Chapter 402: A good official who truly stands at the bottom and cares for the people
In a dilapidated house in Xiacheng, the three brothers of the An family looked at their father An Zaixian thoughtfully.
An Jae-hyun was sitting in front of a square table with peeling paint, on which was placed an old book.
The cover of the book was worn and even had slight stains on it, and the pages were frayed.
This is the policy for governing the country that Ahn Jae-hyun spent most of his life revising many times based on what he had learned, seen, and thought throughout his life, and finally finalized.
An Houde, the eldest of the An family, looked at his father, then glanced at the book on the table, and said worriedly, "Dad, do you really want to present the state governance strategy you spent most of your life writing to the new emperor?"
Of course, he was not worried about his own safety, nor was he worried about his future. He was just worried that his father would suffer the same fate as before and that his father would not be able to withstand the blow again.
An Shunyi, the second oldest son of the An family, was just as worried as his eldest brother. "Dad, do you want us to find out more about the new emperor's style before making a decision?"
Only the third brother, An Yongwu, frowned and said nothing.
"Is there any need to ask?"
An Zaixian smoothed his graying beard and said, "The new emperor's benevolent policies and generous contributions to the people of Lingnan have long been known. Who doesn't know that she is a good emperor who serves the country and the people? I have waited for most of my life, and finally, I have seen an emperor who truly serves the country and the people. I cannot miss this opportunity."
"But..." An Houde wanted to say that those nobles have many ways to gain a good reputation.
What's more, Jiang was a woman who was able to capture the Xirong Palace in one night and, with thunder-like means, took down the entire Xirong army.
She also made a young war god like Lu Shiyan willing to serve behind her, allowing her, a woman, to take charge of state affairs and become the empress.
In An Houde's opinion, such a woman must be extraordinary. He didn't know how many of the rumors about her were true.
"Alright, I've made up my mind. You don't need to persuade me anymore." An Zaixian raised his hand to stop him from saying anything more. "If you brothers are worried about being implicated by me again, I will immediately write a letter to sever all ties with you brothers."
The brothers all knelt down.
An Houde said, "Dad! You must not say that. We are just worried about you."
An Shunyi also said, "Dad, please don't say that. We never blamed you for what happened back then. We are a family, and we must stand together."
"I will ask someone to find some connections right now and help Dad fulfill his wish and personally deliver the book to the new emperor."
An Yongwu is a man of action. After he finished speaking, he kowtowed to An Jae-hyun and strode out the door without caring whether his father agreed or not.
An Zaixian angered the emperor by presenting a book, and was demoted to be a county magistrate in the coldest part of the northwest. Although he was transferred later, he continued to serve as an official outside the capital until his health deteriorated two years ago, and he resigned and returned to the capital.
Although the An family's sons were not transferred out of the capital, they were still suppressed. The An brothers were only given insignificant official positions in Xiacheng.
However, although An Yongwu's official position was low, he had a wide circle of friends. Soon, a good friend was willing to risk his life to bring An Zaixian to see Jiang Tangtang.
His good friend was Li Mingshun, and he wasn't originally a member of the Imperial Guard. He joined the Imperial Guard after Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan conquered Xirong and reorganized the soldiers from various parts of Xiacheng.
Li Mingshun is a man of loyalty, but more importantly, after his observation, he feels that although Jiang Tangtang is a woman, she is indeed a good emperor.
More importantly, he felt it was an opportunity.
A good opportunity to stand out.
Everyone knew that the Western Rong had been destroyed, and this imperial palace was only temporary. These imperial guards were even more temporary.
If you want to be valued, you have to stand out, show your abilities, and be appreciated by your superiors.
If before he thought he was quite skilled and a bit conceited, now that conceit is completely gone.
These days he had been patrolling and training with the soldiers brought by the new emperor. After seeing their abilities, he felt like he was nothing.
Recommending An Zaixian to the new emperor is a risky move, but it is a good opportunity to attract the new emperor's attention.
Li Mingshun quickly found an opportunity, knelt in front of Jiang Tangtang, and explained An Zaixian's situation one by one.
Jiang Tangtang was recently worried about the problem of hiring. When she heard that someone had written a book based on his life experience, she immediately became very interested in the book.
Moreover, she was not an ancient person, and did not feel offended by being stopped by Li Mingshun on the road. She immediately asked the palace servants to summon An Zaixian into the palace.
That afternoon, Jiang Tangtang saw the old man who walked with a limp.
When he saw Jiang Tangtang, An Zaixian began to kneel down tremblingly.
Even though she had traveled back to ancient times for so long and was already accustomed to people kneeling and greeting her, Jiang Tangtang still felt uncomfortable seeing an old man, who was old enough to be her grandfather and in obviously poor health, kneeling before her. She immediately ordered the palace servants to give him a seat.
She glanced through the contents of the book and had to say that it was very down-to-earth.
It can be seen that the person who wrote this book is not only knowledgeable, but also has a deep understanding of the lives of the grassroots people.
And this is exactly the kind of official Jiang Tangtang wants.
Many officials have been in high positions for too long and no longer understand how ordinary people live. Their first consideration is not the needs of the people, but their own interests.
And An Zaixian is exactly what Jiang Tangtang has been looking for, a good official who truly considers the people and serves the country and the people.
However, Jiang Tangtang did not immediately give An Zaixian an official position. Instead, she kept the book and specially asked the palace servants to send rewards to the An family.
Taking An Jae-hyun's physical condition into consideration, the reward included not only the usual yellow and white foods, but also pills for conditioning the body.
After the palace servants who had delivered the reward had left, An Zaixian's wife, An Xu, wiped the tears from her eyes with her handkerchief and said, "Master, our family has finally waited for this day."
An Zaixian never thought that he could wait until today. In fact, he had given up hope when he submitted his resignation letter two years ago.
Although he had been firm in front of his sons before, he actually didn't dare to hold too high hopes in his heart.
At this moment, seeing the rewards sent by the new emperor, his eyes were red with excitement. However, his health was really not good. In his excessive excitement, his old illness came back and he started coughing violently.
An Xu was suddenly very anxious and didn't even have time to cry. She hurried to pat her husband's back to calm him down. The An family's sons and daughters-in-law were also busy, some pouring water and some looking for medicine.
But An Jae-hyun was in very poor health, and the medicine prescribed by the doctor was completely ineffective. Not only did it fail to stop his cough, but he even coughed up blood because of the severe coughing.
The An family was very anxious.
An Zaiyong was about to run outside to fetch a doctor, but An Xu suddenly remembered that there was a tonic among the gifts from the new emperor. She quickly ordered her son to take out the tonic and give it to her husband.
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