146 146
◎She won't scare Zhang Su, but does Zhang Su really dare?◎
In mid-February, when the newly elected candidates were still writing furiously in the examination hall, Jia Fangping, who had been transferred to Tianshui County as a clerk, passed by the capital and was ordered to go to the palace to pay a visit to the Crown Princess.
Qingyang also had her own public housing in the Secretariat, but she usually stayed with the two prime ministers and only came to the public housing when she needed to relieve herself or take a nap at noon.
The public housing was divided into an outer study and an inner rest room. Upon learning that Jia Fangping had arrived, Qingyang had someone take Jia Fangping to her public housing to wait. She only left after she had finished reviewing the memorial in her hand.
Not far away, Qingyang soon saw Jia Fangping, who was wearing the light crimson robe of a fifth-rank civil servant.
Almost all the officials in Beijing knew that Jia Fangping was recommended by the Crown Princess, and they also listed Jia Fangping as the Crown Princess's confidant, but Qingyang only met Jia Fangping a few times when she was ten years old. Now she was eighteen years old, and Jia Fangping was thirty-four years old. He had a short beard, and his face had not changed much, only a little darker than Qingyang remembered. His figure was still thin and straight, and he did not gain weight because he had been the governor of a county for several years.
"Your servant Jia Fangping pays his respects to the Crown Princess, and respectfully wishes Her a long and healthy life."
While looking at this nominally trusted minister in Qingyang, Jia Fangping knelt down with unconcealed excitement.
Qingyang smiled and waived his greeting, then walked into the public housing first, with Jia Fangping and others following after a few steps.
The door of the public housing was open, but Jie Yu was guarding outside and would never give any official the opportunity to get close and eavesdrop.
Qingyang sat in the main seat and offered Jia Fangping a seat. She first asked if his journey to the capital had been smooth, then inquired about his achievements in Kuaiji County. Once Jia Fangping had calmed down, Qingyang said casually, "Actually, according to the Ministry of Personnel's recommendation, you should have been promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue this year. I felt your qualifications were insufficient, so I changed your position."
Jia Fangping knelt on the ground in shock, saying in panic, "It was thanks to Your Highness that I was able to rise from a poor scholar to a county governor in just a few years. Although I have made some minor achievements in local affairs in recent years, they have only lived up to the appreciation of Your Highness and the Emperor. I have no merit in being promoted to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Thankfully, Your Highness made a wise decision, sparing me from the criticism of the officials."
Qingyang: "Why, are you afraid that the officials will label you as the Crown Princess's party?"
Jia Fangping: "I am not afraid. I am only afraid that I will not live up to the reputation I have earned and bring disaster to Your Highness's reputation."
Qingyang smiled and said, "You're afraid, and so am I. I'm afraid my subjects will accuse me of nepotism. Therefore, the more trusted a minister is, the more I want him to achieve great feats that will convince my subjects. Although I've cut off your path to further advancement today, I'll naturally reward you with a higher position when you succeed."
In other words, she really regarded Jia Fangping as her confidant.
Jia Fangping understood and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, please tell me what you want me to do. I will do it even if it means death."
Qingyang asked him to sit back down, looked at him and asked, "Have you ever thought about why I transferred you to Tianshui County?"
Jia Fangping: "I have repeatedly read Your Highness's 'Southern Tour' and know that Your Highness is determined to control the silt loss in the Yellow River. Tianshui County is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, where a large amount of loess flows into the river. Therefore, I presume that Your Highness intends to send me to control the loss of loess in Tianshui County."
Qingyang was very pleased with his cleverness and said, "That's my intention, but I have someone else who's more skilled in desert control. Your strength lies in increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and desert control requires a great deal of manpower and resources. So, within three years, I want you to improve the livelihood of the people in Tianshui County, increase the number of young men working in the county, draw a map of the county's mountains and rivers, and identify suitable crops and trees for cultivation in the loess hills. At the same time, you must also publicize the necessity of the court's desert control efforts to the people. Of course, if you have a good plan for desert control or can recommend someone who can do it, I will also credit you with that achievement."
Jia Fangping knew his mission clearly and said he would do his best.
Qingyang looked at his thin figure, a hint of pity on his face. "Liangzhou is very poor and far less prosperous than Jiangnan. If you want to achieve political success, you will have to endure hardships far greater than those of the previous governors. I want to use you, but there's nothing I can do for you. I can only allow you to bring your family with you so that you can have someone to look after you."
Jia Fangping's eyes welled up, and he knelt down and said, "Your Highness is so considerate of me. If I can't cultivate a green mountain in Tianshui County, I swear I will not return to the capital!"
Qingyang walked around to the back of the desk and took out an envelope from the bottom drawer. He handed it to Jia Fangping and said, "This is the savings I have accumulated for the princess over the past ten years. You can use it. Although it is a drop in the bucket, it will at least help you out a little bit."
Before she came of age and entered the court, her father gave her fifty taels of silver every month. After she came of age and entered the court, her father gave her a title and salary equivalent to that of a prince and a married princess, five thousand taels a year. In addition to the rewards for her meritorious service in the Northern Expedition, Qingyang kept some change, and a total of twenty thousand taels was prepared for Jia Fangping.
If this was a reward for Jia Fangping himself, he shouldn't have opened it in front of the princess. However, this was for his desertification control. Jia Fangping respectfully opened it and took out a stack of silver notes. When he found that the first one was denomination of 1,000 taels, Jia Fangping's hands began to tremble. When he finished counting, he found that the princess had actually paid 20,000 taels of silver out of her own pocket. Jia Fangping burst into tears: "On behalf of the people of Tianshui County and the tens of millions of people on both sides of the Yellow River, I thank Your Highness for his kindness."
After packing the banknotes, Jia Fangping kowtowed three times to the Crown Princess.
Qingyang: "I can only give you silver. Whether this kindness can benefit the people depends on you."
.
After Jia Fangping left Beijing, the results of the palace examination were announced in mid-March. His cousin Luo Wanqing, whom he had met for the first time the year before last from Qingyang, passed the imperial examination and became a second-class Jinshi.
Concubine Li was relieved when she knew about it. Although Lü Zan was very excited about marrying into her family, and Lü Chaoliang and her beautiful and gentle niece were very satisfied with each other after seeing each other, her father had raised twenty children and grandchildren for two generations and only produced one juren. This marriage was still too high for the Luo family to marry into the Lu family. Now that they finally had a jinshi, her niece would not have to rely solely on her daughter to maintain her reputation after marrying him.
Concubine Li had no affection for these nephews and nieces who had been separated from her for a long time, but if any of them could share the worries of the emperor and her daughter, Concubine Li sincerely hoped that they could live a happy life.
Qingyang also called her 68-year-old grandfather Luo Pan and Luo Wanqing, who had already been able to assist the old man in governing the country and had just passed the imperial examination at the age of 26, to the public housing of the Secretariat, and told her that she wanted to arrange for Luo Wanqing to go to Lu County, Yizhou, to serve as the county magistrate under Yang Jie and then transfer him to Tianshui County in the future.
She said to Luo Wanqing, "You passed the imperial examination with your own talent and became a second-class Jinshi. It would be a shame to let you be the county magistrate. I transferred you to Lu County purely out of my selfish desire to combat desertification. I allow you to refuse and continue your official career as the Ministry of Personnel normally appoints you. I will never blame you or suppress your position because of this matter in the future."
There are fourteen states in the Great Qi. As long as young officials have talent, they will not be afraid of not finding a prosperous place to make political achievements. If they go to Tianshui County, they may be busy for many years without seeing any political achievements. Qingyang did not want to force this cousin who did not benefit much from her.
Luo Wanqing knew that the Crown Princess was not a vengeful person, but if he refused, he would never be able to become a close confidant of the new emperor in his life. After all, they were both wise and capable ministers, but one was willing to overcome all difficulties for the new emperor, while the other was only willing to add icing on the cake. Even a fool would know which one the new emperor would value.
What's more, Luo Wanqing is not afraid of difficulties. When he was young, he was willing to stand up and give advice to his mediocre grandfather. He was not seeking promotion for his whole family, but to do his best for the people.
"I am willing to go." Luo Wanqing replied simply.
Luo Pan then selected his two youngest sons and two scholar grandsons around 30 years old to assist Luo Wanqing. These four people no longer had proper official positions or salaries.
Qingyang gave Luo Wanqing five hundred taels of silver, which was enough for the uncle and nephew to travel back and forth, as well as for food, clothing, housing and transportation in Lu County for three years. However, it was absolutely impossible for him to be extravagant.
.
After finishing these two things, he went to Prince Xian's Mansion in the second half of the month to watch his nephew Rui Ge'er's one-year-old celebration. Finally, Qingyang could focus on his duties in the Secretariat.
Emperor Xingwu observed his daughter silently: "..."
At night, he muttered to Concubine Li: "Tell me, does Lin'er really understand the relationship between men and women? Why does it seem to me that her mind and eyes are filled with state affairs?"
He was not like this when he was young. He was so happy to go hunting and drinking with Deng Chong and others. He only started to get busy after he decided to start a rebellion. But his daughter reminded him at the age of three that he had to kill Yuan Zhaoxiong who might have the intention of rebellion!
Concubine Li was also worried. Before the three princesses got married, she could tell from their shy expressions that they were all very satisfied with their prince fiancés. But when it came to her daughter, she was embarrassed and annoyed because she had missed her target at the beginning. She was upset about Zhang Su...
Concubine Li had never seen it, but her daughter's temperament and status were different from those of an ordinary girl, so she couldn't judge whether her daughter had become enlightened based on this alone.
Emperor Xingwu: "When Lin'er was fifteen, we went to the Western Garden to escape the summer heat. I wanted to see if the grown-up Lin'er and Zhang Su would have any intimate behavior. But Lin'er always took Jie Yu with him, and when he asked Zhang Su to go horse racing, Jie Yu also followed behind..."
He wasn't sure whether his daughter had absolutely no intention of getting close to Zhang Su, or whether she didn't want to molest Zhang Su due to etiquette and the princess's dignity. In any case, if he had such an opportunity, he would definitely not be able to suppress the urge to have physical contact with Concubine Li.
Concubine Li: "...her third brother wouldn't do such a thing, and Lin'er certainly wouldn't do that either."
Emperor Xingwu: "Yes, they all look like me."
Concubine Li: “…”
My daughter is too serious, and as parents we can't discuss anything, but there are some things we still need to teach her.
The maids in the palace are only taught to teach the future princess how to serve the prince, and at most to teach the prince consort how to serve the princess. The imperial concubine has already sent a maid to Zhang Su's side. As for my daughter, even if she only needs to wait to be served by Zhang Su, she should at least understand it. Otherwise, what if she misunderstands that Zhang Su is going to commit a crime on the wedding night?
Emperor Xingwu reminded Concubine Li to teach her daughter.
Concubine Li had remembered this matter for a long time. On the eve of her daughter's wedding on the fourth day of the first lunar month, Concubine Li came to Jiuhua Palace with a booklet that she and the imperial concubine had selected respectively.
Qingyang, who had carefully studied the male and female meridian diagrams in the Imperial Hospital when he was a child, said: "..."
While her daughter wasn't embarrassed, Concubine Li was. She quietly reminded her daughter, "Zhang Su will definitely not bully you, but when you're alone at night, Lin'er, don't act like the Crown Princess all the time, or you might scare Zhang Su."
If you get scared, it will be difficult to consummate the marriage.
Qingyang told her mother not to worry, she knew her limits and would always be nice to Zhang Su unless he made her angry.
No matter how much you say, it is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes. Concubine Li handed the two booklets to her daughter and left.
Qingyang flipped through the pages, feeling a bit irritated but also a bit amused. She wouldn't scare Zhang Su, but did Zhang Su really dare?
After a good night's sleep, the next day, April 5th, the Crown Princess got married!
【Author’s words】
God knows, I really didn't mean it, but in terms of the chronological order, Jia Fangping and Luo Wanqing had to accept Qingyang's summons first [covering face with laughter and tears]
I will give you another special wedding night tomorrow [please], 100 red envelopes, see you tomorrow [pat on the head]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com