Chapter 163 Zhao Duan's Manuscript
"Everyone," the octogenarian in a red university gown knocked on the table to attract everyone's attention and said:
"Your Majesty is very busy, and it is already noon. Today's political meeting will come to an end for now.
Tomorrow, I will have to deal with government affairs in the academy. As for the new policies... there is no rush. I will leave my proposal today on the table. Your Majesty and I will carefully examine it later."
After he finished speaking, the young scholars were shocked to realize that so much time had passed and it was already noon.
I suddenly felt dry mouth and hungry.
Although they still felt a little reluctant, since Grand Tutor Dong had spoken, they naturally stood up to see him off.
"Farewell to Your Majesty."
At the same time, one by one, they placed the thick memorials they had prepared long ago on the table.
It can be seen that although Han Zhou is the one who is in the limelight today, this group of scholars all have their own ideas.
"No need to be so polite. From now on, you will still have to take care of the affairs of the family and the country." Xu Zhenguan stood up and nodded slightly.
She was almost a decoration all morning and didn't express any opinions.
Because as an emperor, any action he takes will be magnified infinitely.
Her arrival today was not meant to be a decision, but rather had greater symbolic significance.
"We, the ministers, will sacrifice our lives for Your Majesty and for Dayu." The scholars said in unison.
In the corner.
Zhao Duan, who was deep in thought, was awakened by the shouting of the group and came to his senses.
I was surprised to find that the clerk next to me had put down his pen and was rubbing his sore wrist.
Is the meeting over?
Yes, it’s already noon... Zhao Duan’s stomach was rumbling. After becoming a high-class person, he got hungrier more easily.
He lowered his head and glanced at the dozen or so pages of paper in his hand. He thought for a moment, but ultimately did not say anything.
Originally, he was planning to show off his prowess in front of others, but after thinking about the details carefully, he found that it was not that easy.
First of all, although the situation of the Dayu Dynasty had many similarities with that of the Wanli Dynasty, there were differences after all. When it comes to the new policies, any difference should not be underestimated and must be considered repeatedly.
Secondly, although he remembered the key points of the "Performance Evaluation System" and the "Equalization of Land Tax", the policy of a country cannot be explained clearly in just a few hundred words.
That is a complete systematic strategy. Didn’t you see that Han Zhou and his gang each submitted a thick stack of memorials?
It took several months to write it over and over again, but Zhao Duan didn't have the time to sort out the whole thing.
If I speak rashly at this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain myself clearly.
If these scholars find any loopholes and interrogate us, wouldn't it be a disgrace not only for ourselves but also for our ancestors?
Especially... he was really a little hungry... There was no rush for this kind of thing, there was still plenty of time.
"I need to think about it more carefully..."
Zhao Duan thought about it and decided to be cautious. He stood up, thought for a while, and put the stack of papers in his hand on the table.
Before entering the room, Mo Chou reminded him that any information in the room must not be leaked, including any paper with words on it, which cannot be taken away without inspection.
That's the rule.
I felt a bit of evil interest in my heart and wanted to test whether Master Dong and the Empress could understand it.
As for being plagiarized and claimed as one's own... he is not worried at all.
Because there were only a few scattered words and a few incoherent sentences written on the paper.
Most of the details are only in his mind.
It was impossible to restore the whole with just these fragments and symbols that only he understood.
"Zhao Duan, come with me." Xu Zhenguan looked at him and said.
In an instant, the scholars in the room looked at him collectively for the first time, with different expressions.
There's no hostility, but there's no enthusiasm either.
It was as if he was just treated as an ordinary official.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Duan responded, then suddenly remembered something, bent down, picked up a basket of pears, and said with a smile:
"After all this morning's conversation, you scholars must be thirsty. Would you like to try some of the pears grown in the Zhaoya?"
No one moved.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
Mo Chou shook her head, thinking that this group of arrogant scholars would not show anything even on the surface because of the presence of His Majesty.
But it is unrealistic to ask them to take the initiative to make friends with a cruel official with a bad reputation.
Zhao Duan is also a very smart person. Could it be that he is thinking of making friends with this group of scholars by using a basket of pears?
However, at this time, a person in white clothes walked by.
The Queen of Dayu seemed to be going out, but happened to walk beside him and stopped.
She stretched out her delicate hand, picked one up, played with it for a moment, and nodded slightly:
“That’s thoughtful.”
Then walked outside.
This... Seeing this, how could the group of scholars dare to be arrogant?
They immediately came forward, each took a pear and expressed their gratitude.
Your Majesty has taken it, how dare they not take it?
Zhao Duan smiled and didn't care whether the gratitude of these scholars was sincere. He distributed pears around, then turned around and went out to follow the empress.
…
After the empress and the scholars left one after another, the room in Xiuwen Hall suddenly became deserted, with only two people left.
The recorder responsible for recording the "minutes of the meeting" carefully organized the manuscript.
He walked to the top of the table, in front of Grand Tutor Dong who was flipping through the memorials, and whispered:
"Grand Master, it's noon. Let's go eat first. You won't be able to finish reading all these memorials in a short time."
As he said this, he put down the meeting minutes in his hand.
This also needs to be reviewed by the Grand Tutor, and you cannot leave this room.
The literary giant, with white hair and beard, who was already old but still vigorous, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy shook his head.
Responsible for the formulation of new policies, the first day was full of difficulties. How could Master Dong have an appetite to eat?
Hearing this, he just waved his hand and ordered:
"Bring all the memorials forward."
The registrar nodded helplessly and walked around the long table.
All the memorials were moved in front of the old man so that he could read them more easily.
"What's that over there?"
Master Dong was sharp-eyed and suddenly noticed that there was a pile of papers on a table in the corner, and there seemed to be words on them.
The registrar took a look and said, "Oh,"
"That's the seat that Envoy Zhao sat in. I think he wrote it. I was sitting next to him, but I was so focused on taking notes that I couldn't see clearly what he was sketching. I guess he was also writing it down, right?"
As he spoke, he walked over and picked it up.
Grand Tutor Dong shook his head, somewhat dissatisfied with His Majesty for bringing Zhao Duan here.
Why would a military officer come to Xiuwenguan to join in the fun?
Could it be that he could still understand? Perhaps he came here because he knew the importance of Xiuwen Pavilion...
Forget it, let him be. I believe that after today, Zhao Duan should understand that everyone has their own expertise, and the right thing to do is to go back and work on the case.
"...Grand Master? How about you take a look at this..."
However, the registrar suddenly spoke in a strange tone at this moment.
He held the manuscript left by Zhao Duan in his hands and seemed to have simply flipped through a few pages. His expression was very strange, a little hesitant, a little...
uncertain?
More than that, I am confused.
He couldn't understand it, but his instinct as a clerk told him that the words on the paper were important.
I don't know why it's so powerful.
"What are you looking at?" Grand Tutor Dong was puzzled, but seeing the other party's expression, he also felt a little curious. After a slight hesitation, he raised his hand to take it.
I thought to myself, I want to see what Zhao Duan wrote.
Looking down, three words came into view:
Performance Evaluation Method
Grand Tutor Dong frowned. She didn't remember anyone mentioning this word before.
His eyes moved downward, passing over two lines of saliva text, and paused again.
"Set a limit for the examination."
"Blame people for their actions."
Hiss...this...Master Dong’s brows slowly furrowed as he continued to look down.
Page after page...
The recorder at the side was surprised to see that Grand Tutor Dong was reading more and more slowly, more and more seriously, and more and more...
solemn.
It was clearly just fragmented and scattered, like a scribbled manuscript recording thoughts and random thoughts.
However, Grand Tutor Dong seemed to be more focused than Han Banshan's "Ten Strategies".
So what did Zhao Duan write?
…
…
Outside Xiuwen Hall.
Zhao Duan originally thought that he would walk with the empress, or sit in the small car at the back.
However, to his surprise, the empress led him onto the royal carriage, which was one of more than a dozen large carriages with bright yellow carriages.
Even Mo Chou didn't receive this treatment.
"Your Majesty, do you have any instructions?"
This was not the first time Zhao Duan had ridden in a royal carriage. He had ridden one before when he went to the Emperor's Tower, but he was still nervous.
When the bright yellow curtains were lowered and the carriage started moving, only two people were left in the spacious carriage.
Xu Zhenguan had been assembling the "clay sculptures and wood carvings" for the entire morning and was now feeling a little tired.
After sitting down, she casually took off the crown on her head and threw it aside, pulled out the hairpin, shook her head, and her long black hair fell down like a waterfall.
At this moment, she was no longer the majestic and graceful empress, but a cold and otherworldly fairy.
Hearing this, she glanced at him with her beautiful eyes and snorted:
"I have nothing to do, so I can't give you a ride?"
Returning to the palace from Xiuwenguan is indeed closer to the imperial court.
But Zhao Duan didn't think that the empress just gave it to him as a gift.
"How about attending the class at Xiuwenguan today?" Xu Zhenguan said casually with a hint of teasing.
Zhao Duan pondered for a moment and said cautiously:
"All the scholars are very talented, and the Grand Master has a unique vision in selecting people."
In such a small institution like Xiuwenguan, different scholars not only excel in different fields, but also represent different groups... One can imagine the repeated weighing of the pros and cons behind the scenes.
Xu Zhenguan smiled and said:
"Now, you should understand why I said you can't go. National policy involves many aspects, and intelligence alone is not enough."
She felt that the reason Zhao Duan was keeping a low profile in the corner today was because he couldn't get a word in, and might not even be able to understand.
"Actually, I..." Zhao Duan hesitated, not knowing what to say.
Xu Zhenguan interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said:
"Okay, let's get down to business. Last time... you and I were practicing in the Yuanzu Temple, did you feel anything... unusual?"
When she came to the second half of the sentence, even though she had rehearsed it many times in her mind, she still felt a little unnatural and her eyes were slightly evasive.
In her mind, she couldn't help but recall the words that Hai Gongfeng said to her with a smile that day.
Harmony of yin and yang... Could it be that if I share the great principles with him, I can really achieve twice the result with half the effort?
After that day, although she disagreed with it, she was still worried in her heart. After thinking about it over and over again, she was still worried, so she decided to confirm it today.
That's good...it saves me from having too many wild thoughts.
"Abnormal?" Zhao Duan was stunned and hesitated.
"That day, my cultivation level broke through, which was naturally different from usual."
He wasn't sure what Zhenbao meant. Did she notice something last time?
Did you realize that you were different from others when practicing "Martial God Diagram"?
This speculation made him a little nervous.
"..." Xu Zhenguan stared at him for a few seconds, sighed softly, and thought to himself that he was stupid. How could he get an answer by asking him like this?
That would only...
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Zhenguan suddenly bit his lip and said:
"Come sit down next to me."
Huh? Zhao Duan was stunned.
(End of this chapter)
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