Chapter 285
285
Shen Yuntang prepared the things he needed for the trip, and also notified his third and fourth brothers, asking them if they wanted to go back together.
The third brother and his family were preparing to go back together, but the fourth brother still didn't want to go home. Now he moved out and lived on his own. Shen Yuntang wanted to give him a few shops, but the fourth brother refused and kept following Yuanbao, delivering goods, and had almost no contact with them. Sometimes Shen Yuntang was afraid that he was too lonely, and went to see him several times, but he felt that the fourth brother didn't like to be disturbed, and preferred to be alone, and didn't like others giving him advice, so he didn't bother him.
He prepared a lot of things for this return trip. Although he had to send things back home every year, in his mind the village was still the shabby little village, and his parents also lived in a shabby little courtyard. He always wanted to bring more things back for his parents.
Cheng Zhao was also very excited because he could go back to see his grandparents and uncles. He heard that his eldest uncle had a cousin and two cousins, and his second uncle also had two cousins and one cousin.
He also prepared a lot of gifts for his brothers and sisters. Although they communicated every year, he didn't know their preferences. He only knew how old they were and what education they had read. He heard that his eldest cousin had passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, and his second cousin had also passed the imperial examination.
Cheng Zhao also passed the examination and became a scholar this year. He has always been a good student, but his father did not let him take the exam, saying that he was still young and should not be in such a hurry to take the exam. He could wait until he was eighteen or nineteen years old, and start working in his twenties. It is better to take it easy for a few more years when he is young. Work is too tiring and boring and is not suitable for children.
It was the emperor who asked him personally and asked him to take the exam. The emperor wanted Cheng Zhao to become the youngest number one scholar. He wished that Cheng Zhao could become the number one scholar when he was thirteen or fourteen years old. Now he was twelve years old, which was just the right time for him to take the exam.
What the emperor said was an imperial decree and there was no way to refuse. Cheng Yeran could only let Cheng Zhao go.
Cheng Zhao was quite happy because he had always wanted to be like an adult and didn't want to take classes with the children. Especially since there was a three-year-old child among the princes taking classes with him who had a runny nose every day. This made him want to break away from his current environment and do something meaningful.
But Cheng Yeran was very dissatisfied with the emperor's behavior. Not only was the fate of his child decided by others, but the emperor also told him that he wanted Cheng Zhao to be the youngest top scholar. He felt that the emperor was not doing this for Cheng Zhao's good, but rather to satisfy his vanity.
Cheng Zhao is his own child, not the emperor's, and he doesn't understand why the emperor would do this. Could it be that the emperor has a brain problem from all the drugs he’s taken?
He felt that the emperor was meddling in his affairs, and he wanted Cheng Zhao to pretend to be sick and avoid the next exam.
…
The emperor made a travel list and took some ministers, princes, princes, several concubines and the queen with him.
Cheng Yeran felt that this was extremely inappropriate. Several of the princes were only a few months old, and they were going through a bumpy ride. Aren't they afraid that the children would die on the road?
But the emperor doesn't listen to anyone now, and only does things according to his own ideas. Anyone who dares to advise him may lose his life.
This made Cheng Yeran vaguely feel that the emperor seemed to be particularly eager for this trip and had to complete it. He also made a big fuss, such as building temporary palaces in various places. Some places only planned to stay for one or two days while passing by, but also required the construction of temporary palaces. And the funds were not funded by the royal family, but by funds raised from various places.
Some places are rich, so it's ok to ask local wealthy businessmen to pay. Some places are poor, so the people have to pay.
Nanxi
The local officials were unable to collect the money and were afraid of being blamed by the emperor, so they forced the people to pay, or even robbed them, causing panic among the people and making them miserable.
Some people even couldn't bear it anymore and went to Cheng Yeran's temple to burn incense and worship, hoping that Cheng Yeran could persuade the emperor to save them.
But at the moment, Cheng Yeran is in a difficult situation himself. Seeing that several loyal ministers were exiled and their properties were confiscated because they advised the emperor, or their entire families were executed and their properties were confiscated, he couldn't help but worry about his own family.
He suspected that the emperor was not only angry because of their advice, but also wanted their property to squander.
Their business is big. Although they cannot be described as wealthy enough to rival a country, their assets are still among the top few in the country.
Sometimes when he saw the emperor staring at him, he suspected that the emperor was waiting for him to speak. As long as he opened his mouth to advise the emperor, the emperor would kill his entire family and confiscate his property.
At present, the emperor has nationalized many of their family's industries, and the emperor is the most powerful person in the country. He now does things without any logic. He cannot do anything out of line at present. Sometimes he prays in his heart that if one day the emperor suddenly dies of drug abuse, maybe things can turn around.
However, his god did not hear his prayers. The emperor was still alive and doing different things every day.
The palaces along the travel routes were built at a rapid pace. Because of the increased speed, a large number of corvée laborers were recruited. In some places where there were few people, almost all the people were captured by the government to work, even the elderly and children around ten years old were captured.
Because they had to meet the deadline, they only had one or two hours of rest a day. If they worked slowly, they would be beaten. Many people were beaten to death, and many died of exhaustion. Many newborn babies and children aged four or five also died because there were no adults to take care of them.
These places were simply hell on earth. But after the palace was built, local officials covered up many traces, gave clothes to the remaining people, made them wear more bright and beautiful clothes, and designed identities and lines for them. When the emperor came, if he asked them questions, they would follow the script. If he didn't ask them questions, they would pretend to live and work in peace and contentment.
The emperor's traveling procession was also very luxurious, as if they were afraid that others would not know that the emperor was coming, so that they could be seen from a long distance.
Because the team was too long and they carried a lot of things, they walked very slowly. They only left the capital on the first day and stayed in the royal palace outside the city.
Cheng Zhao was quite excited before setting off on the first day, but the team moved too slowly, which made him impatient.
On the first day he still rode a horse, but he couldn't go too fast when riding a horse, he could only walk slowly, which was worse than walking. On the second day he sat in the carriage with his fathers.
Daddy can also take out some interesting things to play with him.
The carriage could accommodate their family of four, and the adopted sons had to sit in another carriage.
Cheng Yeran then asked Cheng Zhao and Shen Yuntang to play poker together, and Ah Zhu also stretched her little head to watch fascinatedly.
Cheng Zhao was good at playing, but he was always cheated by his two fathers. Later, he stopped playing with his fathers and went to his fourth brother and younger brother's carriage to play with them.
There were always laughter and joy coming from their tents. They would play during breaks. If they were camping outdoors, they would play together at the door of the tent, attracting many children of other officials to watch. Some of them couldn't help but ask if they could be brought to play with them. They had watched for a long time and had already watched for a while.
Cheng Zhao was very happy, as more people would make the party more lively. Several princes also wanted to join, but their fourth brother told them not to pay any attention to Cheng Zhao, so they did not dare to come.
One evening, Cheng Zhao lit a bonfire around the tent, and they gathered together to play cards.
The tenth prince took advantage of the fact that the other princes had not returned from hunting with the emperor and secretly ran over to watch.
He only dared to stand at a distance and watch secretly. Later, he found it interesting and walked closer. He was seen by Cheng Zhao, who stopped and looked at him. Everyone else also stopped and looked at the Tenth Prince in the distance.
The tenth prince seemed to have done something wrong and was very uneasy. He wanted to escape, but before he could run away, Cheng Zhao stopped him.
Cheng Zhao: "Want to join us? Tenth Prince."
The Tenth Prince was stunned. He did not expect that Cheng Zhao actually knew who he was. He had always been the most inconspicuous and invisible person in the classroom. Normally, the Fourth Prince and the others did not like to play with him, but the Fourth Prince did not allow him to play with Cheng Zhao either. He also told him to stay quietly in the corner and not to cause trouble.
He had been staying in the corner and had never spoken to Cheng Zhao or introduced himself to him. He was very surprised that Cheng Zhao recognized him.
"Do you want to play?" Cheng Zhao asked him again.
The tenth prince hurried over and said, "I want to play."
"Come and sit here if you want to play." Cheng Zhao asked someone to make room for him.
The other children were all from ministers' families. They had never seen the prince and were frightened and a little restrained. They didn't expect Cheng Zhao to be so bold as to speak to the prince in that tone, and the prince was not angry at all.
He's the prince, how dare he use that tone? Aren’t you afraid that the prince will get angry and make things difficult for him? Or tell the emperor?
But soon, everyone noticed that the Tenth Prince had a very good temper. Even if he lost a game of cards, he would not get angry with others, as if he was just like them.
They were having a great time when they heard the sound of horse hooves. The Tenth Prince looked up hurriedly and saw that the Fourth Prince and his companions had returned. He was so scared that he dropped the cards in his hand. He wanted to run, but it was too late. He could only sit there with his head lowered, not daring to look at the Fourth Prince.
Obviously, there was no point in him doing this. The Fourth Prince had already seen him and came over angrily, pulling the Tenth Prince up. "How dare you, a boy, sit with a group of men and play cards? Do you still have any dignity?"
When everyone heard the Fourth Prince's words, they all looked at him with horror. It might be because it was dark and they couldn't see clearly, or it might be because the Tenth Prince was only an eight-year-old child and his mole was not obvious, so they didn't notice that the Tenth Prince was a boy.
The Tenth Prince begged for mercy in a low voice and admitted his mistake to the Fourth Prince, sounding pitiful, but the Fourth Prince did not listen at all and pulled him over rudely, his eyes roving between him and Cheng Zhao, which made Cheng Zhao unhappy.
Just as Cheng Zhao was about to speak, he heard the Fourth Prince say with sarcasm in his tone: "No wonder you two can get along so well, you two look quite alike."
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