Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 625: Tit for tat
Just after Chief Hong scolded Zhang Shou, he was even merciless to the Fourth Prince. The onlookers were already in mixed moods while watching the show. When they realized that a group of ministers had tacitly forgotten Chief Hong when recommending the East Palace to lecture, they became even more certain of their judgment.
But now the emperor gave the gold while keeping Hong, and I don't know how many people's eyes fell to the ground. But before everyone could figure out whether Principal Hong really said such a bright and sunny resignation in front of the emperor, the emperor suddenly changed the subject and said: "Engrave two more silver seals, one for the principal of the school, and give it to Yongping, and one for the supervisor of the school, and give it to Zhu Ying."
Many people have heard about the women's school. Princess Yongping presided over it and Hong assisted. Most people thought this arrangement was reasonable. But... but what was the point of adding Zhu Ying? Zhu Ying was notoriously difficult to learn!
In the Wenhua Hall, which was warm as spring due to the heating of the floor, Zhu Ying, who also came to attend the lecture, smiled brightly and beautifully, so much so that Princess Deyang beside her even felt that spring had arrived. As for the other princesses and daughters of various families, they were very sorry that Princess Yongping was not there, otherwise, they could probably see how Princess Yongping would treat Zhu Ying's interference.
After the emperor suddenly said this off-topic remark, he then asked, "Do you have any other recommendations?"
Although there were many people attending the Wenhua Hall Lecture, everyone saw the person who had just made the recommendation, and everyone had a clear mind. The dozen or so candidates recommended by the bigwigs were the ones who performed outstandingly in the lectures at the Wenhua Hall Lecture. Of course, there was a young man who performed the most outstandingly on the first day and even had a heated debate with the Prime Minister Kong Daxueshi, but that was not mentioned.
Of course, the most important thing is that all the bigwigs who made the recommendations are of the fourth rank or above!
However, when the rest of the people were wondering whether it was worth taking the risk to recommend someone close to them, Zhang Shou suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I recommend the former Minister of War, Mr. Liu Zhiyuan."
In an instant, the huge Wenhua Hall fell silent. While others were still hesitating whether to break the obvious tacit understanding of rank, Zhang Shou's sudden speech was earth-shattering. Firstly, it was because Zhang Shou surpassed the ranks of those who recommended him before, and secondly, of course, it was because the rank of Liu Zhiyuan, whom Zhang Shou recommended, before his retirement was much higher than that of the Eastern Palace lecturer.
Even the Third Prince showed an obvious look of surprise, not to mention the Fourth Prince. Everyone could see his lack of understanding from his wide-eyed expression.
Some people even effortlessly read a sentence from the brothers' expressions - Teacher, why didn't you say it earlier?
Of course, the person who read out such a sentence was none other than Miss Zhu. She raised her eyebrows in confusion, and then she felt that Princess Deyang beside her seemed to touch her lightly with her hand, and heard a mosquito-like voice in her ear: "Yingying, don't you know either?"
"What do you know? Ah Shou never told me! Mr. Liu is my eldest brother's teacher. If he had told me earlier, I would have recommended him to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager... or I could have just talked to the Third and Fourth Princes!" Zhu Ying snapped her fingers in annoyance, then said with some dissatisfaction, "If he had told me earlier, Dad could have recommended him too!"
Lu Sanlang had mentioned this matter to Zhang Shou a long time ago, but there had been no effect. Zhu Tingfang originally thought that Zhang Shou had tried but failed, or that Zhang Shou was afraid of difficulty and was planning to evade the question. At this time, seeing someone openly recommending his teacher at the Wenhua Hall, his eyes flashed, but the next moment, he felt his arm being heavily pinched by someone.
Without a doubt, who else could it be but his father?
He seemed not to feel the pain brought by the huge force, and raised his eyebrows nonchalantly, but did not say the words that came to his lips. Although he wanted to go out and agree, he knew that standing out would only have the opposite effect. Sure enough, he immediately heard an opposing voice: "Master Zhang, do you know that the person you are recommending is your uncle Zhu Tingfang's teacher?"
"Haven't you heard that when recommending people from within, one should not avoid relatives, and when recommending people from outside, one should not avoid enemies? What's more, I'm not married yet." Zhang Shou smiled and retorted to Confucius, and then said in a very natural tone, "Mr. Liu is upright and resolute, and he was once the champion of the imperial examination. Needless to say, his literary knowledge is also excellent. Of course, he was once the Minister of War, and I'm afraid it's condescending for him to be a lecturer in the Eastern Palace."
"But from what I know about Mr. Liu, he only cares about doing things, not fame. If it is beneficial to the world, I will go even if there are thousands of people against me. I will never seek popularity or fame."
At this moment, Zhang Shou brought up what Chief Hong had just said to accuse him of, which immediately caused an uproar.
The emperor, who had not expected this either, pulled at his few whiskers thoughtfully. He was surprised , but also admired. There was no way around it. The maverick emperor would naturally feel close to the maverick boy.
Of course, if Zhang Shou didn't have a long history, if he wasn't Zhu Ying's fiancé, if he wasn't really capable, he wouldn't be so easy to talk to. The emperor's tolerance depends on the person! So the emperor said slowly: "Liu Qing is indeed a rare talent. I wanted him to take up his position before, but he told me that he doesn't want to be an official again, but only wants to have a clear conscience."
"So, he actually got together with Lu Qing and was looking after the public school all day long. It is enough to see that he has a sincere heart for the students. I did not expect it, but I have to praise his ambition. It is indeed the most suitable for him to teach Sanlang. However, Zhang Jiuzhang, you said that he does not seek fame and position, but I must treat him with courtesy. Otherwise, if it gets out, won't I be less respectful to teachers than Sanlang and Silang?"
To everyone, this was the best counterattack to Hong Shanchang's attack on the Third Prince for blindly respecting his teacher. But the Emperor had not yet entered the palace, so he should not have heard what Hong Shanchang said. Everyone could only be suspicious and shed tears of sympathy for Hong Shanchang, whose face was changing constantly.
Seeing that Liu Zhiyuan's entry into the East Palace for lectures was a foregone conclusion, and that the emperor would probably respect his rank, Grand Secretary Kong knew that he could not stop it, so he simply stepped forward before the emperor decided on Liu Zhiyuan's rank, and took out the trump card he had prepared for these days in a desperate move.
"The lectures in the East Palace concern the future of the Crown Prince and the future of the world. We ministers all have the responsibility to recommend. As a monarch and father, Your Majesty should carefully select and select. This is the right thing to do. However, the East Palace will be enthroned tomorrow, and the Ciqing Palace has been fully furnished. I have something to say!"
At this point, Grand Secretary Kong lifted up the hem of his robe and bowed with great respect, which was rare on such occasions: "I am honored to be a cabinet minister. Today, I beg Your Majesty that the servants of Ciqing Palace should not be selected to serve as palace maids who are proficient in writing, so that no one can rely on their knowledge to deceive people! Only when there is filial piety can there be loyalty, this is the law of nature and human ethics!"
As soon as he said this, twenty or thirty literary elites rushed out from the huge Wenhua Hall in an instant and shouted in unison.
Faced with such a situation, many court officials, nobles, and even many children of officials and daughters of famous families, after being stunned, could not help but feel some approval.
Since the Han Dynasty, most dynasties have ruled the world with filial piety. Isn't it because filial piety leads to loyalty?
A negative example is that, apart from the Yuan Dynasty, which had gone astray since the founding of the Yuan Dynasty by Emperor Shizu, the Tang Dynasty, where brothers and fathers fought against each other after its founding, even though it was once prosperous, because Emperor Taizong Li Shimin started a bad example, generation after generation of descendants followed suit and used their sons to force their fathers to do something. As a result, by the middle and late periods, the princes were almost all useless people raised in the houses of the Ten Kings.
This is certainly related to the fact that eunuchs were heavily relied upon and the fact that in the end, the emperors were deposed and enthroned by powerful eunuchs. But wasn't it also because those emperors were afraid that their sons would be too powerful, so there were Li Shimin, then Li Chongjun, then Li Longji, and then Li Heng. That is why they would rather raise their sons to be useless than give them the chance to seize the father's power?
With the chaotic lessons of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the word "filial piety" was raised to the highest level. In this dynasty, although there were chaotic Jingnan, or whatever, it happened once, twice, and three times, at least there has never been a tragedy of a son forcing his father. The most common thing is that the vassal kings were dissatisfied with the new central monarch, raised their arms, and cleaned up the court and the world in an instant.
Therefore, seeing the great scholar Kong and so many people kneeling on the ground to plead, everyone realized that the great scholar Kong, who was a prime minister in name only, wanted to prevent those eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department who were not only literate but also well-versed in classics and history but violated filial piety from entering the East Palace. And the reason was ready, because the prince must be both loyal and filial!
So, one by one, they quietly stepped out and knelt on the ground, but they used silence as a second opinion. When there were finally dozens of people kneeling in the hall, Zhang Shou, who was watching coldly, found that Zhu Ying, who was sitting among the daughters of the aristocratic family, suddenly stood up.
He had always been wary of Chu Kuan and had no intention of standing up to speak up for the Imperial Household Department, so he was inevitably puzzled by Zhu Ying's behavior. However, after Zhu Ying glanced at him, she smiled sweetly, and then calmly appeared next to the group of people kneeling on the ground, and bowed calmly.
"Your Majesty, so many important officials in the court have suggested that the Ciqing Palace should not retain eunuchs who can read and write, otherwise it will be easy to deceive people. Who are they worried about being deceived? Why not just say that they are worried that someone will deceive the future owner of the Ciqing Palace!"
No one expected Zhu Ying to suddenly appear, just like Zhang Shou, her closest fiancé, did not expect it. Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang, as father and brother, were also shocked. What exactly did Zhu Ying want to say?
"But when the Third Prince was not yet the Crown Prince, were all the eunuchs and palace servants around him illiterate and ignorant? Was he not bewitched and corrupted when he was young, and now that he is older and more mature, and is about to be crowned the Crown Prince, he is misled by the slander of his left and right? "
"Women's views! Even the founders of the Tang and Song dynasties, did they betray their fathers and masters from the beginning?"
Scholar Kong was so anxious that he blurted out the answer, and then his face turned pale in an instant. Emperor Taizong of Tang betrayed his father, and Emperor Taizu of Song betrayed his master. This is a fact that all scholars know. However, even when the later dynasties commented on the previous dynasties in history books, they often used some Spring and Autumn style to conceal the two wise emperors. If he said it at this time, wouldn't it mean that he suspected that the third prince would betray his father and emperor under the instigation of others?
How could he be fooled by Zhu Ying so easily!
If it was someone else who had made the mistake, then Master Kong would have been caught and pursued for a long time. But Zhu Ying stood up at this time, not just to catch someone's mistake. Seeing the third prince's dark eyes staring at her, as if there was some inexplicable emotion flashing in them, she smiled at this little guy who she had watched grow up since childhood.
"Any scholar with a little money in his family would keep a bookboy by his side, and he would make sure that he could read and write. When he entered school and achieved success, he would often want to have a beautiful lady to accompany him, and it would be best if the lady was a prostitute who could recite poems and compose fu, so that there would be romance. And when he became an official, he would talk and laugh with great scholars and associate with all the common people, so even the doorman would have to learn a few lines of Zhihuzheya."
"Today, those who can appear in this lecture in Wenhua Hall are either well-educated scholars or officials and nobles. Everyone wants to boast that they are well-read and elegant. Who dares to say like me, Zhu Ying, that I have never liked reading since I was a child? Ask yourselves, who can tolerate being surrounded by vulgar and uneducated attendants? Who is willing to recite a poem that no one can understand?"
Hearing this, Zhang Shou finally understood what was going on. He originally thought that Zhu Ying was just trying to speak up for the Imperial Household Department out of resentment, but now it was clear that the eldest lady and Chu Kuan didn't have much friendship, so where did she get the time to do this?
He was just speaking up for the Third Prince! He was also confused, weighing the hostility between civil officials and eunuchs, but he didn't think about what this proposal by Academician Kong meant to the Third Prince!
Isn't this a preconceived stance that treats people as gullible children who are easily deceived?
Thinking of this, Zhang Shou no longer hesitated. He glanced around him and saw that the room that was originally full of Hanlin scholars was now empty because everyone had just rushed to vote to second the motion of Academician Kong. So he walked out calmly.
"Your Majesty, as Miss Zhu just said, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace is so precious, but instead of selecting the best of the best, those who are well-educated and well-read as attendants, he is surrounded by vulgar people who are not as good as the sons of wealthy families and children of scholars. How can this be justified? If Grand Secretary Kong is worried because of the previous rumors, I have just thought of a solution."
The Grand Secretary Kong and a large group of people suddenly threatened to abdicate, saying that all the eunuchs in Ciqing Palace were illiterate. The emperor was really shocked and angry, but Zhu Ying's statement was like a glass of ice water after a summer thirst, which quenched his thirst and made him feel very comfortable. It was not in vain that he loved this girl, and it was not in vain that Sanlang called Yingying sister for so many years!
Therefore, when he saw Zhang Shou also stood up, he immediately asked: "Zhang Jiuzhang, please give your opinion."
Zhang Shou didn't even look at the officials who were glaring at him, and said calmly, "The emperor has appointed many attendants to the Eastern Palace before. Now why not select suitable young men from among the civil and military officials to serve as attendants to the Eastern Palace? If they are willing to do the cleaning and broom, it would be even better. Not to mention the literate palace maids and eunuchs, even the vulgar and uncultured people in Ciqing Palace can be used!"
