Chapter 222 Entrustment (2 in 1 Debt Repayment)
In late March, the weather was getting hotter. On this afternoon, Emperor Zhao was reading Ouyang Xiu's New History of the Five Dynasties in the pavilion overlooking the lake in the harem. Besides Scholar Kobayashi who was available for consultation, Prime Minister Lu Haowen was also sitting with him.
During the Jingkang Incident, the Jin people focused all their attention on looting gold and silver, not even taking copper coins. But this does not mean that the royal books were not looted. After all, there was Wanyan Xiyin... While others were robbing gold and women, he was robbing books and regulations, and he was determined to be like Xiao He.
Of course, Xi Yin's destructive power was limited after all, and he could not force his subordinates to give up all their gold and silver to buy books for him, so more of the loss of books and regulations came from the subsequent wars, which was not a systematic loss. In addition, the literary style of the Song Dynasty was prosperous, and many books were printed and circulated in many places, so it was not difficult to find them.
This is a blessing in disguise.
In fact, some people in the court have already suggested collecting and compiling the classics, checking for errors and omissions, and re-establishing official editions... The reason is that there are books left outside, and many people are using classics with poor printing quality and numerous errors and omissions to mislead the students.
However, this kind of thing has nothing to do with Zhao Guanjia's reading experience, because "New History of the Five Dynasties" is a private history book, and Ouyang Xiu said at the beginning that he was disgusted by the loss of social ethics and moral collapse during the Five Dynasties, so he wanted to write a history book in the style of the Spring and Autumn Annals to criticize those "shameless" people... In other words, "New History of the Five Dynasties" is more about literary and artistic value, and also about social ethics, but it has little to do with textual research and historical value.
Even people in the Song Dynasty said that Ouyang Xiu would "alas" and write "second-rate articles". This probably means that no matter how well an online article is written, it is just an online article and cannot be considered literature.
Therefore, Zhao Jiu only used it as a novel to pass the time... He and Lu Haowen were waiting here for Han Xiaozhou who should be returning to Tokyo today.
However, from noon to afternoon, Zhao had read several generations without a trace, but Han Xiaozhou was nowhere to be seen. Finally, as the sun was setting, Zhao was so bored that he went straight to find Feng Dao's biography, and only then did he see Yang Yizhong leading a middle-aged purple-robed official hurriedly, and Zhao Jiu put down the history book and calmed down a little.
He knew that the person coming must be Han Xiaozhou, because someone had told him before that Han Xiaozhou had just entered the officialdom with the help of imperial favor and became a mere recorder of Kaifeng Prefecture when he was bumped into by the extremely frivolous Emperor Taishang Daojun. After asking about his name and family background, he directly awarded him the position of Junior Secretary of the Imperial Guards and specially bestowed him with a third-rank purple robe... and this person also became a rare purple-robed prefect.
And sure enough, when this person came up and greeted him, he turned out to be the eldest son of the Han family, who was twice as old as Emperor Zhao but one generation younger than him.
After the two sides exchanged greetings, Zhao Jiu, who had been waiting impatiently, frowned and said, "Mr. Han, you must have come all the way here, but you took so long to get to Tokyo. It took you nearly half a day to get into the city?"
Han Xiaozhou was a little dazed when he was scolded, but he still explained reluctantly: "Good instructor, your Majesty knows that I arrived at Qingcheng, south of Tokyo last night, and my cousin went to Qingcheng to inform the Majesty's will. Therefore, when I set out to see the Majesty this morning, I had to abandon the horse and take a mule cart instead, which is why I am a little late..."
After these words were spoken, the pavilion fell silent for a moment. Zhao Jiu was also obviously stunned. After a while, he asked, "When did I issue an order to your uncles, and when did I ask you to ride a mule cart into the city?"
I don’t know if it’s because of the hot weather, but Han Xiaozhou was sweating all over and didn’t know how to deal with it.
"The emperor did issue such an order, but it was not a special order." Seeing Han Xiaozhou at a loss, Prime Minister Lu Haowen, who was sitting next to him, spoke up at the right time. "Before, when the emperor was in Huaishang, he issued an order that officials were not allowed to ride in sedan chairs because the state was in danger. Later, when he arrived in Nanyang, he issued another order that officials were not allowed to ride healthy horses without permission, and women were not allowed to travel in ox carts without permission..."
"That's right." Han Xiaozhou hurriedly followed. "My cousins told me that all the civil officials in the capital ride donkeys or mules. I was delayed a little while in order to find a mule cart. I hope the emperor will forgive me."
Zhao Jiu looked at the other party's fearful attitude and felt guilty for a moment. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and skipped the topic: "Let's not talk about this matter. After crossing the river, does Han Qing know what to do?"
"I will definitely fulfill my mission!"
Upon hearing this, Han Xiaozhou, who was dressed in a purple robe, fell to the ground without regard for etiquette and bowed to him. Xiaolin Xueshi, Yang Yizhong and Lan Gui beside him retreated several steps in shock. Lu Haowen even stood up and dodged. When the purple-robed prefect raised his head, his eyes were red. "Before I left Jiangzhou, my mother told me that I had received the grace of the country and should act immediately upon orders. I must not be disrespectful or lose my integrity. Even if I die, I must bring the empress dowager back to the capital... My mother said, my mother said, don't worry about her old age!"
At the end of his speech, this person actually burst into tears.
Zhao Jiu was also obviously startled, but he swallowed all the dissatisfaction and words that he had accumulated before, and just said carefully: "Han Qing, please stand up... Since the old lady has already given instructions, I will not give any more instructions... I remember that your father died when he became the governor of Xiangzhou?"
"yes."
"Fortunately, you have a virtuous mother," Zhao Jiu looked directly at Lu Hao and asked, "What is the highest level of gift you can give to such a virtuous mother?"
Lu Haowen seemed a little frightened, but he answered succinctly: "Madam Guo, this is the Lady Ningguo that the emperor awarded to General Yue's mother last year."
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