After listening to Xia Lu's words,
All the children went to have lunch. Then, they played on the toys in the bedroom for a while. When it was time, under the service of Mother Tao and Wisteria,
They were allowed to take a nap in their own small beds. When they fell asleep, Xia Lu went to take a look at them,
He found that they were all sleeping obediently,
Xia Lu couldn't help but sigh,
The self-control of the royal children was gone.
"Has it all been sent?" When Zhang Sheng returned to report, the Emperor asked.
"It has been sent. Nothing went wrong,
The guards who protect the princes are all in the outer courtyard,
Count Jia has arranged for them very well, "Zhang Sheng replied.
"Well, when those children come back,
Ask them how they are doing in Ningguo Province. "The Emperor sighed. If he could learn from the Jia family's three children, twenty to thirty percent would be enough,
One by one,
They were taught too rigidly by the women in the harem,
One crying and one laughing,
They were all printed from the same template,
There was no childlike innocence at all. "You've worked hard a little,
Go and rest, "
The Emperor said.
"To share the Emperor's worries,
It's not hard,
I'll stay here to serve you. "Zhang Sheng hurried over and ground the ink for Tu Chen.
Tu Chen didn't say anything. He just picked up the red brush, dipped it in some red ink, and began to read the memorials. The matter of Jiangnan had basically been settled, and the main official positions had been found. The matter of setting up the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor in Yangzhou should also be put on the agenda. Lin Ruhai, the most suitable official for this position, was not out of mourning yet, and the Retired Emperor had not agreed yet. This official position had to be set up, but he could find someone to replace him first. When Lin Ruhai was out of mourning, the substitute could step down.
Thinking of this, Tu Chen put down the brush and said, "Zhang Sheng, accompany me to see Father."
"Yes," Zhang Sheng quickly stopped grinding the ink and helped Tu Chen up. Then, he put a cloak on Tu Chen. Finally, he followed behind Tu Chen and walked towards the Retired Emperor's palace.
"Greetings to Father," Tu Chen saw the Retired Emperor and greeted him.
"Get up. Why are you here today? The court is busy, you don't have to come here every few days." The Retired Emperor pointed to the seat opposite him, indicating for the Emperor to sit down and talk.
"Being filial to Imperial Father is this son's duty. Has Imperial Father's health been good recently? Did you have any old ailments?" Tu Chen asked with concern.
"Everything is fine. By the way, have you sent the four children to Ningguo Province?" The Retired Emperor asked.
"It has been sent over today. I asked Zhang Sheng to send it over personally. Now, they have already settled down in Ningguo Province. Zhang Sheng said that they were very obedient and did not make any noise." Regarding this, Tu Chen was very satisfied.
"That's good. The children in the palace have lost their innocence since they were young. I only hope that they can take this opportunity to play together. The feelings from childhood are the most sincere. I hope that in the future, they will not kill each other." The Retired Emperor and the Emperor had sent the princes to Ningguo Province in hopes of reducing the influence of the harem on them and deepening the brotherhood between them. After all, when the Crown Prince forced the Retired Emperor to abdicate, whether it was the Retired Emperor or the Emperor, the impact was a bit big.
"What Imperial Father is worried about is exactly what I am worried about." Tu Chen was still a little glad that he did not have a son. If he had a son, he was afraid that the whole court would be filled with calls to establish a Crown Prince. However, he was only 26 years old this year. If he established a Crown Prince early, the Crown Prince's final ending was probably the same as the Crown Prince's second brother's. He did not want to see father and son kill each other, and brothers kill each other.
The Retired Emperor also thought of the Crown Prince, and there was a bit of sadness in his eyes. Year after year, the Crown Prince had been gone for five years.
The Emperor felt the Retired Emperor's sadness and said, "Imperial Father, today I came here to discuss another matter with you."
"Speak." The Retired Emperor put away his sadness and pulled himself together.
"The matter in Jiangnan has already come to an end. The vacant positions in Jiangnan have already been filled. The matter of establishing the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor should be put on the agenda," said Tu Chen.
"Establishing this position is also beneficial to the court. Every year, Jiangnan's tax revenue is mostly paid by the salt merchants. The salt merchants are very rich, this is something the whole world knows. The establishment of the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor is beneficial to Jiangnan's tax revenue. This is a good thing. I know you like Lin Ruhai, but he is not out of mourning. How can he take up this position?"
The Retired Emperor asked. "After the establishment of the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor, it should be equivalent to a third-rank official position. Lin Ruhai is only a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue. If we suddenly let him take up this position, I am afraid that some people will not accept it. I think that after Lin Ruhai is out of mourning, he should first become a doctor in Lantai Temple to gain experience. After a year or two, he should be transferred to Yangzhou to become the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor. However, at that time, the situation will not be as simple as it is now. Lin Ruhai will need to spend a lot of time," said Tu Chen.
"You mean to say that if you want to establish this position now, you can casually find someone to take it, and when the term is up, you will transfer Lin Ruhai over?" The Retired Emperor frowned and asked.
"I have the same idea." The Salt Patrol Imperial Censor was a good position for the Ning and Rong Mansions. The Jia family was loyal to the emperor and would not easily form cliques for personal gain. Moreover, the Jia family was born in a noble family and had a lot of money. Unfortunately, there was no suitable person in the Ning and Rong Mansions. In Rongguo Province, the first branch and the second branch had already separated. The second branch's Jia Zheng was completely out of the question. The first branch's Jia Xie only had a title of nobility and did not hold a real position in the court. Moreover, even if a Jia Xie held a real position, she could only buy the position with money.
In Ningguo Province, the Jia Jing was already the Minister of Rites. If nothing unexpected happened, he would stay in this position for many more years. Moreover, the Minister of Rites was a second-rank official position. If he was appointed as the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor, wouldn't it mean that he would be demoted? As for the Jia Zhen, it was said that he studied well and was already a Xiucai. This year, he also planned to participate in the provincial examination. However, after he became an official, he still had to go to the Hanlin Academy to accumulate experience. It would take at least three years. If he wanted to be useful, it would take a long time.
"In that case, let's do it." Because of the incident in Jiangnan, the court was in urgent need of people. Although it was dangerous, the Retired Emperor could not bear to put the Emperor in a difficult position.
"Yes, thank you, Imperial Father." The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief. Now that his Imperial Father had agreed, the next step was to make arrangements.
After the children slept for an hour, Mother Tao and Zi Teng woke them up. They had to be woken up. If they slept too much during the lunch break, the more they slept, the more sleepy they would be. When it was time to go to bed at night, they would not want to sleep anymore.
After the children were woken up by Zi Teng and Mother Tao, they all sat on the bed with hazy eyes. They did not know where they were.
Zi Teng and Mother Tao were afraid that the children would fall asleep again, so they fetched cold water and placed a cold towel on their faces. In an instant, the sleepy people were chased away.
"Mother Tao, I was just dreaming about eating a drumstick. Why did you wake me up?" Jia Lian was a bit unhappy.
"Brother Lian, Madam said that dreams during the day are called daydreams. They are all fake. You should wait until dinner time and eat an extra drumstick. Bring your clothes over, this old servant will put them on for you," said Mother Tao, who was helping the Eldest Prince put on his clothes.
"Oh." Jia Lian got off his bed and took his clothes from the clothes rack to the side, waiting for Mother Tao to help him put them on. The clothes of the ancient nobles all had three layers inside, three in the middle, and three on the outside. Not to mention Jia Lian and the others, even Xia Lu would not be able to put them on properly. She would need help from others.
After helping the Eldest Prince put on his clothes, Mother Tao began to help Jia Lian put on his clothes. After all the children were dressed, Mother Tao said, "Master wants you all to go to Ning Xi Hall's study. Class is about to begin."
"Yes!" The others all excitedly shouted.
The princes were led by Jia Lian and the others to Ning Xi Hall's study. The study had already changed its appearance. The treasure pavilion in the study was gone, replaced by a table and chairs. Moreover, it was not a table and chairs on one side, but a long table. On one side of the table were seven small chairs, and on the other side was a large chair. Clearly, the seven small chairs were for them to sit on, and the large chair was for their teachers to sit on.
"Are you all here?" At this time, the Jia Zhen came in.
"Teacher, Eldest Brother!" The four princes and Jia Zhen's group called out excitedly when they saw the Jia Zhen.
"Yes, sit down." The Jia Zhen sat on the large chair opposite them and gestured for the children to sit down.
After the seven children sat down, the Jia Zhen continued, "First, let me tell our new children that your Imperial Father sent you here for me to teach you. It is not simply for you to learn knowledge. Knowledge is not the main content of my teachings. Next, you will learn a lot of things. For example, our first lesson today is to play and learn."
The four princes were a little confused and looked at the Jia Zhen. Did playing still need to be taught?
The Jia Zhen saw the confusion in the princes' eyes, so the Jia Zhen asked, "Tell us, what do you mean by play? "Let's start with Tu Ming." Jia Zhen pointed at the First Prince. After all, there were still three troublesome brats here. If these brats were allowed to speak on their own, the four princes probably wouldn't even have the chance to speak.
"There is no need to go to class. Play with your favorite toys," the Eldest Prince, Tu Ming, said.
Jia Zhen smiled and turned her gaze to the Second Prince, Tu Jun. She asked the younger princes and their answers were basically the same as the First Prince's. From this, it could be seen how boring the lives of these children in the Imperial Palace were.
"Tell us, what do you mean by play?" The Jia Zhen looked at Jia Lian's group of three.
"Everything is play. Going to class is play. Drawing is play …" Jia Lian raised her hand first and said.
"Yes, yes." Jia Yao and Lin Jinyu both nodded their heads to show their approval.
"It seems that everyone's definition of play is different. Then what is learning?" The Jia Zhen looked at the Eldest Prince and gestured for him to answer again.
"Is going to class learning?" The Eldest Prince was a little uncertain.
The Jia Zhen smiled and said, "Lian 'er, continue. What is learning?"
Jia Lian did not have stage fright and directly said, "Everything is learning. Going to class is learning. Drawing is learning. Playing hide and seek is also learning …" Jia Lian said a lot of things with a face full of expression.
The Jia Zhen nodded and looked at the four princes. He said, "Learning and playing complement each other. When you are learning, you will suddenly realize that it is very interesting. Have you learned this poem by Lu You? The first poem of 'The Great Storm of the Fourth of November', 'The wind swirls the rivers and lakes, the rain darkens the village, the sound of the mountains and the waves of the sea, the stream of firewood is soft and warm, Li Nu and I don't go out.' You will realize that the ancient poets actually liked kittens so much. Because of the rain, my kittens and I don't go out. Isn't it very fun? "
The princes listened carefully and nodded. It was also the first time they knew that Lu You liked cats.
"Also, flying a kite is just playing, right? If you want to fly a kite in the sky, do you have to learn how to fly a kite? How to fly a kite? When flying a kite, do we also learn things that we don't know?" The Jia Zhen said.
The four princes nodded fiercely.
"So, learning is also playing, and playing is also learning. So, when you are learning, you can treat it as a kind of fun. When you are playing, you can understand things that you don't know. That is also a kind of learning. Do you understand?" The Jia Zhen said.
"Understood." The children all nodded.
"Then we will start our first lesson now. Learning while playing." The Jia Zhen signaled to Zhong 'er, who was waiting at the side, to bring the things over.
Zhong 'er gave each child a box, and also gave one to the Jia Zhen. The Jia Zhen opened the box. There were some lumps of wood and a piece of white paper inside. The Jia Zhen said, "Do you see this piece of white paper? These lumps of wood can be pieced together according to the pattern on the white paper. In the end, they can be pieced together into this final shape. Today's task is to piece it together. "
"Okay." The children were very excited.
"Okay, I've given you the things. If you encounter any problems, you can ask this person." The Jia Zhen pointed at Zhong 'er. "Also, if you encounter any problems, think about it first. If you find that you can't solve it within the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, you have to learn how to ask others for help. Maybe the lumps of wood are broken. Don't work hard alone. If the lumps of wood are accidentally broken, you can ask him too. He will be responsible for replacing them," the Jia Zhen reminded them. After all, the children from the palace had very strong self-esteem, so he still had to take care of them a little.
"Okay." All the children were very excited. Jia Zhen and the others had already played with it, but they didn't have many opportunities to play with it. After all, it took a lot of time and effort to make it. Even if Jia Zhen and Xia Lu doted on them, they wouldn't spend too much time and effort to let them play with it. After all, there were no automatic chemical factories now.
After giving the items to the children, the Jia Zhen turned around and went back to accompany his wife. Anyway, this thing couldn't be done without at least two hours, even if it was Lin Jinyu.
After the Jia Zhen left, Jia Lian and Jia Yao quickly surrounded Lin Jinyu and said, "Jinyu, when you're done, come and help me." Jinyu was the best at this kind of thing among the three of them.
"Okay." Lin Jinyu nodded, indicating that there was no problem at all.
"Is Jinyu very good at this?" The eldest prince, Tu Ming, was a little curious.
"Don't be fooled by Jinyu's small size. No matter what Jinyu plays, he's very good at it." Jia Lian puffed out his chest and looked proud, as if he was so good at it.
"Jinyu is good, not you. Why are you so happy?" The fourth prince, Tu Zheng, said in a cute voice.
"Jinyu is my younger brother. He's good, but I'm good too." Jia Lian was unconvinced.
"Hmph, Jinyu, help me later too. Don't help him." Tu Zheng pulled Lin Jinyu's hand and glared at Jia Lian. He hadn't forgotten that Jia Lian had called him a monster.
Jia Lian made a funny face at Tu Zheng and thought to herself: Petty.
"Okay, young masters, it's time to start. Otherwise, we won't be able to finish it." Zhong 'er reminded them.
The children regained their senses and hurriedly opened their chests. The children, Jia Lian, Jia Yao, the Third Prince, Tu Que, and the Fourth Prince, Tu Zheng, could not wait to take out the lumps of wood from their chests one by one. Lin Jinyu, the First Prince, Tu Zheng, and the Second Prince, Tu Jun, first took out the white paper and slowly studied how to put it together.
When Zhong'er saw that the children had started, he stood to the side and remained silent as he watched them piece together the wooden lumps.
"Where are they?" Xia Lu saw the Jia Zhen coming over and asked.
"In the study, putting the blocks together. What are you doing?" Jia Zhen asked.
"It's not easy for the princes to come, so I'm making some snacks for them." Xia Lu slowly stirred the egg yolks. Not long after, she felt a little weak. She really wanted an electric mixer now. Xia Lu, who didn't have any strength in her hands, could only pass the things to the servants and let them do it. As expected, it was better for her to use her mouth and not her hands.
"You haven't cooked for a long time. This time, you're cooking for those little brats." Jia Zhen pouted. Why? At this time, his wife, Jia Zhen, was completely unbalanced.
Xia Lu rolled her eyes. She didn't want to argue with a jealous man. It would drag her IQ down to the same level as him. After putting the cake in the oven, Xia Lu and Jia Zhen went out of the kitchen. Xia Lu looked at the extra people in the fu and felt a little uncomfortable. She said, "It feels weird to have so many people in the fu."
"There's no other way. Those little brats from the imperial family are quite precious. If the Emperor didn't send these people over, I wouldn't be at ease letting them stay in my fu." Jia Zhen was also helpless. After staying with Xia Lu for so long, he also didn't like having too many people in the fu.
"Okay." Xia Lu also felt that there was nothing he could do. "I'm only worried about my own shop now. Tell me, why is it so difficult to open a shop for me? Now that the princes have come to our shop to study, will we have to postpone it again? "Xia Lu thought of her beauty and massage shop. They had been preparing for the opening for a long time. Every time something happened, it was delayed. Thinking about it, Xia Lu felt a little tired.
Jia Zhen shrugged. He also felt that he had suffered a great loss. The Emperor didn't say anything when the princes came to study. His own shop had to be responsible for the food of so many guards for five days. It was a great loss for him to delay the business of his shop.
"Don't talk about it. I'm angry just thinking about it." Xia Lu felt stifled.
"Don't be angry. At worst, we won't open for business. You can invite the madams of the Shi family, the Wang family, or the Beijing King's wife and the Third Princess to visit the shop. Then ask them to bring some madams to our shop. What do you think?" He was also distressed that such a big shop couldn't open for business even after all the preparations were made.
Xia Lu's eyes lit up. That's right. Why didn't she think of it? She could totally set up a high-end shop like the one in modern times. Those who could spend money in this shop must be VIP users. How could they become VIP users? First, they had to bring VIPs over. After spending a certain amount of money, they could become VIP users. VIP users were divided into four levels: bronze, silver, gold, and gemstone. Bronze users could spend money in the shop, but only those above the silver level could bring people over to spend money. Gold users could make an appointment. After making an appointment, they could be served immediately no matter when they came over. Finally, the highest level, gemstone users, could be visited.
Xia Lu told Jia Zhen her idea.
"That's not bad. Then who will give the gemstone users?" Jia Zhen asked.
"Of course it's someone with a high status. For example, the Third Princess you mentioned," Xia Lu said.
"That's fine. The Third Princess can give the gemstone users. As for the others, the Shi family can give the gold users, Aunt Min can give the gold users, and the Wang family can give the silver users. Let's follow this standard," Jia Zhen said.
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