Chapter 4: Learning Literature and Martial Arts
"We will teach Your Highness everything we have learned!" the two men said hurriedly.
When Zhao Xing heard his father call the two men by their courtesy names, he recognized one of them.
The man wearing the scarlet official uniform should be the Hanlin Academy scholar Hai Wenyu.
The Hanlin Academy was equivalent to the emperor's secretariat, specifically responsible for providing advice to the emperor. The highest-ranking official in the Hanlin Academy, a bachelor, was only of the fifth rank.
No real rights.
But his advantage is that he is noble and can often meet with officials.
The Hai family was known for having five Hanlin scholars, and was one of the most noble families in Bianliang.
Of course, the so-called "five Hanlin scholars from one family" does not mean that there are five people in the Hai family in the Hanlin Academy at the same time.
This is the same reason why the Yuan family in the Three Kingdoms period claimed that "three officials in four generations" had served in the Hanlin Academy.
The emperor waved his hand, and a eunuch came forward holding a ruler and placed it in front of Hai Wenyou and the other man.
"This is the ruler bestowed upon me by the emperor. If Fu'er slacks off in his studies, you can just punish him without any scruples," said the official.
"Yes!" Hai Wenyou took the ruler and replied.
Although he and the other old man were both Zhao Xing's teachers, he was the one who taught him on a daily basis, while the old man, as his husband, would only come over occasionally to give lectures.
"Fuer, I have ordered people to clean up Zishan Hall. Starting from tomorrow, you must arrive at Zishan Hall to study before noon every day. Otherwise, if you are punished, I will not be responsible. Do you understand?" said the emperor.
Zishan Hall was where the princes studied, but the current official succeeded to the throne at a young age, and several of his sons died within one or two years of birth. So the hall has been abandoned for decades.
"My son understands!"
Zhao Xing was not afraid of his father's threat.
This is the same as sending your child to school and telling the teacher to just beat him if he makes a mistake.
If a fight really happens, I guess the parents will go and make a scene.
Given his status and the fact that he is the only son, even if he really made a mistake, the two of them wouldn't dare to fight him.
However, Zhao Xing did not become reckless or indifferent because of this.
After all, it was his own request to study. Living in the palace every day and not being able to leave the palace must be very boring.
Moreover, he was tired of pretending to be illiterate. He thought that if he started to study early, he could also get some storybooks to relieve his boredom.
The emperor gave Zhao Xing some more instructions and then let him go back.
Zhao Xing bowed to his father and two teachers respectively and left.
After leaving Longtu Pavilion, Zhao Xing did not walk, but took a sedan chair back to Renming Hall.
Renming Hall was the queen's bedroom. When Zhao Xing was one year old, she moved to Renming Hall to live.
Although he was reluctant to leave his biological mother, he had no choice.
He is capable of throwing a tantrum, and considering his father's love for him, he might agree to let him stay with his biological mother.
But doing so would undoubtedly bring disaster to his biological mother.
After all, he is the only prince. If he is not close to the queen, who knows if the queen will have other ideas.
After he moved in, the queen took great care of him and even took the initiative to let him visit his biological mother.
When Zhao Xing walked into the hall, he found that Princess Pingning had arrived.
"Your son greets the Queen Mother and aunt!" Zhao Xing bowed.
Princess Pingning's father died in battle while saving the emperor during the reign of the previous emperor, Zhao Xing's grandfather.
The late emperor, in appreciation of his contribution, conferred the title of princess on his only daughter and brought her into the palace to be raised by the late empress dowager.
Before Zhao Xing's father ascended the throne, the two of them addressed each other as brother and sister, so Zhao Xing called her aunt.
Princess Pingning had already stood up and saluted when Zhao Xing came in. Seeing Zhao Xing salute her, she quickly returned the salute. Her aunt was not her biological mother, so she did not dare to act like an aunt even though Zhao Xing called her for her face.
"Brother Fu, come and sit down."
Queen Cao smiled and waved her hand. When Zhao Xing came to her phoenix throne, she moved to the side and let Zhao Xing sit next to her.
"Your aunt came to the palace this time because she wanted her son Heng to be your study companion. What do you think?" asked Queen Cao.
Zhao Xing smiled when he heard this and said, "It would be great if my cousin could come and study with me, so that I can have a companion." His father had originally intended to find a few study companions for him, but nothing has been decided yet.
Later generations often used "accompanying the prince to study" to describe themselves as a runner-up.
But it was different in ancient times. The prince’s companion was actually to cultivate his confidants.
It is also a grace to the ministers in the court.
Zhao Xing also wanted to find some study companions and train them from an early age so that they would serve as his confidants when he became emperor in the future.
He has not been idle in the past few years, trying hard to understand the internal situation of the Song Dynasty, which is extremely grim.
The three redundancies are so serious that they have reached a point where they cannot be changed.
If he could train some good teams, when he becomes emperor in the future, he could promote his confidants to high positions, and it would be much easier to implement reforms.
Qi Heng's ability is quite good, so Zhao Xing naturally has no reason to refuse.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Princess Pingning was delighted upon hearing this and quickly expressed her gratitude.
She often went to the palace, but she knew the position of Zhao Xing in the emperor's heart.
If she went to talk to the emperor about this matter, even if the emperor agreed, it would be useless if Zhao Xing did not agree.
"Aunt, you are too polite. I should be the one thanking my cousin for coming to study with me." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
Princess Pingning smiled when she saw how respectful Zhao Xing was to her.
She is able to have her current status thanks to the government.
Although Zhao Xing had not yet been appointed crown prince, the emperor had only one son, so it was only a matter of time.
Since Zhao Xing was so close to her and Qi Heng could be Zhao Xing's study companion, the Qi family didn't have to worry about their wealth for the next few decades.
After chatting for a while, Princess Pingning took her leave.
"Fu'er, have you met the teacher your father chose for you?" asked Queen Cao.
"I have met them. I know one of them is Bachelor Hai from the Hanlin Academy. I haven't recognized the other one yet." Zhao Xing said.
"Haha, the other one is Han Zhang, the great prime minister who was just transferred back to Bian Jing from the local area by your father to serve as the co-prime minister. These two have outstanding talents and have a high reputation among the literati. You must learn from them well, understand?" Queen Cao reminded.
It turned out to be Han Zhang. Zhao Xing was a little surprised when he heard that.
He doesn't like Han Zhang very much.
In the play, he helped Zhao Zongquan and the Queen Mother fight for power, which was not wrong.
After all, the internal strife between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor is not good for the country.
But the fact that he supported Zhao Zongquan in posthumously conferring the title of Emperor Father on his biological father was enough to prove that he was not as upright as he appeared.
Huang Kao is the name the emperor gave to his father. Logically speaking, Zhao Zongquan inherited the throne by adoption, so he could only call the late emperor Huang Kao.
However, Han Zhang agreed with him to posthumously confer a title on his biological father, and even said that he should call the late emperor his uncle.
Although Zhao Zongquan's posthumous title was just an excuse to seize power from the empress dowager.
But this is a matter of principle, and it is really offensive that Han Zhang supports it.
"Fu'er, what's wrong with you?" asked Queen Cao.
"It's okay." Zhao Xing came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "Mother, I want to learn martial arts."
"Why do you learn martial arts? You are a prince and will inherit the throne in the future. All you need to do is learn how to govern the world." Queen Cao frowned.
"Mother, I learn martial arts to strengthen my body and have no other intentions," said Zhao Xing.
Since his predecessor did not have any genetic disease, it means that he died because he had some disease and could not be cured.
Zhao Xing didn't know what disease his predecessor died of, and he had no way to prevent it.
Apart from maintaining a good work and rest schedule and hygiene habits, practicing martial arts to keep fit is the only thing he can do.
Empress Cao hesitated for a moment after hearing this, and said, "Your father needs to agree to this matter. I will ask him later."
(End of this chapter)