The cold autumn is coming, everything is waiting to wither, thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, a piece of gold.

Above the court, Song Zhenzong sat on the dragon chair, his face was full of red light, majestic and solemn. And those flowing gray hairs and deep wrinkles betrayed his old appearance.

Under the court, all the courtiers stood on both sides of the hall, raised their heads to look north, excited and abnormal, and looked around, the hall was full of monarchs and ministers!

Song Zhenzong and his courtiers used their hard work to rescue the Great Song Dynasty from danger and embark on the road to prosperity and strength. Although there are also young people who make a stumbling block, it is still very good in general. Zhao Heng ascended the throne in danger of danger, was diligent and thrifty, created the rule of Xianping, and was forced to sign the alliance of the abyss without scoundrels, which eventually created the economic prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty and the prosperity of humanity, and the only fly in the ointment was in terms of armament.

But none of this matters, Song Zhenzong and his courtiers are almost old, and their time is about to pass.

Zhao Ying stood under the court, looking at the familiar and unfamiliar father, not only a burst of sadness rose. Although he may not be very good as a father, there is nothing to say about the fact that he devotes all his energy to this country. At this moment, he knows the direction of history, just like getting a doctor's cancer notice, watching his father and emperor come to the end of his life, but he is so helpless......

Wu Cheng, the same old eunuch, shouted at the top of his voice as in the past: "If there is something to do, play early, and there is nothing to retreat!" ”

Zhao Yingfu looked at the old Song Zhenzong, seemed to have made up his mind, and then went out of the class to play: "Enlighten the father, the son has something to play." ”

"Quasi-play!" Song Zhenzong looked at his excellent son, and he was also comforted.

"Father, your birthday is approaching, and my son hopes to be able to host this birthday banquet for you, please ask for your father's permission!" Zhao Yingfu said sincerely to Song Zhenzong.

"It's good that the emperor is so careful! Do you have any objections? Song Zhenzong asked the ministers meaningfully.

"His Royal Highness the Prince, benevolence and filial piety are good, and I am blessed by the Great Song Dynasty, and the ministers have no objections!" The ministers will no longer come out to make trouble when their sons show filial piety.

"Since everyone has no opinions, then leave it to the emperor this year!" Song Zhenzong made the final decision.

"Erchen takes orders!" After Zhao Yingfu finished speaking, he returned to his position.

After going down to the court, Zhao Ying found the waiter of the Ministry of Rites and began to discuss the preparation of a birthday banquet.

"Xie Aiqing, it will be my father's birthday in two months, we have to hurry up and discuss the preparation of this birthday banquet. For this aspect, I believe that Aiqing is very proficient, and there will be Lao Aiqing in the future, and I hope to give advice. Zhao Ying took Xie Nuxi, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, to his study.

"Thanks to His Highness's love, Weichen will do his best to solve problems for His Highness." Xie Nuxi replied modestly.

"Well, the king thanked Aiqing first. I think so, the court song and dance and etiquette are bothered by Aiqing. As for the style of the birthday banquet, this prince will be in charge, Aiqing will go back and sum it up, let's meet again in a few days and discuss! ”

"Wechen obeys!" Xie Nuxi is also a straight-hearted character, he will do what he says, and when he goes back, he hurriedly gathers people to start discussing.

Zhao Yingfu came to the window and looked at the scenery outside the window, but his thoughts flew away.

"Although my father has flaws in his life, he does not hide the flaws. Throughout the 25 years of his reign, he was well governed, the rule of the country became more and more solid, the management was increasingly perfect, the social economy was prosperous, and he also enjoyed the title of 'Xianping Zhizhi' in history. However, in terms of foreign policy, it also reflects the weakness hidden under his benevolence, which has created a humiliating 'alliance of the abyss'. To say that his biggest mistake was to misuse talents in his later years, and to use Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei as prime ministers. At the same time, he also believed in Taoism and Buddhism, called the Book of Heaven, sealed Mount Tai, worshiped Fenyang, and built many temples. Zhao Yingying thought about what Song Zhenzong had done in his life, and he felt a lot of emotion. Throughout Chinese history, many Ming monarchs were diligent in government and loved the people when they were young, and in their later years, there were problems of one kind or another.

However, objectively speaking, the Song Zhenzong period was still well-organized. With the advancement of iron smelting technology, iron farming tools have become increasingly popular. The cultivated area of land has almost doubled to 520 million mu. At the same time, the introduction of Siamese rice doubled crop yields, which was a remarkable advance for the Song Dynasty, which was an agricultural country. In addition to agriculture, handicrafts and commerce such as textiles, dyeing, papermaking, and porcelain making also flourished. During the Jingde period, Changnan Town, which specialized in porcelain production, was renamed Jingdezhen, and its name is still famous overseas.

In order to draw a more perfect end to Song Zhenzong's life, he also gave an explanation to his conscience. Zhao Yingfu decided to hold a special birthday party for Song Zhenzong.

The ancient court banquet was really boring, and it was nothing more than two or three processes, gift-giving, feasting, and watching singing and dancing. In addition, Song Zhenzong has always been frugal, and the big guys don't dare to eat and drink from the sea, so it's even less fun.

Zhao Yingfu found the chief manager of the imperial dining room to arrange the banquet dishes, and learned how to make noodles himself. The ministers of the DPRK and China came to stretch out their hands and eat all day long, and they were probably tired of eating the delicacies of the mountains and seas, so he decided to make a barbecue buffet form. So he passed on what little cooking knowledge he had to the chef in the imperial dining room.

In view of the fact that Song Zhenzong and the ministers are relatively old, almost all of the dishes chosen by Zhao Yingfu are easy-to-eat and easy-to-digest foods. To this end, he ran all over the streets and alleys of Bianliangcheng and worked tirelessly. At the same time, considering that drinking water for banquets is not good for his health, he also temporarily made some fruit wine for later use.

As the saying goes, eat, drink and have fun, this eating and drinking is almost done, and the rest is to have fun. There are special people in charge of singing and dancing, and Zhao Yingyi has no intention of taking the lead in this regard. So, he found Duan Xin, who would be the supervisor, and prepared to discuss with him the possibility of improving the fireworks.

"Duan Aiqing, I still have to call you here in my busy schedule, this king really can't bear it!" Zhao Yingfu said sincerely while holding Duan Xin, whose waist was becoming more and more bent. Still, as a son, he wanted to be able to give his father a unique birthday feast. My father had worked for the country for many years, and the king wanted him to be happy. Therefore, this king has an idea and wants to discuss one or two with Aiqing. ”

"Your Highness, loyalty, filial piety and benevolence, the sky can be learned, there is a need for micro-ministers, you can command!"

"That's right, this king wants to set off fireworks at his father's birthday banquet, but he needs to make some improvements on the current basis. You're always an expert in this area, and this king has some ideas, so let's see if it's feasible. I remember that I gave you some books on gunpowder, which recorded the improvement of gunpowder, and we chose a milder gunpowder to use to make fireworks, so as to ensure safety. ”

Zhao Ying pulled Duan Xin to his desk, pointed to the drawings and said to him: "Aiqing, please see, this is a firecracker designed by this king, and this king plans to set off two kinds of firecrackers at this birthday banquet." The first is this, let's make an iron bucket with a small hole at the bottom, place a fuse, and fill it with an appropriate amount of gunpowder. In addition, make a firecracker that matches the inner diameter of the iron bucket so that the lead is facing down. In this case, when we ignite the fuse on the outside of the barrel and ignite the gunpowder inside, we will push the firecracker into the sky, and at the same time, ignite the fuse of the firecracker, causing it to explode in the air. Do you think it's okay? ”

After Zhao Yingfu finished speaking, he looked at Duan Xin, expecting his answer.

"What His Highness means, Wechen understands, according to Wechen's experience, although His Highness's design is novel, it should be feasible, and it will be enough for Wechen to go back and experiment with the type and amount of gunpowder and the length of the lead." Duan Xin affirmed Zhao's beneficiary plan.

"Well, let's look at the second one, which is to put the gunpowder in a cardboard tube, close one section, and open a small hole at one end so that its flame splashes out of the small hole. This kind of firecracker has relatively high requirements for gunpowder, and the burning time lasts for a long time, not an instantaneous explosion, so Aiqing should make appropriate adjustments to the gunpowder formula when she goes back, and try to make the gunpowder burn for a longer time. ”

"By the way, Aiqing can try to add some iron filings and other things to the flames, so that the flames of the fireworks will look better, and it is even possible to make fireworks of different colors."

"Your Highness, rest assured, Wechen has written it down, Your Highness, you have every opportunity, and these miscellaneous matters will be handed over to Wechen!"

"Safety is the most important, you must always be careful, usually tell other colleagues who will be in prison, you are all the treasures of my Great Song Dynasty, you can't afford to lose! Finally, we were able to sort out a safety regulation for everyone to keep in mind. Zhao Yingying told Duan Xin, it's hard to find some talents, and if something happens, you can't cry.

"His Royal Highness Lao is worried, and the old minister must keep an eye on them." Duan Xin felt Zhao Ying's heartfelt care and was extremely moved.

Subsequently, Zhao Yingyi found the infantry commander of the field army, Chong Shiheng, and the cavalry commander Zhi Weizheng.

"Weichen Shiheng (Zhe Weizheng), see His Royal Highness the Prince!" Chong Shiheng and Zhi Wei came to Zhao Yingyi and bowed on one knee.

Zhao Ying watched them stay on top of him, bowed on one knee, and frowned slightly.

"Two Aiqing, please hurry up, this year, everyone has trained hard, it's really hard! This king has just discovered a problem, the two Aiqing and the soldiers are covered in armor all day long, and it is very inconvenient to bow and salute. This king has decided that from now on, our Great Song Field Army will abolish the original greeting etiquette and change to the hand-raising salute. After speaking, Zhao Yingying showed them my Celestial Empire salutation posture, decades of edification, and it is still pleasing to the eye.

"Both of you! So let's talk about your mission this time. The king is going to hold a military parade at his father's birthday banquet, and as the name suggests, this parade is a ceremony to review the soldiers. This review is your field army, firstly, to make the emperor happy, and secondly, to test the results of your training in the past year, which is also what this king is most concerned about. In order to form a field army, the king has put a lot of thought into it, the imperial court has also paid a lot of money, and many departments have given help and made efforts, I hope that your performance is worthy of everyone's attention. ”

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, the ministers and others have practiced hard day and night in accordance with His Highness's plan, and they dare not slack off in the slightest. The two of them listened to Zhao Ying's words, and habitually knelt down and said loudly.

"Hurry up, two Aiqing, I forgot the ceremony that this king just taught!" Zhao Ying laughed.

The two of them blushed, and said a little embarrassedly: "The ministers haven't gotten used to it for a while, and they forget it when they're excited, and they must practice for a long time in the future." ”

"Well, you must get used to it! After you go back, each branch of the army selects a squadron to participate in this military parade, this is the process of this ceremony planned by this king, the two of you take it back to study and study, and then nothing goes wrong. This king wants to see a disciplined, strong, and scrappy army, not a bunch of stragglers, you know? ”

"The ministers will never disappoint His Highness's expectations!" The two of them are now learning and selling this time, and they used the etiquette taught by Zhao to give him a live performance.

"That's good, you go back and get ready!"

"Yes! Retire! ”