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Chapter 123 About Kindness and Bravery

The Xiyuan Garden in late spring is very beautiful. Dozens of flowers compete for beauty under the careful care of the gardeners. A lake of clear water is sparkling in the breeze. The attic terrace of the red-walled and gold-tiled palace echoes the colors of the mountains and waters. It’s hard to miss. It is said that the ancient emperors really knew how to decorate the courtyard, and it was really expensive.

A group of swans were swimming on the water, sometimes dipping their heads into the water, sometimes flapping their wings and gliding; two elephants were playing in the water by the lake under the supervision of elephant slaves, and a colorful tiger was lying in the shade of the trees not far away. Dozing off while looking at the surrounding scenery.

It’s not that they don’t want to smile proudly in the sky, roar in the mountains and forests, and dominate the king. The iron chains around their necks, the clipped flight feathers and the rhythm of opening their mouths all day long have seriously interfered with their nature. Over time, they will become habits and no longer I want to live a life of eating and sleeping in the open air.

Similar to the situation of the animals, Hong Tao was also tightly bound to this luxurious palace complex. Even though he had countless ways to govern the country, he could not easily get out, let alone do it himself.But he did not lose his fighting spirit and was still resisting tenaciously.

If you can't go out for the time being, then you can have a little fuss in the palace.There is one place where he can completely decide, the school grounds on the north bank of Taiye Pond.This place has been classified as a forbidden area and is guarded by the Royal Horse Guards around the clock. Except for the eunuchs and palace maids who wear special metal waistbands, even the Emperor and Queen Mother will be blocked.

Lectures, giving cultural classes to hundreds of young eunuchs and maids, every ten days for an hour, usually arranged before physical training.The courses include geography, history, mathematics, Latin and current affairs. The textbooks are all written by himself and printed into volumes by Ma Jinglun's newspaper.

These more than 100 young eunuchs were selected from the two imperial palaces in Beijing and Nanjing over the past few years. They are in good health and no more than ten years old. The main character is a tough and lonely eunuch.

Despite the increasing number of people, Hong Tao's burden has become lighter and lighter. In addition to cultural classes, most of the physical training and discipline inspection work have been handed over to Wang Chengen's earliest Cuju team member.

It is more difficult for adults to discipline teenagers because there is a generation gap and they can never have the same ideas.But young people can be said to be neat and tidy when it comes to controlling their peers. New students are trained in a decent manner within ten days of their arrival. This may be called the influence of the group.

Only when giving lectures can Hong Tao put aside all worries, calculations and plans for a short period of time, and put aside his mouth and give full play to his full potential.Others regarded his performance as painstaking teachings and hard work, but little did they know that the emperor was the most enjoyable, relaxed and happy at this time!
"Today we are talking about being a human being. What is a human being? To put it simply, in addition to looking like a human being, one must also have the foundation of kindness in human nature. Remember, it is kindness, not weakness. True kindness includes bravery. You ...Yes, it’s you, stand up and leave the class immediately!”

But today's emperor was very serious when he came up. Before the main topic could begin, he pointed to the middle of the room and issued an expulsion order.The little eunuch who was called was almost scared to pee, but no matter how trembling his legs were, he didn't dare to say a word or shed a tear before leaving the room.

"He has not offended me and has never made any mistakes. Do you know why I want to drive him out?" The person was expelled, and Hong Tao's face became even more ugly. A child's face swept across.

"..." No one answered.

"Wang Chengen, come and answer me, I don't know why you didn't ask?" Finally, Hong Tao fixed his eyes on Wang Chengen's face.

"Long live the Lord, he has his own reasons. I shouldn't ask and I don't dare to ask..." As the oldest and highest-ranking member of the Cuju team, Wang Chengen behaved quite calmly. He stood up straight and spoke clearly every word. Answered the question clearly.

"Look, this is the problem. You are always wondering what I am thinking, but you don't dare to ask. You can only make random guesses in your mind. As a result, I don't know what you are thinking. Strictly speaking, it is also deceiving. Let me ask you, why do you practice and study so hard every day?"

Although the answer was not very clear, Hong Tao's expression improved a bit. He walked back and forth several times with his hands behind his back, and once again asked a question that required all team members to answer. At the same time, he tapped Wang Chengen with his finger to indicate that he would take the lead. "Learn your skills well, strengthen your body, and one day serve Long Live Lord!" Wang Chengen did not hesitate this time and shouted out neatly.

"The answer is very good, but not the most fundamental. No matter what you are going to do in the future, including helping others or harming others, you need to maintain the most basic human qualities, kindness and justice in your heart. I can't understand what kindness and justice are. All the answers can be given with examples, and you can experience the rest by yourself.

The people I just kicked out are your classmates, partners and even friends. You study together, play together, and steal my fish to eat together!But when he was unreasonably accused and unlucky for no reason, none of you were willing to stand up and complain about him, even just to ask the reason.

I understand that it’s not that you don’t want to, but that you are afraid.I am afraid of being implicated, afraid of standing out, and afraid of being punished, because I am an emperor who sticks to his word and can easily decide life or death.

But it is wrong to do so. To protect oneself due to the oppression of strong power, and to ignore matters that have nothing to do with oneself, one can only tolerate it for the time being, and will never be able to protect oneself.If you can't protect the interests of others, you can't protect your own interests. One day injustice will fall on you, and then no one will stand up for it.

You must dare to stand up for the interests of others, even if you just say something fair, it is brave and in line with good human nature.When individuals are too weak to fight against powerful forces, they don’t have to do it, but they can’t show it at all.

If no one expresses their dissatisfaction, power will become more unscrupulous. Only when everyone expresses dissatisfaction will power retreat appropriately.This is true between individuals, as well as the court and the country.We must dare to express our inner good thoughts, be a qualified person first, and then pursue a higher realm.

Okay, remember everything I say, it will be of vital use to your future growth.Wang Chengen, go outside and call him back. After class, repeat what I said to him.By the way, tell him that when encountering injustice, you must first have courage. I need courageous people, not cowardly people who are afraid of death! "

This general principle about being a human being is not included in the textbook. It was added on the spur of the moment by Hong Tao after hearing Wang Chengen's report. The purpose was to let them know how to protect themselves.

After a year of training, the young eunuchs still have to work in various departments in the palace when they don't have classes. Besides, except for a few who were promoted for their good performance, most of them are still low-ranking eunuchs with relatively low status.

Naturally, the chief eunuchs in the palace were well aware of their origins and future development, and would not deliberately create difficulties. However, there was serious strife among the eunuchs who were also at the bottom.

Some young eunuchs were often bullied, but they did not dare to say anything for fear that these trivial things would make the emperor impatient, so they could only endure it.Only a few people who had a good relationship with Wang Chengen dared to reveal some truth in private.

After listening to Wang Chengen's statement, Hong Tao's first thought was not to give special treatment to the young eunuchs and help them avoid suffering.Because these hardships are necessary tests in life, it is easy to collapse suddenly when things are always going smoothly when you grow up.

But too much suffering is not good. Learning to cope with these problems means the suffering is not in vain.Hong Tao's method was to point out a way and let the young eunuchs solve it themselves, which was also a test.If you can't even do this well, you will get third, sixth or ninth grade in future training.

In addition, Hong Tao also has an idea. In two years, when they are older, more stable in character, and have basically finalized their three views, they will gradually be assigned to serve in various palaces in the harem, acting as his eyes and ears, keeping an eye on everyone in the palace. With every move he makes, he strives to first turn the palace into an iron plate.

(End of this chapter)