My father Zhao Kuangyin

The rear garden.

On the vast grassland, a seven-year-old boy, just beginning to experience tooth decay, awkwardly mounted a small white colt with the help of his attendants.

But as soon as the child was settled, he couldn't wait to run away.

"Weiji, don't rush. Step firmly into the iron stirrups, or you'll fall."

"Auntie, your nephew isn't stupid..."

"Look at you, all alone. You don't eat properly, and you're acting like a little adult."

Zhao Dechong pouted, expressing his dissatisfaction.

"My nephew can draw a bow and shoot arrows, how can he not be a grown-up?"

"Okay, you're an adult, be careful."

After speaking, Madam Song patted Zhao Dechong's head, gave him a few instructions, and then stepped back to sit under the canopy, silently gazing around.

"My husband is really being silly. He had a workshop make a small soft bow and taught Weiji archery. It's such a leisurely thing to do... Weiji is also amazing. He can actually shoot. Now he's learning to ride a horse. With such talent, I would believe he was my husband's son. But he's Guangyi's son."

When Wang Ji'en heard Song praise Zhao Dechong, even though her tone was tinged with regret, he was overjoyed, even more so than his master.

"The young master has been intelligent since childhood. Such a child is loved by all adults. I think Your Majesty plays with the young master to make yourself feel better. Recently, your anger has subsided. It works better than any medicine."

Madam Song sighed for no apparent reason and said, "My husband loves him, but don't I love him too?"

The reason why Lady Song felt regret was that if Zhao Dechong were Zhao Kuangyin's youngest son, she could have rightfully adopted him and raised him under her care.

Of course, these are all things of the future. After all, in terms of seniority in the inner court, this empress was not as senior as Zhao Dechong.

It should be noted that Zhao Dechong was summoned to the palace by Zhao Kuangyin to be raised when he was just one month old, while Song was not made empress until the sixth year of the Qiande era, two years later.

Furthermore, the name Dechong, which is listed alongside Dezhao and Defang, was naturally given by the government.

To some extent, the emperor was not as close to his nephew as he was to his two biological sons.

Admittedly, this isn't a generational gap, but the age difference is significant. Children are inherently endearing, not to mention smart and sweet-talking ones.

As for Zhao Dechong later changing his name to Zhao Yuanzuo, it was at the behest of Zhao Guangyi. It is estimated that Emperor Taizong felt guilty and sorry for his elder brother... Dechong was given by the latter, so he felt a little uncomfortable.

Why?

This is like having two wives, one from a respectable family and the other from a prostitute's background. If the former is called a prostitute, she will just think it's a joke and let it go with a laugh. But the latter... will probably fuss and argue endlessly.

And De Chong means to revere virtue... the less one has, the less one can see.

The summer sun wasn't scorching today, and Song didn't keep watch for too long. In her hazy state, she gradually became sleepy and simply lay down on the chair for a nap.

When Zhao Kuangyin arrived leisurely, he couldn't bear to disturb her, so he had a woolen blanket brought and covered Song Shi with it.

Then he watched with a smile as his eldest nephew rode the little pony.

When Zhao Dechong saw the hill, perhaps because he saw that his aunt had just fallen asleep, he did not cheer as excitedly as usual.

He rode his horse for a while longer, then, burdened by the Khan's weight, dismounted and ran towards the canopy.

Perhaps due to the bumpy ride, Zhao Dechong's legs were a little sore, so his posture looked like he was stumbling.

"Your aunt is asleep. Shall we go play somewhere else?"

Zhao Dechong nodded, and was then led away by the large hand holding a palm leaf fan to a different location.

"How about horseback riding?"

"It's fun."

Zhao Kuangyin smiled and said, "Horse riding and archery are both indispensable. Since you are practicing riding, you should also practice archery."

"Of course!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dechong was not tired at all; on the contrary, he was greatly encouraged, as if he had been prepared for it.

Moving to the flower garden, Zhao Kuangyin, while admiring the flowers, noticed the money tree and, remembering something, pondered for a while before reciting a poem with deep feeling.

"Having acquired a fine name, the fragrance of the trees lingers, accompanying us tenderly into the autumn light."

"If this thing were allowed to be stored away, it would surely be hoarded by powerful families."

Li Shenyou paused at just the right moment, then smiled.

"The emperor's recitation of this poem is certainly appropriate for the occasion."

The poem is aptly titled "Golden Coin Flower," and it was written by Luo Yin, a scholar from the pre-Tang Dynasty.

If you only look at the first half, it is just a poem about appreciating flowers, which is not appropriate for the current scene. But if you look at the second half, the meaning becomes clear.

Clearly, this is a satirical poem.

The background of the creation was that he failed the imperial examination for seven years, and even after ten years, he still failed, ultimately earning the reputation of "failing the imperial examination ten times".

The poem's implied meaning is that powerful and wealthy families engage in underhanded dealings and are insatiably greedy, all in an attempt to voice their grievances and injustices.

In today's context, this is because rampant corruption among officials has led to the protection of powerful figures like Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi.

And then there was Xiang Gong, the governor of Henan. When Zhao Kuangyin first heard about the many cases in Luoyang, he was furious.

Then, I came to understand the principle that "if the water is too clear, there will be no fish," and that one should not cut too quickly, but rather cook small fish as if they were fresh.

"Cut...cut jade like mud, is Uncle going to kill someone?"

Suddenly, Zhao Dechong asked, puzzled.

The previous poem was too "obscure" for him to have studied, but he knew the story of "carving jade like mud".

The source is "Records of Ancient and Modern Swords" written by Tao Hongjing of the Qi and Liang dynasties.

The full text refers to Dong Zhuo, a powerful warlord at the end of the Han Dynasty: "When Dong Zhuo was young, he was farming in the fields when he found a knife. It had no writing on it, but the four sides of it were covered with mountain and cloud patterns. He could cut jade as easily as mud."

Zhao Dechong loved reading, and at that moment he felt a sense of familiarity, so he blurted it out without thinking.

At this moment, Zhao Kuangyin felt troubled by his nephew's childlike innocence.

After a moment, he stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "If what you say is true, Weiji, I don't know how many people I have killed."

"Since they've forced Uncle to take up the knife, then they deserve to die."

After saying this, Zhao Kuangyin paused for a moment.

Looking at the innocent and righteous Zhao Dechong, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You all saw it, Weiji is so old, he knows that what I did was reasonable, but that brat doesn't know it."

Li Shenyou smiled bitterly, but dared not reply.

The other eunuchs followed suit, not daring to raise their heads and trying to hide.

These words naturally refer to the Ma Shi case, in which Zhao Dezhao, enraged, repeatedly tried to "force" Zhao Kuangyin to abdicate, almost causing Zhao Kuangyin to doubt himself. After investigating the matter, he was still furious.

Yes, the Secretariat did not issue an edict, but the Dali Temple's judgment was made by the emperor. "Guanjia" refers to the emperor, but it also refers to the emperor's original intention. Sometimes the two can be linked together.

That would have been bad enough, but to prepare a coffin for Ma Shi is just asking for trouble. Isn't that deliberately going against Lao Tzu?

Of course, Emperor Taizu was not like Emperor Taizong; he was not so petty and resentful. After his angry outburst in the Chuigong Hall, he had long since forgotten about it. However, now that his nephew had said this, he recalled it and felt a sense of loss.

"Weiji, why don't you shoot at this money flower? If you hit the stem or root, I'll consider it a hit. What do you say?"

"Shooting flowers?"

Zhao Kuangyin nodded.

"Uncle, take a look first, how many steps are there?"

Zhao Kuangyin pretended to count on his hands, compared the measurements, and then laughed.

"Twenty steps."

"good!"

After a while, the eunuch hurriedly brought over a small soft bow and a weak arrow with the arrowhead removed, and bowed respectfully to Zhao Dechong's left and right.

"Weiji is about to shoot, please step back, Uncle, so that your nephew may not accidentally injure you."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin shook his head and smiled, then took a few steps back as he pleased.

As Zhao Dechong had just taught him, he remembered all the essentials of drawing the bow and arrow and his technique was quite skillful.

"Whoosh."

The arrow, now without its tip, was fired and deviated slightly, but still struck the stems and leaves amidst the cluster of flowers.

"Young master, what excellent archery skills!" Li Shenyou clapped his hands and cheered.

"Uncle! How is my archery?"

"Ten shots, now fire again."

Zhao Dechong was relatively obedient and did not become arrogant. He calmed down and slowly shot arrows one by one.

In the end, the result was that eight out of ten were correct.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Kuangyin feigned surprise, while Zhao Dechong looked on with even greater delight, as if he were a victorious general returning home, raising his bow and shouting.

In fact, it's already quite good to be able to draw a bow and shoot at this age. It's rare to be able to aim at the target correctly and not deviate from the center.

But to call them prodigies or monsters would be an exaggeration.

As for Emperor Taizu, he had seen all sorts of storms in his life, so his exaggerated expression was clearly just to amuse the child.

Looking at his nephew, who was brimming with youthful energy, the official Zhao suddenly found himself vaguely recalling his third brother's appearance in his youth.

Like father, like son. How could Guangyi be the kind of evil person Zeping described?

Neglecting one's duties and failing to supervise is essentially an act of protecting subordinates, turning a blind eye and letting things slide. This approach, by a measure, can be considered a kind of "loyalty."

However, Zhao Kuangyin was unaware that the consolidation of character is a result of both innate and acquired factors. Compared to visits from his biological father, Zhao Dechong spent more time by his side, and under his influence, he naturally developed a strong sense of loyalty and affection.