The prince is more stable

Chapter 977 Intending to Establish a Martial Arts Hall
He was probably ordered to take care of the child, as Zhao Xiaoqian had already said.

Two years later, Zhao Hao will reach the age where he should begin his formal education. Zhao Xiaoqian has already arranged for Xu Jiang to be Zhao Hao's first teacher.

For a subject, to be so highly regarded and trusted by the emperor, and to teach the emperor's eldest son, is undoubtedly a great honor.

Moreover, Zhao Xiaoqian also said that although Zhao Hao is still young, less than two years old, Xu Jiang can come to the palace more often to play with Zhao Hao and cultivate the teacher-student relationship in advance.

Xu Jiangzhen kept these words in mind. Despite the busy affairs of the Privy Council, he still frequently went to the palace recently to play wildly with Zhao Hao.

Very good. The teacher and student have a close relationship. Even if Zhao Hao is not good enough when he grows up, he will not dare to show his teeth to his teacher.

Emperor Zhao Xiaoqian has been so busy dealing with matters in Nanjing lately that he has no time to indulge his concubines or even his own son.

Straightening his clothes, Zhao Xiaoqian stood up and said, "Let's go see what kind of son Xu has turned my son into. Can he write an 800-word essay now?"

Xu Jiang took Zhao Hao to play in the front palace area of ​​Yanfu Palace.

The so-called front palace roughly includes the Daqing Hall, Wende Hall, and Secret Pavilion, which were the palaces where the emperor and his ministers held court and discussed state affairs.

The area behind the Daqing Hall was the inner palace, which, in theory, was off-limits to officials. Of course, there were exceptions. Some highly regarded and trusted officials could enter. For example, the emperor's bedroom, the Funing Hall, was also part of the inner palace, but officials were often summoned there.

The main problem was that the emperor was lazy; he rarely wanted to go out to see anyone and would have his ministers come to him.

Today, Xu Jiang is playing outside the Wende Hall with Zhao Hao.

In front of the main gate of Wende Hall is Wende Gate, with the bell tower and drum tower on the left and right sides respectively. There is a very spacious open space outside the hall.

At this moment, Xu Jiang was playing hopscotch with Zhao Hao on the paved ground in the open space. Zhao Hao was having a blast, laughing out loud from time to time. Behind them, a group of eunuchs were carefully attending to them, always with their arms outstretched, ready to catch the little prince if he was about to fall, for fear that he would bump into something.

Zhao Xiaoqian quietly approached with Zheng Chunhe. Upon seeing the Emperor's arrival, the surrounding eunuchs hurriedly bowed in greeting.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and waved his hand, then noticed that a thin layer of river sand had been sprinkled on the floor tiles, with words written on the sand with twigs, one word on each tile.

The handwriting is vigorous and powerful, and very beautiful. It is indeed worthy of being the handwriting of a top scholar. It is a pleasure to look at.

The characters above were written in regular script, which Zhao Xiaoqian naturally recognized. Xu Jiang had written the first few lines of the Thousand Character Classic.

The Thousand Character Classic originated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and has been used specifically for children's early education ever since. It is a very classic primer, and it can be said that every child in ancient times began learning to read from the phrase "Heaven and Earth, Black and Yellow".

Xu wrote the eight characters "天地玄黄，宇宙洪荒" on the grid.

He was standing outside the grid, smiling at Zhao Hao, and asked him gently, "Little Prince, what character is 'heaven'? Would you like to jump to that grid?"

Little Zhao Hao blinked in bewilderment, biting his finger to carefully examine it. After a while, Zhao Hao revealed an innocent smile, and with a kick of his short legs, he jumped right onto the character "天" (sky).

Xu was overjoyed and praised, "The little prince is truly remarkable, with exceptional talent and the potential to become a pillar of the state. Now that you recognize the character '天' (tian, meaning heaven), can the little prince write it?"

Zhao Hao's eyes immediately cleared up. He blinked his innocent eyes and took the branch Xu Jiang handed him, then... scratched his head and stared at the character "天" (sky) on the ground. He held the branch and gestured for a long time, drawing a string of gibberish on the ground that even a top programmer couldn't understand.

Xu Jiang looked at the mess on the ground, but he was not disappointed; his smile remained warm and friendly.

"Haha, I was too hasty. No rush, no rush, let's take it slow. This time, little prince, can you jump onto the character 'earth'? If you do, I'll give you a small wooden spear, how about that?"

Zhao Hao immediately perked up, looked down carefully, and then kicked off with his short legs again... successfully jumping onto the character "玄".

Xu Jiang's smile remained unchanged. Zhao Hao thought he had jumped right, and suddenly got excited, looking smug and showing off his supposed talent. He waved the tree branch and started performing the Madman's Staff Technique, humming and hawing, looking particularly irritating.

Judging from his manner of playing tricks, it was quite similar to the way the soldiers in the camp used to train.

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed. This kid is probably really destined for martial arts, while his ability to learn literature is rather mediocre.

He truly lived up to his nickname "Sang Biao".

So Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't help but start recalling what he was like when he was a little over one year old in his previous life.

After reminiscing for a while, I felt a little dejected.

My memories of my past life when I was a little over a year old are completely blank, and I have no idea what level I was at.

Never mind, he must be the chosen one, accomplished in both literature and martial arts, possessing great talent and ambition. He's definitely better than my son; if a father can't compare to his son, wouldn't that be defying the heavens?

Then Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly called out in a deep voice, "Sang Biao!"

Zhao Hao turned his head and saw his father. Overjoyed, snot bubbles streamed down his face. His frenzied staff fighting became increasingly chaotic, completely lacking any structure, yet its momentum was astonishing—unstoppable, even for his own father. Seeing his son charging towards him wielding a branch, Zhao Xiaoqian's eyelids twitched: "You stop right there! Throw away that broken stick!"

Zhao Hao paused, the Madman's Staff Technique finally came to an end, and the stick obediently threw away the branch, still running happily towards him.

“Father—!” Zhao Hao called out clearly.

Zhao Xiaoqian was overjoyed. He grabbed Zhao Hao by the armpits and lifted him high in the air: "Haha, my good son! I've missed you so much! ...Wait, what's that? Damn it, he peed, he peed! Someone come here!"

Zhao Xiaoqian's smile froze, his face still damp and warm. He immediately tossed his son to the terrified eunuchs behind him.

"Go wash it clean, and maybe it will still be usable," Zhao Xiaoqian instructed.

Zhao Hao remained grinning, completely unashamed.

Zhao Xiaoqian clicked his tongue. This kid can't control his pee when he gets excited. What's wrong with him?
Zheng Chunhe eagerly handed over a clean handkerchief. Zhao Xiaoqian wiped his face and then grinned at Xu Jiang.

Xu Jiang stroked his beard and watched the scene of fatherly love and filial piety with a smile, his eyes revealing a warm sense of envy.

Zhao Xiaoqian stepped forward and said, "Mr. Chongyuan, you flatter me. This kid... is like a little puppy in the Chinese countryside. He can't control his emotions or his pee, and he's a total freak."

Xu Jiang laughed and said, "The little prince is only a little over a year old. What one-year-old child in the world can control his urination? Your Majesty is being too harsh."

Looking down at the first eight characters of the Thousand Character Classic written on the floor tiles, Zhao Xiaoqian nodded and praised, "As expected of the top scholar, his method of teaching children to read is unique. I have made the right choice in inviting Mr. Chongyuan to be my first teacher."

Xu Jiang smiled and said, "The young prince is intelligent, lively and quick-witted, and he understands things very easily. It is my honor to be able to select such a talented person to teach."

Zhao Xiaoqian's lips twitched, and he said, "I am your father, and you are your teacher. We are all family, so there's no need to lie. This kid is not 'gifted' no matter how you look at him, let alone 'a genius'."

"I will not be too demanding of my children. If they have talent, I will focus on cultivating them. I can also accept mediocre talents. As long as they grow up to be law-abiding, do not break the law, do not abuse their power, know how to use a smartphone, know to run home when it rains, and have basic reproductive capabilities, that is enough."

Xu was stunned: "Smart...smartphone?"

"...You misunderstood me, I don't know what you're talking about."

Zhao Xiaoqian beckoned Xu Jiang to stroll and chat in the palace.

"There is something I would like to ask Mr. Chongyuan for his opinion on..." Zhao Xiaoqian said after a moment of contemplation.

Xu said, "Your Majesty, please speak."

Zhao Xiaoqian slowly said, "This expedition of the army to Xixia has given me a little reminder. Do you remember, Mr. Chongyuan, when the army was about to set off, the court had prepared all the food, weapons and horses. But in the end, I was stumped when it came to choosing the commander-in-chief."

Xu nodded. As the Privy Councilor in charge of military affairs of the Song Dynasty, he naturally knew about this matter.

It was indeed a difficult situation at the time, and the Privy Council colleagues had a considerable dispute over who should be the commander-in-chief.

At present, the main military force and capable generals of the Song Dynasty are concentrated on the front line of Youzhou, mainly to defend against the Liao Dynasty in the north, such as Zong Ze, Zhe Keshi, and Guo Cheng.

This resulted in a situation where the Song Dynasty's military was "heavy in the north and light in the south." When the court suddenly decided to send troops to Western Xia, it was impossible to find a commander-in-chief in the court unless the generals on the Youzhou front were recalled.

Later, Zhao Xiaoqian had no choice but to temporarily transfer Zhong Jianzhong, the commander of the Palace Guard responsible for defending the capital region, to the position of commander-in-chief.

Zhao Xiaoqian kept this in mind, and then an idea popped into his head involuntarily.

“Mr. Chongyuan, I plan to open a military academy in Bianjing, similar to a military school. We will select young men from the common people who are talented in martial arts or strategy to enter the academy. It can also be divided into many subjects, such as infantry, cavalry, firearms, strategy, and so on.”

"This military academy is specifically for training military generals or military technical personnel for the Song Dynasty. After they learn military knowledge at the academy, they are sent down to the grassroots level of the army to train. They learn theory first and then practice, gradually cultivating a group of mature military generals for the Song Dynasty."

"What does Mr. Chongyuan think of my idea?"

Xu Jiang was stunned for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty wants to set up a military academy? But... does Your Majesty not know that the Imperial Academy of our Great Song Dynasty already has a 'military subject'?"

Zhao Xiaoqian scoffed: "The Imperial Academy's military examination is a mere formality. How many years has the imperial court's military selection been abandoned? What does that thing even count for?"

Xu smiled bitterly and remained silent.

The Emperor was telling the truth; the Imperial Academy did indeed have a military discipline, which was established at the very beginning of the nation's founding.

However, under the general environment of the Song Dynasty, which valued civil affairs over military affairs, the military examinations were basically abandoned over the years, and the emperors and ministers of successive dynasties did not pay attention to them. As a result, the military examinations of the Imperial Academy were merely nominal and had been neglected for many years.

(End of this chapter)