Gaia Year 2, December 2, Tianjing City.
This was Ouyang Shuo's third day in Tianjing City. The atmosphere in the city had changed.
The demolition site of the Emperor Palace was in full swing. The precious wood was piled up like a mountain in the square in front of the Emperor Palace.
In the square, groups of people gradually appeared to inspect the goods.
Even the aristocrats and merchants of Xun Zhou County and Zhen 'an County, who were even further away, rushed to Tianjing City after hearing the news, to participate in this grand auction.
Ouyang Shuo immediately ordered the Department of Commerce to select some of Hong Xiuquan's personal items from the dozens of carriages of property to participate in the auction.
"Remember, only select those private and worthless items for auction."
Ouyang Shuo instructed the official of the Department of Commerce.
"Yes, sir!"
"Also, set the price higher and advertise more enthusiastically."
"Yes, sir!"
The official of the Department of Commerce carefully agreed while secretly wiping his cold sweat. He had a more direct understanding of the Marquis's shrewdness and meticulousness.
Of course, in the words of Cui Yingyou, the director of finance, he was black-hearted and greedy. He was only a low-level official of the Department of Commerce and did not dare to be as domineering as Director Cui.
On the other side, in the military camp in the west of the city, there was also a busy scene. The one hundred thousand Taiping soldiers were taking the time to pack their luggage. Tomorrow, they would embark on a journey to the designated location to be reorganized.
As for some undercurrents in the military, they had calmed down after Ouyang Shuo threw out the bait.
The only accident was that last night, Lin Qirong, the garrison general of the local troops, got drunk in a restaurant and went to a brothel alone to have fun.
Because he was drunk, Lin Qirong 'accidentally' fell into a river in the city and unfortunately died. It was not until the next morning that the street cleaners found Lin Qirong's body floating on the water and immediately reported it to the government.
The coroner of the yamen said that Lin Qirong had drowned and the possibility of homicide was ruled out.
Thus, the matter was left unsettled.
When Ceng Tianyang received the news, although he felt that something was wrong, he had no way to verify it. After all, Lin Qirong was indeed an alcoholic. According to the confession of his subordinates, they did drink together last night.
After the banquet, Lin Qirong abandoned his subordinates and left alone. Later, they received the news that he had drowned.
In the end, Ceng Tianyang could only attribute it to a coincidence.
"How absurd!"
Ceng Tianyang felt very indignant about Lin Qirong's disappointing performance.
How could Ceng Tianyang not be angry that he had lost an ally for no reason? What made Ceng Tianyang even angrier was that he went to test Shi Zhenji again last night.
This time, Shi Zhenji actually directly refused, causing Ceng Tianyang to be dumbfounded.
"Cruel and unscrupulous!"
From Ceng Tianyang's point of view, Shi Zhenji's refusal was a betrayal to the Heavenly Kings.
As Ceng Tianyang cursed Shi Zhenji, his fear of the Marquis deepened. Just a simple meeting had changed Shi Zhenji's position. How could Ceng Tianyang not be shocked?
"Unfortunately, I already have no way out. In this life, I will definitely not let down the Heavenly King's kindness."
Ceng Tianyang was alone, sighing to the air. His expression was strangely lonely.
Perhaps, every "bad guy" had a past that no one knew about. Actually, from another perspective, in Hong Xiuquan's eyes, wasn't Ceng Tianyang the most loyal and reliable official?
Often, when one's standpoint was different, the evaluation of a person would also go to two extremes.
Lin Fengxiang's mansion, Ouyang Shuo's study.
After dealing with the two thorny problems of the Heavenly King Palace and the Taiping Army, Ouyang Shuo finally had time to inspect and meet with the civil officials of Tianjing City.
Among them, the one that Ouyang Shuo valued the most was naturally Su Zhe.
Compared to his brother Su Shi's boldness, Su Zhe was calm, reserved, and calm. It was this personality that allowed Su Zhe to go further than his brother Su Shi in the officialdom.
Of course, deep down, the two brothers had something in common.
The great writer Su Shi had once said this about his younger brother.
"Zi You's literature is better than that of a servant, but the common people don't know and think that he is inferior. He is deep and doesn't want others to know. His literature is like his person. He is calm in the vast ocean and has the sound of one song and three sighs. In the end, his outstanding spirit cannot be lost. "
From this, it could be seen that Su Zhe was low-key and reserved.
Su Zhe's knowledge was deeply influenced by his father and brother. He was famous for his prose and was especially good at politics and history. It was this specialty that caught the attention of Wang Anshi, who was the Prime Minister at that time and wholeheartedly wanted to carry out the reform. He was transferred to the Department of Regulations of the three departments.
Su Zhe had a deep understanding of the Green Seedling Law and other reforms that Wang Anshi implemented. Unfortunately, Su Zhe's theory was contrary to the ambitious Wang Anshi's thoughts at that time and went against the reform.
Not long after, Su Zhe was banished from the capital because of his disagreement with Wang Anshi. His road to officialdom was bumpy.
It was not until Song Shenzong died and Song Zhezong ascended the throne that Empress Dowager Xuan Ren took charge of politics and wanted to abolish the new law during Wang Anshi's time that Su Zhe was put in an important position again. In the end, he was promoted all the way to the Prime Minister.
After that, Song Zhezong took charge and the New Law Faction gained power again. Correspondingly, Su Zhe, who belonged to the faction that supported abolishing the new law, was naturally banished. From then on, there was no chance for him to recover.
From Su Zhe's life experience in officialdom, it could be seen that there were frequent party struggles during the Northern Song Dynasty.
Because of the Song Dynasty's bureaucratic system, the status of the literati in the Song Dynasty was higher. It was the golden age of the ancient intellectuals in China. They actively participated in political life.
The political characteristics of the Northern Song Dynasty were mainly weak and poor, and frequent party struggles were the main characteristics.
Ever since Fan Zhongyan, the famous literati in the Northern Song Dynasty, without exception, were drawn into the whirlpool of party struggles. Personal desires affected and determined their fates. It also deeply affected their literary creation.
Su Zhe and Su Su were naturally unable to stay out of it.
Perhaps it was because they were deeply poisoned by the party struggles that after appearing in the wilderness, Su Zhe kept a respectful distance from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's party struggles. He had always maintained a neutral position between the Heavenly Kings and the other factions, handling government affairs in a low-key manner.
Even during the contest between Shi Dakai and Yang Xiuqing, as the head of the Heavenly Kingdom's civil officials, Su Zhe had always maintained his silence. Ouyang Shuo entered Tianjing City, and Su Zhe simply shut himself in.
Until one morning, Su Zhe was personally summoned by Ouyang Shuo.
Previously, when he delineated the three governors of Xunzhou County, Ouyang Shuo did not consider Su Zhe. It wasn't that Ouyang Shuo was biased against Su Zhe, or that he doubted Su Zhe's ability.
In fact, with Su Zhe's ability as the Song Dynasty's Prime Minister, there was nothing wrong with him governing a county. Moreover, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the bureaucratic system was already extremely complete, and the training of officials was even more important.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the yamen's affairs were complicated, and the requirements for officials' ability were even higher. Therefore, compared to Bao Shuya and the other civil officials during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, Su Zhe's ability was not inferior.
In fact, as early as when he found out that Su Zhe was an official in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Ouyang Shuo had thought of a position that was most suitable for Su Zhe. That was the position of the director of the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security under the administrative office.
Following Fan Zhongyan's transfer to Wuzhou County, Xiao He became the director of the administrative office. The Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security, which had previously been held by Xiao He, was still managed by Xiao He.
Among the four major offices, the administrative office had always had a heavy workload.
For Xiao He, it was extremely inconvenient for him to have multiple responsibilities. Xiao He had always used official letters to request the Marquis to quickly decide on a new director of the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security.
The problem was, the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security was actually related to the foundation of the revolution in Ouyang Shuo's territory in the coming year. It was of great importance, so how could Ouyang Shuo hastily decide on a candidate for the head of the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security?
Su Zhe, who was both a writer and a prime minister, had a long history of learning, and was an upright person, so he naturally entered Ouyang Shuo's vision. He was a suitable candidate for the director of the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security.
Other than this, the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security served the basic public business. It had nothing to do with party struggles, yet it urgently needed someone with insight to lead it. It was extremely compatible with Su Zhe's nature.
It was because of this that Ouyang Shuo had the confidence to convince Su Zhe to once again come out of retirement.
Ouyang Shuo had chosen to summon Su Zhe in the study instead of the main hall. This was also an expression of closeness.
The meeting between the two could be said to be uneventful.
For Su Zhe, the title of Marquis did not have much of a concept. The reason Shanhai City was able to attract Su Zhe was because of Fan Zhongyan's existence.
In the Northern Song, regardless of whether it was in officialdom or in the literary world, Duke Fan had a special status. For Su Zhe, the fact that the Marquis could obtain Duke Fan's loyalty was a great recognition in itself.
Especially after listening to the Marquis's introduction of the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security, Su Zhe's emotions, which had just calmed down, were once again stirred. As long as a scholar was born in the Northern Song, there was no one who did not want to join the officialdom.
For them, being an official was not to enjoy glory, splendor, and wealth, but to serve the people and display what they had learned.
Just as Duke Fan had said in The Story of Yueyang Tower, "Worry about the worries of the world first, and enjoy the joys of the world later."
This sentence was the most vivid portrayal of the Northern Song scholars who cared about the fate of the country and the suffering of the people. They were willing to worry about the future and fate of the country, and they were willing to work for the people.
Naturally, Su Zhe was no exception.
For Su Zhe, being able to take charge of the Department of Science, Education, Culture, and Public Security was an opportunity to serve the people.
"Your humble servant pays his respects to the Marquis!"
At this moment, Su Zhe officially pledged his loyalty to Ouyang Shuo.
[Name]: Su Zhe (King Level)
[Title]: One of the Eight Great Families of the Tang and Song Dynasties
[Dynasty]: Northern Song
[Identity]: Official of Shanhai City
[Occupation]: Official
[Loyalty]: 70 points
[Commander]: 35 [Force]: 25 [Intelligence]: 75 [Politics]: 80
[Specialty]: Wen Ding (Increase the territory's administrative efficiency by 15, increase the territory's cultural index by 5, increase the territory's incorruptibility by 15)
[Evaluation]: Su Zhe, courtesy name Ziyou, Northern Song writer, Prime Minister. This official has great talent and is well-versed in Confucianism. He is quick to work but careful with his words. He is determined to follow the Dao but complements it with skills. I have long heard of his actions, and he has gained great reputation among scholars. In the Cantonese, he has admonished the walls, and advanced his words. In the Tang Dynasty, he has enlightened many people. In the Wang You, he has blown ten thousand misfortunes.
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