Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 884 The Prince’s Tutor
"Did you really give Sun Chengzong a ruler? And you said such words in front of Lan'er and Cheng'er?" At night, in the bedroom, Queen Xu Jingqiu couldn't help but ask Zhu Shenzhui.

"Of course, a strict teacher produces excellent students. How can we not do this?" Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile.

Xu Jingqiu frowned slightly: "Although that's what I said, after all, Lan'er is the crown prince, Cheng'er is the King of Song, and you know the character of the two children, what if..."

"How can there be so many chances?" Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and said, "Although they were both taught by you and me and have good personalities, they are still young after all. They were just ordinary royal family members before, but now one is the crown prince and the other is the King of Song. Their identities are different, so their mentality is naturally different from before."

"Young people's moods change frequently, so we must pay more attention to them. Confucius said to reflect on oneself three times a day. Even Confucius did this, let alone others. This move is just to remind them and make them cautious. This is the same as Tang Monk putting a tight hoop on Sun Wukong in Journey to the West."

Xu Jingqiu also laughed after hearing this and nodded, "That's true. It's good to have a strict master to supervise you, but aren't you afraid that Sun Chengzong will really beat you?"

"Go ahead and hit them. If a teacher doesn't hit his students, is he still a teacher?" Zhu Shenzhui said disapprovingly, "Besides, hitting the palms a few times won't hurt them. Besides, Sun Chengzong is not a pedantic person. He will naturally know the severity of the situation. I feel relieved to leave these two boys to him."

Xu Jingqiu thought this made sense. She had also heard of Sun Chengzong's great name for a long time. As the imperial tutor of the late emperor, the former governor of Ji and Liao of the Ming Dynasty, and an important official of the court, Sun Chengzong was not only famous, but also had impeccable moral character. Xu Jingqiu absolutely agreed to let him be the teacher of her two children.

However, Xu Jingqiu thought about it carefully and felt that it was not that simple for Zhu Shenzhui to ask Sun Chengzong to be the prince's teacher. Although Sun Chengzong was indeed the most suitable candidate, he was old after all, and he had retired and returned to his hometown a long time ago. This time he was specially brought to the capital to be the prince's teacher. Based on her understanding of her husband, it was far from as simple as it seemed.

When Xu Jingqiu couldn't help but ask this question, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but laugh. There were only a few people in the world who truly understood him, and Queen Xu Jingqiu was just one of them.

Xu Jingqiu guessed correctly. The reason why he valued Sun Chengzong and spent a lot of effort to invite him was not just to be the prince's teacher, but there was indeed a deeper meaning.

First of all, the prince's education cannot be delayed, although the prince Zhu Minlan has been studying for a long time, not only studying but also practicing martial arts. The same is true for Song Wang Zhu Mincheng. Zhu Shenzhu is still very concerned about the education of his children. He does not want to cultivate useless offspring who only know how to eat, drink and have fun. Not to mention Xu Jingqiu, she personally taught both children, and she has never relaxed their studies over the years.

But even so, after he ascended the throne and appointed the Crown Prince and King Song, some people in the court began to pay attention to the Crown Prince's studies.

Especially in the past year, there have been numerous memorials to Zhu Shenzhui requesting him to let the prince go out to study as soon as possible and to find a teacher for him. Could it be that these officials really care about the prince's studies? If Zhu Shenzhui just thought that was the case, he would be very wrong.

In Zhu Shenzhui's view, many people were ostensibly concerned about the prince's study, but in fact they were calculating to influence the prince through this matter. In other words, they believed that Zhu Shenzhui, like Zhu Di, was an extremely powerful emperor who had assumed the throne in the name of pacifying the rebellion. They were naturally inferior to the previous emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, because of Zhu Shenzhui, the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty was now extremely strong, which was not in line with the previous tradition of the Ming Dynasty that the country was ruled by civil officials.

He naturally did not have the courage or the ability to confront Zhu Shenzhu head-on. Zhu Shenzhu was not the Wanli Emperor, who could only avoid the powerful force of the civil service group and deal with it passively. He was not the Tianqi Emperor either, because the imperial power was weak and he could only use Wei Zhongxian to form a faction and seize power with the civil service group. He was not the Chongzhen Emperor, who was deceived by the civil service group and cut off his own arm.

Zhu Shenzhui controlled the most powerful new army of the Ming Dynasty, and he also won over the Ming Dynasty's noble group. In addition, he had promoted and employed civil and military officials in recent years, such as Wang Jinwu, Xu Xiancheng, Li Xin, Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou, Li You, Gao Jie, etc. With the military power in his hands, how could mere civil officials resist him?

Under such circumstances, it was difficult for the civil service group to change, so they naturally shifted their focus from Zhu Shenzhui to the crown prince, that is, the crown prince Zhu Minlan. Under the banner of the crown prince's study, they just wanted to place people around the crown prince and use the opportunity of being the crown prince's teacher to subtly influence the crown prince. As long as the crown prince gradually gets close to them, the situation can be changed in the future. Even once Zhu Shenzhui dies and the crown prince ascends the throne, the Ming Dynasty will still be the same as before, and these civil servants will naturally control the government as before. It has to be said that these guys have a good calculation, and it is impeccable to act from this angle. But they forgot that Zhu Shenzhui is not an ordinary emperor. If he can't see through this trick, then he is not Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhu Shenzhui also knew that there were no loopholes in the method used by these people, because there was no problem in terms of ancestral system, legal principles, and the continuation of the Ming Dynasty. If Zhu Shenzhui directly rejected it, then what was the difference between him and Jiajing and Wanli in those days? But if he agreed, then these people would succeed. Although the prince and the King of Song had become sensible and learned well under the guidance of Zhu Shenzhui and Xu Jingqiu, rules were rules. If Zhu Shenzhui could break this rule, then the emperors of the future generations would also be like this. After several generations, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty would become drunkards. How could the Ming Dynasty continue?

So from this point of view, it is necessary for the crown prince to study. Not only the crown prince, but other princes as well. The royal family of the Ming Dynasty must not produce any more waste. Let alone a wise ruler, the descendants must at least be rulers who can maintain the status quo.

But Zhu Shencui had his own ideas about this matter. He could accept that the crown prince and the princes could study, but the teachers of the crown prince and the princes must not fall into the hands of these people. If the people were handed over to them to teach, the end result would be that they would be useless, which Zhu Shencui could not accept in any way.

In the end, Zhu Shenzhu decided to choose suitable teachers for the Crown Prince and Prince of Song himself, and Sun Chengzong became the best candidate.

Sun Chengzong was old enough and had a high status. He was also the teacher of Emperor Tianqi and the imperial tutor. He also held the titles of Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. In addition, although Sun Chengzong was a member of the Donglin Party, he was a practical person among the Party, unlike other Donglin Party members who talked big. Moreover, Sun Chengzong was not only good at teaching, but also proficient in politics and military affairs, and his moral character was impeccable. There was no problem in having him serve as the chief tutor of the Crown Prince and King Song.

Moreover, no one in the court could find fault with Sun Chengzong's appointment to this position. Who dared to say that Sun Chengzong was not qualified? If anyone raised any objections, the civil and military officials in the court would scold the other party without Zhu Shenzhui's intervention.

Using this big Buddha to suppress the opponent is a move that no one would have thought of, and the effect is absolutely good. As for whether Sun Chengzong really did not care about it after becoming the chief teacher of the teaching hall? This is unnecessary worry. Zhu Shenzhu has carefully understood Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong is not only a loyal and capable minister, but also an extremely responsible person. It would be fine if he did not become the chief teacher. Once he did, he would definitely do his best to teach the prince and the king of Song to him. Zhu Shenzhu is absolutely assured.

After listening to Zhu Shenzhu's explanation, Xu Jingqiu smiled and said, "Emperor, you are too mean. You still want to scheme against Sun Chengzong, who is so old. He has retired and is enjoying his retirement, but you still drag him into it. Most people would never think of such a thing, only you can do it."

"I have no choice. If I don't use Sun Chengzong, who do you think I should use? Do I want Qian Qianyi to be the chief chef?"

"That's true..." Xu Jingqiu thought about it and agreed. Indeed, there were few people in the court who could really be the teacher of the crown prince and the King of Song. Xu Xiancheng could do it. He was also a Jinshi, had a high enough official position, and was both civil and military. However, his identity was a big problem. Some people criticized the fact that the uncle of the emperor was an important official in the court. What if he became the teacher of the crown prince and the prince? All the officials would definitely oppose it.

Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou are also fine, but they are now the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and the governor of Huguang, respectively, so it is impossible for them to serve in Beijing. Apart from these people, there are several well-known ministers in the literary world. They are naturally good at writing articles, but being good at writing articles does not mean being a good teacher. Moreover, the crown prince and the king of Song are both members of the royal family, especially the former is the crown prince. As the heir to the throne, why does he need to know how to write eight-part essays and recite what is this? This is not an exam for becoming a scholar. What they learn is different from ordinary people. What they need to know is how to govern the country, how to use people, and how to have a vision of the overall situation. These are not things that those nerds can teach.

So after looking around, only Sun Chengzong was the most suitable one, and Xu Jingqiu had to admit that Zhu Shenzhu's decision was right.

Sun Chengzong served as the chief teacher of the teaching hall. According to Zhu Shenzhu's plan, there were other teachers under the chief teacher, who taught the crown prince and the king of Song. Among them, there were not only civil but also military skills. With Sun Chengzong, Zhu Shenzhu could select suitable people from the Hanlin Academy or the Zhanshi Mansion to serve in the civil aspect. The military aspect was even simpler. No matter if it was Wang Jinwu or Li You, or other generals, they could serve. Moreover, unlike the chief teacher, these people did not serve for a long time and could be replaced at any time, which also prevented some people with ulterior motives from taking this opportunity to influence the crown prince and the king of Song.

In the future, the teaching hall will be a permanent institution, and all the princes of the Ming Dynasty will go to the teaching hall to study when they reach the age. The Qing Dynasty did the best in this regard. The princes of the Qing Dynasty had a heavy workload, and each prince received an excellent education. Although the emperors after Qianlong were getting worse and worse, there was no incompetent ruler in the entire Qing Dynasty. At best, they were incompetent. In addition, the Qing Dynasty's policy of closing the country to the outside world made the entire dynasty short-sighted and arrogant, which eventually led to the subsequent century of humiliation.

(End of this chapter)