nucmednet Chapter 979: Restoring the Northern Wing Culture to its Homeland
Chapter 979: Restoring the Northern Wing Culture to its Homeland
The red lacquer door of Chongyang Hotel was wide open, and it was extremely lively. Old friends from Beijing came one after another, melting the snow in front of the door.
Before Xiyue had seen enough of her wife, she heard Beihui come to report that Master Huang and Master Fang had come all the way from the capital to Tiema City with a group of great scholars.
Shi Anxia was shocked when he heard this. Master Huang is over ninety years old, what is he doing here?
The moment she stood up to greet them, Xiyue, Nanyan and others stood behind her and went out to greet them together.
Dong Xi smiled and squeezed Xi Yue, "My Lord, you are not following the rules."
Xiyue also smiled and squeezed Dongyu, "Madam, rules are dead, but people are alive."
Shi Anxia turned her head and glanced at Xiyue, her eyes full of unconcealed doting.
Xiyue's heart was melted by that look. She felt happy and relieved.
Oh, I miss Madam, I miss Madam, I think about Madam all the time. I feel at peace if I can stay with Madam for just a moment.
After welcoming the guests, Xiyue followed Beihui and others to work.
There were so many people coming that they all crowded into the main hall.
It was the dead of winter and there was no floor heating in the hall. A dozen smoking baskets were burning red and the charcoal fire was crackling, but it still couldn't resist the biting cold that came in through the crack in the door.
The maids served tea to everyone, but the old copper stove was not strong enough, and the steam just rose to the top and then stopped, which was very worrying. Xiyue, Nanyan and others trotted back and forth in the corridor to pass water, and their noses were red from the cold.
The boiling water in the teapot was added one pot after another, but it was still not enough. Some sugar-water eggs had to be cooked to entertain the guests from afar.
Xiyue felt that the official uniform was in the way, so she borrowed some clothes from Beihui and changed into them quickly. She then helped to get ready, just like before.
But she was more thoughtful than before and ordered the kitchen to set up three large stoves.
One sip is filled with thick ginger soup, with crushed old ginger cooked with brown sugar, and the spicy and sweet aroma rushes straight to the nose; another sip is filled with cold-relieving tea, with cassia twigs and perilla leaves bubbling in boiling water, mixed with the bitter medicinal aroma of tangerine peel; the third sip is filled with warm rice wine on the stove, with a few plums floating in it.
Xiyue explained to Nanyan, "You see, the plums that sank have absorbed the aroma of the wine. They will be used to moisten the throats of the gentlemen who are coughing badly."
Nan Yan knew that Xiyue was very capable, and she admired her very much. "Sister Xiyue, you are so capable." Then she whispered in her ear, "Is Lord Kang good to you?"
Xiyue's eyebrows curved and she looked not far away.
Doctor Kang was rolling up his sleeves and shuttling between the stoves. He was even busier than when he was on duty at the Imperial Hospital.
Xiyue smiled shyly, her face red like a blooming flower, "Okay."
Nan Yan nudged Xi Yue with her elbow and was happy for her, "Give birth to a child for Master Kang soon."
Xiyue was startled when she heard this, thinking, Lord Kang doesn't like children. But he didn't show it on his face, and just covered it up with his busyness.
She asked Doctor Kang to go to the hall and ask if anyone wanted to drink a slightly bitter and astringent cold-relieving tea to prevent colds.
When everyone saw that it was Dr. Kang, they all rushed to ask for a drink.
For a moment, the aroma of tea, medicine and plums filled the room, and everyone praised the princess for her thoughtfulness.
Shi Anxia smiled, "It's not me who is thoughtful, it's clearly Lord Kang and his wife who are taking care of you all."
Doctor Kang didn't take credit for it. He just hummed and smiled, "It was my wife's idea."
The Chongyang Inn was unusually bustling with people, as if the snow had melted and spring had arrived.
Everyone exchanged greetings with the princess for a while, and then Huang Wanqian spoke on behalf of everyone about the purpose of their visit.
His voice was much hoarser than before, and he breathed heavily when speaking. "Iron Horse City and other places have just been recovered from the hands of the Wan people... Not only are they short of doctors and medicine... they are also short of teachers to teach and educate people."
Seeing that he was in low spirits, Mr. Fang stroked his beard and smiled, then took over the topic, "We are unemployed anyway, so why not come here and do our best to help."
Since Princess Haiyan left the capital, the trend of making friends through poetry and engaging in elegant conversation and debate has become popular among the scholars in the capital.
At that time, Mr. Huang Wanqian proposed that "the cultural heritage of the Northern Wing should be replanted in the hometown of Tiema Guicheng". When this statement came out, the government and the public were shocked.
Officials from the Northern Propaganda Department and the six ministries all praised his remarks, and students from the Imperial College copied and circulated his remarks.
The emperor even praised him at the grand court meeting, "Mr. Huang Wanqian's proposal really shows the character of our Northern Wing scholars!"
In this way, after much promotion, they recruited a group of people with lofty ideals in the capital to go to the border town together.
Shi Anxia listened to everyone talking, and his heart surged. If these great scholars contributed, they could establish a college in the newly recovered lost territory and spread the culture of Beiyi, and it would be much easier.
Recently, she has also been worried about setting up colleges in Tiemacheng, Guicheng and other places.
These border towns have been out of the rule of the Northern Wing for nearly a hundred years. Not only has the cultural heritage declined, the classics have been lost, and the cultural heritage has been interrupted, but there are only a few literate people left.
Wherever the Wan cavalry passed, the cultural heritage was completely cut off. Their methods of destroying culture and history are unprecedented.
They tore up thousands of volumes of the "Beiyi Huidian" to use as tent lining paper, stable padding, or as fire starter.
The scrolls of the champion were cut into quivers, and the original calligraphy was stained with blood. The manuscripts treasured by the Imperial Hospital were used as fire starters and burned for three months.
The heads of the stone statues of sages in the State Academy were chiseled out to be used as horse hitching posts. The nanmu bookshelves in the library were turned into siege ladders, and the ashes of book pages floated all over the moat. The most outrageous thing was that the Confucian Temple was converted into a slaughterhouse, and the blood soaked the thousand-year-old gold bricks.
Half of the surviving intellectuals were tattooed on their faces and exiled to the salt fields. Nowadays, where are the teachers still available?
At that time, Anxia was busy with disaster relief affairs and had not had time to take care of this matter. He only discussed it with his aunt Yu Sujun occasionally.
I didn't expect Mr. Huang and others to be so understanding. At this time, An Xia stood up suddenly and bowed deeply to everyone, "Please, everyone!"
The nearly ten people who gathered at Chongyang Inn today were all well-known scholars in the capital. There were also nearly sixty other scholars who were temporarily staying in an inn in the city waiting to be dispatched.
Among this group of people, there are both poor students who have failed in the imperial examinations many times and old officials of the Hanlin Academy who have retired and returned to their hometowns.
Moreover… Master Fang said solemnly, “Princess Haiyan, I have an unwelcome request.”
Shi Anxia hurriedly responded, "Please go ahead, you're welcome."
Master Fang hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke, "I have a candidate to recommend, but this person is a criminal, so I don't know..."
Shi Anxia understood and smiled slightly, "Are you talking about Song Yuanjiu?"
Old Master Fang nodded. "This man... Alas, he was the number one scholar chosen by the Emperor. His style of winning the first prize in poetry at the Qionglin Banquet is still vivid in our minds. He was so talented. What a pity, what a pity! How foolish! How foolish!"
Shi Anxia's eyes moved slightly. She didn't want to talk about the Song Yuanjiu case in depth, so she just changed the subject and asked, "He's here too?"
"That's right." Old Master Fang straightened his clothes, looking ashamed. "I dared to ask the emperor for the mission of escorting them. The Song family followed behind the team all the way. Alas, their family has committed a crime, and Lord Zhao has exiled them all to Iron Horse City."