lady, please calm down

Thirteen years after the founding of the country, March.

At the end of last year, the emperor's eldest daughter, Princess Shu, married the grandson of Prime Minister Cai. This match made in heaven also meant that the royal heirs had all reached marriageable age.

Those nobles who felt that their status was respectable would use their connections to inquire about news in the palace.

Among them, the prince’s marriage naturally attracted the most attention.

That afternoon, Mao'er sat in a pavilion in Baoci Palace, holding a few pieces of paper in each hand.

There are about five or six pieces of paper in his right hand, which record the names, horoscopes, and conduct of several girls.

The note in the left hand also had a woman's maiden name written on it, but there was only one piece of paper.

The spring day was not very warm, and there was an occasional breeze. The cat coughed twice.

Hanlu, who had been with her for more than 20 years, took off the cloak on her arm and put it on Maoer. She seemed to know a lot of inside information and couldn't help but whispered: "If the queen is unsure, why not invite this young lady from the Tang family to the palace and take a look before making a decision?"

Mao Er smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Ji Er hasn't told me this matter in person yet. If I recruit her into the palace, she will be scared to death."

As they were talking, they heard a voice coming from outside the palace gate, "The Imperial Concubine wants to see you. Hey! Imperial Concubine, please wait a moment."

A few moments later, there appeared Cai Huan's hurried figure, and the aggrieved little palace maid following behind her. Cai Huan rushed in without waiting for the announcement, and the little palace maid did not dare to stop her and had to follow her.

Maoer waved her hand, letting the palace maid at the gate leave. Then she frowned and said, "It's not that I don't want you to enter Baoci Palace. How many seconds do you have to wait before you die?"

"Hey! Why do you need to report to me in your own home? When did I ever ask you to report to me when you went to my Funing Palace?"

This sounds reasonable, but it is also a complete fallacy. In the entire harem, Cat is the boss and can go wherever she wants. Why does she need to report to the authorities?

However, Mao'er was already used to Cai Hua's unreasonable behavior, so she could only say helplessly, "It just so happens that I was just about to go look for you."

"What do you want to see me for?" Cai Hua walked into the pavilion and sat on the stone bench.
Concubine Cai was a romantic woman. She had already changed into a thin shirt in spring. After sitting down, she felt a chill under her buttocks. She stood up again and looked at a maid casually and said, "Bring me two cotton pads. The stone bench is too cold! Aren't you afraid that your queen will get a stomachache if she sits on it?"

Mao'er is not like her. As the saying goes, "cover up in spring and keep warm in autumn". Mao'er wears two layers of cloth pants under her skirt.

Although the stone bench didn't feel cold to the butt, Mao'er still accepted Cai Hua's kindness. After putting on the cotton pad, he said, "It's for Ji'er's marriage. You have loved Ji'er since childhood, so I have to discuss this matter with you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Cai Hua then noticed that Mao'er was holding the stack of paper in his right hand. She immediately reached out to take it, flipped through it randomly and expressed her opinion, "Granddaughter of the Duke of Ying, niece of Ayu? His family is too strict, so the daughter he raised must be boring; daughter of Luo Ruji? Bah, he is a fence-sitter, and he dares to think of becoming the father-in-law of the emperor; granddaughter of Xu Bang? Tsk, wasn't the mess caused by his niece Xu Zhen'er big enough back then? The family tradition is not good; little daughter of Ximen Gong... Hahaha, look at how ugly Fourth Brother Ximen is, how can he give birth to a pretty daughter."

Cai Huan finished her review quickly and slammed the papers with the young lady's family background written on them on the table. "No, they are not worthy of my Ji'er!"

Mao'er looked at Cai Hua with a half-smile, and said something with a hint of meaning: "In your opinion, whose daughter is suitable?"

Cai Hua knew that her thoughts were seen through, but she didn't feel embarrassed. She just smiled and said, "Of course it's my eldest brother's daughter! You've seen Han'er, she's pretty, right?"

“No choice in appearance”

"What is my sister-in-law Qiao like?"

"Gentle and amiable."

"That means Han'er is also studying in a new-style school, so she will definitely get along well with Ji'er. If Ji'er marries her, we will be even closer relatives!"

"Rao'er has already married into your Cai family, and now you're trying to get Ji'er. Are you planning to take all the children of the Chen family away with you?"

Mao'er said jokingly, but suddenly sighed and raised the paper in his left hand, "Ji'er seems to have someone he loves."

"Oh?" Cai Huan raised her hand to take it. This time she read it more carefully and saw that it said: Tang Wanwan, born in December of the year 1359 in the Tongli calendar, from Xiangyi County, Kaifeng Prefecture. In the spring of the tenth year of the founding of the country, she was admitted to the National Secondary School with the fifth place in Kaifeng Prefecture and was a classmate of the prince. Her father, Tang Jianqiu, moved to the west of Beijing with his family in the first year of the founding of the country and made a living by teaching in a private school. Her brother, Tang Yinglin, joined the army as a left guard.
Cai Huan hadn't finished reading when she started to click her tongue. "Ji'er has lost his mind. There are so many ladies waiting for him, but he actually fell in love with the daughter of a teacher?"

After saying that, seeing Mao'er's serious face, Cai Hua became more serious, "Ji'er won't be serious, right? He will graduate from the Higher School soon. Maybe after graduation, the two of them will separate and break up."

There is some truth in this.

The knowledge taught in higher schools became increasingly advanced, and in order to avoid wasting teaching resources, they no longer had separate male and female schools like primary schools.

At the beginning, in order to prevent Ji'er and the others from being out of touch with the people, Chen Chu had always insisted on letting the children enter schools outside the palace under pseudonyms.

But after graduating from the higher school, students also came to a crossroads in life. They could either continue to take the entrance exam for the university, which had an acceptance rate of only 1%, or take the examination for a position as a grassroots official in the imperial court, or join the army, go to the market, or join a business.

Of course, the number of students who choose the latter few relatively less difficult options is far greater than those who choose to enter the university.

At the same time, when students graduate from higher education institutions, they are generally 18 or 19 years old, which means that after graduation they will either go their separate ways or get married.

Chen Chu's expectation for Ji'er is that he would continue to travel and gain experience outside the classroom.

But the girl's family, not knowing Ji'er's identity, would definitely arrange a marriage for their daughter, so Cai Huan said this.

The cat asked, "Do you know how I know this?"

"How do you know?"

"Yunong told me."

"Did Ji'er tell Yunong?"

This is normal. The older children in the palace are close to Yunong and are even willing to tell her their true feelings.

"Ah."

After hearing Mao'er's confirmation, Cai Hua couldn't help but get jealous and cursed, "You bastard! I love him so much, but when he has something on his mind, he doesn't come to me, but goes to look for that silly girl Yunong!"

Maoer rolled his eyes, but didn't care that his son was called a bastard. He just said, "If he told you, would you agree?"

"Of course I don't agree! What knowledge can a daughter of a teacher have? If Ji'er likes her, she can be taken into the East Palace as a concubine at most. She will never be the Crown Princess!"

"What's wrong with being a teacher? My father was a leatherworker back then!"

Well, that’s a pretty strong rebuttal!
If the daughter of a shoemaker can become a queen, why can’t the daughter of a teacher become a crown princess?

Cai Huan could tell that Mao'er was interested in the young lady from the Tang family, and couldn't help but asked in astonishment, "Zhao Mao'er, are you crazy? You haven't even met the young lady from the Tang family, and you really want Ji'er to marry her as the Crown Princess?"

"Ji'er likes it, what can I do?"

Mao'er said it calmly, but Cai Hua didn't believe it at all. Although Chen Chu always emphasized giving children full autonomy.

But the current Crown Princess is the future Queen!

How could such an important role be completely free of political considerations?

Whether it's marrying with the military or marrying with a civil servant, it's better than marrying the daughter of a teacher. Thinking of this, Cai Huan suddenly had an idea and vaguely guessed why Mao'er did this.

Mao Er did not keep Cai Huan in suspense and asked directly, "If Sister Cai thinks, should the Crown Princess be chosen from the daughters of military officers or from the daughters of civil officials?"

By now, Cai Hua, who is somewhat confused by the situation, has realized that no matter which side she chooses, she will always disappoint the other group.

The military may feel that they are closer to His Majesty, but people like Cai Yuan, Chen Jingyan, and Ximen Gong have all staked their fortunes on the throne and followed His Majesty through life and death many times.
"But it shouldn't be like this, right?"

Cai Huan had developed a sense of hierarchy since childhood, and she could never change it in her lifetime. She felt that choosing a commoner girl as the Crown Princess for Ji'er was too unfair to him.

But Mao'er said, "My identity as a commoner girl may be an advantage for Ji'er." Cai Huan took a few breaths to think about it and realized that Mao'er was saying that a queen who was born in a commoner family would make the people feel more friendly to her, just like Mao'er herself. Back then, Chen Chu relied on the only prefecture of Caizhou to pacify the Huaibei bandits and enter Tokyo. It was inseparable from the great public support that Mao'er helped him win during the flood.

Even though the Xuande Gate Incident happened later and the entire literati were hostile to Chen Chu, they were unable to create any trouble in the Huaibei area.

At that time, the cat, who had lived with the victims for several months, made shoes for the soldiers, and prepared military rations, had transformed into a bodhisattva who saves people from suffering.

This feeling will naturally be projected onto Chen Chu.

But this kind of thing cannot be acted out alone. For example, Ayu would hesitate and dare not drink water because of a broken bowl, but Maoer could roll up his trouser legs and step in the mud to cook porridge for the victims.

This is the natural closeness that comes from being born in the lower class.

After hearing these reasons, Cai Hua still felt that they were not sufficient. Mao Er was finally open with her and continued, "Besides that, there is another thing. We are getting older. The four major agricultural reclamation companies will have to find young people to take over in the future, right?"

"You want to pass this property on to the future Crown Princess?"

"Well, only by being associated with the royal family, others will not dare to covet the land, lest after a hundred years, your Majesty's hard work be eaten away by others."

Cai Huan had no doubt about this. Now that His Majesty was still alive, some tabloids would occasionally call for the four major agricultural reclamation companies to hand over half of the arable land in Da Chu to the court.

Who is the court?

Isn't the imperial court still governed by those civil servants?
If the arable land is assigned to the Ministry of Revenue, after Your Majesty passes away, within thirty years, the arable land will inevitably be quickly concentrated in the hands of certain people.

Today, 60% of the tax revenue of the Great Chu comes from commercial taxes. With the Quanzhou Maritime Customs clearing out the South China Sea pirates in recent years and Chen Bokang gaining a firm foothold in the Luzon Islands, overseas trade has brought abundant finances to the Great Chu.

But civil officials have loved to eat alone for thousands of years. If they cannot fully control the financial power and use it to suppress military generals and royal power, they will not be able to sleep well.

Mao'er wants to train a successor. Fortunately, in addition to the financial power controlled by civil officials, a line of royal financial power will continue to be retained.

In this case, whether the candidate for the Crown Princess is a civil or military official, there are hidden dangers.

The common people princess who had no foundation and would not lean towards either the civil or military side became the safest choice.

Cai Hua had never expected that Mao'er would have such far-reaching plans for Ji'er. She could not help but sigh, "Parents really do plan far-reachingly for their children. But you have not had a good talk with Ji'er yet, so how do you know if he and Miss Tang can succeed?"

"Oh! Sister Cai, why is your brain so stupid today? Ji'er told this to Yunong, didn't he want to tell you and me through Yunong's mouth? He must be afraid that you and I would disagree, so he tried to test us."

"This little bastard, although still young, has already learned how to fight in a circuitous way!"

Inside Jingyang Gate, next to Kaibao Temple.

The time of application has just passed.

In the Da Chu National Higher School, which covers an area of ​​more than 50 acres and has houses connected together and ancient trees, after a few "dang dang dang" sounds of chimes, the quiet school campus gradually became lively.

Although boys and girls go to the same school, after school, they go in pairs, and the distinction between the two is clear.

Young people are prone to hunger, so several classmates from Class 3-A rushed out, grabbing bowls and chopsticks, and ran towards the cafeteria.

Soon, a few people got their food and walked towards the dormitory while chatting and laughing.

A tall and handsome boy turned his head to look at the rice bowl of his classmate next to him, and seeing that there were only two steamed buns in it, he without saying a word transferred half of the meat and vegetables in his rice bowl into the other's bowl.

"Step-brother, I can't finish it. Two steamed buns will make me full."

The man who kept waving his hands seemed out of place among his classmates.

Most of the students in the school are seventeen or eighteen years old. Regardless of their beauty or ugliness, they all have a scholarly air.

Only this man was at least twenty-four or twenty-five years old, with a dark complexion, and was still wearing an elementary school uniform, which was obviously too young.

Looking at his appearance, he doesn't look like a student but more like a farmer.

The boy who was called stepbrother laughed and said, "I can't finish it. Brother He, please help me."

Although he looked simple and honest, he was not stupid. He knew the good intentions of the little brother who slept on the upper bunk, so he smiled sincerely and said, "When you return home this summer, I will send you some of our Caizhou specialties."

"Haha, easy to say."

This Brother He is a celebrity in the higher school. He is the oldest student in Tokyo Higher School, older than some professors.

Moreover, it is said that this person only started to learn at the age of thirteen, but in the autumn recruitment of the tenth year after the founding of the country, he was admitted to the Tokyo Higher School with the first place in Huaibei Road.
A classmate nearby heard this and asked curiously, "Brother He, aren't you staying in Tokyo? What good job can you find in Huainan?"

After graduating from higher education institutions, students naturally stay in Tokyo where they have a wider range of employment opportunities, and their income and opportunities are incomparable.

Brother He smiled naively and said, "I read in the newspaper that Miss Zhao is promoting compulsory education in Caizhou this year and is in great need of teachers who graduated from new-style schools. I will go back to teach."

The classmate took a deep breath and said in astonishment: "Brother He, with your diligence, it won't be difficult to continue to take the entrance exam to the University! After a few years at the University, you can observe government affairs in the six ministries after graduation! What can you achieve by going back to teach?"

Brother He said, "I am not young anymore, I want to do something practical."

It was difficult for everyone to understand what he said.

Even Chen Ji, who used the alias Chen Ji, couldn't understand the idea of ​​this older classmate: Can't he do practical work by observing government affairs in the six ministries?

Afterwards, several people discussed their plans after graduation.

There is a row of statues on the way from the cafeteria to the dormitory.

They were all outstanding students from previous national schools. There was Chen Yinglang, who had become a prefect; there was Guo Lin, who had just returned to Quanzhou at the end of last year after two years of sailing and led a team to find the South America that Your Majesty had mentioned; and there was Qin Shengwu, the youngest commander-in-chief of the Great Chu Army who had recovered the Western Regions.
But the last statue, dressed as a scholar, does not have its name and achievements engraved on the base like the previous statues.

But everyone knows who this is.

The statue was erected because he had made great contributions; his name was not left behind because he committed the crime of murder.

Although some people commented that he was too stubborn and easily broken, in the heart of the student surnamed He, this senior student did something desperate in order not to embarrass His Majesty or bring shame to the school.

The student named He stood silently in front of the statue for a few moments out of habit.

In front, a classmate noticed that Brother He was standing in front of the statue in a daze again, and couldn't help but shout, "He Jizhi, what are you staring at?"

"Oh, I'm coming."

He Jizhi immediately followed in the footsteps of his classmates.

The statue is of Cui Zaidao, who died in Changhua County, Lin'an in the first year of the founding of the country.

He Jizhi's original name was He Du'er. He was originally a farmer's son in Zhenyang County, Caizhou. In the autumn of the fifth year of Xuanqing, Cui Zaidao received students from the Liuhuai School who were heading north, and the two met by chance.
At that time, He Jizhi had never thought that he would be able to go to school one day.

But at that time, Cui Zaidao came forward to tell his story, saying that he was a disaster victim. After fleeing to Caizhou, he completed his studies with the help of a scholarship set up by the Princess of Chu.

He also advised him that a gentleman should constantly strive to improve himself.
Later, Cui Zaidao kept his promise and gave He Jizhi two months of extra lessons in Caizhou, which allowed He Jizhi to be admitted to Lanxiang Primary School at the age of thirteen.

At the beginning, He Jizhi asked Cui Zaidao why he helped him. Cui Zaidao once said: The Princess of Chu helped me back then, so just consider it as our Huaibei heritage.

Later, He Jizhi heard the news of Cui Zaidao's death.
It was from that time that he, whose original name was He Duer, changed his name to Jizhi. (End of this chapter)