Chapter 11: The Golden Palace Award
Seeing this, Cheng Yaojin suddenly raised his head and let out a demonic laugh: "Ahhaha, what did you say just now, I didn't say anything just now, wow, kah..."
Li Hao suddenly had dark lines on his head, feeling that they were not on the same channel most of the time. He sincerely thanked him, but in return he was pretending to be crazy and stupid and such heartbreaking laughter.
At this moment, a shout came from the city tower: "Four hours of Mao! Open the Chengtian Gate!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a rumbling sound. The huge city gate slowly opened. Li Hao and Cheng Yaojin were in the corridor, closest to the city gate. Li Hao said happily: "Ah, the door is finally opened." As he said that, he was about to run inside.
Cheng Yaojin stepped forward and grabbed his collar, pulled him back, and cursed, "You guy who doesn't understand the rules, you are the old man, and you dare to enter Chengtian Gate first. Are these officials behind the court dead?" He said that, and threw them back casually, it was like throwing garbage.
Cheng Yaojin's arm strength was very strong, and he threw Li Hao more than three meters away. Li Hao screamed, drew a beautiful arc in the air, and then lay on the ground, falling to the point of being in a daze.
"Oh..." Li Hao struggled on the ground for a long time, but he couldn't get up. It hurt so much that he felt that his hands and feet could not move. Fortunately, he led the eunuch to run over and help him up and dust off the dust on his body. When Li Hao looked up again, there was no sign of Cheng Yaojin. He only saw the ministers lined up from the side and entered Chengtian Gate.
"This old bastard!" Li Hao cursed angrily, "It's too heavy to start."
"Be careful of your words, Mr. Li, be careful of your words..." It seems that this little eunuch likes "be careful of your words".
Li Hao followed the team and sneaked into Chengtian Gate. After entering Chengtian Gate, he walked forward. After half a stick of incense, he arrived at a square, which should be the legendary Tai Chi Square. There is a palace to the north of the square, which is the Tai Chi Hall. There are many white marble bridges between Tai Chi Square and Tai Chi Hall. As long as you pass through those stone bridges, you can enter the Tai Chi Hall.
At this moment, the sun had just risen, and the morning light bathed in the huge square. The scene was quite magnificent. However, the team stopped here. The ministers dispersed in groups of three or three again and started talking all kinds of things again. There was no way. The time for the court meeting was not yet up, so they could only wait outside the hall. Li Hao was the worst. Even if the court meeting began, he had to wait outside until Li Shimin announced that he had entered the hall before he could enter the hall.
Li Hao waited patiently outside the hall. Finally, the eunuch's cry came from the direction of Taiji Hall: "The court meeting is opened, all the ministers enter the hall--"
The ministers lined up in two rows across the white marble bridge and walked towards the Tai Chi Hall. Li Hao looked at him hard by the bridge, followed by the eunuchs. The scene was so miserable.
Li Hao waited outside the Tai Chi Hall for another half an hour, and finally heard a shout from the direction of the Tai Chi Hall: "Li Hao from Xuancangzhou entered the palace to meet him--"
Li Hao hurriedly sorted out his clothes, stepped across the stone bridge, walked up the stone steps of the Tai Chi Hall, and came to the door of the Tai Chi Hall. He saw a man wearing a bright yellow dragon robe sitting in the middle high position. He was too far away and could not see his appearance clearly. Anyway, he saw a lot of beards. Needless to say, it must be Li Shimin. There were many civil and military ministers standing in two rows in the hall. Li Hao lowered his head, stepped into the hall in small steps, and knelt down in the hall to worship: "The grass man Li Hao bowed to the holy face of the Heavenly Khan in Wencheng and Wude. I wish my emperor to unify the world for thousands of years, long live long live long."
As soon as this statement was said, the civil and military was in an uproar. Where did this flattery come out? When they met, they slapped the flattery to the sky. Wen became a martial ethic? They will dominate the world for thousands of years? This flattery is slapped... But the emperor is the lord of the wise and does not like to listen to flattery, so this kid is afraid he will be scolded.
When Li Shimin heard Li Hao's words, he was stunned at first, and then asked with a smile: "Are you Li Hao? You are fourteen years old?"
Li Hao straightened his waist and lowered his head and replied: "Your Majesty, Caomin is Li Hao, he is fourteen years old this year."
Li Shimin asked again: "Who taught you what he said just now?"
Li Hao replied: "No one teaches the people, it is what the people themselves think. It is a fact that the people who have achieved the morality of literature and martial arts. It is the expectation of the people who have unified the world for thousands of years."
The ministers have to accept it now. It is also a skill to explain the flattery so righteously.
Li Shimin smiled and nodded, feeling good. Although he didn't like to listen to flattery, he still liked to listen to the words of ministers and people. He liked to listen to the people praise him, because that would prove that he was a wise ruler and everyone had vanity, and Tiankhan Li Shimin was no exception.
Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng with a smile. Although he didn't say much, a brief eye contact was enough to convey a lot of information. Li Shimin's simple action was just one sentence: "Look, Tianshewen (the country bumpkin), I am not a foolish monarch, but a wise monarch."
Wei Zheng snorted gently, glanced at Li Hao, and murmured disdainfully: "Shaped, shameless."
Although he spoke very quietly, the hall was very quiet and had an echo reverberation effect. So, the sound was amplified so that everyone could clearly hear it. Li Shimin was very embarrassed.
Li Hao is also very embarrassed, Wei Zheng! What kind of grudges do I have with you? What do you always run the money!
"Cough cough!" Li Shimin coughed lightly, concealed the embarrassment, changed the topic, and said, "Let me introduce to you all, this young man's surname is Li Hao, a native of Wende, Cangzhou. He fled to Linbei County, Xuzhou three years ago due to the plague in Cangzhou. This time, the great epidemic in Henan Province came fiercely, and the plague occurred in all four states. I originally thought that the people of Henan Province would encounter another catastrophe, but Li Hao offered a prescription. When the medicine was eliminated, I had received documentary certificates from various prefectures in Henan Province the day before yesterday. Only 333 people suffered this plague."
When Li Shimin said this, he suddenly stopped and saw the ministers in the court talking and whispering, all of whom thought there were too few people who died. This is the truth. Usually, according to the extent of this plague, tens of thousands of people died were a piece of cake. Unexpectedly, only more than 300 people died in the end, which was definitely a record-breaking record.
The ministers whispered for a moment, and Fang Xuanling stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, Li Hao has made great contributions to saving the people from water and fire. The achievements are in the present and the benefits are in the future. Your Majesty governs the country with iron laws. He has always punished his mistakes and rewarded his merits. I think Li Hao has made great contributions and has to reward him."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone nodded. In fact, what he said was nonsense. If Li Hao was not rewarded, why should Li Hao go to the palace? However, everything is about a mere formality and ritual, and the things in the court pay more attention to superficial articles.
"Yes." Li Shimin nodded and asked Li Hao, "Li Hao, what reward do you want?"
Li Hao knew that his reward had been settled, and even if he said it, it would be useless. Li Shimin was testing him. Fortunately, he was prepared, so he took out a note from his arms and said slowly: "Your Majesty, the people of the Tang Dynasty are the people of the Tang Dynasty. How dare you see the people of the Tang Dynasty fall into dire straits and turn a blind eye to it, so he offered a prescription for treating the plague. As long as your Majesty passes the prescription to various counties, even if the plague breaks again in the future, it is not afraid."
Seeing that he answered the dysfunctional question, Li Shimin was a little confused. When he saw that he was holding a note in his hand, he asked, "Is this the prescription for treating plague?"
"No." Li Hao shook his head, "This is a wonderful way to prevent smallpox."
"Wow——" As soon as this statement came out, the audience was in an uproar, and the court officials whispered and discussed it, and even Li Shimin was shocked.
There were two most common plagues in ancient times, one was smallpox and the other was plague. The mortality rate was extremely high and the contagiousness was extremely high. Li Hao had given a prescription for treating plague, and now he said that the note in his hand contained a wonderful method to prevent smallpox. How could this not be surprising?
If others said this, Li Shimin would definitely not believe it, but Li Hao was different, because Li Hao had already given a magical prescription, and it was not surprising that he would give another prescription now. He hurriedly said to the nearby servant beside him: "Hurry up! Come on!"
The eunuch close-up attendant came to Li Hao in a scattered step, carefully took the note with both hands, and walked back to Li Shimin like he was holding a treasure. Although his feet were walking, his hands were not bumpy at all, and the shock absorption effect was excellent.
Li Shimin took the note from his close servant, opened it and flew up, hissing and breathed a long breath. This word... is so bad!
"Did you write this word?"
"When you go back to your Majesty, it was written by Caomin himself."
"Your word..." Li Shimin looked at the words on the note with a wonderful expression. He wanted to squeeze him out a few words, but thought that the other party was just a fourteen-year-old child, but finally gave up and sighed and started to look at the content on the note.
After a long time, Li Shimin closed the note, looked at Li Hao, and asked, "Li Hao, can this so-called vaccination method really prevent smallpox?"
Li Hao replied frankly: "Reply to Your Majesty, yes."
"What if it doesn't work?" Li Shimin asked, and after asking, he regretted it. He was forcing him to make a "military order". Such a handsome young man still made great contributions to the state. If he made a "military order", there would be a problem with the method of cowpox, the young man who had just made great contributions to saving the people would die. However, the emperor was so generous that he could not take back what he said, so he could only see how Li Hao answered.
Li Hao kept following Cheng Yaojin's instructions, lowering his head and did not dare to look at Li Shimin. After hearing Li Shimin's words, he was also very upset. Although he was confident in the method of growing cowpox, this was in ancient times, and the technology and facilities were not up to date. He had never done a test, so how dare he promise, he could only answer helplessly: "If it doesn't work, your Majesty doesn't seem to have any losses."
As soon as he said this, the whole court became quiet. Even Li Shimin stared at Li Hao blankly. This was the first time he had heard such an answer in his life. It was really... he was too brave, no, it was too timid. Li Shimin suddenly felt that he could not see through the young man in front of him. If he said he was timid and dared to reply like this, wouldn't he be afraid of beheading? If he said he was brave, he wouldn't even dare to make a "military order" and his courage would be eaten by the dog?
Li Shimin handed the note in his hand to the eunuch near him, and turned to ask Li Hao: "Li Hao, are you literate?"
Li Hao: "Reply to Your Majesty, Caomin has read books for several years."
"Go back and practice writing more." Li Shimin was still struggling with Li Hao's bad writing.
"Yes! Your Majesty." Li Hao thought to himself, "My name is bad and my fault is your business. I just don't like using a brush, what's wrong!"
"Li Hao listen to it!" Li Shimin suddenly raised his voice and said with a majestic face, "Li Hao, Cangzhou, offers his country to save the country, and his loyalty is commendable. I will give you a generous reward. Li Hao is appointed as the medical officer of the Ninth-rank Imperial Hospital, and will reward 50 acres of fertile land, with a thousand guan of money!"
This reward is quite good. With all the official, the land, and the money, Li Hao doesn't care about Guanhetian. What he cares about the most is money. One thousand guan is equivalent to one thousand taels of silver. Li Hao is so disappointed. It is far from the bounty he expected. He saved tens of thousands of lives by one prescription, and only gave one thousand guan. Li Shimin is so stingy, and he is a rich slave.
In fact, a thousand guan is not a small amount. The price of goods in the Tang Dynasty was very low, and the purchasing power of copper coins was very high. One penny was equivalent to one dollar in modern times. A penny was one thousand penny, and that one thousand penny was one million, one million, one million.
However, Li Hao's contribution this time was indeed too great. Not only did he calm the plague, he would not have to worry about it even if there was another plague in the future. Moreover, as long as the method of growing cowpox is popularized throughout the country, smallpox will disappear. Such contributions are almost comparable to the military achievements of destroying a small country, so Li Hao believed that the bounty was too small.
After hearing this reward, Fang Xuanling suddenly gave a charming look at Changsun Wuji. This is a special skill for the dynasty meeting that the two of them have learned for many years. It is called "eye communication method". Without saying a word, just one look can convey his own meaning. Fang Xuanling's eyes are very simple: "No, Isn't the reward of 30 acres of land last night and the money is 500 stag?"
Changsun Wuji returned a look with a message: "Didn't you see that he gave another prescription to prevent smallpox?"
Fang Xuanling nodded.
After Li Shimin finished speaking the reward, he was still unsatisfied. Looking at Li Hao who had never looked up, he suddenly felt that this young man was very good, and he had the heart to serve the country with loyalty, and seemed to have some talent. This was exactly the type of talent he liked. When he opened the imperial examination system, he said that to let all the talents in the world be included in my throne, isn’t Li Hao the talent that can be cultivated?
He hesitated for a long time, and suddenly spoke again: "In addition! Li Hao was granted the title of Lantian County man and gave him a house."
As soon as these words came out, the ministers were upset again, and Fang Xuanling glared at Changsun Wuji again: "Did you say you were awarded the title when you discussed with Your Majesty last night?"
Chapter completed!