Through the Ring of Red Mansions

The South Study Room is located in the southwest of the Zhengyang Palace, one of the halls of the Imperial Study Room. It is formed by opening up two big houses.Prepared for the emperor's advisers, discussing classics and history, discussing poetry and prose, and even writing and drafting edicts and edicts on behalf of the emperor, and participating in confidential matters such as maintenance.Therefore, it is a place where "those who do not worship the noble purlins and the confidantes of the upper school are not allowed to enter".

It was the first time for Jia Huan to report back to the South Study Room. He thought that he would meet several other Hanlin scholars or cabinet ministers. I saw that the main hall outside was hung with bright yellow silk curtains, jade rings and gold hooks, and a plain brocade couch was spread next to the wall, on which was a kang table with a pair of black and white jade chess pieces. They are two pairs of pear flower wooden armchairs carved with cloud and dragon patterns. On the table in the middle, there may be a pink lotus lotus jade pot spring vase, or a multicolored phoenix-tailed statue, with seasonal flowers inserted in the statue. Invading the tiles, the room is as warm as spring, and there is a thin sweet fragrance lingering around. Jia Huan can now tell that it is the smell of ambergris.

Looking at the suite, there is only a desk and a soft couch, anyway, it is not a decoration for several people in the South Study to run errands together, so I asked the little gentleman, "This is not the South Study, right?"

The little eunuch laughed and said, "Lord Jia still doesn't know that the Emperor is about to start repairing the embankment, and there are still many things that need to be called to him from time to time, so he has specially ordered His Excellency to work in the nearest apartment in the East Nuan Pavilion, so that it is convenient for him to consult."

Jia Huan hurriedly said, "That's unnecessary! I originally wanted to ask the adults in the South Study Room for advice, so my little eunuch should take me to the South Study Room."

The little eunuch said, "Your Majesty Jia has to report this to the Emperor himself. How can the slaves be the masters? It's better to sit here for a while now. Your lord has come so early. I think you won't have time to eat in the future. The slaves will serve you first." Some snacks to cushion the belly. The emperor still has a while to go to court, and he has to go to the study to watch the little princes read, and he won't be able to come down for a while."

Jia Huan had no choice but to sit on the couch in the suite, drink some snacks and tea, but no one came to tell him what to do, and for a while he was dozed off by the warm earth dragon smoke, he thought Since the outer room is Shui Lang's study, naturally no one dared to come in this suite casually, so he simply lay his clothes and clothes on the couch and fell asleep in a daze.

I don't know when, suddenly I heard the chiming bell in the outside room ringing for a while, Jia Huanfang woke up, but he didn't quite understand where he was, but when he opened his eyes, he saw a man in crimson clothes and Qingtian Lianghe court clothes standing on the opposite desk. The young man, handsome and tall, is looking at this side with a cup of tea and a smile.

Jia Huan hurriedly turned over and sat up, and recognized the crimson official uniform worn by the man as the clothes of a first-rank official, but the man was really young, and he was about the same age as Shui Lang, but he got such a high official position, so he went back The man on the southern tour didn't go with him, so he really didn't know him.

Seeing Jia Huan's hesitation, the man smiled and said, "Master Jia doesn't recognize me. My surname is Bai, my name is Shichen, and my name is Ziqian."

Jia Huan hurriedly said, "It turned out to be Lord Bai, sorry! I heard that Lord Bai was appointed as a scholar of the Shaoyang Temple at a young age, and he was in charge of the official department. It is really admirable."

Bai Shichen laughed and said, "We don't need to be so polite, but unfortunately you are not yet a weak crown, and you can't get a word. I can call you Huan'er, and you can call me Ziqian. You didn't know, but I called you as a child." It's been many years since I was hired by him, and I know him very well, and I said why he suddenly sent me here out of good intentions, so I was preparing for you to come out." After saying that, he glanced outside.

Jia Huan had long heard that Bai Shichen was the companion of Prince Shaobao and Shui Lang. Later, when Shui Lang ascended the throne, he also rose to the top as the new king's confidant, and became a young official in charge of the officials. His father, Bai Zuxiang, was the general of Zhenhai. It is also famous in the court.At this time, Jia Huan couldn't help laughing because he heard what he said was interesting, "So you are also here on business, so I can rest assured, otherwise it would be too eye-catching."

Bai Shichen said, "I laid the groundwork early, so that for half a year, you don't have to worry about it. Even if there is an excerpt from the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, it's just him. When I was just transferred I even made a fuss about six or seven papers, and now it's all right."

Jia Huan then laughed and said, "It's not all because I'm afraid of people's troubles. I'm always young and my words don't carry much weight. I just want to meet more people and see more of the world."

Bai Shichen smiled and said, "It's very easy to do, you just follow me, who can you want to meet?!"

Suddenly, Shui Lang, who was wearing a bright yellow Nine Dragon Tengyun dragon robe, lifted the curtain and walked in, Bai Shichen hurriedly corrected his expression, "However, since Mr. Jia is a scholar of the Imperial Academy and is led to walk in the South Study Room, it is imperative to meet Mr. Zhou and Mr. Li over there. Wait, I can help recommend it."

Jia Huan couldn't help but smile, turned his head and coughed lightly, but suddenly saw Shui Lang wearing a string of emerald and jadeite bracelets on his wrist, which was the one he gave him. Shui Lang came in and stared at him , naturally knew what he was looking at, so he smiled slightly, making Jia Huan very uncomfortable, paused, and said, "Since I want to meet the adults in the South Study Room, it's better to go now." , it would be disrespectful to be late."

Bai Shichen only looked at Shui Lang at this time, and Shui Lang said, "Don't be in a hurry at this moment, I have ordered them to come over and listen to the discussion of the river embankment construction project, and they will inevitably meet later. It will not be too late to get acquainted then." Then he asked Bai Shichen, "How about the thing I asked you to investigate yesterday?"

Bai Shichen suddenly turned bitter and said, "I'm just the secretary of the Ministry of Officials. If I exceed my authority to manage the affairs of the Ministry of Accounts, who cares about me? I'm just watching."

Shui Lang said, "You should see something!!"

Bai Shichen said, "Isn't that the case? Now more than half of the entire household department is still on their side. They all know that the law does not punish the public, and no one is afraid of them anyway. I have listed the masters with more than 10 taels on the list. I put it on the table for you. Anyway, you know which ones are in your head.”

Shui Lang sneered, "Sooner or later, they will be afraid!"

Bai Shichen glanced at Jia Huan, and said again, "Jiangnan Zhen's house is no longer in trouble, and Jiangnan's procurator's note will probably be handed over in a few days, but I don't think it's too late."

Shui Lang nodded slowly, and said, "I can examine myself."

The two said a few more words, Jia Huan didn't know the details, but listen, after a while Bai Shichen still went out, and Shui Lang took him to sit on the couch and said, "It's because you are still young, and you may not be able to do things alone. People are convinced, so I gave you an excuse to follow Bai Shichen to learn how to do errands, so it's better to take your time."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "I know, we were talking here just now, you might as well let me go outside first and then let me be more comfortable! Why bother to let me get up early and stay late at night."

Shui Lang smiled and said, "It's getting late, I can't wait."

Jia Huan obviously felt that Shui Lang was actually talking about serious business, but he couldn't help being embarrassed, his face gradually turned red, and Shui Lang kept playing with his fingers. Jia Huan slapped him a few times, but he didn't pull it out, and tilted his head slightly. Seeing that Shui Lang squinted his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking, he could only follow him.

When I was young, several adults from the Ministry of Industry accompanied Xu Huailan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to meet, and several adults from the South Study Room also went to Dongnuan Pavilion. Jia Huanfang met with three colleagues from the South Study Room, and listened to the report of the Ministry of Industry. test result.Xu Huailan said, "I have seen the cement from the Jinxiuge Cement Factory. It is really strong after being poured with sand and stones. It's just that the cement is not available in the cold weather. At least the cement can be poured into the embankment in the spring. Therefore, the minister and others have made a plan According to the river engineering map determined by Qin Shilang and others, the river channel should be dug deep first, and the embankments on both banks should be filled with quarried stones. When the weather warms up, the construction will be almost completed, and the entire embankment can be poured with cement."

In addition, they also discussed how the Ministry of Households allocated funds, how the Ministry of Industry sent people to supervise workers, how the local governors, prefects, and military admirals recruited civilians, dispatched soldiers to work together to repair dikes, etc. Go down and draw up the purpose without mentioning it.

For a while, Shui Lang gave Jia Huan a few more brochures, some of which had been approved and some of which had not been approved. Most of them were from the Ministry of Industry's Construction Department, Tuntian Department, and Materials Research Institute, etc., involving some technical issues. Looking at Shangzheren's proposed topic and sentence making, while reading Shui Lang's criticism, I found another paper and wrote some of my opinions on it.

Shui Lang was reviewing the memorials outside, while Jia Huan was sitting in the suite, but he could hear people bustling outside, some from the household department came to cry for poverty, some came to ask the two old saints this year for their birthdays to repair the birthday spring garden, and some asked for money. Ministers from foreign and foreign countries came to Beijing to report on their duties, and some empresses and concubines in the harem sent people to pay their respects, and so on.

It was easy to calm down, but suddenly King Shui Rong of Beijing asked to see him again, Shui Lang asked Jia Huan to come out to meet him, and said, "King Beijing is now carrying the Jinxiu Pavilion for you outside, Huan'er should really thank him .”

Jia Huan also smiled at Shui Rong, "I wanted to thank you face to face, but I can't meet each other. I wanted to visit during the Chinese New Year, but I heard Sister Lin said that the prince is busy every day, so I didn't dare to disturb her."

Shui Rong waved his hands and smiled, "It's just a name, after all, it doesn't take my effort, so why bother. I always want to see you too, but there is no good reason."

The two chatted and laughed, and Shui Lang said to Jia Huan, "Don't be bored in the room all the time, you will get bored just sitting there, there is a room over there that puts a lot of ancient paintings, go and see if you like any of them." , pick two pairs and take them back to the hanging study.”

Shui Rong couldn't help laughing and said, "It's rare for His Majesty to be so generous in rewarding people. I've already taken a fancy to one of them. Wouldn't it be nice if I also reward them now?"

Shui Lang said quickly, "You will pick this Qiao Zong'er. Huan'er, go, and take out Xie Jin's "Hidden Stream" for King Beijing."

As soon as Jia Huan heard it, he knew what the two were going to talk about, he didn't want to let himself hear it, so he quickly agreed to go out, and the manager Shan came up to meet him outside the door, and personally led him to the painting studio without mentioning it.