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

Chapter 363: Governing the Country with Confucianism
East Palace Academy.

Yang Tinghe was giving Zhu Houzhao a history lesson, learning from history can help us understand the rise and fall of nations.

Yang Tinghe explained to Zhu Houzhao the critical moment of the change in national policy of the Western Han Dynasty, when Dong Zhongshu abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone.

From then on, the Han Dynasty established the foundation of governing the country with Confucianism. Before that, the Western Han Dynasty had always adhered to Lao Tzu's policy of inaction.

Yang Tinghe said to Zhu Houzhao: "The sage talked to Hui all day long without disagreeing, which made him seem foolish. But if he stepped back and reflected on his own private affairs, he would be enlightened, and Hui was not foolish at all."

"A king should be like Yan Hui, a sage within and a king without! He should be a sage within and a benevolent ruler without."

"If Your Highness becomes a king in the future, you should also follow the path of the saints, being a saint inside and a king outside."

Emperor Hongzhi and Chen Ce were outside listening to Yang Tinghe's lecture to Zhu Houzhao.

Emperor Hongzhi asked Chen Ce, "What do you think of his teaching?"

Chen Ce said: "This will train your highness to become a benevolent and righteous monarch."

After a pause, Chen Ce smiled and said, "But is it what Your Majesty wants to see that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince becomes a benevolent and righteous monarch who is controlled by all the officials?"

Emperor Hongzhi narrowed his eyes and asked Chen Ce, "What kind of monarch do you think Houzhao should be?"

Chen Ce said: "What Emperor Wu of Han actually implemented was not the Confucian way of governing the country. He was a Confucian on the outside and a king on the inside, a mixture of the ways of kingship and hegemony! This is the quality that a king should have. Later officials always wanted to use Confucian theories to restrain the king. The Song Dynasty ruled the world with half of the Analects and ruled the world together with the literati, but what was the result?"

"Whenever there was an invasion by foreign enemies, the Confucian scholars always had to be benevolent. The emperor had been influenced by Confucianism since he was young and thought that the scholars were right, but he was repeatedly invaded by foreign enemies."

"I think that the crown prince and future emperor that Your Majesty wants to see should not be like this."

Emperor Hongzhi did not comment. He looked at Chen Ce expressionlessly and said, "Go on."

Chen Ce said: "The Crown Prince shouldn't learn these things anymore. He has learned everything he should learn. What he should really learn now is how to look at things dialectically."

Emperor Hongzhi asked curiously, "What does it mean to look at things dialectically?"

Chen Ce said calmly: "Give me a simple example. How did the teachers in the East Palace and even the emperor teach about the Jingnan Campaign?"

The corner of Emperor Hongzhi's mouth twitched, and he said, "The Jianwen court bullied Taizong too much, so Taizong had no choice but to purge the emperor's entourage and send troops to quell the rebellion."

Chen Ce asked, "But is this really the case? From a political perspective, isn't this a carefully planned rebellion?"

Emperor Hongzhi said sternly: "Chen Chunjian!"

Chen Ce said indifferently: "Look, you always let the prince believe in all the good things in the world, and don't let him look at political history dialectically. If he wants to take power in the future and really practices the Confucian theory of benevolence and righteousness, he will soon become a puppet of the literati. Will the emperor still have power?"

"Even if an emperor who has no means of ruling his people ascends the throne, what difference is there between him and a puppet?"

Emperor Hongzhi's face twitched violently and his fists were clenched tightly in his sleeves.

These words seemed to have pricked a nerve in Emperor Hongzhi's heart. Before he ascended the throne, he knew nothing, and Emperor Chenghua did not give him a careful and systematic education, so after he ascended the throne, he could only rely on civil officials and literati.

After a series of adjustments in the early stage, Emperor Hongzhi finally adjusted to a political team that he was satisfied with, but the civil servants were far more powerful than he had imagined.

They slowly eroded Hongzhi's power, and even if he wanted to resist, he had to be cautious. He didn't want his son to follow in his footsteps. Chen Ce was right. If he didn't give Zhu Houzhao a deeper education in the art of ruling, he would only listen to the nonsense of civil officials and scholars when he ascended the throne, which would lead to his power falling into someone else's hands.

It is good to just listen to Yang Tinghe's theories. The teacher Zhu Houzhao really needs is not Yang Tinghe, but someone like Chen Ce who is good at planning, scheming, and proficient in political tactics!
Only in this way, when Zhu Houzhao ascends the throne in the future, can he be above all officials and prevent his power from being divided up by civil servants!
Yang Tinghe finally noticed Chen Ce and Emperor Hongzhi standing outside the school.

He was slightly surprised, wondering why Emperor Hongzhi brought Chen Ce here. And judging from their standing postures, it seemed that Emperor Hongzhi and Chen Ce were very familiar with each other.

Yang Tinghe hurried out to meet Emperor Hongzhi.

Emperor Hongzhi hummed and said, "Mr. Yang, there is no need to be so polite. Let's leave today's lessons as they are for now. Houzhao, you and Chunjian will go to the palace to have lunch."

Zhu Houzhao said happily: "Okay!"

Looking at the three people's departing backs, Yang Tinghe was stunned. If he had heard correctly just now, the emperor invited Chen Ce to the palace for lunch?
He doesn't even have the qualifications!

How high is this kid's status in the emperor's heart? What's going on? Yang Tinghe was a little confused for a moment.

Emperor Hongzhi was naturally putting on a show for Yang Tinghe to see. Although he didn't say anything, he actually said everything. The meaning was that you should not harass Chen Ce again in the future, because he is under my protection.

Before coming, Emperor Hongzhi said that he would mediate the conflict between Chen Ce and Yang Tinghe. Chen Ce never expected that Emperor Hongzhi would do so!
……

Qianqing Palace.

The imperial meals of Emperor Hongzhi were very simple, consisting of only some home-cooked dishes. It can be seen that Emperor Hongzhi was very frugal in his daily life.

During the meal, he asked Zhu Houzhao what he thought about the lesson Yang Tinghe had just given him.

Zhu Houzhao sneered: "If the king is benevolent and righteous, then the people and officials must be saints, but are they?"

"So, just listen to Yang Tinghe's words, Father... I don't want to go to class anymore. Why don't you stop it and let me..."

and many more!

"No, how do you know Chen Ce, Father?"

Zhu Houzhao only reacted at this time, but after hearing that Emperor Hongzhi had already paid attention to Chen Ce, Zhu Houzhao suddenly realized that his father had been paying attention to everything about him.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Zhu Houzhao deeply. He was really afraid that Zhu Houzhao would agree with Yang Tinghe's theory of governing the country with Confucianism. Now, after hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, he felt a little relieved.

It seems that he and Chen Ce have really learned a lot of useful things these days.

……

The letter from the Emperor of Wajima had already reached the Ministry of Rites by this time. After the Minister of Rites saw the letter, he was shocked, followed by humiliation and anger!
The Japanese emperor not only did not agree with the Ming Dynasty's suggestion to stop the Japanese invasion of the southeastern mainland, but also detained an envoy from the Ministry of Rites. Another envoy took great pains to escape from the Japanese island and return to the Ming Dynasty to reply to the letter.

The Minister of Rites was filled with indignation and walked hurriedly towards the Qianqing Palace. This was undoubtedly a huge shame for the entire Ming Dynasty!

Huai En hurried to the side hall to find Emperor Hongzhi and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites wants to see you for something important."

(End of this chapter)