Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 262 The Emperor Seems to Have Changed
In Kunning Palace, Empress Zhang ate some food and then left on her own accord.

The father and son wanted to discuss political affairs, but Empress Zhang knew her limits and would not disturb Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao at this time.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Father, we have taken the wrong approach in governing the chieftains."

Not only are you educating your father, you are also overturning all the efforts of the Zhu family's ancestors?
You boy, you are so arrogant!
Zhu Houzhao continued: "Father, think about it, if you are a great chieftain, I am a commoner under you, and my mother is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

Emperor Hongzhi: “?”

Forget it. I’m too lazy to argue with him. Although this analogy made Emperor Hongzhi very uncomfortable, he endured it for the time being.

"Every time the Queen Mother rewards us, the money must pass through your hands first. If you don't give these rewards to us, how can we know that the Ming Dynasty treats us well?"

"As a chieftain, you have the power to distribute wealth. In the end, all the favors bestowed by the Ming Dynasty went into your pocket. What favors did we receive?"

"The bond between the natives and the Ming Dynasty all depends on the words of the chieftain. For his own benefit, the chieftain will constantly exploit the resistance of the natives. As long as the natives resist the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will reward them with favors."

"Think carefully, is the path that the Ming Dynasty is taking really conducive to governing the southwest?"

"The reason why wars have been breaking out in the southwest over the years is that we have never faced up to the problems in the southwest. Small problems keep piling up and will eventually break out, right?"

"If we don't solve the problems in the southwest now, they will continue to accumulate and will one day pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. Think about it carefully, isn't this the truth?"

Zhu Houzhao continued to eat his food, then took a sip of tea to smooth his greasy mouth.

Emperor Hongzhi carefully savored Zhu Houzhao's words...or to be more precise, Chen Ce's theoretical analysis.

The more I think about it, the more frightened I become. If we really leave the Southwest alone, sooner or later more serious and complex contradictions and problems will accumulate in the Southwest.

He was silent for a while, then asked Zhu Houzhao: "How should we solve this problem?"

Zhu Houzhao said: "Don't let the chieftains manage the natives anymore. The Ming Dynasty should send officials to govern the natives in the southwest directly."

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head slightly and said to Zhu Houzhao: "The idea is good, but it is difficult to implement."

Although the southwest was nominally the territory of the Ming Dynasty, for the past hundred years the governance model had been that the chieftains governed the local people, and the Ming court did not interfere with the chieftains' governance.

How can we carry out the work if we send officials there now? Will the chieftains cooperate with the Ming officials? Will they delegate power to the Ming officials?

The natives are hostile to the Han people. In their eyes, they only recognize the chieftains of their own tribe. How could they obey the jurisdiction of your Ming officials?

The local people do not support it, and the chieftains are pretending to obey them but actually disobeying them. Even if we send temporary officials to govern, it will not produce any results. Instead, it will put the temporary officials in danger in the southwest.

Even if Emperor Hongzhi had this plan, who would he send? Who would be willing to serve as an official in the southwest?

Sending a group of reluctant officials there would only intensify the conflict between the local people and the Ming Dynasty. Real capable officials would not be willing to go to the southwest, and even if they did, they would not make sincere political achievements.

This is an unsolvable problem. Even though Emperor Hongzhi agreed with Zhu Houzhao's idea, he was powerless to do it!
Zhu Houzhao felt a little dizzy and blurted out, "Then I don't know."

Emperor Hongzhi said with a half-smile: "Don't you know how to implement the solution you proposed?"

Zhu Houzhao: "Ah? No, oh, let me think about it."

The younger brother didn't mention a specific solution, he just suggested changing the natives to officials and sending officials to govern the natives, but he didn't mention a specific plan. "Or, wait for uncle and his family to come back, and then ask about the situation in the southwest?" Zhu Houzhao said.

Emperor Hongzhi: "Good!"

He was not in a hurry and waited for Zhu Houzhao to continue to ask Chen Ce for advice. He wanted to see what other tricks Chen Ce had. From governing the southwest to opening up the central region to salt permits to salaries for the royal family and vassal states, each of these things was difficult to handle and each was a tough nut to crack, but they had all been tackled by Chen Ce.

Emperor Hongzhi was looking forward to how Chen Ce would completely resolve the situation in the southwest. He was not in a hurry and gave Chen Ce enough time to teach the prince.

After Zhu Houzhao left, Emperor Hongzhi went to the Qianqing Palace with his hands behind his back.

Huai'en told Emperor Hongzhi that Yang Tinghe, the Left Spring Office, and Jin Gui, the Right Spring Office, of the Eastern Palace, had been waiting for some time to see Emperor Hongzhi.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly and summoned the two men into the palace.

"Your humble servants and others pay their respects to our emperor, long live the emperor."

Emperor Hongzhi motioned for the two to stand up, and Yang Tinghe said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has been away from the East Palace recently, and he is not seen every time he teaches. Please keep him under strict control."

When Jiao Fang was still alive, at least there was someone who could control Zhu Houzhao.

Since Jiao Fang's death, Zhu Houzhao let himself go, and the group of teachers in the Eastern Palace had no control over the Crown Prince at all.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded calmly and said, "I understand."

what?
Is the Emperor so calm and indifferent?
Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's studies are important, and this matter must be taken seriously."

Emperor Hongzhi frowned and said, "I know, and now the Crown Prince hasn't become any worse, has he?"

Yang Tinghe was a little suspicious. Why was the emperor's attitude towards him so different now?
You used to call me Jiefu, but now you don’t even want to call me Yang Chunfang?

What is going on?

Yang Tinghe thought that he was very important in the heart of Emperor Hongzhi. After all, the emperor had summoned him to the palace many times to ask about the Crown Prince's academic problems.

At that time, Yang Tinghe was very proud. Although he remained restrained on the surface, his excitement was evident in his heart. He believed that he had already won the emperor's favor, especially after Jiao Fang's death. He even thought that he could replace Jiao Fang's position.

But the fact seems not to be so. Not only has the emperor not summoned me during this period, but his attitude towards me is also different from before.

Yang Tinghe didn't even know what was happening.

Of course he didn't know. Emperor Hongzhi used to think that the change in the crown prince was due to the teaching of you, Yang Tinghe. But now Emperor Hongzhi realized that it was not your, Yang Tinghe's credit. It was all Chen Ce's credit and had nothing to do with you, Yang Tinghe.

How much do you expect Emperor Hongzhi to value you?

When the two of them left the Qianqing Palace, Jin Gui frowned and said, "Lord Yang, the emperor doesn't seem to pay much attention to the prince's education. What's going on?"

Yang Tinghe shook his head slightly, but he was also wondering in his heart, could it be that the knowledge Jiao Fang had taught the Crown Prince was of a certain level? Now the Emperor no longer cares about teaching him some more conventional things?
After all, what Jiao Fang had taught the Crown Prince before were practical knowledge on solving national policies.

It seems that I have to reach a higher level in the future! I can’t teach the four books and five classics anymore, I have to move closer to national policies!
(End of this chapter)