Hearing Zhang Rong's complaints, Liu Yan and Qu Duan silently praised Zhang Rong in their hearts. Zhao Jiu was stunned, smiled slightly, and was about to explain. Zhang Rong only heard his "backer" Xiao Lin scholar say: "Bing Ji asked about the cow."
Zhang Rong became more unhappy after hearing the unfinished speech. Zhao Jiu and Liu Yan also began to feel confused. However, Qu Duan, the second most knowledgeable person in the room, understood what was going on.
Qu Duan didn't dare to look directly at Emperor Zhao, but when he saw Zhang Rong and Liu Yan, two rough men with confused faces, he couldn't help but feel a sense of superiority.
So he talked eloquently: "Bingji was the prime minister of the Han Xuan Emperor's reign. One morning in April or May, Bingji went out with his servants and saw someone was killed on the roadside. Bingji signaled the servants to take a detour. After a while, they saw a man leading a cow. The cow was sweating. Bingji walked up to the cowherd and talked to him for a long time, asking him why the cow was sweating and whether it had done a lot of work. Afterwards, the servants asked Bingji why he cared about the issue of a sweating cow but not the human murder case. Wasn't it putting the cart before the horse?"
Bingji replied, "In your opinion, the big issues will be handled by the local prefect and his men, and there is no need for me to personally take care of such matters. On the contrary, in your opinion, the small matter of the cow sweating is related to the country's spring ploughing and the food problem of countless people."
It is morning now and the sun has not risen yet. If the cow is sweating without doing much work, it means the climate is abnormal and the temperature is high. The people are likely to encounter drought this year. How can I not ask?
After Qu Duan finished his proud explanation, he did not dare to look at the emperor, but glanced around. He saw Scholar Kobayashi nodding slightly, while Zhang Rong and Liu Yan were in a daze.
Zhao Jiu on the side was the first to react. He coughed to attract everyone's attention and said, "Yes, just now two vendors fought each other. There are witnesses and evidence. All we need is police officers to solve the case and doctors to save people. We can't help much. The vendors who sold rotten wood just now obviously had something special. Judging from their clothes, they don't look like people who can only sell rotten wood. So they were either delayed for a long time on the way to the city, or were blocked from selling, so that the wood that can be preserved for half a month has become rotten. The blocked road or someone maliciously blocking business is a major issue related to public security, finance and taxation, and the stability of people's hearts. How can I ignore it?"
After hearing this, Xiaolin Xueshi, Liu Yan, and Qu Duan, while admiring the emperor's ability to see the big picture from the small details, could not help but be secretly shocked. Zhang Rong, regardless of the occasion, immediately knelt down and apologized, saying, "I am a rough man, and I used to have some thoughts that the court was unfair and the officials were all thinking about their own shit. Just now, I maliciously speculated on the official's thoughts. Now I know that the official's thoughts are different from those of rough people like us, and the truth is greater. For this, please punish me."
After hearing this, Zhao Jiu hurriedly helped Zhang Rong up and said, "Mr. Zhang is outspoken, so he has done nothing wrong. I and many people around me have many misunderstandings about Mr. Zhang. So from now on you and I need to understand each other and tolerate each other for the sake of the country." After Zhang Rong stood up, he said, "Mr., there is no need to say more. I understand. In the future, I will tell the people below about your loyalty. I will also seriously explain the situation in Shandong at the court meeting, so that the people around you can understand me."
In this situation, it was a harmonious scene between the monarch and his subjects, but Zhang Rong sighed, attracted everyone's attention and said, "I suffer from my lack of education. I can't see through many things as clearly as you do. I have decided that from now on, I will let my sons study and my daughter will marry an educated man."
Scholar Xiaolin was listening and was about to say something, but after thinking about the current situation, he decided to say it later. When Qu Duan heard Zhang Rong's praise, he couldn't help but have other thoughts. He wondered if his knowledge was only slightly worse than that of people like Scholar Xiaolin, but much better than most scholars. As for warriors like Zhang Rong and Liu Yan, he was disdainful to compare with them.
After listening to Zhang Rong's words, Zhao Jiu certainly didn't expect that everyone around him had some small thoughts. Instead, he said, "The world is still unstable today. It's good to learn knowledge, but we can't neglect military preparations. Master Lin, go back and pass a note to the other masters. In the near future, let them set aside a city gate for merchants to pass through in addition to all the gates where goods are allowed to pass through. Don't let the large number of candidates taking the exams delay business. If they tighten up here, the slippery officials below will start to squeeze oil from the people. It's unreasonable to sell some wood without paying any benefits, but they were stopped for half a month. This is really unreasonable." Bachelor Lin responded quickly.
Then, everyone changed into court clothes on the way and accompanied Zhao Jiu back to the palace. They waited in the hall. After Zhao Jiu changed back into the official clothes, he said to Lan Yaban, "I and the ministers have not eaten yet. You can go and prepare some." Lan Yaban agreed and went to make arrangements. Lin Xueshi and the other three hurriedly thanked him. Zhang Rong also reacted and bowed quickly. After a while, Lan Yaban came back and said, "Your Majesty, the food will be ready soon. In addition, the note handed back by Liu Tongzhi said that the "Rock Sugar and Snow Pear Soup" is ready. Do you want to try it first?"
Zhao Jiu was slightly excited when he heard this and said, "Present it immediately and give some to the ministers." The others then remembered the note written by the emperor in front of the ink stand, and they couldn't help but look forward to it. After all, the emperor who had tasted all kinds of delicacies must be thinking about delicacies.
When the waiter brought the "Rock Sugar and Snow Pear Soup" to the table, several people's mouths were dry, and they were salivating at the faint fragrance in the bowl, but they were not allowed to move first due to etiquette. Zhao Jiu took the lead and drank it first. Others followed suit and tasted it. When several people were about to praise it, they saw Zhao Jiu's eyes were closed and he sat silently. Everyone was shocked and quickly put down the spoon and stood up. Lan Yaban even knelt down directly, and Zhang Rong almost kicked over the table and shouted that it was a black shop.
After a long while, Zhao Jiu opened his eyes and noticed that the official's eyes were red, as if he was trying hard to hold back his tears.
After a while, Zhao Jiu said slowly, "Please excuse me, I'm sorry to scare you all. This is called Rock Sugar and Snow Pear Soup, and it's my favorite drink. When I was young, I occasionally had a fever, and all the medicines didn't work. My mother made Rock Sugar and Snow Pear Soup for me. After drinking it, my fever subsided and my illness was cured. I haven't had this drink for a long time. When I drank it today, I didn't expect that it would still taste the same after so long, but my mother is no longer around!"
Everyone apologized again, and Zhang Rong was moved by what he heard, so he said, "Since the emperor misses the queen mother, just bring her here. After all, although the journey is far,..." At this point, Zhang Rong noticed the silence around him, and realized that the mother the emperor was talking about was not the queen mother Meng in the southeast, so he quickly kept silent.
Zhao Jiu sighed, "I hope I can see my mother again. I am upset and want to calm down. After dinner, you can leave on your own. Don't spread what happened today." After saying that, he stood up and left. Everyone nodded. Some people who thought they were smart, such as Lan, guessed that the emperor was not thinking about Queen Mother Meng, but Queen Mother Wei, his "biological mother" who was far away in the north. It's just that...
Turning to the back hall, I saw Zhao Jiu clenching her fists, tears streaming down her face, murmuring: Mom, I miss you, I miss the rock sugar and snow pear juice you made for me!
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