There was no rain for more than a month, which undoubtedly cast a shadow on this southern tour.
Although Huai'an recruited enough laborers in time to prepare to widen the canal, the officials in charge of river management reported that the flood season of the Yellow River would come in a while. If the canal was too wide, the flow of the Yellow River would increase, causing floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and flooding everywhere, putting the people in danger.
When this memorial was submitted, Emperor Qing naturally accepted it, but he was also very unhappy.
His original intention of this southern tour was to show his wisdom and bravery to the world.
Daqing had been established for 42 years and had experienced two generations of emperors. He was the third, but the previous emperor was his uncle. Everyone said that if his uncle had not been incompetent and died early, the throne would not have fallen to him.
Emperor Qing scoffed at such remarks, but at the same time he was also deeply wary of them.
He couldn't wait to tell the people of the world that if it weren't for his decades of hard work, there would be no such great situation today with peace and prosperity and people living in peace.
But this time, he was dissuaded by civil and military officials. Everyone thought he shouldn't go on a southern tour, saying it would be a waste of money and manpower, and a drain on the country's strength...
However, this made Emperor Qing even more rebellious.
He is not the legitimate heir, and in order to eliminate everyone's prejudice, he has worked diligently in this position over the years and dared not slack off in the slightest.
But time passed day by day, and he unknowingly reached the age of 45. Both his grandfather and father died young, which made Emperor Qing gradually uneasy. After all, the teachings of Buddhism and Taoism can only bring a moment of peace of mind. Compared with the soul, Emperor Qing now pursues more external comfort.
He had been imprisoned in the Forbidden City for decades, so he might as well go on a tour to the south to see the country. What was hateful was that even this request was opposed by so many people.
Therefore, Emperor Qing had to make some achievements on this trip. He had to personally investigate the administration of officials and the people's conditions, inspect the rivers, and check the granaries. At the same time, he also wanted to demonstrate his national prestige and reputation to the Qitan, who was eyeing his country covetously in the west.
But who would have thought that the weather would be so bad as soon as they arrived in Jiangnan, as if it was an invisible sign. How could Emperor Qing be in a good mood?
The dragon boat has been stuck in the mud for several days now. After finally gathering the workers, they were stopped again. Could it be that they are really going to be trapped in this canal?
Looking out the window, the silt on both sides of the river had already overflowed onto the embankment. There was no longer the beautiful scenery of mountains, clear waters and lush green grass as before. Emperor Qing frowned.
At this moment, the eunuch beside him reported that it was Ziwei Ling Lu Shuo who wanted to see him.
After a while, Ziwei Ling Lu Shuo came in.
Even in the scorching summer, he was still wearing a formal official uniform, with a jade crown on his head and a python belt around his waist. He had deep eyes and an upright posture. He looked young and handsome, and did not look like a high-ranking official of the second rank at all.
In fact, Lu Shuo is only 28 years old this year. He won the top spot in the imperial examination at the age of 18. The "On the Country" he wrote in the palace examination that day not only made him famous all over the world, but also won the favor of Emperor Qing. From then on, he rose rapidly.
When Emperor Qing saw Lu Shuo, he felt much better, but then he showed obvious signs of annoyance again.
Seeing the greeting, Lu Shuo said, "This southern tour is a grand plan of your majesty, which is not known to ordinary people. Why does your majesty worry about it?"
Emperor Qing shook his head and sighed, "How many people in this world understand me besides you? Now even the heavens are unwilling to send rain to help me. If the drought continues for such a long time, won't it be a laughing stock?"
This thought has been lingering in Emperor Qing's mind, making him uneasy these days. If this is really a punishment from heaven, wouldn't it disturb the people if it spread out? And Emperor Qing could only say this in front of Lu Shuo.
At this time, Lu Shuo suddenly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, how difficult is this? Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven. Over the past few decades, the country has been prosperous. It can be seen that Your Majesty is a person who follows the will of heaven. However, heaven also has its slackness. Today, heaven cannot do anything, but human power can do something."
Then, Lu Shuo said, "Your Majesty, since we have already recruited all the civilians, why not have them pull the dragon boats on both sides of the canal, and the rest of the guards can get off the boats to help. This way, the dragon boats can move forward."
What a great idea!
Emperor Qing looked relaxed, but he couldn't help but feel a little doubtful. "But this place is still hundreds of miles away from Jinling. I'm afraid those civilians are not enough."
Lu Shuo shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. It will take at least ten days to get to Jinling. If it rains, they won't be needed. And Your Majesty can recruit local men along the way for reinforcement. Your Majesty doesn't have to worry about their unwillingness. Just let the locals give them silver and food. In addition, they are working for Your Majesty, so how can they not do their best?"
Emperor Qing breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. What Lu Shuo said made sense. Now that the laborers had been gathered, it would be a waste if they were not used. With them pulling the oars, he would finally not be stuck in this mud. And according to what Lu Shuo said, the money here would not be his to pay, so Emperor Qing naturally agreed.
Emperor Qing looked at Lü Shuo and said approvingly, "You are the one who can help me out of this urgent situation. I will leave this matter to you."
Lu Shuo readily agreed and slowly walked out.
After Jiang Hong explained the main format of the essay that day, Xie Shu wrote down his views on the essay "On Jia Yi's Failure to Become a High Minister" on paper to see if he had any understanding.
After reading it, Jiang Hong nodded and said, "Yes, you did listen to it. In fact, the format of this paper does not completely conform to this structure, but it has been done very well. There is one more thing you need to remember, that is the ending, which should have a feeling of 'the text is more than the meaning'.
I have a few more essays here for you to read first. Today I want to talk about the sentence structure of essays. "
After Xie Shu finished reading it, Jiang Hong took an article as an example and said: "In order to make a good essay, in addition to the correct format, two sentence patterns are also needed. One is the parallel sentence. There are three-character and four-character parallels, as well as long parallels and alternate-character parallels. The parallel sentences in the essay can make the article well-organized and brilliant. The other is to follow the ancient texts, that is, to imitate the sentence patterns of the works of famous writers of all dynasties.
Although the words and meanings of these famous writers are different, the sentence structure is the same, which can also make the article reborn. For example, this article "On Guan Zhong" still has the same sentence structure as "not worrying about... but worrying about...", which is the same as "On Xie An", but it can make people's eyes light up. "
Xie Shu nodded in agreement.
These two sentence structures are widely used in the previous article. Xie Shu has also discovered the former parallel sentence in the past few days, but Xie Shu has not noticed that the latter requires imitating sentence structure because he does not have such a deep memory of many works of this era.
But after the teacher's reminder, Xie Shu quickly realized that he would need to memorize more of these things in the future. At the same time, the famous works of the Tang and Song dynasties that he had read before, their sentence structures were also commendable, and he could imitate some of them in the future.
Jiang Hong then continued, "The content of the test paper is divided into two types, one is the discussion of classics and history, and the other is the discussion of characters. The discussion of classics and history, as the name suggests, is to discuss the classics and history. The topic is generally from the Four Books and Five Classics, and candidates are required to express their views on the statements and correct their errors. For example, the test question I gave before was the discussion of classics and history.
Another type is character theory, in which the topics are generally based on historical figures, ranging from kings to celebrities. However, so far, all test questions are mainly about kings of all dynasties, and civilians rarely appear.
But because of this, when the test questions are about the character, the essays are almost always praising the merits and virtues, almost flattering...”
Speaking of this, Jiang Hong frowned obviously, as if he remembered something unpleasant.
However, Jiang Hong still spoke up: "Your senior brother Lu Shuo is good at character analysis. Character analysis is mostly about emperors. Naturally, someone needs to comment on their merits and demerits. It is indeed difficult to grasp how to praise or criticize. Of course, words of praise are easier to use and are more likely to be liked by others."
At this moment, Jiang Hong couldn't help but feel a little sad. People in this world like to hear praise from others, and criticism is always annoying, but they don't know the truth that listening to both sides will lead to enlightenment, while listening to only one side will lead to ignorance.
Xie Shu pondered for a moment and said, "Teacher, I think there is another way to write praise and criticism questions. If we don't praise too much and criticize too little, and just convince people with reason, it will be more convincing."
Jiang Hong seemed to be thinking about what he said, and then nodded and said, "Rongzhan, what you said is right, but if you want people to think that what you said makes sense, you can only blame others, which is not considered a master. You should also stand in the situation of the characters at that time and understand the characters' state of mind, so that you can say something that is shocking."
Xie Shu heard this and silently took note of the teacher's words.
Suddenly Jiang Hong narrowed his eyes and said to Xie Shu, "From today on, you only need to come in the morning, and you don't need to come in the afternoon. Now is the time for you to come out and move around in Jinling."
Xie Shu was not surprised when he heard this, but asked solemnly: "Teacher, do you want me to become famous in Jinling?"
Jiang Hong nodded and said, "Now that Wang Jing has left Jinling, his reputation here has always been high. It can be said that all the talented people in Jiangnan regard him as a role model. Do you know the sensational case of the North and South List in the previous dynasty?
In the second year of Shengping in the previous dynasty, the first fifty candidates were all from the south, and the rest were from the north. When the list was released, it immediately caused a sensation in the world. The northern candidates cried out for injustice along the way and stopped the sedan chair to complain. Finally, the emperor ordered a thorough investigation, but after two thorough investigations, nothing unusual was found. It turned out that the north had been at war for years, and the northern candidates were far inferior to those in the south in terms of culture and number. However, in order to win over the hearts of the northern candidates, the emperor still re-verified the rankings, but the examiners were implicated. In order to learn from this lesson, the admission of candidates is now divided by region. Even so, the number of candidates admitted from Jiangnan still far exceeds that of the south every year.
Jinling is the hinterland of Jiangnan, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, and has always been known as a place where tigers and dragons crouch. Talented people have emerged in large numbers since ancient times. If you can become famous here, the benefits can be imagined. Now that Wang Jing has left, it is convenient for you. "
Xie Shu smiled slightly and said, "Student understands."
On the way home, Xie Shu was thinking about the visiting card while casually looking at the scenery outside the window.
When passing by the Yu family shop, Xie Shu took a special look at it.
Ever since the Yu family started to take charge of the affairs of the imperial palace, merchants in Jinling City have dared not to show off. In addition, with Young Master's great means, in just three months, the Yu family's business has expanded a lot more than before. The Yu family has now become the richest family in Jinling, and it can even be said that the richest family in Jiangnan. However, Young Master is low-key and never shows off.
Xie Shu is now very familiar with the Yu family's logo. Whenever he sees it, he always thinks of his husband and pays extra attention to it.
But for some reason, he felt that the shop seemed a little quiet today.
Soon Xie Shu discovered that other shops were even worse than the Yu family's shop.
What is going on?
Xie Shu remembered that the young master had told him this morning about his afternoon schedule. The matter at the palace had been settled, and the young master had gone to a shop today. It was still early, so the young master must still be there. So he turned the carriage around and left.
Soon, Xie Shu got off the carriage. This was a silk shop that also sold ready-made clothes.
When Xie Shu came in, he was undoubtedly an eye-opener. This young man was wearing a long green silk gown, with his long hair tied up with a simple wooden hairpin. Apart from the jade ornaments around his waist, he had nothing else cumbersome.
He had a cold and handsome face, with slightly long eye corners, slightly curved eyelids, and a pair of peach blossom eyes. However, because of his comfortable and solemn manners and gentle and elegant temperament, he made people feel that he was noble and unattainable.
The embroiderer next to him was slightly stunned. When Xie Shu came closer, she finally reacted. She smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry, sir. Many cloths are out of stock today. If you want to make clothes with cloth, it's fine. If you want to buy cloth, it's probably a wasted trip."
The embroiderer had a sharp eye. She could tell at a glance that although the young man was dressed simply, none of the clothes were ordinary. The clothes on his body were made by embroiderers with more exquisite skills than hers. However, even the wealthy families in Jinling did not have such embroiderers, so the embroiderer guessed that he must not be here to make ready-made clothes.
Xie Shu smiled faintly and said, "I'm not here to buy anything. I just want to ask if Chu Xi is here?"
As soon as he said this, the people around him were silent for a moment, and then they immediately started to whisper. Who else would call Master Yu like this? In the past few years, they had never seen Master Yu's husband, and he had rarely appeared in public with Yu Chuxi.
Could it be that this handsome young man is Xie Shu? It turns out that he is not only good at writing, but also looks so good!
The embroiderer's eyes widened as she confirmed, "Is your name Xie Shu?"
After receiving a positive reply, the embroiderer almost smiled like a flower. She called him "son-in-law" again and then quickly took the man upstairs.
At this time, Yu Chuxi was instructing the shopkeeper here. When he saw Xie Shu walking towards him, Yu Chuxi widened his eyes slightly. Why did he come to find him?
Seeing that Yu Chuxi was still busy, Xie Shu did not disturb him, but just listened to what her husband said quietly.
His tall and slender figure stood there, and even if he was silent, the aura around him was hard to ignore.
Yu Chuxi tried his best not to look at him, thinking about finishing the matter quickly, but Xie Shu's occasional glance could quietly touch his heartstrings. As Yu Chuxi spoke, he couldn't help but glare back at him.
Although I don't know why my husband is glaring at me, his little personality is really endearing.
Xie Shu smiled tolerantly and gently.
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