Emperor Deqing listened carefully to the stories told by the storyteller with a smile on his face. He even clapped along with the tea drinkers around him after the storyteller finished telling a story.
However, at this moment, the discussions among the tea guests around him gradually reached the ears of Emperor Deqing.
"What a joy! The prince has eliminated more than a hundred corrupt officials in one go. We ordinary people finally have some hope in our hearts!" A certain tea guest said with an excited look.
"Although it is very satisfying, there is nothing to be happy about. There are so many corrupt officials from South Zhili to North Zhili alone, and there are countless corrupt officials in other places!" Another tea guest shook his head and sighed,
Said slowly.
"Yes, although the original corrupt officials have been eliminated, the officials who take over may not be Qingtian. I'm afraid it will still be ordinary people like us who suffer." The third tea guest looked calmly and analyzed with a frown.
"Alas! The imperial court is now full of filth and evil. Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince is upright and upright, and is willing to eliminate harm for the people. Otherwise, the imperial court would not be in chaos, and corrupt officials would be rampant, right? We common people,
It’s even more dark!” Another tea guest said with a wry smile.
"Yes! It's a pity that the prince is still a prince, not the emperor after all! I only hope that the prince can succeed to the throne as soon as possible, so that our Ming Dynasty will not be far away from the prosperous era of Zhongxing!" Another tea guest showed his expectation.
With an expression on his face, he said softly.
"If you ask me, the emperor still has a problem with his employment. If the emperor hadn't connived at corrupt officials, how could the imperial court have become as dark as it is today? Indeed. It would be great if the prince could ascend the throne earlier, and we could escape from the sea of misery earlier.
"A young tea guest said this. As he spoke, he looked left and right, as if expecting to be recognized by the people around him.
"Ahem! Everyone, be careful what you say! Please be careful what you say! Now that His Majesty is visiting this state, the timing is sensitive, so please don't make any rash comments..." At this moment, an elderly tea guest said quickly, looking slightly panicked.
Following the reminder from the elderly tea guest, the teahouse fell silent for a while. The tea guests either shook their heads or sighed. It was completely different from the cheerful appearance they had when listening to a book not long ago.
On the other side, after hearing these discussions, Emperor Deqing's complexion became darker and darker. He suddenly snorted coldly, stood up, turned around and left the teahouse quickly.
A smile flashed in Zhao Junchen's eyes, but his expression seemed extremely anxious, and he quickly stood up and followed him.
All of this was naturally arranged by Zhao Junchen in advance. It was also the last task that Zhao Junchen assigned to Xu Qingyan last night.
According to Zhao Junchen's speculation on Emperor Deqing's thoughts, he believes that the reason why Emperor Deqing repeatedly suppressed Crown Prince Zhu Heyu at first was because Emperor Deqing was still in good health and did not want the crown prince to be too strong. On the other hand, it was also Prince Zhu who
Heyu's reputation was so good and so powerful that many people even firmly believed that once Prince Zhu Heyu succeeded to the throne, he would be far better than Emperor Deqing. Therefore, Emperor Deqing, who had always been conceited, was jealous.
.
However, due to the calculations of Zhao Junchen and several powerful officials in the court, Prince Zhu Heyu suffered many setbacks during this period. Even his reputation was not as virtuous as before. Emperor Deqing also forgot his previous jealousy and
He changed his attitude and began to vigorously support Prince Zhu Heyu.
It is precisely because of the support of Emperor Deqing that although Prince Zhu Heyu suffered repeated setbacks, his position as crown prince is still as stable as Mount Tai.
And Zhao Junchen's arrangement was precisely to make Emperor Deqing recall his jealousy towards Zhu Heyu in the past!
Now it seems that Zhao Junchen’s plan is very successful!
…………
Such thoughts only passed by for a moment, and then Zhao Junchen quickly arrived outside the teahouse and caught up with Emperor Deqing.
When he came to Emperor Deqing's side, Zhao Junchen looked cautious and said softly: "Mr. Huang, the people are ignorant and have no idea about the difficulties of running the country. They are just talking nonsense. Why do you need to be angry with them?"
Emperor Deqing snorted again and sneered: "The tea drinkers in this teahouse are all educated in all religions. Isn't their idea the common idea among the people? Hehe! They actually hope that the prince will ascend the throne early. How can that be true?
Aren’t they expecting me to die early?! Also, they think that after the crown prince succeeds to the throne, the Ming Dynasty will usher in a ZTE? What is a ZTE? A ZTE is when it becomes strong again after a decline! Could it be that the Ming Dynasty actually declined under my governance?
Is that so? I am the emperor! My reputation among the people is not as good as that of the prince, so how can I not be angry!"
Seeing Emperor Deqing's anger, Zhao Junchen once again had a smile in his eyes. Seeing that there were no other people around, he resumed the rules of a monarch and his ministers, but said with relief: "So, I said that the people are ignorant and don't understand at all.
How can they understand the deeper truth, Your Majesty, your great sage? On the battlefield, there is a saying that "those who are good at fighting have no great achievements", because those generals who are truly good at fighting can always nip all hidden dangers in the bud.
Naturally, there is peace and no war, and in my opinion, the same is true for temple matters. In the past thirty years of our Ming Dynasty, the situation between the government and the public has been extremely stable. In this way, all the officials can work with peace of mind and the people can make a living with peace of mind. Isn't this your majesty?
What are your achievements? Although there have been countless emperors throughout the ages, how many emperors can do this?
As for His Majesty the Crown Prince, he is still immature and does not understand these principles. Although he is doing things vigorously and stealing the limelight, without His Majesty behind you to stabilize the situation, the court will not know what kind of chaos it will be. And if the court is in chaos,
The government and the public are one, and the common people will inevitably be implicated. At that time, how can these tea guests who make irresponsible remarks about current affairs still sit in the teahouse with peace of mind, drink tea, listen to stories, and talk nonsense?
Your Majesty, don't look at the people who are eager for the prince to ascend the throne immediately. But Rong Chen made a bold statement. If the prince ascends the throne now, he will definitely start a war in the temple. When the Chao Gang is in chaos, these people will inevitably be more or less involved.
will be implicated, and by that time, they will begin to miss your benefits, Your Majesty."
Hearing Zhao Junchen's relief, Emperor Deqing's expression softened slightly, but he still said angrily: "Humph, these people dare to question my employment and appointment of officials. Listen to what they mean. It's like the corrupt officials of the Ming Dynasty.
It was my connivance! It’s really irritating!”
Zhao Junchen smiled again and said: "In my opinion, the people now respect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It is not necessarily because of His Highness the Crown Prince's virtuous reputation or his actions in killing corrupt officials. It is just because the Crown Prince has brought down many court officials and made them see it."
It’s just a fun thing! Common people always have a hatred of the rich and the nobles. Now they see many people who were far more prosperous than them are unlucky, and they will feel happy. Now that the prince has brought down a group of corrupt officials, they will applaud.
If another day a group of Qingliu collapses, they will also applaud. But it has nothing to do with Your Majesty’s appointment of officials. If you insist on saying so, the Ministry of Personnel is responsible for evaluating officials and has a greater responsibility."
Emperor Deqing glanced at Zhao Junchen, his expression softened again, and sighed: "However, there are only a few people with your knowledge after all. No matter officials or common people, who knows my difficulties and considerations? Like the prince
Is it really a good idea to just take all the evil duties seriously? Humph. How could I not know that there are many corrupt officials in the court? But if we get rid of these greedy wolves who are already full, don't we have to make up for a batch of hungry tigers who are even more hungry?
, how many people can be honest and self-disciplined? What’s more, if all corrupt officials are eliminated, let’s not talk about the shock of the court, let’s not talk about the reputation of the court, let alone how many scholars will be in awe of the official career. Who will help in the future?
Do I govern the world?"
"What your Majesty said makes sense and speaks to the essence." Zhao Junchen nodded repeatedly and said: "Today's literati have long lost the simplicity and ambition of ancient times. The reason why most of them are willing to study poetry and books hard
, they only want to become officials in order to gain fame, and the reason why they want to be officials is just to improve the lives of themselves and their tribesmen and enjoy wealth and wealth. Under such a situation, if all the officials live in poverty, how can they survive?
If you are cautious, then the scholar's desire to serve the imperial court will not be so strong. When the time comes, a large number of talents will be lost among the people and will not be used by the imperial court, and great chaos will inevitably occur!"
Having said this, Zhao Junchen was really moved. He shook his head and sighed: "The book has its own golden house, the book has its own beauty like jade, the book has its own thousands of millet, the book has its own chariots and horses...hehe
, Speaking of which, ever since Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng wrote this "Encouraging Learning", the minds of scholars have become impure, and corrupt officials have become more and more common. If you want to change it, you can only slowly
Come, but it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Upon hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Emperor Deqing was slightly startled.
Emperor Deqing never thought that Zhao Junchen, in addition to his financial management skills, would have such insight!
However, Emperor Deqing was upset at this time, but he did not think too much. Instead, he rarely said many sincere words: "Although these words of yours cannot be said clearly, they are indeed the truth! How can the country be stable? It is to make the world smart.
The people were collected and used by the emperor! In this way, even if there were some twists and turns, without the leadership of those smart people, it would be just a small chaos!
However, how can we make the world's smartest people be used by the emperor? Isn't it necessary to lure them with wealth? So the officials of my dynasty gathered a little money, and I always turned a blind eye, because I can only let the officials.
When life is affluent, those smart people among the people will be obsessed with becoming officials, and will identify the path of imperial examinations, and they will be able to control it better after becoming officials.
On the contrary, if all the officials are poor and the emperor is strict and cautious, the smart people among the people will naturally be unwilling to be officials, but they will not be willing to stay dormant. At that time, if any trouble occurs, and there are smart people who will add fuel to the flames, I
Only then will the country be truly in danger!"
After hearing what Emperor Deqing said, Zhao Junchen nodded his head in agreement.
Over the past few days, Zhao Junchen has been concentrating on studying the legendary and unfathomable "emperor's mind", and he has indeed figured out some truths during this process.
One of them is that in order to stabilize their rule, rulers often separate wisdom and wealth, so that true knowledge cannot have great wealth, and rich people cannot become true knowledge. Once both are combined, people will be dissatisfied.
The current situation will become a sign of trouble - and the so-called imperial examination is essentially the practice of this concept. As for the confrontation between the clean stream and corrupt officials in the court, it is also another practice of this concept.
However, in front of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen's identity was a "fool" and a "sycophant". Such a person should not have too much insight. Just now, in order to comfort Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen had already shown his talents.
Therefore, after hearing what Emperor Deqing said, Zhao Junchen was "stupefied" for a moment. Then he nodded repeatedly and praised: "Your Majesty is wise. I am afraid that few emperors throughout the ages can understand this truth.
Your Majesty is indeed an eternal sage!"
On the other side, Emperor Deqing already regretted a little and felt that he should not talk about these emperor's motives in front of Zhao Junchen. However, seeing Zhao Junchen's "pretending to be enlightened" at this time, he also thought that Zhao Junchen did not understand the deeper meaning.
, and no longer cared about it.
However, because of Zhao Junchen's ignorance, Emperor Deqing stopped talking about sex and just shook his head and walked in the direction of Li Yuan.
Seeing the direction in which Emperor Deqing was heading, Zhao Junchen was slightly startled, then chased after him and asked, "Your Majesty, are we not going to Dasi Street?"
Emperor Deqing shook his head again and said coldly: "I'm not in the mood anymore."
Seeing Emperor Deqing's unhappy look, he knew that it would be useless to comfort Emperor Deqing at this time - in fact, Zhao Junchen did not intend to sincerely comfort Emperor Deqing - so he didn't say anything more and just called a carriage.
And waited for Emperor Deqing to ride and return to the temporary palace.
…………
On the way back to the temporary palace, the atmosphere inside the carriage seemed a bit solemn.
Emperor Deqing had a sullen face and didn't know what he was thinking, while Zhao Junchen sat aside cautiously, for fear of making Emperor Deqing unhappy again.
However, Zhao Junchen was still in a good mood. Because according to Zhao Junchen's observation, Emperor Deqing at this time had once again developed feelings of jealousy and fear towards Prince Zhu Heyu, and this emotion would appear at some point in the future.
An attack will trigger a series of chain reactions!
And these chain reactions must be something that Prince Zhu Heyu is not willing to see!
However, after all, Zhao Junchen was not the reincarnation of Kong Ming who had no plans left, and Emperor Deqing's mind was not easy to control. This time he miscalculated.
Because of Zhao Junchen's arrangement, although Emperor Deqing did feel jealous and jealous of Prince Zhu Heyu, at the same time, Emperor Deqing also began to examine himself.
Emperor Deqing was an emperor who loved great achievements and boasted of being extraordinary. Such emperors tended to pay great attention to their century-old reputation and the evaluation of future generations.
In fact, after today's experience in the teahouse, Emperor Deqing suddenly felt a little worried. He was worried that after his funeral, the history books of future generations would really describe him as an unprincipled and ignorant king.
It's intolerable.
Although Zhao Junchen has been flattering Emperor Deqing and calling him the "Eternal Saint King", Emperor Deqing also knew very well that with all his achievements since he ascended the throne, he was still far from the evaluation of a "Saint King". Although he
Over the years since he ascended the throne, the situation between the government and the opposition has been stable, but such achievements are often ignored by future generations.
"Over the years, I have focused on stabilizing the government and the opposition and consolidating the imperial power. Now it is time to consider my century-old reputation. However, what should be done needs to be carefully considered. Throughout the ages, throughout the dynasties, the so-called 'sage kings' and 'wise kings' have been
There are no more than three paths to take, the first is to reform bad government; the second is to create a prosperous age; the third is to expand the territory..."
Emperor Deqing thought secretly.
Due to Emperor Deqing's striving for stability, he was asked to reform bad government, rectify the administration of officials, and punish corrupt officials, so as to create his own reputation as a "sage king", but it was somewhat reluctant. Just look at the turmoil between the government and the public in the Song Dynasty for many years after Wang Anshi's reform.
It was enough for Emperor Deqing to give up such an idea, not to mention that doing so also negated Emperor Deqing's own previous policy path, so Emperor Deqing quickly rejected such an idea.
As for creating a prosperous age - although the so-called "prosperous age" in the feudal era was extremely low, as long as the people could eat two full meals a day, it would be an unprecedented prosperous age. However, with the productivity of the feudal period, even if you want to achieve this
It is not easy, especially since the Ming Dynasty has been continued in the hands of Chongzhen and has been stable for decades under the rule of Emperor Deqing. The population is close to 30 million. Want to feed these 30,000 people?
It is even more difficult to open one's mouth - although Emperor Deqing prides himself on being extraordinary, he also knows that today's Ming Dynasty is still far away from the "prosperous age", and creating a "prosperous age" is not only labor-intensive, nor can it be achieved overnight, so
It was also denied by Emperor Deqing.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing thought again: "In this way, I have only the way to expand my territory... However, it is not appropriate to start a war of swords, otherwise it may cause chaos in the world and make the people live in dire straits. What's more, no matter how hard they are in these years,
Whether it is Mongolia or the Jurchens in Jianzhou, they are still at peace, and I have no excuse to start a war... Moreover, the national treasury is not rich in silver and food, but there is not enough preparation..."
While thinking secretly, Emperor Deqing shook his head again, also rejecting the third way.
As a result, Emperor Deqing found that on the premise of seeking stability, he wanted to become a "holy king" in the eyes of future generations, but there was no easy path to follow, and he couldn't help but feel even more unhappy.
However, although all three paths were rejected by Emperor Deqing, the desire to have a big fight was hidden deep in Emperor Deqing's heart.
And at some point in the future, such thoughts will also affect Emperor Deqing's decision and lead the Ming Dynasty in an unknown direction!
But the person who caused all this by accident was Zhao Junchen, who still thought he had a plan!
…………
ps: During this period, Chongzi had a lot of things to do, including work, family, and writing. In the end, he was a little exhausted. He was ill and just recovered. I didn't update in the past two days. Please forgive me.
Well, big chapter!
…………(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!