Rule the Roost in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 42: Book

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The weather began to cool down slowly, and the originally unbearably hot weather gradually disappeared under the influence of the breeze. The flowers in the palace also cheered up and bloomed in their most beautiful postures.

Occasionally there are pearly dews in the morning, moistening and dotted with delicate flowers in full bloom. The dew wets the clothes, but it is rare for people to find a trace of relaxation and joy in the cool air.

Jingzhe and Cheetah, after more than 20 days of training by Li Hong, the three cobblers jointly explored the professional abilities that spies and agents should have. After stumbling and reluctantly, they finally achieved Li Hong's goal. In his words, they are now the first batch of amateur agents.

Some blunt vocabulary made Jingzhe and Cheetah find it difficult to understand. Li Hong lay on the table and pointed at the cotton he had drawn, and spent a long time explaining it. The two of them still seemed to understand. Li Hong was so angry that he put down the charcoal. Throwing it away, he pointed at the two of them and yelled that they had elm-shaped heads and didn't know how to understand!

Bai Chun, who was accustomed to the life in the harem, wore a purple narrow-sleeved shirt and skirt, which perfectly accentuated her exquisite figure, making it bulge where it should and curl up where it should. At this moment, he was leaning against the door frame and cracking melon seeds, giggling happily as he looked at the furious Li Hong in front of him.

Li Hong glared at her with dissatisfaction and said viciously: "Pay attention to your image. This is a palace, not a brothel. Look at your image of leaning on the door frame and eating melon seeds. You look like an old bustard."

Bai Chun suddenly felt as if someone had stepped on her tail. The original charming and seductive image disappeared instantly, and she looked like an old hen with her chicks encountering an eagle.

He walked to Li Hong's table with his hips twisted, put down the melon seeds in his hand, put his hands on his hips and said: "I am the thirteenth daughter of King Qiuci, not some old madam! Also, is this cotton or the sky you are painting?" The white clouds? Even I don’t understand that your painting is cotton!”

Li Hong scratched his head in embarrassment when he saw Bai Chun scolding his painting. The painting was indeed a bit difficult. Suddenly he asked as if he remembered something: "How do you know about cotton?"

"Of course there are plantings in Qiuci Kingdom, what's so strange about this. Oh, little girl, I thought you knew everything in this world, but it turns out there are still things you don't know." Bai Chun said with shock. .

During this period of time, she was almost scared to death by Dai Wang. No matter it was big or small, this Dai Wang could always tell the truth. He had read so many books at such a young age that he was so knowledgeable. .

"Can you speak less harshly? I think describing you as an old bustard would be..." Li Hong saw Bai Chun with her hands on her hips and glared at him, stopped talking, walked to Bai Chun and held Bai Chun's jade hand. , shook it a few times and said, "Tell them what this cotton is like."

Bai Chun was just mean-mouthed, but whenever Li Hong asked her for help, she would always agree immediately. As for whether Li Hong was still scolding her in the previous sentence, she had long forgotten it.

Shaking off Li Hong's little hand, he walked to the desk and took a look at the word "cotton" and the picture of cotton written by Li Hong. Bai Chun said with disgust: "Oh, this word is really ugly, and I have the nerve to take it out."

Li Hong was too lazy to argue with him. He had no choice but to write. His handwriting was notoriously ugly among the royal children, and he could not easily write. I am also puzzled that this writing skill has not followed him. He has been reincarnated into this life as the ninth and tenth reincarnation. Now, because of his young age, the handwriting he writes is crooked.

After Bai Chun explained the characteristics and shape of cotton to Jingzhe and Cheetah in detail, he used his skillful skills to draw a pattern of cotton for each of them.

Then he turned his head and looked at Li Hong, who was paralyzed on the chair and was dying, and asked curiously: "What do you want this cotton for? Although it is good to keep out the cold, isn't the kapok of the Tang Dynasty also good at keeping out the cold? What are you doing? Do you still have to sacrifice the near for the distant?”

Cotton is originally produced in India and Arabia. It has just been introduced to countries in the Western Regions in recent years. It is still many years away from being introduced to the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, in the Tang Dynasty, in addition to animal skins, kapok was the only thing to keep out the cold. Ordinary people naturally cannot afford good fur, so they can only use kapok. However, kapok cannot be filled into quilts for warmth, and can only be used for pillows and mattresses. In fact, to put it bluntly, it is kapok.

Regarding kapok cloth, the most famous thing is the "kapok cassock", a token of Buddhism. At this time, the kapok cassock was in the hands of Hongren, the fifth ancestor of Zen Buddhism. It would not take long for this kapok cassock to be passed into the hands of Huineng, the sixth ancestor. However, in the end, Wu Mei took it from Huineng and enshrined it. In the palace.

Li Hong slumped on the chair and said feebly: "You will know when the time comes." Don't those idiots in the Western Regions still know that cotton can be bounced? Is it the perfect thing to keep out the cold after you finish playing

He didn't break it to Bai Chun. With Xia Zhi's help, he sat down on the chair again and said to Cheetah and Jingzhe: "Let's set out tomorrow. You must remember what I said and you must be cautious. It's better not to do it than to do it." Don't expose your final plan! Also, this old madam... is wrong. Buy as much cotton as Bai Chun draws for you. Don't be too much. If you don't have enough money, just write to Xia Zhi and ask for it. She is a big deal now. She’s a rich woman, she’s probably richer than my mother!”

Thinking of this, Li Hong couldn't help but feel happy. His father actually gave him the money first. Recently, the carriage bearing his name as acting king ran to the palace every now and then. In addition to being inspected at Chengtianmen along the way, It's a military inspection.

Glass ornaments, large and small, were transported to the Palace of Internal Affairs and Yeting Palace. Within a few days, the palace lanterns inside and outside the palace were all replaced with glass lampshades. Wine glasses, decanters, etc. were all taken out by Li Zhi to show off without exception. Even in some important places, Li Zhi replaced the candlesticks with glass ones.

During the recent period, Li Zhi kept the ministers or foreign envoys in the palace to have banquets every day. He often watched the ministers or foreign envoys drinking from the glass wine glass carefully for fear of breaking it. Li Zhi didn't know The vanity that came out of nowhere was greatly satisfied.

Watching the officials or foreign envoys look like bumpkins has become one of his hobbies. After the banquet, he led the officials to change palaces to enjoy singing and dancing. He walked on the road of the palace and admired the brilliant palace lanterns, which made Li It makes me feel really happy. Show off, show off, show off! no way! Just have money!

After Li Hong left Cheetah and Jingzhe, his performance in recent days almost made Wu Mei and Li Zhi's jaws drop to the ground in surprise.

He came here early every day carrying his small backpack to say hello, and then he would just skip around without being urged, humming a tune of unknown tune, and go to the Hongwen Hall to study. His subjective initiative improved for no reason. , leaving Li Zhi and Wu Mei stunned.

Looking at Li Hong's back, singing and dancing happily like an early bird in the morning, Li Zhi murmured to Wu Mei, "How about asking a senior monk to do the exercises for him? How about asking a Taoist priest to exorcise evil spirits for him?"

When Wu Mei heard this, she almost fainted. She pinched Li Zhi's waist angrily, turned around and returned to the palace. Such a shameless father really... let Li Hong get infected, right? Wu Mei thought.

Li Hong rummaged through the books in the Hongwen Hall and finally found an article written in small print on a bamboo slip, which was recorded in the "Ben Jing", also known as the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica".

This book has also been included in "Sui Shu - Jing Ji Zhi". Holding the bamboo slips, Li Hong shook his head helplessly and sighed. In the five thousand years of long history of the Chinese nation, all inventions and creations are basically related to pharmacology.

Even this mercury, such a poisonous thing, was invented because of medicine. I really don’t know whether I should be happy or sad.

He took the bamboo slips to find Shangguan Yi and asked him to help him find the "Ben Jing".

The question mark on Shangguan Yi's head is that this generation of kings either do not want to learn, or else they plunge into the library of the Imperial College and live day by day without eating or drinking.

As a gentleman, Shangguan Yi looked at the serious Li Hong and first touched his own forehead, then pretended to touch Li Hong's forehead. This king must have been possessed by evil spirits.

"What's wrong with you, King Dai? Do you want to study pharmacology in the "Hermit Classic" and prescribe medicine for yourself?" Shangguan Yi asked considerately.

Li Hong opened his hand impatiently and said angrily: "I'm not sick."

"Then I wonder why the King is looking for such a rare book?"

"I'm sick, please let me go!" Li Hong was so angry that he was speechless.

"The king should see the imperial doctor. On behalf of the king, I still hope that you will see a doctor first, and then come back after you are cured..." Shangguan Yi Tang Xuanzang said as if he was possessed.

"Shangguanyi, I order you to hand over the Classic to me right now, otherwise it will be disrespectful to punish you!" Li Hong was so angry that he gibbered nonsense and yelled.

Shangguan Yi stroked his beard, looked at Li Hong with great relief, and thought to himself: "King Dai finally knows how to go to school, it's not easy." My hard work is not in vain. "

But the scene that happened next left Li Hong dumbfounded. He saw that under Shangguan Yi's command, several people were coming in and out of the Imperial College's library, and then there was a pile of bamboo slips like a hill in front of him.

Li Hong looked at Shangguan Yi blankly and murmured: "Sir, don't tell me this is the "Hermit Classic"?"

Shangguan Yi brushed his beard and smiled, and said proudly: "Yes, all the bamboo scrolls of "The Classic" are intact here."

Li Hong couldn't help but sigh and patted his head, blaming himself for being too anxious and forgetting the ancient saying "It is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books".

Ten thousand books does not mean ten thousand books, but one book! The word "ten thousand scrolls" is just the best explanation for the pile of small mangosteen scrolls in front of me.

Before the advent of paper in ancient times, bamboo slips were the only means of burning books. As for a book, if the author is a bit crazy or talented, and wants to become famous through a book, it will often happen that a room full of bamboo slips is a book.

(End of chapter)