Enter the male channel to engage in infrastructure

Under the arrangement of Lou Yu and Huo Yan, the two quietly left the palace with Feng Erbi and came to Dingguo Mansion.

Dingguo Mansion was specially selected by Lou Yu for Huo Yan.The house is quiet and elegant, and close to the imperial palace, it is an excellent place.

As soon as he arrived at the mansion, Feng Erbi retreated to the corner automatically, not disturbing the sweetness of the two of them.

Lou Yu was a little drunk, leaning half of his body on Huo Yan, holding his arm, and said lazily: "Where's the gift?"

Huo Yan held his hand, his brows and eyes were gentle like water: "Come with me."

The Dingguo Mansion used to be the Duke's Mansion. It was built according to the regulations, and the mansion was very large.

After going through several corridors and winding paths, but still not reaching the destination, Lou Yu couldn't help but stop and said, "I'm tired and can't walk."

Huo Yan simply picked him up and stepped forward steadily.

Maybe it's because he's too busy and tired these days, or maybe it's because Huo Yan's embrace is so reassuring, Lou Yu actually fell asleep leaning on his chest.

The gentle and slight breathing sound fell into his ears, Huo Yan was stunned for a moment, looked down at the young man in his arms, couldn't help laughing, and felt a little distressed at the same time.

The pace is subconsciously smoother.

After a while, finally arrived at the destination.

Huo Yan couldn't bear to disturb Lou Yu, so he chose a stone bench and sat down.

Time fades away, and the afterglow of the setting sun falls on the courtyard.

Lou Yu woke up amidst a rich fragrance.

When he opened his eyes, it happened that the golden crow was falling to the west, and the scenery was shining brightly.The golden-orange sunlight casts a dreamlike filter on the world, making people feel like they are in an illusion.

Lou Yu couldn't help blinking, and a look of surprise gradually appeared in his eyes.

The garden is full of colorful flowers, and the garden is full of colorful flowers.

Those flowers that he was not famous for, bloomed with incomparable magnificence and beauty under the glow of the setting sun.

This is undoubtedly a garden.

Not only are the surrounding grounds full of flowers, but even the courtyard walls are covered with vine branches, covering all the courtyard walls, so looking around, there are only blooming flowers in his world.

And he and Huo Yan were sitting in the middle of the sea of ​​flowers.

"It's so beautiful." Lou Yu admired it from the bottom of his heart.

This kind of beautiful scenery just soothed his tense feeling in the past few days.

"Do you like it?" Huo Yan asked.

Lou Yu realized later, his eyes lit up: "This is the gift you gave me?"

"Ah."

"Where did you get so many flowers?" Lou Yu asked in surprise, "It's impossible for you to cultivate all these flowers yourself?"

Huo Yan's handsome eyes brightened: "Qizhou Wang Xun, we have been to his precious garden, he has a lot of flowers."

Lou Yu remembered.

He seemed to have expressed his envy at that time, did Huo Yan take it to heart at that time?

"You got so many flowers from him, wouldn't he have no flowers?" Lou Yu couldn't help laughing.

For a flower lover, this is so heartbreaking.

"A Yuhe deserves the best in the world."

Lou Yu frowned, "Are you praising yourself?"

"Ok?"

Lou Yu held his face and kissed him, his eyes were full of purples and reds, which were unparalleled in beauty.

"You are indeed the best in the world, and it is my honor to be with you for three lifetimes."

Huo Yan's breath was stagnant, he pecked the corner of his lips, and asked in a low voice, "How about staying tonight?"

After Dingguo Mansion was repaired, Huo Yan stayed in the palace most of the time and rarely stayed.

But he would have his bedroom cleaned every day, hoping that one day he would be able to spend an ordinary peaceful night with Lou Yu.

There is no grandeur of the palace, only the bright moonlight and the shadows of the whirling trees.

Lou Yu became interested in an instant: "Okay!"

I always feel the excitement and tension of cheating.

The bedrooms in the main courtyard were carefully designed by Huo Yan, all in line with Lou Yu's preferences, and the interior decoration was modeled after Gyeongju New Town.

As soon as Lou Yu stepped in, he felt as if he had returned to his house in Gyeongju New Town.

He instantly recalled some shy things the two of them did in that house, coupled with the lingering feeling of alcohol, a few traces of crimson appeared at the end of his eyes.

"It's very good here, I'm very happy."

As a result of his joy, he almost missed the morning court the next day.

It was only then that Lou Yu realized how painful it was for those courtiers to come to court every morning.

This court meeting system should be changed, but he has no plans to change it this year.

After all, it was still the Jiaxi period.

The theme of this meeting is "Mutual Market".

Lou Yu has learned that the Central Plains and the Northern Territory have signed mutual market agreements before, but the results are often not considered successful. The most critical reason for the failure is the lack of an effective management and control mechanism.

This leads to a problem - trade chaos.

A chaotic trade system is bound to be unable to last forever, and instead will stimulate conflicts between the two sides, causing more conflicts.

From the perspective of merchants in the Central Plains, what they sell are daily necessities and luxuries such as grain, porcelain, and tea. It is normal for them to sell high prices.

But for herdsmen, the only thing they can provide is cattle, sheep and horses, and these are not necessities for the Central Plains people.

Only a few wealthy people will buy high-quality horses from the grasslands at high prices.

The unequal trade between the two sides, coupled with the absence of a strict management mechanism, will only exacerbate the conflict between North and South trade.

Lou Yu is willing to start a mutual market, but he doesn't want to start a mutual market in a muddle-headed way.

He sat on the high steps, looked down at the ministers, and said indifferently: "Yesterday, the envoy of the Agutu tribe proposed a mutual market, and today we will talk about this mutual market. You can speak freely."

Someone came out and said, "Your Majesty, I think that the nomadic tribes in the northern border are just a group of uncivilized barbarians. Why do you need to trade with them?"

"My minister seconded the proposal." Another person spoke, "Not only that, but looking at the mutual market in history, it ended up being nothing. Barbarians only plunder in their bones, and they don't know what to do with business."

Lang Ping, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, retorted: "The reason why barbarians are rude is that they have no etiquette at all. If we can spread the etiquette and law of the Central Plains to them, educate them, and make them submit to the Central Plains culture, wouldn't it be a good thing?"

"Lang Shangshu, I'm afraid they don't even have enough to eat, so why would they want to learn etiquette?"

"Indeed, what Lang Shangshu said is a bit naive."

"Then according to what you said, the mutual market will not open?"

"There is no need to open it. I have a lot of land and resources, why do I have to make a deal with the barbarians?"

All the ministers were arguing, all arguing about "should there be a mutual market", but few people could get to the point.

If there is a problem, it should be solved, not avoided.

Lou Yu looked at Fan Yusheng: "What does Prime Minister Fan think?"

After the palace banquet yesterday, Fan Yusheng thought about this issue carefully.

He came out and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I think that what Lang Shangshu said is not unreasonable, but it is too difficult to implement, so it is a bit absurd. However, although it is difficult to educate the barbarians, it is not difficult to restrain the barbarians."

Lou Yu finally heard something dry, and couldn't help asking: "So, Fan Aiqing agreed to border trade?"

"Yes. Our prosperous country is indeed rich in products, but we can't think too much of ourselves. The animal husbandry in the northern border is indeed superior to ours. The cattle and horses they raise are strong and powerful, and their woolen fabrics are also very popular among our Dasheng people. Since the mutual market can Bring us benefits, why not agree?"

"But Fan Xiang, once the mutual market is opened, it will definitely affect the safety of the border."

Fan Yusheng retorted: "Have you forgotten about the seizure of Danzhou City by the Agutu tribe? There was no mutual market at that time! It can be seen that it is never the mutual market that affects the security of the border, but the greed of the northern border!"

The rest couldn't refute for a while.

Indeed, during the Zhengqian period, Huizong closed the trade channels with the northern border for 30 years.

In the past 30 years, no one can count how many times the border has been looted, large and small.

Therefore, the mutual market is not a sufficient and necessary condition for border unrest.

Lou Yu asked gently: "I think Fan Aiqing has a good plan, so why not talk about it."

"Your Majesty, this time it is the Northern Territory who wants to open an exchange with me. We can make rules with them."

"What rules?"

Fan Yusheng said: "I looked through some previous records. Whenever there are conflicts between the two parties in the trade, it is mostly caused by difficulties in negotiating prices, quantities, delivery dates, and product damage. If you want to avoid armed conflicts as much as possible, you might as well agree that both parties can Accepted transaction rules can also set up a place dedicated to handling disputes for mediation or trial."

Lou Yu nodded and smiled, "Not bad."

What Fan Yusheng said is very clear, nothing more than legislation first, and then setting up a law enforcement department.

This idea is very good, but there is still a problem.

Lou Yu looked at Yang Guanghuai again: "What does Mr. Yang think?"

Everyone knew that Yang Guanghuai had been His Majesty's "initiator teacher", so His Majesty usually called him "Sir" to show respect.

Yang Guanghuai cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think Fan Xiang's strategy is very good, but I have a few questions I want to ask Fan Xiang."

Fan Yusheng said very gracefully: "Please tell me."

"How many years have I been enacting the Dasheng Law?"

"It's been 180 years."

"Then, how many of our Dasheng people know the law?"

Fan Yusheng was stunned, he understood what Yang Guanghuai meant, and couldn't help but say with shame: "It's because I haven't thought through enough."

"It's okay," Yang Guanghuai said with a smile, "Fan Xiang has made a good start, we can brainstorm the rest and discuss together."

It is easy to formulate rules, but it is difficult for illiterate common people to understand the rules, especially the herdsmen in the north.

Lou Yu smiled and said at the right time: "I was inspired by the two of you just now, but I have some ideas. If there are any shortcomings, you can make up."

Officials in Qingzhou's direct line were helpless.

His Majesty must have thought about it a long time ago, deliberately watching their excitement.

"The mutual market between us and the northern border is generally divided into two types. One is the public market and the other is the private market. The management of the public market has always been more standardized, but the private market is more chaotic. Most of the disputes you just put on on the private market. So, why is the private market chaotic?"

Fan Yusheng said: "Your Majesty, the private market is mostly a private transaction between the people on the frontier and the herdsmen in the north. Although the government acquiesces in this kind of transaction, it is not under the jurisdiction of the government."

To put it bluntly, the government has no time to manage the daily necessities transactions of ordinary people.

If they encounter greedy officials, they may deliberately deprive the common people of their goods before agreeing to trade with the herdsmen.

Lou Yu nodded: "Yes, so we also need to regulate the private market. First of all, set up a border exchange, so that the people of Shengguo and the herdsmen in the north can conduct centralized transactions on a regular, fixed-point, quantitative, and fixed basis, and restrict the types of trading items and prices. It is decided by the government, and the price is not allowed to be called at will, and it can only be bartered."

"Secondly, set up official personnel in the exchange to manage matters such as the opening, closing, registration of entry and exit, conflicts and disputes, etc., and regularly announce the blacklist according to the transaction situation. The people on the blacklist, whether they are citizens of Shengguo or Beijing Border herdsmen are prohibited from re-entering the exchange for trading for life, and those who violate it will be severely punished.”

"Furthermore, people entering or exiting the exchange are not allowed to wear controlled weapons. Even agricultural tools must be reported to the exchange in advance."

"Finally, the management personnel of the exchange must be from both the Sheng country and the northern border. It is best for them to be proficient in both languages."

After saying this, Lou Yu paused, and said to the courtiers: "If you have any ideas, you can put them forward."

"Your Majesty's thoughts are thoughtful enough, and I bow to you." Yang Guanghuai said first.

Everyone else agrees.

Lou Yu smiled and asked, "How did the public market work in the past?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, the public market is an agreement between the imperial court and the northern border. There are three transactions every year. The imperial court exchanges salt, tea, cloth, etc. for cattle, sheep and horses in the northern border. Each transaction is calculated in tens of thousands."

Lou Yu understood.

In other words, if you don't open it, you will be fine, and once you open it, you will make a big one.

"Who is usually responsible for this matter?"

"Before Huizong, the imperial court set up a mutual market supervisor, and the public markets were all managed by the mutual market supervisor. However, after Huizong came to the throne, the mutual market supervisor was in vain and had been idle for decades."

"That being the case, reset the mutual market supervision."

"According to the order!"

The opening of the mutual market is not just talk, there are many details that need to be discussed with the northern envoys.

Just when the imperial court was negotiating a mutual market agreement with the northern envoys, Enke came quietly.

It was the first time for Xie Mao to take the exam, and he was really nervous. He checked the test basket repeatedly before leaving the door. After being reminded by the servant, he worried about missing the entrance time, and hurried to the exam room by car.

On the first day, the two basic subjects of Chinese Studies and Mathematics were tested. The content of the examinations for the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Communications was the same, and candidates were divided into the same examination room.

Xie Mao rushed to the entrance of the examination room and obediently lined up.

He looked at the front line, and it turned out that a woman really came to take the exam!

In terms of numbers, there are more talented women in the capital than in the local areas. They were trained by their families since childhood, and their horizons are higher than those in the local areas. In addition, Xue Xiangjun, who was personally appointed by the emperor, took the lead, so there are not many women for reference.

Some of these women just wanted to prove themselves and didn't really want to be an official.

"Mr. Xue Xiang is here!"

I don't know who shouted, and everyone turned their heads to look.

Xue Ying, dressed in casual clothes with narrow sleeves and a neat bun, got out of the carriage with a test basket.

It happened to be right behind Xie Mao.

Xie Mao quickly looked away, embarrassed to look again.

On the contrary, Xue Ying was very generous, and asked him with a smile: "The gentleman in front, which department did you take the exam?"

Xie Mao tilted his head and replied, "Department of Communications."

"I am the Ministry of Finance," Xue Ying said with a bright smile, "Let's encourage each other!"

Xie Mao: "... Let's encourage each other."

This Mr. Xue Xiang is very lively.

At the same time, state capitals across the country are conducting a co-ed exam.

Not only the examinees themselves, but even ordinary people are concerned about the test results.

As for the township examinations and general examinations, well, those are all old tunes, nothing new.

Xie Mao finished the Guoxue test paper in the morning and the math test paper in the afternoon. He felt that he did well in the test, and left the test room with a smile on his face.

After returning home, Mrs. Tong immediately ordered the servants to prepare meals, all of which were Xie Mao's favorites.

"Mao'er, mother heard that there are many women for reference today, but is it true?"

Xie Mao nodded again and again, "It's true! There is a female examinee in the room opposite me. She is so good that she finishes every chapter before me!"

"Maybe she hasn't finished writing at all, but she just doesn't know how to write. Don't grow up with other people's ambitions and destroy your own prestige." Tong comforted.

"Uh-huh!"

On the second day, it was still the same examination room, but the number room was drawn again.

Today's exam content for the three candidates is different, so the number room is divided into three areas, with clear distinctions.

This situation occurs because the resources in the examination room are really scarce.

In the past, the examination rooms were mostly used for scientific examinations, and it was a blessing that the standard number rooms could be used for the three examinations.

All in all, the infrastructure has not kept up with the new policies.

After the exam is over, the test papers of the three candidates will be sent to the marking office after being aliased.

Chinese studies, mathematics and other subjects are all marked by professionals.

Because it was the first time to recruit for the exam, the three departments paid special attention to it, and the chief graders were all senior officials from the three departments.

Five days later, the three test papers were all reviewed, and the total scores were counted.

The much-anticipated result is about to come out, and the casino opened a betting game while it was hot, betting on who can win the first place among the three.

This is much more difficult than guessing the scientific research solution and meeting yuan.

Generally speaking, students who take part in the imperial examinations will have a few well-known talents. Xie Yuan and Hui Yuan will be born among them without accident, and the chances of guessing correctly are very high.

The three exams are different, there are men and women, and they are all mediocre candidates. It is impossible to guess who will be on the top of the list.

However, the more people can't guess, the more they can arouse the interest of ordinary people.

Finally, it's Zhang Bang Day.

The servants of Xie's mansion rushed to occupy a seat early in the morning, for fear that they would not be able to see the second master's ranking in the first place.

Xie Mao and others were fidgeting in the mansion, and the young owner of the restaurant came to wait with him very "loyally".

"Don't be too nervous. You said that you passed the exam fairly well, so you shouldn't fail the exam."

Xie Mao glared at him, "You came here specially to see my jokes, didn't you?"

"You said it yourself, don't blame me."

Xie Mao couldn't bring himself to argue with him, and muttered: "I think I did well in the exam, but who knows if I can get into the eyes of the examiners."

The young master said boldly: "If you can pass the exam, I will treat you to dinner, and you can order whatever you want!"

"Don't be fooled."

"I'm never bad at—"

His words were interrupted by a servant in a hurry.

"Second master! Second master! You passed No.3! No.3!"

Xie Mao's eyes widened instantly, his heart was beating wildly, he got up and asked, "Is it really No.3? Is it really No.3?!"

"Slave sees the truth!"

Xie Mao was stunned for a while, then suddenly jumped up, clapped his hands and said, "That's great! That's great!"

The Shaodong family smiled and said, "Congratulations, Brother Xie."

When the news reached Tong's ears, she couldn't help but burst into tears, and murmured: "Mao'er is really promising. Tell me to go on, and everyone in the house will be rewarded!"

"Thank you old lady!"

Where No.3 can be on duty is not currently within the scope of the Xie family's consideration.

In any case, there must be more than three places for the traffic bureaus of the county governments in the capital, and Xie Mao, the No.3, will definitely get in.

In the recruitment of the three departments in Beijing, [-]% of the candidates applying for the Ministry of Agriculture are male and only [-]% are female; among the candidates applying for the Ministry of Finance, [-]% are male and [-]% are female; among the candidates applying for the Ministry of Communications, Nearly ten percent of the candidates are male, and only a handful of female candidates.

This ratio was expected.

In people's inherent impression, the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for farming, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for settling accounts, and the Ministry of Communication is responsible for going out to handle errands.

Women who can read and write are mostly born in a wealthy family. They can be housekeepers and settle accounts, but they seldom farm land, let alone travel far.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance itself is dominated by women, which naturally attracts women to join. Among the three departments, only the Ministry of Finance has the highest proportion of female candidates, but only [-]%.

It is estimated that this phenomenon will continue for a long time.

Therefore, the number of women on the list is extremely rare.

At this time, someone came out to sing bad news: "So, women are not as good as men, and it's shameful to have co-examinations for men and women!"

Most of the people didn't know, and they all shook their heads and sighed.

A discerning person retorted: "No.1 in the Ministry of Finance is Mr. Xue Xiang! She is a woman! Why is she not as good as a man?"

"It's not because of her good family background and high status."

"What does this have to do with family status? Aren't they all obtained from the exam!"

"If she has a famous teacher to teach her, is it any wonder that she does better than ordinary candidates?"

"What you said is really unreasonable. According to what you say, men generally receive higher education than women, and it's not unusual to surpass women. Why do you say that women are inferior to men?"

"Hmph, rhetoric!"

"Who is the one who is so arrogant?!"

"Stop arguing!" Someone came forward to act as a peacemaker, "It's meaningless for you to compare like this."

"Then how do you compare?"

"This time the Ministry of Finance, [-]% of the male candidates and [-]% of the female candidates, you look at the list and calculate the respective ratios yourself!"

Some people heard the words and began to count silently, while others still dismissed it.

"I figured it out! Sixty percent of the male candidates on the list are nearly [-]% of the female candidates!"

"Huh—"

The crowd boiled instantly, and the discussion became louder.

Knowing that he was third in the exam, Xie Mao relaxed and waited for the imperial court's letter of appointment.

But before he was happy for a few days, the news came that he still had to attend some kind of interview.

If you want to enter this position, you must be ranked in the top four with the combination of written test scores and interview scores.

Because the position he applied for only recruited four people.

When the boy came back from inquiring about the news, he was sweating profusely and said, "Second Master, you have recorded the top twelve slaves in the written test for this position."

He opened the note, and there were twelve names on it.

Four people were recruited, twelve people were interviewed, and the remaining eleven were his competitors!

The servant specifically pointed at two people: "Second Master, these two people have only a little less score than you, and after they are martyrs, they have preferential policies, I'm afraid..."

"After the martyr?" Xie Mao raised his eyes to look at him, "Isn't it me?"

Servant: "..."

He hastily slapped himself across the face, "It's the slave who is stupid! Second Lord, forgive me!"

Xie Mao snorted, "But you are right, they are only a little worse than me, everyone has preferential policies, so we still have to work hard."

"Second Master will definitely pass the exam!"

Regarding the exam, Lou Yu only listened to the report and didn't pay much attention to it.

After days of negotiations, the imperial court and the northern missions finally finalized the mutual market norms.

Song Han bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have to go back to the royal court and report to the king about the agreement on the mutual market."

Lou Yu asked, "When are you planning to leave Beijing?"

"Tomorrow, winter is coming, we have to go back to the grassland as soon as possible, when the time comes to open the trade road, our herdsmen's life will be easier."

"It's a long way to go, cherish it."

Songhan laughed and said, "Your Majesty, are you really unwilling to marry Lili? She is really a good girl!"

He is not cruel to keep his daughter in Dasheng, he just hopes that his daughter can marry the man he likes, not to mention that this man is the most honorable emperor of Sheng Kingdom.

Lou Yu shook his head: "She is a good girl, but I am not a good match."

Songhan didn't force it, and said sincerely: "I hope your country and the Agutu tribe can have a good relationship from generation to generation."

"I hope so too." Lou Yu smiled slightly.

However, Utimu's ambition may one day break this peace.

In the busy government affairs, time slipped extremely fast.

Luo Yi, who was sent to the south before, finally sent back a message.

The disappearance of Lou Ling and Liang Pei was indeed caused by the Southern Tribal Alliance.They not only robbed these two people, but also tied up the prefects and their families in Pingzhou and Longzhou.

When the new emperor came to the throne, the important officials from all the prefectures had to return to Beijing to report on their duties. The prefects of Pingzhou and Longzhou were also robbed on their way back to Beijing.

Lou Yu sneered: "Is this a rebellion?"

"If they want to rebel, it may be more than just being tied up." Huo Yan calmed down, "They want to be independent, but they don't want to confront the imperial court head-on."

Lou Yu was puzzled: "Could it be too naive?"

Kidnapping court officials, and wanting the court to treat them kindly?

"Their impression of the imperial court is still the same as before, and they are not naive."

Lou Yu nodded: "Now that they have hostages in their hands and are good at hiding, how do we break them?"

Huo Yan said firmly: "Don't worry, leave everything to me, okay?"

"Okay." Lou Yu held his hand tightly, "Be sure to return safely."

"Ah."

On September [-]st, Huo Yan personally led the army and horses, and rushed to the three southern states with light clothes.

At that time, Jiang Bo's "merchant ships" were moored at Zhanzhou Wharf. They were warmly welcomed by local wealthy gentry with their heroic and extravagant attitude.

The ship carried a large amount of glass, silk, cotton cloth and other goods, and local merchants wanted a piece of the pie.

The merchants have a wide range of news channels, and Jiang Bo and others tried to inquire about the news of the Sanzhou tribe through them.

Judging from the attitudes of these merchants, they disdain the jurisdiction of the imperial court at all, and they are more inclined to accept the rule of the local tribes.

Those tribal chiefs never show up easily, so they can't collect any valuable information.

This matter is really not easy to handle.