Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 94: Gentle Bamboo Gentleman
Zhang Shou, who had drunk a few more cups, fell asleep at his desk amidst the many well-known poems and songs. In his daze, he even heard the cheers and clinking of glasses from the nobles, the emperor's promise of some official position, and Zhu Ying's clear and pleasant laughter. But soon, even these sounds gradually disappeared from his ears.
It was not until he felt a sharp pain on his forehead that he suddenly woke up. When he looked again, he was no longer at the open-air banquet, but lying on a soft couch in a room.
He supported himself and sat up, looking around blankly, and after a while he looked away again, looking at the old man in front of him who was glaring at him with some surprise.
"Teacher? I seemed to be in the Imperial College before, and I even met the emperor... Am I dreaming?"
"What kind of dream is that? A daydream!" Ge Yong poked Zhang Shou's forehead twice with his index and middle fingers in anger. Seeing that he was still in a daze with his hands covering his forehead, he said unhappily, "You, the emperor specially held a celebration banquet for you in the Imperial College, but you, after three rounds of drinking, snored and slept like a log!"
Zhang Shou immediately said embarrassedly: "I didn't sleep a wink last night, so I fell asleep without noticing."
Ge Yong was speechless. He pulled his beard in annoyance, and then asked with a sullen face: "Yingying told me when she sent you here that you said in front of the emperor that on the night of August 14, everyone worked together and wiped out the 20 or 30 rebel troops in the Linhai camp. I want to ask you, is what you said true or false?"
"Fake." Zhang Shou blurted out these two words very straightforwardly.
Seeing that Ge Yong was immediately furious, he said sincerely: "Teacher, I know this is a crime of deceiving the emperor, but I said so at that time, Yingying agreed with me, so I knew that she should have said the same thing before. It's not that I want to share the credit with others. To be fair, except for Zhang Chen, although these people are noble, most of them are just children who are not valued at home."
"They usually go to the horse and horse arena, fight cocks and walk dogs. They are not doing their jobs and have no knowledge. If they continue like this, they may become a waste of food in the future, and they may even cause a disaster. But since they were able to stay in Cuiyunjian and even bite the bullet to learn arithmetic, even if they are not as talented as Lu Sanlang, they can still be saved in the end."
"In this case, using some merit to motivate them to make progress and using the emperor's affirmation and praise to exchange for their return should be effective. For a commoner , a prodigal son who returns only saves himself and his family. But for a nobleman, a prodigal son who returns not only saves himself and restores his family's reputation, but may also benefit more people, because if they do evil, they will bring disaster to the area, and if they do good, they will bring benefits to the area."
"Of course, I know that even if this is done with good intentions, it is actually wrong. So I want to write a letter of apology. Teacher, can you help me present it to the emperor?"
As soon as Zhang Shou finished speaking, he heard a noise. He turned his head and saw the curtain being lifted high, revealing a face he had never expected. After the initial shock, he didn't know what to say. He could only slip on bed. He smiled bitterly and bowed to apologize, saying, "I never thought that the emperor would actually eavesdrop."
"Well, after hearing your honest words, I think it's not bad to eavesdrop."
The emperor saw his former teacher Ge Yong looking at him with unfriendly eyes, clearly blaming him for not coming out when he had planned to, but he just pretended not to see it. He walked out of the door as if nothing had happened, and then looked at Zhang Shou with a smile.
"I saw you were sleeping soundly before, and I thought that since Jiuzhang Hall had not been repaired yet, I couldn't let you stay there any longer, so I simply asked someone to take you to the Ge Mansion in a carriage. You are so bold that you actually played tricks in front of me before. Didn't you think that Hua Qi would report the truth?"
"Of course I have."
Zhang Shou had completely recovered from his sleepy state and said bluntly, "But I was holding on to a glimmer of hope, so I wanted to try to see if the emperor would not expose my lies and bet on whether Yingying would say the same thing. I thought that those people might not need real money or even official rewards. Maybe they would be satisfied with just a word of praise from the emperor."
"You are young, but you have a lot of ideas, but they are good! No wonder you didn't just stand by and watch when faced with that sudden situation in front of Jiuzhang Hall, but instead suddenly came up with an idea. Otherwise, if I really got impulsive and ordered people to split the plaque written by Taizu, but couldn't find the so-called secret scroll, it would be useless even if I was so angry that I killed someone."
Zhang Shou laughed dryly: "I remember that when the emperor faced the person who turned himself in, he was calm and composed, and he dealt with the matter fairly. How could it be like this?"
"That's not necessarily true. What you saw might be what I want you to think."
The emperor smiled and said to Ge Yong, "Teacher, I ran out without a formal procession. There must be a lot of people waiting to advise me . I will go back first. Zhang Shou's good idea today to guess that Taizu's plaque is hidden in the secret scroll may make Zhou Xun and Luo Yi treat him better in the future. Please help me test whether it is feasible. If it is feasible, come back and try it."
"Although there is a room full of Taizu , and there are no secret scrolls, I am still a little curious. By the way, don't forget that thing, teacher."
Seeing the emperor blinking at him vigorously and looking as if the matter needed to be kept secret, Ge Yong, who was originally planning to drag Zhang Shou to discuss the matter, could only sigh and then said rudely: "I know, I know. You are an emperor who is busy with all kinds of affairs. Go back quickly and don't make the empress dowager come to me to ask for her!"
Seeing the emperor chuckled and turned to leave, Zhang Shou couldn't help but shouted, "The emperor said before that if Zhou Dasicheng begged, he could be allowed to enter the palace to copy the handwriting of Emperor Taizu? Then..."
Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, the emperor said without even turning his head, "You want to see it too? Sure, wait until you have accomplished something great that no one can dispute. Otherwise, I don't care, but those ministers will annoy you to death! Work hard, many people are curious about you, the gentle and kind gentleman that Yingying is promoting everywhere!"
When he left the room, the emperor saw Ah Liu standing in the courtyard with two young men, clearly Zhang Shou's two students. When they saw him coming out, the three of them hurriedly saluted him. He just laughed and strode away after several guards came forward to protect him. However, he didn't stop caring until he left Ge's house and got on his horse.
It has been sixteen years, and the children who were born after the shocking incident in the temple have all grown up this big!
Hey, when he was in power in the eighth year of Yongchen, he was only Zhang Shou's age. What was he doing at that time? It seems that he wanted to purge all the civil and military officials in the court and replace them with people he liked, so that the empress dowager could see his great talent and strategy? Then he caused a series of messy disasters, and the empress dowager was almost so angry that she beat him to death...
From this point of view, Zhang Shou can indeed be regarded as a gentle gentleman...
Is it really as Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing said, that children who grow up in the countryside are more resilient?
His eldest and second princes are almost screwed, and as for the third and fourth princes who are just beginning to be enlightened, it is still unclear whether they are good or bad... Should he throw them into the countryside or the army to hone their skills?
I think back then that Emperor Taizu almost established such a civilian military training system for his sons and grandsons!
By the way, the battle between Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing and Zhao Guogong has dragged on for so long, it should have a result...
After much thought, the emperor finally jumped on his horse and galloped away down the long street, surrounded by hundreds of cavalrymen.
