Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 196 About to go south
What Zhang Xiao didn't expect was that the matter was actually far more serious than he imagined. Just when Zhang Xiao was hiding at home and having a good time, the emperor's decree came, asking Zhang Xiao to enter the palace immediately.

In the royal study, the monarch and his ministers met again, but the atmosphere was a little awkward.

"What's the matter with your Majesty summoning the minister?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"I originally thought that you would go to the court to argue, but I waited and waited and did not wait for you to come to the court, so I had to find you." The emperor said.

"Your Majesty is wise and decisive. I believe that Your Majesty will not be deceived by Xiao Xiao."

"According to what you said, the ministers who impeached you are all scoundrels?"

"I don't dare. It's just that Wei Chen will never accept anything that Wei Chen has never done. Anyway, I don't expect to be promoted to any official position now. I just ask the court to make a decision as soon as possible and don't let the rumors spread. Li Zhizao was originally a great talent in the country, but he only worked for Wei Chen for a while. Wei Chen became interested in talents and gave him some support. Wei Chen did not have the ability to interfere in the imperial examination. Please help Li Zhizao rectify his name as soon as possible. yes."

"What are you doing these days?" The emperor obviously didn't want to continue the previous topic.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have been meditating and thinking these days, and occasionally read a book."

"Aren't you writing any more articles?"

"Then be careful along the way." the princess warned.

"Consort, are you going to Nanjing on business? Why is it so sudden?" The princess was also a little surprised.

"What did you think of?"

"Yes, if we go for a longer time, those people may not remember Zhang's deeds. Zhang has been so prosperous in the past few years, and I don't know how many people have aroused the jealousy. These people can take so long to get angry. It's already It was beyond my expectation.”

But now that the matter was over, Zhang Xiao didn't bother to worry about anything anymore. He was going to travel far away, so he naturally had to report to the princess.

"Reporting to your majesty, I have heard a saying before, saying that knowledge is the only thing that understands the world, and knowledge is the master of human feelings. After experiencing these things, I just feel that I claim to be knowledgeable, but I don't know the world's people, so I have been thinking about it these days. These things."

"The matter has reached this point, even the imperial examination can be used as an excuse. If I don't disappear for a while, some people will always feel uneasy. Your Majesty told me not to rush back to Beijing. Maybe it will take a year and a half before I can come back. "

"Are you blaming me for not supporting you? After all, it was me who asked you to inspect Henan. Now that you are being criticized by the ministers, I didn't say anything more."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I guess you are tired of waiting in the capital. Not only you, I am also tired of waiting in the Forbidden City. Well, I ordered you to go to Nanjing on a business trip. You are the son-in-law of the Zhu family. The main purpose of this business trip is to pay homage to the emperor. It’s up to you to decide how you want to go along the way. In short, you have to go to Fengyang Zhongdu to pay homage to the emperor’s mausoleum. When you arrive in Nanjing, you will also have to pay homage to the emperor’s mausoleum. I’d really like to ask officials from the Ministry of Rites and other relevant departments to accompany you to pay homage to the emperor. After the mausoleum, you can inspect Jiangnan and other places. If there is no edict, there is no need to rush back to Beijing. "

After staying in the Princess Mansion for several days, Zhang Xiao returned to the Prince Consort's Mansion. Although Zhang Xiao doesn't have to carry his own luggage when traveling far away, there are some things he needs to take care of before he can feel at ease, and some things need to be done before he can go out with peace of mind.

"Going for so long?"

After coming out of the palace, Zhang Xiao could only sigh in his heart. If you want to say he is angry, he is not too angry. After all, the emperor has not said that he did not do well. Even though he was happy, he was still a little unconvinced by being thrown out like this.

"I think you are tired too. This time you are traveling far away. You can also gain some insights from the journey. If you can write something, please write it. I haven't seen your works for a long time."

However, Zhang Xiao's peaceful life would not last long after all, because a distinguished guest would come to his door soon, and they would all come together. That is Matteo Ricci and Li Zhizao.

"Right now, there are a lot of rumors in the capital, but unfortunately not many people say good things about me. Your Majesty also wants me to leave the capital to avoid the limelight."

"Wei Chen dare not."

"Wei Chen understands."

"Wei Chen feels that daydreams are useless. Maybe we should go down and see for ourselves and go out for a walk. That's the best thing."

"Zhenzhi, why are you here? Although the provincial examination has come to an end for the time being, there should still be courses in the Imperial College." Zhang Xiao asked.

"These people are really unreasonable. The imperial examination is a major matter for the country. Who dares to cheat in such a major matter? Not to mention that you, Prince Consort, have no need at all. I have also read the article by the disciple you accepted. The writing style is very sophisticated. Where do I need to reveal the topic to go to high school?”

"Teacher, I really can't stay in the Imperial College for another day. I have already told my teacher to take a temporary leave of absence from the Imperial College. Otherwise, the cheat sheets in the Imperial College will not know what kind of filthy words will be compiled. Now from If you come out of the Imperial College, you will be out of sight," Li Zhizao said firmly.

"Having said that, it is easy to withdraw from the Imperial College, but it is difficult to go back. Now that you have taken a leave of absence from the Imperial College, do you mean you are studying at home?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Students are no longer preparing for the imperial examination. These days, I have been chatting with Mr. Li about the universe, geography, and arithmetic. Now if students continue to take the imperial examination, they will cause more trouble for you, teacher. Now that you have achieved great success, you will be able to return home in glory. I heard that you are going to the south for business, can you take me with you?"

"Of course I welcome you if you are willing to accompany me. Your hometown is in Hangzhou, so you can go home by the way. After I go to Nanjing for business, I should stay in Hangzhou for a while."

"That's a good idea. The students will definitely lead the teachers to enjoy all the delicious food and fun things in Hangzhou." Li Zhizao said happily.

"Zhenzhi's talent is very good. I would like to recommend Zhenzhi to study at Tongwen Hall. No, he can even serve as a teacher for several courses." Matteo Ricci praised from the side.

"If Zhenzhi has no intention of taking the imperial examination for the time being and wants to further his studies at Tongwen Hall, I will naturally agree."

"By the way, Prince Consort Zhang, you asked me to help you find a painter before. I think I have found a suitable person. His name is John. He is an artist from Florence. His painting is quite good. It's just that there are too many artists in Italy and he couldn't find a suitable noble to support him, so he went to the East to try his luck. In any case, his painting skills are still very good. "Lima. Dou recommended. "What kind of painting is he good at?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"He is very good at figure painting and landscape painting, and he is also very particular about architectural painting. He also learned the painting method of Chinese ink painting. Although his painting is not that mature, it is quite rare and valuable." Matteo Ricci highly recommended it.

"In that case, I would also like to meet him to see if he can speak Ming Dynasty Mandarin and write Chinese characters. After all, I would like to bring a painter with me this time when I go south, if possible."

"Please rest assured, Prince Consort Zhang. John can speak Mandarin and several southern dialects. He can generally write Chinese characters, but he is not so neatly written."

Matteo Ricci exchanged a few words with Zhang Xiao and then left, agreeing to bring the painter with him tomorrow.

In the main hall, Zhang Xiao, Lu Zhang and Li Zhizao were left.

"Zhenzhi, I didn't expect this imperial examination turmoil beforehand. When Wenhua and I were in Henan, we just checked some things, but I didn't expect someone to be so uncontrollable. If they just smear me, forget it. I didn't expect that you, Zhenzhi, would also be involved," Zhang Xiao said.

"Teacher, I'm afraid I still have to say that I am somewhat responsible for what happened this time. After all, the staff in the Imperial College is complicated, but I am a kind person. I can't stand some villains who do the same thing in front of me and behind their backs. Seeing that I did well in the exam I became jealous and even dragged the teacher into it," Li Zhizao said.

"It's not that simple. Why don't we do these little things sooner or later? But there have been these rumors since I came back from Henan. Forget it, it's okay to go to the south for business. As the saying goes, there is Suzhou and Hangzhou in heaven, and I have been there a few times. The gods are having a good time."

"If the teacher goes to Hangzhou, he must walk more in the West Lake. The essence of Hangzhou's scenery is in the West Lake area."

"I may rent a house by the West Lake for a while. If the price is right, I can buy it. If there is a suitable house by then, you are welcome to talk to Zhang."

"This is natural. I will definitely handle it properly for you, teacher."

"By the way, why did you visit with Mr. Li today? What did Mr. Li tell you recently?"

"I've been feeling depressed recently, and Mr. Li also chatted with me a lot. He was still talking about mathematics and physics. There are some things that I have never heard before, so we chatted for a while."

"The imperial court still has some doubts about these missionaries from Europe. If you want to walk in the officialdom in the future, you must also be careful not to get too close to foreign monks. If one day the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Western Yi Kingdom is no longer Well, your situation is more embarrassing." Zhang Xiao reminded.

"Could the imperial court be in conflict with the Fo Langji Kingdom?"

"Originally, the countries in Nanyang were also territories under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty's Sanxuan and Liuwei. But later on, the imperial court was busy with northern border affairs, and accidentally caused Vietnam, Burma and other countries to lose control. Even so, the countries in Nanyang still paid tribute to the emperor. At most, he didn't dare to come personally as a monarch. But the Folangji Kingdom was different. It directly destroyed many vassal states of the Ming Dynasty and even used the names of these vassal states to pay tribute to the Celestial Dynasty. What else can the Langji people do? Even if the Langji people decline in the future, the British, French and Dutch will follow. This is the case with the Western Yi countries. If they can defeat you, then they will. Just rob it. If you really can't beat him, you will pretend to be a businessman, but in fact you will act like a thief."

"Teacher, please rest assured. If Ming Dynasty really has a conflict with Folangji State, Li will naturally be on the side of Ming Dynasty. When I chatted with Mr. Li, I was also cautious. If it was important, I would not reveal a word. If it was not important, I could If you don’t say it, don’t say it.”

"That's good. You can't have the intention of harming others, and you can't have the intention of guarding against others." Zhang Xiao nodded.

The next day, Matteo Ricci came to the house with the painter. After a few brief greetings, Ricci left.

"Your name is John, right? From now on, I will call you Mr. Yue. I have a manuscript here. You can browse through it first." Zhang Xiao said while handing over the novel Assassin's Creed 2. .

"This is the story of Florence? Dear Consort Zhang, have you ever been to Italy or Florence in person?" John asked excitedly after just reading through the previous chapters.

"I haven't been there. I heard it from others." Zhang Xiao has indeed never been there. If he has been there in the game, it definitely doesn't count.

"Then this is really great. The city of Florence written in it is really well written. That is my beautiful hometown."

"I heard from Mr. Li that you, Mr. Yo, are also from Florence. Have you always stayed in Florence?"

"I don't just stay in Florence. As long as I have time, I will also go to Venice, Milan and other places to see and see around. But the time I stay is not long. Most of the time I am still in Florence." John explained .

"In that case, can you help me draw a picture of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence? I don't want you to draw it carefully now. Just draw a rough outline. If there are any decorations on the church, just draw one as a representative. ." Zhang Xiao warned.

"No problem. Please wait a moment, Mr. Zhang. The tools I brought with me this time may not be enough, and the painting effect may not be as good as before."

"It's okay. Don't worry, Mr. Yue. Let's move to the studio."

When John saw the spacious studio, he was excited. Moreover, when John saw whether it was Eastern ink paintings, Western oil paintings, or other paintings, Zhang Xiao arranged all the tools neatly. Neatly.

"This is a great studio. I really want to have such a studio, so that my creations will be more confident." John looked at the studio and felt excited.

"Ask Mr. to paint a good painting. As long as you paint well, it's not impossible to give you a studio."

"Okay, then I can't wait to start work." John thought for a moment and then began to outline the shape of the church on the paper. Although Zhang Xiao said that the details would only be drawn one by one, John still sketched the patterns one by one.

Zhang Xiao and his group were watching John's painting intently, probably in a hurry. The details of John's painting were not so good, but his basic skills were still very solid.

"Okay, it's okay for now. You are hired. If you want to continue creating, you can create as you like later." Zhang Xiao said.

(End of this chapter)