The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Houzhao was taking the examination from his old father. Next to him stood Wang Hao, the chief lecturer of the East Palace and the Zhanshi of Zhanshi Mansion, and beside the emperor stood Chen Kuan.

There were several questions in a row, all of which were based on Zhu Houzhao's course syllabus. Zhu Houzhao answered fluently, but obviously for Zhu Youtang, his expectations were much more than that. Then Chaogang asked a few questions, and then Zhu Houzhao answered them all All misfired.

"You don't even know how to do this?" Zhu Youtang asked sharply.

Zhu Houzhao said with an impatient look: "What the father asked seems to have not been learned by my son. How can I do it if I haven't learned it? No one teaches me, so I want my son to learn by himself without a teacher?"

"You... cough..." Zhu Youtang coughed in anger.

Wang Hao watched from the side and couldn't say anything casually. After all, the prince's academic performance did not meet the emperor's expectations and he was also responsible.

Chen Kuan said: "Your Majesty, please calm down."

Zhu Youtang said: "When you learn something, you have to do it step by step. Not to mention reviewing the past and learning new things. Even if you have learned something before, you may not remember much. You need to write more articles in the future, even if they are not good, you have to do it every day. Submit an article and I will check it for you personally."

"What? Father, one article a day is too much, isn't it? It takes an hour or two for me to write an article. After finishing it...how can I have time to learn other things?" Zhu Houzhao was certainly not satisfied. .

As a son, what he hates the most is his father dictating his homework. He wishes he could only play and do nothing else every day.

Zhu Youtang said angrily: "When I was your age, I would study every day without the supervision of my husband, even until late at night. Whenever I encountered something I didn't know, I had to work hard to figure it out. And what about you? Bachelor Wang. "

Wang Hao knew that the next fire would be on him, so he quickly stepped forward and said, "I'm here."

Zhu Youtang said: "Next, you may join the cabinet, and leave the affairs of the East Palace to others. Before you leave, take care of everything that needs to be handed over, especially the prince's schoolwork. Set up the rules first, and nothing can be messed up. !”

Wang Hao did not expect that the news of his entry into the cabinet would be conveyed to him in such a way.

There was a bit of sadness on his face, but he still responded quickly: "I obey your order."

"Go back to study!" Zhu Youtang said, "Hand in today's article. You have to hand it in every day. If you can't hand it in...you will be locked up without anyone around to serve you. It's time to make you more independent!"

"Who are you trying to scare?" Zhu Houzhao muttered softly.

Zhu Youtang said: "What did you say?"

"My son said, yes, but please don't scare me like this every time. My son has learned everything he needs to learn. If it is just to make him feel inferior every time, there is really no need. Good is good. "If it's not good, it's not good." Zhu Houzhao is very individualistic, and he certainly doesn't want to be led by others.

My old father doesn’t talk about martial ethics.

Isn't this a typical attempt to cause trouble for him by insisting on taking a test on something he hasn't studied before?
"Bastard! I'm not good at my studies, why are you still making excuses here? I'm going to write two articles today, so get out!" Zhu Youtang wanted to be a strict father.

But obviously this was not in line with his usual style of doing things. It seemed that he was very angry, but it had minimal impact on his son.

Because Zhu Houzhao neither eats soft nor hard.

……

……

Zhu Houzhao was sent back to the East Palace to find someone to supervise writing articles.

Zhu Youtang came up with the title himself.

It was like letting his son take the imperial examination, where he had to write an essay based on the Four Books and the topics were all very standardized. The idea was to make Zhu Houzhao a successful person as soon as possible.

Chen Kuan was responsible for sending Wang Hao out of the palace.

"Scholar Wang, I would like to say congratulations first. You are about to join the cabinet. Please take care of me in the future." Chen Kuan said with a smile.

Wang Hao just nodded, with no joy or sadness on his face.

Chen Kuandao: "It seems that Academician Wang is not too enthusiastic about joining the cabinet."

Wang Hao said: "No, if you can serve the court, you can do any errand. But there are some things in the East Palace that I can't let go of."

Chen Kuan smiled and said, "Is it because Wang Xueshi thinks it's not the right time to join the cabinet?"

This made Wang Hao unable to respond for a moment.

Just like the reason he didn't want to join the cabinet last time, it's actually a bit "early" to join the cabinet now, because after joining the cabinet, he will encounter a very troublesome thing later, which is the issue of Zhang Zhou's entry into the cabinet. The emperor will do it in a short time Zhang Zhou was made the first assistant.

The person who enters the cabinet first may become a pavement and cannon fodder.

It would be best to wait until Zhang Zhou enters the cabinet before Wang Hao enters the cabinet again, so that this worry will disappear.

Chen Kuandao: "Xueshi Wang is highly virtuous and prestigious. Now that Mr. Xie Ge has been removed from his position due to some affairs, if you don't join the cabinet, who has such qualifications and prestige?"

One sentence also made Wang Hao realize the reality.

Regardless of whether it's you or not, it's you, unless you have to skip you and choose someone else to join the cabinet... As for the issue of succession with Zhang Zhou, it seems that there is nothing to worry about, because he is also Zhang Zhou's "teacher" after all, and a teacher is still If you don't join the cabinet, let your students join the cabinet first. In the future, this etiquette and respectability will be a big issue in the cabinet.

After all, the civil servants of the Hongzhi Dynasty wanted to have face.

Chen Kuan said again: "Although there has been no court discussion recently, in the future... His Majesty may discuss major matters in the court. I don't know who will take over the position of Minister of Rites."

Wang Hao asked: "In other words, Lin Shangshu was moved to the Ministry of Personnel?"

"Yes." Chen Kuan's answer was very direct, "Many things in the Ministry of Rites cannot be judged by common sense. In fact, it is not a bad idea for Wang Xueshi to be promoted to Minister of Rites. However, some people think that Zhang Shangshu should be promoted to Minister of Rites. ”

"Isn't he... inappropriate?"

Wang Hao thinks this topic is a bit nonsense.

It was appropriate for Zhang Zhou to be promoted from Minister of War to Minister of Officials, but he was only promoted to Minister of Rites.

Chen Kuan smiled and said: "Zhang Shangshu is also a bachelor after all, isn't he? Although he has not served in the Hanlin Academy for a long time, his majesty has never rewarded him for his previous achievements in Huidian. He was promoted to minister of the Ministry of Rites...or he served concurrently. It's not impossible. And the Minister of Revenue...has been ill recently, so your Majesty may consider this."

Wang Hao felt that the emperor planned to promote Zhang Zhou directly, instead of hiding it.

The traditional civil servants have been subdued. This is probably the best time to promote Zhang Zhou. Making Zhang Zhou the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Minister of Rites is equivalent to saying that the notice has both military and political power and the power of public opinion, further strengthening the control of the court...

"There are some things we shouldn't say, but His Majesty didn't ask us to keep them secret. I hope Bachelor Wang will forgive me if I said something wrong." Chen Kuan said with a smile.

Wang Hao seemed to understand... Chen Kuan was reminding him that some things were not what he wanted to say, but what the emperor had asked him to say.

He probably wanted to test Wang Hao's reaction. If he couldn't test it out, he might also want to hint that Wang Hao knew what he was doing, so that he could take sides.

It's impossible that the emperor would let Wang Ao join the cabinet, but Wang Ao would just go to Liu Jian's camp, right? This kind of reminder would be necessary.

But in fact, Wang Hao knows very well what his position is... and he also knows very well that he cannot integrate into Liu Jian's faction now.

"What Eunuch Chen reminds me," Wang Hao said, "I must do my best to serve the court and live up to His Majesty's trust."

You can probably just tell Chen Kuan that he understands it, and the rest is just nonsense.

The emperor would not discuss specific matters with him from a distance... and Wang Ao only needed to express his opinion now, without having to express his thoughts on governance.

……

……

Wenhua Hall.

After Zhu Houzhao came back, he had to do his homework.

Before he finished writing, no one in the East Palace servants dared to come forward, because the emperor had already said that if he could not finish the article, even the people who would serve him in the future would have to step aside and lock him in a small dark room to be independent. Survive.

I finally finished two articles. In fact, it didn’t take long at all. I finished them in less than an hour.

Gao Feng came over and read the two articles first. Although he couldn't read them in full, he probably saw that Zhu Houzhao didn't cope with the problem. At least the two articles were readable...

"Your Highness, I will send someone to your Majesty right now. Your Highness's talent and learning are increasing day by day, which makes this servant admire you." Gao Feng complimented with a smile.

"Are you sick?" Zhu Houzhao scolded him directly.

The smile on Gao Feng's face froze instantly. He didn't understand how he could suddenly arouse the prince's disgust.

"I don't want to hear a single word of your nice words." Zhu Houzhao said, "Now that I'm sending it to my father, he must think that my strength is much more than that. Now I'm just asking you to write one article, and I may give it to you five times a day in the future. Chapter... I will deliver it after dark. When I go to deliver it, I have to tell them that I worked so hard to finish it and didn't even bother to eat... and my stomach is growling... Forget it. If I don’t say this, my father won’t believe it, and he won’t understand me.”

Gao Feng said: "Why do you think so, Your Highness?"

"What else can I think? He doesn't regard me as his son anymore! Does he regard me as my father?" Zhu Houzhao almost wanted to curse.

"Your Highness..." Gao Feng was so frightened that his legs went weak.

Sure enough, the most difficult job in the palace is in the East Palace. What kind of hell is this life like every day?

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "I have been a prince enough. Do I need to stop being a prince? So I don't have to worry so much? No matter what, I can just let my brother be the prince! Hmph!"

"Prince, don't be angry. You are the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty." Gao Feng reminded him cautiously.

"When I become the emperor... hum! Bring the Cuju... Forget it, the Cuju battle is too big, just bring some gadgets, I will play by myself, you all lean on each other, just pretend you don't know that I have finished writing. , if anyone comes to urge me, just say that I am still writing hard. "

Zhu Houzhao looked a little tired, probably because he was too mentally exhausted today.

The person was lying on the table, listless, and starting to be in a daze.

When Gao Feng saw this posture, he instantly felt that the child in front of him seemed to have suffered a serious blow. He wanted to comfort him, but he felt that he was just a waiter and would make mistakes if he spoke too much, so he just obeyed the order and waited in the back.

"When I become the emperor..." Zhu Houzhao was in a daze for a long time, seeming to be thinking about what he should do when he becomes the emperor in the future, mumbling again.

Gao Feng saw that Qiu Ju and others were listening with their ears pricked up, and waved his hand and said: "His Royal Highness is still writing hard, so please go outside and wait. Don't worry, His Highness will definitely be able to finish writing before dark."

……

……

Zhu Houzhao's article was handed in.

No one commented whether it was good or bad. Even in Zhu Houzhao's opinion, the old father may not have had time to check his homework recently. The so-called handing it in every day was just to make things difficult for him as a son. As a father, he did not take this matter into consideration at all. Take things seriously.

The next day, while Zhu Houzhao was still studying in the Wenhua Hall, he saw an old acquaintance standing in front of the Wenhua Hall early.

Zhu Houzhao wanted to call people over several times, but he held back. It was not until lunch was served that Zhu Houzhao quickly called Liu Jin over.

"My servant, please see Your Highness." Liu Jin looked overjoyed.

"You piece of shit, it took you so long to come back to see me? Have you thought about me?" Zhu Houzhao said cheerfully.

"I think about it, I think about it every day." Liu Jin continued to have a smile on her face, and there were tears in her eyes.

This is a revelation of his true state of mind. He is not lying. He really wants to see this little master, because it is related to his future.

"How is it? Is the northwest fun? Let's talk about it when we get up...Also, I want to go to Beijing, you can make arrangements for me."

Seeing Liu Jin being so enthusiastic, Zhu Houzhao obviously didn't just miss him.

Liu Jin seemed to understand now. It turned out that in the heart of the young master, he was just a tool, and his greatest function was to cover the prince's trip to the capital and find opportunities to meet Zhang Zhou...

"It's not... easy." Liu Jin said.

"Hmph, are you trying to shirk it? When I left the capital and went to the south of the Yangtze River, the journey was so smooth, but now there are so many troubles? By the way, I have been remembering recently that I met a few people when I was going south. You can still talk to me, but where are they?" Zhu Houzhao thought of Sun Che, Gong Yeping and Hu Feng, the three people he met while on patrol incognito.

"I don't know." Liu Jin said, "Probably... they all follow Cai Guogong."

"Really?" Zhu Houzhao said, "These three guys have average ability to do things, but they are really sweet. When we go south, we will have no worries. You go out and help me look for it. I plan to Bring them to the palace."

"what?"

Liu Jin was startled.

If you appreciate someone, you have to castrate them and send them to the palace?
"What are you thinking about? I plan to let them enter the palace occasionally to play with me."

Zhu Houzhao said, "Do you think that everyone cares about being a dead eunuch like you? I didn't say that! In this way, you prepare the carriage in the city first. It's only a few hundred miles from the capital to the sea, right? Every few For ten miles, we will arrange a carriage until I leave the palace, and then transfer all the way... In some places, you can prepare two carriages. I am afraid that my father will find out the news in advance, so I will tell him the truth... He I thought I had my travel plans, but in fact I still have one.”

Liu Jin's eyes widened and he said to himself, "You are quite resourceful."

"What are you looking at? Are you short of money? If you don't have money, ask my two uncles for it." Zhu Houzhao said.

"Your Highness, both uncles have gone to the port. I heard they have been gone for a while, so they will probably arrive at the port soon." Liu Jin said, "Liaodong is deploying troops."

"Really? That's even better. I'm going to fight too! I'm full of strategies and I'm just waiting for actual combat! Don't let anyone stop me this time!" (End of Chapter)