Chapter 310 Making Trouble
If Zhao Yi did not have extraordinary wisdom and had a kind personality, he would probably be eaten to the bone if he returned to Northern Qi.
Putting aside the other princes, the King of Qi alone is not a good person.
"The eldest prince is frail and often ill. He should be cautious about arrogance and impatience, and avoid excessive sadness or joy. If he were not kind, how could he have survived to this day?"
The Imperial Master warned, "Yan Yi, do not speak ill of the royal family."
After a pause, he reminded: "Think about your own reputation before you speak or act."
Yan Yi shut up for a moment. When he and Yan Er followed their master, the master specially gave them new names and gave Enrong the master's surname.
His name was Yan Jinyan and Yan Er's name was Yan Shenxing, to restrain their words and deeds.
Yan Yi realized that he had made a big mistake.
Too much talk will lead to mistakes, especially on the territory of another country. If you are not careful, your words will be taken out of context and given an excuse to criticize others.
He didn't dare to criticize the royal family anymore. He took out a stove, dried the imperial teacher's hair, combed the black hair neatly, and picked a jade hairpin to tie his hair.
Yan Yi looked at the imperial teacher's noble and unparalleled appearance in the bronze mirror and sighed secretly.
It’s a pity that the imperial teacher suffered a serious injury when he was young and was unable to conceive children.
Otherwise, with the imperial teacher's elegance and grace, who knows how talented the offspring would be.
“Knock knock—”
There was a knock on the door, and the guard outside said urgently, "Emperor, the people of Da Zhou are causing trouble at the gate of Siyi Hall."
Upon hearing this, Yan Yi quickly stepped aside.
The Imperial Master stood up, walked out of the room, and asked, "What's going on outside?"
"The people drove us out of Great Zhou," the guard said with a gloomy brow. "Ever since Emperor Jing'an exposed Princess Yizhen's deeds in Northern Qi, the people have been causing trouble at the Four Barbarians' Hall. It wasn't until word spread that you were going on a diplomatic mission to Great Zhou that Great Zhou appeased the people, and finally the Four Barbarians' Hall enjoyed a moment of peace."
At this point, the guards heard a noisy voice outside: "The people probably heard that you had arrived in the Great Zhou, so they came here to cause trouble and put pressure on us, warning us not to have any bad intentions."
The imperial teacher thought for a moment, then silently returned to the house, changed into a cotton robe, and put on a cloak before taking his subordinates to the entrance of the Siyi Pavilion.
The King of Qi and Lord Gao also came over after hearing the news. The former had an angry look on his face, while the latter had a worried look on his face.
When they saw the Imperial Master, they bowed respectfully, "Imperial Master."
Afterwards, the King of Qi suppressed his anger and said, "Imperial Master, the people of Great Zhou are a bunch of troublemakers. They injured the soldiers of Northern Qi. They haven't been quiet for a few days and are causing trouble again. This is simply too much."
Master Gao said in a panic, "Emperor Master, in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?"
The Imperial Preceptor heard the people at the gate shouting slogans such as "Northern Qi's envoys get out of the Great Zhou" and "The Great Zhou does not welcome robbers." He frowned and said, "Leave this matter to me."
He walked out of the Siyi Pavilion and saw the people of the Great Zhou gathered in three layers inside and three layers outside the entrance of the Siyi Pavilion. They were wearing rough linen clothes and carrying baskets filled with large and small stones.
The heavy snow fell on them, freezing their faces blue, but it still could not freeze their passion to protect the country.
The moment the people saw the imperial teacher, some of them threw stones at him.
The guards all stood in front of the imperial teacher and blocked the stones.
"Everyone, calm down and listen to me." The Imperial Master gestured for the guards to step aside and stood before the enraged people. "Northern Qi's land is not as rich and fertile as Great Zhou's. To allow the people more land to farm, we launched a war of aggression against Great Zhou. The prolonged war between the two countries has not improved the lives of the people of Northern Qi. Instead, the war has plunged them into dire straits. This contradicts our original intention."
The people were already very excited, and hearing the imperial teacher's words was like adding fuel to the fire. They took out stones and threw them at him.
A stone hit the Emperor's forehead squarely, and blood flowed down, staining his handsome face red, unexpectedly revealing a broken beauty.
The people were stunned, and the Northern Qi soldiers were also panicked.
The Imperial Preceptor's expression was indifferent. He simply took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the blood from his face. He then spoke to the people, "Northern Qi has realized that war will not enrich the people, but will only lead to waste of money and labor. Therefore, they have decided to establish a truce and alliance with the Great Zhou. The two countries will trade with each other, exchange culture and customs, and seek benefits for the people."
He pulled out a sachet from his sleeve and said, "We brought seeds with us to show Northern Qi's sincerity in seeking peace."
The people did not trust the imperial teacher's words, thinking that he was just making up a high-sounding excuse to fool them. They threw stones at him without any regard to vent their hatred.
Until the imperial teacher took out the sachet.
The people let go of the stones in their hands and stared at the sachet in the imperial teacher's palm with vigilance.
The Great Zhou had experienced a long period of famine, which made them fear natural disasters.
Now when I hear about seeds, I can’t help but feel a little excited, and more curious.
Curious whether these seeds can help them stay away from famine forever.
Under the gaze of the crowd, the Imperial Master opened the sachet and poured out a few seeds, some of which were covered with white hairs, while others were black seeds with the hairs removed.
The people's attention was immediately attracted by the seeds in the imperial teacher's palm. Their eyes were full of curiosity, and they didn't know what kind of seeds these were.
They asked curiously, "Is this...food?"
However, one or two people exclaimed after seeing the seeds: "This...is this a white flounder?"
"These are cotton seeds, shaped like silkworm cocoons, also known as white cotton seeds. The cotton fibers they produce can be made into cotton-padded jackets to keep out the cold." The Imperial Teacher said with a smile, "If you plant them on a large scale, next year everyone in the country will be able to wear cotton-padded jackets and cover themselves with quilts, and won't have to suffer from the cold anymore."
When the people heard that it could keep them warm, a hint of eagerness appeared in their eyes.
They knew that cotton cloth was woven from cotton silk. Cotton was not grown in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the cotton cloth sold in cloth shops were all imported products brought in from overseas.
The people of the Great Zhou used silk and animal fur to keep warm. Only the rich could afford these cold-proof items, while ordinary people like them could only rely on collecting poplar, willow and reed catkins and stuffing them into the lining of their clothes to keep warm.
If their conditions were slightly better, they would buy animal skins from hunters and make clothes or quilts.
Many people freeze to death every winter.
They were tempted, but when they thought of the Northern Qi's cunning tricks, they worried that it was their conspiracy.
But the temptation of cotton was too great. They didn't want to starve, let alone freeze.
At this time, someone in the crowd said, "I used to grow cotton. I took the seeds and stuffed them into the lining of my clothes. It wasn't comfortable at all. It's not as light and soft as wool."
"Yes, if it was really as good as you say, we would have planted it long ago. How could we still be freezing?"
"You people of Northern Qi have ulterior motives and want to invade our land. How could you be so kind as to give us cotton seeds?"
"I think they're just trying to use the cotton seeds as a pretext to continue causing trouble in our Great Zhou and spark civil unrest. Get out of the Great Zhou, and we won't be fooled again."
"Get out of Da Zhou, get out of Da Zhou!"
The Imperial Teacher said nothing more, but ordered Yan Yi to fetch a cotton-padded jacket, and with a dagger, he opened it along the seams and took out the snow-white cotton filling in the interlayer.
The people who were close to the imperial teacher stared at the white cotton thread with wide eyes and couldn't help but reach out to touch it. It was soft and fluffy, just like touching a piece of cloud.
They were amazed at the feel of the cotton and almost forgot their current situation. They bravely touched the cotton jacket and found it soft and warm, and they were reluctant to let go.
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