Chapter 41 Assistant Teacher Ma
Xie Shufang was even more confused.
When Li Yuanji was instructing Qu Tutong to make a Tang Dynasty version of down jackets, he was standing by. When he was supervising the military craftsmen to forge iron plates, he also saw Qu Tutong's men doing needlework there.
But he didn't care too much.
Now Li Yuanji said that this thing was of great use and wanted to take credit for it, how could he not be confused.
"What are you still standing there for? Why don't you thank Your Highness for his generous gift?"
Qu Tutong shouted at Xie Shufang with envy on his face.
Qu Tutong didn't care how much credit he could get by presenting the Tang Dynasty version of down jacket, but once this thing spread throughout the world, the meaning it represented would be different.
From now on, if anyone wears the Tang Dynasty version of down jacket, it would be considered as receiving a favor from Xie Shufang.
Some people who managed to save their lives in the cold winter by wearing the Tang Dynasty version of down jackets would respectfully call Xie Shufang "Xie Gong" when they saw him.
Although Qu Tutong looked down upon that little achievement, he really wanted to be respectfully addressed as "Qu Tu Gong" by people all over the world.
Xie Shufang also reacted to Qu Tutong's shout. He lowered his head and said, "This dress was made by Qu Tugong under the instruction of His Highness. How dare I take advantage of it?"
Xie Shufang was not a shameless person, and he was not overwhelmed by the happiness that suddenly hit him on the head.
Li Yuanji glared at Xie Shufang and said unhappily, "Do you think I am lacking this merit, or General Qu Tu is lacking this merit?"
Xie Shufang was stunned.
Qu Tutong muttered in his heart, 'I don't mind this little bit of credit, but I miss the reputation behind it.'
Qu Tutong kept muttering, but he also knew that he was not Li Yuanji's man, and Li Yuanji would not give him the credit.
After a brief moment of shock, Xie Shufang understood the situation and said with a red face, "I really cannot shamelessly claim credit for your Highness's contribution."
Xie Shufang is a bit stubborn.
Otherwise, he would not have been evaluated by the people in history as "like serving a strict father".
Li Yuanji always wanted to give it to him, but he never had the time.
Li Yuanji glared at Xie Shufang and said, "Then just treat it as a military order."
Li Yuanji didn't have time to enlighten Xie Shufang.
Now is not the time to enlighten Xie Shufang.
Xie Shufang looked up at Li Yuanji in astonishment.
Li Yuanji asked, "Why? You don't want to follow military orders?"
Xie Shufang lowered his head with a bitter face.
Li Yuanji ignored Xie Shufang and turned his head to Qu Tutong: "Just report to the commander's tent in the name of Xie Shufang. I will report to my father."
Qu Tutong nodded in agreement.
Li Yuanji passed the credit to others privately, but Qu Tutong did not think there was anything wrong with it.
There was nothing wrong with Li Yuanji using his own merits to ask for rewards from his family and giving them to his subordinates.
He did not take credit for other people's achievements, nor did he cheat for rewards from other people.
Li Yuanji waved his hand and asked Xie Shufang to leave.
Qu Tutong said with a smile, "I didn't expect that there is such an upright person as Xie Shufang under your command."
If this were said in the Tang Dynasty, it would definitely be a compliment.
In later times, it would be used to insult someone for being pedantic and stubborn.
Li Yuanji was a man from the later generations, so he naturally felt uncomfortable when he heard this. "Why, do you think I don't deserve to have upright people under my command?"
Qu Tutong was stunned for a moment , and said with a smile: "I have absolutely no such intention."
If Li Yuanji had said this in the past, Qu Tutong would probably have dismounted and apologized.
But now, Li Yuanji had changed his mind, and Qu Tutong knew clearly that Li Yuanji was joking with him.
Later on the march, Li Yuanji often joked with Qu Tutong, and Qu Tutong became familiar with Li Yuanji and close to him .
The army left Hangu Pass and passed Hucheng.
When they arrived in Hongnong, they saw Han Liang urging the laborers to transport cartloads of grain to Luoyang.
Han Liang even went to Li Yuanji and asked Li Yuanji to seal several documents.
Although Li Yuanji handed over the task of supervising the transportation of grain and fodder to others, he did not ask about it again.
However, some necessary documents still needed Li Yuanji's seal.
Otherwise, you can leave Hongnong but cannot enter Taolin.
When Li Yuanji saw that Han Liang got the grain from Hongnong, he roughly guessed where the grain came from.
It is obviously the Hongnong Yang family.
Only the Yang family of Hongnong could provide grain when the granaries in Guozhou were empty.
"Miao Yan, there's something wrong with your mother's house."
Li Yuanji looked at the huge transport team that carried 20,000 shi of grain with a look of emotion.
Although both were son-in-law of the Hongnong Yang family, Li Shimin was the real son-in-law, while he was more like a fake.
Yang's daughter was just a lady in the Prince of Qin's mansion.
In the Prince Qi's Mansion, she is a princess.
Can't you tell who has a higher status?
Li Yuanji felt that he was looked down upon by the people of Hongnong Yang family, so he did not go to Hongnong Yang family to meet Yang Miaoyan's family members. Instead, he urged the army to set off quickly.
After the army passed Hongnong and entered Taolin, it reached the territory under the jurisdiction of Luoyang.
As soon as you enter the territory under the jurisdiction of Luoyang, the atmosphere of war is overwhelming.
On the official road there were soldiers and horses, civilians transporting food and fodder, and refugees fleeing from Hebei and other places.
When the refugees saw the army, they immediately hid far away. When they saw the food carts, they gathered together and moved closer.
Li Yuanji was not so kind as to allow the grain transport team to distribute the grain to the refugees.
All the food and fodder needed for this expedition was raised by Li Shimin himself. No one could say whether Li Shimin could raise enough.
If we rashly distribute food to refugees, causing the army to be short of food while fighting outside, it would cause great chaos.
However, Li Yuanji did not sit idly by. He ordered Xie Shufang to urgently summon the Taolin County Magistrate and instruct him to find a way to resettle the refugees.
When necessary, you can seek help from other nearby states and counties.
Li Yuanji had a bad reputation, so the Taolin County Magistrate naturally did not dare to disobey his orders and could only act in accordance with his orders.
However, the Taolin County Magistrate also told Li Yuanji that he could only resettle a portion of the refugees no matter how hard he tried, and how many he could save depended on God's will.
As for asking for help from nearby states and counties, he couldn't guarantee whether they would be willing to make sacrifices.
Li Yuanji also made a promise about this, saying that he would send officials here to supervise the matter later.
With officials from the Prince of Qi's palace supervising the operation, people from nearby prefectures and counties had to cooperate even if they did not want to.
Li Yuanji stayed in Taolin County for a day and then set off again with his army.
The closer we got to Luoyang, the more refugees we saw on the road, and the more soldiers and laborers were conscripted from all over the country.
The soldiers and civilians were in a hurry to travel, so they occupied the official road.
The refugees could only salute on both sides of the official road.
After being stared at by the refugees with numb eyes for a long time, Li Yuanji felt his scalp a little numb.
Li Yuanji had no way to give them food, nor could he keep them to find a way to accommodate them. He could only send out countless cavalry to put pressure on the local county government and order the county magistrate to take them in.
When passing through Mianchi, Li Yuanji ordered his soldiers to kill people for the first time.
The damn guy brought a group of women to select people from the refugee group.
Five pounds of bran for a little girl.
Those women looked at people like they were animals. They would check people's teeth and pinch their bones. Some of them would even take off people's clothes to see if they had any hidden diseases.
Once they see something they like, they will ask others to lower the price.
Five pounds of bran is the price for a young girl who has no hidden diseases and is of fairly good looks.
As soon as the little girl had a little problem, they immediately started to lower the price like crazy.
When Li Ji saw a man being cheated into selling his little girl for three catties of bran, he immediately ordered Xie Shufang to take people to chop the boy and the woman into pieces.
He also ordered a battalion under his command, with a hundred cavalrymen, to raid the houses behind the boys and the rooms behind the women.
Once we find out that there are big investors supporting it, we will copy them together.
The confiscated grain was used to help the victims, and at the same time, officials from local government offices were tasked with resettling the refugees.
After this incident, Li Yuanji relaxed and sent out his thousand cavalry to investigate the situation of refugees in various places and monitor the local government offices for resettlement of refugees.
If we find anyone trafficking in human beings or taking advantage of the situation to rob, we will confiscate everything we can.
Anyway, he had a bad reputation in the Tang Dynasty, so he was not afraid of the local wealthy families and clans spreading rumors about him or suing him.
If he wants to be a bad guy, then he will be the number one bad guy in the Tang Dynasty, and all other bad guys will have to crawl under his feet.
After sending out a thousand cavalrymen, there were fewer refugees on the road ahead.
Local governments heard the news and immediately began to disperse and resettle the refugees without waiting for this evil star to arrive.
Of course, it was inevitable to drive the refugees elsewhere to give Li Yuanji the illusion that they had already resettled the refugees.
After passing Xin'an, we will soon reach Luoyang.
Li Yuanji was stopped by someone.
A young man, two years older than him, thin and poorly dressed, but neither humble nor arrogant.
As soon as the young man appeared, he was immediately surrounded by Xie Shufang and his men.
The young man was surrounded by soldiers. He saluted Li Ji neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I am Ma Zhou, the assistant teacher of Bozhou, and I pay my respects to His Majesty the King of Qi."
An assistant teacher is a minor official. In the Tang Dynasty, each prefecture and county had one doctor of Confucian classics and two assistant teachers, who were responsible for teaching Confucian classics.
Li Yuanji was stunned.
He was just a small assistant teacher, whose rank was not as high as that of the captains in Prince Qi's Palace, so he was not worthy of his attention.
What moved him was the name of the teaching assistant.
Ma Zhou.
Is this Ma Zhou the same Ma Zhou in history?
Li Yuanji had doubts in his mind and recalled carefully.
Historically, Ma Zhou was indeed appointed as an assistant teacher in Bozhou during the Wude period.
However, he drank every day and did not take teaching seriously. He was reprimanded many times by the governor of Bozhou. Finally, he left and wandered between Caozhou and Bianzhou.
At present, Bozhou is occupied by Liu Heita, and the neighboring Weizhou is also occupied by Liu Heita. Caozhou and Bianzhou south of Weizhou will naturally be ravaged by the chaotic army.
It is understandable that Ma Zhou ended up in Xin'an.
This Ma Zhou is most likely the same Ma Zhou in history.
Such a person came to my door on his own initiative, so how could I refuse him?
Li Yuanji remained calm and waved to Xie Shufang.
Xie Shufang glared at Ma Zhou fiercely, then retreated to the side with his men.
Li Yuanji stared at Ma Zhou and asked, "Why are you blocking my way?"
Ma Zhou raised his head, looked at Li Yuanji, and said seriously: "Your Highness, do you know that while you are saving people, you are also harming them?"
