Shi Siming had been sitting in the front garden hall for a long time, and the pot of tea had already become cold.
No one paid attention.
Shi Siming sat there uneasily. As soon as he came today, he felt that the atmosphere was not right. He was only greeted by a small steward, and the tea served was only high-quality tea.
He immediately tasted it and realized that it was high-quality Longquan jade from the Wu family. It only sold for a penny or a tael, and was generally used as tea for guests in small shops.
wait,
Wait quietly,
I don’t know how long I have been waiting, but I don’t dare to neglect at all.
Finally, someone came in.
"The Prime Minister is free, come with me." A young maid came over and said,
Shi Siming hurriedly followed and went all the way to another courtyard and was led into the flower hall.
"Young man, please pay homage to the Prime Minister."
Hou Junji looked up at him and said coldly, "Shi Siming, do you still remember what you told me when you came here last time?"
"The little ones deserve to die, the little ones are incompetent."
"Tell me, why is there no movement at all?"
"It's not that I'm not trying my best, but that Prime Minister Wu has already noticed it. I suspect that Prime Minister Wu is waiting for us to fall into a trap."
Hou Junji stared.
"You keep telling me this and that, and now this is the result?"
As he spoke, he picked up a scroll and shook it in his hand, "Do you know what this is?"
"This is the Sabao bodyguard of the fifth rank in the Shiliu that I got specially for you. If you get this petition, then you are the leader of the Sogdian merchant group in Chang'an, Sabao. The fifth rank of the Shiliu can be specially given to you.
Scarlet Silver,"
Shi Siming looked at the scroll and couldn't help but widen his eyes. He couldn't help but swallow his throat, and his heart was beating fiercely.
Chang'an Sabao.
Take the five things seriously,
Although this visual grade is still very different from the official grade of the imperial court, Shi Siming really wanted to be the Chang'an Sabao.
Even if it is no longer comparable to that of the Wude Dynasty, during the Wude Dynasty, the power of the capital city Sabao and the Zhuzhou Sabao was still very great. They were appointed by the court and could exercise power over Sogdian Hu within their jurisdiction. Even the Zhuzhou Sabao could
The one who opened the mansion could not only have three types of officials under him: Yuozheng, Shuaifu, and Fushi, but also the Sabao Shuaifu was a military attache who could take charge of the Sogdian warriors. There were also commanders of the army, special generals, etc.
However, in the Zhenguan Dynasty, the court was now strict on the control of Sogdian Hu. Now, except for Liuhu Prefecture, which was under the Han governor, and had Sogdian Hu's Sabao with real power, the other places in the Tang Dynasty had only one Sabao.
It's just a nominal title, at most equivalent to the head of the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce.
The Sogdian Hu in the interior now have no autonomy, and are all under the management of local governments. These Sabaos are responsible for assisting the government in managing the Sogdians, but they have no autonomy, let alone judicial power, taxation, military control, etc.
Chang'an Sabao also became the president of the Sogdian Hu merchants in Chang'an, but after all, he was also the leader of the Sogdian Hu merchants. Shi Siming still wanted the official title awarded by the court, not to mention that he was a fifth-level official.
Give him a scarlet robe and silver fish, and he will immediately become nobler.
Hou Junji shook his head and pressed the Chang'an security guard letter that Shi Siming was so excited about on the table, "I treat you well, and I went to great lengths to get you this security guard position, but you don't know how to cherish it at all.
, you can't handle even the smallest things."
Shi Siming knelt down directly,
"Xiang Hou, give me another chance,"
"Didn't you say that things can't be done?"
Shi Siming gritted his teeth, "In Sanyuan, I have already brought together several concubines of Wu Xiangguo's father and his brothers, and even established a relationship with the two young masters of Zhou Guogong's family."
He had sensed the danger keenly and suspected that Wu Huaiyu had been waiting for them to cause trouble, so he did not move. But now that Hou Junji was angry and there was the temptation of Chang'an Sabao, he decided to take the risk and try it. Even if Wu Huaiyu was prepared, then
When he arrived, he pushed the Wu family to the front.
After Hou Junji heard this, his anger turned into joy.
"This method has been available for a long time, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"You can handle it with confidence and boldness. The more noisy it is, the better. The truth is that I hope Wu Huaiyu will intervene. No matter how he controls it, I will have something to do with him."
With that said, Hou Junji handed him the petition and said, "Take it. From now on, you will be the Sabao of Chang'an. According to the rules, you can open a mansion and appoint your own Sabao officials. From now on, all the people in Chang'an will
The Ao Temple and the Sogdian Hu merchants will all be managed by you with your help."
Wu Huaiyu tried out the new method in Sanyuan, and it was a great success. The emperor praised it, but Hou Junji felt very uncomfortable.
Shi Siming happily took it and thanked him repeatedly.
"I heard that Hou Xiangguo is about to lead his troops to the west?"
"You are well-informed. This matter is still under discussion and has not been decided yet." Hou Junji said, but he looked quite proud. He felt that the matter was close to home.
"Congratulations to Prime Minister Hou. When Prime Minister Hou goes on an expedition, I am willing to arrange for my son to be my guide."
"Well, we'll talk about it then. Go ahead and let me take care of things this time. I won't let you lose anything."
Shi Siming did not leave in a hurry, but took out the gift list that he had prepared a long time ago from his sleeve, including beautiful jade from Khotan from the Western Regions, Persian Sassanid gold and silver coins, Gaochang white cloth and wine, and the beautiful Orchid, and
Pepper spices, as well as some farms in Gyeonggi Province, slaves, and famous Dawan horses sold from Kangguo.
This gift list is valuable, but this gift was not given by Shi Siming alone, but was put together by many Sogdian Hu merchants, just to enjoy the shade under the big tree.
Hou Junji took the list and read it carefully, and was very satisfied with the gift.
······
South of the city, Qujiang.
Wu Huaiyu came to Qujiang after accompanying the children of Liyuan Shantang to the Wujia Zoo in Xuanyangfang to see elephants, pandas, etc.
Due to the expansion of the scale of the Wu family's family academy and the increase in students, it moved to Qujiang, further south, where a new family academy covering a large area was built and named Wu family's Qujiang Academy.
Qujiang Academy is mainly composed of younger brothers of the Wu family in Bingzhou, but it also accepts some close relatives and children of the Wu family.
In recent years, the Wu family has paid special attention to ethnic studies. Wu Huaiyu has even invited many famous scholars, such as Brother Wang Xueshi and Brother Lai Ji, to come as visiting professors in ethnic studies. They often come to give lectures. Even Kong Yingda and Lu Deming
Wait until the great scholars from the Imperial College can be invited occasionally,
Coupled with the closed and strict boarding system of the Wu family, Qujiang Academy has now become a famous aristocratic school in Chang'an. The teaching conditions here are good and the teachers are strong. They not only teach classics and history, but also teach horse riding, driving, and archery.
, music, fencing, painting, calligraphy, etc.,
The school adopts the promotion and supplementation method, which is divided into outer house, inner house and upper house. However, it is quite different from the three-house promotion and supplementation method of the Imperial College.
Students must pass a placement test for admission and are divided into outer houses, inner houses and upper houses according to their scores. In fact, they are junior classes, intermediate classes and advanced classes.
After the classes are divided, each dormitory actually has a three-year academic system, and there is an exam every year. For example, those who pass the grade in the dormitory class after one year will be promoted to the second grade in the dormitory, and those who do not pass the grade continue to study in the first grade in the dormitory. If
If it's really bad, you may be asked to quit.
The complete academic system of Qujiang Academy is nine years, with three schools, three years for each school. Compared with many family private schools, family studies are just a pot of mess and are taught together. The current students of Wu Family Qujiang Academy
There are many teachers and there are many teachers, so it is impossible to teach both large and small at the same time.
Not only must they be divided into classes, but also by age.
Even the courses are very different from those outside,
After a few years, the Wu clan school has gained a good reputation. Not only the Wu family has sent their children, but also many relatives have come to join the school.
There is only one day off every ten days of the month and three days off per month. The rest of the time is not allowed to go out of the school, and students and servants are not allowed to enter the school. This kind of strict closed management is still recognized by many people, and they all hope that the children can learn well.
thing.
Wu Huaiyu's third younger brother, chubby Wu Huailiang, studied in Class 1 of the inner house of Qujiang Academy. His classmates were Heiwa Hou Sansheng and Wu Maowu Sansi.
It has been quite hard for the little fat boy to study in the past few years. The school has closed teaching and only has one day off every ten days. The school will only have holidays on New Year's Day, New Year's Day, Tomb Sweeping Day, Winter Solstice, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and other major holidays. Otherwise, you can only wait until the cold weather.
It's summer vacation.
Winter and summer vacations are only one month each, and the upper and lower semesters are five months each.
Since the clan school moved to Qujiang, few Huaiyu came.
Today is not a holiday. When you walk into the school, you can hear the sound of reading aloud.
Before get out of class ended, Huaiyu walked around under the leadership of the school teacher. This school was a clan school, and the main sponsors were the samurai Xunwu Huaiyu and the others. However, there were also donations from many other nobles, most of whom had children studying here. Or someone who has a good relationship with the Wu family.
The school not only covers a large campus area, but also has 3,000 acres of academic land under its name, which were donated by the Wu family, other Wu family members, and the parents of other students.
The campus is large and well-built. It feels like a garden. Classrooms, dormitories, kitchens, restaurants, warehouses, etc. are all divided very reasonably. There are many flowers, plants and trees in the school, and it is also very clean.
Students eat three meals a day that are very nutritious.
There is even a large library in the school, and there is also a grocery store on campus that supplies some daily necessities and school supplies.
There are large playgrounds, football fields and polo fields, as well as archery fields, racecourses, etc.
How can a wealthy school, aristocratic school, or ordinary school have polo classes, equestrian classes, archery classes, etc. The cost of raising a horse is much higher than the cost of raising a person.
I turned around and was quite satisfied.
There is also a forest of steles in the school, with many steles in it, such as the list of donations of money, grain, fields and materials over the years, the list of outstanding students in the annual student exams, and even some good poems and articles written by students will be engraved and retained.
.
The bell rang, and the last class of the afternoon ended.
The students walked out of the classroom one after another,
The campus suddenly became noisy,
Students wearing school uniforms with white Confucian shirts are filled with youthful enthusiasm.
"Third brother, this."
"Second brother, why are you here?"
Wu Huailiang is no longer fat now and has grown a lot taller. He looks a bit like Huaiyu. When brothers meet, they call each other brother. Wu Huailiang is very happy to see Huaiyu coming. His companions Hou Sansheng and Wu Sansi come to see the ceremony together. These two are older.
The boy has grown taller.
After a few pats on each person's shoulders, they were all quite strong. It seemed that although the school was strict, several of them did not delay their exercise while studying.
"I have grown taller again, and my beard has grown out a little. I am now half a young man." Huaiyu invited the three of them to eat together.
The food in the school cafeteria is pretty good. Staples and soups are provided free of charge, but you have to pay for the dishes. If you order one meat and two vegetarian dishes, it's actually not expensive, and even the monthly food subsidy is enough.
Of course, if you want to open a small stove and add some delicious meals, you can do that, but you will have to pay extra for this.
"Whatever you want to eat, I'll treat you to it."
"Let's just get some food from the cafeteria. There is a polo match today. We have a polo team in class A, grade one, and we have to play against class B," Huai Liang said.
"How are you playing polo now?"
Huailiang said that he, Hou Sansheng and Wu Sansi are all the main players of the Neishe Grade 1 Class A polo team, and their polo skills are even among the best in the school.
Wu Huaiyu supports the fact that they like to play polo. They need to read books, but they can also learn music, chess, calligraphy, painting, horseback riding, fencing and even playing polo.
The ancients all talked about the six arts of a gentleman. How could this noble boy just study behind closed doors like a boy from a poor family?
"Okay, eat whatever you want. I'll take a good look at your game later and give you some pointers."
Huai Liang, the little fat man who was no longer fat, said, "My second brother's polo team has won the Chang'an Polo League for three consecutive years. With my brother's guidance for our class polo team, we will definitely be invincible."
Maybe we can even compete with the polo team in the dormitory."
"Invite all your class team members to come and have dinner together, and I will teach you some tricks in the polo match." Huaiyu said with a smile.
The little fat man immediately went with Hei Wa and Wu Mao to call the people from the same class team to come over.
Looking at these energetic young people, they are so carefree and even a little enviable.
He felt that Huai Liang was doing really well in school now. Even Hei Wa, the former son of the Qu family of the Wu family, and Wumao, the former son of a slave of the Wu family, were now wearing Confucian shirts, but they could not see the slightest bit of their former humility. The faces of these two young men
All youthful and confident.
I have to say that the atmosphere in this small closed environment in Qujiang Academy is quite good. Although there are aristocratic children here and some relatives who are affiliated with the school and have average family backgrounds, the relationship between everyone and classmates seems to be pretty good.
Even though they are all boys, I still feel a little regretful. After all, due to the limitations of the times, it is impossible for girls to study together. Even if it is a Duke's family, the most they can do is ask a teacher to educate their daughters at home.
After graduating from the third grade of the Wu Clan's Qujiang Academy last year, many outstanding students were able to enter the Imperial College to study, and some even participated in the scientific examination directly after being recommended by the local tribute, and won two of them.
The Imperial College is the highest institution of higher education in the Tang Dynasty. It mainly recruits the children of noble officials and officials. It also recruits children of chiefs of the Fanhu tribe or children of nobles from vassal countries to study abroad. Of course, it also recruits some children of common people.
It's just that the children of noble officials are admitted according to the official status of their fathers, ancestors and brothers. If the children of common people want to enter the Imperial College, they must have excellent academic performance and get a letter of recommendation. This letter of recommendation usually requires the recommendation of the state governor or a doctor of state studies.
,
Of course, officials of the third rank or above in the imperial court, or nobles such as princes, can also recommend outstanding students.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was no money to buy the qualifications of a supervisor, so the status of a student supervisor was still quite high. Not only could he be recommended to take the imperial examination, but he could also be directly appointed as an official.
Nowadays, there is no difference between the outstanding students of Qujiang Academy and the students of the Imperial College, except that the Imperial College has a greater reputation and higher gold content.
After all, Qujiang Academy was still a private school, and its graduates did not have officially recognized qualifications. Wu Huaiyu thought that maybe it should be put into operation again to see if it could get official certification from the court.
"Brother, I've called all the classmates from our team here. Please give us some tips." The little fat man came over with a group of classmates.
