In March, when the period of intense mourning ended, Fu Tinghan came down from the mountain. During this time, Zhao Hanzhang had also met with many water control talents who had come to Luoyang seeking positions or who had been recommended from various regions.
Very few people satisfied her enough to be sent to the Ministry of Works or counties along the Yellow River for water control work, but she didn’t let any of those who came go to waste—she found positions for all of them.
At the same time, this year’s autumn recruitment examination provincial test had also concluded. These students who took the exam in Sizhou planned to stay in Luoyang until next February to participate in the recruitment examination national test.
Because Luoyang now housed a large number of students, the streets became even more lively, and Luoyang’s cultural atmosphere grew even richer.
When the new edition of the official gazette came out, students immediately bought a copy for money, then gathered together to read it.
This was an agreement among poor students. One copy of the newspaper cost two wen—one or two days didn’t seem like much, but if they bought it daily, it would cost about sixty wen a month, which was quite expensive.
So they formed groups of three to five, agreeing to buy the newspaper together—one person today, another tomorrow—then read it together.
Not just the official gazette, but other newspapers too. Oh, except for the newspaper that specialized in marketplace gossip and various ditties and poems. They could occasionally sit a bit longer at teahouses and hear storytellers read the news.
The storytellers in teahouses and taverns loved reading this type of newspaper to people, and only then the official gazette.
There was no helping it—the official gazette was sometimes just too boring. It was full of various new or modified government decrees from the court, or certain proposals and essays by court officials, or even some dialogues between the young emperor and Zhao Hanzhang, or even Zhao Hanzhang’s speeches.
Most people found this dull. Only some scholars took it very seriously, reading each gazette over and over several times.
Today was no different.
As soon as he opened the gazette, Fang Ming exclaimed, “Minister Fu has returned to court!”
Others immediately crowded over. “Where?”
“Here.” Fang Ming pointed to those few small lines at the bottom. “The Grand General has ordered Minister Fu to go to the Yellow River for water control. And here—she’s appointed Fu Chang as the Chief Clerk of Henan Commandery, specifically responsible for Yellow River control work within Henan Commandery.”
Fang Ming frowned. “Strange, doesn’t Henan Commandery already have a Chief Clerk?”
“Two Chief Clerks then,” someone said. “One in charge of government affairs, one specifically responsible for managing water disasters.”
“But the position of Director of the Ministry of Works is still vacant. Since the Grand General wants to employ the Fu family and they truly know water control, why not appoint a Director of the Ministry of Works?”
“Look here,” someone pointed to the bottom section of another page of the gazette. “It says: Appoint Cao Ping as Director of the Ministry of Works, with Shi Chun and Liu Yi as Vice Directors, to work together with Fu Tinghan and Fu Chang on water control.”
“Cao Ping? Isn’t he building docks in Qingzhou and Guangzhou? The Grand General has even recalled him—looks like the Yellow River situation is very serious. It seems the main work for the latter half of this year and first half of next year will be water control. What do you all think—will next spring’s national test examine water administration?”
“It’s possible. This announcement recruiting water control talent on the gazette has been up continuously—it’s been up for a month and still hasn’t been removed. The Grand General seems to greatly admire Lord Fu’s water control methods. What do you think—should we also study Lord Fu’s water control methods? If we can memorize his water control strategies, even if we don’t pass next year’s national test, we’ll have another option.”
“You think others haven’t thought of that? I’m sure people have already tried, but Lord Fu’s early writings—except for one ‘Letter to Yang Jun’ which is most famous and circulates in the market—his other essays are impossible to find. Those on the market are obviously fake.”
Alas, sure enough, controversial works involving political struggles and literary writings were easily discussed and then passed down, attracting people’s desire to read them.
But water control strategies and other technical essays—besides water administration workers and people interested in water control, who would read and study such articles?
This was one of the reasons why much technical knowledge was difficult to pass down.
At least the literati in Luoyang had tried for a month and still couldn’t find that essay Zhao Hanzhang required to be fully memorized.
Alas, what a pity that the Fu residence had remained closed for mourning, accepting no one’s calling cards. They had no opportunity to ask them to share or copy the essay.
“I always felt something was strange—the Grand General’s requirement seems somewhat inconsistent with the previous content seeking water control talent.”
“Someone surely wouldn’t dare add things privately. This gazette is visible to everyone and has been posted for so long. Obviously, these were the Grand General’s own words.”
“Then what do you think—with the Grand General’s requirement, is she promoting Lord Fu’s water control methods and process, or the results of water control?” Fang Ming said, “If it’s the process, she could just make the water control strategy public. Why make us rack our brains like this? So she’s interested in the results. This move perhaps wants to tell us she doesn’t necessarily care about the water control process—only the results.”
“Lord Fu controlled water in Yuzhou, keeping Yuzhou and Yanzhou free from water disasters for twenty years. This is obviously an excellent result. The Grand General is asking us to think—what other good water control strategies exist that can make water flow properly.”
After Fang Ming said this, everyone felt his deduction was correct and excitedly spun around. “So next spring’s test really might examine water administration! She urgently needs water control talent and is indeed reminding us.”
Someone who had been silent, Xi Lan, spoke up, “Not just water administration—you’ve all overlooked something else.”
“What?”
Xi Lan pointed to another name on the announcement. “Look, who is this Vice Director of Water Administration?”
“Liu Yi? Is this some worthy person?”
As soon as these words left his mouth, someone immediately mocked him. “You don’t even know Liu Yi? Then do you know the former King of the Northern Sea of the Xiongnu state?”
After saying this, the person suddenly realized and was startled. “Grand General Zhao actually uses Xiongnu people for water control?”
“Not just water control. I just quickly flipped through the gazettes from June to today, and my memory was indeed correct. Starting in June, the Grand General began using Xiongnu people, Di tribe people, and Jie tribe people.”
He laid out the gazettes he remembered. The positions they held ranged from military posts to animal husbandry officials, then to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Censorate, all different ranks. What surprised him most was that there was even one serving in the Ministry of Rites.
Xi Lan said, “The Grand General seems not to avoid using barbarians as officials.”
Fang Ming disagreed. “Now that the north is stable, the Xiongnu have submitted, and even Shi Le has surrendered, we should let them participate in government administration to pacify both peoples. Looking at these people, they all seem to have real talent and learning, and their official ranks aren’t high—this shows the Grand General’s fairness.”
“Nowadays, talent is selected mainly through recruitment examinations, and we Han scholars have been reading since childhood, possessing more books and heritage than the barbarians. We read in Han characters and write in Han characters—could we actually fear losing to them in recruitment examinations?” Fang Ming said, “If we even worry about this, in my opinion, there’s no need to take office. Better to just retreat to the mountains and forests, find a place, and proclaim ourselves the world’s greatest talent.”
Xi Lan said, “Brother Fang need not mock me. I’m not opposed to barbarians entering the court. What I wanted to say is—will next year’s spring test examine the Protocol for Vassal States?”
Protocol for Vassal States was an official title—of course, now it was called the Grand Herald, responsible for the state’s diplomatic affairs with vassal states and various minority ethnic powers. This year, besides using barbarians as officials, Zhao Hanzhang had also subjugated the state of Chengguo.
King Li Xiong of Chengguo was a Di tribe person. Xi Lan believed this exam topic was also very likely.
—