Chapter 88 Reform (4) Today we will practice archery, horsemanship, spear fighting, and lance fighting. You may...

"Of course! Clerk Yu often mentions how much help we received from our neighbors when we were children." Amidst the children's unrestrained shouts, another spinning top rolled to the clerk's feet. A group of children swarmed forward to grab it.

The clerk took a step back, cupped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "Young master, you are a man of great character, which I greatly admire. We are on official business and will not disturb you any longer. Farewell!"

After exchanging greetings with Li Shimin, the village officials, and the novice monks, the clerks hurried to the next gathering place of villagers to post notices.

Changsun Minxing called the mischievous children back to their places to tidy up the Dharma Hall. Several of the children's mothers had just chatted with Changsun Qingjing about the new patterns and looms, and were waiting for the men to sign the new year's land deeds before returning to plow the hemp fields and sow the seeds. They found the children's initiation of education novel and glanced into the Dharma Hall several times.

The classes officially ended at this point, and the mothers also helped tidy up the Dharma Hall. Changsun Qingjing touched the hairpin clasp still tightly fastened on his sack, then slung it over his shoulder and walked to the central courtyard.

"This time, it's the Registrar of Household Affairs and a low-ranking clerk who's come to scout things out," Li Shimin asked softly. "Do you still remember the strategic plans you discussed when I traveled incognito to the Tang State Palace?"

“I remember, the Grand Canal, the Piling Palace, the Taihang Road, the Turks, Goguryeo…” Changsun Qingjing recited a long string of familiar yet terrifying ghostly names without expression.

"Wow! Your memory is so good!" Li Shimin watched the clerks and runners leave and shrugged with a smile.

"I reckon the next time the clerks come, they'll just arrest people," Changsun Qingjing sighed.

"You can definitely protect these peasant families and keep them safe, and prevent husbands and wives from being separated from their children, right?" Changsun Qingjing pointed to the peasants who were peeking into the courtyard from behind the Dharma Hall and inside the Guanyin Hall.

"I have my own way, nothing will happen. There's no need to ask my father for help for now. I'll just use his reputation to make connections with the magistrate of Henan, and the soldiers will naturally avoid me."

Changsun Qingjing fiddled with the hairpin on the deerskin sack and nodded, saying, "Although you are a man of bold words and deeds, you never break your promises. I will thank you for your protection on behalf of the women who spun for me."

"The clerk from the Household Department has gone far away." The village clerk breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the servants in the distance raise their hands above their heads, making a gesture of spreading their wings as if they were in charge of affairs.

"Get down to business," Li Shimin reminded him.

Upon hearing this, the official called out to both sides of the courtyard, "Farmers, come back to the courtyard to speak."

The young man who had been the first to raise questions quickly stepped forward and said, “Young master, sir, we were just having a false alarm. The misunderstanding and suspicion have been completely cleared up. The uncles have finished their discussion and will sign and affix their fingerprints here and now. The uncles are shy and asked me to apologize on their behalf. Please don’t take the previous gossip to heart. We have signed the new contract, and we still need to repair the irrigation canal and plant hemp trees after midday, so we won’t delay any longer…”

"Alright, I'll prepare the brush, ink, and cinnabar right away. Where's the land deed?"

Changsun Qingjing untied the hidden button on the sachet and took out the document: "I'm returning the item as is. You careless and unrefined gentlemen should thank me."

"Of course I'll thank you handsomely, for example, I can buy it for you..." Li Shimin brought up the old matter again, but then felt that he was insulting Changsun Qingjing, so he changed his mind and said, "Put it on my tab and thank you handsomely another day!"

After saying this, he took the neatly stacked land deeds from Changsun Qingjing and handed them over to the village officials for distribution.

After scrambling for the writing brushes, ink, and cinnabar, and each of them took a copy of the contract from the village official, they left with their wives and children.

Li Shimin accompanied his eldest grandson Qingjing into the Guanyin Hall to pray for blessings, and the central courtyard suddenly became deserted.

The lone Zheng Foyou first sat on the threshold of the Dharma Hall waiting for the grasshopper to return so he could say goodbye to his elder sister; later, he couldn't resist climbing up the tortoise-patterned Lingbi stone and eagerly awaiting her return.

Bored out of his mind, Changsun Minxing abandoned his serious demeanor as a teacher in the Dharma Hall, propped himself up on the top of the stone with one hand, and sat down next to Zheng Foyou.

Zheng Fuyou considerately moved aside. His elders, who were literate, had warned him that Master Changsun's grandmaster was the Crown Prince's teacher, a man of noble character whom he should not disrespect. This had frightened him so much that he dared not look directly at this young man, described as a god, when he first became his disciple and entered the school. Now, having spent more time with Changsun Minxing, he felt that Master Changsun was the kindest and most learned person in the world. While other children feared Master Changsun, he was not afraid at all.

"Buddha, how many characters do you recognize now?" Changsun Minxing asked.

"He can't write many characters, but he can recognize three or four hundred." The child's pride was evident, which made Changsun Minxing smile.

"Alright, then I'll test you casually. What's my surname, Master?"

“Changsun,” Zheng Foyou thought to himself, “what kind of test is this?” He wondered if Changsun Minxing had confused him with some idiot in his room who couldn’t even pronounce the teacher’s surname correctly.

He subconsciously winked at Changsun Minxing, striking what he thought was a clever and cute pose, hoping that the Master would remember that he was the most intelligent of all his fellow disciples.

Changsun Minxing accurately grasped Zheng Foyou's cunning thoughts and tilted his head to ask him, "Do you still remember the phonetic transcription method I taught you?"

Zheng Fuyou nodded.

"Alright, use the words you know to make the top and bottom syllables, and cut out the sound of the character '长' in '长孙'!"

Zheng Fuyou smiled knowingly. He felt that this was a question that matched his intelligence. He pondered for a moment, searched through the few words he could remember, and answered loudly, "支掌切 (zhī zhǎng qiè)".

He no longer dwells on Lu Fayan's every word and action, and then uncontrollably sheds tears.

On a sunny afternoon, on his desk, amidst the innocent voices of children reciting their lessons, he would glimpse fragments of the past, then laugh freely, leaving these broken records and his own emotional turmoil behind.

A person who has died once should live a life full of passion and fulfillment according to their own will.

Changsun Minxing patted Zheng Fuyou's little head and took out a coin-sized, jade-like object from his sleeve.

"Try it!" Changsun Minxing placed the strange candy to Zheng Fuyou's lips.

Zheng Fuyou took the candy and bit off a corner of the "jade": "It's delicious, it tastes like honey and butter."

Zheng Fuyou carefully chewed the piece of novel rock candy he had bitten off, not in a hurry to finish it all at once. He gave Changsun Minxing a shy smile and carefully tucked the rest into his chest.

As Changsun Qingjing walked out of the Guanyin Hall, he glanced up and saw the master and disciple on the tortoise-patterned stone, and couldn't help but chuckle.

“Buddha Bless me, your elder sister went to the fire room to pick peony flowers for me. Can you go and meet her?”

"My lady, I'll go right away." Zheng Foyou slid down the thickest white line on the Lingbi stone from top to bottom, straightened the hem of his new clothes, and respectfully bowed to Changsun Qingjing with his hands clasped.

Zheng Fuyou heard from Guoniang that after the old mistress passed away, Lady Changsun did not despise Guoniang. She neither sent her to do hard labor nor sent her back to her parents. Moreover, at Guoniang's request, she prepared tuition for him. Lady Changsun had done a great favor for the Zheng family. Although he was young, he knew how to repay kindness.

The child, barely beginning his education, racked his brains and managed to squeeze out some sincere yet elegant words: "Madam Changsun, thanks to Buddha's blessing and your protection, my whole family is deeply grateful..."

This is probably what Lao Tzu meant by "The Way of Heaven is to take from those who have more than enough and give to those who have less than enough." Changsun Qingjing thought to himself, "At least it is more balanced and righteous than the current emperor's way of 'taking from those who have less than enough to give to those who have more than enough.'"

"Go ahead," Changsun Qingjing said with a light smile. "You two siblings can chat a little longer. Your older sister will be coming back to my villa with me in a little while."

"Thank you, Madam. Take care, Master." After bidding farewell to Changsun Minxing, the boy leaped out of the temple and ran towards the garden like a rabbit released from its cage.

“You volunteered to be my teacher, and the Zen master needed someone to discuss the Way. I mediated between you, so that you can both benefit. Isn’t that wonderful?”

The two embraced each other, laughing and joking, startling several resting sparrows from the eaves.

"Just write it down and bring it here." Changsun Minxing said with a clear and open mind, without any concealment. "Sister, you don't need to let that maid named Guoniang secretly check on my daily life. I am an honest and upright person, so I will be frank with you. I swear that I will never act willfully again and disregard Master Lu's last wishes. You can rest assured that I can take care of myself and will not make things difficult for the servants anymore."

"Yes." Changsun Qingjing nodded. "Please forgive me, elder brother."

"It's good that you and your sister no longer suspect and worry about each other," Li Shimin sighed. "Today I made an appointment with the farmers to inspect and repair the irrigation canals, and if there's any free time, we'll train the troops. I originally wanted to invite Minxing to come along, but seeing how much the Zen Master values ​​you, I decided not to compete with him for him." He pointed to the novice monk holding a Boshan incense burner waiting behind Changsun Minxing and sighed with regret.

"If we were to practice archery, horsemanship, and spear fighting today, would you be willing to watch from the sidelines?" Li Shimin lowered his head, kicking a pebble at his feet, and stammered, "When those fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys practiced the Five Arts with me, there were always village girls cheering for them... Would you come to watch me?"

Changsun Qingjing was staring at the openwork jade Boshan in the novice monk's hand, using the rudimentary knowledge he had heard from Mu Boxiu to determine whether this half-new, half-old incense burner was a genuine Han Dynasty artifact or a fake made by a busybody.

She was completely unaware that Li Shimin was trying his best to find excuses to keep her by his side.

"Huh?" She looked up in confusion, recalling words like troops, drills, watching battles, archery, horsemanship, and spears, which seemed to have nothing to do with her. "Are you asking me?"

The author's note: I probably thought the Sui Dynasty's legal system was too good. The county government's household affairs department first determined the number of laborers that could be conscripted from each household, then posted notices to confirm the list, and finally the military affairs department and others were responsible for gathering the people together.

Actually, I estimate that there's a greater than 50% chance that the developers will directly snatch people away at the end of the Great Cause!

However, considering the proximity to Luoyang (the second capital), the emperor also had to consider the public's perception, so perhaps there were some methods to follow. Of course, it's more likely that he didn't consider it at all.

I reasonably speculate that the composition of the noble households under the protection of the powerful families at the end of the Sui Dynasty was quite complex. Some were legally permitted, some were in a gray area and exceeded the limits but the government was too lazy to care. Some were fugitives who returned to the government, some retained some land but had to pay rent to the nobles, and some were artisans... However, the reason why peasants were willing to pay heavy rent to the nobles for protection was actually because firstly, the imperial court also levied heavy taxes, and secondly, ordinary families simply could not afford the death of those forced to pay corvée labor.

Zheng Foyou, like his sister, is an extremely eye-catching character, providing immense emotional value to the young teacher, Changsun. [Thumbs up]

Erfeng originally wanted to show off in front of his wife. Once they arrived at the martial arts arena, he could conveniently find an excuse to show off his chest muscles, abs, biceps, triceps, latissimus dorsi... [Oh oh oh][Facepalm and laughing] If his looks aren't enough, his physique will make up for it!

Fishbone was afraid you wouldn't understand this guy's sinister intention to take the girl to the martial arts arena, so he exposed him in the comments. [Sunglasses][Dog head emoji]