Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 196 Gao Gong Bingguo (Part [-])
Early the next morning, Gao Wushi followed the rules and went to the Hanlin Academy first. Of course, his real "work" place was in the palace, but the situation is different today. It was issued to the Imperial Academy, and Gao Yushi, as the special official for the prince's leaving the cabinet to study, also had to go to the Imperial Academy to get this "schedule" so that he could know his "work" tasks and schedule.

Under Longqing's extreme attention, the prince's study abroad was extremely solemn, comparable to the emperor's study, which was divided into two types: daily lectures and classic feasts.The daily lectures are for learning common knowledge, and the Jingyan is a special lecture seat for the emperor to teach the classics, biography and history; the daily lectures are regular learning, and the Jingyan is an irregular lecture.

Because the prince is young, the daily lectures are especially valued.Gao Gong was a master when Emperor Longqing lived in the hidden residence. This experience was an important factor in his pilgrimage to Wushuang in Longqing. Therefore, at the instigation of Gao Pragmatism, he took on the task of arranging for the prince to study without hesitation.Yesterday afternoon, after discussing with Shen Shihang, Gao Gong immediately wrote a letter to preliminarily arrange a schedule for rest and daily lectures for Prince Zhu Yijun: rest every third, sixth, and ninth day of each month, and give daily lectures on the rest of the day.

That is to say, there are three days of rest in every ten days, and daily lectures on the remaining seven days.This arrangement fully took into account the actual situation that the prince needs to study at a young age, and puts daily lectures in a priority position over rest, which has been unanimously approved by the emperor, imperial concubine and courtiers.For the content of each daily lecture, Gao Gong specially played the "Eight Articles of Notes to the Ritual of the Daily Lecture", which made quite detailed regulations.These eight items are exactly what Gao Yushi got at the Imperial Academy today:
[-]. Lecture and read "University" and "Shangshu" every day.First read "University" ten times, then read "Shangshu" ten times, and the lecturers follow each other.When you are finished, you will return.

[-]. After reading the lecture, the prince went to the warm pavilion to rest for a while, and read and discussed what he had just said with the prince, in order to review the old and learn the new.He also selected one or two affairs of the imperial court and the tickets to check with the prince. The prince accompanied him to read and read, and the ministers and others retreated to serve in the West Wing.If the prince has any questions, beg to call the ministers to wait before the emperor, and explain all the things in the book clearly. My prince Rui will open tomorrow, and he will naturally be proficient in the country's government affairs for a long time.

[-]. After reading the book, the ministers and others led the orthographic officials to wait on the prince after entering the characters. If the prince wanted to enter the warm pavilion again, the ministers and others would still retreat to the west wing to serve.If the prince does not enter the Nuan Pavilion, the ministers will lead the lecturers and then go to the noon lecture.

[-]. At the beginning of noon, talk about the main points of "Tongjian".Talking about official affairs directly understands the facts of the rise and fall of the previous generation.After the lecture, everyone retreats, and the prince returns to the palace.

[-]. Every day after the lectures and readings of the officials, the prince and his accompanying readers review it for a while. If the prince has any doubts about the meaning of the book, he will ask his ministers, etc., and then explain it in common terms in order to understand it.

[-]. On the rest days of the third, sixth, and ninth of each month, lectures and readings are temporarily exempted. I still watch the prince in the palace. When I have free time, I will accompany the prince to read and review the lectures and scriptures calmly. Regardless of the amount, the work will not be interrupted.

[-]. The prince will be invited to have breakfast at sunrise every day, and after that, he will go out to the imperial court to give lectures and read.After lunch, return to the palace.

Eighth, find out the pre-existing cases, and don't stop giving lectures and readings unless you encounter severe cold or severe heat.If there is wind and rain today, the decree will be temporarily exempted.

This can be said to be a simple "curriculum schedule" for Zhu Yijun: he needs to get up before dawn every day, and go to Wenhua Hall to listen to the daily lecture after breakfast.The first class is to study the Confucian classics "Da Da Xue" and "Shang Shu".During the breaks, with the help of the prince and the eunuchs, I have to look up several memorials to exercise the practical ability to deal with state affairs in the future. This article was added by Gao Gong at the instigation of Gao Pragmatic There were almost no such precedents in previous dynasties.That is to say, Emperor Longqing paid great attention to his son, so he approved such a system.

After all, the prince is still in storage, and the emperor is well on his throne, what memorial do you want to read?But Gao Gong's reasons are also available: apply what you have learned, and choose a few memorials to compare with while reading, and see how the emperor and the cabinet handle major affairs in the world, which will be good for the future.

If it weren't for an emperor like Emperor Longqing, this article would definitely not be passed. Gao Gong who proposed this system would probably be deeply suspicious, but Longqing is Longqing after all, and he has enough respect for his eldest son Zhu Yijun and his teacher Gao Gong. He didn’t feel that this was taking away his power at all—well, he wanted to fully delegate power to Gao Gong in the matter of the outer court, so it didn’t make much sense to say that.

But one thing must be said is that although Gao Gong had no selfish intentions when he proposed this system, in fact Gao Yushi had obvious selfish intentions when he gave him this suggestion—only the crown prince can see the memorial, and he himself The prince's companion had the opportunity to quietly instill some "useful" thoughts in him at certain times, and even in extreme cases, he could use the prince to say things that were useless or inconvenient for him to say.

So in this matter, Gao Gong is out of public interest, but Gao Pragmatic is really out of selfishness.But he didn't blame himself in his heart, because the excuse he gave himself was very clear: Isn't what I did all to save Daming after all?It's not that I intend to use the prince to embezzle and accept bribes.

The second class is the orthographic class. The prince needs to write several pages neatly and neatly. The orthographic officer will guide him and accept their pertinent opinions.The next third class is mainly to selectively explain "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", by exploring the laws of the rise and fall of the past dynasties, and drawing lessons from the experience of emperors in it.

After finishing the three classes, it was already noon. After lunch, the prince got up and drove back to the palace, and the daily lectures for the day came to an end.In addition, even on the rest day, that is, the day when there are no lectures, the prince still needs to review the scriptures or practice calligraphy. If he encounters difficult questions, he should ask the assistant ministers in time after the official lecture.In addition, there are no other holidays throughout the year except for the weather such as the New Year and the severe cold and severe heat.

As for the ceremonial system of the sutra feast, it is much more grand than the daily talk, and the cabinet scholars and officials from the six ministries personally participated in it.Sutra feasts are held in spring and autumn.There are three times a month, every two.Spring lectures begin on February [-]th and end on May [-]nd; autumn lectures begin on August [-]th and end on October [-]nd.A total of fifteen times throughout the year.The Jingyan mainly explained the Four Books and the Five Classics. After the end, Guanglu Temple held a banquet in the East Hall of Huangji Hall to entertain the officials who participated in the Jingyan.

Gao Wushi held this "schedule" and thought to himself: It seems that my working time is roughly in the morning, and the crown prince's rest day is probably my rest day. There are about nine days off every month, and I will go to work with future generations. My rest day is pretty much the same - so my working hours are pretty reliable, after all, the afternoon can still be regarded as my private time.

(End of this chapter)