Chapter 3188 Worthless Becomes Valuable
Wei Zhi and Yin Li: ...This jump is too high, directly from the sixth rank to the second rank?
Speaking of the position of Prince's Tutor, many people in the court held it. It was an honorary title of the second rank, and the person in charge was responsible for teaching the prince to read. It was the same function as Zhuang Xun's lecturer, but the status was a little different.
Many people in the court had this honorary title, such as Wei Zhi and Yin Li. In addition to them, there were also Li Shangshu and others.
In the early years, this honorary title was still very valuable. After all, it was from the second rank. Even though it had no real power and no high material rewards, it was still nice to hear and noble.
But later, the prince became unruly, and the emperor became keen on hiring various teachers for him.
He invited all the ministers in the court whom he thought were good to teach the prince. He also invited famous Confucian scholars among the people and talented and virtuous people from aristocratic families, anyone he thought was good, to be the prince's teachers.
Since he was to be a teacher, he naturally had to be given a position, because later the prince became more and more absurd, and the conflicts between him and the court officials and the emperor became more and more serious, and many people looked down on the prince.
In order to invite these people, the emperor would give the honorary title of Prince's Tutor to any one he could invite, resulting in an overabundance of Prince's Tutors in the court, and their titles became worthless.
In fact, they were not worth much later on. For example, Wei Zhi still occasionally went to Chongwenguan to teach the prince a lesson on being a king, but he did not get any salary, not to mention those who had long stopped being teachers to the prince.
The honorary title has completely become an honorary title.
But no matter how empty it is, it is still a title, which is different from the position of Shijiang.
Especially now that the crown prince has turned over a new leaf and has secured his position as the heir apparent, as long as nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely be the next emperor.
The Prince's Junior Tutor is the next generation of the emperor's teacher, second only to the Prince's Grand Tutor.
So now the Prince's Tutor is a bit valuable again, and it is a second-rank position.
Wei Zhilue thought for a moment and then reminded him, "Your Majesty, Zhuang Xun is only of the sixth rank. If you confer an honorary title on him, his actual position..."
"So I decided to promote him to the position of Bachelor of the Chongwen Academy."
Very good, the actual position has also increased, but this is understandable, it starts from the fourth rank, so the jump is not too outrageous.
Wei Zhi raised his hands and stopped objecting.
He didn't object, but the emperor became worried again, "But I have already conferred all the titles that should be conferred. When the crown prince ascends the throne, how can he add more titles?"
Wei Zhi: "Then you will keep it to confer a title on the crown prince?"
The emperor shook his head. "No, what if the crown prince dislikes his teachings and refuses to be promoted? Furthermore, if I were to confer the title and instruct him to teach the crown prince, his authority would be much more legitimate."
Seeing him so conflicted, Wei Zhi asked, "Your Majesty, how do you plan to reward Zhou Man and the Zhou family this time?"
He said, "One rice seed, and one wheat seed. Both seeds are of great significance. The reward cannot be low, especially for Zhou Man. She is now a fourth-rank editor, with the title of County Princess, and even higher... Your Majesty, will you also reserve this achievement for the Crown Prince to reward in the future?"
The emperor snorted unceremoniously and said, "The new wheat and rice seeds were produced during my tenure. Why should they be reserved for the Crown Prince to reward?"
He felt that he was in good health and could live for many more years, so how could he let his heroes wait for so long?
The emperor was also unwilling to let the crown prince take on this great achievement, so he said, "I have an idea. Summon Zhou Man and Zhou Lizhong to the capital."
Wei Zhi agreed and said that he would draft an edict when he returned.
Zhou Dalang invited the villagers to help cook a meal, then hurried to the edge of the field to greet the emperor to come back for dinner. It was almost dark at this time, and he felt embarrassed. "My brothers rarely cook, but it's a pity that my sixth brother is not here, otherwise I would have let His Majesty eat earlier."
The emperor smiled and sat down at the table. He asked Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang to sit down as well, saying, "It's okay. I eat late in the palace."
He glanced at the dishes on the table and smiled, "It's quite rich."
Zhou Dalang smiled innocently and said, "Life is better now. There are many livestock in the village, so even if we don't go to the market, it's not difficult to eat meat."
Emperor: "Oh, what kind of livestock do you have here?"
"Let's not talk about cows, they can't be eaten. In the village, people raise chickens and ducks, and sheep, but not many, just a few. This year, several families have added pigs to their arsenal. Unfortunately, my family has other jobs, and raising pigs is smelly. Otherwise, I would like to raise some too."
The emperor took a bite of the chicken and nodded with satisfaction. "I am happy when the people live and work in peace and contentment. Come, come, today is a good day. Even if it's just for the new rice seeds, it's worth a drink together."
It was impossible to get a cup. Zhou Man and his family didn't like drinking, so there was no wine hidden in the villa. Zhou Dalang finally went to the headman's house and carried back a jar of rice wine. His family was preparing to use it for getting married after the autumn harvest.
As for rice wine, it is naturally more enjoyable to drink it from a bowl, so bowls were placed in front of them. When the emperor raised his bowl, everyone followed suit and drank happily.
When Zhou Wulang saw that the emperor's wine bowl was empty, he immediately filled it up...
Finally, Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang were helped back to their rooms by the guards. Although the emperor's face was a little red, he was in high spirits and did not look drunk at all. He even pulled Wei Zhidao aside and said, "It's rare to be so happy. Wei Qing, how about we have a candlelight chat tonight and drink together?"
Wei Zhi also drank quite a bit, mainly because he was really happy, but he still knew his limits, so he shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, getting drunk is not good. We have to rush back to the capital early tomorrow morning. We should rest early tonight."
After saying that, he grabbed his sleeve, turned around and walked away dizzy.
The emperor looked at Yin Li.
Yin Li stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I will escort Your Majesty back to your room."
The emperor nodded, "Alright, it's a good opportunity for us to have a chat."
So the emperor dragged Yin Li away, returned to the house, drank two more bowls of wine, and talked for nearly an hour before letting Yin Li go.
Mr. Zhuang, who had been trying to keep his presence low, took a deep breath and went back to his room, holding onto the door frame. He had to ride a horse back to the capital tomorrow, and the carriage would be very bumpy when it sped up. Alas, if he had known this a few years ago, he should have picked up horseback riding again when his three children were learning it, and he wouldn't have to ride in a carriage now.
Mr. Zhuang regretted it for a moment and decided to practice his riding skills when he got home.
After a good night's sleep, Mr. Zhuang was woken up before dawn the next day. Zhou Wulang said anxiously, "Sir, the guards just asked me for a doctor. It seems that the emperor is ill."
Mr. Zhuang, who was still in a daze, suddenly woke up, immediately threw off the quilt, got up, and hurried to the courtyard where the emperor lived.
Yin Li had already gotten up and was sitting in the courtyard. Seeing Mr. Zhuang approaching with an anxious look on his face, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Zhuang. Lord Wei is just suffering from a relapse of his old illness. He's already taken medicine and just gone to bed. We're just waiting for the doctor to arrive and see him."
Mr. Zhuang: "Is Lord Wei ill?"
Yin Li nodded slightly
(End of this chapter)
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