Chapter 24 Grandfather and Grandson Teaching [Jinjiang Authentic Edition Only Released·The First Emperor Learns Pinyin…
Zhao Gao also tilted his head slightly and carefully observed the emperor's expression.
Li Si glanced at the eldest son indifferently, then turned his gaze to His Majesty.
Ying Zheng lowered his gaze to look at his eldest grandson.
The little fellow immediately waved his hands and babbled sincerely, "Grandfather, don't issue the order to burn books just yet. Wait until the craftsmen in the Ministry of Personnel are proficient in papermaking and printing. I, your grandson, can speak now. I will definitely be able to help you ask the black bird for a better way to control public opinion."
The First Emperor nodded and sighed softly:
"Let's put Lord Si's order to burn books on hold for a few months until the craftsmen in the Shaofu can produce paper books."
Fusu's eyes showed ecstasy when he heard this.
Li Si did not lose his guard like he had done before in the court. The moment he saw the paper appear, he knew that a new era was coming. The only constant in the world is change. Since there were new changes, the "book burning order" he proposed naturally had to be supplemented with details.
Seeing the eldest son's joyful and relieved expression, Zhao Gao couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "The eldest son is truly blessed! Even though he may not be popular with Li Si and other veteran ministers outside the Great Wall, he still has a son who is loved by heaven! After all, everyone has their own destiny. There's no point in envying them..."
Zhao Gao pursed his lips and lowered his head, quietly concealing the complex emotions in his eyes.
Fusu believed that the difficulties had been overcome, and he smiled and asked his father with a relaxed look:
"Father, since you don't plan to burn the books anymore, then I'll take Ying back home, okay? Ling must be worried sick about us both."
When the First Emperor heard this, he glanced at his eldest son indifferently, and replied to his stubborn son with a cold tone:
"Well, Ying will stay here with me. You can go."
"Go?" Fusu was stunned. His eyes widened slightly and he subconsciously asked, "Where does your Majesty want me to go?"
The First Emperor saw a eunuch from the outer hall approaching quietly, carrying a large black cloth package. The package was clearly embroidered with the emblem of the eldest son's mansion. He raised his chin slightly, indicating that his eldest son should turn around and look at his bag, while speaking with a distant expression:
"Fusu, my decree will not be easily changed. Since your wife has already packed your clothes and sent them to the palace, you should immediately take 500 elite soldiers from the palace and leave the capital for the border. Once you get there, Meng Tian will tell you what to do."
"Father." Fusu was stunned. He turned to look at the approaching black-robed eunuch, and then looked at his tall father with his mouth slightly open. He really didn't expect that his goal had been achieved, and he had successfully asked his father to temporarily shelve Li Si's book burning order, but he himself would be driven to the border by his father?
As the eldest son of the empire, he was not unwilling to inspect the border on behalf of his father, but—
Fusu looked at his son, then said to his father:
"Father, why don't you wait until Ying is a little older before I head out to the frontier to inspect the Great Wall for you?"
"Since Ying was born, we haven't had much time together. Yesterday, when I returned to the mansion from the royal mausoleum, Ying sat on the floor and stared at me, as if he didn't recognize me as his father. If I go to the frontier this time, I think Ying will completely forget he even has a father after a while."
Seeing his unlucky father speaking pitifully and looking at him for help, Qin Ying immediately used his hands and feet to climb into his grandfather's arms, smiling sweetly and waving his little hands at his father.
Fusu was stunned, his head full of question marks: "???"
Li Si was amused and couldn't help but raise his hand to stroke the gray beard on his chin. He glanced at the eldest son's confused expression and said with a smile:
"Young Master, please rest assured and go on the tour of the frontier on behalf of His Majesty. You see, even at his young age, Prince An knows that the imperial decree cannot be easily changed. He has already waved goodbye to you very considerately and politely."
Hearing Li Si's undisguised sarcasm towards him, Fusu felt as if several sharp arrows were flying straight towards him, all of which pierced his knees with a "puff puff" sound.
The First Emperor glanced down at his grandson, amused by the little fellow's lively expression. However, when he looked at his eldest son, he frowned majestically and scolded him:
"Fusu, do not waste any more time here. Now that you know you already have a wife and children, you should be more cautious in your conduct at court. Leave the palace immediately, return home, bid farewell to your wife, and head to the frontier. There, carefully inspect the Great Walls of Yan, Zhao, and Qin, and discuss with Meng Tian a suitable repair and connection plan for me as soon as possible."
Fusu's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this. He knew that the mission was "to carry out the mission" instead of "to be exiled for reflection". He happily stood up from the wooden floor. Seeing that his son had no intention of returning home with him, he bowed to his father and said:
"Father, I will withdraw from here."
The First Emperor pointed to the white porcelain bowl and crystal cup on the ground and instructed his eldest son:
"Ying said he wanted to give five white porcelain bowls and five crystal cups to his in-laws. You can take eight pairs directly. You three will keep three pairs for your family of three, and give five pairs to General Wang Jian's residence."
Fusu nodded hurriedly and followed his instructions. After receiving the eight pairs of precious utensils sealed in a small red sandalwood box by Zhao Gao, he saw that his son had already opened his mouth and yawned. Not giving up, he asked his fat son again, "Ying, would you like me to carry you home for a nap?"
Qin Ying waved her chubby little hand goodbye to her father again.
Fusu had no choice but to lean over to his father again, holding the small rosewood box and following Meng Yi to select the elite soldiers to accompany him.
Li Si looked at the small box taken away by the eldest prince and felt very envious of Wang Jian. Although they were all relatives of His Majesty, who could blame him for not being as lucky as Wang Jian to have such an outstanding great-grandson?
Seeing Li Si's eager look, the First Emperor picked up a white porcelain bowl and a crystal cup from the wooden floor. Under the shocked and delighted gaze of the court judge, he handed them to him and smiled at Li Si:
"Mr. Si, Fusu is young and impulsive, and his actions are not appropriate. He has not yet formed an accurate understanding of how to govern the Great Qin. The Minister of Justice is my right-hand man and my right-hand man. I cannot leave him for a moment. When you return home, Mr. Si, please drink more goat's milk to nourish your body. Don't use precious metal utensils. From now on, eat from porcelain bowls and drink from crystal cups. I also hope that Mr. Si can stay healthy and serve the Great Qin for another twenty years."
Hearing His Majesty's heartfelt words, Li Si was instantly moved.
The chubby little Ying, watching from the sidelines, watched as Prime Minister Shushu took the porcelain bowl in one hand and the crystal cup in the other, his old face flushed with excitement, his lips moving, his eyes filled with tears. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Although his great-grandfather was often called a tyrant, he was truly kind to his subjects. He was an exceptionally kind and generous boss! Li Si had spent most of his life dealing with his father. After witnessing a monarch like his father, how could he possibly accept his father's stubborn, even slightly foolish, Confucian-minded son?"
Li Si didn't notice the way the emperor's eldest grandson looked at him. Instead, he grabbed a precious celestial vessel in one hand and bowed respectfully to His Majesty, saying:
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your reward. When I return home, I will give the Book Burning Order a thorough consideration. I will devise a reliable solution soon to help Your Majesty control those disobedient scholars outside the Great Wall."
"Well, I believe Si Qing."
Ying Zheng smiled and nodded slightly. Li Si seemed to have taken a tonic pill and became full of energy. He bowed to the grandfather and grandson again and happily left with his reward.
The First Emperor also took his eldest grandson, who was sitting on the floor watching the excitement, into his arms and instructed Zhao Gao:
"Zhao Gao, collect the remaining porcelain bowls and crystal cups, and place all the paper books on the floor on the lacquer table in my study. Then tell the kitchen to bring some food."
"promise."
Zhao Gao hurriedly bent down and did as he was told.
Looking at his grandson yawning in his arms, the First Emperor couldn't help but smile softly and said:
"Ying didn't sleep well last night?"
Qin Ying immediately wrapped her arms around her grandfather's neck and babbled softly, rubbing her soft little face against his cheek. The smile in the Emperor's narrow, long eyes spread like ripples on calm water, and she said with a smile:
"Okay, Grandfather, eat some food with me, and after I wake up from my nap, I'll learn the alien language from you."
Zhao Gao was very efficient and quickly completed the emperor's order.
In the small dining hall in the side hall, the tableware of His Majesty and the eldest grandson of the emperor has been replaced from auspicious gold utensils to porcelain bowls, silver spoons, jade chopsticks and jade plates.
Qin Ying sat beside his grandfather, eating the fish paste fed to him by the palace maid with a small spoon, mouthful after mouthful. Looking at his grandfather eating millet rice and fish ball soup, he couldn't help thinking that he had to teach his grandfather simplified Chinese characters as soon as possible, and let the craftsmen of the Shaofu learn how to cook the food in the recipes as soon as possible. Not to mention other foods, he had to promote the nourishing and healthy soy products and noodle products throughout the Qin Dynasty as soon as possible.
He thought while eating. The baby felt sleepy at any time. As he was eating, the baby slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The First Emperor had no habit of having lunch. Seeing his grandson fall asleep after eating, he put down his chopsticks, took the wet towel from the palace maid, and gently wiped his grandson's soft chin. After cleaning himself, he handed the sleeping grandson to the palace maid and whispered:
"Take the young master to the side hall to sleep, and send someone to watch him carefully."
"promise."
The palace maid hurriedly bent down to take the emperor's eldest grandson and hurriedly retreated in small steps.
Ying Zheng stood up from his seat, and the palace servants hurriedly removed the food from the table one by one.
Zhao Gao stepped forward and leaned over to ask:
"Your Majesty, would you like to rest for a moment?"
"No need. Send two pieces of ice to the side hall. Don't let the young master wake up from the heat."
"promise!"
…
Qin Ying, with her two little hands clenched, was lying on the bed in the side hall, covered with a thin quilt and snoring soundly. There were bursts of cool and comfortable air surrounding her, and she could smell a faint scent of ambergris. Outside the huge carved wooden window, the shadows of trees were swaying, and the sounds of cicadas and birdsong highlighted the liveliness of the midsummer afternoon.
In the quiet inner hall, the only sound could be heard was the crackling of bamboo slips.
The First Emperor knelt beside a large black lacquer table, with four large baskets beside him, filled with bamboo slips. Each basket contained thirty kilograms of bamboo slips. One hundred and twenty kilograms of bamboo slips was the emperor's daily workload. If there was a disaster, the amount of bamboo slips would increase even more.
Behind the First Emperor was a huge bookshelf made of golden nanmu wood. The bookshelf was very high and had many compartments, each of which was filled with bamboo slips placed in silk bags.
There were two rows of bookcases with obvious signs of being flipped, which showed that His Majesty the Emperor often read them. There were small bamboo pieces hanging at the drawstring of the bag, with the three words "Han Feizi" engraved vertically on them. A warm summer breeze blew in through the gauze window, causing the small bamboo pieces to collide gently.
After each roll of bamboo slips was reviewed, they were taken away by Zhao Gao, and more bamboo slips were piled up on the lacquer table again.
The tip of the red brush moved across the brown bamboo slips, and the sunlight outside the window gradually set in the west.
…
When Qin Ying blearily opened his eyes, he found that the sun was already setting outside the window. He hurriedly checked the system panel and saw that it was almost five o'clock in the afternoon! Perhaps his unfortunate father had already left the capital.
He still remembered that he had to teach his grandfather how to learn pinyin and use a dictionary, so he quickly stretched out on the bed, then stretched out his short arms and asked the eunuch standing not far away to carry him to the bathroom to take care of his menstrual problems. After changing into a complete set of clean clothes that were left with his grandfather, he hurriedly urged the eunuch to carry him to find his grandfather.
When she arrived at the inner hall, she saw her grandfather bent over his desk handling government affairs. The four bamboo baskets beside the desk were already half empty. Qin Ying immediately cried out in joy in the eunuch's arms, her voice soft and childish:
"Aiya!" (Father!)
The First Emperor looked up at the sound and saw his grandson in the eunuch's arms, his cheeks flushed, clearly having had a sound sleep. He stretched his aching neck, stood up with the help of the lacquer table, walked down the imperial steps, took his grandson into his arms, and said with a gentle smile, his eyes slightly curved:
"Did Ying sleep well?"
"Yeah." Qin Ying immediately nodded her furry little head.
"Would it be nice if Na Ying could teach Grandfather to learn the alien language and read the books given by the Black Bird?"
"Ehhh...?" (Won't you take a break, Grandpa?)
Qin Ying was puzzled. Just by looking at the empty basket, he was sure that his grandfather had not taken a nap.
Hearing his grandson's concern for him, the First Emperor felt very comforted, and the smile in his eyes became even brighter: "No need, Grandfather is not tired."
Qin Ying couldn't help but click his tongue in her heart. It seemed that no one who achieved great things was not extremely energetic.
Seeing that his grandfather was so interested, he didn't delay any longer and immediately nodded in agreement.
Then the grandfather and grandson entered the study.
The study was lined with bookshelves on all four walls, densely packed with bamboo slips, either wrapped in silk bags or simply rolled up and placed there, all stacked one on top of another. Qin Ying didn't look at them for long. After his grandfather carried him to the lacquer table by the window, he obediently sat down cross-legged on the seat.
After the palace maid lit two more candles on the candlestick to make the light in the study brighter, the one-on-one teaching between the grandfather and grandson began.
"Which book should I start teaching Grandfather from?"
The First Emperor placed the pile of paper books in front of his grandson and asked curiously.
When Qin Ying heard that a baby like her was going to teach His Majesty Zulong pinyin, she couldn't help but feel extremely proud. She immediately grabbed her grandfather's knees, stretched out her short hands to take down the small "Chinese Dictionary" on the top, placed it on her grandfather's thighs, flipped through a few pages, and began to babble at the pinyin catalog of a, o, e... on it.
The First Emperor lowered his eyes to look at the crooked symbols on the paper. Although he thought the alien language looked a bit strange, he still imitated his grandson and shouted, "Ah~"
"o～"
“o——”
"Uh~"
"Well--"
“Eh~”
"babble--"
“…”
“…”
“Ahhh…”
"The first tone is flat, the second tone is rising, the third tone is turning, and the fourth tone is falling?"
"Uh-huh!"
Seeing how smart his grandfather was, and how he could understand things as soon as he heard them, Qin Ying finally understood what it felt like when his grandparents in his previous life unexpectedly received a talented student while teaching graduate school.
In just half an hour, his grandfather mastered all the pinyin letters and learned how to use a dictionary.
The First Emperor's hands were large, with distinct joints, and very beautiful. A small dictionary was being turned page by page between his fingers, like a small toy.
After turning to the page for "ying," the First Emperor pointed down with his fingertips and searched. When he saw the square character "ying," he couldn't help but point at the simplified Chinese characters. He placed the dictionary in front of his grandson and said with a smile, "ying."
Qin Ying suddenly heard the Chinese pronunciation of her name from her grandfather's mouth. After a slight pause, she immediately grinned with sparkling eyes and nodded her head frantically.
Then he saw his grandfather flip back several pages in the dictionary, find the page with the word "zheng", and slide his finger down to find his name. When he saw his name, he also smiled brightly and gestured for him to look, then said in a clear and melodious voice: "Zhengzheng."
"Ah!" His grandfather is really good at it! !
Qin Ying immediately clapped her chubby hands excitedly, cheering for her grandfather, instantly raising her emotional value to the maximum.
Seeing his grandson's happy expression, the First Emperor's mood also became as wonderful as the red sunset in the sky. He had long forgotten what it felt like to have a headache because of his eldest son's anger at the court meeting in the morning.
After another half hour, when the First Emperor had learned to look up words in the dictionary more skillfully, the sky outside the window was gradually getting dark.
His Majesty the Emperor then summoned Zhao Gao and asked him to drive the little guy back to the eldest prince's mansion.
Qin Ying slept in the Zhangtai Palace for half a day, and then stayed there for another half a day. Basically, she stayed with her grandfather the whole day, and was very satisfied when Zhao Gao carried her out of the palace.
Looking at Zhao Gao sitting on the carriage and driving the cart steadily, he couldn't help but think dizzily that if things continued like this, Zhao Gao would become his own exclusive driver before he could become his grandfather's.
The carriage drove along the long corridor, out of the palace gate, and slowly headed towards the eldest prince's mansion.
On the other hand, after his grandson left, Qin Shi Huang spent another quarter of an hour studying the foreign characters in the dictionary. Then he had dinner and walked around the Zhangtai Palace for another quarter of an hour. When it was completely dark, he returned to the inner hall to review the bamboo slips.
It took two hours to review this batch.
At the end of the Xu hour, after the First Emperor had finished all the government affairs for the day, he left the lacquer table and went to the bathroom to take a bath. After he came out of the bathroom with his black hair loose, wearing a silk nightgown and wooden clogs, he entered the study again and studied the alien characters in the dim candlelight.
The palace maid knelt behind the First Emperor with a soft handkerchief in her hand, gently wiping his long black hair. The First Emperor held a brush in his right hand and flipped through a small dictionary with his left hand. Every time he learned a Chinese character, he wrote it down on a blank bamboo slip, drew a horizontal line, and wrote the corresponding large seal character behind the line.
Slowly, the bright moon outside the window rose higher and higher in the night sky, and the candles on the half-human-high coral-shaped auspicious gold candlesticks were also accumulated with thick wax.
In the corner of Qin Shi Huang's lacquer desk, translated bamboo slips fell one after another.
At some point, the rustling and tireless chirping of insects at the base of the wall outside the window gradually disappeared.
Zhao Gao looked at the clepsydra and saw that it was already one o'clock in the morning. He walked lightly to the door of the study and saw through the crack of the half-open door that the emperor was still reading quietly inside. He hesitated for a moment, but still pushed the door open quietly and walked to the candlestick to change the candle.
The First Emperor lowered his eyes and looked at the "Chinese Dictionary" and "Secrets of Ancient Fire and Powder Making" placed side by side on the lacquer table. He touched the cover with his slender fingers and pursed his lips in deep thought.
Although he now had a vague idea of what the words "gun|powder" meant, His Majesty the Emperor was still very confused and had no idea how such a thing could serve as a weapon of great destructive power.
Ying Zheng closed his eyes in deep thought when he suddenly heard a soft sound coming from the front. He opened his eyes alertly and subconsciously wanted to touch the Qin King's sword beside his legs. He found that the candlelight, which was originally a little dim, had become much brighter. Looking in the direction of the light, he saw the young clerk who had always stood quietly by the large pillar. After replacing the candle in the candlestick with a new one, he stood there and leaned over to him respectfully and whispered:
"Your Majesty, it is already very late. Please return to your bedroom and sleep on the dragon couch as soon as possible. There will be a court meeting tomorrow morning."
Upon hearing this, the First Emperor frowned subconsciously and glanced at the clepsydra, realizing that it was already "two quarters past three in the morning", which was indeed late at night. He nodded slightly to Zhao Gao, picked up the brush and started writing the last few words of part "a" at the end of the bamboo slip.
Seeing this, Zhao Gao did not try to persuade him a second time, but stood aside with his head lowered, waiting silently.
The flickering candlelight illuminated the faces of the master and servant, making their figures appear thin and long...
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