The days when I pretended to be a cat in the Forbidden City[Comprehensive]

The next day, Xia Anran just introduced her new partner to Cheng Wu, before she could say a few words, she was interrupted by Dou Ying.

It turned out that after the banquet yesterday, Dou Ying went back to the house and thought about it again and again, always feeling that something was not right.

The wine that he drank was thin, and his mind was nurtured by a transpiration. He tried hard to hold it all night, and came to Xia Anran early the next morning to ask about the candle.

Although Dou Ying was born as a civil servant, his long-term military career made his thinking circuit biased towards the directness of military commanders, so when he asked whether King Zhongshan had discovered a new method of making wax, he felt inappropriate.Just about to add, I don't think Xia Anran has already answered him very frankly.

"That's right, this king has indeed discovered a new method of making wax." Then, the elder and the younger looked at each other.

Dou Ying was tormented in every possible way, and became even more curious when she got the answer.However, even if he was a real uncle, he never asked his nephew for the formula, and he was not a real uncle, but just a polite sentence from King Zhongshan.

Thoughts swirled in his mind again and again, and finally he only asked politely: "May I ask Your Highness, what is the price of this candle?"

This question stumped Xia Anran, after all, it had been so long since the candle was made, and he hadn't set a price yet.

He hesitated and stretched out his five fingers.

Wudou?Dou Ying frowned slightly, the price of half a stone... a little expensive, but not completely unacceptable.

"Okay, I'll buy two hundred sticks first. If the King of Zhongshan is trustworthy, I will send five hundred shi of corn after I return to Chang'an next time."

Xia Anran was intimidated by his uncle's wealth.He looked at his hand, retracted it silently, and asked cautiously: "Wei Qihou thinks that the price...is not suitable?"

Dou Ying waved her hand indifferently: "It's okay."

In fact, it was about the five liters of Xia Anran being overjoyed by the sudden tenfold increase in price, and her mind was full of rice grains running around.But in the end, he restrained the little devil in his heart, and gave his uncle a [-]% discount. As a price, he asked Dou Ying to help him escort the caravan westward when he returned to Chang'an.

It turned out that he didn't plan to sell candles so early, because the raw materials were not collected enough, and he wanted to make the candles a hit during the spring pilgrimage.But now that white porcelain and celadon are available, this is unnecessary.

In front of white porcelain and celadon, even the most exquisite candles have to give way to them, it is better to transfer a wave of funds first.After all, his pocket money is limited after all, and he can do more things if he returns earlier.

Xia Anran, who kept a money-burning porcelain kiln, thought so.

To Dou Ying, this is just a trivial matter, and there is a discount, so don't let it go, he agreed immediately.

Xia Anran thought about the consequences of producing something by herself, but not being the first one for his father, so she planned to change the caravan into a gift-giving team.It happened to let his father and grandmother be the endorsers, and when the second batch of candles were ready to enter Beijing, he happened to sell an upgraded version of carvings and paintings.

The little king, who could beat the abacus beads loudly, was interrupted by several courtiers who watched the whole process before he could immerse himself in a dream for a few seconds.

Cheng Bushi walked up with a test paper.

This test paper was written by the only person who answered two questions on the one Xia Anran saw yesterday.

Xia Anran felt that the martial arts question answered by that person was quite reliable, so today he wanted Cheng Bushi, a professional, to come and have a look.

Cheng Buzhi stepped forward, and the little king immediately put down his pen and waited for his evaluation.

"This son should be from the army," Cheng Buzhi directly stated his conclusion, explaining under the gaze of the young boy, "What he said is solid and realistic, and he should observe the terrain of Zhongshan and the strength of our military equipment." , I think it is available."

"Okay." As a layman, Xia Anran never doubted the words of experts.He didn't know the paper in his hand when he picked it up, so he left a mark waiting for an interview on it. As soon as he put down the pen, he saw Lieutenant Cheng's hesitant expression on his face, hesitating to speak.

This is rare.

Xia Anran is a little strange, although his lieutenant is a military officer, but he has a delicate mind, and to some extent he has a little self-cultivation, so he can be regarded as a Confucian general.

If he and Zhidu appear at the same time, I am afraid that some people will misunderstand that he is a civil servant... although the post of Zhidu is not a simple civil servant.Xia Anran had never seen such an expression on his face since he met him, so he was inevitably curious, so he asked a question.

He got an unexpected answer.

"I just feel..." Cheng Bushi's face was a little complicated, "Some of the tactical battles in this duet are somewhat similar to someone I know, but they are not completely similar."

Xia Anran raised her eyebrows: "Who is it?"

"Daijun Sheriff, Li Guang."

Xia Anran's eyes suddenly widened. He knew that this possibility was unlikely. The sheriff next door left his post and defense duties in the winter and ran to him to take the exam. Even if Li Guang was hit on the head, Xia Anran I dare not accept it.

But Cheng Bushi and Li Guangwei were old acquaintances, so there was a reason for him to say so. He turned his mind and suddenly thought of a possibility.

This paper has been circulated by everyone, and it has been judged that there is no need for anonymity.So, he directly reached out and removed the place where the name was blurred. When he saw the candidate's name, Xia Anran laughed. His name was Li Danghu.

Li Danghu, the eldest son of Li Guang, and the father of Li Ling.

Because of his early death, this person did not leave too many traces in history, and almost all the information is based on the relationship between his father and son.

Li Guang is now serving as the sheriff of Daijun.Dai County is adjacent to Zhongshan Country, so it is normal for the people of Dai County to come to them to take the exam after hearing the news of Zhongshan Country.

I understand the truth, but Li Danghu has a county sheriff's father, why did he come to them when he wasn't there?Xia Anran tilted her head in confusion.

In fact, the reason is very simple. Every teenager in the second year of middle school will have a mentality of "I don't want to rely on my family, I want to go out and break through with my own strength".

The same is true for Li Danghu.

The young boy grew up under the bath of his father's various great achievements since he was sensible.One is that he adores his father very much, and the other is that he also wants to get rid of the shadow of his own father, and he does not want to call himself Li Guang's son.

But the problem is, as Li Guang's son, he naturally has to follow his father's personal guards.

The little boy was already dancing the small wooden knife vigorously when he was not as high as the wheel of the cart.Others danced with spoons while others danced with knives. Later, he even learned the superb archery skills of his father. No matter where he went, he would be praised as a "young hero".

But precisely because he is Li Guang's son, all his achievements and efforts are regarded as the origin of his family.

And the most frightening thing was that almost everyone who didn't know him felt that he would rely on his father's shadow to obtain his position in the army in the future.Little Li endured it for one month, two months, one year, two years, and finally reached the end of it.

In addition, after Lao Tzu's Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, he began to transfer to various places. It happened that he was transferred to Dai County this time, and it happened that a Zhongshan King came to the south of Dai County to choose talents, so he came to join in the fun.

Frankly speaking, he took part in Xia Anran's interview because he didn't really want to join the Zhongshan Kingdom. Leaving aside the factors of his father, he was just a general, and Zhongshan Kingdom is an inland country with few wars.

As a general here, the fact that he can't make great achievements is enough to be on his blacklist!So he just wanted to take the test for fun, especially when he heard that the lieutenant here was Cheng Bushi, who was as famous as his father, so he wanted to try his own skills.

How did you know that the method of selecting talents here is actually to make papers!

When he finished the test paper, Li Danghu still felt a little uncomfortable.Because he felt that it was a wrong decision for him to come here all the way, and use a written test to select the military officer, what joke?

It's as if you can't tell whether a mule is a horse without pulling it out and running for a while. How can you judge whether a soldier is brave or not?

Li Danghu, who thought that Zhongshan's way of seeking talents was to fight with the soldiers in an upright manner, was very disappointed. When he returned that day, he packed his things and planned to return.No, just when he was about to leave, he suddenly found a new shop opened.

What the store sells is vegetable oil.

According to the store.Add a small amount when cooking, the taste will be very delicious, especially meat, dip some before grilling, it is extremely delicious.

Eating too much meat is not easy to constipation.

It's a pity that it was too late when Li Danghu found out about this store, and the dense queue in front of him blocked him outside.So, in fact, the young man in the household who was worried that he would be beaten when he returned home rolled his eyes, thinking about staying for another day, um, when the time comes, he will buy some specialties from this place, and when he returns, he will tell his father that he is because he saw him Mom doesn't think about food and drink these days, so I went to find some appetizers.

As a result, he didn't even line up the next day.

After the people from Lunu County who bought oil cubes the day before recommended each other, Li Xiaonian, who had already woken up early, was blocked from the back.

So Li Danghu got up before dawn on the third day, and he planned to wait directly at the door of the store, buy something as soon as the store opened, and go out of the city directly.Unexpectedly, as soon as the door opened, he saw Cheng Wu, a young boy with a serious face.

The so-called second generation of soldiers, the two know each other even if they don't know each other, but they can't pretend to be familiar when they say they know each other.

Seeing Cheng Wu, Li Danghu felt a little strange, but he didn't think about it, he just thought that this person of his own generation was already on duty?Looks like it's just an auxiliary soldier?

This seems a little too small, right?

Then he was taken to Zhongshan Prince's Mansion, where Uncle Cheng was waiting for him in full armor.Seeing people being brought over, Cheng Bushi showed a kind smile.

Then, Li Danghu was beaten to the ground.

Li Danghu, who was beaten to the ground, was immediately put on a new suit of clothes, and he has been the king of Zhongshan ever since.

There are a few others who have the same treatment as him, and they all want to use the test questions of Zhongshan Kingdom as a sharpening stone.Wen Chen was fine, one of the generals was counted as one, and they were all taken to the school grounds, not only Cheng did not know him, but also his soldiers, one by one, all loosened their muscles.

When people woke up and protested, they were told it was too late!

Because their names have been printed on the list and distributed to all counties.

What?You don't agree?Well?You are not willing to vote for our Highness, what exam are you taking?fainted?Didn't you think you were dizzy with joy? Since you are here to apply for the job, we naturally regard you as our future colleagues!

Or... the soldiers' faces were fierce, and their joints were clenched: "Are you a spy sent by the enemy?"

The young people looked dazed and felt that their minds were in a mess.That's right, I didn't want to apply for a job, why did I come to take the exam... This argument seems to make sense!

Wait, what is the list?

While the young man was moaning and moaning in bed, a list with the names of the selected candidates was pasted at the gate of the county government office in Lunu County where people came and went.Except for this list, the exact same list was copied and quickly sent to the remaining thirteen counties and formal academies within the jurisdiction of Zhongshan Country!

At that time, these lists will be posted at the gates of county government offices in various places, and each person's name will be followed by their household registration location. For the local county magistrates, it can be said that they will be executed publicly.

None of the above ones in our county!Why should I post it?Shame on you? !I don't want to lose face, do I?

If you don’t believe me, the yamen servants who came to deliver the letter smiled kindly, saying that King Zhongshan had ordered it to be posted, and if it is not posted until the next notice is issued, it will not count.

Originally, before the use of paper, such a thing as posting a list would not have been possible.Bamboo slips are difficult to make and not easy to preserve, and it is even more difficult to make announcements. On weekdays, if there is a need, the officials will read the scrolls to the villagers, and the villagers will relay them.

And it is precisely because of the convenience and easy-to-carry of paper, and its ability to be pasted, that this honor can be sent to various companies.

It is also the first time that the form of big-character posters appeared in this era.

This time, 33 people were admitted for the examination, of which 24 were civil servants, and the rest were military officials.

Of course, in the Western Han Dynasty, the boundaries between civil and military were actually not clear. A civil official still had to be able to mount a horse and carry a knife, and a military officer also had to be able to manage local civil affairs. Basically every official needed to master the function of changing clothes with one button, and he could switch between civil and military at will.

In today's words, a civil official who cannot kill people is not a good county magistrate.

After all, in the era of war, combat attrition may occur at any time.

Is it possible that the entire government affairs of a county will be shut down because of the lack of a civil servant or a general?impossible……

What is even more gratifying to those who have relatives who have been admitted is that it also says that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Sheng, the lord of Zhongshan Kingdom, will personally confer the official seal and official robe on the square at the gate of the newly built county government office in Lunu. Everyone is welcome to attend the ceremony.

This thing is unprecedented.The citizens of Zhongshan Kingdom looked at this news with some interest. After the literate people read the relevant information for them, some family members who passed the exam said loudly at once, even if the family goes bankrupt, we have to go and see it. look.

A woman who married from another place was so excited that she even uttered the dialect of her hometown: "I'll be good, His Highness personally awarded the card, so I don't have to confess it."

Negative voices were inevitable, and someone laughed and said: "It's just that, Your Highness is the ninth son of the imperial court, and he is only 14 years old this year. He is still at the age where he wants to play. How can he do this?"

Someone immediately refuted him: "Princes and grandchildren are not the same as our children. You thought His Highness was like the lazy man who was eighteen or nineteen years old in your family and didn't help with work."

The quarrel among the villagers did not reach the ears of the men who watched the list in the academy on the mountain, and the young men who surrounded the list showed complicated expressions on their faces.

It was a look of envy and jealousy, and there was still some discomfort in my heart.A man dressed as a scribe patted the shoulder of the person beside him, and said with some regret: "If brother Xu also goes, he will definitely be on the list."

"It's very true, if it wasn't for the king not to go," someone on the side also spoke up, "Brother Xu's talent, how could that reckless man fall into the words of the king of Zhongshan?"

Xu Shao frowned, feeling even more mixed in his heart.

He and the people around him are all students of Xu Family Academy, and since it is called Xu Family Academy, it naturally has something to do with him.

The Xu family can be regarded as a scholarly heirloom here, and they were originally Lu Nu people.This time, Lu Nu was assigned to the fiefdom of the vassal king. There are risks as well as opportunities. It all depends on how the king is. Although it is not without room for manipulation, but in order to prevent accidents, some members of the Xu family moved to other places

The household registration is not in Zhongshan, so naturally they cannot be regarded as Zhongshan people, but the academy is the land they bought, so the academy is still here.

The name of the person on the list is Xu Yong, but he is actually a branch sect that was left in the local area.The splitting and merging of clans is purely common, and these clans have also developed a set of rules that are not rules over the long years. The division of suzerain is not based on blood, but on which branch is more prosperous.

Although the clan that Xu Shao belonged to was originally the main clan, but if the Xu Yong clan that was left behind gained power in the future, then the resources in the clan would be biased toward Xu Yong.

It seems ruthless, but it is a kind of wisdom produced in the centuries-long war.

As people of the same age, Xu Shao and Xu Yong have a delicate relationship with each other, and it is hard to say that they are not used to it, but the sense of competition does exist.

As one of the rare academies in Zhongshan, the King of Zhongshan's request for talents was directly sent to the head of the mountain.

At that time, there was an explosion among the students, and there were many who were willing to give it a try. After careful consideration, the head of the mountain encouraged everyone.

Xu Yong went, but Xu Shao did not.

Now that he has stayed in Zhongshan, Xu Yong will naturally try his best to get closer to the king.As the main sect who moved out, Xu Shao naturally couldn't get back together.

But at this moment, looking at the happy news stuck in the mountain courtyard with paste, Xu Shao felt a little uncomfortable.

There are many people around him to comfort him, but most of them are Xu Yong's small team.

And the most important thing is that more people chose to be neutral, and they went to the side of the mountain leader. These people want to know what the topic of this selection is?What did Xu Yong answer?

Why do you want to know this?

Xu Shao knew it well, and it was because these people wanted to participate in the next selection, because they suddenly discovered a new path.

A new path other than entering the Xu family or being recommended by the Xu family.

The same situation is not limited to the Xu family's academy, the well-informed young master of the Xu family has a serious face. He just thinks that this is not the style of "Goshawk", and it should not be the style of Cheng Buzhi. Could it be the Taifu ?

Speaking of which, this Taifu had never heard of his name before...but the one who can be chosen for that Majesty is probably not an ordinary person.

I don't know what other people are behind King Zhongshan to advise him, it doesn't matter to anyone.

The Xu family is just a small role here, and there are more intertwined roots that have taken root in the soil of Zhongshan Kingdom.

What does it have to do with me, the young man sighed, he glanced at the excited classmates, and left slowly.

There was a trace of melancholy in his heart, he was the son of the clan, raised by the clan, and enjoyed the treatment of a gentleman, so he should let go of his personal preferences.If not...

Forget it, it’s useless to think about it when you have time, you might as well think about the impact that King Zhongshan will have on the major families after such a move.The only local family in this list is the Xu family. Even if it is only a collateral descendant, the Xu family is always a branch of the family in the eyes of outsiders. This is an opportunity and a challenge.

You should also discuss with the clan master how to act...

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival for later generations, is just an ordinary day nowadays.

It was a beautiful day with no snowfall.

In the faint light of the sky, the people of Zhongshan Kingdom, who are rarely able to watch lively in winter, gather here slowly. They bring their families, especially the relatives of those who are on the list, are extremely happy. This kind of high-spirited Their emotions quickly made them find each other in the vast crowd.

This group of people is like novice parents sending their children to kindergarten. As soon as the parents found out that the other party was a classmate of the child, they immediately gathered a small group and carried out "parent diplomacy".However, unlike modern parents, in order to first establish a social circle for the husbands at home, these "parent groups" also launched the Little Brother Group, intending to strengthen this relationship to the end.

As for whether the son can get used to the other party's son?who cares!

This group of people walked in a mighty way, and the sound of laughter and words immediately awakened half of the city.The shopkeepers who had something to do immediately followed behind with their boxes on their shoulders, and soon even the stalls selling food were set up and followed them away.

But the further they walked, the more they found that the snow-covered road ahead was gradually dissipating and they were taken aback.

The snow-covered streets here were cleaned by the soldiers in advance, exposing the frozen soil underneath, making it easier for everyone to walk.However, the flow of people did not speed up because of this. On the contrary, it tended to slow down. Although the people behind were in a hurry, they soon discovered that the people in the front followed this fixed mode of action. Everyone didn't urge them.

When they were a little further forward, they found that there were small officials holding hemp ropes in front of them, binding the team into a row of two and advancing in a serpentine shape.Seeing them approaching, these petty officials told them to line up slowly without any expression on their faces, and don't make any noise.

This appearance quickly frightened the people who came to watch the ceremony.

Although corvée is issued, it is impossible to build a park for gatherings in less than a month with today's labor force, but fortunately, ice and snow can be used on the spot.

Xia Anran ordered the snow to be compacted, poured cold water on it to turn the outer layer into an ice layer and circled around here. The "ice wall" made in this way was as high as a human and a half adult, which perfectly blocked the sight of outsiders from exploring. .

The smooth ice surface can reflect sound waves, and the effect of sound wave transmission can be achieved under the regular reflection layers. This is the principle of the echo wall in the Temple of Heaven in the Forbidden City.

After it was built, everyone tried it, and the angle still needs to be adjusted. The sound transmission effect is not as legendary as the whispering wall introduced, and the sound amplification effect can only be said to be acceptable, but it is better than nothing.

After entering the courtyard sealed off by the ice wall, the spectators thought it was cold, but found that the ice wall can also block the wind. Without the harsh north wind howling, the inside is warmer than the outside.

There was a lot of discussion for a while.

Just at this moment, a deep sound was heard suddenly, spreading like a roar of a beast.The crowd all stood still, although they didn't know what the sound was, but they could feel the solemn and solemn power in it, some scholars even murmured softly, could it be the dragon's chant?

Just when the people were shocked by it, there was the sound of drumming.

Looking back, I saw the ceremonial team holding painted halberds walking out first. All of them were strong, handsome, and uniformly dressed.

When they looked down on them, the people immediately made a noise.

There were 33 of them in total, 11 of them lined up in three rows and walked slowly forward, and every step was consistent, which seemed to outsiders to be full of momentum.

The guard of honor marched to the front and spread out in two rows, and the students also divided into two rows, turning their backs and standing with hands clasped.

Only a moment later, the guard of honor marching out of the festival, the one holding the Han and Liu flags came first, followed by the one holding the Zhongshan flag.Wearing the king's black court robe and crowned with nine crowns, the young man walked in slowly while holding a black object in his hand.

The crowd of onlookers immediately made a noise, the short ones stepped on their feet, and the tall ones had to lend their strength to the family members who were traveling together. The parents all sat on their necks and looked in.

"That is His Highness Liu Sheng!"

"It's His Royal Highness!"

"Yeah!"

Xia Anran's expectations for watching the excitement this time.Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was not much class difference between the emperor and the people. It was common for people not to kneel when they saw the emperor, and it was not a big deal to watch the emperor.

Therefore, before he decided to make this trip, Zhi Du and Dou Ying persuaded him not to let the people in.

Both of them have experienced similar incidents, and they were under the imperial capital of Chang'an City, and the people in the city were like this, not to mention the people in a small place like Zhongshan Kingdom.

But Xia Anran persisted.

The reason is extremely simple. He is the king and the father, and the people are his ministers and sons. It is not his responsibility to educate the people. There is no reason to dislike them. They will make the atmosphere less serious and keep people out ?

What's more, he did this for the public to see.

At this moment, the young man walked forward step by step with a solemn expression on his face. The reason for his cautious attitude was because of the object in his hand.

After Dou Ying arrived in Zhongshan, Xia Anran wrote a book of Xie En's memorabilia and his thoughts, which made people go to Chang'an quickly.

And Chang'an's response was also quick. His father also seemed to feel that he was too stingy before, and he only sent the word "accurate" to the youngest son's insignificant request.

At the same time, they also brought something, which was the flag that Xia Anran held in his hand.

This is said to be the military flag used by his grandfather Liu Bang, and it was specially found by his father to support his son.

The author has something to say:

The soundtrack of this chapter is "National Treasure" Elephant King Xing.

It's really really nice to hear.

However, the sound of the elephant at the beginning actually had no equipment in the Western Han Dynasty. The horn that could make a similar sound was introduced from outside the customs in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In order to achieve the effect, Xia Miao made one himself. He became the first official blowing the horn in the land of China. man (hey)

But what I like the most is actually the sound of weapons rubbing at about 22 seconds.Teacher Guan Dazhou is really amazing!The arrangement of each song is super beautiful!

The Whispering Wall was heard by the author when he went to the Temple of Heaven to play, but it is said that there is actually no sound transmission effect now, and there is sound amplification.

The principle is probably the same as that of the recording room. Special materials are used to make the sound waves refract and not scatter. In fact, to achieve the effect, it should be capped... But it is too late to make it.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was not a formal festival before the Western Han Dynasty, and it became a recorded day after the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, but at first it was neither Buddhism nor Taoism, but...well, I will talk about this later.

Promise me, don't search, and leave a little dignity for the author.

The author has struggled for a long time about what kind of flag to hang in the Han Dynasty, and went to look through various CCTV documentaries, and found that the Three Kingdoms (Eastern Han) basically hung the flags of the princes, and the Western Han Dynasty had more Liu and Han. Of course, if it is a prince, it is also named as a prince. Yes, for example, the king of Liang will hang on the beam, and Xia Miao will hang on Zhongshan when he travels.

Yesterday it was said that Zhongshan's specialty is dog...cough, cough, Zhongshan actually does not produce dogs, but wolves.