Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 930 0925 [The Prince's Reading Companion]

The Ming Dynasty Royal Hunting Ground was too small, and the hunting activity lasted only two days.

For half of the day, the army was still making arrangements and did not actually go hunting.

The hunt is over and everything is back to normal.

The farmers whose crops were trampled received compensation for the young crops and began to busy themselves with replanting grains and vegetables.

The envoys from various states left Luoyang with gifts in return.

However, more envoys chose to stay and continue communicating with Ming officials, and foreign faces could often be seen on the streets of Luoyang.

After Crown Prince Zhu Yang returned to the Eastern Palace, he took the initiative to intensify his martial arts training.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Ming called his son over and asked, "I heard that you practice horseback archery for an extra hour every day?"

Zhu Yang replied: "My child's performance during hunting was not satisfactory."

Zhu Ming said, "It's actually pretty good. After all, it's horseback archery, the target is a running creature, and you're still young and don't have enough strength."

"I can't embarrass my father." Zhu Yang said with his head down.

Zhu Ming laughed: "If you are interested in this, you can continue. If not, then there is no need. It is better to learn more about military strategy and geography. The emperor does not need to charge into battle himself."

"I understand," Zhu Yang explained, "I have a general idea of ​​the geography of Ming Dynasty and its surrounding states."

Zhu Ming said: "It is enough to know the general idea and not be easily deceived by the ministers."

Zhu Yang said: "Now the court is full of righteous people, and the central and local officials are all wise, they will not deceive the emperor."

Zhu Ming put away his smile: "Do you really think so?"

"Is there something wrong?" Zhu Yang was puzzled.

He is too young and has too little experience.

From childhood to adulthood, he has been surrounded by "good people" and those who taught him were all great scholars, which led to his overly positive view of the world.

Zhu Ming warned: "Remember, everyone has their own selfish desires. You can't trust anyone completely."

Zhu Yang asked: "If you can't trust anyone, how can you appoint officials to govern the country?"

Zhu Ming sighed and said, "You misunderstood this sentence."

"Please enlighten me, father." Zhu Yang sat and waited to listen to his teachings.

Zhu Ming elaborated: "People are complicated, and so are things. Take the land policy in Jiangxi as an example. For several years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the land policy in Jiangxi has been difficult to reform. Could it be that all Jiangxi officials colluded with the big families to deceive the court?"

Zhu Yang shook his head: "No. There is too much resistance to the reform of the land policy in Jiangxi, and the court has been urging it, so the Jiangxi officials can only hide it from the court."

Zhu Ming patiently asked, "Why did Wei Liangchen succeed in measuring the land?"

Zhu Yang thought seriously and said, "Mr. Wei dares to do things and is capable of doing things. He is not afraid of offending the big families. He also has the king's banner, so it is difficult for the local gentry to resist."

Zhu Ming asked with a smile: "So, do you understand what it means to trust people when you employ them and not employ people you doubt?"

Zhu Yang seemed to be thinking about something, but then shook his head blankly.

Zhu Ming said: "The more important the matter, the more difficult it is for officials to handle it. The emperor needs consistent support and must not give up halfway."

"It is very important to select the person who will do the work. If you are worried about his character or ability, then don't use him from the beginning, because you yourself are not sure. This is called not employing a person who you doubt."

“Once you have chosen someone to do the job, no matter how many rumors and oppositions there are, you must continue to firmly support him. This is called trusting the people you employ.”

Zhu Yang nodded subconsciously, and then asked: "But what if this person really did something wrong? Should we continue to support him?"

Zhu Ming asked: "Did the teacher tell you about Wang Anshi's reform?"

Zhu Yang replied: "Yes. The teacher said that Wang Anshi's reforms had good intentions, but he used the wrong people and the laws were wrong, so the reforms failed."

Zhu Ming sighed: "The emperor at that time violated the principle of trusting people when employing them, and not employing people if you doubt them. Of course, mistakes were inevitable during Wang Anshi's reform, but what the emperor had to do was to order him to make adjustments. Even if he was wrong, he had to persist in making the mistake instead of compromising with the old party."

Zhu Yang was even more confused: "You insist on being wrong? Wouldn't that cause chaos in the world?"

"The essence of reform is to redistribute benefits. The reason why reform is difficult is that people with vested interests collude to prevent reform," Zhu Ming said. "The emperor is not a god. How can he figure out what is really wrong during the reform? What is falsely wrong? Who deliberately turned the right into the wrong? Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. If you make a mistake, you must continue to make it. The consequences of making a mistake are much lighter than if you look back and forth, or waver."

"This... this is too complicated. I really don't understand." Zhu Yang was already a little dizzy.

Zhu Ming said: "You have too little experience and have never suffered setbacks, so naturally you can't figure it out. This is normal, don't doubt your ability. You just need to remember that nothing can be done perfectly, and everyone has their own thoughts and interests. People and things can be good as a whole, don't be too demanding of perfection. But you have to draw a line in your heart, and whoever dares to cross the line will never be forgiven."

"Yes," Zhu Yang answered dazedly, and then asked, "Mr. Hu is an upright gentleman. Could he deceive the emperor for personal gain?"

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "There is no need to deceive the emperor. Many capable people have great ambitions. Hu Anguo's ambition is nothing more than to make his emperor as good as Yao and Shun and win a good reputation after his death. People like him are relatively pure, but purity does not mean that he has no selfish motives. He will also support his fellow townsmen and relatives, and people with similar academic ideas to him, and thus form his own small groups and factions. This is normal. If you don't cultivate your confidants, how can you get things done in normal times?" Zhu Yang understood this.

Zhu Ming said: "If Hu Anguo holds great power, his cronies will increase, even to the point where they can be called cliques. At this time, if another minister also has his own clique, it will be easy for him to have conflicts with Hu Anguo. Perhaps the leaders of the two factions are gentlemen, and they are even close friends, but can they really stop the cliques from fighting each other? When it develops to that point, it has nothing to do with individuals. The overall interests of the faction will push the faction leader to make a choice, even at the expense of the country."

Zhu Yang nodded and said, "That's what Wang Anshi and Sima Guang did."

Zhu Ming said, "It's time to choose a crown princess for you. Meng Zhao's third daughter looks quite like her mother. Your grandfather and mother are very satisfied. They will choose a date to arrange your wedding. In addition, the King of Chola has presented three young girls. The youngest one will also be given to you to take away."

"The child is completely at the mercy of his father." Zhu Yang knew his future wife. They often played together when they were young. He had a good impression of the future Crown Princess.

As for Zhu Kang’s wife, Princess Yu, she was Huang Guinian’s fourth daughter and they got married last year.

By the way, the fourth daughter of Huang Yaoshi's family was given a maiden name by Zhu Ming. Well, her name is Huang Rong...

The Chola King of South India was very interesting. He not only sent three girls, but also a Lingapāpa monk.

The monk and the girl are a match, and can teach Zhu Ming a secret technique of cultivation.

It's exactly the kind of secret technique that you have in your dirty heads!
Zhu Ming readily accepted the three girls, but was too lazy to have an in-depth conversation with the monk.

Zhu Ming accepted the oldest girl with a smile.

The remaining two were given to Zhu Kang and Zhu Yang.

Their skin is very white and their bloodline is extremely complex. I don't know how many generations of mixed blood they have.

As the crown prince, Zhu Yang is still a virgin.

After he left his father, he returned to the East Palace and studied hard. He was accompanied by several study companions, all of whom were selected from the Imperial College and the Military Academy.

The tutor has to be replaced every two years to allow the prince to come into contact with more people.

The five current reading partners are: Wang Chongyang, Huang Wanqing, Shi Zhining, Yuan Ang, and Li Huanzhi.

Wang Chongyang is the oldest, and he will be replaced in half a year.

Shi Zhining was a Jurchen, originally named Hesheli Zhining. He assisted in sorting out historical materials of the Jin Dynasty in the Hanlin Academy, and was recommended to study at the Imperial College because of his rapid academic progress.

Yuan Ang was the only student in the military academy. He only accompanied the prince to study for three days every ten days, and most of the content of his studies was related to military affairs.

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

The five companions who were chatting heard the guard's call and hurried to greet him.

Zhu Yang invited them to sit down in the room. "I was summoned by His Majesty just now. There are some teachings of the Hadith that I don't quite understand. You can discuss them together."

When everyone heard that the emperor was educating the prince, they immediately sat up straight.

Zhu Yang was not a fool. He would never say something like "don't trust any official completely". He also did not tell his companions about Hu Anguo's cultivation of his cronies. He just roughly repeated Zhu Ming's words.

"Why do you insist on making mistakes even though you know they are wrong? This is what I am most confused about," said Zhu Yang.

Wang Chongyang said: "We dare not speculate on the emperor's intentions, but only express our own views. The reason for the urgent need for reform was that the treasury was empty. And the reason why the treasury was empty was because the powerful, the gentry, and the wealthy merchants exploited and occupied it. The goal of the reform is nothing more than to return the profits that were occupied to the court and the people."

"Among the reformists, many are opportunists who act recklessly to seek personal gain and may even hesitate at critical moments."

"But the conservatives are more united. In order to protect their own interests, some people will even deliberately sabotage the reform, even if it endangers the whole country."

"If the reform is to succeed, the New Party must completely suppress the Old Party. There is no room for easing. Therefore, even if the reform decree is wrong, even if there are reform officials seeking personal gain, the emperor must always firmly support it. Even if it is wrong, we must support it and not let the Old Party take advantage of the situation. Otherwise, as the two parties fight, there will be more and more mistakes, and the mistakes will become more and more serious!"

Zhu Yang thought there was some truth in it.

Shi Zhining said: "Before the Jin Dynasty was founded, it had been reforming its system, and it was not completed until the end of the country. My teacher was from Wanyan Zonghan's school. He once told me that the Jin Dynasty's system was just established and was crude and simple, so it must be reformed. But he had many conflicts with Wanyan Zonghan's school on how to reform it. In the end, the teacher knew it was wrong, but he still made the same mistake to the end."

"Why?" Zhu Yang asked.

Shi Zhining said: "Because my teacher and Wanyan Zonghan, they are unwilling to be bullied by others."

Zhu Yang asked: "Even if it leads to the demise of the Jin Dynasty, will they continue to make the same mistake?"

Shi Zhining said, "Because if they don't make the same mistake to the end, the Jin Dynasty will surely fall faster. Their faction is the backbone of the Jin army. If the reform harms their interests, the most elite Jin soldiers will lose their morale. It may even provoke rebellion among the various tribes, and the country will fall apart without the Ming Dynasty coming to attack. The premise of reform is that a certain faction has completely taken power."

Zhu Yang nodded and said, "I understand now."

Yuan Ang glanced at the clock and said, "Your Highness, we are going to study cavalry logistics today and need to go to the Tiansijian Horse Farm. It's almost time."

Zhu Yang smiled and stood up: "You are all my good teachers and helpful friends, let's go feed the horses together."

(End of this chapter)