"pass."
The emperor had just returned from the morning court, and he didn't expect Yu Zheng to come over, but he happened to have nothing to do at the moment, so it didn't hurt to see him.
Emperor Anqing would rest for a quarter of an hour after every morning session, and then start reviewing the day's memorials. Everyone in the palace knew this, but it would depend on whether Emperor Anqing would come to see him today. How's your mood?
But Yu Zheng still had to see Emperor Anqing today.
"Master Yu, please."
"Thank you, Eunuch Mao."
Yu Zheng said as he handed a purse to him while no one was paying attention, and Eunuch Mao naturally put it into his cuff.
"You're welcome, Mr. Yu."
Yu Zheng followed Eunuch Mao into the imperial study, keeping his head down the whole time.
"I see you, Your Majesty."
"Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Tell me, why do you want to see me?"
"Back to the Emperor, I came here today because I want to report something to the Emperor. But before that, I want to ask the Emperor to see a sword. This sword is now with my attendant."
"Be bold!"
Eunuch Mao, who was standing behind the emperor, shouted loudly after hearing Yu Zheng's words.
"It doesn't matter, it's done."
The emperor was interested in this year's new number one scholar. Eunuch Mao knew it, but he did not expect that the emperor would agree to Yu's request, but this was not in line with the rules. But at this time, Eunuch Mao did not dare to say anything and left the imperial study room.
"General Manager Mao."
The little eunuch waiting at the door of the royal study knew that something was wrong when he saw Eunuch Mao coming out, and immediately stepped forward to salute.
"Go to the palace gate to find Master Yu's attendant and get a knife from him. The Emperor is waiting for you right now."
"Yes, slave, go right away."
The little eunuch didn't dare to keep the emperor waiting for a long time, so he had to run back and forth, and quickly fetched the wooden box containing the knife.
Eunuch Mao had been waiting at the door of the imperial study. When he saw the young eunuch taking the knife, according to the rules, Eunuch Mao had to check it first.
The sun had just risen when the wooden box was opened, and the sunlight shone on the knife. Eunuch Mao's eyes were shaken, and he couldn't help but secretly praise the knife. He has been with the emperor all year round, so he has naturally seen a lot of good things. After checking the wooden box to make sure there was no mechanism, Eunuch Mao took the wooden box into the royal study.
Eunuch Mao walked to the Emperor's Dragon Case, put the wooden box on the table and opened it. Emperor Anqing looked at the knife in the wooden box and felt that the knife was okay, but the knife maker's skills were a bit rough.
"Your Majesty, what I want to say is related to this knife. Not long ago, my last wife came to Kyoto with her eldest brother. She didn't like living in the city very much, so she went to Jinjia Village outside the city to buy some fields. , accidentally discovered that the material smelted from the stones in the field was similar to iron. She suddenly had a whim and wanted to see if this thing could be used to make knives. Later, she tried it and found that it was not possible, but Chen's fiancée still refused to give up and used it to make knives. It was fused with iron and beaten together, and later it was discovered that the quality of the knives produced was much better than the knives made with pig iron alone in the past. The knife in front of the emperor was made by fusing stone iron and pig iron. "
The emperor touched the knife in his hand and was amazed that someone could come up with such a method.
"Mao Zhe, ask two people to come in and try."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Soon Eunuch Mao called in two Jin Yiwei. The Jin Yiwei were the only people in the palace who could walk with swords. The two Jin Yiwei were called to the royal study unexpectedly, and they felt a little panicked.
"See the Emperor."
"Get up."
Eunuch Mao held the knife in front of someone.
"You two try this knife."
The two of them felt relieved. One of them picked up the knife handed over by Eunuch Mao, and the other took out the knife from his waist. The two of them slashed at the other's knife at the same time. Sparks flew out where the knife peaks touched. After the sparks passed, they held the knife in their hands. The sword in the guard's hand had already been cut into half an inch. Looking at the knife handed over by Eunuch Mao just now, although it looked a bit rough, the blade was unscathed. The two of them secretly praised it, it was a good knife.
"You all go down."
The two Jinyi guards bowed and retreated.
"Ai Qing, do you know if there are many such stones?"
"Back to the Emperor, I sent someone to check yesterday. Jinjia Village is the only place near Kyoto City. As for other places in Dazhou, I don't know."
"I wonder what rewards Yu Aiqing and your fiancée want?"
Everyone could hear the joy in the emperor's tone. He shouldn't be in a good mood right now.
"Go back to the emperor. This is what I should do. I just informed the emperor of what my fiancée found. I have no merit. As for my fiancée, I asked her yesterday and she said she had no requirements. She bought it in Jinjiacun She has acquired more than 300 acres of land and more than 700 acres of land. I just hope that when the emperor sends people to buy stones, the price can be raised a little so that she can earn more money. She has no hobbies and only likes to make money."
The emperor was amused by these words. It was the first time he heard someone say that his fiancée liked silver. The girl was really interesting. She didn't even want a reward and only made such a request.
"When did Aiqing have a fiancée? Why didn't I know?"
"Your Majesty, Lord Yu said during the Qionglin Banquet that he has a fiancée in the countryside."
When Eunuch Mao said this, the emperor also remembered that Yu Zheng had indeed said it.
"Didn't I hear you say they are in their hometown? Why did they come to Kyoto?"
"Back to the emperor, I have to blame you for this. I have some friendship with Liu Jijiu from the Imperial Academy. My fiancée's brother passed the scholar examination this year, so I asked Master Jijiu to increase his enrollment quota in Xingyang Mansion. His name was on it.”
This kind of thing is not uncommon in Kyoto, and the emperor doesn't care.
The emperor chatted with Yu Zheng for a few more words and then asked people to leave, but soon the Minister of War was sent to the Imperial Study Room.
The Minister of War stayed in the imperial study room for half an hour, then hurried out of the palace, mobilized two battalions of men and went straight to Jinjia Village.
The palace, especially the emperor's study room, is a place of special attention to the ministers and concubines. When the courtiers saw that the emperor was so abnormal, they naturally attracted the attention of the ministers. However, no matter how much they inquired, they could not find out the two people inside. What exactly was said? I found out that the emperor met with Yu Zheng, this year's new top scholar, before meeting with the Minister of War.
All the villagers in Jinjia Village were scared to death, and some of the villagers who planned to leave tomorrow regretted it in their hearts. They had left early this morning if they had known that something like this would happen, but now it was too late to say anything.
The new servants Su Yu bought were even more panicked. They had just experienced a house raid, but they didn't expect to encounter this again now.
Soon, the village chief of Jinjia Village was brought before the Minister of War.
When Village Chief Jin saw the second-grade court uniform worn by the adult in front of him, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.
"Grass people, meet your lord."
"Get up."
"Thank you, sir."
"You can count the families in your village who have land now, and how many acres there are in total. When you are done, report to me. The rest of the villagers will stay at home and are not allowed to leave their homes unless they have anything to do."
"Yes, Caomin will go now."
Meeting with the village chief of Jinjia Village, the Minister of War looked at the large farmland in front of him, most of which was filled with white stones. As for the yield of millet in the field, which was extremely low, it could basically be ignored. However, thinking of the emperor's frugal style, he originally wanted to The Minister of War, who ignored the millet, immediately asked people to collect the millet in the fields. A group of officers and soldiers collected the millet in the front. The officers and soldiers behind directly pulled the cart, picked up the stones in the field and threw them on the cart. Arrive at the military camp.
(End of chapter)
