radiothebook Chapter 1152 - 1134: Resigning Due to Illness
Chapter 1152 - 1134: Resigning Due to Illness
Everyone: "..."
Ah, ah, ah, why is Xie Pi always more special than they are?
Does he truly have some incredible skill?
Not to mention the south, even a few years ago, Xie Pi’s reputation was not prominent.
They couldn’t help but scrutinize Xie Pi. Though he is handsome, they were not lacking in looks either, and compared to someone like Wei Jie or Wang Yan, he was still less impressive. Moreover, they had all seen Fu Tinghan just now, and he was even more handsome. So clearly, Zhao Hanzhang valued Xie Pi not for his looks.
He was indeed both literary and martial, but among those carefully selected young men present, who wasn’t both talented in literature and martial arts?
Although they screamed inwardly, they did not show any sign of it on their faces. Yang Yi asked amiably, "What is the official position?"
"Prefectural Governor of Anding County," Xie Pi did not hide anything and directly stated his reasoning, "General Zhao plans to use the southern fleeing aristocrats, and among us, only I have held an official post, which is why I am fortunate to have been noticed by General Zhao."
"General Zhao values the learning, virtue, and experience of officials highly. It seems she has other plans for you all," Xie Pi looked at them with envy and said, "If I am not mistaken, you all may be allowed to stay in Luoyang, and when you enter service, it will probably be by her side."
As the saying goes, those near the water get the moon first. They can stay by Zhao Hanzhang’s side, so their chances of gaining power are naturally higher than his. Xie Pi hinted that brothers, if you achieve wealth and honor, don’t forget each other.
Everyone felt a lot calmer upon hearing this.
Yang Yi also began to ponder, "Before leaving, she suggested we go to the Imperial College. Does she want us to study there?"
Xie Pi nodded repeatedly, "I have the same guess. The Imperial College is the national reserve of talents. It’s said that students from the Imperial College can enter service without taking the examination. Moreover, not only will Minister Fu teach there, but General Zhao will also occasionally give lectures. In the future, you can all become General Zhao’s students."
Connecting through a teacher-student relationship, isn’t that advancing another step?
Yang Yi and Lu Wen exchanged a glance and decided to go to the Imperial College the next day.
Xie Pi talked with them for a long time, and when everyone finally dispersed, all their attention was on the Imperial College and the question Zhao Hanzhang left, no longer focusing on Xie Pi’s official position.
He returned to his room, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
Xie Pi sat at his desk in deep thought, ultimately deciding to write a letter to his brother.
Sooner or later, the affairs of Luoyang would reach the south, and it would be impossible to hide them.
It’s not that the world is particularly gossipy, but each region has its own intelligence personnel from several major powers, and King Langya has also planted people in Luoyang.
This group entering Luoyang might not garner attention, but with him becoming the Prefectural Governor of Anding County and Yang Yi and the other aristocrats headed for the Imperial College, the intelligence agents from the south in Luoyang would surely notice them.
The Xie Family is not as vast as the Wang, Yang, or Lu Families. Nowadays, the family relies on his brother, and they must be more cautious. He wrote to tell Xie Kun that if absolutely necessary, he should publicly break ties with him.
This is a conventional maneuver among the nobility that is often left unsaid; regardless of their private feelings or schemes, appearing publicly adversarial is the done thing.
For instance, Zhao Changyu and Zhao Zhongyu’s brothers; whether genuine or feigned, who can tell if they truly harbored grudges or were putting on a show for Empress Jia?
Anyway, Zhao Changyu left his title and family business to Zhao Zhongyu’s son when he died, and Zhao Zhongyu worked tirelessly for Zhao Hanzhang in his final years, even going so far as to be a hostage near the Emperor.
Xie Pi thought he and his brother could learn from them.
Zhao Hanzhang did not realize that Xie Pi could find inspiration in the relationship between her grandfather and great-uncle. She was happily discussing with Fu Tinghan, "Zhao Xin is coming back. This time he’ll bring a lot of people with him. The Shu region is temporarily at peace, so the chaos in the Jingzhou area should be curbed, and now that it’s summer harvest, we can finally catch our breath. When the autumn harvest is over, I’ll have someone build the observatory for you."
The armillary sphere, just left below the loft, looked quite pitiful, and they couldn’t adequately spread out to draw star charts in the loft.
Beside them, Zhao Erlang quickly chimed in, "Sister, the copper for the armillary sphere was requested by me and General Beigong after all."
Zhao Hanzhang absent-mindedly nodded at him and continued talking to Fu Tinghan, "Will your new calendar be ready this year?"
Fu Tinghan replied, "According to Guo Pu, even the smallest calendar book should cover a decade. Writing a calendar for ten years ahead can’t be done quickly."
Zhao Hanzhang said, "We can release it year by year, issuing a simplified version like an annual calendar, writing next year’s schedule this year, setting solar terms’ dates, indicating farming times, marking notable points and considerations for agricultural practices across different northern and southern areas. If you can even calculate rough climate trends, it would be even better. Whether a place is drought-prone or flood-prone and what crops are advisable to plant should also be included. Such a calendar can change yearly, and as for the detailed calendar, it can be revised over five or six years, there’s no hurry."
Fu Tinghan said, "... I have no problem with it. The main work here is being done by Guo Pu. You should just order it directly."
At that moment, he was very grateful for Guo Pu’s presence.
Zhao Hanzhang lightly cleared her throat and said, "Mr. Guo has been temperamental lately and is unfit to see visitors; you’re considered an insider at the Astronomical Observatory, so you should mention it to him."
Zhao Erlang looked at Zhao Hanzhang and then at Fu Tinghan, saying from the side, "Sister, Cousin Shen said that if you assign Guo Shenxian more work, he would resign and retreat to seclusion."
"Others might bring it up, but your brother-in-law won’t," Zhao Hanzhang looked at Fu Tinghan brightly.
Fu Tinghan found it hard to refuse her and nodded, "I’ll talk to him."
Zhao Hanzhang then laughed, and Zhao Erlang joined in with silly laughter, making it hard for Fu Tinghan not to smile, too.
Fu An came in holding a letter and reported, "Sir, there’s a letter from Chang’an."
Fu Tinghan’s expression turned serious. He quickly received and opened it, rapidly scanning through it, his expression growing more troubled by the second. After reading, he handed the letter to Zhao Hanzhang, "Grandfather is indeed seriously ill, the Imperial Physicians taken aren’t adequate, and they wish to bring Grandfather back to the capital."
Zhao Hanzhang asked Fu An, "Is there an official document as well?"
Fu An quickly replied, "The messenger delivered the letter and went straight to the Imperial Palace afterwards. There is indeed an official document submitted."
Zhao Hanzhang said helplessly, "This messenger must be someone close to Grandfather; even at such a time, they adhere so strictly to procedures."
She stood up and said, "I’ll go to the palace to take a look. Don’t worry; I’ll immediately arrange for someone to go to Chang’an to greet Grandfather."
Zhao Hanzhang took Zhao Erlang along as she left.
Upon stepping outside, her expression turned somber.
Even though she had been mentally prepared, she was still somewhat saddened. Fu Zhi’s health was likely genuinely failing.
Arriving at the palace, Ji Yuan and Ming Yu were also discussing the document Fu Zhi had just submitted.
As a State Governor, a qualified official could not leave his province without an edict. Before this year, this rule was almost dead, but now it’s alive again.
Fu Zhi was a conscientious Inspector; he had already written to Zhao Hanzhang expressing his grave illness and desire to return to the capital. As Princess Hongnong and her entourage had already arrived in Yongzhou, Zhao Hanzhang’s permission for him to return should have also reached him.
But he still submitted another document; this paper not only requests to resign from his position as the Governor of Yongzhou but also asks Zhao Hanzhang to send a new governor to take over Yongzhou, detailing the current situation there extensively.
Moreover, at the end of the document, Fu Zhi also recommended several candidates for the position of Governor to Zhao Hanzhang.