As soon as he entered the palace where Emperor Jiajing practiced Taoism and made elixirs, Lord Yan was surrounded by the scent of sandalwood. It was still chilly outside in spring, but the palace was extremely hot.
However, our Lord Yan has long been accustomed to this fragrance and temperature, and his face is not red and he is not out of breath.
The whole hall was brightly lit, with sandalwood burning and candles lit everywhere. In the middle of the hall, there was an alchemy furnace more than one person tall with two dragons playing with a pearl. There was a seven-color flame burning under the furnace, and a wisp of smoke came out of the top of the furnace. Next to the furnace was a Tai Chi Bagua mat, which was made of gold, white jade and various precious materials. This Tai Chi Bagua mat alone could sustain ordinary people for thousands of years.
Sitting cross-legged on the Bagua mat was a handsome middle-aged man wearing a blue cotton Bagua Taoist robe, warm shoes, and a Hunyuan scarf on his head. He had a thin figure and a dignified face. From time to time, he put some strange but extremely precious fuel under the alchemy furnace.
The man wearing the green cloth Bagua Taoist robe is no ordinary person.
This man is the greatest and most powerful alchemist in the world. He is also the helmsman of the world's largest empire, the Ming Empire, and the eleventh emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing. His current Taoist name is Lingxiao Shangqing Tonglei Yuanyang Miaoyi Feiyuan Zhenjun. This Taoist name is only for Taoist gods, but who can blame him for being the emperor
In the past two days, Emperor Jiajing felt that his practice had improved again. He thought about giving himself a Taoist name "The Emperor of the Nine Heavens, the Great Teaching, the Master of Yin and Yang, the Great Dao, the Immortal Zi Ji, the One Yang Zhenren, the Yuan Xu Xuan Ying, the Enlightenment, the Subduing of Demons, the Loyal and Filial Emperor". When he becomes an immortal in the future, it will be convenient for him to show off in heaven. It is currently in the planning stage.
In fact, the gentlemen of the entire Ming Dynasty were quite distinctive. Take the two emperors in recent times, for example. Jiajing's predecessor, his brother, Emperor Zhengde, was a freedom-loving hiker who loved armed parades. Jiajing, on the other hand, was the opposite of his brother. He liked to stay at home all day, practicing alchemy and taking drugs in the hope of immortality. Since he came to Xiyuan, he has hardly moved.
"Minister Song, I pay my respects to the Immortal."
When Yan Song entered the palace, he kowtowed to Emperor Jiajing devoutly and skillfully. Most ministers would kneel down and shout "Your Majesty, long live your majesty" when they saw Emperor Jiajing, but Yan Song was different from others. He shouted "Your Majesty, long live your majesty".
Although Yan Song is old, his voice is still as loud as ever.
In addition to the different ways of addressing him, the way Yan Song kowtowed was also different from that of other ministers. Yan Song's kowtow was a standard Taoist way of kowtow.
Before kneeling down, Yan Ge Lao stood with his feet in the shape of an "eight", with his feet two to three inches apart, very standard. He bowed his body while clasping his hands in front of his abdomen, from bottom to top, with his right hand away and his left hand covering his heart; at the same time, he leaned forward calmly and pressed his right hand on the ground. He knelt on both knees, then immediately left his left hand from his heart and pressed it on the back of his right hand, forming a "cross" shape, and prostrated himself, knocking his head on the back of his hands.
Old man Yan Ge knocked on the back of his hands, his old face smiling like a flower, and he shouted, "Chen Song, you are here to see the immortal."
"Stand up, Weizhong." After hearing Yan Song's kowtow, Emperor Jiajing, who was sitting on the Tai Chi Bagua mat, couldn't help but smile. Yan Song really understood my intentions. Just now, Xu Jie shouted "Long live me" three times, but it was not as comfortable as Yan Song's shout.
Hearing that Emperor Jiajing called him Weizhong, Yan Song was very happy. The emperor did not call him by his name, but by his courtesy name. It can be seen that the emperor still favors him and he is still in the emperor's favor.
"Thank you, Master." Yan Song's old face was filled with smiles, then he stood up and stood respectfully aside.
Emperor Jiajing added some more fuel to the furnace. Seeing the fire burning vigorously, he nodded with satisfaction, patted the charcoal on his hands, and stood up from the Tai Chi Bagua mat.
Huang Jin was very considerate and brought water for Emperor Jiajing to clean his hands, and then ordered the eunuch to bring a chair embroidered with the Eight Diagrams and dragon patterns for Emperor Jiajing to sit on. After Emperor Jiajing sat down, he also showed extra favor and asked a young eunuch to bring a chair for Yan Song. Yan Song was so moved that he knelt down to thank him before sitting down.
After Emperor Jiajing waited for Yan Song to sit down, he began to chat with him, and the topic turned to the upcoming imperial examination.
"Wei Zhong, how did Xu Jie perform in this imperial examination?" Emperor Jiajing asked casually.
Based on this sentence, Yan Song had already concluded that the emperor had already made up his mind to select Xu Jie as the person to preside over the imperial examination. No wonder Xu Jie was so proud just now, it turned out to be this. It's just presiding over the imperial examination, what's the use of a bunch of young boys. However, it's time to give Xu Jie a spanking.
"I feel that Minister Xu is the best candidate to be the chief examiner of the imperial examination." Yan Song answered with certainty.
"Oh, why?" Jiajing narrowed his eyes and asked with interest.
"Xu Shangshu's poetry and calligraphy are truly extraordinary. Even today, he is still writing, and many of his masterpieces have been published. Overseeing the imperial examinations is exactly where Xu Shangshu's strengths lie."
"Minister Xu used to be in charge of the Imperial College. He has a lot of experience in educating students and is good at supervising them. It is no problem for him to be the examiner of the imperial examination."
"In recent days, I have seen that Minister Xu has been very diligent and attentive to government affairs, and has managed the Ministry of Rites in an orderly manner. In all the examinations, promotions, honors, and transfers of officials, Minister Xu has been conscientious and fair, and is truly a model for officials."
"Minister Xu, you have many excellent poems about fasting and offering sacrifices..."
"... ..."
"In a nutshell, Minister Xu is both talented and dedicated. He is truly the best choice for this examination."
In just a short while, Yan Song praised Xu Jie all the time, saying that he was good at poetry and calligraphy, had rich management experience, was diligent, fair and selfless, his Qingci was also great, and his talent was beyond reproach, etc. In short, Yan Song praised Xu Jie highly and repeatedly emphasized Xu Jie's strengths. If it were not for the limited time, Yan Song could have praised Xu Jie for a whole day and night.
If Xu Jie was there, he would definitely blush. He would definitely hold Yan Song's hand and say with emotion, "Hey, I didn't expect that you are such a real person, Old Yan..."
While listening to Yan Song's evaluation of Xu Jie, Emperor Jiajing nodded repeatedly and admired Yan Song even more.
Did Yan Song get kicked in the head by a donkey? When he saw Xu Jie outside just now, he was still thinking about spanking this old guy. Why is he so cowardly now, kneeling down to Xu Jie with such a shameless look!
Seeing the admiring look in Emperor Jiajing's eyes, Yan Song praised Xu Jie even more enthusiastically.
"Xu Jie is a pillar of our dynasty."
After Yan Song pushed Xu Jie to the height of a pillar, he sighed and then added lightly:
"It's just that Minister Xu has been visiting Prince Yu quite frequently recently, so I'm afraid I don't have enough time."
Just this one sentence, at first glance it seems simple, but upon closer inspection it has a deeper meaning.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jiajing paused in nodding, then nodded heavily again. The good image of Xu Jie in his heart suddenly collapsed.
He always goes to the third brother. This kid Xu Jie has two minds. A few months ago, Xu Jie wrote to me to establish a crown prince. I mean, this kid has submitted three or four memorials to establish a crown prince. He always goes to the third brother. No wonder.
This kid, he's already planning to start a new business before I die!
Emperor Jiajing had already made a big cross over Xu Jie in his heart and banished him to the cold palace. He was not going to use this idiot anymore!
Yan Song was very familiar with Emperor Jiajing. Seeing the expression of Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song smiled silently in his heart and said, Xu Jie, you still want to fight with me? You are still very naive!
What if I praise you a hundred times
I can knock you down with just one sentence! (To be continued.)
ps: Thank you all very much for your support. I finally added a chapter today.