Chapter 494: Thousand Years of Fake History

Kong Ming naturally didn't know that he was being thought of.

He sighed and looked at the brief record in his hand, and a smile could not be suppressed.

Regardless of other things, this tofu method alone is enough to make the country prosperous, and it is a bit difficult to promote it alone.

And if you add all those various studies, how many things can be done?

It should be exciting to have Zi Jing's help, but now looking at the things that need to be done, Kong Ming feels more pressure.

"The Master said, 'The past is like this, day and night,' and I also feel it."

Kong Ming sighed in a low voice:

"My life is limited... If you want to understand the truth, the only way is to recruit talents through the imperial examination and promote education in the Imperial College."

Pang Tong, Fa Zheng and others also agreed in a low voice.

For them now, defeating Cao Cao is no longer the top priority. Being able to reproduce the prosperity of this thousand years later is what they want in their lives.

At least, the scene of the whole country celebrating for one night just now will probably be engraved in my mind for the rest of my life.

Liu Bei also comforted him:

"Don't worry, Kong Ming. Now the talents from Yongliang, Guanzhong and Hanzhong counties have all arrived in Chang'an."

"The first test will be held in ten days, and the virtuous and talented people will be used by Han."

Kong Ming also knew that he was anxious, so he bowed his hands and said nothing more.

After the restoration of the Three Qins, this imperial examination was planned for a long time. July and August should have been a good time, but the overly devastated Guanzhong disrupted this plan.

There was no venue, no food and clothing, and even the papermaking workshop had not yet been put on track. Moreover, the new farming method taught by the agricultural officials in various counties also required a lot of manpower, and the people who were busy farming naturally had no time to come to Chang'an to participate in the imperial examination.

In the end, the time was postponed again and again, and it was finally scheduled in early November.

Although it was a bit cold, considering that Lord Xuande subsidized part of the food and lodging, young and virtuous people from all over the country also expressed their interest.

Perhaps to boost the spirits of the military advisors, Liu Bei took the initiative to pour a bottle of wine, and his eyes swept across the faces of everyone in the room solemnly. Finally, he raised his glass to the light curtain and said:

"Yanhan can have a thousand-mile ambition, and it can start from the first step. Fortunately, you comrades should drink it."

This also made everyone suddenly realize that only four or five years ago, Cao thief led hundreds of thousands of troops to the south and seemed to want to complete his career in one battle.

As a result, the current situation is different now, and I am afraid that Cao's heart has long gone, which also makes people sigh.

So everyone raised their glasses together, and drank together with the grand scene that slowly dimmed on the light curtain.

The numerous fireworks gradually faded, and the voice and shadow of the young man reappeared in the light curtain.

[Generally speaking, after the New Year, there are only two things that we ordinary people pay the most attention to.

Those who are busy with their studies imagine how much New Year's money they will get, while those who have established a family and a career calculate how many days of vacation they have left.

We have just talked about New Year's money, so now we are naturally talking about vacations.

The vacations in the Han Dynasty were quite simple, and the practice was "five days of rest and one day of rest".

To put it bluntly, it means working for four days and resting for one day, so that you have time to rest and bathe.

Because the officials of the Han Dynasty implemented the boarding system, that is, eating, living and working in the government office, the five-day rest and one day of rest also gave ordinary petty officials a time to go home and reunite with relatives and friends.

In addition, there is a day off for the twelfth day of the twelfth month, the New Year, the winter solstice, the summer solstice, the three dog days, the Lantern Festival, etc., and there are about 80 days of vacation in a year, which is a long vacation without small vacations.

However, due to the productivity and entertainment conditions of the Han Dynasty, in fact, there is nothing fun in giving you a long vacation, and the overall situation is a state of continuous small vacations and no long vacations.

In the Tang Dynasty, with the improvement of productivity, officials became busier, the people's entertainment needs also increased, and the vacation system also changed.

The five-day rest in the Han Dynasty became "ten-day rest" in the Tang Dynasty. It seems that it is much more difficult than the Han Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty had the Golden Week.

There are seven days off for New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, and Qingming Festival, three days off for Mid-Autumn Festival and Summer Solstice, and one day off for small festivals such as Lantern Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival, etc.

In addition, depending on the distance of parents from the station, there are 15 to 35 days of home visit leave; children can take three days off when they become adults, and nine days off when they get married. There is also a half-month holiday in May called "field work" and a half-month holiday in September called "making winter clothes".

Even if you don't count the children's adulthood and marriage, the regular holidays in the Tang Dynasty are nearly 100 days a year, which can be said to be very humane. 】

Almost at the same time, Kong Ming and others turned their heads to Liu Bei uncontrollably.

Although they didn't say a word, the desire was clearly written on their faces.

Ma Chao blurted out his thoughts directly, so that everyone in the silent hall could hear clearly:

"The tofu method is difficult to learn, and the rest days should be imitated...ah, lord, I said this nonsense."

After realizing that no one in the hall was talking, Ma Chao hurried to make amends.

"Why did Mengqi say nonsense? This is very reasonable."

Liu Bei comforted him, and then explained:

"The Han Dynasty followed the pre-Qin Dynasty and set up official residences to order officials to take duty. The work has been quite chaotic until now."

Liu Bei shook his head as if he remembered the things when he was an official in the past, and sighed slightly:

"Combining rest days for celebration, this system is correct in the future, and it is quite...close to human nature."

"Why not wait until this year and try to adjust the rest days according to it."

The word "adjustment" is simple and easy to understand. Pang Tong immediately smiled and praised:

"My lord really has the style of a sage king."

This rather corny praise made Liu Bei laugh and cry, and he blushed in his heart.

After all, this is called a holiday adjustment, but according to the calculations of later generations, the difference in the rest time of the Han and Tang dynasties was only about ten days. Shortening the monthly rest and increasing the festival rest can make the military advisor report the favor. This is quite similar to the "three in the morning and four in the evening" of the sniper.

However... Liu Bei thought a little far-fetched for a while.

The sniper's three in the morning and four in the evening are often used to satirize this man's insincerity, but the adjustment of the holiday just mentioned does not mean this.

So the key point is close to human feelings?

[Holidays are also a point that we modern people talk about with great relish in the Song Dynasty.

The most typical one is the New Year in the Song Dynasty:

New Year's Day and Lantern Festival each have seven days off.

The seventh day of the first lunar month is the memorial day of Zhao Da's father, and the tenth day is the birthday of Zhao Da's mother, and they need to take three days off each.

In addition, the winter solstice in the Song Dynasty calendar is on the twenty-second or twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, and there is also a seven-day holiday.

These holidays alone can be combined to take a month off. In the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, because of the heavenly book induction, Song Zhenzong also added a Tianqing Festival for the descent of the heavenly book, which was set on the third day of the New Year and also took seven days off.

In this way, the holidays before and after the New Year came to an unprecedented 34 days.

In addition, the Song Dynasty inherited almost all the holidays of the Tang Dynasty. Not only did it not cut them, but it also extended the Cold Food Festival to seven days, and the Summer Solstice and the New Year's Day to three days. The total number of holidays in a year was about 120 days. If you count visiting relatives, weddings and funerals, etc., this number will only be longer.

In the Song Dynasty, the local situation was even simpler and cruder. Officials could perform the "sealing" ceremony on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, that is, sealing the official seal and going home for the New Year. This is also the original meaning of the word "sealing".

In contrast, as long as you rush back to your station on the 20th day of the first lunar month, you can perform the "opening seal" ceremony and open the office to work.

In terms of the holiday system, the ancient times went backwards earlier.

The Yuan Dynasty ruled by the Mongols divided people into four classes. Don't even think about human rights. The annual holiday was reduced to sixteen days, but it was extended in the later period. By the end of Kublai Khan's reign, it reached about seventy-six days, but it was still far inferior to the Tang and Song dynasties.

The Ming Dynasty overthrew the rule of the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty. Many people thought that the holidays should not be comparable to those of the Tang and Song dynasties, but at least they should not be worse than those of the Yuan Dynasty, right?

Unfortunately, Emperor Hongwu said: I didn't have classes when I was young, but you have classes now when you are young, so you should cherish them.

So Zhu Yuanzhang made a big move and increased the annual holiday from sixteen days in the Yuan Dynasty by two days, becoming eighteen days.

The holidays in the Ming Dynasty are more complicated to summarize, because thanks to the Hongwu Dynasty's skinning and straw-making methods and the later East-West Factory spy politics, the relationship between the emperor and his subjects in the Ming Dynasty was almost the worst in history, and welfare was naturally out of the question.

The worst welfare was when the Ming Dynasty was founded, with only three days of holidays for the Spring Festival, the Winter Solstice and Zhu Yuanzhang's birthday. Later, New Year's Day and Lantern Festival were gradually extended to a total of eighteen days.

After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, after constant struggle and additions and deletions, generally speaking, three days of monthly leave were added each month, and about 50 days of leave a year were available.

Of course, the above are all holidays for officials. For ordinary people, let alone holidays, they are basically in a state of "no work, no food".

If there is a prosperous era and no disaster, saving some surplus food and letting yourself rest for ten days or half a month during the New Year is already amazing.

From the Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, the economy and culture were basically in a state of increasing prosperity. Although the Ming Dynasty had a developed culture, it was still questionable whether it was advanced and prosperous.

From this point of view, the length of the holiday may be regarded as an indicator of whether the economy and culture of a dynasty are prosperous and relaxed.

As for our modern times, the situation is more complicated. After all, according to the law, we work five days and rest two days, and the total holiday in a year is about 115 days.

Although there may be various relationships such as adjusting holidays that may not reach this number, it is still better than the ancient people. 】

Li Shimin was a little envious of the Song Dynasty again...

Why can you celebrate for a month and celebrate the New Year without unification?

Is my military exploits unparalleled and my civil governance well-known? But on the New Year's Day, I have to hold a grand court meeting, make a grand display and offer sacrifices to the heavens, and I have to work all night long...

Is this what it means to be born in trouble and die in comfort?

No, no, no, Li Shimin shook his head in his heart. After all, let alone the special Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the number of holidays in the Ming Dynasty was only half of that in the Tang Dynasty. Isn't it still a lot of problems?

But thinking of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shimin had another logical question:

"Is peeling skin and stuffing straw the ritual for celebrating the New Year in the Ming Dynasty?"

This question caused the civil and military officials of Zhenguan to look at each other in bewilderment, and no one could answer.

Although Li Shimin had his own guess, he felt that this guess was too absurd. After all, although the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was captured, it was unheard of for a beggar to be the founder of the country. Moreover, judging from the prosperity of its culture, it was not much worse than that of the Song Dynasty. How could it be possible to do such a thing?

No one answered, so he skipped it. Li Shimin once again studied the prosperity of the Song Dynasty's rest and bathing system, and finally shook his head and felt that it had no reference value.

He could not learn from the Song Dynasty. He could not call on the world to celebrate in the name of the sacrifice of parents, nor could he fabricate a festival out of thin air just to let civil and military officials rest for three or five more days every year.

Wei Zheng followed Li Shimin's thinking and suggested:

"The rest days of the Tang Dynasty, as later generations call them, were not complete at the time of Zhenguan, so it is better to change them accordingly."

"In addition, if Your Majesty wants to add more rest days, it is better to celebrate the victory over the Turks or Tuyuhun, or to announce the success of the conquest of the Western Regions to the world and celebrate with the people's rest days."

A smile appeared on Li Shimin's face: "This is a very good idea."

So Wei Zheng sat down again with a stern face.

He could also see that the Tang Dynasty holidays mentioned by later generations were mostly finalized during the Kaiyuan period or when the prince Zhi became emperor.

Because at this time in Zhenguan, Yuan Zheng still had ten days of rest, which was longer than the seven days mentioned in later generations.

But correspondingly, there is no seven-day holiday during the Qingming Festival, and there is no family leave. Seeing it at this time can be said to be a pretty good reference direction.

However, after these matters were settled, Li Shimin re-read this part of the record, temporarily skipping the discussion about the relationship between the emperor and his ministers in the Ming Dynasty, and finally focused on the last part of the remarks. He pondered for a while and asked:

"What does this later generation mean when it is said that the law stipulates five days off and two days off...?"

At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this sentence, but if you think about it carefully, if Xiu Mu of the Tang Dynasty was also written in laws and edicts, what is the difference?

Du Ruhui could only guess:

"This statement may mean that the whole country enjoys this rest."

Du Ruhui's statement was not very clear, but it was an answer to Li Shimin's question, which made him slightly silent, and finally sighed:

"If the Qin Mirror can be carried out without delay, this will benefit the people and become the foundation for hundreds of generations."

"I don't know how to act accordingly."

Fang Xuanling breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, he was almost worried that if His Majesty waved his hand, future generations would have to learn from this.

To be honest, this method of resting with the people is indeed good, but it is completely impossible for today's Tang Dynasty.

The most basic thing is, what is the yield per mu of farmland in future generations? How much is the yield per mu of farmland in Datang today? They are totally incompatible.

Moreover, there are iron boxes running on the road that do not require mules and horses. They are probably more useful than horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts, and there is no comparison at all.

However, seeing the slightly disappointed look on His Majesty's face, Fang Xuanling thought for a while and found another way:

"If you want to show your kindness and improve people's livelihood, Your Majesty may start with official servants."

Li Shimin nodded thoughtfully. Of course he understood what Fang Xuanling said. This was also a somewhat difficult practical issue that Yan Lide had mentioned to him above.

Looking at the light curtain of future generations to this day, what can be seen from it is that not to mention future generations, I am afraid that the craftsmen of Song, Na and Ming are very important.

The most typical one is that the death of the Southern Song Dynasty was caused by the trebuchet made by the craftsmen?

Nowadays, in the Tang Dynasty, apart from a small number of craftsmen who served as general supervisors and young masters, most of the craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty were nothing more than apprentices, slaves and maids.

Among them, the prisoner is a prisoner. It's easy to say that this kind of person only needs to wait for the end of the sentence or to be rehabilitated.

As for those who work as official households, miscellaneous households, slaves or maids, it is a real low-level status and low-level industry, and it will be much more troublesome to reuse them.

After all, as we have seen before, Yan Liben's deeds were as high as that of a minister, but he still regarded painting as a lowly profession.

On this point, Yan Lide and Xuan Ling's opinions are indeed correct. If the Tang Dynasty wanted to conquer the Western Regions, split the Langjiao Prefecture, and benefit all the Japanese countries, it would require thousands of craftsmen.

How to achieve it depends on what he does.