Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 93: The Emperor's Mindset... and Poetry
"Great! You are worthy of being Grand Master Ge's last disciple. Even the little fat boy from the Lu family has made such progress after being influenced by you for so long!"
The emperor clapped his hands in admiration, then looked at the servant who had come forward and stated his conclusion in a nonchalant tone.
"If you follow Zhang Shou's method and confirm that the plaque is not hollow, then you have falsely accused your superiors and have ulterior motives. You should be executed for your crimes. If you follow his method and confirm that the plaque is indeed hollow, then you have known about it for a long time but did not report it. You should be punished for your crimes and beheaded for your disrespect!"
Zhang Shou didn't expect the emperor to make such a sudden decision. He was stunned at first, but then he agreed and admired it in his heart.
This kind of behavior of taking advantage of the emperor's presence to report superiors' violations of law is absolutely not worth promoting!
Although Zhou Xun was a high-ranking official, he was only the chief academic officer of the Imperial College and could not cover up everything in the entire capital. If one really discovered that his behavior was unusual, there were various ways and means to report it. But this person chose to jump out today, which meant he had ulterior motives!
After the emperor's tone was not very sharp, but the meaning was very clear, the servant could no longer maintain his stubborn kneeling posture and instantly collapsed to the ground. The next moment, he finally raised his head again and shouted in despair: "It was Zhang Shou, it was Zhang Shou who ordered me..."
Before he could finish the next word, Ah Liu, who had been as quiet as a virgin just now, suddenly moved like a rabbit, rushed behind the man, and knocked him to the ground with a knife. When he turned around, he looked at the emperor with an innocent : "I'm afraid he has a hidden weapon."
Zhang Shou's expression was even more innocent than Ah Liu's. He didn't even know who this guy was, so what was he doing to ordering him around?
I didn’t even know Zhou Xun, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, before!
Before Zhang Shou could even think of how to defend himself, Zhu Ying rushed forward angrily, "Your Majesty, this guy is slandering me!"
"If I didn't know that he was slandering me, would I have sentenced him like this?" The emperor was both angry and amused. He shook his head and glanced at Zhang Shou. Then he looked at Zhu Ying and said, "You have good taste. Zhang Shou is calm and composed, quick-witted, and a talented person. Remember to bring him to the palace for the empress dowager to see, so that she won't think you are too willful to get married!"
Without waiting for the angry Zhu Ying to explode, Chu Kuan gestured to the guards to rush forward and drag away the servant who was knocked unconscious by Ah Liu. He did not even search his body to look for the possible murder weapon that Ah Liu mentioned.
Zhang Shou bowed deeply and said, "I am ashamed to accept your praise, Your Majesty. However, the claim that the Grand Secretary knew that the inscription contained a secret scroll and therefore wanted to find out the secret and even take it out is completely absurd. Regardless of whether the inscription is really hollow or not, I think that as a senior in the literary world, the Grand Secretary would not do such a thing. Please be clear about it, Your Majesty."
"Oh." The emperor looked at Zhou Xun, who seemed to be in a dream and in a trance, with a half-smile, and pursed his lips, "Go and help him up."
Seeing Zhang Shou immediately stepped forward and helped the man up, he smiled.
"As the Grand Secretary of the Northern Academy, is it necessary for you to hang around the Imperial College storehouse every day, resulting in a case of false accusation by a petty official? You are not the only one who likes the calligraphy of Emperor Taizu. Tell me, it is not impossible for me to allow you to copy the original works in the General Collection of Ancient and Modern Art. Why do you have to do that?" Seeing Zhou Xun finally raised his head, his eyes were full of surprise, shame, and gratitude... In short, they were extremely complicated, and the emperor laughed again.
"You are just a treacherous person who talks nonsense. I will not punish you for your words. This matter ends here. But the disuse of the Jiuzhang Hall is due to your negligence. You will be fined half a year's salary. From today on, the Jiuzhang Hall will be renovated, and you must also hang up the plaque of Taizu for me!"
If it weren't for Zhang Shou's strong support, Zhou Xun would have stumbled and almost fallen to the ground. It took him a long while to calm down, and he said in a difficult voice: "I know my crime, and I will do it immediately."
"As long as you know."
The emperor turned around and looked at the group of dandies. Seeing that many of them still had mixed emotions on their faces, it was obvious that the drama just now had a great impact on them, so he smiled and said, "Well, it's better to choose a place than a place to go. Let's have a banquet to reward you right here at the entrance of Jiuzhang Hall! A prodigal son who returns is worth more than gold. Don't live up to the reputation of your disciples of the Ge Sect, otherwise I, the direct disciple of Grand Master Ge, will not forgive you!"
At this moment, a large group of people suddenly woke up as if from a dream and hurriedly responded.
With the emperor's warning, Zhang Shou thought that these students who were cheating their teacher might be easier to teach in the future, and he felt a lot more relaxed without realizing it.
Until this time, Luo Siye, who had just witnessed the series of changes, hurriedly led people forward, took over from Zhang Shou to support the staggering Zhou Xun, and then ordered the trembling servants to prepare tables and chairs. When he saw the group of young men surrounding the emperor and trying their best to show their courtesy, he had no intention of going forward, and simply supported Zhou Xun and carefully moved back.
After he had stepped far enough away, he whispered, "Da Sicheng, I was so scared just now that I lost my soul. I'm really sorry that I couldn't come out and say a fair word to you."
"Don't mention you. I myself almost thought that I was obsessed with the Jiuzhangtang plaque written by Taizu because I knew that Taizu's handwriting was hidden in it." Zhou Xun raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and then whispered, "Tell me, why did the emperor only ask Zhang Shou how to identify it, but didn't really identify it?"
Luo Siye was speechless. The emperor's mind is hard to predict, not to mention that the current emperor is famous for his willfulness. How can I guess what he is thinking?
Zhou Xun asked casually, and when he found that Luo Siye remained silent, he whispered, "I never thought that Zhang Shou would not only come up with a practical solution, but would also speak a fair word for me. The person who reported me was an old man who had worked diligently in the Imperial College for many years, and he even accused Zhang Shou in front of the emperor... It's really hateful!"
Zhang Shou didn't pay attention to what the unfortunate chief and deputy officials of the Imperial College were talking about, because the guards accompanying the emperor had set up seats in front of the Jiuzhang Hall as quickly as possible, and his seat was at the lower left of the emperor.
Because other academic officials with higher positions than him were either like Zhou Xun and Luo Yi, who were frightened birds, or were still teaching diligently in the six classrooms. In addition, the emperor came roaring in without a single official accompanying him, and he actually sat in the chief seat!
As for Zhu Ying... the eldest lady first poured wine for the emperor with a smile, and then was ordered by the emperor to pour wine for the "warriors" with a wave of his hand. At this moment, various sounds of apologetic smiles and cries of pain could be heard from below. It was obvious that Zhu Ying was venting her anger.
Because he had not expected to face the emperor today, Zhang Shou had ridden all afternoon yesterday and cleaned the Jiuzhang Hall all night, so he was already feeling sleepy. Fortunately, Ah Liu wet a soft towel with cold well water and handed it to him quietly. He wiped his face to wake up his mind and managed to hold on.
However, the emperor could not stop him from ordering Zhu Ying to personally persuade him to drink. The eldest lady poured him glass after glass with a smile. When three rounds of wine had passed and the emperor ordered everyone to recite Taizu's poems in front of Jiuzhang Hall, he was already a little dazed.
But then he woke up with a start...what kind of poetry were those!
The country is so beautiful that it has attracted countless heroes to bow down... All the past is gone, and the heroes of today are still to be seen!
Taizu copied Taizu's imperial poem... It is said that it was written when Emperor Taizu was about to unify the world...
The vitality of the nine states depends on wind and thunder, and it is a pity that all the horses are silent. I advise the God to shake himself up and send down talents in all kinds of ways.
Is this Gong Zizhen's "Miscellaneous Poems of Ji Hai"? Emperor Taizu, you actually wrote this poem seven or eight years after you ascended the throne. Isn't this inappropriate? Could it be that the government was already in turmoil at that time, and the founding emperor was so emotional? By the way, Taizu's reign was not long, and he abdicated very early to let Taizong ascend the throne...
If life could only be like the first encounter, why would the autumn wind make the fan sad... The emperor actually said that this was "accidentally" painted by Emperor Taizu under a large tree with a canopy of leaves after offering sacrifices to Queen Han, and was secretly memorized by people around him and recorded in the daily records...
Fortunately, I don’t plan to make a living by copying poems. You have copied almost all the famous poems that can be copied!
