then Li Sao

However, after more than a month, Zhou Tang can already read many characters, and he has read all the miscellaneous books given by Luo Ping.

This day he brought the book back to Luo Ping: "I've read it all, it's not difficult to understand at all."

Luo Ping read the book alone, without even raising his head: "Really, Your Highness is really smart."

Zhou Tang couldn't see how he didn't take him seriously, so he said angrily, "Don't you believe it?"

"I believe it, how could I not believe it?"

"You are clearly perfunctory!"

Luo Ping put down the book, sighed and said: "Since that's the case, I'll test you with a question. If you answer it well, it proves that you really understand it. I have to believe it if I don't believe it."

"Okay, let's take the test." Zhou Tang put his hands behind his back, full of ambition.

"When Emperor Gaozu first attacked Yuezhou, he broke the boat and fought for nine days and ten nights, losing five thousand soldiers and four generals. Your Highness thinks this battle is not worth it."

Zhou Tang thought for a while and answered: "It's worth it. Yuezhou is the last pass to enter Mocheng. At that time, it could not be attacked for a long time, and the people inside and outside the city were suffering. Emperor Gaozu had no support before and no way out. The only way It is a hard attack, and sacrifices are inevitable. The battle of Emperor Gaozu was indeed tragic, but there is a saying in the book: you can decide big things, regardless of small details."

After hearing this, Luo Ping didn't make any comments. He just dug out a copy of "Que Luan" from the pile of books that Zhou Tang had returned, put it in front of him, and said, "Read it again, and tell me the answer tomorrow."

Zhou Tang was a little unconvinced when he didn't hear the approval from the young master, but he still took the book back to reread it honestly.

No matter how willful he is, he still listens to every sentence of Luo Ping's teachings.

——I despise people like you the most!Fake lofty, hypocrite!

——Want to be a high-ranking official but refuse to bow to others, hum, I'm waiting for you, bad luck!

The child's angry words echoed in his ears, and Luo Ping knew he was dreaming.

This is a dream from a previous life, and the dream is full of things that have not happened now, but every scene, every person, every sentence is so real that he feels like he is there.

At the Spring Festival banquet that year, because the emperor praised him so much, he also scolded Zhou Tang for his example, which made Zhou Tang feel resentful towards him.Zhou Tang couldn't beat his father and emperor, but couldn't beat his elder brother, so he held his breath in his heart and tried to make trouble for him.

The child ran to the Hanlin Academy when he had nothing to do, and secretly replaced his tea with coptis water.

Or, while he was away, paint flowers on the books he was writing.Zhou Tang, who can't write, just draws turtles and poop. In short, he has to ruin his work and let him be blamed by the Grand Scholar.

Zhou Tang also stayed at the gate of the palace, shot him with a slingshot and stones, and made faces at him when he was shot.

Seeing him arguing with those officialdom veterans and refusing to bow their heads, they called him a "fake noble" and "hypocrite"...

One trick every day, all kinds of troubles.

But Luo Ping really didn't want to be serious with a prince who was out of power.

At that time, his ideal was to be a big and good official, and he didn't pay attention to the behavior of children like Zhou Tang at all.If he wants to make a fuss, he will let him make a fuss. If he can't offend the prince, can't he just ignore him?

However, things eventually turned around.

After Wu Shangshu's case, the emperor's favor for him became more and more obvious.

Nanlai paid tribute to some jade and exotic flowers and herbs. The emperor was in a good mood, so he rewarded Luoping with a bowl of lotus.

The first-class white jade carved bowl, in the bowl is a puddle of clear water, and in the water is a snow-colored lotus flower.

It's so delicate that people can't take their eyes off it.

The bowl of lotus was stored in a wooden box, Luo Ping carefully carried it out of the Zhenyang Hall, but bumped into the Seventh Prince Zhou Tang at the corner of the corridor.

Seeing that he had such a precious thing, the child came up and said, "Show me what it is."

Luo Ping ignored him.

Zhou Tang stretched out his arms to block his way: "It's the reward from the emperor, right? I'm the prince. If you want to see it, can't you?"

Luo Ping had no choice but to open the box for him to see.

Zhou Tang grabbed his wrist in a hurry on purpose, Luo Ping couldn't react in time, his body tilted, and the bowl and lotus flower in the box turned out together, smashing to the ground.

Luo Ping only felt that he was broken with a crash, not only because of distress, but also because it was a reward from the emperor, and it was destroyed in his hands before leaving the palace. This is despising the emperor's grace and disrespect !

Zhou Tang smiled gloatingly: "You broke the reward given by the emperor, you are going to lose your head! Haha!"

Luo Ping shook his hands to pick up the fragments, it was really uncomfortable, he couldn't help cursing: "Your Highness, you are too naughty!"

Zhou Tang's childish nature just wanted to play tricks on him, and he was quite proud at first, but when he saw his face suddenly pale, his eyes were full of pity, and he felt uncomfortable instead.

Rubbing the ground with his toes, he said firmly: "Isn't it just a flower, what's so special about it, there are many such flowers in the pond."

Luo Ping didn't want to say another word to him, picked up the debris and residual flowers into the box, and was about to leave sullenly.

Zhou Tang took another step to stand in front of him: "Hey, nerd, at worst, I don't want to tell Father that you broke it, as long as you promise me, teach me to read."

……

It was from that day that he began to call him "Little Master".

In the dream, Zhou Tang practiced calligraphy by the lotus pond in front of Sweeping Hexuan with his back to him, dipping his fingers in the water and making strokes.

He called him "Your Highness", before Zhou Tang could turn around, he woke up from the dream.

----

Zhou Tang read the book all night and almost tore through the "Que Luan", but he still didn't understand Luo Ping's intention.

With two dark circles under his eyes, he decided to go to Hexuan to find out.Walking vainly to the entrance of Fudong Hall, he bumped into an eunuch suddenly, he said dissatisfiedly: "Who, you are so reckless, don't block my way!"

The eunuch was not afraid of him at all, stopped him and said, "Hey, where is His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince going? The emperor summoned all the princes in the Zhenyang Hall. Did you already know?"

Zhou Tang was taken aback when he heard the words, and after a closer look, it was indeed the eunuch next to his father.

The emperor summoned him, he didn't have the right to put on airs, he had no choice but to go to the Zhenyang Hall first.

Entering the main hall, Zhou Tang saw that the hall was full of boxes and boxes, and the scattered treasures were enough to dazzle him.It seems that the envoys from neighboring countries have just left, and they have also paid tribute to many good things this year.

His eyes fell on one of the wooden boxes. The lid of the box was open, and the white color inside could be vaguely seen. Somehow, with so many good things, Zhou Tang paid the most attention to that small box. He really wanted to see the inside of the box. what is it.

The emperor hasn't arrived yet, but the six emperor brothers have obviously been there for a long time.Zhou Tang understood, the eunuch who delivered the decree didn't pay him much attention at all, and deliberately called him last.

The third prince Zhou Pu sneered: "Little Seventh Son, you are so arrogant, let our brothers wait for you."

The sixth prince, Zhou Yang, said: "Yeah, except me and the fifth brother, the residences of the other princes are outside the palace, and they all came here in a hurry. Why do you see you, a prince who lives in the palace, dragging your feet? outrageous."

Zhou Tang didn't argue with them, but said: "My legs and feet are slow, I made the emperor laugh."

At this time the emperor came, they quickly restrained their expressions, and said in unison: "My son pays homage to father emperor."

"Get up." The emperor sat down, raised his hand, and ordered the eunuch Zhang Xi to send a note to each of them.

Each prince's name was written on the note, and there was a blank space.

"Father, cough, what is the meaning of this?" The eldest prince Zhou Feng came here sick, his face pale.

"I have a question for you today. You write the answer on your own paper. You are not allowed to discuss it, and you are not allowed to circulate it. After writing it, hand it to me. Whoever answers to my satisfaction will be rewarded."

With that said, all princes are eager to try.

The emperor favored the eldest son, but the health of the eldest son was up and down, so the emperor hesitated and did not appoint a prince for a long time.This time, it was obvious that they were testing their aptitude, the rewards they received were secondary, and the most important thing was to leave a "virtuous" impression on the father.

"Feng'er is sick, if you can't support it, you don't have to force it."

"It's okay, my son, thank you, Father, for caring."

"That being the case, let's begin."

The question given by the emperor is: What is the most urgent strategy for governing the country now.

"Don't show me any long speeches. Those ministers are nagging in my ears all day long. I'm almost bored to death. I only want the most concise answer, only one answer."

The emperor gave them a stick of incense time to think, and the six princes wrote the answer in less than half a stick of incense, and only Zhou Tang dawdled until the end.

Taking advantage of the time when Zhang Xi was collecting the notes, Zhou Yang whispered to Zhou Tang who was beside him: "Little Seven, why are you so slow, are there any words that you can't write? Brother Huang can teach you which words you can't write. "

Zhou Tang pretended not to hear.

Playing with the Zihao pen in his hand, turning the barrel of the pen back and forth between his fingers, this is what he often does when he is extremely bored in sweeping Hexuan, but now he has mastered the skill of turning the pen with one hand, even the ink on the end of the pen can be retracted freely.

Zhou Yang was still taunting him: "What characters are you best at writing? Big? Small? Can you write herringbone?... Ouch!"

The brush in Zhou Tang's hand turned flexibly, and suddenly he swung it upside down, and a lump of thick ink slapped Zhou Yang's face.

"Little Seven! You!"

Zhou Yang got angry, grabbed his pen and was about to fight back, completely forgot the occasion, and was stopped by the emperor loudly: "Yanger, what are you doing!" Seeing the ink on his face, the emperor dissatisfied, "What a man! Yes, you can even write it on your face.”

"No, Royal Father, I..."

"That's enough." The emperor interrupted him, "I've read your answers, and I know who answered best."

Everyone quieted down, Zhou Yang had to temporarily put aside his grudge against ink, and listened intently to the emperor's conclusion.

The emperor lined up their answers.

The eldest prince Zhou Feng wrote: the people are the most precious, and tax reduction;

The second prince Zhou Ning wrote: Suppress corruption and clean up the court;

The third prince Zhou Pu wrote: Pingliu Kou, An Tianxia;

The fourth prince Zhou Ke wrote: open up waterways and encourage trade;

The fifth prince, Zhou Hang, wrote: educate the common people, recruit peace in the rivers and lakes;

The sixth prince Zhou Yang wrote: Restructuring the imperial examination system and selecting talents.

And the seventh prince, Zhou Tang, only wrote two words: Dingbei.

Seeing the end, Zhou Pu burst out laughing: "Dingbei? Little Seven, what do you mean? The Zhou family has been in a peaceful and prosperous age since Emperor Gaozu, and the three affiliated states of Xizhao, Nanlai, and Beiling all bowed their heads and dared not surrender." Offensive, you want to calm down Beiling at this time, wouldn't it be okay to find fault!"

Zhou Yang also said: "That's right, you are really worrying, Little Seven."

Seeing the gloomy expression on the emperor's face, Zhou Ning came to his senses and said, "Third brother and sixth brother, you can't say that. The so-called being prepared for danger in times of peace, the answer of the seventh brother is not unreasonable."

Zhou Ke and Zhou Hang also saw the way, and they all agreed, "That's right, that's right, be prepared for danger in times of peace." "Little Seven is also worried about state affairs."

Zhou Feng leaned on the seat, seemingly a little weak, and didn't express any opinions.

The emperor knocked on the teacup, stopped their argument, and turned to Zhou Tang, "Why did you answer like this?"

Zhou Tang: "It was the father who told the minister."

The emperor scolded: "Nonsense, I only asked a question, when did I tell you the answer!"

Zhou Tang stretched out his hand and pointed at the hall: "Father gave me a reminder before coming."