Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 715 His Majesty is Here
In front of Chongwen Gate,

Yu Dingzhi, the commander of the imperial guards, said a few words in the culvert of the palace gate, and then hurriedly left the Yangxin Palace. As he left, he was still thinking about how to report to His Majesty.
But Luo Yunhou was really bold. There was nothing wrong with bringing those tents, but a few carts of wine and ten yellow sheep, wasn't this a joke?
I have never heard of anyone drinking and eating meat while invigilating an exam. Besides, the Marquis of Xiangyang did not even give any warning and joined in the "mischief."

Yes, it's "nonsense".

Yu Dingzhi was full of resentment. Although he had let the Marquis in, if any problems arose, he, as the garrison commander, would definitely not be able to escape responsibility. He was afraid that the civil officials would find out and somehow file a memorial to accuse him.

When I thought about this, I suddenly felt a headache and my steps became bigger.

Hurrying,

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the front yard of the Yangxin Palace. Many eunuchs were guarding outside the door. Yu Dingzhi stopped, straightened his clothes, and smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes. Then he entered the yard, walked to the door, and bowed respectfully.
"I, the commander of the Chongwen Gate Imperial Guard, will report to Your Majesty."

Just finished speaking,

I saw the palace door open, and Eunuch Yun stood at the inner door with an expressionless face and asked;

"So it's General Yu. Didn't the governor send you to guard Chongwen Gate and help out during the imperial examination? Why are you here?"

Seeing that it was Eunuch Yun who opened the door himself, Yu Dingzhi immediately bowed and said:

"Greetings, Eunuch Yun. I am here to report to Your Majesty that Marquis Luo Yun and Marquis Xiangyang have arrived. Marquis Luo Yun led 111 soldiers, 111 long swords, 10 hand crossbows, and 100 crossbow arrows. They were all registered and brought into Hanyuan Hall. A large amount of supplies were also brought in, but I have sent people to check them. There are no contraband, mostly some dry food."

Yu Dingzhi hurriedly explained the purpose of his visit, especially the weapons brought by Luo Yunhou, and reported them in detail. In short, it was right to report more.

When Eunuch Yun heard that Marquis Luo Yun had arrived, his face lit up with joy. His Majesty had been thinking about Marquis Luo Yun since he left the court today, and now there was finally news. He was moved, wondering if Marquis Luo Yun's illness had improved.
"Alright, I know about this matter. Follow me in and wait."

"Thank you, father-in-law."

Yu Dingzhi thanked him hurriedly and bent down a little lower.

The two of them entered the palace gate.

But he did not go to the imperial study, but entered the inner hall. When he reached the middle room, Eunuch Yun stopped, glanced back at General Yu, and said;
"General Yu, please wait here for a while. I will go in and tell them."

"Excuse me, father-in-law."

He did not dare to say much. Yu Dingzhi stood there with his head lowered, motionless. He knew how many eyes were watching him secretly.

Eunuch Yun in front of him ignored him and turned the corner, disappearing into the East Warm Pavilion. Little Yunzi carefully pushed open the door and entered the room. The windows around were half open, and there were a few pearwood screens standing there, so he couldn't see what was going on inside.
I had no choice but to walk to the screen and gently knock on the door frame, making a "bang bang" sound, which was the secret signal left with my godfather.

Subsequently,

Then came the voice of godfather Dai Quan,

"Wait."

As the voice was spoken, Dai Quan's figure also appeared behind the screen. Seeing that it was Xiao Yunzi who came, he asked quietly;

"what's up?"

"Reporting to godfather, it was Yu Dingzhi, the guard of Chongwenmen Imperial Guard, who came to report that Marquis Luo Yun had entered Hanyuan Palace, and Marquis Xiangyang had also arrived."

Little Yunzi, I dare not neglect it and tell you the purpose of my visit. Dai Quan touched the Buddhist whisk in his hand and thought for a while. His Majesty had just woken up after sleeping for a while and had not eaten yet. However, he was still talking about Luo Yunhou before the midday break.

"You ask him to wait first. I will report to His Majesty. If he doesn't show up, send him back. It's not a big deal."

"Yes, godfather, I understand."

Xiao Yunzi nodded in agreement.
Dai Quan turned around and went back to the inner room. In the warm room, Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong had just woken up, changed his clothes, sat at the table, slowly sipped his tea, and put down the tea bowl. He asked;
"What's going on outside?"

"Your Majesty, there is nothing serious. The guards of Chongwen Gate came to report that Marquis Luo Yun brought his men into Hanyuan Palace, and Marquis Xiangyang also came with him."

Dai Quan spoke briefly and directly said that Marquis Luo Yun had arrived.

Emperor Wu's eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. This kid finally did not forget. If he really couldn't remember, he would have to drag him out from the Marquis' Mansion. When entering the examination room for the special examination, the examiners also needed to be checked, and the chief examiner needed to enter the night in advance. Fortunately, the kid remembered.

"It's a good thing he still remembers it. I was worried and thought that kid had forgotten it."

That kid, naturally, refers to Luo Yunhou. The tone of his voice was quite protective, so it was no wonder that no one could understand him.

Dai Quan, who was standing beside him, nodded slightly, with the crown on his head and the hairbands on both sides hanging down in front of him.
"Your Majesty, although Marquis Luo Yun sometimes acts rashly, his loyalty is commendable and he is bold and daring. He does everything in the open, especially the things that Your Majesty has asked him to do. This is also the first time for the Marquis to take the Imperial Examination, so some omissions are understandable."

Dai Quan's reply was remarkable and made Emperor Wu in a good mood, and he laughed and scolded;

"You old fellow, you only say nice things. Did you accept benefits from that boy?"

"Well, Your Majesty, I did accept three hundred taels of silver from Marquis Luo Yun. Your Majesty, when I went on tour last time, Marquis Luo Yun ate most of it. This is the first time that I have received the silver and I can spend it again."

Dai Quan had a bitter face and actually admitted to taking the money, which reminded Emperor Wu of the last time he went out incognito. Indeed, those days were really happy. Otherwise, he should wait until the Enke is over before going out again.
"You old fellow, you took the silver and still complained. Keep the rest, you will need it again. Go outside and call the person in to question him."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Dai Quan's mind was moved. The remaining silver was ready and needed. His Majesty wanted to go on a tour incognito. He could only trouble the Marquis when the time came.
He responded and walked out slowly. As soon as he took a step, he was stopped by Emperor Wu.
"By the way, who did you send to the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau to inspect the case?"

Speaking of silver, Emperor Wu has always been worried about the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau. This is of utmost importance, and the court's deficit depends on it. As for the local officials, I am worried about them.

Dai Quan stamped his feet, turned around and replied;
"Your Majesty, I asked Yang Chi, the Imperial Horse Supervisor, to lead the Imperial City Guard to the south to take over the weaving bureau. I think they should have arrived in Jiangnan by now. If it were someone else, I would be worried, so I asked him to supervise the Suzhou Weaving Bureau, and Your Majesty can rest assured."

"Okay, that's it,"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing that His Majesty did not ask any more questions, Dai Quan walked out.
"Xiao Yunzi, bring the man inside for questioning."

: "Yes, godfather."

After Xiao Yunzi got the message, he turned around and walked out of the house. When he reached the outer room, he saw General Yu still standing there respectfully, and said softly;

"General Yu, His Majesty has summoned you. Please answer from inside the door."

"Yes, I will obey your order."

He actually knelt on the ground and kowtowed first, then stood up and respectfully followed Eunuch Yun.
The two of them entered the room one after another and waited outside the screen.

"Your Majesty, General Yu has arrived."

When Eunuch Yun made a announcement, the people inside could naturally hear it.
"Your Majesty, the person is waiting inside the door."

Dai Quan stood in the inner hall of the warm room and reminded him.
"Yes, I heard it. Call him in to answer the question."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Then, Dai Quan shouted loudly,
"General Yu, come in and answer the call."
Yu Dingzhi's face flushed, and he walked in excitedly. He knelt on the ground from a distance and shouted,
"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor."

"Stand up,"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yu Dingzhi knelt there and kowtowed heavily before standing up again. As soon as he raised his head, he saw that his forehead was red.

"You said Luo Yunhou is here. How many people did he bring with him?"

"Your Majesty, Marquis Luo Yun brought with him 100 guards, 11 personal soldiers, 111 long swords, 10 crossbows, 100 crossbow arrows, 30 carts of supplies, 10 yellow sheep, and 5 carts of sake. He gave me a cart with 10 jars of wine."

For some reason, Yu Dingzhi got excited and described in detail what Marquis Luo Yun had brought. The first part was fine, and Emperor Wu didn't take it seriously, but the latter part, needless to say, the weapons had been mentioned before, but why were the five carts of wine and ten yellow sheep brought in?

Even Dai Quan, who was listening, was a little stunned. He had just been praising Luo Yunhou, but something went wrong. Thirty cars, that was a lot.

"They brought thirty carts of stuff, as well as sake and yellow sheep. Have you checked them? What does Marquis Luo Yun say?"

Emperor Wu asked with some doubt, does that boy have other intentions?

Yu Dingzhi heard this and broke out in a cold sweat. He was worried that he had gone too far. When he saw His Majesty asking questions, he trembled and replied;

"Your Majesty, I personally checked the carriages. They carried tents for the troops to stay in, as well as a lot of food. As for the wine and sheep, the Marquis did not mention them, and I did not ask."

After he finished speaking, the sweat on his forehead flowed down his cheeks, and he continued;

"Your Majesty, the cart of wine and drinks that the Marquis gave me is still at Chongwen Gate, and I dare not touch it."

The curiosity in Emperor Wu's eyes grew stronger. He didn't care about the cart of wine at all. Instead, he wanted to see how Hanyuan Palace prepared it. He couldn't sit still when he thought of this.

"Dai Quan, follow me to Hanyuan Palace to see what your boy is doing."

"Uh, yes, Your Majesty, you haven't eaten yet?"

Although Dai Quan agreed, His Majesty had just gotten up and had not yet eaten. Was he a little anxious?

"I'm not hungry yet. Tomorrow the examiners will enter the palace. I wonder how Marquis Luo Yun is preparing. I'm a little worried. I'll go and take a look."

Emperor Wu was really worried about this matter, so he stood up and was about to leave. Seeing this, Dai Quan followed closely. Before leaving, he waved to General Yu, indicating that he should follow.

Yu Dingzhi quickly wiped the sweat off his face and ran out.

In front of the Hanyuan Hall,
A large number of people and horses, led by the guards, came to the gate of the courtyard and pushed it open together.

Zhang Jinyu led most of the troops through the main gate and entered the large courtyard of Hanyuan Hall.
As soon as I entered, the view suddenly opened up.
It's no wonder that after being tidied up and repaired by the craftsmen from the Ministry of Works, the yard appears extremely spacious, clean and tidy. All the fancy decorations have been removed, and many flowers, plants and trees have been planted in the yard, providing lush greenery.

The large courtyard in front of the palace is extremely spacious, like a parade ground. It can easily accommodate hundreds of tents and can even be used for military training.

only,
I brought a lot of stuff with me, and it was a problem to accommodate so many carriages.

Looking at the many carriages following behind him, his face turned red. How could it be like moving house? Then he looked at the center of the yard. The big bronze tripod was still there and it seemed to have been cleaned. When the time came, he could just use a long stick to string the two big tripods together, clamp the ears of the two tripods, and roast a whole lamb on them. There was no need to make it smoky and hot in other places because there was a ready-made stove.

Just as he was thinking about something good, Ning Bian in front of him saw everyone entering the yard and asked;

"My Lord, everyone is here. Please decide where to set up camp. If you are not comfortable, it is better for you to stay in the house. I see that there are many houses in the side halls."

Ning Bian looked towards the side hall with some hesitation. The outside was clean and tidy. There was a word "official" pasted on both sides of the door, which was obviously for officials to rest. The other side halls had words "candidate" pasted on them, which was obvious at a glance.

Zhang Jinyu naturally saw it as well. He looked up and around. The main hall of Hanyuan Hall was obviously where students took exams, while the several side halls were where students slept. They were also separated and clear at a glance. As for his own people, they certainly could not occupy the open space in the center of the courtyard. Not only was it extremely unsightly, it was also too arrogant.

"Of course I sleep in a tent. I'm used to it. If I sleep in a house, I'll feel uncomfortable."

What Zhang Jinyu said was true. When he was outside the Great Wall, he didn't like living in the house. Not only was it empty, but he couldn't hear the noise outside. When he slept in a tent, he could hear the noise inside and outside clearly. In addition, the bed was more comfortable than the one in the house. I don't know if it was a psychological feeling.

"Then, Lord, where is the most suitable place for us to set up camp?"

Ning Bian looked around again. Although Hanyuan Hall was not far from Chongwenmen, it had high walls and pavilions, and had everything. The courtyard of the main gate also faced south and had side halls on both sides and the backyard also had side halls. The central hall was located in the middle of the courtyard. So, although the courtyard was large, it was a pity that it was not easy to find a place to stay.

Zhang Jinyu also frowned. It was indeed so. It felt like no place was suitable. It would be conspicuous to the east or west, and who knows what rumors would arise. There was no place in the north, so the only place was at the south gate.

Thinking of this, he turned around and looked at the two sides of the courtyard gate. There were a lot of open spaces, and many of the flowers in the flower beds had not been planted yet, so they could be used to cook. In this way, the bluestone slabs would not be burnt. He pointed to the empty spaces on both sides of the courtyard gate behind him and said;

"Set up camp on both sides of the gate, and then put the tents in two rows along the gate, closer together, and put up the brazier racks. Oh, and place a larger tent in the middle of the road for body searches. Cut down those big trees over there and make them into chevaux de frise on both sides of the road, just like a marching camp."

Zhang Jinyu was talking, isn't this the layout of the marching camp? Ning Bian pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and asked;

"My Lord, isn't that too much? Making the barricades too, won't it scare the examinees?"

"To select talents for the country, if you can't even stand this test, how can you do well in the exam? Just arrange it according to this. Starting tomorrow, at the doors of the houses along the way, and on both sides of the road, let our brothers stand with knives in hand. If anyone does not follow the rules, we will arrest them directly."

Zhang Jinyu retorted in a bad mood that those who wanted to take the exam well in Hanyuan Hall were welcomed by him, Marquis Luo Yun. However, if anyone had other ideas or wanted to cause trouble, don't blame him, Marquis Luo Yun, for being rude.

"Yes, sir, I understand."

Just as Zhang Jinyu was setting up the tent, the carriage of Marquis Xiangyang arrived at the end of the convoy. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Marquis Luo Yun's soldiers marking the ground to build tents. Some of them were holding axes and chopping down several large trees in the east. Seeing these actions, Marquis Xiangyang swallowed his saliva unconsciously.
"My Lord, we are only building tents, why did you cut down those trees?"

The Marquis was indeed reckless. Every blade of grass and every tree in the palace, not to mention how much money they were bought with, even ordinary trees, after being counted in the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, would amount to a lot of them. Looking at the row of trees in the east falling down one by one, the Marquis of Xiangyang's face twitched. What should he do? He didn't know what the Marquis was going to do with the trees.

"Brother Bai, please be patient. These trees are planted in the wrong place. They are too shady. I want to make this road more majestic. Besides, these hundreds of people need firewood to light the fire. The coal they pull cannot be burned dry."

Zhang Jinyu actually didn't want to cut down all those trees. However, after cutting down three or four trees, the remaining trees looked too ugly. Everyone knew that there were too few trees, so it would be better to just cut them all down. Don't we need wood as a starter for cooking and making fire?

Seeing Marquis Luo Yun's arrogant words, Marquis Xiangyang Bai Guangju was a little speechless. In the past, whether it was officials or candidates, they all brought their own dry food. The food they ate was similar, nothing more than pancakes and pickles. The better ones brought some dried meat, and those that could be put away were provided by the Imperial Academy. Thinking of the drinking water,
Bai Guangju looked around, but couldn't see any well.

"My Lord, it is said that the imperial examination is a big deal. There is nothing wrong with cooking on the march. We just did it. After all, there are many people. No one said that we can't eat ready-made meals. But we can't live without water. I looked around and didn't find a well. With so many people, drinking water is also a big problem."

Zhang Jinyu had just dismounted from his horse and saw his brothers busy at work. The sky was gradually getting darker and he felt that he had nothing to do for the whole day, which was wasted. He turned around and saw those fat sheep bleating happily, so he waved and called two of his personal soldiers over.
"You two, kill a yellow sheep and roast it in the big pot in the yard. Share the sheep tonight."

Xiangyang Hou, who had just finished asking the question, was asked by Zhang Jinyu before he could stop it;

"What well? Are you talking about drinking water? I've thought about it a long time ago, but you didn't come to check it out before, so you didn't know. The wells are not in the front, but in the backyard. There are four big wells, so there will be no shortage of water.

But you also reminded me that drinking water would be a problem for everyone. Fortunately, I brought a lot of pots. Once I find a place, I can set up the pots and boil water for the candidates to drink, which will at least warm them up."

Zhang Jinyu raised his hand and asked the soldiers around him to hurry up. If they hesitated any longer, it would be dark. Seeing this, many soldiers set up several large pots at the place where they were cutting trees in the east and boiled some hot water.

Seeing this, Xiangyang Hou felt a little ashamed.
"My Lord, you are very thoughtful. However, that big cauldron is used for burning incense and worshipping the heavens. Wouldn't it be disrespectful to use it to roast lamb?"

(End of this chapter)