Three Kingdoms

Chang'an.

Near dusk, Wei Yan returned to the military posthouse on the east gate of Chang'an and on the north bank of the Wei River.

Military Posthouse, as the name suggests, is a posthouse specially set up by the Hussars General for the high-level generals of the military academy.

Although Wei Yan can also live in the Chinese Army tent on the campus, it is obvious that everyone needs a rest time. The Chinese Army tent is obviously not a good place to rest, so the military post house is very important. .

Especially the generals in the middle and upper levels obviously need to be at a certain level with the soldiers in the lower levels. Just like when you upgrade to fight monsters, after the skills are upgraded, different patterns and colors will shine out. If you upgrade for a long time, just behind the lv. If the number changes and nothing else changes, it won’t be interesting, right?

Wei Yan lived in a separate small courtyard slightly behind the military post house. Firstly, it was clean. Secondly, if there was any emergency, he could leave immediately without going through the restrictions of the city gate. . In addition, there are side rooms in the courtyard, which can provide accommodation for Wei Yan's guards.

As for the living conditions, it can only be said to be average. Not very good, but definitely not bad.

When Wei Yan arrived outside the courtyard, he dismounted and asked the guards to lead the horse to the stable. He went to the front yard first, spooned some water casually, rinsed his mouth and washed his face, then entered the hall, took off his armor, He put it on the weapon rack and sat next to the table.

On top of the table is "Young Miracle Doctor" which he bought at a bookstore in the city two days ago.

Although the book is famous for its large characters at the beginning, it is not a history book, but a novel, but Wei Yan still found it interesting and read it with gusto. Especially the addition of punctuation marks in the book makes Wei Yan's reading smoother. Otherwise, if you are faced with a page full of words and have to guess the sentences from beginning to end, it will not be reading but torture.

"Young Doctor" is very interesting, at least that's what Wei Yan thinks. He had read it several times and was even somewhat familiar with the content, but he still found it interesting.

Wei Yan had read books, but not much. He can write, but his handwriting is not very beautiful.

Beside the table, there are some "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Book of Songs" piled randomly, and there is already a thin layer of dust on them. Of course, Wei Yan didn't just buy a book in the bookstore. In addition to "Young Miracle Doctor", he also sold a lot of "serious" scriptures. He originally thought it was to strengthen his literary literacy or something, but what happened? …

I just bought a PAD for future generations. At first it was for productivity, but later I found that apart from watching videos and reading novels, its biggest use was to make instant noodles.

Thousand-yuan instant noodles cover, the instant noodles are fragrant.

The same goes for Wei Yan. These "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Book of Songs" etc., after turning over a few pages, it becomes difficult to read them. It can't be said that they are thrown away, they are just piled in the corner of the table.

In addition to "Young Miracle Doctor", the only one that Wei Yan could repeatedly ponder and copy was "Xiping Stone Classic Stele Extensions". Although it is not a full-text rubbing, the "Stele Rubbing" itself is actually a copybook, which was copied by Cai Zhonglang himself. Wei Yan copied some copybooks in his early years, but those copybook models, not to mention the characters, do not have the bones of this rubbing. Calm, so Wei Yan came back to savor the structure of strokes again, and couldn't help but gain a little more understanding.

Sometimes when the mood strikes, Wei Yan will scribble something on the paper, or copy a short paragraph of an article, or write a poem. Occasionally, he will write a picture that he is very satisfied with, and he will be very proud of it. I put the words on the table and admired them for a long time.

One time Wei Yan drank a little too much, and then he wrote a picture with great enthusiasm. He remembered that he felt that he had written very well at that time, but for some reason, when he sobered up and looked at it again, he found that what he had written was all wrong. I don't know what it is, but if there weren't guards stationed in the small courtyard, Wei Yan would have suspected that someone had secretly replaced his "calligraphy treasure"...

So later Wei Yan decided that he would never touch a pen after drinking.

In his spare time, in addition to reading and practicing calligraphy in the military post, Wei Yan would also wear casual clothes and walk around Chang'an City and Lingyi.

Chang'an is the largest city Wei Yan has ever seen.

Wei Yan roughly estimates that there are at least 100,000 people living in the city of Chang'an, and the surrounding tombs are large and small, with large ones ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 people, and small ones, ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 people. In addition, people from surrounding counties and villages around Chang'an come to do some day labor temporarily. , and the population in the labor camp is close to 500,000.

In fact, Wei Yan's estimate was slightly wrong. The current population around Chang'an has exceeded 600,000 and is approaching 700,000.

He had never been to Luoyang. When he was in Jingnan, he thought Changsha was the largest city. Later, when he arrived in Chengdu, he felt that Chengdu was very big. It not only had the main city, but also had subsidiary cities. Then when Wei Yan arrived in Chang'an, he discovered that Chang'an was so big that he couldn't even build a city wall...

The city is so big that it is really difficult to build a city wall. It’s not about artificial or architectural problems. After all, the Great Wall can be built. If Chang’an City really wants to build a city wall, it is not a very difficult thing. The difficulty lies in maintenance and defense.

After the city wall is built, it needs to be maintained regularly. Not only does it need to be repaired, but it also needs to be stationed with fixed personnel to patrol and defend. Then it will inevitably require additional labor, allocation of supplies, etc.

At the same time, the absence of a city wall means that there is no so-called "last line of defense".

As Qiao Qi said, "It is a shame for warriors to be unable to defend the enemy outside the country's borders; it is a shame for literati to be unable to keep the people within their borders." 』

Wei Yan still remembered that when he heard these words, he was so excited that he wished he could carve these words on the handle of his knife. It's a pity that there is already a sentence engraved on the handle of the knife. Well, it is also a famous saying of Hussar in his early years. So it is a pity that there is no place on the handle of the knife. I can only keep it in my heart.

In the east of Chang'an City, due to the diversion of the civil and military markets, the area around Wu City is the largest entertainment center. Large and small inns and restaurants, high-end and ordinary, are almost next to each other. They don't worry about running out of business.

Due to the curfew, these restaurants and other entertainment venues are generally open for business and also provide corresponding accommodation. Every night, there are brilliant lights everywhere, people singing and dancing, and it will be lively until daylight, when it gets a little quieter.

At first, Wei Yan thought that these places were very expensive and that they were places only visited by nobles and wealthy families. However, after he went there, he found that it was different from what he had thought before. In this "entertainment center", there are indeed very expensive places that even Wei Yan would find distressing and unbearable, but there are also very cheap places, and you can even play for a few bucks for a day.

The entrance fee for the big stage is two copper coins. If you add five more copper coins, you can have a cushion to sit on for a day, and free water is provided. Of course, things like dried fruit, tea, wine, food, etc. are another matter. If you don’t even want to spend this money, just stand at the fence outside the venue. Although it is far away, the sound is low, and the view inside the venue is blocked, you can still listen to books, watch plays and watch juggling. If you bring your own If you buy something to eat, you don't even need to pay for the meal. As long as your legs don't hurt from standing, you can stay for a whole day.

The storytellers on the stage, the dancing Hu Niang, and the jugglers are not like those on the street, where they have to spin around with a dustpan or wooden basin to collect rewards during a performance. These people on the stage, Regardless of whether they are men or women, they don't seem to care much about whether there is extra reward money, because he or they have a fixed wage.

The reward is extra. Whether to reward or not depends on the mind of the spectator. If you reward more, it is the word "thank you", if you reward less, it is also the word "xie", and if you don't reward, it is still the word "xie". It is said that in order to attract more customers, the owners of these big stages will deliberately select some better performers, and at the same time hire special personnel to train their own teams.

The reward money also belongs to the artist. After all, the shopkeeper also wants to be shameless. He has such a big platform, and then he has to steal the three melons and two dates that were rewarded to the artist. When word spread, he was scolded as shameless and shameless. It’s such a small thing, it’s not easy for our ancestors to live underground being greeted by so many people.

Wei Yan likes going to the big stage very much, even more than going to the wine shop, because the big stage has more fireworks atmosphere.

Of course, in addition to Wushi, Anthology is also very lively.

The bookstore is also included in the anthology.

By the way, bookstore...

Wei Yan suddenly became interested and wanted to visit the bookstore, so he put down the book in his hand, then looked up at the sky, stood up, said hello and left the small courtyard, leading the two of them to the bookstore where the anthology was held.

The last time I went there, the bookstore clerk said there would be new books in a while.

So Wei Yan decided to take a walk while it was still early and take a look.

The bookstore is diagonally opposite the examination room.

The door to the examination room was closed, and there were soldiers on duty outside the door.

Wei Yan did not wear a military uniform or a ribbon. He just carried a private seal in his arms. The guards around him did not wear armor and were all in casual clothes, so they did not attract anyone's attention.

There is no one in the examination room...

If the exam is not started, of course there will be no one.

It is not difficult to let Wei Yan go into battle to kill the enemy, but it is quite difficult for Wei Yan to let Wei Yan enter the examination room to take the scriptures. Wei Yan thinks that people who are good at reading are also very powerful, such as Qiao Qi. If we talk about fighting head-on on the battlefield and fighting alone with force, the Hussar General is basically not ranked as a general. Wei Yan can make the Hussar win with both hands, but when it comes to the overall battle situation, strategizing , Wei Yan felt that he was still far behind, at least two or three floors behind.

The bookstore is very large, and the three facades side by side all belong to the bookstore.

The waiter at the door of the store did not recognize Wei Yan, nor did he turn him away because Wei Yan was not wearing a crown or a scribe's robe, nor did he look at Wei Yan more because he looked dark due to his long military career. After a few glances, he just said hello, briefly introduced the new books that had arrived recently, and then retreated to the door, waiting for the next visitor.

Wei Yan didn't think about what books to buy, so he casually went from bookshelf to bookshelf slowly.

He also wanted to read books such as scriptures, but those books were relatively profound and not easy to understand, so he was a little hesitant to buy them. After all, there were "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Book of Songs" beside his desk. Yes, he wanted to sleep after reading only a few pages. He was not sure whether the newly purchased "Shangshu" or "Spring and Autumn" could keep him from falling asleep.

However, it seems that you can buy a copy of "Spring and Autumn"...

Wei Yan took a copy of "Spring and Autumn" in his hand, flipped through it, it was Zuo's, and then handed it to the guard behind him to help him hold it.

The guard held it carefully in his hands, as if it was heavier than a sword, gun, and shield.

The Hussars General is said to govern the Spring and Autumn Period, so Wei Yan feels that he should also pay more attention to the Spring and Autumn Period. As for whether he can persist for a longer time without getting sleepy, well...

Give it a try.

There are really many books in the bookshop. There are two rooms, one inside and one outside, with more than twenty bookshelves. There are at least three to four hundred kinds of books, but most of them are books that Wei Yan can't read.

There is a bookshelf that is very popular, with many people browsing and purchasing.

Wei Yan also curiously went over to take a look, and found that it was an examination collection. That is to say, since the beginning of the Qiusi examination, the top three strategic essays will be posted, and then someone will go to copy them, seal them, and print them.

Of course, retouching fees will be given to the original author.

This type of book is probably the fastest-selling type of book besides scriptures and classics.

After all, there are more and more people who want to take the scientific examination nowadays. It is certainly more efficient to learn some experience from the predecessors than to explore alone.

A few students looked like they were chattering, seeming to be discussing which of these policy articles was best written. Some students are also complaining about why Hanzhong and Sichuan have not introduced this book. Some of his friends asked him to purchase it. If he takes the inn, the freight will be more than the price of the book. If he asks a caravan to transfer it, he is afraid that he will not be taken care of on the way. Okay, damage from getting wet or something...

Wei Yan also came over, took a book and flipped through it.

Although some newly printed scripture volumes have begun to have sentence pronunciation marks, it is obvious that this collection of policy essays does not. Perhaps it was because there was no punctuation when writing this policy, so when it was copied and printed, there were also no sentences to read.

This gave Wei Yan a headache. He looked at the policy and then identified the sentences and paragraphs.

"...Today, the tax increase in Chang'an Sanfu Trading Day should also be divided into categories and different types of businesses. The different taxes should be diversified. Those who make big profits will pay more and those who make small profits will pay less. It will benefit the people, make a living, and make the industry lose surplus." ...』

Wei Yan couldn't help but rub his eyes. Although this strategy is good, it is quite laborious.

Although Wei Yan did not read much, he was at least a high-ranking general who was relatively close to Fei Qian, so he had some understanding of politics. During the last government affairs audit, yes, it was an audit. According to Hussar, Wei Yan could do without any Thoughts, it cannot be said that he is not clear at all about people's livelihood and government affairs, so he is somewhat aware of the detailed tax system, which seems to be the direction of the next stage of reform.

In the past, officers and generals only needed to know how to fight, but it is different now.

At least it is different here for the Hussars General. Military generals need to observe important meetings of civilian officials. When military generals discuss important strategic directions, civilian officials also need to observe. Of course, the expanded audit meeting here is naturally to discuss the kind of content that can be made public. Those secret matters will not be brought up to the enlarged meeting.

According to General Hussar, this is to strengthen exchanges between civil and military officials, because civilian officials do not know what military generals want, and military generals do not know what civilian officials do, resulting in mutual misunderstanding and distrust, which is very detrimental to the overall political situation. Qiao Qi said that since there were only a few people there, they could communicate with each other temporarily and sit in on the meeting. Later, they would leave the residence as needed to inform each other to reduce unnecessary friction.

Wei Yan flipped through it again and saw another article that seemed to be talking about enlightenment, "...so that the people can have the right to take care of the people's livelihood and observe the four seasons. The saints established the way and taught the disciples everywhere in the villages and towns. It spreads widely and can be taught to poor scholars to dispel the confusion of the people. It can be learned by anyone from the eldest to the youngest, regardless of gender..."

Hi!

Wei Yan couldn't help but close the book and walked towards the shopkeeper.

The collection of policy papers was good, and he really wanted to take a look at it, but there was no sentence to read, and it looked really laborious.

The shopkeeper of the bookshop smiled and treated everyone like a regular customer. He greeted everyone warmly, and Wei Yan was no exception. He nodded and said, "Is the guest here?" Any orders? 』

Wei Yan shook the book in his hand and said, "Can you find someone to copy this collection of essays for me?" The kind that requires adding sentences to read. 』

"Is this just a collection of policy papers? ” said the shopkeeper.

"Are there many books?" ” Wei Yan asked.

The shopkeeper nodded, "This one is the latest." 』

"Well, how much does it cost to copy a book with sentences to read?" ” Wei Yan asked again.

"Ordinary paper, four hundred and sixty dollars." ” The shopkeeper answered quickly.

Wei Yan looked at the price of the book in his hand and said, "This one costs 600 yuan. Why is the hand-copied one cheaper?" 』

The shopkeeper smiled and explained to Wei Yan that such a book would take three people a day to copy. The person who copied the book would be paid eighty for a day, and the price for a tea and snack would be twenty. The paper used would be classified according to its quality. The price is naturally high. Generally, the cost of paper is about 140 yuan, and other miscellaneous expenses are about 100 yuan or 20 yuan, so the overall cost is 460 yuan.

The shopkeeper also pointed to Wei Yan a few students in a corner on one side of the bookstore. Those people came here to copy books and make money. Judging from their clothes and looks, they were indeed students from ordinary families. They were sitting in the corner beside the bookshelf and copying books very seriously, turning a deaf ear to the sounds of people coming and going in the bookshop.

"Um? Calculated this way, don’t you make any money? The bookstore doesn’t take a commission? Wei Yan was a little surprised and said, "If someone just copies books but doesn't buy them, wouldn't you not be able to make any money?" 』

The shopkeeper said this was the rule.

Bookstores sell books, so it is only natural that they make money from selling books, but bookstores are not used to make money from copying books. Not only does he not know it, but all the bookstores under the Husband and Horse cannot make money from copying books. Copying books for others is one of the few ways for poor students to get food and clothing. If they even earn this money and take a commission, isn't it the same as fishing for copper coins in a beggar's bowl?

Therefore, the bookstore only provides a place for free so that these poor students can make some money. If these poor students become successful in the future, they will just remember the well-diggers when they look back, and no one will use the manuscripts for a lifetime. …

Wei Yan thought about it and understood.

Indeed.

"interesting. Understood. ” Wei Yan waved his hand, “That’s it, I’ll buy this one, and then I’ll have someone copy it for me, with sentences to read... By the way, is there an official version of “Spring and Autumn” that has sentences to read? 』

The shopkeeper smiled and replied: "I'm sorry, sir, the reading of this scripture has not been finalized yet, so it is not available for the time being... It is only a private edition... If you are not in a hurry, you can wait. I heard that it will be finalized soon." ...』

"Qinglong Temple?" ” Wei Yan asked.

The shopkeeper nodded.

Wei Yan also nodded, took out his wallet to pay the bill, and bought a copy of Spring and Autumn Period and a policy treatise, both of which were unreadable. The copy of the policy treatise had to wait for three days...

Wei Yan left the bookshop and looked back at the students who were copying books on one side of the bookshop. The setting sun was setting, and the golden brilliance slanted into the window lintel and spread out between the banquets. It was like spreading a golden line in front of the students. the way.