Xiaoye felt that there was a generation gap between him and this five or six-year-old girl, and he really couldn't understand her thinking and ideas.
The little girl also noticed Xiaoye's confusion, so she reached out and helped Xiaoye stand up. She walked around to the other side of the tree, pointed, and said, "Sister, look, there's my name on it."
The leaves on the tree have all fallen off, revealing some mottled scars. One of the scars looks like a crooked and ugly Chinese character "月".
"Ah, your name is Xiaoyue!" Xiaoye looked up for a long time before recognizing her, and couldn't help but laugh.
The little girl grinned, but then shook her head and said in distress, "My name is May, but I've been searching for it, but I can't find a tree with the number 'five' on it."
So that's it—Xiao Ye thought about it and said tentatively: "How about we carve one ourselves? I don't have a knife though, so I can go to the kitchen and borrow one and try..."
"What does a child need a knife for?"
Following the clear voice, Zhu Youxiao turned around the corridor and walked over. Only Li Chengcheng was with him, and the rest of the palace people followed far behind.
The two girls heard the sound but didn't see anyone. When they walked around the big tree, they found Zhu Youxiao and Li Chengcheng coming.
Before Xiaoye could recognize him, Wuyue shouted joyfully, ran a few steps, knelt down and kowtowed, saying in a crisp voice: "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor."
Zhu Youxiao laughed and was very fond of the little girl who was not afraid of him and took the initiative to run over to greet him. He almost went forward to hug her.
Li Chengcheng stepped forward to help Wu Yue up, and smiled as he brushed away the dust and grass debris on the little girl's forehead.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Xiaoye also hurriedly knelt down and saluted.
"No need to be polite." Zhu Youxiao raised his hand again and asked, "I can't hear you clearly. What are you two girls whispering about? What do you want to do with the knife?"
"Return to the Emperor." Xiaoye spoke first, "There's a scar on the tree that looks like the character 'moon', and adding the character 'five' to it, it just happens to be the name of May."
May grinned and said, "Hurray! My name is May."
"May, well, it's a good name." Zhu Youxiao nodded with a smile. Looking at the two innocent and romantic girls, his mood improved a lot.
Wu Yue smiled even more happily, tilted her head back, and asked in a crisp voice, "Your Majesty, what do you eat every day?"
Ha, it was you, the little girl who asked “what do you eat?” The same question was asked to Queen Zhang Yan at that time.
For ordinary people, how the emperor enjoyed his life and what he ate were indeed matters of great curiosity, and everyone had their own guesses.
For example, there is a joke about two old farmers in northern Shaanxi talking about the emperor's life.
An old farmer said that the emperor must live in a big house, with a frying pan in the front yard and a frying pan in the back yard. If he wants to eat fried dough sticks, he can fry them; if he wants to eat fried dough sticks, he can fry them.
Life limits imagination. For an old farmer who has never traveled far in his life, this is the most luxurious enjoyment in life he can imagine.
Zhu Youxiao reached out and touched Wu Yue's head, smiling and saying, "I had steamed buns, rice porridge, and some delicious pickles for breakfast. As for lunch, I don't know yet!"
Your Majesty eats the same way as he did in May, well, not the same as today.
Wu Yue didn't know the emperor was teasing her, so she believed him and said, "We had these the day before yesterday, and this morning we had meat buns, they were delicious!"
Li Chengcheng smiled, not expecting the emperor to lie to a child. He said, "May, the emperor brought you some candy and snacks. The palace maids behind are holding them!"
May's eyes lit up and she swallowed involuntarily.
"Give Wuyue some first." After Zhu Youxiao gave Li Chengcheng instructions, he encouraged Wuyue, "You must study hard and don't play around too much!"
"Hmm, hmm," May nodded her little head happily, and said, "I, I already know almost a hundred words!"
Li Chengcheng took Wu Yue away. Zhu Youxiao's eyes fixed on Xiao Ye, and he glanced at the book in her hand and asked softly, "Tang and Song poetry, do you know them all?"
Xiaoye bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, except for a few uncommon characters, I recognize them all."
"Oh," Zhu Youxiao thought for a moment, then guessed roughly what he was thinking. He said, "You must have studied for a few years before coming to Shaoying Academy, right?"
Xiaoye said, "My late mother taught me to read when I was five..." As she spoke, Xiaoye lowered her head and said in a deeper voice, "It wasn't until last June, exactly four and a half years."
"He's ten years old this year!" Zhu Youxiao nodded with emotion. He knew that every orphan had his own pain, so it was not convenient to ask in detail.
Xiaoye smiled broadly, "Your Majesty, after the New Year, I will be eleven!"
Zhu Youxiao praised the sunny smile, nodded with a smile, and asked casually: "Shaoying Academy is just established, so there are bound to be some unreasonable and imperfect aspects, but it will get better and better, like a warm big family."
Xiaoye blinked her big eyes, an impulse welling up in her heart. She bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have some suggestions. I wonder if I should tell you or not?"
"Oh," Zhu Youxiao was slightly surprised. He looked at Xiaoye, smiled for a while, and said, "Tell me about it."
Under the slightly warm winter sun, the young emperor walked slowly in front, and the even younger girl followed behind him. One was talking, the other was listening, in a calm and warm atmosphere.
……………………
When a series of articles were published in the "Da Ming Forum" criticizing the illegal local officials and students with more fierce and serious words, many people realized the emperor's anger, but not many people really knew how serious it was.
During the Longqing period, there was an incident in Wuxi where students expelled the county magistrate, which was much worse than what happened in Jiashan County; the Changzhou prefect Li Youzi was also attacked by students from five counties and almost killed.
But the final result was that the authorities only arrested the ringleaders of the riot and stripped the students of their academic titles, but did not impose any severe punishment.
It was precisely because of the leniency and lenient punishment that the local officials and students became extremely arrogant. The incident in Jiashan County was also due to the actions of the magistrate Liu Lishun, which touched their interests.
To be more precise, it was because the interests of the local officials in Jiashan County were affected. The conflict between them and Liu Lishun did not form in a short period of time, nor did it become acute all of a sudden.
Investigating hidden and leaked money and grain, measuring the actual acreage of land, compiling and checking the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book, which job would not harm the interests of local officials and students, but Liu Lishun was still very serious about it.
Therefore, what happened was not accidental, but inevitable. Even if the punishment of Hao Nu had not been the trigger, the conflict would have broken out sooner or later; it was just a matter of time.
"He is ruthless and violent, and has no regard for his subjects."
"A rampant trend has taken shape, violating discipline and breaking apart relationships, causing a sudden change in the universe."
"The morals and customs are evil. Not only are there local officials who impose arbitrary taxes and levies, making the people miserable, but the gentry in the countryside also often rely on their power and strength, treating the common people as weak and vulnerable. They protect each other, leaving the people with no way to complain."
"They rely on their master's power to collect rent, extort donations, lend money, and force their children to foreclose on their land and property. They each deceive their master and bring disaster upon themselves, committing numerous sins."
………………
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
