Chapter 335 The lesser of two evils
After Li You got up, Zhou Chuanxi's voice sounded outside the door. Since many people in Xiangzhou City were already infected with the plague, in order to ensure that in case, Zhou Chuanxi could only send his daughter, whom he could be sure of not being infected with the epidemic, to serve Li You, and wanted to serve Li You.
So Zhou Chuanxi's voice sounded outside the door, but Li You was different from other princes. Li You finally declined Zhou Chuanxi's kindness because Li You was not a waste, so he could still take care of himself.
After seeing that Zhou Chuanxi also got up, Li You began to discuss self-rescue with Zhou Chuanxi. Li You learned from the modern Zhao Lingling that in order to completely eliminate the epidemic, it is necessary to eliminate rats and fleas... Only by eliminating the source of the transmission can the epidemic be truly completed.
"Governor Zhou... Can you introduce the situation in Xiangzhou City to me now?"
Li You asked Zhou Chuanxi to sit down and then asked immediately.
Zhou Chuanxi did not hide anything. He was very familiar with the situation in Xiangzhou City at this time: "Your Highness, there are now 234,516 people in Xiangzhou City, and nearly 70% of them are infected with epidemics. Thousands die every day, and more people are infected with it, so the people were so excited last night."
"Yeah..." After hearing this, Li You's brows tightened slightly. The epidemic in Xiangzhou City was even more serious than he thought. Nearly 70% of people were infected with the disease. This is really a huge number.
Seeing Li You nodding slightly, Zhou Chuanxi on the side also said slowly: "Your Highness, you can live in Xiangzhou City. I thank you on behalf of all the people of Xiangzhou City, because if you don't live in, there will be no hope in Xiangzhou City. However, after entering Xiangzhou City, you'd better protect yourself. Any instructions you have can be passed to me through a note.
Then I will go to the office. This is the last time I will come here because I will be at the forefront and I don’t know when I will get infected with the disease...!"
Looking at Zhou Chuanxi's resolute look, Li You sighed in his heart. He was really a good official. You should know that the Tang Dynasty was during the Zhenguan period. This Zhenguan period was the best era in the Tang Dynasty. At this time, the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty was very righteous and most of the officials were relatively honest.
When Wei Zheng died, his family had no money... He used all the rewards he received to help the victims. The house where the Secretary of the Central Committee Ling Cen Wenben lived was small and wet, and his family was also poor.
Someone advised him to run a little industry, but he said, "I have no credit for it. I have become such a big official just because I can write articles. This has already made me worried. How can I still have the intention to run the industry?"
Shangshu Youpushe, a famous handsome man in history, also did not treat his property. When he died, his family could not even provide a more decent mourning venue.
The same is true for this Zhou governor. It is really touching that a governor can rush to the front line. Of course, everyone knows that wealth is only three generations. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, officials began to form cliques and make private interests, and there was a famous "club-making dispute". Corruption in the officialdom was inevitable, and there were also the ills of eunuchs' autocracy and separatist vassal states. Under various ill-fighting politics, the once prosperous Tang Dynasty gradually declined and eventually collapsed.
Why did it suddenly become like this? This matter starts with the change of the imperial examination system. As we all know, the Tang Dynasty selected talents through the imperial examination system. At that time, the imperial examination system was an advanced talent selection system. It broke the boundaries of family and gave channels for the lower-level scholars to rise. This was obviously much more progressive than the aristocratic system in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
But one problem arises. A large number of scholars were continuously selected through the imperial examination system, and their number was increasing. How could the government provide them with "employment opportunities"? If they were all allowed to be officials, where was the official position? If they were not allowed to be officials, then where was their employment field? Was they working in private enterprises? At that time, there were no private enterprises; did they become white-collar workers in foreign enterprises? At that time, there were no foreign enterprises.
The solution Li Shimin came up with was: founding "Chinese Studies" and vigorously developing education and cultural undertakings. On the one hand, this can solve the employment problems of scholars, and on the other hand, it can also improve the ideological and moral quality and cultural education level of the whole nation, and even "become the four sides" to "cultural export" to foreign countries.
It should be said that Li Shimin's idea was not good, and it also achieved results after implementation. "More than 8,000 people in Chinese studies" is a cultural event. More importantly, there are disciples sent by Goryeo, Baekje, Silla, Gaochang, and Tubo, and the "international response" is also very good. Unfortunately, the descendants of the Tang Dynasty did not follow Li Shimin's idea.
The cultural and educational undertakings were interrupted, but the imperial examinations were still ongoing, and scholars were still emerging, and there was only one channel for their employment: entering the officialdom.
The ability to accept employment in the officialdom was not strong, but now it has become more crowded. At this time, Wu Zetian wanted to cultivate her own power to attack Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and other old ministers, so she set up another institution to arrange her confidants.
New institutions are created and old institutions are not cancelled, thus opening up the gap for overlapping institutions. Overlapping institutions will inevitably increase the number of redundant personnel, and increasing the number of redundant personnel will inevitably be inefficient. More importantly, overlapping institutions and excessive redundant personnel will not only consume a lot of state funds, but will also easily cause factional struggles between officials.
They formed a party for personal gain, "the party is the same to fight against differences", and their political ideals and moral ethics are gradually fading in the midst of clinging and exorcising, while the corruption and extravagance are growing day by day. In the long run, how can the official atmosphere not be damaged?
Li You will have to face this matter in the future because this matter is very important. If you are not careful, Li You will not be able to control the destruction of the Tang Dynasty.
Looking at Zhou Chuanxi, Li You smiled faintly and said, "Governor Zhou, don't worry so much about me. This time I dare to live in your Xiangzhou, but I actually have a reliance on it. I have brought new drugs, new drugs that can treat epidemics.
However, the governor Zhou said that the number of new drugs was not large this time, so the king decided to divide the people in the city into three levels: mild, moderate and severe, and the patients with moderate symptoms were sent to medical camps outside the city for treatment.
All severe patients are concentrated in the north... collectively quarantined, and they can continue to be given decoctions, but new medicines cannot be given...!"
"Your Highness...that would be the case, they would definitely die...!" Zhou Chuanxi was moved.
Li You also sighed: "I know, but the governor of Zhou, I am just a human, I am not a god, I can only take the mildest of both evils...! There are only so many new drugs. If the severely ill patients are saved, then all the mild and moderate patients will not be able to save them.
so...!"
Before Li You finished speaking, Zhou Chuanxi nodded and said, "Your Highness, I know what to do. This news will be made by me... It has nothing to do with Your Highness..."
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Chapter completed!