Chapter 209 Zhou Xia wakes up in pain
Prince Yu is not yet old enough to set up his own household, so he still lives in the palace.
But the place is a bit remote.
The eunuch was very attentive. "Earlier, Zhou Shidu came and argued with Your Highness in the middle of the lesson. He seemed to be angry... He mentioned some inappropriate things about the Lord."
He glanced at Jiang Qingzhi, and thinking of Prince Yu's previous reaction, he couldn't help but secretly smack his lips, "Your Highness is also angry, and now the two sides are at a stalemate."
Jiang Qingzhi walked outside the study, where Prince Yu and Zhou Xia were standing opposite each other.
The eunuch retreated, and someone approached him and whispered, "Even if this person comes, I'm afraid he won't be able to quench Mr. Zhou's anger. Today is going to be lively."
The eunuch shook his head, "Just wait and see, Mr. Zhou is going to fall flat on his face today."
"No way?"
"No? Do you know what we saw before?"
"What? Tell me, I'll buy you a drink later."
"Chang Wei Bo was able to fight with Yan Shou Fu and his men in the court. That was Yan Shou Fu, who was very good at maneuvering with his sleeves and had great means. With the help of his followers, Chang Wei Bo still did not lose." The eunuch lowered his voice, "How could a tutor like him really be able to turn the tables in front of him?"
……
"Why, do you want to take action?"
Jiang Qingzhi walked in.
"Uncle." Prince Yu bowed.
"Greetings, Lord Chang Wei." Zhou Xia saluted, and then said, "I admire Lord Chang Wei's accurate judgment, but I think that such a sharp way of governing a country is not advisable."
Zhou Xia's eyes sparkled, "In our Great Ming, courtesy is the most important thing, but Lord Chang Wei talks about profit everywhere. I am not afraid of talking about profit, but if the superiors always talk about profit, the subordinates will follow suit, and everyone in this world will pursue profit.
As time goes by, the people become cunning and greedy. When this cunning and greed become the customs of the Ming Dynasty, Long Wei Bo, where will the Ming Dynasty go? "
Jiang Qingzhi thought about future generations.
That is an environment where profit is the main concern.
It’s actually very good that Zhou Xia can see this.
"With powerful enemies outside and countless conflicts inside that need to be resolved, the Ming Dynasty is like sitting on a pile of firewood, just one step away from ignition. At this time, what should we do first? Profit!"
Jiang Qingzhi said: "When countries interact with each other, and forces interact with each other, what comes first? Profits! The people are crying out for food, what do they rely on to save them? Profits! What do the army rely on to boost morale? Profits!"
Zhou Xia said: "But when the entire Ming Dynasty is pursuing interests, what will be the result?"
"I know what you are worried about. It is nothing more than that the people's customs and hearts are no longer the same. But this world is always moving forward. Your biggest problem is that you hope that the people will be as stupid and obedient as fools."
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head and sighed, "Let the people become dull. The so-called dullness is what you call simplicity. But I have said that this is lazy politics."
“Lazy politics?”
……
“Lazy politics?”
In the duty room, Xu Jie was also stunned when he heard this.
"Yes." Zhou Xia said: "Chang Wei Bo said that we lack governance capabilities and it is us..."
"Wait." Xu Jie stopped him. "Who does he mean by 'wait'?"
"I think it is..." Zhou Xia said with some difficulty: "It is Confucianism."
"How dare he..." Xu Jie was a cunning man, but he was also shocked by Jiang Qingzhi's audacity. "He is so brave!"
"He said." Zhou Xia said with difficulty: "We are not capable of governing the world, and we do not think about progress or reform, but we put our hopes on the evil path of making the people stupid, and we are complacent about it... If the people are honest, the world will be well governed without being governed."
Zhou Xia looked up and said, "He asked me, if I can't treat him, then what are we doing here? Are we just waiting to die?"
Xu Jie's eyes were still gentle, but he remained silent for a long time.
"What else did he say?"
"He also said that pinning our hopes on the stupidity of the people would only lead the Ming Dynasty to the abyss. We must enlighten the people...
I asked him why he wanted to enlighten the people. He said, is it more helpful for the Ming Dynasty to have one smart person or countless smart people?
"I retorted that if there were too many smart people, the world would be in chaos."
"He said, it's still the same thing as before, that he lacks governance ability and his own ability is mediocre, so he wants to turn everyone in the world into fools, so that he can rest easy. But there is a problem..."
Zhou Xia's eyes flashed with bewilderment. "Chang Wei Bo said that if this continues from generation to generation, the Central Plains will remain the same, as if it were a reincarnation. This is... the rise and fall cycle you guys are talking about. You keep saying you want to break this cycle, but look at what you have done?"
Zhou Xia's voice was a little bitter. "He said, so you wait to build the border wall and establish the nine-border defense... You want to live a carefree life behind closed doors without having to work hard. But the alien race is growing stronger.
Long Wilbur asked me here, "In the past thousand years, have the foreign races ever thought of turning the people into obedient, soft cowards?"
"I thought about it and shook my head. Long Wilbur asked, "Then how do the foreign races rule the world?" I said... I thought about it for a long time and said, "Conquer everywhere."
Xu Jie said, "Relying on killing will only bring backlash, and it goes against the foundation of our Central Plains nation."
He didn't notice that there was some disappointment in Zhou Xia's eyes.
"Yes."
Xu Jie suddenly smiled, "Only a young man like you can make such sharp remarks. Just listen to it."
"Yes." Zhou Xia took his leave.
"By the way." Xu Jie asked, "What was the final result?"
Zhou Xia stopped and paused for a moment, "I admit defeat."
He walked out of the duty room and headed to the right.
"Zhou Shidu!"
"Is Zhou Shidu going out?"
"Yes."
Zhou Xia arrived outside the lobby of the Hanlin Academy.
There is a stone tablet outside with words engraved on it.
That is a warning from the wise men of all ages.
In the duty room, Xu Jie said to his followers: "Zhou Xia lacked the spirit and was intimidated by Chang Wei Bo's aggressive attitude. But this boy has good aptitude. Given time, he will definitely inherit my legacy."
The attendant laughed and said, "Mr. Zhou is still young."
"Yeah!" Xu Jie couldn't help but laugh when he thought about himself when he was Zhou Xia's age.
Outside the lobby, Zhou Xia, who was searching hard for answers in the aphorisms of ancient sages, suddenly stopped.
——When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher!
These simple words enlightened Zhou Xia. He recalled the debate he had with Jiang Qingzhi today.
"I shouldn't have given up. I was losing my mind."
"He is a heretic."
"How dare he say that Confucianism is not enterprising!"
"He was talking nonsense, saying that we were mediocre."
"This is wrong!"
"But who is wrong?"
Zhou Xia covered his head with his hands, but the cold wind of early winter still couldn't suppress the heat in his body.
He looked painfully at those aphorisms, which he had regarded as his guiding principles since he was a child. Behind them seemed to be stern faces.
"am I wrong?"
"But why do I feel that what Long Wilbur said is...right?"
……
Zhou Xia fell ill.
Prince Yu happily got a short vacation.
"Cousin."
The two princes came to eat early in the morning.
"Where's Shou Ni?" Duoduo felt relieved that the little girl didn't come.
"I don't know." The prince and princess lived far apart from each other and had little contact with each other on weekdays.
"Let's eat!" Jiang Qingzhi was very hungry.
Breakfast is eight-treasure porridge with braised pork tenderloin.
Eight Treasure Porridge is made of rich ingredients, cooked till thick, and tastes fragrant and sweet.
But if you eat too much, you will inevitably get tired of it, so have a piece of braised pork tenderloin and let the aroma of the meat and the flavor of the braised pork dance on your taste buds.
Prince Yu ate heartily.
"Uncle." King Jing was late.
"Bring him some food." Jiang Qingzhi ordered.
King Jing said: "Don't worry about this, there is something..."
Jiang Qingzhi glanced at the servant, and the servant left.
King Jing stepped forward, his eyes more angry, "Someone reported to mother that Shou's wife was scolded and punished by the female official."
"Why?" Jiang Qingzhi drank the remaining eight-treasure porridge calmly.
"It was said that it was almost the end of the year, and Shou'an copied scriptures to pray for her father. She spent half a month writing, but only finished one article."
"What was the penalty?"
"Starve for two days!"
Prince Yu was furious, "How can this be possible!"
King Jing was also furious, but the two of them saw Jiang Qingzhi eating the last piece of pork tenderloin slowly.
After eating, Jiang Qingzhi wiped his hands and stood up, "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" asked the two princes.
"Enter the palace!"
……
The status of a Ming Dynasty princess varied greatly, and one of the factors determining whether she was favored by the emperor was whether or not.
The second thing is to look at the status of her mother.
Zhu Shou'an was almost a nobody in the palace. Her mother was killed by the queen who was jealous of her during a palace coup many years ago. She left a little girl behind, and the queen probably thought it was unlucky to kill her, so she kept her in the palace and lived like a nobody.
The princess who was ignored by the empress was actually not as happy as a female official.
As for Emperor Jiajing, he enjoyed fighting with his ministers in his early years and had no energy to care about the affairs of the harem. After he retired to the Western Garden, there was a decree that two dragons should not meet, and he devoted himself to practicing Taoism, so his children made their own moves in the palace.
A child with a mother is a treasure. If you don’t believe it, look at King Jing. He has a favorite concubine. Not to mention that he can run rampant in the palace, but he is also confident when facing the crown prince.
"I have told you so many times that you must copy those scriptures before the end of the year, but where are the scriptures?"
Inside the hall, the female official Zhang Jing was scolding.
"The Madam is now entering and leaving the palace all day long, and she is becoming more and more unruly..."
"I'm going to my cousin's house..."
The weak voice of the eldest princess came.
"How can you go to your cousin's house for no reason? Not to mention the palace, girls from decent families also know to learn needlework and housekeeping at home, but the lady has learned a lot of bad habits."
Zhang Jing was actually quite good-looking, with delicate skin, but her eyes were rather sharp. It was because of these sharp eyes that Queen Fang arranged her to be next to Zhu Shou'an.
At this moment, there was a bit more coldness in these sharp eyes. "No matter how the lady argues, if you don't copy the scriptures, you will be hungry for two days."
"I copied it." Zhu Shoumei looked up.
"Where?" Zhang Jing asked.
"I don't know." Zhu Shou'an's eyes were filled with tears, but she tried her best to hold them back. "I put it in the box." She pointed to the wooden box beside her.
"Where?" Zhang Jing kicked over the box and found it was empty.
“I don’t know who took it.”
Zhu Shou'an's voice became increasingly low.
"Quibbling!" Zhang Jing shouted, "Today I will punish you by starving you for two days. Are you convinced?"
As she spoke, Zhang Jing glanced at the palace maids beside her.
Zhu Shou's lips moved.
Then lower your head.
"Who's not convinced?" Zhang Jing asked.
"I."
(End of this chapter)
