Chapter 140 Xuanwu Ceremony Xuanwu Ceremony
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: Today, the world is prosperous, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and those who defend the borders and aid the farmers have all benefited. However, the cultural heritage is complex and confusing, making it difficult to understand."
"The Emperor ordered all regions to seek out rare copies of books, compile the world's collections, and compile the Xuanwu Encyclopedia, a collection of a thousand years of history, a grand classic from ancient times to the present, to be passed down for generations and available for the reference of all people."
"Order the Fourth Prince Qin Heng to oversee the compilation of the Xuanwu Grand Code. Grand Secretary Liang Cheng of the Zhongji Palace and Grand Secretary Gu Mengzhang of the Jianji Palace will serve as co-chiefs. Grand Secretary Wang Fuyan of the Hanlin Academy and the six ministers and vice ministers will serve as vice-chairmen in compiling this code."
"During the period of the revision, we will collect books and collections from the public and return them after use."
"During the period of Yunxiu's work, I have specially recruited scholars and patriots from all over the world to help complete this book."
"The Yunsi Academy was converted into the Xuanwu Grand Ceremony Office, used for copying, collecting, supervising, and compiling important documents."
"I hope this grand ceremony will live up to my expectations and be passed down through the ages to enlighten the people!"
At the grand court meeting, the emperor's direct decree stunned most of the people in the court.
Although we are used to the emperor's straightforward character, we still don't know what the "Xuanwu Encyclopedia" is and why the emperor suddenly thought of compiling it. Not to mention anything else, he didn't even inform the several grand tutors and grand tutors.
The candidates were already decided, and the decree was announced directly in the court, leaving them no chance to object.
After Eunuch Li finished speaking, he stood beside the throne with his hands hanging down, not even daring to look at the expressions of the adults below.
After the decree was issued, the court fell silent. Surprise, complexity, anger, and worry alternately appeared on the faces of these adults, especially His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was standing in the front, his face was even more gloomy.
He did not object to any grand ceremony, as it was beneficial to the Great Zhou. But why was the Fourth Prince the one to preside over it? If his father asked the Fourth Prince to come forward, where would he put him, the Crown Prince?
Zhang Taishi and others also had the same ugly expression as him. Not to mention their political stance, this time the emperor wanted to hold the Xuanwu Ceremony, which was related to the Great Zhou, and he had not even informed them beforehand. The implications of this made these adults terrified.
The emperor glanced at the people below and asked, "Why, do you think there's something wrong with the Xuanwu Ceremony?"
The officials below did not dare to speak, but the emperor directly called on them: "Grand Tutor Zhang, you speak."
As the foremost civil official and the emperor's teacher, Grand Tutor Zhang always had a certain amount of prestige to maintain. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Your Majesty, the original intention of compiling the Xuanwu Grand Code is naturally good, but it was suddenly put in place. I'm worried that it will start well but end badly, wasting manpower and resources without achieving much."
The emperor nodded in agreement and said, "Grandmaster Zhang is right. In that case, you will be responsible for supervising this matter."
Grand Tutor Zhang's face froze. That's not what he meant!
The emperor continued, "Before his death, the late emperor expressed his regret at not being able to hold the grand ceremony. As a son and a member of the national army, it is my duty to fulfill his last wish."
"Since Grand Tutor Zhang believes that the ceremony is a good one, then please all of you work together to create a grand ceremony that will be passed down through the ages."
"Your humble servant obeys your command." Grand Tutor Zhang could only agree. In fact, as a man of letters, he also had the desire to compile a masterpiece that would be passed down through the ages, but he had other considerations.
The emperor turned his gaze to the Fourth Prince and instructed him, "Heng'er, this matter is of great importance. It may take many years to achieve any results. As a prince, you must set an example and revise the book well for me and the Great Zhou."
The Fourth Prince smiled and said repeatedly, "Your Highness will obey the Imperial Order and will not let your father down."
The emperor nodded in satisfaction and announced that the court was dismissed without further ado.
After leaving the palace, the faces of the court's civil and military officials became more and more excited. The military officials did not pay much attention to the revision of the book, but the civil officials were different. They could not help whispering to each other before they even left the palace.
The Fourth Prince walked up to the Crown Prince and said with a smile, "Brother, I am not very knowledgeable and talented, so I might need to borrow the help of Grand Tutor Zhang, Grand Tutor Chu, and others to edit the book. I hope you can help me."
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Grand Tutor Zhang and Grand Tutor Chu are both officials appointed by the imperial court, not my eunuchs. If Fourth Brother needs to recruit them, he can just ask Father. Why ask me?"
The Fourth Prince smiled and said, "Father has already agreed. However, I am worried that these two adults often come in and out of the East Palace and must be very busy. I have to tell my eldest brother."
The prince's face was icy cold. He glanced down at him and sneered, "Qin Heng, if your virtue is unworthy of your position, disaster will surely come. Aren't you afraid that you'll die of starvation?"
The Fourth Prince was not afraid at all. He patted his belly and said, "What a coincidence! I don't have anything else, but my belly is quite big."
The prince stared at him with eyes that wished he could rush up and tear him to pieces. Fortunately, he still had some sense and knew that the emperor was already very dissatisfied with him. It would be of no benefit for him to make a scene now. In the end, he swallowed his anger and turned away.
After winning a game, the Fourth Prince was quite proud of himself. He thought to himself that it didn't matter if Su Fengzhang was unwilling to get close to the Xu family, because in the end he would still be the one who benefited.
Although presiding over the ceremony was complicated and messy and seemed to be a thankless task, the emperor could order him to recruit scholars from all over the world. In other words, as the host of the "Xuanwu Ceremony", he could easily recruit famous people from all over the world.
Before this, even with the Xu family, there were not many people who actually joined the Fourth Prince's sect.
After all, in the eyes of everyone, the prince is the eldest son of Empress Yuan, and he was named the prince at the age of five. Although he has not been outstanding over the years, he has been diligent and has made no mistakes, and is indeed orthodox.
The fourth prince was different. His mother, Concubine Xu, was of ordinary birth. The Xu family was not considered a big family in Qingzhou. It was only after Concubine Xu became favored that the family became increasingly prosperous. In fact, their foundation was shallow.
Being the youngest son of a favorite concubine, the Fourth Prince was destined to be at a disadvantage in this power struggle, not to mention that Grand Tutor Zhang and others had always stood on the side of the Crown Prince.
All the Fourth Prince could count on was the Emperor's preference for Concubine Xu and his love for him. However, Concubine Xu's beauty had faded in recent years, and although she had not fallen out of favor, the Emperor's treatment of her was far less than before.
It just so happened that the new favorite concubine, Concubine Yu, was a daughter of the Fang family. Although she was also born in Qingzhou, she was only indifferent to Concubine Xu. Instead, she was unusually close to the childless empress dowager. This really made the Fourth Prince anxious.
Concubine Xu also extended an olive branch to Concubine Yu, but unfortunately Concubine Yu had eaten before this concubine when she entered the palace, and it is not easy to save the relationship now. Fortunately, Concubine Yu had no children after entering the palace.
The Fourth Prince's heart began to boil with excitement at the thought of being able to attract scholars from all over the world by compiling a book.
In contrast to his happiness, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was able to maintain his composure outside. However, upon returning to the East Palace, he swept the treasures from the table to the ground with a wave of his hand, pounded the table with both fists, and cursed, "Damn Qin Heng, what does he want to do!"
Imperial Tutor Chu came in shortly after. Seeing the Crown Prince's loss of composure, he frowned and advised, "Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince, and the Fourth Prince is just a bald prince. Why bother with him?"
The Crown Prince became even more furious upon hearing this and cursed, "He's a bald prince, yet Father has him in charge of revising the book. Master Chu, you're a scholar, don't you know what this means?"
Imperial Tutor Chu naturally understood the situation very well, but in front of the Crown Prince, he said, "Your Highness, no matter what the Fourth Prince is planning, organizing the grand ceremony will not be a quick undertaking, and recruiting scholars will not be easy either."
The prince sneered and said, "It is indeed not easy, but the ceremony is the best raft."
"As long as the emperor is alive, he can cultivate for a day, and recruit for a day, forever. Who knows when the emperor will..."
Master Chu frowned and said, "Your Highness!"
The prince also realized his own loss of composure, took a deep breath to calm down some of his anger, and then asked, "How is it going with Grand Tutor Zhang?"
Grand Tutor Chu could only reply, "Prior to this, Grand Master had not heard of any such rumors."
The Crown Prince frowned even more, his foreboding feeling growing stronger. "I'm afraid Father has become suspicious of me, otherwise he wouldn't be deliberately avoiding Grand Tutor Zhang. He's trying to protect me."
"It's not that serious." Although Master Chu comforted him in this way, he felt in his heart that this was the truth.
The emperor is getting older, but he is not one to submit to old age. In recent years, he has even begun to favor the young and beautiful Concubine Yu. However, the prince is about to reach the age of thirty. As long as the emperor does not want to abdicate, the conflict between the two will become more and more serious.
Being the eldest son of Empress Yuan and holding the position of Crown Prince is the Crown Prince's greatest advantage, but it is also his greatest disadvantage. The Emperor is in very good health and it is likely that he will not think of abdicating for another ten or eight years.
But what about the Crown Prince? With the Fourth Prince eyeing him covetously, can he really remain in control?
The Crown Prince's gloomy and irritable aura persisted, and he suddenly asked, "Why did Father suddenly decide to revise the book?"
Imperial Tutor Chu replied, "Your Majesty only began to think of this after Xiao Hanlin of the Imperial Academy came before His Majesty. At that time, only Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince, Xiao Hanlin, and Eunuch Li were in the palace. No one knows what was said, but... Xiao Hanlin is not a man so bold as this."
"Now that the imperial edict has been issued, is he still not bold enough?" the prince sneered.
Imperial Tutor Chu hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Su Fengzhang, the top scholar in the Golden Examination Building, is now working under Xiao Hanlin. I heard they have a very good relationship and get along very well. The index to the collection of books that Xiao Hanlin presented was written by Su Fengzhang."
"Su Fengzhang! It's him again!" The prince shouted with gritted teeth. He had not forgotten that it was Su Fengzhang who ruined his plans during the palace examination.
"He's just a writer, how dare he do this!"
"We'll know in a few days whether it's him or not." Taifu Chu said so. Their Majesty is clear about rewards and punishments. If this matter is related to Su Fengzhang, it is impossible that he would remain silent about it.
Grand Tutor Chu sighed and couldn't help but say, "If it weren't for the Fourth Prince, Su Fengzhang would be a talented person."
The prince sneered and cursed, "Su Que, this useless guy, is so useless even with Chi Liangjun's help. It's really a waste of my time. As for Su Fengzhang, since he wants to help Qin Heng, don't blame me for being intolerant!"
Taifu Chu opened his mouth and wanted to say that this matter had nothing to do with Su Juan. It was Chi Liangjun who had been an official for many years and was tripped up under his nose by someone, so Xiao Hanlin and Su Fengzhang reported it directly to the emperor, which was really useless.
But he thought about how the Crown Prince had always had a fondness for Chi Liangjun, and how Chi Liangjun's youngest daughter was the Crown Prince's favorite concubine, so he swallowed his words. That was all. Since things had already happened, it would be of no use even if the Crown Prince was dissatisfied with Chi Liangjun.
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