Chapter 139: The Prosperous Era
The phrase "leave a name in history" successfully moved Xiao Hanlin, or maybe this man looked honest and seemed to have been smoothed out by Chi Liangjun's suppression, but how many officials in the court could really treat their future as dirt.
The reason why Xiao Hanlin was dormant before was that he had no connections or background, and his popularity in the Hanlin Academy was only average. If he confronted Chi Liangjun head-on, he would be the only one who would suffer.
Xiao Hanlin was quite self-aware. In the eyes of northern officials, he was a native southerner, while in the eyes of southern officials, he was an insignificant and useless person.
And now, Su Fengzhang has presented him with a great opportunity. Even though Xiao Hanlin knows that Su Fengzhang has other intentions, he cannot resist this huge temptation.
What's worse, even without Su Fengzhang's temptation, Xiao Hanlin was so excited just thinking about the four words "leaving his name in history" that he couldn't sleep for several nights, not because of worry, but because of excitement.
More than half a month passed, and Su Fengzhang did not seem anxious at all. On the contrary, Xiao Hanlin seemed quite uneasy, hoping that the emperor would remember him soon.
It was not known whether his expectation had worked, but the weather was still hot that day, but the emperor in the palace suddenly had the idea of recruiting someone to read to him, and the Hanlin he chose was none other than Xiao Tongda, Xiao Hanlin.
Xiao Hanlin quickly washed up before leaving. Before leaving, he patted Su Fengzhang on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. If this thing succeeds, I will not forget your contribution."
Su Fengzhang smiled as he saw him off, and he had a new understanding of this man's magnanimity.
It was a hot day, but Xiao Hanlin was unusually energetic. Even his steps into the palace were filled with excitement, so much so that he was almost unable to react when he stepped into the palace gate.
It was extremely cool inside the palace. After all, no one could get as hot as the emperor. There were large ice basins in the four corners of the palace, which formed a sharp contrast with the hot weather outside.
But what made the smile on Xiao Hanlin's face disappear quickly was not the coolness in the palace, but the emperor's ridicule.
When the emperor saw the tutor come in and pay his respects, he smiled nonchalantly and said, "Look, Heng'er, I told you Xiao Tongda was prone to sweating. He must be looking quite disheveled now, and that's exactly what he is."
The emperor's words did not sound like he suddenly remembered that Xiao Tongda had asked him to come and serve as his tutor, but rather as if he had specifically asked him to come and embarrass himself.
The emperor dared to say such resentful words, but the fourth prince did not dare. He quickly lowered his head and said, "Father, Lord Xiao must be eager to see you, so he rushed all the way here. You must understand."
The emperor laughed heartily, nodded, and said, "That's true, Eunuch Li. Take him downstairs to freshen up."
So less than a moment after Xiao Tongda entered the room, he followed Eunuch Li to the next room to clean up. He dared not show any displeasure because of this, lest he would be hated by the emperor.
When he appeared before the emperor again, Xiao Hanlin discovered that there was no one else in the palace except the emperor and the fourth prince, especially there was no sign of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
This is a good opportunity, Xiao Hanlin thought.
This time the emperor did not cause any trouble and just let him preach on the side. He just looked not very interested and nodded randomly, as if he was just passing the time casually.
Seeing this, the Fourth Prince smiled and said, "Father, are you tired?"
The emperor sighed and said calmly, "It's been very hot these past few days. I haven't eaten or slept well, and I feel listless. The imperial physician says it's the bitter summer heat, but I think it must be because I've been bored today."
The Fourth Prince suggested, "Why not invite the musicians? I heard they're rehearsing a new piece of music recently."
The emperor was not interested and said, "It's always the same people and the same songs. What's new here?"
After saying this, he suddenly looked up at Xiao Tongda, who had stopped preaching, and said, "Xiao Hanlin, is there anything interesting happening outside the palace today?"
Xiao Hanlin had no idea what the emperor meant by this. His mind was a mess for a moment, but he spoke even faster: "It's not really an interesting story, but the story of the Golden Examination Scholar and Miss Liuxu is well known to everyone."
Such romantic affairs between talented men and beautiful women have always been a favorite of the emperor.
But he was not in a good mood that day, and said lightly: "I have also heard about this matter. Meng Ting is indeed a romantic man."
Xiao Hanlin didn't know how to respond.
Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was nearby and said with a smile, "Father, didn't you praise his poetic talent a few days ago? Why don't you send someone to summon him to the palace and test his poetry?"
"The weather is too hot, I'm too lazy to take the test." The emperor refused outright.
The fourth prince also felt strange and couldn't understand why the emperor was so listless recently.
He turned his thoughts and looked at Xiao Hanlin, smiling and mentioning Su Fengzhang: "Xiao Hanlin, I heard that Su Zhuangyuan has been studying with you since he entered the Hanlin Academy. Are you satisfied with this disciple?"
"Su Xiuzhuan is quick-witted and calm, much better than me." Xiao Hanlin muttered in his heart, not knowing what the Fourth Prince meant.
In a flash, he suddenly remembered that Su Fengzhang was from Qingzhou and had a secret relationship with Xu Zifeng, and the Xu family was the maternal family of the Fourth Prince, so was there any connection between Su Fengzhang and the Fourth Prince?
The Fourth Prince nodded, looked at the Emperor and said, "Speaking of Su Zhuangyuan, I remember an interesting story."
"Oh, what's the matter?" the emperor asked very politely.
The Fourth Prince laughed and said, "The weather has been very hot recently, and many people are using fans to cool down. The nobles have started comparing the quality of their fans. Su Zhuangyuan is good at painting, and Meng Ting is a good friend of his, so he went to his house to ask for a painting."
"Su Zhuangyuan agreed immediately, but then she drew him a small picture of Meng Ting fanning himself vigorously in the scorching heat. I've never seen the painting before, but Zifeng said it was very lifelike and charming."
"That's... our elegant and talented scholar Meng, now three heads tall on a fan, with his pigtails sticking up."
Upon hearing this, the emperor couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, "Su Zhuangyuan looks gentle and refined, a man of elegance and composure, but I didn't expect he could be so mischievous."
After saying this, the emperor asked curiously, "Xiao Hanlin, have you ever seen Su Zhuangyuan's fan paintings?"
Xiao Hanlin could only answer, "I haven't seen him before. Lord Su is not afraid of the heat. Others are sweating all over, but he is still clean and fresh. It makes people envious."
"Oh, that's quite interesting," the emperor couldn't help but say, and then asked, "What is he doing in the Imperial Academy now?"
If it was just speculation just now, then Xiao Hanlin was now certain that the Fourth Prince had deliberately promoted Su Fengzhang, otherwise he would not have mentioned it deliberately. With a thousand thoughts in his mind, he quickly said, "Besides reading, he also edits books."
Suddenly, his eyes moved, and he continued, "Master Su is indeed worthy of being the number one scholar chosen by His Majesty. Even the way he reads and edits books is different from others. After several months, he has figured out a new method for compiling bibliographies."
The emperor was immediately curious and asked, "Oh, what method is it?"
Xiao Hanlin then explained the bibliographic indexing methods he remembered one by one, carefully and without hiding anything.
After hearing his words, the emperor laughed again and said, "It sounds quite useful. Why didn't Chi Liangjun bring it up?"
Xiao Hanlin resisted the urge to file a complaint. Although Chi Liangjun's appearance was not favored by the emperor, he was still able to stay in the Hanlin Academy for many years. He must have a backer. Xiao Hanlin was not sure whether the emperor would protect him if he filed a complaint.
After pondering for a while, Xiao Hanlin gave up the idea and simply said, "Master Su has just finished compiling a plan and doesn't dare to mention it in front of Master Chi."
"Since this is a useful method, it's important to use it as soon as possible." The emperor said with a smile, "How about this, since Chi Liangjun asked you to take charge of the book collection, you will handle this matter."
Xiao Hanlin's eyes lit up, and he said repeatedly, "I will obey your order and do my best."
The emperor said without giving any face: "It's such a simple thing that I haven't thought of it before. You can only be of this use."
Xiao Hanlin felt his face burning, and he mustered up the courage to say, "Your Majesty, I have another matter to report!"
The emperor asked calmly, "What's the matter?"
Xiao Hanlin noticed the Fourth Prince's gaze and the words on the tip of his tongue changed in tone.
"This matter has to start from when Su Zhuangyuan was sent here to revise the letter with me. It is really a long story."
"The Hanlin Academy has been editing books for so many years, but I haven't seen anything come out of it." The emperor said with a hint of impatience: "To make a long story short."
Xiao Hanlin didn't dare beat around the bush and said directly, "During the revision process, Lord Su and I had many discussions. We realized that it would be difficult to achieve results if we just scrambled here and there. It would be time-consuming and laborious, and it would also be hopeless."
"The ancients often said that history is compiled during the change of dynasties, and books are compiled during prosperous times. The people of the Zhou Dynasty lived and worked in peace and contentment for a hundred years. Why is it that the Hanlin Academy still has a problem with history books? Why can't they compile books?"
"If we could gather the world's scholars, search for rare books from all over the world to enrich the Tianfu Treasures, and compile a magnificent tome that combines the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought and showcases the style of our Great Zhou, wouldn't it be possible to leave a name in history?"
After Xiao Hanlin finished speaking, he felt scared when he met the emperor's gaze. He lowered his head quickly and dared not look at him again.
The emperor looked around as if he didn't recognize him, then suddenly laughed and said, "My dear Xiao, this doesn't seem like your idea."
Xiao Hanlin resisted the urge to wipe his sweat and said, "It's certainly not my humble servant's idea alone. It was mostly suggested by Lord Su."
The emperor laughed, perhaps seeing through Xiao Hanlin's tricks. He turned and asked, "Heng'er, what do you think of this?"
The Fourth Prince did not speak directly. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has never been a case of the entire nation mobilizing its resources to hold a grand ceremony."
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the emperor laughed out loud and said, "Yes, what even Emperor Taizu and Emperor Gaozu could not do, perhaps I can do it."
"You don't know that before the late emperor passed away, he also had the idea of holding a grand ceremony, but the time was not ripe at that time. I had forgotten about it in recent years. I didn't expect that Su Zhuangyuan would bring it up now. It is exactly what I want."
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The author has something to say: Take away a wave in advance:
Click on the author's column——Come, sister loves you-Xianyan
Click on the author's column——Dear Boyfriend-Xiandan
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