Chapter 29 The anxious Sheng Hong
“Angel, please come inside.”
After a few words of greeting, Sheng Hong welcomed Liu Sanshi in.
When we arrived at the middle courtyard, the incense case had been set up in the courtyard. Liu Sanshi was standing behind the incense case, while the Sheng family was standing in front of the incense case, waiting for Liu Sanshi to read out the imperial edict.
Kneeling was not popular in the Song Dynasty, but the etiquette when receiving imperial edicts was cumbersome and required kneeling to receive edicts.
This refers to an edict issued through the Zhongshu Ministry. This time it is a private edict and does not require kneeling to receive it.
Liu Sanshi didn't waste any time. When the Sheng family was ready, he directly read out the official decree and summoned Sheng Hong's eldest son Sheng Changbai to the capital to accompany the prince.
After hearing the imperial edict, the entire Sheng family was stunned.
Sheng Hong was originally uneasy before the sudden order came, but he didn't expect that it turned out to be a huge piece of pie, which directly hit him on the head and made him dizzy.
“Sheng Shanda, please accept the order!” Liu Sanshi reminded with a smile.
Sheng Hong came to his senses and stepped forward to receive the imperial edict from Xie En in a daze.
It wasn't until he got the imperial edict that he finally regained consciousness. He took out the banknotes he had prepared long ago from his sleeves and stuffed them into Liu Sanshi's hand, calling it "happy money".
Liu Sanshi was very satisfied with Sheng Hong's sensibility. He smiled and said that he was grateful for Sheng Hong's happiness and took the banknote.
"Changbai, quickly lead the angel to the main hall to rest for a while."
Sheng Hong ordered Sheng Changbai behind him, looked at Liu Sanshi and smiled: "Angel, I will deliver the imperial edict to the ancestral hall first. Worship and come back later to talk to the angel.”
Gu Tingye received a red-tasseled spear as a reward from the government, which was enshrined in the ancestral hall by the Gu family, not to mention it was an imperial edict.
"Shang Shanda, please excuse me." Liu Sanshi said with a smile.
Sheng Hong sent the imperial edict to worship, while Sheng Changbai led Liu Sanshi into the main hall.
Madam Wang quickly ordered her servants to send over the prepared tea and snacks. All of them, including the imperial guards who followed, were not left behind, and each of them was given ten taels of silver.
The female family members could not come forward, so the angel went to the main hall and then went back to their rooms. Sheng Changbai and Sheng Changfeng will temporarily accompany them.
Sheng Changbai became Zhao Xing's companion, and Liu Sanshi did not dare to look down upon him. He seemed to be on good terms with him, so he went out of his way to chat with him.
However, after chatting for a few words, Liu Sanshi paid more attention to Sheng Changbai.
Sheng Changbai is only eleven years old now. He is very calm when facing him at such a young age. He is polite and considerate during small talk, not nervous at all, and looks very mature.
Although Liu Sanshi was just a eunuch, he was able to hang around in the palace and was adopted as his adopted son by the official's confidant eunuch Liu Eunuch, so he was naturally quite capable.
Not only did Liu Sanshi know how to observe people's emotions, he also had a good eye for seeing people. He didn't know how knowledgeable Sheng Changbai was. With such a calm temperament, his future prospects would be good.
While they were chatting, Sheng Hong came back. After chatting for a while, Sheng Hong made some insinuations and wanted to find out why the official called his son to accompany him to the palace.
The news that Zhao Xing was going to be crowned prince had spread all over the world, and Sheng Hong naturally knew about it.
After a few months of Zhao Xing's canonization, Sheng Changbai will be the crown prince's companion.
When he heard the content of the imperial edict, Sheng Hong, who thought that the city was very deep, also fainted for a while.
It wasn’t until I went to the ancestral hall that I calmed down a lot.
Everything has a reason. He is a general magistrate in Yangzhou, a big-assed official, and the official family may not even have an impression of him. How could he suddenly call his son to the palace to accompany the prince?
Liu Sanshi naturally heard Sheng Hong's temptation and did not hide it. He directly told Sheng Hong that it was Sheng Changbai who Gu Tingye recommended to the prince.
There is nothing to hide about this kind of thing, so he is naturally happy to give Sheng Hong face.
After chatting for a while, Liu Sanshi proposed to speak to Sheng Hong alone. Upon hearing this, Sheng Hong quickly asked his two sons and the servants serving in the hall to leave.
"I heard that Mr. Shanda has a beautiful concubine. Not only does she love her very much, except for her status, she is even comparable to his wife in other aspects. I wonder if this is true?" Liu Sanshi said with a smile.
Sheng Hong was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then cold sweat broke out on his forehead: "No...nothing. As a scholar, how could I not know the principles of ethics, how could I spoil my concubine and destroy my wife?" The ancients paid attention to self-cultivation. It is easy to understand the saying that a family governs a country and brings peace to the world. It means that one must have a moral character and be able to manage one's own small family well.
As the saying goes, how can you sweep the world if you don't sweep one house? How can an official be a good official if he can't manage his own family well?
In the evaluation of officials, political performance and ability are only one aspect, but moral character is more important.
The so-called family management does not mean that men should take care of the housework, but it refers to family tradition.
Disrespecting elders, doting on concubines and destroying wives, and failing to educate children well are all manifestations of unhealthy family traditions.
The Song Dynasty was tolerant of civil servants. Impeaching officials for corruption and accepting bribes might only result in a small salary or demotion.
But if you have moral deficiencies and are impeached, you may have to lose your official position and face charges.
Sheng Hong did dote on his concubines, but he was still sensible and did not dare to destroy his wife.
However, it is certain that the treatment he gave Lin Xiaoniang has gone beyond the scope of a concubine.
But this is only a matter within the family, and outsiders don't know.
When Liu Sanshi mentioned this matter, Sheng Hong naturally didn't think it was Liu Sanshi's gossip.
He guessed that when the officials were preparing to recruit Sheng Changbai as his companion, they investigated the Sheng family, and therefore asked Liu Sanshi to beat him up.
Because of this, Sheng Hong is afraid.
Liu Sanshi was not concerned about this matter. He just wanted to complete Zhao Xing's explanation. Seeing Sheng Hong's denial, he said calmly: "Your Highness seems to value your young master very much. Shanda people are not the best, otherwise their morals will be compromised." It would be bad if it affects your young master’s future.”
"Yes, yes, thank you for the reminder, Eunuch Liu."
Sheng Hong wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves. Now it seemed that the officials just wanted to beat him up and had no intention of pursuing him.
Liu Sanshi stayed at the Sheng family for more than an hour, declined the banquet hosted by the Sheng family in the evening, and took the people to Yangzhou Station.
Although the edict has been announced now, the New Year is coming up in a few days, and Sheng Changbai still needs time to make preparations.
The time to return to Beijing is scheduled for the third day of the new year.
Liu Sanshi was accompanied by dozens of forbidden troops. When entering the city, the soldiers at the city gate naturally wanted to question him.
When Liu Sanshi entered the city, the soldiers reported it.
While Liu Sanshi was chatting with Sheng Hong at the Sheng family, almost all officials in Yangzhou, big and small, got the news.
Yangzhou officials also knew that this was not an explicit decree, so they sent people to inquire about the news.
I learned that the angel went to the Sheng family. After the angel left, they all rushed to the Sheng family.
Ancient imperial edicts were not read by eunuchs like in some movies and TV dramas.
If nothing else, during the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang forbade eunuchs to be literate. How could they read the edict if they didn't know the characters?
In fact, the imperial edict issued through Zhongshu Province was read out by specialized officials, not eunuchs.
Only private edicts like this can be read and conveyed by the eunuchs in the palace.
Therefore, Yangzhou officials did not go to the Sheng family immediately. After all, the literati were noble and there was no eunuch who controlled the power. Naturally, they would not rush over to curry favor with a eunuch.
If the person delivering the decree was an official, they would probably come to show their friendship as soon as they heard the news.
A group of officials from Yangzhou came to inquire about the content of the decree.
Sheng Hong sent Liu Sanshi off beforehand. Because of Liu Sanshi's words, he felt uneasy. Seeing the arrival of Yangzhou officials, he had to cheer up to entertain him.
(End of this chapter)