The next morning after the prisoner presentation, Zhou Jun took the book of Beili Nanqu to register. He happened to hear Chief Cheng and a group of subordinate officials chatting about yesterday's prisoner presentation ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
I only heard Chief Cheng say: "After the prison car entered the Taishe Gate, the prisoner's banquet was then laid out, and all the officials took their seats to perform the ceremony."
"After the ceremony, everyone went to the imperial tower gate. The minister of the Ministry of War led the way, and the saints watched the ceremony on the tower. The momentum and scene were truly magnificent."
The subordinate officials around him were fascinated when they heard Chief Cheng talking about the prisoner sacrifice ceremony. They wished they could be there in person, and they started talking about it.
Zhou Jun couldn't help but asked Chief Cheng: "What happened to those prisoners?"
When Chief Cheng heard this question, he was quite surprised and said: "What else can I do? Of course I am showing off my head to the public."
Zhou Jun's heart sank and he stopped talking.
Chief Cheng looked at Zhou Jun and said: "If there are women among the captives, they should be admitted to Yeting; if they are men, if they are talented, learned, or have a noble status, they can still beg for mercy and survive."
"The pirates committed a heinous crime by robbing the border residents. It's already a mercy to only be punished by the owl."
Zhou Jun nodded slightly and said yes.
After a day of dealing with all the lawsuits, Zhou Jun felt a little confused.
He had something on his mind and made several mistakes without realizing it when he was busy with official duties.
After finally waiting until the afternoon, he heard the bell ringing outside the door. Zhou Jun took a long breath, packed his things, and planned to leave as soon as possible.
After walking out of Shangshu Province and Anshangmen, Zhou Jun was about to go to the stable to pick up his horse, but was stopped by someone.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but who is Zhou Lingshi?"
The voice sounded hoarse and low, as if fingernails were scraping against a sand board, which made people shudder.
Zhou Jun followed the sound and saw a man wearing an ocher-yellow official robe standing not far away, bowing his hands in salute to him.
Zhou Jun returned the salute, nodded and said, "Yes."
The man performed a magic trick from behind, took out a rectangular chessboard, and said, "I would like to hold the chessboard for you, and I would like to ask Zhou Lingshi to fulfill it."
Zhou Jun looked at the chessboard and recognized this thing.
This is a chess game that has become popular during the Three Kingdoms period. Its original name was "Shuanglu". In the Tang Dynasty, it was also called "Zhoushan" or "Longxing".
However, no matter how you look at it, this man is blocking the entrance to the imperial city, dragging people to play backgammon.
When Zhou Jun thought of this, he just cupped his hands and said, "I have no time to hold my hand today, so I'll say goodbye."
What Zhou Jun didn't expect was that the man took a step forward, blocked the way, and said: "It's just a round, power is a game."
Zhou Jun was a little impatient. He was about to refuse sternly, but he heard someone behind him shouting: "Isn't this Kong Chi? Are you here to pester people to play chess again today?"
Zhou Jun looked back and saw that the person who made the noise was a junior official from Du Guansi, but he was an acquaintance.
After asking that person, Zhou Jun knew what was going on.
The man in front of me who was inviting people to play chess, his surname was Kong You, and his courtesy name was Bohong. He was a secretary of the Ministry of War's Fang Division.
This Kong You was usually taciturn and often stood in a daze in the hall. Even when the superior officials asked him, he would ignore him. He would only come to his senses after being shouted at and scolded loudly.
Therefore, Kong You got the nickname Kong Chi.
Gradually, his colleagues and superiors also became aware of his problems and no longer made things difficult for him.
Logically speaking, subordinate officials like this should be dismissed during the evaluation process.
But when Kong You takes the exam every year, most of the reviews are "Ace", because he does have real talent and learning.
The Fang Division of the Ministry of War was mainly responsible for the map of the entire Tang Dynasty, the geography of the city, garrison, beacons, etc.
For this information, Kong You had a photographic memory. When someone asked him a question, he could give an answer after a little thinking. Officials who tried it were amazed.
Kong You was also good at playing chess and cards, playing chess and card games, playing chess and playing cards, playing chess and playing cards, playing with chess and cards, playing with chess and cards, playing with chess and cards, playing with big points, small points, talking, and phoenix wings. No matter what kind of game, he rarely failed.
As time went by, no one wanted to play chess with him.
After hearing this, Zhou Jun looked at Kong You again, who was holding the chessboard and waiting there with his head lowered, without any intention of leaving.
Shaking his head helplessly, Zhou Jun said: "This is just one game."
Kong You nodded and repeated: "This is just one round."
The two took the chessboard to the stone platform next to Fang Street. While Kong You was placing the chess pieces at the stall, Zhou Jun glanced at him.
These few glances made Zhou Jun secretly frightened.
Only one of Kong You's eyes was seen, white and translucent, but it was a fake eye.
There were also several deep scars on his throat, which looked very scary.
Noticing Zhou Jun's gaze, Kong You raised his head and said with a smile: "Someone's appearance is so ugly that it made Zhou Lingshi laugh."
Zhou Jun stared at Kong You's slightly older face and asked, "May I ask your birth date?"
Kong You: "The twelfth year of Kaiyuan."
Zhou Jun made a rough calculation and found that the man in front of him was only twenty years old. Looking at his appearance, he seemed to be middle-aged.
Zhou Jun wanted to ask again, but Kong You laid out the chess pieces, stretched out his hand and said: "Zhou Lingshi, please."
After giving up asking questions, Zhou Jun calmed down, picked up the chess pieces, and officially started playing chess.
Zhou Jun's chess skills were far inferior to Kong You's, and he had something on his mind today, so he only moved his pieces ten times before surrendering.
Kong You, who won the chess game, had no look of pride on his face, but instead frowned.
He stood up, first bowed to Zhou Jun, and then said, "Thank you very much, Zhou Lingshi."
After saying that, Kong You packed up the chessboard, turned around and left.
Throughout the entire process, there was not a single extra word or any sloppiness.
Zhou Jun looked at Kong You's retreating back and said in his heart: Weird.
After picking up the horse, Zhou Jun returned home and saw his father Zhou Dinghai and his eldest brother Zhou Ze talking in the hall.
Zhou Jun felt a little strange in his heart. Ever since Yu Jun's mother took the school exam that day, her eldest brother Zhou Ze had been living in the school every day, studying hard and not asking about other things. How could he have time to return home today?
As he approached, Zhou Jun discovered that his father and eldest brother both had solemn expressions on their faces.
After asking, Zhou Ze said to Zhou Jun: "Hengcai, you may not know yet, but there is an obituary from Yuezhou, saying that Supervisor He died of illness."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jun was stunned for a moment, then sighed.
Supervisor He is He Zhizhang.
He was the number one scholar in the first year of Sheng's reign. He was open-minded and uninhibited, and was known as a "clear talker".
In the literary world of the Tang Dynasty, He Zhizhang was a leader-like figure. Not only did Xuanzong highly respect him, but even Suzong later issued an edict to commemorate him and posthumously named him the Minister of Rites.
Zhou Ze added: "Congratulations on the death of Jianxian, everything in the school has stopped today. Teachers and students have gone to the temple together to burn incense and pray. I just came back from there."
Zhou Dinghai said: "Supervisor He is a great sage, respected by all scholars. My mother-in-law and I will also go to the temple tomorrow to pray for him."
The father and son talked for a while, and then Zhou Dinghai went to look for Luo Sanniang.
Seeing Zhou Dinghai walking away, Zhou Ze quickly pulled Zhou Jun to a deserted place and said excitedly: "Hengcai, today is the day for the sale of the script of The Romance of the West Chamber."
"I just went to the tomb shop next to the private school to check it out. Since the morning, all the books on display have been sold out. There are still many people gathered there, clamoring to make reservations."
Zhou Jun heard this and said happily: "This is a good thing."
Zhou Ze put his hand into his arms, holding a copy of Romance of the West Chamber, and said with a smile: "I bought a copy."
"I also heard from the poetry club that most of the members have bought a copy."
"Master Yin bought the most. I heard he bought more than 30 copies. He said he wanted to give them to acquaintances."
Zhou Jun was silent for a while after hearing this.
This first batch of engravings totals several hundred copies. It seems like there aren’t many left on the market after you bought them.
This chapter has been completed!