The procession going to Beijing to deliver the Emperor's Thousand-Autumn Festival gifts is about to leave, but at this time, the main personnel in the palace still don't know what the gifts are.
Zhang Zuo took out a wooden box and opened it in front of many palace officials.
After Zhu Youqian took out a glass marble from it, everyone present realized that the tribute to the emperor was actually a glass ball?!
"Your Majesty, these are one hundred glazed beads made by Zhu Hao. There are fillings of various colors in them, which mean wealth and good luck... These... Zhu Hao donated them to the palace without charging any money..."
When Zhang Zuo said this, he hesitated and lost all his momentum.
Many people present were snickering. King Xing asked you to prepare for a long time, but in the end you just used a bunch of glass balls to make up the numbers? You are so rich and auspicious that it is not too shabby to give this thing away.
Zhu Youyi also frowned, and after looking at it carefully, he asked: "Can these items be presented to the capital as a gift? Isn't it... a bit hasty?"
Yuan Zonggao came out and said with a smile: "Prince Xing, the palace's birthday gift to His Majesty should not be entrusted to Zhu Hao alone... Based on what I see, it should be reconsidered."
Zhang Zuo smiled bitterly and asked: "Yuan Changshi, when did this happen? Is it too late to think about it again?"
Tang Yin said curiously: "This glass bead is crystal clear and is a rare product. It is rare in the world. Why can't it be used as a tribute?"
Some people were looking at Tang Yin.
You, Tang Yin, really don’t know?
Or are you just pretending to be confused?
Jiang Lun was outspoken and said in front of everyone: "Mr. Tang, have you never seen this thing? Usually the prince and Zhu Hao use it as a plaything. According to Zhu Hao... this thing seems to be made of colored glaze." The mirror is made of leftover materials, how can this... be so rare?"
"Hahaha……"
Those officials from the Palace Chief Shi Si were displeased with Tang Yin, so they naturally laughed at him to show their happiness.
Only then did Tang Yin understand.
It turns out that the reason why the people in the palace judged the glass ball to be worthless was because they had seen it before and felt that Zhu Hao could easily make it. In this world, things are rare and valuable. Everyone has seen it too much. Naturally, I don't think it's so valuable.
But the problem is, even if the people in the palace have seen it, the people among the people have not, and the people in the capital have naturally never seen it.
"Well, there is still a jade Ruyi gifted by the late emperor in the treasure pavilion in the backyard. Now we can only send it to the capital as a congratulatory gift." Zhu Youqian said.
Everyone present felt that this was not appropriate.
The Ruyi jade gifted by Emperor Daxing Xiaozong, are you going to give it to the current emperor as a birthday gift? This is not considered as a gift to others by borrowing flowers to offer Buddha, it is clearly to return the thing to its original owner!
But there is no better way right now.
At the scene, Yuan Zonggao, Zhang Zuo and Tang Yin did not express their opinions. Others had to think about it. If they objected at this time, could they come up with something better as a tribute?
If you don’t have an idea, you can only hold back your words!
"If that's the case, then the matter is settled."
Seeing that no one objected, Zhu Youji sighed and said, "Meng Zai, I leave it to you to go to the capital to congratulate you. Let Luo Dianzhan go with you."
"yes."
Jiang Lun bowed and accepted the order.
Perhaps Princess Jiang intended to give her adopted brother a chance to perform. This time, the gift delivery was still left to him. The escort was still Luo An, who often did dirty work in the palace and worked tirelessly. The tribute team It is considered officially established.
…
…
Tang Yin had met King Xing, and when he returned to the school to look for Zhu Hao, he saw several children playing in the yard.
Zhu Si was holding a strange long object and was blowing it into the air. There were many crystal clear water bubbles in the air, which emitted colorful light under the sunlight. Next to him, Zhu San and Jinghong were clapping and cheering. They had passed the exam.
Yuan Rulin, who had basically never entered the palace after the imperial examination, was actually there.
Zhu Hao stood with his hands behind his hands, while Jinghong sat reading a book...
The atmosphere in the courtyard was very comfortable, and the children's innocence and vitality were evident. Tang Yin felt that he was much younger for a moment.
"Play with me!"
Zhu San was begging his brother to give him the good things again.
Zhu Si hurriedly hid a tube of stuff behind his back: "Here comes the sir."
Then several people looked at the door together, and saw Tang Yin standing there with a smile on his face.
"It's time for class. Let's go in and get ready." Tang Yin said, and several children went to the house. Tang Yin naturally left Zhu Hao behind.
Tang Yin asked: "What is the prince holding in his hand?"
Zhu Hao said casually: "I made bubble water with soap foam..."
"Soap?" Tang Yin frowned.
"The purpose is probably similar to that of soap locust, but with the addition of the powerful gunpowder that was made before... Don't worry, it won't explode. I was just researching cleaning products that can be used to wash hands and clothes. I didn't succeed, so I made this by the way.
Something, let’s give it to the prince to play with.”
Zhu Hao didn't seem to take the thing in front of him seriously.
Tang Yin sighed: "You have so many tricks. Whenever you have something good, you bring it to the palace... Do you know how much trouble the marbles you offer as tribute to the palace will cause?"
Zhu Hao asked curiously: "Trouble? It took a lot of effort to make that thing of mine. It took a lot of thought. It's fine if you don't cherish it, and you still call it trouble?"
"Forget it, I won't tell you this." Tang Yin realized that it was unnecessary to entangle Zhu Hao with some trivial matters, so he immediately got to the point, "I heard that Zhang Changshi's team returning to Anlu has already entered Anlu.
In the land realm, we will arrive at the palace in the next two days."
"oh."
Zhu Hao nodded.
Zhang Jingming ended his stay and was expected to arrive in Anlu in mid-to-late August, but now it has been delayed until early September. It may be due to family matters, or the court has any special instructions for Zhang Jingming, or
Said it was making things difficult.
In short, those in the court who had prejudices against Prince Xing's palace did not want Zhang Jingming to return smoothly, thinking that this would give Prince Xing an extra wing.
"Zhang Fengzheng specifically told me to take you to the city gate to greet you in the next two days. Chang Shisi will also send people there... I don't know if Yuan Changshi will go to greet you personally," Tang Yin said.
Tang Yin did not bother with the issue of congratulatory gifts from the capital, as it had nothing to do with him in the first place.
Everything has been decided, and he has nothing to say to Zhu Hao.
What he is more concerned about now is that the relatively balanced structure of the palace will be broken, and that is the matter of Zhang Jingming's return to the palace.
"oh."
Zhu Hao nodded again.
Tang Yin waved his hand: "You can go in and study too. If everything goes as expected, the new teacher Xi will come with Zhang Changshi... I also heard someone from the royal family's chief minister accidentally mention that Zhang Changshi went to Guangxi specially.
I made a trip and invited a local scholar to come and teach. From now on, you don’t need to be distracted from teaching, and you can rest assured to prepare for the college entrance examination next year."
Zhu Hao paused when he heard the news.
No wonder Zhang Jingming delayed his return to the palace for so long. It turned out that he had hired a tutor on the way, but he had not mentioned this matter to him or Tang Yin, and even Zhu Si did not know about it.
In other words, Yuan Zonggao must have secretly consulted King Xing and then instructed Zhang Jingming to do this. The purpose was obviously to suppress Tang Yin and Zhu Hao... This is a bit unreasonable.
You have a long history in the palace, and you are over 60 years old. Why are you so petty?
No wonder he died early.
…
…
When Zhang Jingming returned to the palace, Zhu Hao was not too worried even though he thought it might be a challenge to him.
Although Yuan Zonggao is already very old, in fact Zhang Jingming is not much better. Both of them are old guys who spent half of their lives in the palace... One died in the 14th year of Zhengde and the other died in the first year of Jiajing. They have only a few years to live.
No need to worry too much about it.
Zhang Jingming returned to Anlu on the ninth day of September. Early that morning it happened to be the day when Jiang Lun, Luo An and his party set out for the capital.
Because the gift this time was not a heavy gift, the whole party rode horses. This would greatly shorten the journey time and try to reach the capital around September 20th.
Zhu Hao did not see Jiang Lun off that day.
He was going to the girls' school early in the morning to send his sister to school.
Recently, with the improvement of her family's life, she saw meat and fish almost every day. Zhu Ting jumped up and down, but she still seemed childish and very shy. She had almost no chance to interact with outsiders except her family members. Zhu Hao gave her many instructions on the way and told her.
Have lunch at school, get along well with your classmates, and if you have any trouble, go directly to your teacher...
If that doesn't work, notify the nursing home outside and ask them to take the message home, or escort her home directly.
When they arrived at the school, Mrs. Gongsun came out to greet her personally, and Gong Yeling was also present with her.
"Xiaoting, these two will be your future husbands, you must learn from them." Zhu Hao said with a smile.
"Um."
Zhu Ting's eyes widened, still a little scared.
Mrs. Gongsun smiled and said: "Xiao Dong's sister is really handsome. In this school, she is also Xiao Dong's family. No one will bully her... Everything is fine here and the surroundings are quiet. Xiao Dong doesn't have to worry."
Originally, Mrs. Gongsun was worried that opening a school for girls would cause some unfavorable social reactions.
Some people object, or they are gossiping, or the parents of female students have been gossiped for a long time that they are afraid, and then let their children take it back.
But who would have thought that she had been teaching here for half a year and found that Zhu Hao did everything very well. First of all, these female students did not spend money to study, and they could also receive money from their families. In addition to learning cultural knowledge, they also learned knitting, knitting, etc.
Craft work...
Now the surrounding residents are rushing to send their girls to study.
However, because the scale of the women's school has always been small, the enrollment is not large. At first, there were only a dozen students. Now, after the enrollment is expanded, there are less than 30 students.
"Master's Wife, my sister has learned some Chinese characters before and has read the Classic of Female Filial Piety for a few days. If there is anything you can't keep up with, please worry more."
Zhu Hao didn't have the airs of his boss at all, and sent his sister to Mrs. Gongsun with a smile.
Gong Yeling on the side looked at the little girl in front of him, with a little jealousy in his eyes.
She is also a girl, but she did not receive the same treatment as Zhu Ting when she was young.
Her family was rich and powerful, she was pampered, and she was sent to study... But now she could only do odd jobs, and people in the theater troupe began to exclude her, and she almost couldn't go back.