"Cough cough cough cough..."
Mr. Meng sat up on the bed and coughed violently. Seeing this, Zheng Xilin quickly raised his hand and patted his hometown man's back gently to help him feel better.
When the old man stopped coughing, Zheng Xilin hurriedly picked up the hot tea placed on the table and carefully fed Mr. Meng the tea.
Mr. Meng now doesn't even have the strength to serve tea. He lowered his head and drank the hot tea slowly. After drinking less than half a cup, Mr. Meng felt a little better and his chest felt better.
Zheng Xilin put down the tea cup and raised his hand to help Mr. Meng calm down.
Mr. Meng smiled slightly at Zheng Xilin. His face was extremely pale, without any blood. A pair of bright eyes in the past were now cloudy. There is a thick air of twilight between the eyebrows, and the cheeks on both sides are very thin and pointed. Before the Chinese New Year, his condition was still okay, but after the Chinese New Year, his condition suddenly worsened, and his whole person instantly aged and declined.
"You don't have to worry about me so much. I can still hold on for a while."
Zheng Xilin was not comforted by Mr. Meng's words at all. He knew in his heart that Mr. Meng did not have much time left and could only last for more than a month at most.
"Young and old, please worry less and spend less energy. Your health will get better and you can live longer." Even after being ill for several months, Mr. Meng has been busy. He knew he wouldn't survive this time, so he wanted to arrange everything before leaving.
"Well, I don't have much time, but there are still many things that have not been explained. I have to arrange these things properly before I leave." Mr. Meng had a very weak smile on his pale face, "Fortunately, you are here , which saved me a lot of trouble.”
Zheng Xilin asked: "Is there anything else that worries you now?" As expected, the person who knows Mr. Meng's temperament best is Zheng Xilin. In the past few days, he could see the worry in Mr. Meng's heart. Mr. Meng didn't say anything, and he didn't ask either.
Mr. Meng said bluntly: "The imperial examination."
Zheng Xilin also guessed, "Are you worried that the imperial examination cannot be carried out smoothly at the local level?"
Mr. Meng was worried about being revealed by Zheng Xilin. He nodded slightly and said, "Yes, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Local officials are secretly tampering with the imperial examinations. The emperor who is far away in the capital will not know."
Zheng Xilin chuckled when the old man said this: "You underestimate the emperor too much."
When Mr. Meng heard what Zheng Xilin said, his eyes suddenly lit up and his expression became a little expectant.
"You mean the emperor has a way?"
"Do you think the emperor would never think that local officials would do something small in the imperial examination?" Zheng Xilin picked up the tea cup and took a few sips of tea slowly. Then he continued, "Our emperor is very smart and very knowledgeable. Calculation. Whether it is officials in the court or local people, they are all part of his scheme."
Mr. Meng had a look of surprise on his face after hearing this.
"What you mean by this is that the emperor has everyone under his control."
Zheng Xilin said with a meaningful tone: "That's exactly it."
Mr. Meng was slightly startled, then thought of something, and said with a sudden look on his face: "The reason why you are no longer willing to serve as an official in the court is because you have also been plotted by the emperor."
"The Emperor has many things against me." Zheng Xilin couldn't help but feel anger welling up in his heart when he thought of some things that happened back then. However, nothing showed on his face. He raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, "I also plotted against him back then."
Mr. Meng smiled teasingly and said: "Now it seems that you didn't plot against the emperor back then, otherwise you wouldn't be in front of me."
"I have done everything I should do, so there is no need to stay in the court." Zheng Xilin said with a smile, "Besides, now that the Zhou Dynasty is peaceful and the people are safe, all my ambitions have been realized, so there is no need to continue to be immersed in power."
Mr. Meng also knew Zheng Xilin's temperament and knew why he was unwilling to serve as an official in the court. He deliberately laughed and scolded: "You are just lazy and don't want to worry about so many things anymore."'
Zheng Xilin followed Mr. Meng's words and said, "You were right."
"You mean the emperor will be wary of local officials tampering with the imperial examination?" Mr. Meng brought the topic back, "What will the emperor do?"
"Send imperial envoys to various places to monitor." Although Zheng Xilin stayed away from the court and did not participate in the affairs of the court, he knew the affairs of the court well. "We will also send ministers from the DPRK and Central Government to various places to invigilate the exams."
After hearing this, Mr. Meng felt relieved.
"The emperor attaches great importance to the imperial examinations. He will never let anyone sabotage the imperial examinations." Zheng Xilin knew that what Mr. Meng was really worried about was not the imperial examinations in other places, but the ones in Jinling and Suzhou. "Officials in Jinling and Suzhou dared to cheat in the imperial examinations. This was their fate in Yangzhou so many years ago."
This is exactly what Mr. Meng is worried about. He frowned slightly and said with a somewhat serious expression: "They have the support of the prince and the acting king behind them, I'm afraid they will still do something."
"If the prince and the acting king are smart, they should stop their people from playing clever tricks in the imperial examination." Zheng Xilin said with a careless smile on his lips, "If they are not smart, condone or instruct their people to act randomly, wait for their Just to be deposed.”
He added: "It just gives the emperor an excuse to abolish them, which is exactly what the emperor wants."
"Then do you think the crown prince and the acting king will cause chaos?" Mr. Meng was concerned about chaos. He didn't want anything to happen to the imperial examination.
"It depends on whether the prince and the king are smart or not." After Zheng Xilin finished speaking, a playful smile appeared on his face, "However, according to my opinion, the prince and the king are not smart people."
"You say that, the prince and the acting king will still take action?" Mr. Meng became anxious and coughed again, "cough cough cough cough..." As he coughed, he coughed up blood.
Zheng Xilin quickly took out a handkerchief from his arms and wiped the blood from Mr. Meng's mouth.
"Why are you so anxious? Didn't I just say that the Emperor will have countermeasures?"
Mr. Meng panted violently and said in a weak tone: "There must be no trouble in the imperial examination. It must go smoothly, so that scholars all over the world have hope."
"The emperor knows the importance of the imperial examination in his heart, so he, like you, will never allow anything to happen to the imperial examination. Don't worry."
Mr. Meng was not reassured by this, and still frowned and said: "The prince and the king are the emperor's biological sons after all. Do you think the emperor will really punish them when the time comes?"
"If you think the emperor is an emotional person, you are totally wrong." Zheng Xilin comforted Mr. Meng and said, "In the emperor's heart, no one is more important than Zhou Jiangshan. Besides, he has many sons, and losing the prince and Dai Wang, he has another son." The person the emperor likes is not the prince or Dai Wang. The prince and the acting king are just two pawns in the emperor's hands.
"Alas...it's a pity that I don't have much time left." Mr. Meng's face was filled with regret and remorse. "Before the imperial examination appeared, I thought I would die without regrets. Now I want to live a little longer, at least until The college examination is over." He wanted to see the imperial examination.
"If you want to live until June or July, then you can't work as hard as you are now." Zheng Xilin understood why Mr. Meng wanted to live until the end of the hospital examination.
"If I live, I can still control these people so that they don't dare to misbehave in the imperial examination." At this point, Mr. Meng sighed again, "It's a pity that I can't even survive the county examination."
"If you relax and recuperate, you will definitely survive until the county examination." Zheng Xilin encouraged Mr. Meng, "You should take a good look at the grand occasion of the imperial examination."
"I want to, but my body doesn't allow it..." Mr. Meng suddenly stopped speaking, and his face was filled with sadness, "If I had known there would be an imperial examination, I wouldn't have gone out to give lectures, and would have rested honestly. "
Zheng Xilin deliberately scolded the emperor harshly: "It's all my fault that the emperor proposed the imperial examination too late."
Mr. Meng was amused by Zheng Xilin's words: "Didn't you say that the imperial examination was His Highness's idea? Why are you blaming the Emperor?"
When the Tenth Highness was mentioned, Zheng Xilin's expression instantly became much kinder.
"He's coming soon. When he comes, your place will become lively." Zheng Xilin's mood improved unknowingly when he thought of Zhao Yao chattering a bunch of words in his letters. "This kid is very amusing. He can talk about even the smallest things with great joy."
"Although I have not been in contact with His Highness the Tenth Highness for a long time, I can see that he is a pure person. Such a person will live a very happy life." When Zhao Yao was mentioned, Mr. Meng's face could not help but show up. Smiling, "His Royal Highness is quite scheming. He actually hid something as important as the imperial examination until last year."
"Like father, like son. There are many things he concealed, and the imperial examination is just one of them." Zheng Xilin added, "It is just the most insignificant one among them."
"The imperial examination is the most insignificant one?" Mr. Meng's face was full of shock. "The imperial examination is..." Because his breath was too fast, it was blocked in his throat, making him speechless for a while.
"His Royal Highness Tenth has many things in his mind that are even more powerful than the imperial examination."
Mr. Meng finally regained his breath and looked very excited: "Seriously?"
Zheng Xilin did not directly answer Mr. Meng's question, but said meaningfully: "You are born with knowledge."
When Mr. Meng heard this, his face was full of horror at first, and then he looked stunned and murmured: "That's it, that's it..."
"Sneeze!" On the river not far from Jinling, Zhao Yao, who was sitting in the boat, sneezed unexpectedly, startling Tongxi who was dozing off.
"Your Highness, what's wrong with you? Are you suffering from the cold?"
"I'm fine, someone must be talking about me." Zhao Yao rubbed his itchy nose and said, "My third uncle must be missing me."
"We can arrive at Jinling tomorrow." Tong Xi was very curious about the third uncle that Zhao Yao often mentioned.
"Yeah, it's finally here." When Zhao Yao thought about being on a boat all this time, he curled his lips in disgust, "If we don't arrive here, I will get seasick."
When it comes to seasickness, we have to mention Song Jicai and his four conspicuous bags. At the beginning, the four of them got seasick while taking the boat. They finally managed to get out of it, but just a few days ago, the four of them started to get seasick again, which was even worse than at the beginning. If he doesn't get to Jinling again, Zhao Yao feels that his four good brothers will vomit to death.
Hearing the word "seasick", Tongxi felt sick and couldn't help but retched. He quickly covered his mouth and said, "Your Highness, please don't say these two words."
"Okay, you go back to your room and rest."
"Your Highness, what about you, aren't you still asleep?"
"I'll go to bed later." Zhao Yao waved to Tong Xi and then continued to look down at the books in front of him.
The book in front of him was about Japanese pirates. The people on the Soochow coast wrote this book based on their own experiences in dealing with Japanese pirates.
At this time, the Fuso people were still barbarians and did not have their own writing. I heard that in the past few years, the country of Fusang has been experiencing unfavorable weather conditions, coupled with the cruelty and unkindness of their emperor, which has made the people's lives miserable. In order to survive, many Fusang people became Japanese pirates.
This book is well written, but it is a pity that there is no map of Fuso Country. If there is a map of Fusang Kingdom, then his people can go to Fusang Kingdom.
Although I don’t know what the specific situation is in Fuso Kingdom, it is definitely similar to the previous dynasty. It is a good time to go to Fusang Kingdom at this time, and you can conquer Fusang Kingdom by then.
The more Zhao Yao thought about it, the more he felt that it would be a pity if such a good opportunity was missed. He quickly picked up a pen and wrote a letter to He Lianfang, asking his second uncle to send some people to Fusang as soon as possible to make Fusang more chaotic.
After he finished writing the letter, he asked Xiao Jin to send it back to the capital.
"By the way, Xiaojin, after you go to your second uncle's place, go to my Bago's place and ask Xiaoqing about Bago."
Xiaojin raised one paw and stretched out three fingers.
Zhao Yao couldn't help but smile when he saw Xiao Jin's action: "Okay, no problem, I'll give you two more."
After hearing this, Xiao Jin shouted with satisfaction, then flapped his wings and flew away.
Zhao Yao tapped his fingers lightly on the books in front of him, his expression thoughtful.
After messing up Fusang, they took the opportunity to capture Fusang and turn Fusang into a state capital of the Zhou Dynasty. However, the people of Fusang were despicable and dark in nature. They bullied the weak and feared the strong, and were good at pleasing people. For such people, the only way to be effective is to beat them out of fear, so that they have a shadow in their hearts, and only if the fear is engraved in their bones and blood.
To make Fusang people afraid, the only way is to beat them, which seems to be of no use. It has to be tortured severely. In Zhao Yao's dream, people in that world had suffered cruel torture from the Fusang people, so they would repay it a thousand times to the Fusang people.
If Tong Xi was still there, he would definitely be frightened when he saw Zhao Yao's sinister and bloodthirsty look on his face at this moment.
Before Zhao Yao went to bed, he had already planned how to deal with the Fusang people in the future.
Early the next morning, the official ship that Zhao Yao and the others took arrived at the dock in Jinling.
Zheng Xilin personally led some people to greet Zhao Yao and the others at the dock.
Although Zhao Yao had never met Zheng Xilin, he recognized Zheng Xilin as his third uncle at a glance.
He never expected that his third uncle was a handsome man, and he had an immortal demeanor and looked like an immortal.
The second uncle is also a fairy-like figure.
How lucky he was to meet two immortal figures.
Zheng Xilin saw that Zhao Yao's brows were full of aura, and his whole body was full of agility, which made people like him.
The uncle and nephew, who had never met each other but had exchanged letters for several years, were very familiar with each other and did not feel strange at all.
The two of them talked a lot on the way to Mr. Meng's house.
Zhao Yao felt very heavy when he learned that Mr. Meng was terminally ill and that he did not have much time left. When Zhao Yao saw Mr. Meng, he realized that he was already as old as a gaunt tree. He looked completely different from the one he saw in the capital last year.
At this time, Mr. Meng's whole body was filled with the aura of death, and it could be seen at a glance that he did not have much time left.
Mr. Meng was very happy to see Zhao Yao, but he was too weak and passed out after talking to Zhao Yao for a while.
Seeing that Zhao Yao looked tired, Zheng Xilin asked him to go and have a good rest first and talk about it in the evening.
Zhao Yao, who had slept all day, regained his former energy and ate with Zheng Xilin in the evening. After eating, I followed Zheng Xilin to visit Mr. Meng.
Perhaps because of Zhao Yao's arrival, Mr. Meng's complexion improved.
The old man kept holding Zhao Yao's hand and asked him carefully if anything happened or if he encountered any danger on his way to Jinling.
Zhao Yao held Mr. Meng's withered hand tightly and told him that everything was fine on his way to Jinling.
He also told some interesting things that happened on the way here, which made Mr. Meng laugh happily.
After Mr. Meng chatted with Zhao Yao for a while, he talked about the imperial examination.
The old man got straight to the point and asked how Zhao Yao came up with the imperial examination.
After hearing this, Zhao Yao was shocked at first, and then quickly waved his hands to deny it, saying that the imperial examination was the emperor's idea and had nothing to do with him.
Zheng Xilin sat aside and said with a smile: "Don't hide it. The imperial examination was not thought up by the emperor, but by you."
Mr. Meng didn't say anything, but he had a look of seeing through.
Zhao Yao was stunned for a moment and then reacted: "Third uncle, the second uncle must have told you." The second uncle and the third uncle are good friends, so they must have told the third uncle about this matter.
Zheng Xilin didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it either.
He Lianfang never told him about this. His relationship with He Lianfang was not very good, and He Lianfang didn't say anything to him.
"Your Highness, I thank you on behalf of all the scholars in the world..." Mr. Meng said, struggling to get up and thank Zhao Yao, but Zhao Yao quickly stopped him.
"Mr. Meng, you don't have to be so polite."
"Your Highness, the imperial examination...cough cough cough cough cough..." Mr. Meng wanted to say something, but he started coughing again.
Seeing that Mr. Meng was coughing up blood again, Zheng Xilin helped him lie down quickly and advised him to rest quickly and talk about anything tomorrow.
Mr. Meng had a lot to say to Zhao Yao, but because he was too weak, he couldn't hold on after talking for a while.
Zheng Xilin took Zhao Yao out of Mr. Meng's house and immediately went to his room.
Zhao Yao saw that Zheng Xilin kept looking at him with a smile and said nothing, which seemed a little baffling to him. He touched his face and asked with confusion: "Uncle Third, is there something on my face?"
"No." Zheng Xilin picked up the cup of tea, took a few sips gracefully, and then said, "Jinling is the territory of the prince, do you know?"
Zhao Yao nodded and said: "I know, Suzhou is the territory of the king." He went on to say, "Because of Mr. Meng's presence in Jinling, it has been peaceful these years. Now that Mr. Meng is in poor health, the prince's people have changed." Gotta be ready to move."
Seeing that Zhao Yao knew clearly, Zheng Xilin's expression suddenly became serious and asked: "Do you know what will happen in Jinling after Mr. Meng leaves?"
Zhao Yao: Nothing will happen to me when I go to Jiangnan this time, right?
Author: Guess.
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