"Today, I invite everyone to gather together because we, the Zhao family, have not been together like this for a long time. I want to see how our outstanding descendants of the Zhao family are doing now. Come and raise a toast together."

Dozens of people below all raised their wine glasses and said together: "Thank you, Your Majesty, and long blessings to Your Majesty."

Among these dozens of people, there is a guy who is not very eye-catching, that is Zhao Weiji.

There were five brothers, Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty. In addition to the eldest brother and the fifth brother who died early, there were three others. These three people are the second Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, the third Taizu Zhao Guangyi, and the fourth Zhao Tingmei. All three have flourished. Now.

There are dozens of second and third generations of the Zhao royal family sitting in the hall. No one will pay attention to Zhao Weiji. Zhao Weiji basically doesn't know these guys, but he still has a hypocritical smile on his face and copes with it.

At this time, a person sitting next to him came over and said to Zhao Weiji: "Guoxiang is here too? Guoxiang has been doing great things recently. My father likes the tea you made. Can you give me some someday?"

Zhao Weiji didn't know the man in front of him, but after hearing him address him as "father", he was probably Zhao Guangyi's son. In terms of seniority, he was still his uncle, but he didn't know which son of Zhao Guangyi this man was. So he had to bite the bullet and ask.

: "I wonder who you are?"

"Look at my last name. I forgot that Guoxiang, you are suffering from amnesia, and you can't remember the people and things in the past. I am your third uncle's third son, Zhao Dechang." Zhao Dechang said.

The name Zhao Dechang may not be too famous, but this person also has another name, Zhao Heng. He is the later Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Weiji did not expect that the person standing in front of him at this moment turned out to be the later Emperor Zhenzong. Speaking of which, this Emperor Zhenzong

Two years younger than him.

"Uncle?" Zhao Weiji tried to call out.

"Don't you still know me, Guoxiang?" Zhao Dechang replied happily when Zhao Weiji called him.

"Back to uncle, actually I still can't remember you. I just had a vague impression, so I tried to call you."

"It doesn't matter, just take your time. You can agree to what I just said." When Zhao Dechang heard that Zhao Weiji didn't really think of him, he didn't care and still asked for good tea.

"No problem, uncle, I'll have someone deliver it to you another day."

"I want good tea, remember the good tea?"

"Okay, okay, good tea is fine."

After chatting with Zhao Dechang for a few words, people around him came up to say hello. In short, they spent a long time among this group of princes and grandsons, and then a eunuch came over and whispered to Zhao Weiji: "Your Majesty, please go to the imperial garden to meet me."

Then Zhao Weiji said goodbye to the group of princes and grandsons, and headed to the Imperial Garden with the box he had prepared in advance.

…

When Zhao Weiji walked to the imperial garden, Zhao Guangyi was already waiting there. Upon seeing this, Zhao Weiji immediately stepped forward and saluted, saying: "I am late, please forgive me for being late."

Zhao Guangyi raised his hand and asked Zhao Weiji to stand behind him and said, "Do you know why I came to see you?"

Seeing this, Zhao Weiji was no longer prepared to play riddles with Zhao Guangyi, so he said, "I have something to offer to Your Majesty."

"Oh? What is it?"

Zhao Weiji opened the box he brought, took out the cotton-padded jacket inside and said: "This is a new type of cotton-padded jacket made from a plant called cotton that I introduced from the Western Regions. It is not only warm, but also low-cost and can be mass-produced.

"

Zhao Guangyi's eyes lit up when he saw this thing. In this era, cotton was not yet popular. People's warm clothes in winter were mostly animal skins or wool fillings. However, the animal husbandry in the Central Plains was not developed. More often than not, it was a necessity.

It is difficult to popularize it in the Central Plains by relying on imports from nomadic peoples in the north. If this thing can be popularized, it will not only solve the winter difficulties of the people in the northern Central Plains. What's more, the military use of this thing is more practical. If the soldiers on the northern border are equipped with cotton-padded clothes

, the combat effectiveness in winter will be improved to a higher level. The northern border of the Song Dynasty was often harassed by the Liao Kingdom in winter, which was miserable. If the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in the northern border was improved in winter, it would be of great help in fighting the Khitan.

"Is this thing really as good as you say?" Zhao Guangyi asked after taking the cotton coat in his hand and looking at it repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, you can find someone to wear it and go to the ice cellar to try it and you will know."

Zhao Guangyi called an eunuch to put on the cotton-padded clothes, and then went to the ice cellar. After about a stick of incense, the eunuch returned to the Imperial Garden.

"How do you feel?" Zhao Guangyi asked the eunuch.

"Your Majesty, I feel very good. After putting on this cotton coat and entering the ice cellar, it is not so cold." The eunuch replied.

Zhao Guangyi was very happy when he got the affirmative answer, and then said to Zhao Weiji: "As expected of the descendants of Taizu and Dezhao, they are indeed outstanding."

Hearing what Zhao Guangyi said, Zhao Weiji suddenly broke into a cold sweat. He quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty is very complimentary. I also plan to dedicate the new tea making method and all related cotton industries to Your Majesty."

Hearing what Zhao Weiji said, Zhao Guangyi couldn't help but narrowed his eyes, glanced at Zhao Weiji and said, "You seem to be afraid of me?"

"Return to Your Majesty, not out of fear, but out of respect." In fact, at this time, Zhao Weiji's entire back collar was soaked with sweat.

"Why would you dedicate these things to me if you are not afraid?"

"New tea and cotton utensils are auspicious. They should belong to the hands of the emperor so that they can benefit the people. Although I am a member of the royal family, I should not exclusively enjoy the blessings brought by auspiciousness."

"Now that you've finished your good words, I can't accept it, right? That's good, I won't take over all of your property. After all, it won't sound good for me, a grandfather, to talk about my grandson's property. Not to mention what's going on here.

Don’t you still have something belonging to the girl from the Chai family? Can you make the decision for her?”

"Of course I can't."

"So I am going to do this. You tell me how to make new tea. But if you open a tea shop outside, I will not disclose the method. What is yours is still yours. As for the cotton cloth, I will become a shareholder on behalf of the imperial court. Every year

The court accounts for 10% of the profits, but when the court needs to purchase related products, you can only sell them at cost price, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, your Majesty has the will of heaven." Zhao Weiji breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhao Guangyi was still kind.

"You have made great contributions in this matter. Tell me what reward you want?"

"Your Majesty, please allow me to serve in the army. I want to go north to guard the border and train myself." Zhao Weiji stated his request.

It turns out that since his conversation with Kou Zhun, Zhao Weiji has become fully aware of the dilemma caused by his status as the grandson of Taizu. No matter what he does, as long as he makes some noise, he will be noticed by Zhao Guangyi. Unless he really

I have been keeping a low profile all my life, but this is too sorry for my status as a traveler.

But the problem was placed in front of Zhao Weiji again. Since he was not going to keep a low profile and wanted to do something great, how should he do it? First of all, he rejected the civil service. If he wanted to work as a civil servant, his status as a royal relative would not be a help, but

Obstacles. Throughout Chinese history, outside the early Qing Dynasty, it was difficult for royal relatives to get ahead in the peaceful and prosperous times. Moreover, Zhao Weiji was not very familiar with Confucian classics, so his success through civil service was directly denied.

Then the only way left is military merit. Although Song Taizu and Song Taizong both suppressed military generals, they still needed military generals due to the existence of the Liao Kingdom in the north. And Zhao Weiji, who had a certain understanding of history, knew about the Chanyuan Alliance

In the past, the Liao and Song Dynasties had to fight wars. What's more, his status as a royal family was helpful in joining the army. Compared with military generals, royal relatives were more trustworthy. What's more, from Zhao Weiji's observation of Zhao Guangyi and the history books

Judging from the records, Zhao Guangyi is still a bit headstrong. Zhao Weiji is convinced that Zhao Guangyi thinks that he will not make any splash even if he joins the army. Therefore, he dares to conclude that Zhao Guangyi will let him go to the army.

Sure enough, Zhao Guangyi thought for a moment after hearing Zhao Weiji's request and said: "Since you are determined to contribute to the country, I, as a grandfather, will not stop you. Don't you already have the title of General Zuo Xiaowei, so you will just do it."

Well, you go directly to Daizhou and take office. You will definitely learn a lot from following the governor of Daizhou."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Then Zhao Weiji resigned.

After seeing Zhao Weiji leave, the eunuch Cheng'an next to Zhao Guangyi spoke up: "Why doesn't your Majesty not only want to stabilize the Duke's property, but also let him go to Daizhou?"

"Didn't I just say that it doesn't look good for grandpa to use his grandson's property? The key is that part of the property belongs to the Chai family. Taizu taught us to treat the Chai family's descendants kindly, so how could I possibly touch the Chai family's property?

What's more, I don't think this kid will be able to make any bigger waste. Although he has some skills in business, it is not easy to mess around in the army. He may come back in despair after working hard in Daizhou for a few years.

By then, all the edges and corners will be worn away and he will probably not want to writhe anymore."

After hearing Zhao Guangyi's explanation, Cheng An stopped talking.

The day after returning home, Zhao Weiji invited Chai Yu over and told Chai Yu everything that happened after meeting Zhao Guangyi, so that she could rest assured. At the same time, he also entrusted Chai with all the property in Bianjingzhong after he was transferred to Daizhou.

Yu, let her help take care of it.

After hearing everything Zhao Weiji said, Chai Yu was both happy and sad. What he was happy about was that the property was fine, the conditions proposed by Zhao Guangyi were not too harsh, and he could still make money. What was sad was that Zhao Weiji was about to go to the battlefield. A few months later

After getting along with him, Chai Yu started to fall in love with this brat who was full of clever ideas. When he thought about this boy who was not yet 19 years old and had to go to the border or even go to the battlefield, he always felt an indescribable sadness in his heart.

After entrusting Chai Yu, Zhao Weiji ordered his family to start packing. At this time, Zhao Xin came over and said to him: "Young master, I will go to Daizhou with you. I am a soldier and am familiar with the army. I will definitely be helpful to the young master."

of."

"Okay, then you can come too."

Zhao Xin said again: "Bring Li Er with you. In the past few months, I have observed through roasting tea that Li Er has excellent bones and is a good material for martial arts training. Take him to the army for training, and add some

I will personally teach him martial arts. It will definitely be helpful to the young master in the future."

"Okay, as you said, take him with you."

Three days later, Zhao Weiji and his party were ready to leave. Yunxiang and Li Xiaohua who were seeing them off were already in tears. Chai Yu next to them also looked very sad. Zhao Weiji, who was already preparing to leave, stopped seeing Chai Yu like this.

Unable to bear it anymore, he said: "It's not that dangerous to go to Daizhou, don't worry. I will marry you when I come back." It turned out that Zhao Weiji had also fallen in love with this somewhat arrogant girl.

"Who wants to marry you?" Chai Yu immediately blushed when he heard Zhao Weiji said he wanted to marry her. But even though he said he would not marry, he still took out a very delicate charm from his pocket and handed it to her.

Gave it to Zhao Weiji.

"It turns out that my wife also asked for a charm for me. I must cherish it, it must be very effective." After saying that, Zhao Weiji hung the charm around his neck and kept it close to his body.

"Who is your wife? I just went to the temple to offer incense and pray for my mother. Don't get me wrong."

"My wife begged for it specifically for me, I know." As he said that, Zhao Weiji took out the talisman and kissed it. Then he rode away.

Of course, Zhao Weiji, who was still on the road, didn't know that his destination, Daizhou, would actually create a huge whirlpool. And he would be the center of this whirlpool.
Chapter completed!