Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 48

Just as I was thinking about what went wrong, I heard a series of "clatter, clatter, clatter" sounds of taking out keys.

Looking up, he saw a gloomy man wearing a unicorn suit staring at him outside the cell.

Although the seven or eight people who came to arrest him were all dressed up in various ways, when they came to the Yamen and saw the people around them with embroidered spring knives hanging on their waists and wearing flying fish uniforms, even the fool knew that it was Jin Yiwei who had arrested him.

"Come out!"

"Eh!"

There is no point in resisting, and the Jinyiwei Prison is obviously not a place for reasoning. If you want to suffer less punishment, it is best to be obedient.

Lai Shangrong stooped out of the cell.

"grown ups!……"

Following the gloomy man in Qilin suit out of the prison, everyone he met was greeted with courtesy.

All the way out of Jinyiwei Yamen.

"I am the Commander of the Imperial Guards, Qi Ning!"

Qi Ning turned around and smiled sinisterly.

Lai Shangrong hurriedly raised his hands and saluted: "Master Qi!"

Qi Ning asked curiously: "Don't ask where you are going?"

Lai Shangrong said cautiously: "I will go wherever you want me to go!"

Qi Ning smiled brightly and pointed to the carriage beside him. Lai Shangrong hurriedly got in and found a corner to sit down.

"The emperor wants to see you!"

After Qi Ning got in the car, he said this coldly and began to close his eyes to rest.

Lai Shangrong was greatly surprised. He originally thought that some powerful man had colluded with the Jin Yiwei to force him to question his papermaking skills, but he didn't expect that it was the emperor who arrested him.

But why did the emperor arrest him?

Could it be that gaining fame by oneself violated a taboo?
But the leaflet didn't even have time to be posted. How could the emperor predict the future?
How could I, a small official, not even an official, be able to attract the emperor's attention? I couldn't figure it out after much thought.

The carriage came to the gate of the palace.

After a body search and a series of security checks, I finally arrived in front of the Imperial Study Room.

"Xuan Lai has the honor to meet you!"

A high-pitched voice came, and Lai Shangrong hurriedly walked into the hall respectfully according to what the leading eunuch said.

When he arrived in the hall, he walked a few steps in, but he didn't dare to raise his head for fear of offending the emperor's majesty, so he fell down and bowed.

"Lai Shangrong, the son of Chang'an, comes to see Your Majesty!"

After a while, a calm voice was heard: "Why do you want to announce the improved papermaking technology to the world?"

When he heard the emperor ask about papermaking, he was a little panicked. Then he thought of his promotional pages and calmed down a lot.

"Return to your majesty! I want to be an official!"

"Oh? You have already won the imperial examination at a young age. Isn't this unnecessary?"

"The ordinary people have no hope of becoming a scholar in this life, so they have no choice but to take this step!"

From the emperor's first question about papermaking, Lai Shangrong suddenly thought of a serious problem. No matter why he was arrested before, the emperor's plan to gain fame by improving papermaking is no longer a secret to the emperor.

He had been thinking about gaining fame in Shilin, but he had forgotten whether it would violate the emperor's taboo.

Therefore, we can only create an image of ourselves who is obsessed with failure in the imperial examination and try our best to eliminate the impact. Otherwise, I am afraid that not only will my life be saved, but my family will also be harmed.

"You passed the imperial examination at the age of 16 and only passed three subjects. How could you be so sure that there was no hope for you in the imperial examination?"

"Go back to the emperor! The ideals of ordinary people cannot be tolerated by the nobles in the court!"

If you risk it all, save your life first.

With the idea that he would never stop talking without surprising people, Lai Shangrong talked about technology as the primary productive force, and also used the example of his own paper making and steam engine. "There were Mohists and Gongshu Ban in the pre-Qin Dynasty, and they left many treasures to be passed down to future generations... If Zhuge Wuhou's wooden cow and flowing horse could be handed down to this day... I have hundreds of millions of people in Great Xia, if everyone has books to read... The reason why the common people are improving papermaking The technical use of steam engines is also to prove to the Gungun Lords that the common people are not just lying!"

His speech was impassioned, and when he spoke, he imitated the performances of old actors in TV dramas in his previous life, so as to achieve both emotional and emotional expression.

Moreover, these remarks are not traceless. There are more or less traces of his remarks in autumn and three springs, and he is not afraid of the emperor's subsequent verification.

Even so, in this winter, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and he lay on the ground waiting for the final verdict.

I don't know how long it took before Emperor Zhenglong said slowly: "Did you know that Jia She and Jia Zhen of Ningrong's second mansion are blocking your house at this time and asking for ways to improve papermaking!"

Although it was strange that the flyer was not posted, how did they know about it, but they didn't have time to think about it.

"The grassroots don't know!"

"Does anyone else know the method of improvement?"

"The most important lye is prepared by the common people themselves, and the people involved only have a partial understanding of it!"

"Okay! Xia Shouzhong, let someone take him down to eat!"

Not to mention that Lai Shangrong followed the young eunuch to worship at the Five Zang Temple, Emperor Zhenglong left the imperial study and went straight to Linjing Hall.

In Linjing Hall, Jia Zheng had been waiting in fear for more than an hour.

"I see your Majesty!"

"Be flat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Lai Shangrong, the son of Chang'an, returned from your family, right?"

"It's the emperor! He left his country as soon as he was born. He had long been with..."

Jia Zhengcheng was horrified. He had a bad impression of Lai Shangrong, so he naturally thought that something had offended Tianyan. Just as he was about to draw a clear line, he heard Emperor Zhenglong burst into laughter and hurriedly stopped talking.

"Hahaha! Okay! Okay! No wonder he doesn't dare to take credit, saying that it's all thanks to your family's cultivation that we are where we are today!"

"Credit?" Jia Zheng was at a loss, but grasped the key words.

"Exactly! This spring, although he didn't catch the examiner's eye, he caught my eye, so I sent him a steam engine and asked him to improve papermaking. Unexpectedly, he lived up to my expectations! It's just a reward today. At that time, he didn't dare to take credit, saying that it was all your family's cultivation! But although he thought about the relationship between master and servant, the rewards from the court were always due to teachers. Fortunately, you are in the staff department, and you can improve papermaking techniques. It's my duty, so I'll write a note here to recommend Lai Shangrong, so that I can stop Youyou's mouth!"

Jia Zheng's jaw dropped in shock, his mouth opened for a long time but he didn't know what to say.

Emperor Zhenglong didn't wait for him to speak, and sighed: "Improved papermaking technology can benefit many scholars in the world!"

This is really a person sitting at home, happy from heaven. Jia Zheng did not expect such a good thing.He has been unable to integrate into the Qingliu. Although I don't know how effective the improvement is, the emperor is so happy, so it obviously has a good effect.

The thought of being able to leave a name in history makes me tremble with excitement.

"But...but my minister..." Jia Zheng agreed willingly, but he was afraid that he would be exposed and his reputation would be ruined afterwards, so he was embarrassed for a long time and could not say a complete sentence.

"This is what he proposed to me. Is it possible that he still dares to go back on his words? Aren't he afraid of deceiving the emperor?"

"Eh!"

Jia Zheng did not hesitate and quickly accepted the memorial from Xia Shouzhong.

Emperor Zhenglong watched him finish writing and asked again: "The female historian Jia Yuanchun is your daughter, right?"

"Back to the emperor, it's my little girl!"

Emperor Zhenglong waved his sleeve robe: "Decree: Jia Yuanchun, the maid of the Fengzao Palace, is intelligent and agile, dignified and succinct, respectful and attentive, has served the palace for a long time, has a sensitive nature and wisdom, and does not exceed the etiquette. After writing, she was named Fengzao Palace. Shangshu, confer the title of Concubine Xiande! Here it is!"

"Thank you Majesty Long En!"

Emperor Zhenglong smiled and said: "Let your family enter the palace to thank you! Uh... I won't come here. Let's go to the father of the Daming Palace to thank you!"

Watching Jia Zheng leave the hall with a lot of gratitude.

Emperor Zhenglong narrowed his eyes and ordered: "Bring Lai Shangrong here!"

"Yes! Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)