Chapter 79: The Ninety-Sixth Sacred Ruler
After leaving the residence of the Grand Councilor, Song An directly led Zhao Xingde to the Hanlin Academy.
"This is my junior fellow apprentice, Zhao Yuanzheng." As they entered the palace city and the various departments of the Hanlin Academy, as long as Song An mentioned his relationship with Xu Bu's, they were able to pass through unimpeded. Zhao Xingde couldn't help but be secretly amazed at the extent of Xu Bu's connections within the Hanlin Academy. Song An seemed to notice his doubts and smiled, saying: "According to court regulations, civil officials are transferred every three years, military officials every five years, while the technical officials of the Hanlin Academy only get promoted after ten years. Therefore, although Master is only a seventh-rank official as the Taishi Bureau Director, he is also one of the highest-ranking officials within the Taishi Bureau. Moreover, considering Master's status in the Confucian and literary worlds, even if he was framed and became the Taishi Bureau Director, how could he be viewed equally with these technical officials of the Hanlin Academy?"
Zhao Xingde nodded, and the literary name of Chuang Bu was renowned throughout the land. Among scholars and officials, he also had many friends. Although he served as an official in the Hanlin Academy, he was not a mediocre person who could be suppressed at will. He couldn't help but imagine that if Yang Shifu, a respected Confucian master with high moral character, were to be appointed to the Hanlin Academy, bringing his disciples and followers along, whether it would greatly elevate the status of the Hanlin Academy, making it comparable to the Hanlin Academy of Scholars. Some people are constrained by their official positions, while others are not limited by their official positions.
All the way, Zhao Xingde saw many strange things that made him stare in amazement. In the Tai Shi Bureau, there were not only crystal-made magnifying glasses, telescopes, and celestial observation mirrors, but also a rather large water-operated astronomical clock tower that could observe celestial phenomena, demonstrate celestial phenomena, calculate time, and report time. Just as he was amazed by this huge object, he suddenly heard a small bronze man emerging from the lotus-shaped copper clepsydra next to the astronomical clock tower, striking the bell plate with a clang, making a loud noise that startled Zhao Xingde.
Song An laughed and said, "This is the official of the Taishi Bureau who, in order to save trouble, collaborated with the craftsmen of Dongba to create this time-telling copper deity. Every moment, it must be struck eight times." Almost at the same time as the sound of the copper plate, the bell tower of the Dajing Hall not far away rang out. The Taishi Bureau's Zhou Zhichang, who was accompanying him, subconsciously relaxed his expression. The timing of this Eastern Capital is based on the bell sound of the Dajing Hall, and the correction of the Dajing Hall's bell sound relies on the copper carved clepsydra next to the Water Clock Tower. If there is a difference between the time-telling deity's report and the Dajing Hall's bell sound, he will immediately hold up his tablet and memorialize to correct the lotus flower clepsydra over at the Dajing Hall.
He came from the future, but in this ancient Hanlin Academy, he looked more like a Liu Jiayou. Zhao Xingde awkwardly raised his head to look at the roof, and his gaze solidified again. On the vaulted ceiling without beams, an extremely magnificent star chart was painted. Thousands of stars were connected by dotted lines into hundreds of groups, with the names of twenty-eight constellations and several hundred star groups marked in regular script beside them. This was called the Star Officer. Below the stars were dense tables and annotations, marking out the names of the stars contained in each group of Star Officers, their entry and exit degrees from the constellation, and so on.
Song An smiled as he looked at his younger brother's stunned expression, he was the same when he first came to Tai Shi Bureau to experience it for himself. The Song Dynasty prohibited private astronomical practices among civilians, whether they were scholars or commoners, people generally had a mysterious and inexplicable sense of awe towards the starry sky. Suddenly being placed under the magnificent star chart in the Tai Shi Bureau, no matter who it was, would always be instantly captivated.
"It's... really..." Zhao Xingde finally withdrew his gaze, he wanted to find a word to describe his shock, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't say anything, just staring blankly at Song An and the accompanying straight director Zhou Jin.
"Alright, let's go to Shang Yaoju." Song An smiled and was about to leave with Zhao Xingde when Zhou Jin hesitated for a moment, took two quick steps forward, cupped his hands in respect, and said to Song An: "Song Daquan saved my life, I will never forget this kindness. From now on, if there is any task, I will obey your orders."
"What's this?" Song An was taken aback, then suddenly remembered and waved his hand with a smile: "It's just a small effort, not worth mentioning."
The two of them tacitly arrived at the other side, and Zhao Xingde was left in the dark. Song An spoke softly and calmly: "A few days ago, when the people of Bianjing sent off Mr. Huang Zhoushan, this Director Zhou and several colleagues from the Hanlin Academy also went, but were arrested by the Kaifeng Prefecture. The Kaifeng Prefecture's underlings intimidated them, saying they would be charged with treason. Their families found Master, and I am familiar with Cao Canjun of the Kaifeng Prefecture, so I passed on a message and got them released."
He spoke lightly, as if rescuing a few officials from the Kaifeng Prefecture's great prison was as easy as plucking a feather. Song An, this official in charge of the Ministry of Justice, managed the affairs of the prison guards, the abolition of the crime of treason, and the punishment of families, although not noble, but difficult to promote, yet it was a position that could take lives with a flip of the hand or save lives with a cover of the hand. Every month, he had to deal with countless relationships and solve cases like Zhou Jin's, which was obviously a case of being cheated by the small officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, was indeed not worth mentioning.
As he entered the pharmacy, a fragrance mixed with medicinal scents wafted towards him. Palace maids were busy helping to prepare medicine, while others waited to deliver the prepared pills to various palaces. Zhao Xingde had some basic knowledge of medicine and carefully examined the neatly arranged medicinal materials, most of which were for nourishing the body and regulating qi. It seemed that the imperial family placed great emphasis on maintaining their physical health. In this pharmacy, Zhao Xingde was more interested in looking at the beautiful women than examining the acupuncture needles and medicinal materials. He thought to himself that it must be the same in other inner palaces like Shangshi, Shangyi, and Shangxie, where beautiful women were as numerous as clouds. Unfortunately, he had no chance of visiting those places since they belonged to the imperial family. The only reason he could visit this pharmacy was because it was under the jurisdiction of the Hanlin Academy due to its medical nature. Suddenly, he thought that being an emperor meant having the wealth and resources of the entire country at one's disposal, with three palaces and six inner courts considered a matter of course. No wonder everyone wanted to compete for this position. As he looked around, Zhao Xingde suddenly saw the palace maid who had given him a handkerchief after the Clear and Bright Festival archery competition, also waiting to receive medicine pills. The maid also caught his eye, her beautiful eyes flashing once before she lowered her eyelashes, pretending not to recognize him.
Zhao Xingde smiled slightly and didn't go forward to greet him. At this moment, Song An also met an acquaintance, cupping his hands towards a middle-aged man in a crimson official robe who had come to fetch medicine: "Shen Daren." The middle-aged man had a square face, no mustache under his chin, and a serious expression. He raised his eyes to look at Song An, smiled slightly, also cupped his hands in response, then turned his face towards the people from Shang Yaoju who were accompanying him on the side.
Mr. Shen, facing the Shangyao Bureau's Deng Zhichang, saw him turn his face over, and the smile that had just relaxed immediately burst out again. He looked at Song An with one eye, lowered his voice and said: "The thing you want, I have already prepared it." As he spoke, he handed a small white porcelain medicine bottle to Shen Yun's hand.
Shen Yun borrowed the medicine bottle, and hummed slightly in his nose. "Just because Shangyao Bureau used the wrong dosage last time, Jin'an Fu suffered a great loss. This time I think you should also learn from your mistakes." When Deng Zhichang heard this, it was like thunder, and his body trembled slightly. This "Collapsing Heart Powder" is a highly toxic poison that is extremely difficult to configure. After taking it, people will feel severe heart pain and die shortly after. However, if you want to reach the point where the person's spirit is unaware, the dosage of the medicine must be carefully controlled. Last time, the Imperial City Guard requested Collapsing Heart Powder for use, but the medicinal power was too strong, resulting in the dead person's face turning green and exposing a hidden line of Jin'an Fu in Liao Kingdom's Shangjing. Shen Gonggong was furious and implicated more than ten people, including Shangyao Bureau's Feng Yu, who then disappeared without a trace.
"General Shen, rest assured that this batch of medicine was personally supervised and adjusted by me. It will not delay the big matter." Deng Zhichang only felt that the yellow bean sweat had already come out on his back. This time he feared that the medicinal power would be too strong, so he lightened several flavors of tiger wolf medicine. The person who took the medicine seemed to have died from a heart attack, and even if the imperial physician came to examine him, no signs of poisoning could be detected.
After Shen Yun left, Song An let out a sigh of relief and said to Zhao Xingde: "The one who just left is the official in charge of the Imperial City, Shen Gonggong." "Eunuch?" Zhao Xingde asked subconsciously in a low voice. He had thought that Shen Yun was a military officer from the Imperial Guard because of his tall stature and the precious sword hanging at his waist. "This Shen Gonggong is specifically in charge of investigating treason and crimes of colluding with enemy states," Song An explained in a low voice. "Although his rank is not high, many princes and nobles have to show deference to him. I've also had dealings with him several times. Although he's a eunuch, he's diligent in serving the emperor."
As the two were talking, Deng Zhi had already walked over. Song An then introduced him: "Brother Deng, this is my fellow student and younger brother, Zhao Xingde, who is now a teacher at the Imperial Academy."
Deng Yu's face was all smiles as he clasped his hands together and said: "So you're a senior disciple of Chong Tai Shi, a young talent."
Deng Wei was only a seventh-grade official, but in terms of rank, he was one level higher than Song An, the head of the Ministry of Justice, who was a sixth-grade official. Moreover, Deng Wei had many powerful friends among the officials, and even if his own position did not rise, he could still rely on them for support. With just a few words, he could make things difficult for several people, and it was not something that Song An, as the head of the Ministry of Justice, could handle alone. After chatting with the two men for a while, Deng Wei carefully took his leave.
After Zhao Xingde had completely left, the palace maid who knew Zhao Xingde walked quietly to Deng Yiyuan's side and started chatting casually. She was one of the most favored people in front of the princess, with a sharp tongue, and within three sentences, she had asked about Zhao Xingde's situation clearly. Then, with a joyful expression, she took the specially made fragrant medicine pills from Shang Yaoju back to the White Jade Palace.
The White Jade Palace's Ruiyi Hall was the bedroom of Empress Zhang, and after her three sons with Emperor Zhao of Song grew up, they were granted houses to live in. However, Princess Zhao Huan, who was still young and a favorite daughter of the emperor, remained living in the palace.
The room where Zhao Huan lived was a east-facing room in the Ruyi Hall, with four corners of beautifully carved Han white jade pillars, and between the pillars were walls made of hollow white porcelain bricks carefully fired from Cizhou kiln. The walls had intricately carved wooden windows, and the window frames were fitted with semi-transparent crystal pieces of various colors. In the middle was a sandalwood roof without a single horizontal beam, and on top of the roof was a layer of glazed tiles covered with gold dust. As sunlight filtered through the crystals and shone into the room, it was warm and gentle, and the ceramics, jade utensils, and silk fabrics in the room all reflected soft and delicate colors.
On the ornate dressing table on one side of the room, Zhao Huan was facing the mirror, slightly furrowing her brow, with one eye open and the other closed, carefully applying a blue-black eyeliner to the corner of her eye. She was around 14 or 15 years old, with slender shoulders and waist, and features as delicate as a painting, looking like a beautiful young woman, except that her figure had not yet fully developed. Her skin was as smooth as ivory, but when she applied rouge it looked too red, and when she applied powder it looked too white, which was also the source of this little princess's worries, for lately when she put on makeup in front of the mirror, it seemed that no matter how much powder or eyeliner she applied to her face, she couldn't compare to the beauty of the imperial concubines.
"How come others look so good with this makeup, but I look so bad?" Zhao Huan sighed sorrowfully and was about to wash off the powder on her cheek with dew. At this time, she heard a young man's voice behind her burst out laughing: "Sixteen sister is naturally beautiful, it must be that you think the powder ruins your complexion, only suitable for lightly sweeping your eyebrows to pay respects."
"Third Brother?" Zhao Huan's face showed a hint of surprise. Among the many princes and princesses, only Zhao Ji was her biological sibling, born to the same mother. They grew up together in Empress Zhang's palace, both receiving their father's favor and being extremely close. After Zhao Ji came of age and moved out to take his position as king, he also received the appointment of Ti Ju Huang Cheng Si, making it convenient for him to visit his mother and this younger sister. However, when Zhao Huan turned around and saw Zhao Ji with a seemingly smiling yet serious expression, his eyes wide open, she gritted her teeth in anger, saying: "Dead Third Brother, actually using the wicked woman Guo Guo Furen to mock me! See if I don't report you to Father!"
Seeing her slightly angry and displeased expression, Zhao Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly scolded himself. On the surface, however, he hastily apologized: "Good Sixteen Sister, it was all Brother's fault. Please spare me for Mother's sake, don't make things difficult for me."
Zhao Huan hummed softly and said: "The empress wants to know that you are making fun of me, she will definitely teach you a lesson. How can you still show respect for the empress?"
Zhao Ji was really frightened by the two words "tease". Although Father Emperor was romantic and liked the Third Prince's style, he had always attached great importance to the words and deeds of each prince. The crime of teasing his sister could be big or small, and it was still the ring princess who was most favored by Father Emperor. I'm afraid that the Crown Prince, who was hiding in the East Palace pretending to be a sage, would laugh his teeth off.
"Good sister, although you are living in the gentle pavilion, you should know something about what's going on between me and my brother. Father Emperor intends for me to participate in next year's imperial examination," Zhao Ji knew that his younger sister also knew a lot about palace affairs, if she helped him with the struggle for the Eastern Palace, he would have more confidence, "If brother becomes the top scholar, father emperor will be delighted, it's a very good thing."
Zhou Huan had previously received her mother Empress Zhang's instructions, telling her as a girl not to get involved in the struggle for the throne among her brothers. When she heard Zhao Gui bring up this matter, she could only pretend to be deaf and dumb, staring at the half-washed tearful makeup in the mirror with a look of loss. No matter how much Zhao Gui begged her, she only agreed not to speak ill of him in front of their father the Emperor.
After Zhao Qi left with a thousand thanks, Zhao Huan let out a low sigh and her mood became inexplicably downcast. At this time, her trusted palace maid Qing Nu crept up to her, made a curtsy, and said with a smile: "Princess, the young master who shot the willow at the Clear Brightness Festival is actually a disciple of Chancellor Chu's, and I ran into him again today at the Imperial Pharmacy Bureau, but didn't dare go up to talk to him."
"Oh?" Zhao Huan's expression changed, "What is his name, could he really be a Taixue monitor student?" She paused for a moment, then whispered again, "What about his family background?"
Qing Nu had long been prepared, with a look of pride in his eyes, and his clever mouth moved up and down, and soon the princess knew that this young man was named Zhao Xingde, courtesy name Yuanzhi, the son of the late Dragon Diagram Pavilion attendant Zhao Tingxin. He was not yet married, and by imperial grace, he had entered the Imperial Academy to study before taking the imperial examination for the title of "Held Man".
"It turned out to be the son of Zhao Shizhi," Zhao Huan's heart sank, according to the laws of the Song Dynasty, people with the same surname were not allowed to intermarry, those who violated this rule would be stripped of their official titles and sentenced to four years of hard labor. She felt empty and almost couldn't help but shed tears, but then she forced herself to comfort her own heart, "According to the rules of our dynasty, imperial sons-in-law are not allowed to hold important positions, this Zhao young master is both literary and martial, he must have the talent to save the world and the heart to rescue the people. If I really have a fate with him, then I would be holding back his ambitions and talents from being fulfilled. In that case, I would be his jinx." Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness, and whispered: "It's better this way."
Qing Nu, although roughly literate, was unaware of this provision in the Song Dynasty's laws. She still had a smile on her face and said: "Princess, do you want me to go and ask about Zhao Gongzi's situation again, such as whether his family has arranged for him to be engaged?"
Zhaohuan gently shook her head and sighed, "Forget it." Qingnu saw her expression change from joy to sorrow, but didn't know the reason. She tactfully avoided mentioning the matter and instead praised the white coral that Jingwang had just sent over, saying it was tall and big, and matched well with the decorations in Rongyi Palace.
On the east side of the palace, Song An led Zhao Xingde from Shang Yaoju to Dong Baizuo. Zhao Xingde's gaze was immediately attracted by a fire gun placed on the workbench.
"I heard that Yuan Zhixiao is good at archery, and his marksmanship is excellent. Why is he still interested in firearms?" Song Anrao looked at Zhao Xingde with interest.
"After all, it's a rare thing to see outside, take a good look." Zhao Xingde smiled and said that this fire gun is like a crossbow, which can make the old and weak who have no strength to tie a chicken kill strong young people, so it has been listed by the court as a prohibited item for civilians to own. He turned his head to look at the accompanying firearms official, Qi Lu, Qi Lu rubbed his hands and smiled: "Zhao Xingde is good at it, you are the high-ranking disciple of Zhuo Taishi, what's there to be afraid of?"
Zhao Xingde took the wooden-handled fire lance in his hand, weighed it, and felt that it was a bit heavy. Because the strength of the cast iron was not enough, the wall of the gun barrel was very thick, making the muzzle look a bit small. The casting of the gun barrel had two forked wooden brackets at the rear end of the base, behind which was connected a straight wooden stick, and behind it was an arched shoulder rest, but there was no curved buttstock shape like later firearms.
Zhao Xingde glanced at the black iron bullet emitting a cold glow beside him and asked, "How far can this gun shoot, and what's its power?"
He glanced at the gun and said, "This one is a heavy bullet, using double dose of medicine, probably can shoot up to 40 steps away. If it's a light bullet, using single dose of medicine can hit 60 steps away."
"So close?"
She Lu saw a look of disappointment on Zhao Xingde's face, and he knew that many officials opposed the use of firearms. He immediately explained: "Although the range of this firearm is shorter than that of bows and arrows, its power is greater, and it can penetrate heavy armor. If someone is shot in the chest or abdomen, they will undoubtedly die." Zhao Xingde looked at the round iron ball, which seemed to still have some unpolished burrs on its surface. Such a bullet would surely create a huge hole if it entered human flesh, not to mention that even horses might die from it.
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