My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 122 "Memorial on Promoting Culture and Education to Enhance Holy Governance"

After listening to Zhang Hong finish reading the first chapter, Zhu Yijun pressed on with a question:
"What happened next? What happened after that?"

Zhang Hong put down his newspaper and said helplessly:

"Your Highness, the newspaper says 'To be continued...'"

Zhu Yijun snatched the newspaper, and the first chapter ended with Sun Wukong becoming Bodhi Patriarch's disciple. This made the chubby Zhu Yijun anxious, scratching his head and eager to know what would happen next.

"Go to Master Su's newspaper office and ask him if he has any more of the later issues."

Zhang Hong had no choice but to obey Zhu Yijun's orders. He turned and went to the newspaper office, but soon returned to the Eastern Palace, saying with a helpless expression:

"Your Highness, that's all. Su Hanlin's article is a storybook from the Li family. The Li family treasures it and sends him one chapter every issue. Su Hanlin managed to get it from the Li family with great difficulty."

Upon hearing Su Ze mention Li Chunfang, Xiao Pangjun stopped making a fuss.

Li Chunfang was the Grand Secretary, a figure even his own father, the Emperor, respected. Even if he had the audacity of a bear and the courage of a leopard, he wouldn't dare to go to Li Chunfang's house to ask for the book.

Helpless, Zhu Yijun could only have Zhang Hong read the first chapter twice more to temporarily relieve his craving for monkeys.

After putting down the newspaper, Zhu Yijun said to Zhang Hong:

"Little Hongzi, things have calmed down in the outer court. What about the Hundred Plays Festival?"

Zhu Yijun still had his eye on shadow puppetry and was preparing to hold the Hundred Entertainments Festival. Last time, due to the Liao King case, the chubby Zhu Yijun dared not show off. Now that the turmoil in the capital had just subsided, the idea of ​​holding the Hundred Entertainments Festival resurfaced.

Unfortunately, as the future emperor, Zhu Yijun's life was simply too oppressive.

To be fair, Zhu Yijun was more diligent than most children, and he has persisted in his daily lectures to this day. The only source of amusement in the Eastern Palace was the occasional lectures on the classics.

Consort Li, Zhu Yijun's birth mother, was very strict with his studies, while his father, the Longqing Emperor, rarely showed him any affection.

Children from ordinary families usually have to take a break during the hottest part of summer and the coldest part of winter to go to school. But this year, since the Prince's Lectures started, there hasn't been a single day of lectures throughout the entire summer.

For a six-year-old child who works year-round, a variety show is the greatest thing he looks forward to in his life.

Zhang Hong couldn't bear to disappoint Xiao Pangjun, so he said:

"The outer court is afraid to say much because of the matter of the Prince of Liao. Now is the best time for Your Highness to submit a memorial."

Zhu Yijun's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked Zhang Hong to spread out paper and pen. Thinking that this was the first time he had written a letter to his father, he became very careful when he put pen to paper.

Zhu Yijun certainly didn't dare to directly request a grand performance, but instead followed Su Ze's suggestion to first ask the Longqing Emperor to hold a lecture conference on the scale of the Lingji Palace Conference of the previous dynasty, inviting learned scholars from all over the country to gather in the capital to give lectures.

In order to "share the joy with the people" and let them also feel the prosperity of this Confucian era, Zhu Yijun proposed to hold several "Hundred Plays" before and after the lectures.

After it was written, Zhu Yijun had Zhang Hong proofread it again, and then checked the document format. Only after confirming that there were no errors did he send Zhang Hong to the Office of Transmission.
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Little Fatty Jun was unaware that his memorial was like a firecracker thrown into a latrine, causing a violent upheaval in the court and among the people.

On November 28th, Shen Yiguan rushed into the history museum.

"Brother Zilin, something terrible has happened!"

Seeing Shen Yiguan panting heavily, Su Ze received a cup of cooled tea from Luo Wanhua. Shen Yiguan, having caught his breath, didn't even bother to drink the tea and quickly said:

"The Crown Prince's request to hold a lecture conference has caused an uproar in the court and among the people. Now, a flood of memorials are impeaching the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Grand Secretary Zhao has even asked for retirement pending investigation!"

Among those present, Wang Jiaping and Zhang Wei were considered newcomers to officialdom, still in the learning stage of becoming probationary officials, and unfamiliar with many of the systems and regulations of officialdom.

Zhang Wei first asked:

"Why is it an impeachment of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices? Does Grand Secretary Zhao want to retire?"

Luo Wanhua had been showing the two men around the work these past few days, and he answered Zhang Wei's questions:

"If the Crown Prince has made a mistake, the censors certainly cannot impeach the current heir apparent. Therefore, the Chamberlain's Office, which is responsible for educating the Crown Prince, will be attacked. The outer court says that the Chamberlain's Office has failed in its teaching, which is why the Crown Prince made such a suggestion."

Zhang Wei was even more puzzled, and he said:
"Isn't it just a lecture conference? I've heard from senior members of the Hanlin Academy that Grand Secretary Xu once organized the Lingji Palace Conference, which was a grand event for Confucian scholars and a way to promote the literary tradition. Why should it be opposed?"

Wang Jiaping also looked at Shen Yiguan with some doubt.

Shen Yiguan then took a sip of tea and said:

"You two may not know this, but the current Grand Secretaries Gao and Zhang, unlike Grand Secretary Xu, are strongly opposed to the practice of lecturing."

"Both Grand Secretaries felt that the trend of lecturing was superficial and impractical, and that officials were so engrossed in lecturing that they neglected state affairs and were all thinking of making outrageous remarks to please the public. The current decline in social morality is all due to this trend of lecturing."

"If it were just the Crown Prince submitting a memorial to lecture, that would be fine. But the Crown Prince also mentioned in his memorial that he would hold a variety show in addition to his lectures to share the joy with the people. This is where the censors found fault!"

Shen Yiguan said, "I don't know which damned treacherous minister suggested that the Crown Prince hold some kind of variety show. I heard that Consort Li summoned the Crown Prince to the palace, made him kneel down and admit his mistake, and the Crown Prince's trusted eunuchs were also thrown into the Eastern Depot for questioning!"

Throughout the entire residence, sighs rose and fell, each exclamation of "Alas, treacherous officials!" expressing regret for the Crown Prince.

Su Ze stood up and said:
"It was I who asked the Crown Prince to hold lectures and a variety show to entertain the people. I never expected that it would implicate my colleagues in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and cause Grand Secretary Zhao to suffer. I will submit a memorial to report this matter."

"what?!"

Everyone stared at Su Ze in horror, but Shen Yiguan reacted the fastest, quickly saying:
"Brother Zilin, you mustn't!"

Luo Wanhua also advised:

"Brother Zilin, if the court and the public find out that you were the one who advised the Crown Prince to hold the grand assembly, then all the impeachments against the Court of Imperial Sacrifices will fall on your head!"

Shen Yiquan continued:
"The Crown Prince hasn't confessed to Brother Zilin's involvement, so why jump out? Besides, Grand Secretaries Gao and Zhang are also against lecturing. Has Brother Zilin offended the Grand Secretaries?"

Shen Yiguan said again:

"Although Grand Secretary Zhao is only nominally the Grand Tutor, everyone knows that he rarely goes to the Eastern Palace. His Majesty would never punish him for this. Which Grand Secretary in the court hasn't been waiting at home to retire and await his presence?"

Shen Yiguan clearly did not want this matter to affect Su Ze's future.

But Su Ze said:
"I don't think His Highness the Crown Prince has done anything wrong."

"In the previous dynasty, when Grand Secretary Xu held the Lingji Palace Conference, it was a grand event in the literary world. Many ministers wrote prefaces and poems in response. Why is it that when the Crown Prince requests to hold a conference, it will be resisted by the court and the public?"

"Is it possible that the Grand Secretary can organize this lecture conference, but the Crown Prince cannot?"

Su Ze said indignantly, leaving everyone present speechless.

Shen Yiguan paused for a moment and then said:

“Brother Zilin, Grand Secretary Xu invited fellow practitioners from all over the world to gather in the capital for the Lingji Palace Grand Assembly himself, without using the national treasury. This time, the outer court also said that the Crown Prince’s grand assembly was a waste of money and resources.”

Su Ze said:

"Who said we'd be using the national treasury? When the Crown Prince discussed this with me, he clearly stated that the expenses for the conference would come entirely from the royal treasury, without using a single penny of the national treasury!"

"These officials from the outer court only know how to spout nonsense when something happens. What if the Crown Prince develops a rebellious attitude because of this?"

Su Ze used to dislike Wanli.

But that was the Wanli Emperor in history books, who neglected his duties for decades and levied exorbitant mining taxes. Zhu Yijun, on the other hand, was just a six-year-old child, a diligently studying crown prince.

After getting to know Zhu Yijun, Su Ze felt that Zhu Yijun was not a bad person at heart.

Even children from scholarly families were still learning at the age of six, and only began studying Confucian classics at the age of ten.

Zhu Yijun no longer needed to take the imperial examinations, and he had already begun studying the Four Books and Five Classics, and he studied them very diligently.

Despite being educated according to the model of a capable military leader, when Zhu Yijun took power, he found that the entire bureaucratic system was deeply entrenched and difficult to reform. Any reform faced enormous resistance, and the censors would often use trivial matters to annoy him. Who could tolerate that?

Regardless of his motives, Zhu Yijun's petition to give lectures was a political attempt by the Crown Prince as heir apparent. However, he was met with a barrage of insults from the outer court, and those around him were also to be punished.

In Su Ze's view, this was undoubtedly due to the hypocrisy of the entire bureaucratic system.

On the one hand, they have unrealistic expectations of the emperor, demanding that he be a sage and wise ruler. But when they actually cultivate an emperor who wants to make a difference, and the emperor makes some reforms that touch their interests, these people use slogans such as "ancestral laws" and "competing with the people for profit" to suppress the emperor's decrees.

It is probably only a puppet emperor like Emperor Guangzong of the Ming Dynasty, who obeyed the officials in everything and reigned for only a month, that would be constantly missed by the officials.

Those who held supreme power were either ignorant puppets or mere prop-makers who dared not challenge vested interests, which is why the Ming Dynasty gradually declined.

In Su Ze's view, these officials in the Ming Dynasty were simply too idle.

When business is not at full capacity, they look for opportunities to criticize others.

Su Ze said:

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the southeast has been peaceful and the northern border has been temporarily stabilized, and the treasury is full. Why can't we hold a grand celebration for the people?"

"I want to submit a petition to support the Crown Prince and request that a lecture conference and a variety show be held!"

Of course, besides considering Xiao Pangjun's mental health, Su Ze had another idea: to instill in Zhu Yijun the idea of ​​spending money from a young age.

It is important to know that many modern scientists initially received funding from royal families in various countries.

As the leading landowners of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial family, with its fixed annual income from the imperial treasury, would be of immense benefit to the Ming Dynasty's development if it could be guided to spend its money on long-term projects.

How can you, the outer court, stop spending the money of the Ming emperor just because you want to oppose it?
It's better to spend money on things that are meaningful than on things that are useless.

The people present could only watch as Su Ze wrote his memorial. They all knew that Su Ze was determined and could not be persuaded by a few words, so they could only disperse helplessly.

Furthermore, Su Ze's support for Zhu Yijun was not entirely for Zhu Yijun's mental health.

He also has his own agenda.

Su Ze was also thinking about how to make full use of the system and use fewer prestige points to promote major events that could truly influence history.

To accomplish a transformative change that could turn the tide of history, an immense amount of prestige points would be required.

Unless Su Ze doesn't submit memorials for several months, accumulating prestige points before going all in.

But doing that would be too wasteful.

Just a few days ago, Su Ze came up with a solution.

This was an inspiration Su Ze drew from his work in his previous life.

As we all know, some major national policies also start from a small project.

First, establish a project, then continuously fill it with various things, and eventually the entire project can become a national policy with a huge impact.

Of course, this project could be a conference, a research topic, or a survey.

Su Ze's plan was to first use a relatively small amount of prestige points to promote some projects that were not difficult, and then fill these projects with his own personal agenda. By constantly submitting petitions, he would turn these projects into large-scale projects, which is what is known as a backdoor listing.

The lecture conference that Zhu Yijun was preparing to organize was actually Su Ze's shell.

What Su Ze wanted to organize was a large-scale meeting.

If you read modern history, you'll find that it's basically made up of a series of conferences.

This isn't because I enjoy holding meetings, but because meetings are the best way to reach a consensus, and for any change concerning the major direction of the country, reaching a consensus is the most important thing.

Moreover, a major conference can help those in power understand the demands of all parties, enabling them to formulate more comprehensive policies.

At this point in the Ming Dynasty, a grand conference similar to the Salt and Iron Conference of the Han Dynasty was needed to determine the future direction.

The lecture conference was the project that Su Ze used to operate.

For a lecture conference, surely one must invite learned scholars from all over the country to the capital?

So, among the learned scholars, is it alright to include some local representatives to express public opinion to the imperial court?

The topic of the conference changed from a simple debate on classical studies to a discussion of the entire national system, including the fiscal system, military system, and selection system. Isn't that reasonable?

The rulers could also use this conference to see the various contradictions within and outside the Ming Dynasty, and thus formulate more comprehensive policies.

Understanding social trends and unifying ideals and understandings are essential to laying a solid foundation for change, rather than making policies on a whim.

This is Su Ze's plan to achieve a backdoor listing.

This is the ultimate reason why Su Ze supports Zhu Yijun.

What Su Ze needs to do is to use his prestige points to force his way through this lecture conference.

Once the lecture conference is decided, inviting learned scholars to Beijing will take several months of preparation time.

During this period, Su Ze could continuously submit memorials to enrich the conference and gradually change its agenda.

Su Ze finished writing the memorial and then stuffed it into the "Portable Ming Dynasty Court".

——[Simulation Start]——

A day later, the memorial entitled "Promoting Culture and Education to Enhance the Sage's Governance" was sent to the cabinet, where Grand Secretaries Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng proposed to oppose it.

Two days later, the emperor rejected your memorial, and you became the target of attacks from the ministers of the outer court.

Under immense pressure from both the court and the public, you were fined three months' salary and suspended from your position as a lecturer in the Eastern Palace.

——[Simulation End]——

[Should I spend 200 prestige points to force the memorial to pass?]

Su Ze breathed a sigh of relief. He had 260 prestige points remaining, and after deductions, he had 60 points left.

"implement!"

(End of this chapter)