Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 211 The Prince Leaves the House to Study (Two in One)

At that time, not many people in the Ming Empire paid attention to Xia Yan's trip to the West.

Even the fact that the Imperial Navy defeated the Portuguese fleet in Malacca and obtained Haicheng as a military base in Malacca did not attract the attention of many officials within the empire.

Within the Ming Empire, most officials of the empire were more concerned about the issue of succession to the throne of the emperor.

According to the Confucian system of succession by appointing the eldest son as the heir, the queen's son Zhu Zailei should be the best candidate for the crown prince. After all, Zhu Zailei is the eldest son of Emperor Zhu Houzhao.

Because of this, the officials of the empire were more concerned about the issue of the crown prince leaving home to study.

Ever since Zhu En, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, submitted a memorial requesting that the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Zaile, go out to study and choose a good Confucian teacher to teach him the correct way of classics, many officials have successively submitted memorials requesting the establishment of a crown prince and the sending of princes to study.

Zhu Houzhao had to admit that in this centralized country, most officials of the empire were still mainly concerned about who would sit on the throne in the future and whether they could expand their political rights and interests through the successor to the emperor.

"A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and if the crown prince is not clear, the country will be unstable."

This is the most consistent reason given by civil servants to Zhu Houzhao.

But Zhu Houzhao really wanted to tell these people that the country could do without not only the crown prince but even the emperor.

But Zhu Houzhao knew that even if he said this, many people would not believe it, even most of the people would not believe it, because the current Ming Dynasty political system determined that the emperor was not only the head of state but also the real head of the imperial government, controlling all power in the empire.

From a person's life or death to the appointment of an official, all are the emperor's own power, and only the emperor can have it.

The powers of court officials and clan leaders were only granted by the emperor.

In other words, everything in the world belongs to the emperor. This is a family empire!
Once the emperor is replaced or disappears, the world will fall into chaos, the ruling system will collapse, and half of the population will be wiped out through war and massacre until a new emperor appears.

Controlling the emperor or becoming the emperor yourself is equivalent to owning everything.

Therefore, officials of any dynasty cared very much about the position of emperor, whether they were officials with bad intentions or officials who truly worked for peace in the world.

Therefore, King Anhua, King Ning and others all wanted to rebel and become emperor.

If Zhu Houzhao was not a time traveler, but a sensible emperor, he would have followed the advice of the imperial officials and made his eldest son the crown prince. He would have also approved the request of the civil officials and issued an edict ordering the crown prince to go out to study, in the hope of cultivating a qualified crown prince and laying the foundation for the long-term stability of the Ming Empire.

If Zhu Houzhao was an unreasonable emperor, he could have dragged it out and chosen a son he liked to be the emperor in the future. He could even have learned from Wanli and dragged it out until the civil officials tricked him into making the prince they liked the crown prince through various conspiracies.

But Zhu Houzhao happened to be a time traveler!
Although, under political pressure, Zhu Houzhao admitted that he was not a kind emperor and was never merciful to his political enemies, in fact, only he knew that he did not regard himself as a real emperor in his heart. His cruelty to Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and others was more like a proletarian's resistance to the ruler.

Zhu Houzhao is now very conflicted about how to continue the changes in the Ming Empire, especially a hundred years after his death.

Although Zhu Houzhao didn't know why he could travel to this world, he was possessed by Zhu Houzhao.

But he had to admit one fact, that is, it is impossible for humans to live forever, even if he was a time traveler. Over the past ten years, his body functions and cells have continued to change with the changes in his body, which means that he will age and die.

Death is not scary.

What's more, Zhu Houzhao had already experienced it once himself.

Even though he had some attachment to the living world during his lifetime, Zhu Houzhao felt that there was no need for him to fear death and not dare to face it. He now had to seriously consider the issue of his empire succession a hundred years later.

Zhu Houzhao was thinking whether, a hundred years after his death, he should arrange a dictator for the vast China who would dominate countless Han people and have no respect for other people's lives, so that hundreds of millions of Han people in China would continue to be slaves of this man.

Zhu Houzhao did not want this phenomenon to continue to exist. He hoped that the Ming Dynasty would be a society where everyone was equal. He hoped that those in power in the Ming Dynasty would respect the lives and legal property of others. He hoped that the Ming Dynasty government would not be a tool for the elites to enslave the common people, but an institution elected by the people themselves that would provide public services and organize public services by collecting taxes from the people.

But this is easier said than done.

Not to mention the current Ming Dynasty, even in the 21st century, it has not been truly realized. Although the natural law of the survival of the fittest is cruel, it seems to be the truth that all living things follow.

But Zhu Houzhao still wanted to try again, to try to allow the lower class to have a more equal and free society.

Rich or poor, high or low, in the future, at least under the laws clearly defined, everyone will be equal. When they meet each other, the lower-ranking person will not kneel before the higher-ranking one. The diligent will receive due material rewards, while the lazy will have to pay the due price.

Zhu Houzhao felt that he had to at least try to make the Ming Dynasty closer to the level of civilization of later generations.

Zhu Houzhao had to admit that the current Ming Dynasty was still far behind the later dynasties in terms of civilization. The phenomenon of collective punishment and private execution still existed. Even the emperor himself did so, which was a step backward in history.

In addition, the phenomenon of women being forced to bind their feet still existed, and even widows being forced by their clans to hang themselves to preserve their chastity also existed. These were repeatedly written into official memorials as deeds of loyalty worthy of praise and presented to their own emperor. Whenever Zhu Houzhao saw such deeds of chaste women, he did not know how to deal with them.

Deep down, Zhu Houzhao knew that this was a cannibalistic society with ethical principles, but he could not stop it because the widow hanged herself, and it would even be unreasonable for him, as the emperor, not to grant her a chastity arch.

Coming back to the topic, Zhu Houzhao himself led a series of events that implicated others. When he thought about it now, it seemed that what he did was very natural and logical. In this empire, no one could legally say that he did something wrong. Instead, he kept asking himself in his heart, is he still a modern person who respects the lives of others and never considers himself superior or inferior to others?

Zhu Houzhao was very depressed. Although this society gave him everything that he could not have in later generations, such as palace gardens that he could not even imagine in later generations, many stunning beauties, and endless delicacies from land and sea to eat every day, he found that he was still somewhat out of tune with this world.

Zhu Houzhao hated the fact that the civil servants used Confucian etiquette to restrain themselves, so he chose to resist, but he also hated the fact that the civil servants only knew how to wag their tails and beg for mercy like slaves in front of their masters without any human behavior.

Zhu Houzhao did not want to become the people he hated in later generations, those who liked to be flattered, liked to be bossed around, liked to bully the weak and did not respect others.

Zhu Houzhao knew that arrogant people would not have a good ending in the end, and those who treated others as non-human beings would eventually perish. He might be able to have a good end by relying on the strong national strength he had built and the support of the people he had won, but his descendants, the nobles of the Zhu family, would only be overthrown in the future if they did not treat others as tools of enslavement. Even if they had the backbone to find a tree to hang themselves, it would only look better than the Zhao family who surrendered to the Jin Kingdom as a whole country. In the end, they could not change their fate of being abandoned by the people.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao hoped that his children and grandchildren could understand this truth. Not only his own children and grandchildren, but all the rulers of the empire must understand that as rulers, they are not the strong ones who should exploit the weak, but they also have the obligation to safeguard the interests of the country and accomplish public affairs when they have the ruling power.

Regardless of whether the people passively accept the rule of this government or actively elect them through elections, those who hold public power should understand that their power is given by the people. Once this government does not work for the welfare of the people, it will be abandoned by the people.

In fact, these principles are also found in the words of sages. Otherwise, there would not be sayings like "people are the most important, the king is the least important, and the country is the third most important", and there would not be the ancient saying that "water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it".

But many people have read the wrong scriptures, and are only concerned with maintaining their privileges while forgetting their obligations.

Confucian scholars of later generations emphasized patriarchal authority, husbandly authority, and monarchical authority, stressing that sons should obey their fathers, wives should obey their husbands, and ministers should obey their monarchs. However, they forgot to stipulate the obligations of fathers, husbands, and monarchs, and perhaps some of them would be deliberately downplayed and ignored.

However, sometimes in the court, the civil officials were not unaware of limiting the imperial power, and they even knew to ask the emperor to fulfill his obligations. But many times, the civil officials did not limit their own power as fathers and husbands, so that they established a one-man show in the family and asked the emperor to accept advice in the court. Isn't this a contradiction?

Zhu Houzhao knew that he still had a long way to go if he wanted to turn the Ming Dynasty into his ideal country, but he would not give up just because the journey was long and difficult.

But he had to admit that in order to turn the empire into his ideal country, the first thing he had to do was to limit his own power. First, he had to abide by the rules and respect the lives of others. Secondly, he had to try his best to establish a more reasonable political system, a system that could protect people's most basic rights and interests and limit people's greed.

Of course, the most important thing is to allow social development and productivity to develop, so that people can have more knowledge and means of production.

Only in this way can the people have more power to fight against the rulers, and the rulers can consider the feelings of the people. Only by balancing the power of each other can we achieve mutual respect and equality.

Zhu Houzhao was not worried that there would still be powerful people who would dominate others and enslave the people for a long time. What he was worried about was that the people would feel that they deserved to be enslaved.

If this continues, the Han people will remain numb and will only remain in the two states of being complacent about enslaving others and wanting to be slave owners but being unable to do so. They will not care who is riding on their heads, but only hope that they can also ride on the heads of others. In this case, how can we talk about national consciousness and state consciousness?

Zhu Houzhao approved the request of Zhu Ensuo, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, and decided to let the prince go out to study.

However, he did not follow the wishes of civil officials such as Zhu En and send only the eldest son to study. Instead, he sent four four-year-old princes to study at the same time, and he did not intend to let these four princes receive only Confucian education.

Zhu Houzhao decided to cultivate the literacy of the four princes first through local community schools. The method of cultivation was no longer the traditional Confucian enlightenment method such as teaching the Three Character Classic. Instead, he used the newly compiled pinyin to assist in various catchy poems and essays. He also asked the Hanlin Academy to compile the "Da Ming Dictionary", which was similar to the later Xinhua Dictionary, as the main reference book for the four princes during their primary compulsory education.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao did not follow the civil officials' wishes and select good teachers to serve as the Chancellor to teach them. Instead, he issued an edict to establish a palace community school (hereinafter referred to as the palace school) in accordance with the example of community schools, which was specifically designed to provide primary education for the children of royal nobles. The community school teachers were not court officials who only knew how to explain Confucian classics, but experienced community school teachers specially selected from local community schools and recruited to the palace school as teachers. The subjects of study were also changed to Chinese studies, arithmetic, and common sense.

Zhu Houzhao issued an edict ordering royal noble families to select children of appropriate age to study in the palace. In addition to the four princes, some sons of princes, princesses and relatives were also recruited to study in the palace.

Among them, it is worth mentioning that Zhu Houcong, the son of Prince Xing Zhu Youlang and Zhu Houzhao's cousin, was also ordered to enter the palace to study.

Zhu Houzhao's purpose in doing this was very simple. He wanted to let his princes learn how to get along with others, how to observe people's hearts, how to make friends and how to resolve conflicts when getting along with others during their education from an early age, instead of letting them grow up in the deep palace or only obey the teacher's teachings, or even take the teacher's words as the guiding principle and lose the ability to think for themselves.

Zhu Houzhao's behavior naturally disgusted most of the civil servants, because in this way, they would not be able to influence the future court affairs by educating the prince.

However, these civil servants did not dare to openly oppose Zhu Houzhao. After all, Zhu Houzhao was the emperor and had the highest decision-making power in the empire.

Therefore, these civil servants only advised Emperor Zhu Houzhao to first establish a crown prince, and stated that they asked the emperor to establish a crown prince for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the uncertainty of the crown prince's position would cause court officials to fall into party struggles, resulting in instability in the government.

Zhu Houzhao knew that if the crown prince was not appointed, it might indeed trigger factional disputes. The Nine Dragon Battle for the Crown Prince in the Qing Dynasty was an example in history. The fact that Wanli did not appoint a crown prince for a long time caused serious internal friction in the dynasty and even gave birth to the Donglin Party. However, it was not good to establish a crown prince too early. Once the crown prince's party appeared, many officials would only know how to curry favor with the crown prince and follow him in corruption and abuse of power.

But Zhu Houzhao would rather not appoint a crown prince now than go to the trouble of deposing an unqualified crown prince in the future. Who will rule the hundreds of millions of people in the empire in the future should not be decided by Confucian ethics, nor by himself, but by hundreds of millions of people themselves.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not know how to let the people choose the head of the empire they wanted, but he was not in a hurry. He wanted to first train many qualified imperial rulers and many people with their own thinking. Only then would the people know how to choose.

Thanks to the old grandfather of the book friend for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Dou Douzhe for the 100 starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)