Chapter 349 The World is Like This
"Your Majesty, I know something about this person." Sanshui said.
"Oh?" Zhao Xing was surprised when he heard this: "Could this person be very famous?"
Generally, when the imperial examination was approaching, gambling houses in Bian Jing would set up handicaps to let people bet on who would pass the exam. Before the palace examination, handicaps would also be set up to bet on who would be the second and first place winners.
The reason why we don’t bet on the third place is because the third place is based on appearance.
The Tanhua scholar may not be the third best among all the students in terms of talent, but he is definitely one of the most handsome in terms of appearance.
The reason why he is one of them, rather than the most handsome one, is because appearance and literary talent are both reference factors.
In this case, the range is too small, and those gambling houses are not stupid, so they naturally will not set such a handicap.
In addition, a large number of scholars gathered in Bianliang and participated in various activities to become famous.
This includes sending some of his own articles to some famous people in Bian Jing to read. Once he receives praise, he will quickly become famous in Bian Jing.
The Su family, father and son, had a deep understanding of this at that time.
When the Su family father and son came to Bian Jing to take part in the imperial examination, Su Shun took his two sons and articles to visit Master Hai.
Master Hai was very fond of Su Shi's articles and had praised his talent in front of outsiders many times.
Su Shi soon became famous in Bian Jing, and his articles were sought after by countless literati and ladies of noble families, like paper in Luoyang was in great demand.
Even the officials had heard of Su Shi's name before the imperial examination began.
However, due to Zhao Xing's busy schedule and the fact that he did not pay special attention or inquire, he was not aware of those already famous students in this imperial examination.
"This person is indeed very famous. He is the eldest grandson of the old Taifu Wei. There was no rumor that he would take part in the imperial examination until the examination was approaching, and then he signed up." Sanshui said.
"Old Master Wei?"
"So he is the eldest grandson of the former Minister of Rites. No wonder he has such literary talent."
The Song Dynasty did not have the Three Dukes, but after the six ministers and the prime ministers retired or died, they would be conferred with an honorary title of Three Dukes.
For example, Mrs. Wang’s father, Old Master Wang, was posthumously honored with the title.
Therefore, there are quite a few such titles as Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor.
"Okay, take these away." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
These people are pretty good. Let’s wait and see after the palace examination.
"Yes!" Sanshui responded and walked out.
"I'm a little tired, I'm going to take a rest. If it's nothing important, don't disturb me." Zhao Xing stood up and stretched.
"I understand." Sanshui replied.
…………
Zhao Xing came to the inner room and said to Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang, "Press me."
"Yes!"
Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang responded and went forward to help Zhao Xing change his clothes.
After taking off his outer clothes and leaving only his inner clothes, Zhao Xing went to bed.
Dashuang and Xiaoshuang undressed, put on their underwear, got on the bed, and each of them massaged Zhao Xing.
Although they are dancers, they were specially trained to please men.
Not only can she dance, she has also learned all kinds of skills to serve people.
The massage technique was very sophisticated. After Zhao Xing was massaged for a while, he fell asleep comfortably.
After sleeping for more than an hour, Zhao Xing finally woke up and felt relaxed all over.
Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang, who were waiting in the room, heard the noise and quickly lifted the bed curtains.
"My skills have improved again. I feel relaxed after sleeping under your massage."
Zhao Xing sat up and leaned against the head of the bed, smiling and praising.
"I'm glad that Your Majesty likes it. Eunuch Sanshui has been waiting outside for a while and it seems that he has something to report." Dashuang said.
"No hurry, I'm a little thirsty." Zhao Xing said.
If Sanshui had an urgent matter, he would definitely call him. Since he was waiting, it was not an urgent matter.
"I will go make tea for His Majesty." Dashuang replied and left. Zhao Xing looked at Xiaoshuang and said with a smile, "You guys made me feel very comfortable just now. I want to reward you."
……
Da Shuang walked around the screen with a cup of tea in his hand, and was slightly startled when he saw that his sister was not there.
When I walked in, I found my sister lying on the bed.
"Your Majesty, the tea is here."
"Yes!"
Zhao Xing drank tea with a look of enjoyment on his face.
About an incense stick later, his body trembled slightly, and it took a while to calm down.
"Wait for me to get up."
…………
squeak~
The door opened and Zhao Xing walked out refreshed.
"His Majesty!"
Sanshui, who was waiting at the door, bowed and said, "The Queen Mother sent someone to deliver a letter."
Zhao Xing took the letter, walked out, sat down on the dragon throne in the main hall, opened the letter and began to read.
As expected, his mother implicitly suggested in the letter that Zhao Xing should find a way to release Zhu Shiquan as soon as possible.
Putting down the letter, Zhao Xing rubbed his head with a headache.
Yan Kuan had also reported Zhu Shiquan's case to him. The evidence was sufficient, so he could only delay time as much as possible.
It is unknown how much of this evidence was deliberately sent out by someone, and Zhao Xing is in a difficult situation.
He had been impartial and just before, and although he had offended the civil officials, he was highly praised by the people.
If he showed partiality to his relatives and the news got out, it would have some impact on his reputation.
This is secondary. The most important thing is that the officials in the court will not agree.
Minglan’s idea had inspired him before, but before he could take action, the Jiangzhou flood occurred.
Now that it has been delayed for some time, it is not unusable.
However, there is unrest in Hehuang now. Once internal turmoil occurs, it may affect the next military expedition to Hehuang.
"Tell Yan Kuan to delay as much as possible." Zhao Xing said.
Anyway, my mother is not in Bian Jing, so I can only write a letter at most.
However, my father has been in Luoyang for quite some time. It is already October now, and it might snow in a month or so.
Maybe he will be back soon.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xing picked up his pen and wrote a letter to his father, asking when he would return to Bianliang.
…………
Luoyang Suburbs
The retired emperor and the empress, escorted by a group of imperial guards, walked on the ridges of the fields. Looking at the wheat fields that had just sprouted new buds, they sighed, "I never thought that the people had such a hard life."
During this period, he was in Luoyang, and he not only looked around the city, but also occasionally went out of the city to see how the people were farming.
He watched the people harvesting wheat, plowing the fields, and sowing seeds.
Although he was not the kind of emperor who was always greedy, he lived in the deep palace for a long time and had never witnessed the lives of the people with his own eyes.
In the past, I only heard about the suffering of the people, but I didn’t have a very intuitive feeling of how much suffering they had.
"Your Majesty, this is true for all the people in the world. I see people smiling and in good spirits while farming. This shows that life has hope and is not that hard. This is all thanks to Your Majesty," said Queen Mother Cao with a smile.
“This is not my credit.”
The Emperor shook his head slightly when he heard this. "When the people were harvesting before, because of the hot weather, I had no one to follow you. I asked the people at that time, and they said that it was thanks to the court that they sent people to check the land and rented the land to them at a low price. Otherwise, they would have been tenants of the landlords and gentry, and even having enough food and clothing all year round would have been a luxury."
"Now that they have rented land from the government, after paying rent and paying for food and drink, there is still some left."
"Aren't these also the credit of Your Majesty?" said Queen Cao.
(End of this chapter)