The political and court situation in the center of the Tang Dynasty was closely related to the situation in local areas and border towns.
For example, in the 15th year of Kaiyuan, Tubo generals Xinuoluo Gonglu and Zhulong Mangbuzhi captured Guazhou (Jiuquan) and captured alive the governor Tian Yuanxian. They not only robbed the city of all supplies, but also deliberately demolished Guazhou. The city wall of the state city.
Also in this year, the former Hexi Jiedushi Wangjun was attacked and killed by a Turkic tribe.
The drastic changes in the military and political situation in Hexi made the Tang court worried, so Prime Minister Xiao Song, who was over sixty years old, was ordered to serve as the military governor of Hexi and judge the affairs of Liangzhou.
This is a typical border town corruption, and central officials end up taking charge of the overall situation. Because ordinary bureaucrats in border towns can no longer bear the responsibility for strategic collapse.
Similarly, officials who perform well in border towns will also serve as important officials in the center. For example, Zhang Shougui, Niu Xianke, etc.
This was also the normal flow between the border towns and the center of officialdom in the Tang Dynasty during the Kaiyuan period, and it had a strong positive significance.
Now, Wang Zhongsi led troops to conquer Tubo New City, coupled with Cui Xiyi's transfer, leading to a new round of reshuffle in the Hexi power structure. Cui Xiyi's departure was not a big deal, but according to the old rules of the Tang Dynasty's regime, his staff and assistant officials were also dismissed.
These people who are familiar with local affairs in Hexi either find other jobs or switch to others. In short, this wave of changes created many vacant official positions in the Hexi region. For these vacancies, not only the local forces in Hexi are eyeing them, but the central government is also extremely concerned about them.
Subsequently, specific battle reports and related matters, as well as a mountain of memorials, were sent to Chang'an by different local officials in Hexi through the post channel. Among the complicated information, "Fang Chongyong", a senior official who should not have appeared in the public eye, instead Appears frequently in memorials.
Almost all of them are complimentary.
Even Wang Zhongsi did not hesitate to praise him, saying that his future son-in-law "although he does not have the merits of being strong and strong, he still has many good plans and is beneficial to the military." Cui Xiyi said that Fang Chongyong was "benevolent and loved others, and did not hesitate to work hard, which boosted his morale."
It may be true that Fang Chongyong did something, but his father Fang Youde was the governor of Youzhou, and the willingness of many bureaucrats to carry people in sedan chairs was a key factor that cannot be ignored!
So Li Linfu, who took advantage of the opportunity, suggested to Li Longji that he should be rewarded based on his merits and promote Fang Chongyong to the Sima of Liangzhou based on his merits. He should not be ignored because of his age.
The official position of Liangzhou Sima is the second-in-command who assists the Liangzhou governor in managing the internal affairs of Liangzhou. In short, he is the chief officer who manages the specific affairs of Liangzhou City. Due to the special characteristics of the Hexi region, this official position is sometimes held by Liangzhou. The state governor also serves as governor.
In the Tang Dynasty, a state generally had three administrative officials, one chief and two deputy officers. The chief officer was called the governor, the deputy officers were called Sima and the chief officer.
There is no distinction between official positions between Sima and Changshi, and there is not even a strict division of labor between positions. Their work is assigned by the governor, and whoever is assigned the errand is the one who "does practical things".
Under these three people are the full-time chiefs, that is, the six chiefs. For example, the military chief is in charge of the development of the state's armed forces, the legal chief is in charge of the law, and so on.
The power is almost unusable in the state capital to join the army. It's not a big problem to put a pig in charge, since pigs won't find trouble anyway.
But if Liangzhou Sima puts a pig in charge, the problem will be too big! Xiao Jiong originally served as the Sima of Liangzhou and the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu. Now Xiao Jiong serves as the envoy of Hexi Jiedu. It is reasonable to give up the position of Sima of Liangzhou.
But no one expected that Li Linfu would play like this! A ten-year-old child serving as the second-in-command in Liangzhou... is really an exaggeration. No one with a right mind would be able to play such a childish role.
The levels of each state in the Tang Dynasty were different, and they were roughly divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. A Sima from a high-level state may be from the fourth rank, while a Sima from a lower-level state may be from the sixth rank. The outlying states are basically lower-class states, so these Sima are only sesame officials from around the sixth rank.
Liangzhou does not belong to the upper, middle or lower class, but belongs to the "super-class" Liangzhou Prefecture. Its status is analogous to Shenzhen in Fang Chongyong's previous life! The population of the whole state is nearly one million, and the city of Liangzhou alone has more than 100,000 households and a population of hundreds of thousands.
It is unbelievable to think that such a large population should be managed by a ten-year-old child!
Without exception, Li Linfu's memorial met with fierce opposition from both the government and the public.
Under Li Linfu's own instruction, even his own cronies fiercely opposed this matter.
Zheng Shuqing, the governor of Qizhou, also wrote a letter to Li Longji to increase his presence, saying that Fang Chongyong was "young, ignorant, dissolute and invisible, and should not be entrusted with important responsibilities." If the sage really didn't know how to place him, he could be transferred to Qizhou as Sima. .
Anyway, Qizhou Sima's term has just expired this year and there is a vacancy. Place this person in Qizhou, so that he is close to Chang'an and no big trouble will happen.
The memorial, which was just like an invitation to favor, was quickly submerged in the denunciation and curse of Li Linfu from the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, saying that he "sees state affairs as child's play and is not worthy of being a prime minister."
Li Longji also felt hesitant and surprised about this.
What is surprising is that Fang Youde's unscrupulous man seems to have some skills. After arriving in the border town, he can actually do tricks and get everyone to praise him. So many people say good things for him.
The hesitation is that the position of Liangzhou Sima is too important, and its importance is even much higher than that of the governor of other states and counties.
Not to mention giving this position to Fang Chongyong, Li Longji was a little hesitant even if his father Fang Youde took it. Because Lao Fang only knows how to fight and is not good at dealing with foreigners, he may not be a good hand at managing nodes in the Western Region.
If Fang Youde goes to the Western Region, he will definitely cause chaos there.
Li Linfu suggested that Fang Chongyong be appointed Sima of Liangzhou, just to show outsiders that he was not "jealous of talents". As long as there is talent, no matter what status or age, he is willing to promote and reuse.
Li Longji knew what he was thinking and didn't take it seriously. These were the tricks of various prime ministers since the Kaiyuan Dynasty. He was still very satisfied with Li Linfu's ability to handle government affairs.
Everyone in the government and the public was scolding Li Linfu. Didn't this just prove that the other party could remain in the prime minister's position? If the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty share their anger with the prime minister, then what use will I, the emperor of Chang'an and the sage of the Tang Dynasty, do?
Li Longji did not alienate Li Linfu because he was scolded, but trusted him more.
However, Li Longji still clearly rejected Li Linfu's ridiculous suggestion of promoting Fang Chongyong, a ten-year-old boy, to be the Sima of Liangzhou. Instead, he promoted Su Zhilian, who was serving as the governor of Ganzhou at this time, and transferred him to neighboring Liangzhou to serve as the Sima of Liangzhou.
Su Zhilian was born in the Su family of martial arts. He began to serve as the governor of Ganzhou at the age of twenty-four and was familiar with Hexi affairs. Moreover, this man is young and powerful. He is exactly twenty-eight years old this year. He has served as governor for four years. It is time for him to be an official elsewhere, or to be idle at home waiting for the election of officials.
It is just right for him to serve as Sima of Liangzhou, and he has many acquaintances in Liangzhou and is easy to handle.
As for the vacancy of the governor of Ganzhou, it will be temporarily filled by Ouyang Quan, the military envoy of the Jiankang Army to Ganzhou. Ouyang Jin was brave and good at fighting. He succeeded Zhang Shougui as the Jiankang military envoy. He continues to this day and is regarded as Zhang Shougui's direct descendant.
Then there were a series of official transfers and vacancies, but nothing happened to Fang Chongyong. He appeared frequently in memorials, but he didn't even catch a hair.
As for Su Zhilian, he was able to serve as the governor of Ganzhou at the age of only twenty-four. In contrast to Fang Chongyong, who was able to become an official in Hexi at the age of ten, it was not a big deal.
The imperial court had no objections to Li Longji's edict, and the edict was successfully sent to Liangzhou along with the post system.
This kind of government order that was in line with the basic organizational structure of the Tang Dynasty was like eating and drinking to people in the officialdom, and it did not cause any waves.
Some people with good intentions have speculated on Su Zhilian's official experience and found that if this person had been in the imperial examination, he would have been a Jinshi at least ten years old. He had been promoted all the way. He was so lucky that he could serve as a minor when Su Zhilian served as the governor of Ganzhou. State governor.
They couldn't help but lament that in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty, it was difficult for children from poor families to become officials.
After all, you can only take the imperial examination at the age of fourteen, and you must be at least sixteen when you take the Jinshi exam. After winning the Jinshi, you have to wait for three years to be elected, and you will be nineteen years old. He was already considered a high-ranking school clerk when he started his career. After four years of service, he would be twenty-three years old. By the time he is transferred to the position of governor, he will have to be thirty years old at the earliest. It is normal to serve as governor in his forties.
Therefore, Li Bai's dislike of the imperial examination was not entirely due to his status as a businessman.
The main reason is that he can only write poetry and has limited talents in other areas; secondly, even if he is admitted, it will take years and months to get ahead. Li Bai, who believed that "life is short, travel at night holding a candle", naturally believed that instead of taking part in the imperial examination, it would be better to kneel down and lick the powerful people quickly and easily. Who said that he was not a powerful person?
…
Fang Chongyong didn't know yet that he had caused quite a stir in the court. He was very busy now. Except for not going to the Yamen of Jiedu Mansion and Liangzhou Mansion to have sex at all, he was busy all day long.
However, his so-called "busy" was just walking around in and around Liangzhou City, watching, listening and learning more, without paying attention to any specific things.
On this day, Fang Chongyong came to Dr. Li's medical clinic again to see how the development of Brother Ji's health medicine was going.
However, this medical officer with superb medical skills handed an ordinary small clay pot to Fang Chongyong.
"The saint's medicine is still being tested, and we will soon have some clues. However, the things entrusted by Commander Fang are very easy to handle."
After the two sat down, they opened the black clay pot that looked ordinary and was only about the size of a palm.
"Envoy Fang said to semi-carbonize the hemostatic medicinal materials. I tried it. Anyway, there are related records in ancient books. I found a few people with knife wounds to apply the medicine and found that the hemostatic effect is indeed good, and..."
"And medicinal materials can be stored for a long time and will not spoil, right?"
Fang Chongyong asked with a smile.
Doctor Li was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly and said, "That's true."
Semi-carbonized Chinese medicinal materials stop bleeding. There have been books talking about this since the Han Dynasty. Just because of the lack of data and the lack of urgent need after the change of dynasties, this direction has been shelved without any substantial progress.
Previously, Fang Chongyong asked Medical Officer Li to try "Quick Stop Bleeding" because he wanted to get a "battlefield first aid kit".
"It is indeed a good way to tie the bleeding limbs with linen strips boiled in boiling water, and then use semi-carbonized medicinal materials to quickly stop the bleeding.
The key is that both of these things can be packed in a clay pot, can be stored for a long time, can be carried with the army, and can be used by everyone in times of war.
These things are actually not difficult to come up with, but no one thought of them before. Now Fang Canjun thought that this alone could save countless lives of soldiers on the west side of the river in the future. "
Medical Officer Li sat in a wheelchair and bowed deeply to Fang Chongyong.
He has seen quite a lot of "Yamen". After all, when he was with Xin'an King Li Yi, it was not uncommon for anything to happen in that circle. There are some who are scheming, some who are naive and ignorant, and there are also those who bully men and dominate women without knowing how to behave, but there are no people like Fang Chongyong who do practical things without seeking fame and wealth.
The temperament of this half-grown child is very strange. He is like a tourist who is free from officialdom but does not enter it deeply.
"Hey, I'm in my position to do my own thing. I, the deputy military envoy of the Baiting Army, are just a bastard. I can't carry it on my shoulders. It's best to just ask about the specific military affairs.
Joining the army in the state capital is a position that can be managed but is inconvenient. Now Hexi affairs, both civil and military affairs, are running smoothly and there is no need for me to interfere. I'm going to take care of those bad things, and it's annoying for others to see me. There are so many things to do and they have to spend time dealing with me. How annoying!
It's not like now, I don't look for trouble, everyone in the Hexi government gives me convenience, I can go wherever I want, I can get what I want, no one will make things difficult for me, isn't that good? "
Fang Chongyong waved his hand and explained nonchalantly.
Now he is almost "walking sideways" in Liangzhou, because Fang Chongyong has a strong desire in his heart not to interfere in the government and military affairs of local officials and not to cause trouble to those people.
Anyway, he has a strong background and holds an official position in the state army. Wherever he goes, relevant officials will greet him and provide him with maximum convenience. It's a bit like what Fang Laique often said, as long as you want, you can eat for free and buy things for free.
As long as Fang Chongyong, the "Yamen", is happy and responsible, the local officials in Liangzhou don't mind giving the green light. Fang Chongyong can go wherever he wants to visit. There will be people on hand to serve and escort him all the way, which makes him feel embarrassed!
Including the two salaries of joining the army in the state capital and being the deputy military envoy of the Baiting Army, as well as the local officials at all levels sending people to serve and serve as tour guides. This kind of high-level treatment of eating and playing is probably the first time since the Kaiyuan Dynasty.
Fang Chongyong has no doubt that it is thanks to his young age. If he were older, he would have to play with all the orchids with different styles from all over the Hexi Corridor. Whatever type he wanted, someone would diligently offer it to him. And there is no need to spend money, no need to think about the consequences, just play freely.
"Why don't you take the envoy of Fang Jun to visit the Chishui Army and present this thing."
Medical Officer Li said somewhat attentively.
Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, feeling a little emotional in his heart.
Fame and fortune are truly an iron curse that no one can escape, and the medical officer in front of him is no exception.
"That's natural. Let's set off now. Go to Chiwu Town. Set off now. You can arrive before sunset."
Fang Chongyong said with a smile, not taking this matter too seriously.
Doctor Li didn't seem to be able to wait for a moment, and he didn't mind being a favor. Compared with making "health medicine" for Brother Ji, Fang Chongyong believes that battlefield first aid is a great benefit for Hexi locals.
Before the two went out, Medical Officer Li asked Anaye to guard the door of the medical clinic, and then took the initiative to find someone to rent a carriage.
Anaye pulled Fang Chongyong aside, lowered her voice and asked urgently: "I heard that many people are saying that you are going to be promoted. Why are you still so indifferent?"
Although she didn't say it, she already regarded herself as the other party's future concubine in her heart, and her attitude was naturally very different from before.
"I just want to please my father, it's just human nature. My current official position has far exceeded the organizational structure I should have. I just need to return to Chang'an smoothly in the future. Why should I be promoted? You really think too much! "
Fang Chongyong laughed and shook his head.
He knew that many people wrote letters to Chang'an to give Ji Ge advice, saying that he, the Yanei, had done a lot of practical things in Hexi and should be rewarded.
These people are just selling themselves out to their scumbag father. I guess Ji Ge will complain in his heart and put all this nonsense on the shelf.
After all, letting a child under ten years old become a high official is like a pill from the Tang Dynasty!
Fang Chongyong looked at Anaye and found that this girl from the Western Region didn't seem very smart.
"Don't believe it. An official named Su Zhilian came to Liangzhou City to see a doctor before. When he first came to Liangzhou City to take up his post, he was only twenty-four years old and he was already the governor of Ganzhou! My father treated him and he treated him well. Leave behind a word that says the doctor’s benevolence!”
Anaye said anxiously, Fang Zhongyong climbed too fast, which made her feel a sense of crisis beyond words.
"Twenty-four-year-old governor of Bian Town? Is the court's affairs so outrageous?"
Fang Chongyong was startled and realized that he didn't seem to be the only yamen in Liangzhou! There is actually another one that is even more outrageous!
Being a governor is not a sinecure like joining the army in a state capital! That is to do practical things!
You must know that Lao Zheng has such a strong background. He was already in his thirties when he became the governor of Kuizhou!
"How do I know about the affairs of the imperial court?"
Anaye rolled her eyes and said.
Seeing Medical Officer Li coming, Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said, "We are going to the Chishui Army Station. We will return tomorrow."
After saying that, he pushed Dr. Li's wheelchair and left the hospital.
Anaye looked at the two people leaving, always feeling uneasy, and for a moment she didn't know whether she should stop Fang Chongyong.
The details of the historical data have been verified. The outrageousness of the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty is really outrageous.
(End of chapter)
