Chapter 41 The Day of Canonization
When I arrived at the door of the mansion, I saw a carriage parked at the door. A middle-aged man dressed as a butler and two young men carrying things were arrested by the imperial guards at the door. They were blocked and they were arguing about something.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Shiquan asked.
The middle-aged man who looked like a butler was overjoyed when he saw Zhu Shiquan and said, "Master Zhu, my master ordered me to come and deliver some gifts to Master Zhu, but they said they would open them all for inspection."
Hearing this, Zhu Shiquan looked at one of the soldiers and frowned: "His Royal Highness has sent you to stand guard. You can just stand guard. Why are you rude to the guests who come?"
"My lord!"
The soldier bowed and said, "His Royal Highness has explained that in order to ensure the safety of your lord, the things brought by people who come to the door must not only be inspected, but also need to be registered and recorded. Small ones are just Act as ordered."
"This is my guest, there is no danger, no need to check," Zhu Shiquan said.
“It’s my duty, please forgive me!” the soldier said with cupped hands.
Zhu Shiquan also realized at this time that this nephew sent the Imperial Guard to stand guard, not to give him dignity. This was obviously someone sent to supervise him.
"Okay, you go back and tell the leader of the Qin family that you don't need to send people to give gifts in the future." Zhu Shiquan waved his hand and said.
“Yes!”
The butler heard the words, responded, bowed and left.
However, he was stopped by the soldiers, who said that he had been ordered to check, and if he was not checked, he would have no choice but to arrest him.
“Insolent!”
Zhu Shiquan said angrily: "You are so wanton and reckless, have you ever taken me seriously?"
Hearing this, the soldiers only said that they were acting under orders, leaving Zhu Shiquan completely helpless.
The last person who gave the gift could only leave after having the gift checked and recorded by the Imperial Army.
Zhu Shiquan entered the house angrily.
……
Throughout the morning, the Imperial Guards guarding the door stopped more than a dozen families who sent gifts, and checked and recorded all the gifts they sent.
Until the news spread, no one continued to come to give gifts.
Zhu Shiquan was so angry that he kept drinking wine during lunch.
Ms. Sun didn't try to dissuade him. She took her sons and daughters to finish the meal and left him alone to drink.
In Sun's opinion, Zhao Xing's doing this is a good thing for the Zhu family.
She was also worried that Zhu Shiquan could not resist temptation and cause trouble to the family.
......
Zhao Xing returned to Renming Palace from school in the evening and got a list of people to send gifts to his uncle's house this morning.
Who sent it and what gifts they brought were recorded in great detail.
After a rough look, Zhao Xing sneered.
Most of these gift-givers were officials of the fourth or fifth rank, among whom the highest-ranking official was actually the Right Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
You must know that the Minister of Rites is a third-rank official. In terms of rank, he is higher than Zhu Shiquan's official position.
And the gifts given by these officials are not light. When converted into silver, the few are one or two thousand taels, and the more are thousands of taels.
You must know that these gifts are at most a meeting gift, just to sell well to Zhu Shiquan.
The treatment given to officials in the Song Dynasty was very high. Considering the status of these people, the money was only a few months' salary.
But none of these people have a large family to support.
He is really rich with such generous spending.
......
Zhao Xing came to Zishan Hall early the next day.
When he arrived, only a few of the accompanying readers arrived. They were a little surprised to see Zhao Xing coming so early. They quickly stopped chatting and saluted Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing waved his hand, came to his seat and sat down, picked up the book and started reading.
Those people did not dare to chat anymore. They sat in their seats and read books.
The accompanying students arrived one after another, and they were a little baffled to see that Zhao Xing had already arrived.
Although there was no such thing as a clock in this era, they were reading in the palace and did not dare to be late. Naturally, it was impossible for them to be late. Since they entered the palace to study together, Zhao Xing was the last one to arrive.
Although they couldn't figure out why Zhao Xing came so early today, they didn't dare to ask any more questions. They bowed and sat down in their seats.
Meng Xianfei and two acquaintances walked into the courtyard of Zishantang, talking and laughing all the way.
After entering the courtyard, Meng Xianfei saw that it was very quiet, and told his two companions that they were the first to arrive today.
While chatting and joking, the three of them walked into Zishan Hall. As soon as they entered, they saw that most of the seats were occupied by people, reading books, and they were stunned.
Then they saw Zhao Xing sitting there, and the three of them understood why the school was so quiet.
Without thinking too much, the three people hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "I have met Your Highness!"
Zhao Xing's eyes moved away from the book, looked up at the three people, and finally stopped on Meng Xianfei.
"Your name is Meng Xianfei, and your father is the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, right?" Zhao Xing said lightly.
Meng Xianfei didn't know why Zhao Xing asked this suddenly, but he still responded: "Back to Your Highness, my father is the right minister of the Ministry of Rites."
"I heard that your Meng family is quite rich? "Zhao Xing asked.
"Going back to Your Highness, my family relies entirely on my father's salary to support me, but because there are so many people, my family's financial resources are average." Meng Xianfei replied.
Zhao Xing smiled and said: "Really? Then why were you so generous when giving gifts to my uncle? You gave me a heavy gift worth five or six thousand taels right away?"
Meng Xianfei forehead after hearing this A little cold sweat broke out on his face. When he returned home from school yesterday, he listened to his parents' conversation and learned that Zhao Xing sent people to the Zhu family and recorded the identities of all the gift-givers and the gifts they gave.
His mother was still a little worried, but his father said that Zhao Xing did this to warn those who gave gifts to the Zhu family that nothing would happen to them.
After all, it is no secret that officials directly send gifts and move around, and manage promotions.
But now Zhao Xing obviously wants to pursue it.
"Why don't you speak?" Zhao Xing looked at Meng Xianfei and smiled.
Meng Xianfei said a little confused: "Your Highness, even ordinary people don't know about this."
"Look, I'm just asking, why are you so nervous? After sweating so much, Quickly wipe it." Zhao Xing said with a gentle tone and a concerned look on his face.
"The common people feel a little hot. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Meng Xianfei thanked him and didn't bother to take out his handkerchief. He raised his arm and wiped it with his sleeve.
"Father has always been frugal, and I, the prince, don't usually have much money per month. Go back and ask Minister Meng if you can give me some gifts." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"Yes, I will tell my father when I get back." Meng Xianfei said quickly.
"Well, it's getting late. The master will be here soon. Let's go." Zhao Xing waved his hand and said.
"Yes!" Meng Xianfei bowed as if he had been granted amnesty, and then left with his two companions.
Everyone heard the conversation between Zhao Xing and Meng Xianfei, and they were somewhat glad that they did not give gifts to the Zhu family.
In fact, those who can be selected as Zhao Xing's study companions have high official positions in their families.
These people are all old foxes and will not do anything when the situation is unclear.
After school ended in the evening and these companions returned home, the incident had completely spread.
Now no one dares to continue sending gifts to the Zhu family.
……
Entering March, the grass is growing and the orioles are flying, and the weather is slowly getting warmer.
This also indicates that the day when Zhao Xing canonize the crown prince is not far away.
After the official announcement of the canonization, intensive preparations began.
Everything that should be prepared has already been prepared.
Zhao Xing started fasting and bathing every day half a month in advance to prepare for the canonization.
It was okay to fast at the beginning, but after eating vegetarian food for several days, Zhao Xing became a little unbearable.
He asked Sanshui to secretly get him some meat. Naturally, this kind of thing could not be hidden from Empress Cao and the officials. However, they also felt sorry for Zhao Xing, so they simply turned a blind eye and pretended not to care. Know.
In a blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of March, the day of canonization.
Early in the morning, before dawn, Zhao Xing got up, served by a group of palace ladies, put on thick and luxurious crown clothes, and went to the Ancestral Temple.
(End of this chapter)