After the meeting of the Royal Court ended, the imperial court issued an order requiring the state governments to issue notices to the people, stating that the emperor agreed to the people entering the court to discuss government affairs. The candidates were selected by the people, and the candidates could not be officials. There were two in the upper state and one in the middle and lower states.
, changed once a year. After the democratically elected representatives entered Chang'an City, they entered the imperial city every morning during court time, and the rituals and regulations were the same as those of officials. However, they only received food and lodging subsidies provided by the court and did not receive salaries, etc.
This official document issued by the imperial court immediately caused a commotion throughout the Tang Dynasty.
Since the Qin Dynasty, dynasties have been changing for thousands of years, but there has never been a precedent for democratically elected representatives to enter the dynasty to discuss politics.
Some common people regarded this official document as a joke based on the emperor's whim; some common people believed that the so-called representatives elected by the people were nothing more than officials giving their children an alternative to the imperial examination to find another way to rise.
Even many state officials, when they saw this official document, regarded the position of elected representatives as a way for local officials to flatter the emperor.
Therefore, many state and county officials directly recommended their sons, apprentices or relatives to be elected representatives, and then brought heavy gifts and planned to send them to Chang'an to attend the court meeting.
At this time, a group of civil society groups stood up in time to either dissuade or report, and strongly opposed the stupid behavior of these officials.
And this civil society is the business firms in various places.
The trading houses in the New Year period were no longer just merchant associations in the simple sense.
In addition to merchants, it also includes craftsmen with outstanding skills and intellectual property rights, as well as many soldiers who had to quit the army due to downsizing as the war in the Tang Dynasty gradually subsided, and took on roles such as captains and guards in the trading houses.
Therefore, Datang Commercial Bank in the 10th year of the new century was no longer a simple business alliance, but more like an organization of a military-industrial and commercial complex.
Such an organization has a lot of wealth, a lot of craftsmanship, and a lot of military reserve forces. In terms of overall strength and local appeal, it is basically on par with the local clans, or even stronger.
These Tang Dynasty commercial houses have money, people and skills, but they only lack one thing right now, and that is the right to speak in politics.
Therefore, the imperial court issued an official document this time, requiring various state governments to organize people to elect Mr. Su to participate in the government affairs of the imperial court. This news was simply a God-given opportunity for commercial banks to gain the right to speak.
Some commercial firms have a good relationship with local governments, and the latter also supports popular elections. In the prefectures and counties, in accordance with the requirements of the court, they first make public announcements, then sign up, and finally determine the list and submit it to the court; but some local government officials want to squander the money for themselves.
Regarding the quota of elected representatives, commercial banks have many ways to deal with such officials.
First of all, these business houses will send people to publicize the benefits of elected representatives on the streets. For example, if there are grievances and conflicts in the local area, and it is inconvenient for officials to come forward because of their official status, then the elected representatives can go directly to the court and ask the court to uphold justice. If
If accountability needs to be held afterwards, elected representatives can also escape through re-election. Through this method of propaganda, people can understand the significance of elected representatives and the benefits they can bring.
For another example, commercial banks will directly use their money, connections, and contact other squires, literati, square officials, etc., to jointly put pressure on the government and ask them to hold open popular elections.
At the end of the day, if local officials are still stubborn and insist on stealing the quota of elected representatives secretly, then the trading houses have one last resort, which is to report to their superiors.
When the emperor originally issued the decree, he also guessed that the government would covet the power of the elected representatives, because if the elected representatives went to the Chang'an court and spoke ill of local officials, then the political careers of these officials would be over.
Therefore, many local officials are bound to strictly control the election of elected representatives, and will even use their private power to forcibly determine the list.
In response to this situation, Zhou Jun issued an edict, ordering the Imperial Guard Duke Wang Hong to send patrols to various places and post notices on the streets of the state capital. Any officials who interfered with elected representatives could report directly to the capital city.
As the patrol officer, once the Jinyiwei receives the report and confirms that the content is true, he can arrest the person directly without going through the government.
The imperial court used this method to eliminate the possibility of local officials interfering in popular elections to the greatest extent.
In the eleventh year of the New Yuan Dynasty (771), after the first month.
Prefectural governments across the Tang Dynasty submitted Kanlu, which included the names, place of origin, family, occupation, resume and other information of the elected representatives.
The officials made statistics based on this, compiled it into a book, and submitted it to the emperor.
On this day, Emperor Zhou Jun was resting in a warm pavilion in Youping Garden, while looking at the list of elected representatives presented by the officials.
Yang Yuhuan, the Shangyin Supervisor in the inner courtyard of the Ministry of Education, was sitting on the other side of the desk. He looked at the snow outside the pavilion, where several girls in cotton-padded clothes were playing around, and couldn't help but smile.
Zhou Jun raised his head, followed Yang Yuhuan's line of sight and looked out, and finally fixed his gaze on one of the girls, who was carved from jade and pink.
That girl was only four or five years old, but she had beautiful features and lively eyes. She was a natural beauty at first sight.
Zhou Jun asked Yang Yuhuan: "How is Xue Tao's homework?"
Yang Yuhuan sighed: "She is only five years old, but she is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. It is really hard to find a good natural talent."
Zhou Jun nodded slightly.
Xue Tao was one of the four most talented women in the Tang Dynasty. Her father, Xue Yun, was an official in Shu, and she followed him there when she was a child.
In the history books, Xue Yun was demoted to Nanzhao for offending the powerful, and later died of illness there. Xue Tao, who was fourteen years old, had already become famous throughout the Tang Dynasty. However, due to his poverty and no one to rely on, he could only join the music book and sing songs.
prostitute.
In this life, the Jiannan Protectorate remained neutral during the conflict between the Northern and Southern Tang Dynasties.
Zhou Jun later defeated the Southern Tang Dynasty and unified the south of the Yangtze River. He was deeply resentful of the inaction of Jiannan Road officials and ordered the chief official of his state government to go to Chang'an to report on his duties, thereby replacing many officials in Jiannan Road.
Xue Yun was one of the officials of Jiannan Road, and his daughter Xue Tao naturally stayed in Chang'an because her father was transferred from Shu.
Zhou Jun met with Shu officials in the middle of August. When he heard Xue Yun's name, he remembered the name of Xue Tao, the "girls' school secretary", and asked.
After hearing Xue Yun's affirmative answer, Zhou Jun asked him again if he would like to send his daughter to a palace school to study.
Xue Yun was overjoyed and feared that the emperor would regret it, so he knelt down to thank him on the spot.
So, Xue Tao was sent to the palace school.
After Zhou Jun met Xue Tao, he saw that he was smart and talented, and he thought of all the other girls in the palace. Only Yang Yuhuan had no children. In addition, he was getting older and lonely, so he took Xue Tao to the inner courtyard of the Ministry of Culture and Culture to ask him
He became a disciple of Yang Yuhuan and studied piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Yang Yuhuan did not understand the emperor's intention at first, and even mistakenly thought that Xue Tao was the latter's illegitimate daughter.
Later, Zhou Jun explained to Yang Yuhuan that Xue Tao was a rare talented woman whose talent and potential were rare in the world.
Yang Yuhuan didn't believe it, so he tested Xue Tao on the spot. In the end, he was naturally pleasantly surprised and agreed to accept Xue Tao as his apprentice on the spot.
Today, Yang Yuhuan treats Xue Tao as both a teacher and a mother. Xue Tao has no relatives in the palace and is particularly attached to Yang Yuhuan.