Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 255 The Son of Heaven Summons
The mosquito problem couldn't disturb Fan Ning's joy of accepting his new home. At noon, he ordered a dozen dishes at Wang Menger's Bistro directly opposite the small street, and invited everyone to eat. He sat at one table with Zhu Pei, and Jian Meizi and Xiaodong sat at another a table.

"Jupei, how did you and your brother enter the palace a few days ago?" Fan Ning asked.

Zhu Pei smiled lightly and said: "I only stayed for one morning and then came out. My brother carved a full-body statue for the official family, and also carved a small statue for Concubine Zhang. The eunuchs in the palace had already taken it in yesterday. I feel that they You should be very satisfied! I enjoyed a lot of things tonight."

"What kind of person is Zhang Guifei?"

Zhu Pei pondered for a while and said: "In terms of appearance, Zhang Guifei's appearance is not as good as Empress Cao's, but Zhang Guifei gives people the impression that she is an ordinary person, full of emotions, full of emotions, and very unrestrained, especially when she holds the hand of an official. When I was there, I felt like she was taking her lover for a walk in the garden."

"Don't Empress Cao have rich feelings?"

Zhu Pei shook his head, "She has feelings, but they hide them very deeply. People in the palace say that she is like an ice sculpture, and her beauty can only be seen from a distance, but I don't think so. I think she is very lonely, and she is also very good to me. I liked her very much, and I sympathized with her even more."

"Judging from your tone, it seems that Concubine Zhang Gui is not attractive enough to you."

"She is also very warm to me. In fact, to be honest, Concubine Zhang is not a bad person, she is reasonable and considerate, but I always think of Zhang Yaozuo, so I don't like her as much as Empress Cao."

Fan Ning poured a glass of wine for Zhu Pei, and asked with a smile, "How do you feel about the Son of Heaven?"

Zhu Pei shook his head, "I won't comment on this, but my brother has a very good impression of him, and he carves a statue of him with great care. Usually brothers only carve a half-length portrait, but this time he actually carved a full-length statue for the Son of Heaven and a The two portraits of Concubine Zhang Guifei walking in the garden holding the hands of the emperor are very vividly carved, I think the emperor will like it very much."

At this time, the bell sounded faintly from the Taixue. This was the preparatory bell for the upcoming class in the afternoon. Fan Ning said with a smile, "I've almost finished eating. I'm going to the Imperial College this afternoon. I'll leave the house to you."

Zhu Pei nodded, "You go! I have to take a good look around the house and think about what I need to add?"

Fan Ning got up and left, but Zhu Pei sat at the table and frowned, thinking hard, how could he dig that piece of Cuiyun Peak from his grandfather to the capital?

Fan Ning came to the Imperial College, and as soon as he reached the stairs on the third floor of the library, he heard Feng Mieliao's anxious voice, "Jiancheng, don't worry, I will definitely get him back! Use the fastest speed."

"Oh! It's really troublesome. It doesn't matter if he's here or not, but he's not here today. How can I go back and explain?"

This is the voice of Jiang Yan, Cheng Cheng of the Imperial College, Fan Ning is a little strange, who are they looking for?You can't be looking for yourself!

He walked up to the third floor and asked from a distance, "What happened?"

When everyone saw him, they were overjoyed. Jiang Yan rushed up to meet him, grabbed Fan Ning's wrist and said, "Thank God, you're finally back, you're driving us crazy, so hurry up and follow me!"

"Is there anything urgent?" Fanning asked with a smile.

Jiang Yan whispered in his ear: "The Son of Heaven summons you!"

Fanning was also taken aback, "Now?"

"Right now, the palace servants are here at noon, they are jumping in a hurry, you follow me!"

Jiang Yan didn't want to explain any more, so she pulled Fan Ning and hurried to the Imperial Academy compound.

There were three servants standing in the courtyard of the Imperial College. They also seemed anxious, and kept looking at the gate. Fortunately, it was noon, and the emperor had to rest, and the Imperial College was not in the imperial city. They could go back and explain that if the afternoon took so long, They must be scolded to death by the steward.

At this time, Jiang Yan hurried in with Fan Ning, "Three father-in-laws, Fan Ning is here!"

The chief servant glanced at Fan Ning and couldn't help but startled, "Why aren't you wearing an official uniform?"

Fan Ning was also stunned. His official uniform was hanging in the cabinet, and he had never worn it once. He had no interest at all, and he had to wear an official uniform when he went to the Holy Spirit.

"Or! I'll go back and change it now."

"It's too late, please ask Jiang Jiancheng to borrow an official uniform for him."

"Then wear mine!"

Jiang Yan happened to be at the eighth rank, so he ran back to the room and took out a set of official uniform and official hat, "This official uniform is new, I think you can wear it, let's wear it first to face the saint!"

Fan Ning immediately changed into an official uniform and a double-winged official hat, and then got into the carriage brought by the servants and drove towards the palace.

All the way to Ziwei Hall, Fan Ning was still at a loss. He couldn't figure out why the emperor suddenly summoned him?

He thought that he would not see the emperor Zhao Zhen for the past three years, but he didn't expect Zhao Zhen to summon him after he had only been in office for more than ten days.

Fan Ning stood in front of the steps, waiting anxiously. At this moment, a young eunuch from the imperial study ran out and said anxiously, "I am summoned by the officials, please come with me, Official Fan!"

Fan Ning followed him quickly into the main hall, until he came to the door of the imperial study, the little official waved to Fan Ning, "Wait a moment, I will report it!"

The little eunuch went in, and came out after a while and said, "Please come in!"

Fan Ning tidied up his coat and hat, and then followed the little eunuch into the imperial study room. This was the first time Fan Ning entered the legendary imperial study room. The imperial study room was divided into two rooms, inside and outside. They listened to the proposed decree at any time, and the two sat solemnly, without looking sideways, looking like two clay bodhisattvas in the temple.

There were four eunuchs standing at the door, two on each side, and they were responsible for running errands and tidying up the imperial study.

Seeing that no one was blocking him, Fan Ning walked directly into the inner room, which gave him a feeling of enlightenment. The room was very large, covering more than a hundred square meters, but the layout was very elegant, with bookshelves and antique shelves on both sides, filled with Books and various gadgets.

At a glance, Fan Ning saw the Tianhuangshi incense burner in the corner, emitting green smoke, filling the room with a faint scent of sandalwood.

In the imperial study room sat the emperor Zhao Zhen, who was reviewing the memorial.

Fan Ning quickly stepped forward and knelt down to salute, "My humble minister, Fan Ning, see Your Majesty!"

It is customary to kneel down and salute the first time you meet a saint, and it will not be used in the future.

"Little Aiqing is welcome, please wait until I finish approving this memorial."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Fan Ning stood up and stood aside with his hands down, but his eyes fell on the paperweight in the upper right corner of the imperial case. It was the Xishan travel stone that he gave to his grandfather. .

At this time, Zhao Zhen put down the vermilion pen, put the approved memorial aside, looked at Fan Ning with great interest, and couldn't help laughing: "You are wearing an official uniform for the first time today!"

"How does His Majesty know?"

"It can be felt that you are still in the habit of wearing regular clothes, not as natural as wearing official clothes."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I don't have any official duties in the Imperial College. Most of the time I spend sitting in the library reading. There is really no need to wear official uniforms."

"It makes sense. I also like to wear ordinary clothes in the palace. I feel very comfortable."

Speaking of this, Zhao Zhen took out another box from under the table, opened the box, and found a box full of blooming cotton bolls inside. He smiled slightly and said, "This is a gift from King Gaochang to me last year. I don’t know, I just put it in the inner warehouse, and I found it after sorting out the inner warehouse in the past two days, this is the cotton you mentioned, right!”

"Exactly! It's called cotton bolls. There are cotton seeds inside, and the white fluff on the outside is its flowers. It is the best textile material that can replace cotton and hemp as Weichen said. The yield per mu is very large. Wear warm cotton jackets in winter, and cover them with warm quilts at night.”

Fan Ning also came from poverty, and he is very aware of the sufferings of poor people. Rich people can wear animal skins in winter, or use cotton to fill clothes and quilts.

The poor people can only rely on wearing more clothes to keep out the cold in winter. At night, most of the quilts are randomly stuffed with chicken and duck feathers.

But if there is cotton, the textile industry of the entire Song Dynasty will be completely new. With the addition of new spinning machines, the efficiency of textiles will be greatly improved, and the economy of the Song Dynasty will be strongly supported, just like the textile industry when British capitalism just emerged. great changes in society.

Zhao Zhen nodded, "I'm going to do an experiment, first plant a few hundred acres in the north to see, if it really has a good effect, then I will promote it on a large scale."

Fan Ning hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it is best to invite experienced planters from Gaochang to teach them how to plant."

"I understand. I have already sent people to Gaochang, and I will be back in a few months."

Zhao Zhen closed the box and said with a smile: "There is also Liuqiu Island in the southeast that you mentioned last time. The imperial court has decided to first establish Penghu County, which belongs to Quanzhou, and then Penghu County will gradually migrate to Liuqiu as a transit point. Within ten years, Liuqiu Island will be merged into our Dasong Prefecture."

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Zhao Zhen shook his head, "Every dynasty is thinking about opening up territories, and every emperor hopes to establish great achievements, Song Dynasty and Zhen are no exception. The biggest expectation of Song Dynasty is to regain the Hexi Corridor and reopen the Silk Road. It is also my dream to reshape the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

However, Xixia and Liao Kingdom are each other's lips and teeth, and they have formed a strategic alliance. Liao Kingdom, in particular, used Xixia to contain the Song Dynasty, which made it difficult for the Song Dynasty to advance westward. This is the fundamental reason for the development of maritime trade in the Song Dynasty.

Ever since you mentioned opening up territories overseas last time, I have been thinking about this matter, and I always want to find an opportunity to talk to you about this topic again. Do you think that opening up territories overseas is the most critical point for the imperial court? what is it "

Fan Ning pondered for a long time and said, "Wei Chen believes that there are three key points!"

Zhao Zhen suddenly became interested, and he asked someone to move an embroidered pier, asked Fan Ning to sit down, and asked with a smile: "Tell me, what are the three points?"

(End of this chapter)