Chapter 37: A Bittersweet Blessing

Yun Ye’s petition was rejected, and it had four words written by Li Er Zhu, each of which made Yun Ye feel like he was being mocked. He was just asking for more talented people to be recruited for this year’s imperial examinations. These talented people would be the pillars of the future Tang Dynasty, and they would be distributed in the three provinces and six ministries, and even in each county and prefecture, so that the Tang Dynasty would have more practical talents, rather than a few more sour people who could recite a few crooked poems.

In Yun Ye’s opinion, the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were just a joke. It was an admission system that combined examinations and recommendations. The quality of the exam papers was only one aspect of the evaluation, and the chief examiner had to take into account the personal favors and face of the recommender. In order to increase the “weight” of their success, the examinees would edit their own poems and essays and write them into scrolls, and before the exam, they would use their connections to present them to people of status in society in order to seek recommendations, that is, “traveling scrolls.”

In this way, the children of officials had an innate advantage, while the children of the poor were just a foil. Their innate shortcomings made them look completely black on the road. No one has signed up for the Xiu Cai exam for many years, and most of the Ming Suan exam candidates are useless. I don’t know what Li Er was so smug about when he said, “The world’s talents enter my ranks.”

Well, you Li Er don’t look down on those poor children who failed the exam? I’ll find a few talents from the middle and see if the so-called talents you have enrolled are as good as the ones I find from the failed children. Anyway, this year’s exam, the famous Ma Zhou will fail the exam, and Liu Renwei will also be assigned to Baoji as a county magistrate. As long as you find these two guys, the person you Li Er is looking for is a scum.

A-Q’s self-comforting method worked as it should, and Yun Ye felt much better. He had previously asked the master of mathematics, Liu Huai, to lend him someone, but instead he was caught and lectured for several classes. Not having his own soldiers is too much of a disadvantage. No, since it’s called the Academy of Diligence, I’ll just treat it as a school. Since the school is in the imperial city, I don’t believe it won’t be able to recruit students.

Starting with the children, this is what Yun Ye said to Li Chengqian. Since everyone doesn’t take it seriously, I’ll do something to show them, and then I’ll dazzle their eyes.

Li Chengqian was very scared because Yun Ye was very excited, standing on the table and spitting out words passionately like a mad dog. His hands were waving around like he was having a seizure.

“If you don’t have any students, I’ll buy you a few.” In his opinion, Yun Ye was crazy about wanting to be a teacher, so he quickly bought him a few students to placate him.

Yun Ye stopped twitching, slapped his head hard, and thought to himself, “How could I forget that in the evil Tang Dynasty, people could be bought and sold? With a little money, especially children, you could buy three for ten strings of cash.

He jumped off the table and went home to ask his aunt where he could buy some children. He was so excited that he couldn’t hear Li Chengqian’s shouts.

A man with half-white hair was kneeling upright at the entrance to the Yun residence, next to him was a woman, and behind them were two children. The servants in the house wanted them to leave, but the man said that he had been bought by the marquis for 20 strings of cash and was waiting for the marquis to come out. When he was told that the marquis had gone to the palace, he said that he could wait.

Yun Ye rode back in a hurry and saw a crowd of people at the gate of the house from afar. He thought something had happened, but when he arrived, the servants discovered that the marquis had returned to the house and had just shouted, and the onlookers all ran away with a bang.

“You mean that guy? Right, you’re Qian Tong? The one who sells himself at the West Market?”

“Your servant greets the master.” Qian Tong knelt on the ground and bowed.

“Get up quickly, don’t be afraid of being laughed at. Who are you? I was happy to see you and gave you two silver cakes. What’s the big deal?”

“Lord, I appreciate your kindness. When you left twenty strings of cash and hurried away, you can forget about it, but I can’t. Now that my wife is better, I will come to your house to serve you.” He really is a man of his word, Yun Ye thought to himself.

“Since you are so eager to repay me, I happen to be short of an assistant. You’re it. Now go with me to take care of some business. You, go tell the housekeeper to arrange for Mrs. Qian and her son to stay here. Tell her I’ve invited Mr. Qian.” Yun Ye was desperate for help and naturally wouldn’t let go of Qian Tong, who was so useful.

Qian Tong is not a pretentious person. Since he considers himself a member of the Yun family, he doesn’t care whether he is a servant or an aide. He simply said, “I accept your order,” and then told his wife a few words before standing next to Yun Ye and waiting for arrangements.

Qian Tong was a native of Chang’an, and he had simplified the complicated process of buying slaves. A row of four or five children stood in front of Yun Ye, allowing the marquis to choose.

Yun Ye did not pick, but told the people that he needed boys between the ages of ten and fourteen, preferably smart and literate, and that the number should be limited to fifteen. If there were extremely intelligent girls, they could also be accepted.

“I don’t ask for money, but the source must be clean. If there are abducted children, I will let you suffer more than death.” In the end, Yun Ye warned these people that he did not want to be the culprit for abducting children.

The people all patted their chests and said they would never do such a thing. Besides, the authorities were strict about this. If something like this happened, the merchants would strip him of his skin without the lord having to do anything.

Human market! Another characteristic of the feudal dynasty, when I was young and learned history, I saw an illustration of a strong man being opened up by a fat slave owner to look at his teeth. It felt no different from buying livestock. Female slaves had to face an even crueler reality. Every day they had to face endless endless lewdness. In the laws of the Tang Dynasty, servants were considered to be the same as large animals, or even worse. If you killed a cow without permission, you would be questioned by the authorities and fined. I have never heard of any official questioning the killing of a servant. Although the Tang Code clearly stipulates that anyone who kills a servant without a reason will be caned 100 times, no one has ever been punished for this crime.

Cheng Chumo said that every day, unknown corpses were thrown into the mass grave, and they could see them every time they patrolled. As long as there was no victim, no one would ask about it. This is the reason for the so-called “the people do not sue, the government does not pursue.”

Qian Tong is very good at his job. He came to the house for a few days and got everything in order. He is a capable person. The old lady asked the housekeeper to step down and only take care of the inner courtyard. The outer courtyard was handed over to Qian Tong. The family lived in a small courtyard and was quite happy.

“Old Qian, you’ve been wronged as the family’s housekeeper. When I find a suitable candidate, you don’t have to do this job anymore. How about coming to my side to help me?” Yun Ye felt a little guilty. He had clearly said that he was a staff member, but somehow he had become a government official.

“Haha, the marquis is worrying too much. I asked my wife beforehand if I was being mistreated as a housekeeper, and I told her that before coming to the Yun residence, I had changed my status to a pariah. Since I had already lost my dignity, this good citizen’s identity was not suitable for me. I was destined to become a pariah when I first reached out, and if it weren’t for the marquis’ help, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even be able to sell the 20 taels of silver. My wife’s body would have long been buried in the yellow earth. The Marquis is now in high spirits and is on the rise. I, Qian Tong, may have sold myself to him, which is probably my good fortune.

He is very open-minded and has no look of grievance. He must have long since worn out his heroic spirit in the years of wandering and hardship. Now that he has just gained some peaceful and prosperous days in the Yun family, he is content.

The housekeeper aunt told Yun Ye in secret that Mrs. Qian had burst into tears as soon as she had been arranged to live in the small courtyard, and she had touched the household items in the house over and over again, always asking if this was really the house where they lived.

A poor couple has a hundred things to lament. Regardless of what kind of fortune Qian Tong is talking about, as long as he is willing, it is good fortune. My heart is at ease in my hometown!