Chapter 1199 Idle People
Chapter 1199 Idle People
The first thing Shao Xun did after returning to Luoyang was to go straight to Zhaoyang Palace and pick up the queen by the waist.
I have been on a northern tour for half a year, and the silver spear has been prepared but not used until today.
But Wenjun is no longer the little white rabbit she used to be, and she is quite difficult to deal with now.
To be precise, the concubines in the harem are quite difficult to deal with now, and I don’t know what’s going on.
On the day after the Laba Festival, Shao Xun held a talk at the Huangnu Terrace and invited the sons of scholars in the capital to attend.
This was something that had been decided long ago. The participants were rather special. Simply put, they were all people who had not held official positions.
But they were not idle people, because a large family always had someone who was responsible for managing the family business, and it was impossible for all of them to become officials. In some families, the eldest son studied at home and managed the business, while the second son or concubine's son became an official.
In the afternoon, the weather was not good and fine snowflakes began to fall again.
However, the Huangnu Terrace is different from before. Now there are many buildings on it, which is managed by the Shaofu and can be considered an official villa.
When Zhuge Heng arrived, many female court musicians had already arrived and were tuning their instruments. It was obvious that they were going to play music to liven up the atmosphere.
The elegant discussions held by the emperor are wonderful, with beauties from all over the world attending.
After Zhang Jun presented the beauty of Loulan in the past, the Western Regions Chief Secretary's Office ordered all countries to present precious horses, rarities and beauties - some did, while others did not give the respect - so they trained a team of Western Regions Hu dancers, who were very pleasing to the eye, and it seems they have arrived today.
Also on the scene were the recently captured female musicians from Li Cheng's palace, who were skilled in Qiang dance and Bashu instrumental music.
Really good.
Zhuge Heng sat down quickly and looked around. Everyone was whispering and laughing, but few people paid any attention to him.
Of course, this was related to his usual seclusion, and he deliberately avoided making friends with northern scholars, so as not to bring trouble to his father. If the emperor had not named him this time, he would not have come, and he did not know what this conversation was about.
After a while, several more people came up the stairs.
When Zhuge Heng saw him, he didn't know him and didn't plan to greet him.
However, after seeing him, these three people actually came over on their own initiative.
There was no other way, so Zhuge Heng stood up and exchanged greetings. He learned that the three were all students of the Imperial College. The leader was named Xi Zaochi, who was sixteen years old this year. The other two were about the same age as him and were his followers, but they were actually Xi Zaochi's uncles. They were named Luo Chong and Luo You...
The three of them were all from Xiangyang aristocratic families and were also students of the Imperial College, so they were unexpectedly invited.
After a while, the four-man group of Shi Hong, Sima Li, Sima Pi and Xiahou Mu arrived together.
Then Hua Yingzhi, Hu Wuxiu, Cheng Gongyao, Guanqiu Lu and others arrived one after another.
Zhuge Heng observed silently. At this point, he finally understood something: Aren't these all famous "idlers" in Luoyang?
The emperor was the last to enter.
Surrounded by courtiers, beauties, and soldiers, he arrived at the princess' stage.
As they climbed the stairs, their laughter could be heard from far away, and even the wind and snow could not suppress it.
The emperor has this kind of temperament, hey! Zhuge Heng laughed secretly.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." When Shao Xun appeared in the small square in front of the stage, everyone came out to pay their respects.
"No need to be polite, go back to your room quickly, it's too cold." Shao Xun said with a smile: "We said it's just a casual chat, why are you so polite? If you keep doing this, I won't come next time."
Zhuge Heng thought to himself, wasn’t this you who called the meeting?
But the emperor is right.
Some occasions should not have such strict rules. For a casual conversation, it is wrong to be too restrained.
Sometimes the emperor would gamble with his ministers and scholars. Do you want to come? Do you want to win?
After everyone sat down, Shao Xun clapped his hands - music! dance! wine! What are you waiting for?
At once, drums and music sounded, and Hu Ji entered the stage like a butterfly flying through flowers, dancing gracefully.
The dance had a brisk, passionate and unrestrained rhythm. Everyone was able to appreciate this exotic dance and they all followed the beat with smiles on their faces.
Some people even stared at Hu Ji's graceful figure with their eyes wide open. It has nothing to do with whether she is beautiful or not, it is simply because they have never played with her. Men are teenagers until they die. When they are young, they want to play with toys they have never played with before. When they grow up, they like women they have never played with before.
There were two people sitting next to Shao Xun, one was Li Cheng, the wife of General Ren Tiao, and the other was the sister of Li Shou, the Shizhong and General Zhengdong.
Ren Diao was killed by an assassin in Hanzhong. The news is now clear. Many clues point to the big families in Shu, but no one has come forward to claim the credit. It's really strange.
Li Shou has been arrested.
After fleeing from Jiangzhou, he ran all the way to Yuexi, then gathered some remnant soldiers and fled to the junction of Yuexi and Hanjia counties. Relying on the cover of local tribes, he maneuvered for nearly two months.
However, the number of people around him was decreasing, and morale was getting lower and lower. Guerrilla warfare was not going to bring about any success. In June, under the "persuasion" of the last few hundred soldiers, he walked out of the mountains and surrendered.
The background of his surrender was that the last city of Yuexi County was captured by the Liang army and Duke Wuling Li Zai was killed in the battle.
The other person beside Shao Xun was Li Shou's wife, Yan, who lowered her head and let one side of her long hair fall down, covering half of her face.
When pouring wine for Shao Xun, she always subconsciously turned sideways and raised her hands high, not wanting others to see her appearance.
Shao Xunzhi glanced around proudly, then pointed his finger at Shi Hong and said, "Daya, when did you come back from Jingling?"
"I came back after the summer." Shi Hong said.
"Well, it's too hot in summer, but you're not used to it?" Shao Xun asked.
"It was midsummer and I felt uncomfortable all over. I was afraid that I would not be able to survive if I stayed any longer, so I returned north with my family." "How is the manor?"
“We are short of staff.”
"How many people are there?"
"There were more than 230 families, but this summer there was a major epidemic and less than 200 families died." Shi Hong said, "I bought 50 Qinzhou Hu in the fall. Yesterday I received a letter saying that five of the newly bought slaves died and three escaped."
"Not many people escaped." Shao Xun said with a smile.
Shi Hongyi smiled bitterly and said, "They have nowhere to escape. Not to mention the pursuit, in the vast swamp, even if they don't starve to death, they will die of illness. It's better for them to stay in the manor. At least there is a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and they don't have to drink raw water and die suddenly."
"Oh? Are you drinking hot water now?" Shao Xun asked in surprise.
"My family drinks it." Shi Hong said, "There are few people and a lot of land. There are reeds and weeds everywhere outside. They can be used for a long time after being cut down. It is not difficult to boil water. But some people are reluctant to boil water for the sake of convenience. After two people died, they became obedient."
"How did you die?"
"The abdomen is swollen. According to the description of "Epidemics", it should be water poisoning."
Shao Xun and Shi Hong asked and answered questions one after another. The one asking the questions was very interested and the one answering the questions was very detailed. Looking at the dancers in their long skirts dancing vigorously and the cheerful music, it was clear that there was something wrong with these two people.
"Good!" Shao Xun slapped his thigh and praised: "Daya, you really impressed me. You really put in a lot of effort."
Li, who was standing by, cried out softly, tears welling up in her eyes, because Shao Xun had hit the wrong person, her thigh.
After saying that, he raised his glass, glanced around the room, and said, "Shi Daya has managed his business well. Let's drink this cup together."
Everyone raised their glasses and drank the wine in one gulp.
Shi Hong put down the wine glass and gently wiped the remaining wine from the corner of his mouth. His face was extremely rosy and his eyes were even more complicated and incomprehensible.
The emperor praised him.
But does he need the emperor's praise? It's hard to describe the feeling.
After Shao Xun put down his wine glass, he said, "You should be as attentive as this when you manage your business. You should copy the book "Fengtu Diseases". If you can buy it, just buy it. This year, Xiangyang Bookstore has also opened, and it should be available for sale. After you buy it home, study it carefully. I wonder how many lives can be saved and how much money can be saved."
"Your Majesty is right." Hua Yingzhi echoed, "I have set up a manor in Huarong County and recruited 500 families from Pingyuan to come south. If it weren't for the book "Fengtu Diseases", we would have no clue about many diseases, let alone how to prevent them. Your Majesty compiled this book and saved countless lives. Even after thousands of generations, the people will still praise your merits."
"That's too much, that's too much." Shao Xun laughed and said, "The book "Fengtu Disease" was published because of the efforts of many people. I just pushed for it."
That being said, he was still very happy.
There is a preface to "Fengtu Diseases". The preface emphasizes Shao Xun's contribution and even puts him in the first place, which takes up several pages.
The Shaofu has issued an order that all bookstores must not omit the preface when printing.
"What is the purpose of your family's manor?" Shao Xun asked again.
While asking the question, he gently stroked Li's thigh under the table to express his apology.
But Li cried out softly and trembled slightly.
Fortunately, the table was covered with a floor-length floral carpet so that others could not see what was going on underneath. Otherwise, Li would have cried out of shame and anger.
"Making paper from vines." Hua Yingzhi said.
Shao Xun nodded. This is an emerging frontier industry with great demand and quick money making.
"No farming?" Shao Xun asked again.
"I have planted it." Hua Yingzhi said, "But not too much, just enough to feed the whole family of my estate. I have invited some experienced farmers who know how to grow rice in Henei County to come south. The land in Huarong is very fertile, especially suitable for rice. The yield per mu is twice that of Hebei."
"That's right." Shao Xun said, "Besides farming and papermaking, what else do you do?"
Hua Yingzhi felt a little embarrassed when he heard this, and said, "I am not good at Confucianism, but I know a lot about metaphysics, but I am not doing my job properly."
"Tell me about it." Shao Xun patted Yan's leg and motioned her to pour the wine.
Yan was silent.
Shao Xun came closer and whispered, "Your husband..."
Yan turned her head, raised her white hand, and poured half a glass of fine wine for Shao Xun.
Hua Yingzhi on the other side had already started to speak: "I have been studying the tenth chapter of the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, 'Differences in Weight', and the more I read it, the more I enjoy it."
Shao Xun thought about it and thought that there seemed to be such a book. The children had used it when they were learning arithmetic. Shao Xun was so excited that he tried to teach the sine and cosine of triangles, but he couldn't continue writing just after he started because he forgot...
He couldn't even remember the basic math knowledge, and couldn't even solve a simple quadratic equation. He had scored full marks in algebra and geometry in junior high school, but now he only scored zero.
This knowledge can only be deduced bit by bit by people of this era. Anyway, he seemed to have slowly forgotten these things after working, and forgot them very completely after traveling through time. On the contrary, he still remembered some things in liberal arts and economics.
"If you find it interesting, then continue to study it. I also love this." Shao Xun said with a smile, "If you gain something, you can write a book. I will help you print it and leave your name in history."
When Hua Ying heard this, he was overjoyed: "I obey your order."
Shao Xun became interested, and stood up with his wine glass in hand, saying, "I have said before that when I am at home managing my business, I have more free time, so I can talk about the mysteries of the Tao, practice music and dance, study arithmetic, or even make some mechanical things. Hua Qing has a special liking for arithmetic, and I am willing to make him famous, write a book, and pass it on to future generations. Do you have anything that interests me?"
After saying that, he looked at everyone.
(End of this chapter)