Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 658: Teaching Children
The emperor's affection or ruthlessness was determined by a single thought. Zhang Shou did not want to get promoted or get rich, nor did he want to fight for power and profit. He just wanted to make a career in the field he was good at. Therefore, he was very tolerant of Zhang Shou. When the King of Jiangdu came back and reported Zhang Shou's new idea, he immediately agreed without hesitation.
He is not required to provide any manpower or money, and all he has to bear is the risk of posting the rankings... But for him, the king of a country, what is this risk?
Since you want to become an attendant of the Eastern Palace, you have to be close to the water and get the moon first, so that the current prince and the future emperor can remember your name. Then, you have to pay the price of letting people know your true weight. Isn't this normal?
Therefore, the emperor only made a tiny insignificant change to the suggestion brought by Zhang Shou from Prince Jiangdu - that is, to change the monthly examination for selecting attendants of the Eastern Palace into a quarterly examination.
Although Zhang Shou was obviously willing to bring his students to do this every month, and Lu Wan, a wealthy man, was not short of paper for the notice, he still had to consider whether it would scare people away if it happened once a month, so that they would not have any fun immediately. He was also hoping to use this incident to stir up the stagnant water in the court. Of course, he hoped that the students would learn from their shame and be brave, and would continue to rush forward and compete for the first place, and never give up. At least a few hundred people should participate, otherwise how could they play?
When the news reached the East Palace, the Third Prince, who had just said goodbye to his lecturer for the day, could not help but stare blankly at his uncle's gaze. Fortunately, he came to his senses in a moment, after all, the pain in his left hand from being hit had not completely healed, and the lesson of being distracted was still firmly in his mind. Therefore, he quickly smiled apologetically at King Jiangdu.
"Uncle, thank you for your hard work on my behalf. Both father and teacher's ideas are good. I have no objection."
King Jiangdu saw that the Fourth Prince standing beside the Third Prince was twisting and turning, and seemed to have a lot to say. He didn't want to deal with this naughty child any more, so he laughed and said, "Since Your Highness the Crown Prince agrees, then I will do it. I have to say that these three questions today are really difficult. After hearing them, the officials in the Imperial College turned green in the face, hahahaha!"
The Fourth Prince was delighted and was about to speak, but unexpectedly the Third Prince coughed majestically, so he had to hold back his words.
But when the King of Jiangdu left, he was too lazy to hold it in any longer, and he kept gossiping around the Third Prince, speculating about what the ranking would be like when he returned, and mocking the Imperial Academy officials for their efforts in vain. In the end...
The third prince had no choice but to drive his younger brother away, and only then did he finally have some peace and quiet.
There was no one else to discuss this with, so he looked at Chu Kuan, who had been quiet and cautious for the past few days. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Eunuch Chu, what do you think, after the teacher made such a suggestion and the emperor agreed and changed it to a quarterly exam, how will the academic officials and students of the Imperial College react?"
Chu Kuan had already gotten used to the Third Prince's attitude of ignoring him these days. When he suddenly heard this question, he was silent for a moment before he spoke: "If I'm not mistaken... they won't have any reaction."
The Third Prince was stunned for a moment by this unexpected answer, but after thinking about it carefully, he seemed to understand it, but he knew it was inappropriate to continue asking Chu Kuan the reason.
Therefore, he changed the subject abruptly and asked abruptly, "The teacher will continue to teach in the public school in a few days for people to observe. As a student of Jiuzhang Hall, I originally planned to go and take a look."
He deliberately emphasized the two words "original" to emphasize that he had not yet decided whether to ask his father for permission, and had not yet decided whether to let the fourth prince replace his brother like Lu Sanlang did when he got married. Chu Kuan lived up to his expectations and finally did not perfunctorily deal with him by talking around the issue.
"If His Royal Highness really wants to go and observe, it's not impossible, but if so, I'm afraid it will have to make a bigger noise."
Chu Kuan paused, and seeing that the Third Prince was in a "keep going" attitude, he lowered his eyelids and said, "That means taking all the other lecturers in the Eastern Palace with him. After all, Scholar Zhang is also a lecturer in the Eastern Palace, and it is natural for colleagues to learn from each other. In addition, control the number of other observers, and with Lord Zhu in charge of the Five Cities Military Department as a garrison, there will be no problem of safety."
This was the approval that the Third Prince wanted to hear the most, and he finally couldn't help but reveal an extremely satisfied smile. But he quickly hid this expression, nodded slightly and said modestly: "I know."
Although his attitude was still somewhat cautious and stiff, when he left Ciqing Palace that day, he couldn't help but say, "The two people who were dismissed from the Ministry of Ceremonies sent people to spread rumors and confuse the public. Although my father sent them to the imperial mausoleum to reflect on their mistakes, he has also found out a lot of things. Although you, Eunuch Chu, made mistakes before, it should be enough to make up for it by redeeming your mistakes."
Chu Kuan seemed to be unaware of what had happened outside the palace. He was slightly surprised at first, then smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, you are too kind. If it weren't for my merits back then, how could I have been in charge of the Imperial Household Department? If it can be said that I am redeeming my faults, and my merits and faults offset each other, I am already very satisfied now. The Imperial Household Department has Eunuch Qian, who is capable of taking charge of the overall situation, and there is no need for me."
Because the emperor said that everything Chu Kuan did was intentional, the knot in the third prince's heart had never been resolved. When he heard this, he did not say anything more.
However, when he returned to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor, he asked about the public school open day. As expected, after Chu Kuan's suggestion was approved by the emperor, he could not help but ask about the follow-up of the previous series of turmoil in the inner and outer cities.
"Father, is it really okay to just punish those who made trouble after hearing about the personnel changes in the Imperial Household Department? Aren't the people behind them even more hateful? Are we going to let them relax their vigilance first and then slowly track them down?"
"The Shuntian Prefecture and Wanping and Daxing County Courts have already cut the Gordian knot. They exposed their butts in public after the beating and then released the people. How can we track them down slowly? Send a few people to keep an eye on those guys who were released to see if they were silenced?" The emperor sneered and then reminded the prince, whom he had helped to become the crown prince.
"These guys just do what others tell them to do. They only know what others tell them to do. As for what they confessed, it is a mess and cannot be trusted. The reason why I banished the two predecessors to the imperial mausoleum is because Hua Qi has already found out that they are indeed not clean, and they are closely related to this incident."
"I can tolerate eunuchs' corruption, but if they have no sense of propriety and abuse their power to the point of tampering with the charity hall, and even intend to cry thief, then I will never tolerate it! Before the northern expedition, Duke Zhao brought back 300 children from the north. After teaching them one by one, those with good qualifications will enter the inner school. I will ask Duke Qin and Earl Weinan to recommend two people to teach them."
"At that time, Emperor Taizu believed that the eunuch system was not an ancient system and was contrary to human ethics, so he set a quota of 200 eunuchs in the palace in the early years of his reign. Therefore, those charity halls that adopted abandoned children from the people did not exist during the reign of Emperor Taizu."
"At that time, the country was desolate and the population was dwindling. Land was distributed according to households, and births were rewarded. A decree was also issued that no additional taxes would be imposed on the number of children, and those who had many children would be rewarded. The people all had many children, so why would they need charity halls? During the reign of Taizu and Taizong, almost all eunuchs were either from the north, Goryeo, or Jiaozhi. How could the people of the Central Plains be willing to let their children enter the palace?"
The Third Prince had heard his father talk about Taizu's past many times, but this was the first time he had heard about eunuchs. Naturally, he listened attentively and finally couldn't help asking, "Then when did the charity halls in the palace that were built by eunuchs start to exist?"
"It was Wang An, the official in charge of the Imperial Household Department during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. At that time, the country was peaceful and the population was growing. Although there was no additional tax for the increase in population, it did not mean that there was no tax. Therefore, many families had difficulty supporting their large families, and the trend of abandoning children gradually rose again. Wang An himself was an orphan abandoned by his parents. After wandering around, he met his adoptive father who was born in Goryeo, and was able to enter the palace as a clean-cut person."
"Later, he was the official in charge of the Imperial Household Department. In order to curry his favor, someone in the palace suggested that he look for his parents, but he angrily scolded them back. He said that he was already six years old when he was abandoned. He remembered the past of being abandoned by his parents and living on the streets. The gratitude for giving birth to him and the hatred for abandoning him canceled each other out. He did not seek gratitude or revenge. He was already very fair!"
"So, whether it was the charity halls opened in various places in Northern Zhili, or the efforts to teach abandoned children the emperor's grace from an early age and make them hate their parents and relatives who abandoned them, it all started with Wang An. However, he has always been extremely loyal, and he has carefully protected the classics left by Taizu and conveyed the teachings of the emperor. Gaozong himself also felt that it was ridiculous to talk about filial piety to abandoned children, so he let it go."
"To this day, haha, Chu Kuan is also an abandoned child. He has never mentioned to me that he wants to find his parents, or adopt a son, to continue the family line. Even though Lü Chan said he was his godson, that was just a title. Not only Emperor Gaozong, I also agreed at first that parents who abandoned their children were not worthy of being parents, but later I realized that many people really couldn't raise extra children."
"Moreover, because there are charity halls in various places, many people feel at ease abandoning their children, because in their opinion, if their children are abandoned at the door of a charity hall or at the door of a wealthy family, they at least have a chance to survive! But first of all, the charity hall must be truly kind!"
"So, the charity halls in the outer city that were harboring filth have been cleaned up, and the charity hall in the Imperial Household Department that has been passed down for more than 80 years must also be cleaned up. The two scribes of the Imperial Household Department who were demoted by me before wanted to throw all the dirty water on certain people in the court, hoping to make a comeback, and certain people in the court wanted to play the thief crying "stop thief", tsk, it's just a comparison of the bad!"
The emperor sneered in disgust, and then taught the third prince a lesson: "Remember, if all the officials in the court are killed, there will inevitably be some innocent people, but if one is killed out of two, there will inevitably be some who slip through the net. As long as they can be moderate, I am not against turning a blind eye. But the eunuchs around you must not be indulged, because they are the people the emperor uses the most."
"When Chu Kuan was managing the royal property, billions of dollars passed through his hands, but he never touched them. Therefore, I gave him enough houses, land, and money, and he rewarded me with loyalty. You can be cautious with him, but you don't have to doubt his loyalty."
The Third Prince had always believed in his father, and he nodded solemnly, saying, "I will keep it in mind."
The father and son talked for a while, and the topic gradually turned to the matter of the Third Prince going to Jiuzhang Hall in the future. Thinking that he could go to Jiuzhang Hall to listen to the teacher's lecture openly, the Third Prince couldn't help but reveal a faint smile on his face.
Although he was not the only one listening to boring lectures in Ciqing Palace, and there was also a tutor accompanying him, the occasion was too solemn and he always felt a little regretful. Moreover, his father never called him by his name, and the queen mother and mother were the same. From now on, probably no one would call him Zheng Rong like his classmates in Jiuzhang Hall did, and even the teacher had stopped calling him that a long time ago!
Seeing that the Third Prince was in a daze right in front of him, the Emperor suddenly asked with a half-smile, "Is the injury on your hand healed?" Thinking of what he had heard about the class in Ciqing Palace that day.
The Third Prince was startled when he woke up. He stammered for a long while, "Father...Father, you...you know? Was it my fourth brother or Chu Kuan who told you?"
“You don’t need anyone to tell me that I don’t have any spies in Ciqing Palace. Since Chu Kuan went to your place, he is a member of Ciqing Palace. If he reports everything to me, wouldn’t that be considered a traitor? As for your fourth brother, let alone him, he will keep his mouth shut even if he finds out about your affairs.” The emperor laughed when he saw his beloved son bit his lip for a moment.
"You have been hiding your left hand in your sleeve these days. Every time you come to see me, you deliberately cover it up. If I can't see it, wouldn't that mean I am blind? Let me guess. After you asked me that day, you couldn't figure it out for a while, so you were thinking about it during class, and then you were distracted. Zhang Shou was so angry that he punished you?"
“Yes… No, no!” The emperor’s guess was correct, so the third prince nodded involuntarily, but then he shook his head desperately, “I was feeling uneasy, so I asked the teacher to teach me a lesson quietly and told me not to let my imagination run wild! I begged for a long time before the teacher had to do it, it’s not his fault!”
Although he had long understood what was going on, the emperor still felt mixed emotions when the Third Prince explained in such a panic. He did intend to leave half of the answer open, letting people think about it carefully, but now it seemed that for the young Third Prince, this process was too hasty.
So, with a stern face, he asked the Third Prince to stretch out his left hand. Seeing that the redness and swelling on it were almost invisible, and obviously there were no sequelae left, he asked in a bad mood what else Zhang Shou said at that time. After the Third Prince told him everything honestly, he sighed.
"What Zhang Shou said is indeed good advice. Back then..." The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, then laughed, "When I was the most naughty and rebellious, even the Queen Mother couldn't control me. It was all thanks to my teacher. Apart from the Queen Mother, only my teacher dared to teach me a lesson! You are calmer than me, but don't get stuck in a rut. If you can't figure out something, it's because the time has not come yet..."
The Third Prince was nodding his head as he listened to his father's teachings, when the Emperor suddenly slapped him hard on the palm of his left hand. He was caught off guard and cried out in pain. When he reacted, he heard his father's laughter.
