from all over the country were rich. Many of them borrowed money from others and traveled thousands of miles to take the imperial examination.
For these people, a house that costs three cents a day is an ideal place to live.
Otherwise, if they are allowed to live in private houses in the city, where the price has risen to twenty or thirty cents a room, these people will complain and be dissatisfied.
In comparison, it is already very good to have a room that is sheltered from wind and rain and also provides hot water.
Now it's just that the rich live in inns, the ordinary people live in civilian houses in the city, and the poor live in military camps outside the city. "
As someone who has passed the imperial examination, Cui Changqing has an extremely accurate grasp of the psychology of those persimmons.
Those scholars will not have any objections to the difficulty of the scientific examination conditions at this time, or if they have objections, they will not care too much.
As long as you can take the imperial examination and become an official, the little suffering at this time will be over.
on the contrary.
If you don't give them the imperial examination and don't let them become officials, then even if you give them a good inn to live in, these people will not be grateful to you, but will complain and hate you.
You guys have been living in poverty for ten years and have traveled thousands of miles to take exams just to become an official.
As long as they can be officials, let alone living in military camps now, you can let them live on the streets, with the north wind blowing and freezing snow, and these scholars will not flinch.
Although Lu Yuan couldn't fully understand this, he could understand it somewhat. But after thinking about it, he still smiled and said: "No matter whether these candidates are satisfied or not, they have come all the way here, and they still have to do the proper hospitality.
This is not just for the official selection exam, but also to win people's hearts.
Dongting is not the only place in this world. My ambition is not limited to Changsha.
Nowadays, the two countries of Nanhai and Ninghai are unable to win over the hearts of domestic scholars, resulting in the loss of talents and the disunity of the people.
Since they have given us this opportunity, we must seize it.
If we can gain the hearts of the scholars of both countries this time, then if there is a change in Lingnan in the future, and we raise the flag and go south, the scholars who have been bribed recently will be the hearts and minds of the people in the future.
This is the key point. Cui Qing should understand this and work hard to stop it. "
Lu Yuan looked at his left prime minister in front of him and said meaningfully.
Although it has formed alliances with the two countries of Nanhai and Ninghai, there is a saying that there are never long-term allies in the world.
Nowadays, the three countries seem to be as close as one family, and even Nanhai and Ninghai have supported Lu Yuan with so many exam scholars, as well as a large amount of money and food.
But all this is just now.
Now that the two countries have just established, there is great external pressure, and Lu Yuan needs to be in front, so he can fully support many things.
But wait three to five years, five to six years, or ten years.
After such a long time passed, the two countries had established a firm foothold, recruited enough troops, integrated their domestic interests, and had enough power to protect themselves.
Can they still support Lu Yuan unconditionally like they did now?
And if these two countries don't help Lu Yuan, who will support his hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses?
With the state of Changsha in such a dilapidated state, even if it rested for three to five years, the population, money and food could only support at most 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers, which would not be able to support Lu Yuan's 100,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of Miao soldiers.
Therefore, people without foresight cannot last long.
It’s always good to be extra prepared.
When Cui Changqing heard his king's plan, he was startled, and then he became excited and said immediately: "The king wants to take over Lingnan, which is really a brilliant plan.
Changsha, our country, has gone through several wars, is dilapidated and impoverished, and is no longer as good as the two countries in Lingnan. Surrounded by enemies on three sides and fighting everywhere, it is difficult to remain stable.
If we can take over these two countries, we will have millions of household registrations and countless money and food, which can support an army of 200,000 for a campaign.
If we march straight in and defeat Jiuzhen County, we can take over all the land in the south and relieve our worries.
In this way, the king controls the land of four counties, thousands of miles of land, tens of millions of people, and 300,000 men with armor.
When he led his troops to the north, the Zhou people were frightened. If you lead the powerful troops to the west, you can capture Xichuan. If he leads his troops to the east, Jiangdong will be dismayed.
The foundation of this king's hegemony really needs to be planned early. "
For traditional Confucian scholars like Cui Changqing, cultivating oneself, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world is almost their highest ideal.
Nowadays, the Yue Dynasty is declining and the world is falling apart, which is like the end of the dynasty.
It was precisely because of seeing this that Cui Changqing, the original important minister of the imperial court, chose to accept Lu Yuan's invitation to serve as the left prime minister of the country.
This is not only due to the friendship between the two, but also due to disappointment in the court.
But seeing the reality clearly does not mean that Cui Changqing really accepts his fate.
Now Lu Yuan proposed a strategy.
Collect Lingnan in the south, annex the two countries, use the land of the two countries, and the people of the two countries.
This strategy is also very suitable to Cui Changqing's appetite.
If this can really be done, then the three Lingnan counties will serve as the rear to continuously supply money and food. There are hundreds of heroes from Lu Yuan and Changsha, fighting in all directions.
With such basic strength, it is possible to unify Jiangnan.
Even if Jiangnan cannot be unified, it is enough to share the benefits of the Yangtze River with the small court in Jiangdong.
With such a future prospect and such great achievements, how could Cui Changqing not be excited?
"Nanhai and Ninghai are our allies. How can we attack them without any reason? Now I just want to win more people's hearts. Don't mention Cui Qing's words just now, let alone say them out."
Lu Yuan looked at the excited Cui Changqing, fearing that the other party would do something outrageous, so he quickly reminded him to calm down.
The plan for Lingnan was something he had vaguely thought about when the Three Kingdoms Alliance was originally established. But before Yan Wangqiu's death, it was basically impossible for him to send troops to Lingnan.
The innate combat power that Lu Yuan currently possesses is limited to that of he and Lan Cai'er. And if the two of them join forces, there is a high probability that they will not be able to defeat Su Xuange and Yan Wangqiu.
In this way, there will be no advantage in terms of top-level combat power.
As for ordinary soldiers and horses, given the two Lingnan countries a few years, they can produce tens of thousands of soldiers no matter what.
Let’s not talk about whether these soldiers and horses can be fought.
As long as we can defend the city in the face of foreign invasion, it is enough.
Given the complex environment faced by the Luyuan Changsha Kingdom, the north must be defended, the east must be defended, and the national defense cordon is thousands of miles long.
To guard such a long place, it would take at least 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers and horses.
In other words, even if he sends troops to conquer the south, Lu Yuan can only recruit 50,000 to 60,000 people at most.
Without the advantage of top-level combat power, let alone defeating two countries, whether they can swallow one of them is a question.
The greatest probability is that it is impossible to conquer Lingnan.
Therefore, it is impossible for Lingnan to plot before Yan Wangqiu dies.
So at this moment, he has no plans to turn against his two allies or even annex them.
Moreover, Lu Yuan did not want to harm his reputation by attacking his allies at this time.
Anyway, the two countries in the South China Sea and Ninghai can basically confirm that sooner or later they will sever their diplomatic relations with him.
So, isn't it good to wait for the other party to voluntarily breach the contract and destroy the alliance?
Why do the dirty work yourself.
Old Man Yan is getting older and may not live another five or six years.
In the last period of the other person's life, let him live a good life.
In some aspects, Lu Yuan still has a bottom line.
Cui Changqing obviously understood the bottom line of his own king, so after receiving the reminder, he immediately said clearly: "Don't worry, my king, I am not a talkative person, so I will naturally not talk about this matter with others.
The scholars outside the city lived in military camps, which were indeed a bit crude.
so.
I asked someone to cook some ginger soup, and then took it to the outside of the city in person. In the name of the king, I said it was to express my gratitude for the hardship of traveling thousands of miles to take the exam, and specially sent it to warm my body.
So, what does the king think? "
Regarding this thoughtful suggestion, Lu Yuan naturally nodded in approval: "Shan, let's do this. By the way, the money to buy ginger comes from my internal funds. Since the lonely king has taken advantage of the false name, the money must be given by the lonely king. . But it can’t be done at public expense.”
Cui Changqing looked in admiration: "When all the scholars learn about your king's kindness, they will burst into tears and fall in love with you from now on."
Lu Yuan smiled and waved his hand: "It's just a small amount of money. If all the scholars can pass this exam happily, the lonely king will be satisfied."
These little things to win people's hearts are all for long-term plans.
It may not be needed at this time.
But if the two countries fall out with him in the future, and the two sides even go to war with each other, won't the preparations made now come in handy?
As an immortal, Lu Yuan doesn't mind making more preparations for things that will happen a few years or even ten years from now.
Just in case, you still need to be prepared.
Anyway, he can afford to wait, enough to survive until the day when these foreshadowings take effect.
So the matter of bringing warmth to the scientific scholars in the cold winter was settled in the words of the king and his prime minister.
In addition to sending warmth, Cui Changqing and professional people will do a series of other actions to win people's hearts. This does not require Lu Yuan to worry too much.
However, judging from the subsequent reports, Lu Yuan's actions were quite effective.
Many of the scholars who received his warmth were just as Cui Changqing said, and they were grateful to him.
A king who cares so much for scholars, isn't he the best virtuous king for those scholars?
Therefore, Lu Yuan's already good reputation among literati could not help but reach a new level after this incident.
And in this atmosphere, on the first day of November, the imperial examination began.
However, for this first imperial examination of the new dynasty, Lu Yuan did not show up.
Now the examiner of the imperial examination has long been determined to be Cui Changqing.
Some of the other deputy examiners and auxiliary officials have already been selected, and there is no need for him, the king, to do anything.
Lu Yuan only had to wait calmly at the back. After the examination was over and the new scholars were selected, and the palace examination was required, then it was time for him to show up.
At this point, he could just wait.
However, although Lu Yuan attached great importance to the imperial examination, he actually did not care about handling it at this time.
Because his energy is now used to deal with another matter.
…
Beicheng, inside the royal palace renovated from the original Dayue Palace.
"Cai'er, what do you think of this wedding dress?"
Lu Yuan took Lan Cai'er's hand, smiled and pointed at the bright red clothes spread out and displayed in front of him by several palace servants, and asked his fiancée for her opinion.
"I obey my husband." Lan Cai'er next to her had a slightly red face. After taking a look at the wedding dress, she lowered her head.
Even if he is an innate master, when faced with the important event of marriage, his heart is like that of a little daughter, unable to completely calm down.
"Ha ha"
When Lu Yuan saw this, he couldn't help laughing and waved his hand, "That's it then."
While laughing, he was also a little excited about his upcoming wedding.
Lu Yuan and Lan Zhaoyun agreed on a wedding date and agreed to get engaged on the third day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Hongdao. A year later, on the third day of the first lunar month of the eighth year of Hongdao, they got married.
Now that more than half a year has passed, it seems that there are only two months left before the wedding.
Lu Yuan was the founding monarch, and as his wife, Lan Cai'er was considered the founding queen. And both of them are innate masters, and their status in the world is also extremely high.
If one of them is a Yue and the other a Miao, then this marriage is of extremely important significance to the stability of the country.
Therefore, combined with all the circumstances, the marriage of the two people was naturally not careless and had to be carefully planned.
In fact, announcements about their wedding, as well as invitations, were sent out early.
The Yue Kingdom, the two countries of Nanhai and Ninghai, as well as some Yi Kingdoms in the southwest, Liang Kingdom and Zhou Kingdom in the north, and some countries in the East China Sea.
Lu Yuan sent people to notify everyone who could be related to the Changsha Kingdom.
Regardless of whether people come or not, the first wedding in your life must be a grand one.
For this reason, he did not hesitate to spend millions of taels of silver and spent a year's military expenditure on a hundred thousand troops, just to do something grand.
Now that huge amounts of money are being spread, various things are being prepared.
But while a lot of things were left to the people below, Lu Yuan also had to spare some thought to contribute to his wedding.
For example, accompany your bride to enhance your relationship with her.
This is a matter of national origin.
After all, this queen is an innate master and a Miao saint.
If we don't appease others, won't our own country be shaken?
This was definitely not for personal gain. It was not because Lu Yuan wanted to spend more time with his pretty wife, see her blushing face, and listen to her beautiful voice.
Although it has to be said.
Teasing an innate master and watching a superior saint perform many of the above gestures really filled Lu Yuan with a sense of accomplishment.
But say important things three times.
He is doing this for the country, for the public, for the country, for the country, and for the people.
That is definitely not lust for women.
