Chapter 22 Gu Tingye's Talent
"Mother, I am still young." Zhao Xing said with a bitter face.
As a man, you must have fantasized about having three wives and four concubines with a lot of beautiful women.
What's more, he is still a prince now, and will soon become a crown prince, and will become the emperor in the future.
Moreover, he is the only son and has few women. Not to mention his father, even the ministers in the court would not agree.
But he is still young, and it is useless to arrange so many things for him.
"I'm not asking you to marry them in now. If there are any you like, choose them first, and then marry them in after the main wife comes into the family." Queen Cao said.
"Forget it. I am still young. If I decide on so many candidates for concubines, it will have a bad impact if it gets out. Moreover, these people are all nobles and high-ranking officials. If they become in-laws, it will not be a good thing." Zhao Xing shook his head.
"It is a blessing for the Song Dynasty that Fu'er can have such an idea. But the emperor has only you as a son. You not only shoulder the responsibility of the country, but also have to expand the royal family." Queen Cao said.
"Mother, I understand. But if I were to take a concubine, it would be better to choose one from a family with a lower official position and social status." Zhao Xing said.
The empresses of the Song Dynasty were selected from among the nobles. In addition to appeasing the nobles, another purpose was to prevent the external relatives from becoming too powerful.
Although nobles are not equal to generals, if they are to be employed, they can only be placed in the army.
The Song Dynasty was very cautious about its military commanders and was not worried about the Queen's family becoming too powerful.
Although a concubine is not the queen, if her family is too powerful, they will inevitably have other thoughts when they give birth to a prince in the future.
Moreover, his power and family background are too high, how can he be promoted to a high position?
Zhao Xing knew that he couldn't have only one woman, but he wanted to choose concubines from families with low official positions.
Such people have shallow roots, and even if they are promoted to high positions, they still rely on him.
Without him, there is nothing.
"Since you don't want to, forget it. I'll help you choose from families of lower status later."
Queen Cao thought about it carefully and felt that what Zhao Xing said made sense.
"Okay, mother, please take care of it." Zhao Xing said.
As for those from low social status, even if she doesn't like them, it doesn't matter. Let Empress Cao do whatever she wants.
"I remember that the Hai family has a legitimate daughter who is about your age. I heard that she is also good-looking and well-educated. The Hai family is noble, so it would be fine to give her a position as a concubine." Queen Cao said.
"Mother, the Hai family can't do that."
Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "The Hai family has five Hanlin scholars. Although they are noble, they have many students and former officials. We cannot allow the daughter of the Hai family to enter the palace."
Hai Chaoyun is indeed good, but Zhao Xing does not intend to accept him.
The main reason was that the Hai family had too much influence among the civil servants. No matter how loyal he was, he could not allow the Hai family to become his in-laws again.
Many people may not understand the Hanlin Academy and only think that it is a noble place with no power.
Indeed, the officials of the Hanlin Academy did not have much power, or even none at all.
Simply put, the Hanlin Academy is the emperor's personal secretary and think tank.
All official positions in the Hanlin Academy serve the emperor alone.
In addition to giving advice to the government and drafting imperial edicts, he was also responsible for serving as an examiner for the imperial examinations.
They don't have much actual power, but their influence is considerable.
But the officials of the Hanlin Academy do not stay in the Hanlin Academy forever.
There has always been a saying circulating in the officialdom that only those who have passed the Jinshi examination can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only those who have passed the Hanlin Academy can become prime ministers.
As mentioned earlier, "Xianggong" does not only refer to the prime minister. All civil officials above the third rank in the court can be called Xianggong.
In other words, if you want to be promoted to the third rank or above, you must have experience in the Hanlin Academy. The Hai family has five Hanlins, which does not mean that there are five people in the Hai family serving in the Hanlin Academy at the same time. This saying is similar to the saying that Yuan Shao often said during the Three Kingdoms period that there are three officials in four generations.
This means that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, five members of the Hai family have served in the Hanlin Academy.
Excluding Hai Wenyuan who is still in the Hanlin Academy, the four previous members of the Hai family who served in the Hanlin Academy have already produced one prime minister and two ministers.
The status of the Hai family among the civil servants is unmatched in the entire Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was originally dominated by civil officials. Given the status of the Hai family, if they could become foreign relatives, their influence would be even greater.
Zhao Xing even suspected that in the original drama, the Hai family married their daughter to Sheng Changbai not only because they valued Sheng Changbai as a person, but also because they were afraid of arousing the emperor's suspicion and did not dare to marry into a noble family.
Although Zhao Xing did not understand political intrigues, he knew that the most important thing for an emperor was balance.
So no matter how good Hai Chaoyun is, she is not suitable to be his concubine.
"Okay, then your mother will help you choose again later." Queen Cao said.
"Thank you, mother. However, I am still young. You can take your time to choose. There is no need to rush." Zhao Xing said.
"I see. You are here to teach my mother." Queen Cao scolded with a smile.
When Zhao Xing was chatting with Empress Cao, a eunuch came in and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, the second son of Ningyuan Marquis wishes to see you and is waiting in Yongning Palace."
"Mother, I have something to take care of, so I'll take my leave first." Zhao Xing bowed.
"Go, and come back early to have dinner with your father." Queen Cao advised.
"Yes!"
Zhao Xing responded and walked out of the hall.
I walked all the way to Yongning Palace and met Gu Tingye, whom I hadn't seen for a long time.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you!"
It has only been two months since Gu Tingye left Bian Jing. His appearance has not changed much, but his overall temperament has changed a lot.
He looked more mature, with a hint of melancholy between his brows.
"No courtesy, please sit down."
Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "You wrote to me before saying that your grandfather agreed to come to Bianjing. Has he arrived now?"
"Your Highness, my grandfather has arrived in Bian Jing. He has been delayed for so long because he had to arrange things at home. Please forgive him, Your Highness." Gu Tingye said.
"It's human nature. It's not about blaming or not blaming."
Zhao Xing said indifferently: "It's getting late today. I have a day off tomorrow, so I'll go see your grandfather then."
"How can Your Highness condescend to you? It should be me who brings my grandfather to the palace to pay a visit to Your Highness." Gu Tingye said hurriedly.
The reason why he didn't bring his grandfather directly was because his grandfather did not have an official status. If he wanted to enter the palace, he needed to report in advance and get permission.
Even the prince Zhao Xing could not summon anyone into the palace at will. He had to report to the emperor first.
"I have a day off tomorrow, so I'm planning to go out of the palace for some fun. This is just a convenient thing to do." Zhao Xing said.
Upon hearing this, Gu Tingye didn't say anything else, but told Zhao Xing where his grandfather lived.
Zhao Xing asked Sanshui to write it down and said with a smile: "It is said that Jiangnan is prosperous and has many talented people. Did Zhong Huai see anything interesting during his trip to Yangzhou?"
"Your Highness, I was intent on visiting my grandfather, and I only took a look along the way without getting to know him in detail. However, Jiangnan is indeed a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. I met a young man in Jiangnan who was younger than me, but was very knowledgeable and had extraordinary conversation. I chatted with him several times, and I felt ashamed of myself and admired him very much." Gu Tingye said.
"Oh?"
Zhao Xing's eyes moved slightly, and he asked, "This person can even make Zhong Huai admire him, which shows that he is indeed talented. May I know his name?"
(End of this chapter)