"Your Majesty, I believe that if the world is to be stable, the balance of power between the southerners and the northerners must be maintained. Let the southerners contribute money, let the northerners send troops, and together we can defend the court. I hope tomorrow will last for generations to come. So this is the matter of appointing a crown princess. , it would be best to create a balance between the north and the south, and appoint two concubines on one side and one side at the same time. If the three of them work together, they will be as powerful as gold!"
In the Dongnuan Pavilion of Qinzheng Hall, the person who was promoting the "three people with one heart" plan to register the crown princess to Zhu Cixiang was senior brother Zheng Sen. Today, Zhu Cixi still hasn't come to the court to manage politics, and is still sitting in the palace feeling sad for Wu Sangui! So no other ministers could see him, except Zheng Sen - that was Emperor Zhu's senior brother! Although Zheng Sen no longer mentioned this issue, Zhu Cixiang talked about this relationship to show his importance and favor to Zheng Sen.
Wei Zaode's successor is probably this Senior Brother Zheng!
However, Emperor Zhu could not agree with what Zheng Sen said today.
"Elder brother said it was wrong!" Zhu Cixiang shook his head and looked at Zheng Sen, "It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on others. Only if you can rely on yourself can you have others to rely on. If you can't rely on yourself, how can anyone from the south provide money? People send troops? When the emperor came to power, where were the money of the southerners and the soldiers of the northerners? The reason why I came up with this method of selecting the crown princess through examination is because I am worried that the Tian family will produce some unreliable emperors and vassal kings in the future. . If the emperor and king are unreliable, the queen and princess will have to take responsibility. Senior brother, what do you think is the most important virtue of a king?"
"Of course Ren." Zheng Sen said.
Zhu Cixi smiled: "That is the virtue that a minister most hopes for a king to have, right? But I know that it is not enough for a king to have benevolence, and benevolence is not the most important virtue, the most important thing is wisdom! A wise person knows everything and knows everything. He understands right and wrong, right and wrong, right and wrong, true and false, that is, a person has the heart to think about right and wrong, and has close observation of literature and science. This is wisdom.
Because the king relies on his wisdom to govern the world. If the king is not wise, cannot distinguish right from wrong, good and evil, does not know how to govern the country, let alone cope with internal and external troubles, just like the emperor, then there is no way to talk about benevolence. . "
Zheng Sen didn't know what to say - that emperor seems to be your father! Aren't you saying your father is a fool? Although this is true, a son cannot say that about his father, it is unfilial!
"Of course, the emperor's talent is not stupid. Now that he is old, he can still study arithmetic, and he has also learned Persian from the beautiful women donated by the Kingdom of Jungar. This shows that he is talented. It's just that he is a young man, and he knows very little. , especially did not understand financial and tax laws, nor military strategy, so he was deceived again and again, and his decision-making was extremely confused. He wanted to be a benevolent king, but he could only be a coward who almost ruined the Ming Dynasty. "
"Fortunately, Ming Dynasty has His Majesty!" Zheng Sen saw the opportunity and flattered him.
Emperor Zhu nodded and said: "Thank you for me! So I have learned the lessons of the emperor and have spent a lot of time cultivating the princes over the years. I have opened primary schools, middle schools, universities, and army and navy schools to train the princes." The purpose of allowing the princes to study together with the nobles and the talented people from all over the country is also to allow them to see more of the world and people outside the palace... Only by seeing more can they become more knowledgeable. Only when you know people well can you be responsible for them. Only when princes and princes are well-informed and know people well can they learn the way of kings. A prince or prince who is ignorant and ignorant will still be a foolish king even if he has learned a lot of royal skills! "
In Zhu Cixiang's view, kings always grew up in the palace, knew too little about the outside world, and were obsessed with the so-called emperor's ideas, which was also a major reason for the decline of the feudal dynasty. The reason why the Ming Dynasty led by Chongzhen repeatedly lost to the Qing Dynasty led by Huang Taiji. An important reason is that Chongzhen's personal ability is much worse than Huang Taiji!
Huang Taiji is the second generation who started his own business with his father Nurhaci. What hasn’t he seen before? And Chongzhen is just a prince raised in the palace. He knows nothing about running a country and making money from wars... He is simply a fool!
"Your Majesty is sage." Zheng Senxin said: "You were raised in the palace since you were a child. How can you be so sage?" Knowing everything... Could it be that Emperor Taizu Gao really came down to earth?
Zhu Cixiang added: "But the virtue of wisdom cannot be cultivated by teaching and cultivation alone! People's talents are high and low, their experiences are different, and their feelings about what they know and see are also different. The prince's talent is still high. However, even though he has worked hard, he is still a high-ranking person, and he may not know the sufferings of the people, nor the difficulty of treating the common people!"
Of course, a king must know the suffering of the people, but he cannot have a holy mother's heart and show excessive kindness. If Zhu Cixi was asked to choose between the "Mother's Heart" which is indiscriminately benevolent and the ruthless "Iron Heart", he would definitely choose the latter. But a true king should know when to be kind and when to be ruthless - this is the wisdom of a king!
And this king’s wisdom must be based on knowledge.
And this knowledge needs to be observed from different angles.
One thing is likely to be different when viewed from above the cloud and from below! The successors of the Ming Emperor will of course receive the most comprehensive education and training in the future, but they will ultimately stand above the clouds.
Zhu Cixiang sighed and said: "No matter how the prince understands the sentiments of the people, he is still a high-ranking person... everything he knows and sees is arranged by the people below! So I hope to stay with the prince in the future and help him govern the country. , the woman who gives birth to his children and educates his children should not be too noble."
Zheng Sen already understood Emperor Zhu’s thoughts!
Whether the future princess is a daughter of the Zheng family, a daughter of the Wu family, or a daughter of the Shen family, Emperor Zhu will not be very satisfied...
"Your Majesty," Zheng Sen reminded, "but the women who are ranked among the top 100 in the first test are all from high-ranking families!"
"I know," Zhu Cixiang nodded, "but how many women are in school in the Ming Dynasty now? Not to mention small families, they are ordinary big families. Their sons can support their education and progress. If they have a daughter who can recognize some words and know how to A little simple arithmetic would be nice.”
Zheng Sen said: "Your Majesty can choose some talented and beautiful girls to educate in the palace."
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said: "How to choose? Whether you are talented or not, you have to use test papers to judge! And what is the difference between being taught by the palace and being raised in a deep palace? So I have weighed it again and again, and still think it is better to use it. The examination method is used to select the Crown Princess...Except for those women who cannot become the Crown Princess, the rest of the women who take the examination are all fair competitions, and the ranking is determined by the test scores. The one who wins the first place, regardless of her origin, is the Crown Princess's concubine. , the future Queen Mother of the Ming Dynasty!
As for what to take the test, I will personally set the questions! I will also personally invigilate the exam...and this exam will not only include a written test and martial arts comparison, but also an interview! I will interview them one by one, so it is absolutely fair and there is no chance of cheating! "
Zheng Sen breathed a sigh of relief. If the test was based on ability, then the daughter of the Zheng family would have great hopes! Because the Zheng family has been preparing for this matter, and through Zheng Chagu and Princess Kunxing, the Zheng family probably knew some of Emperor Zhu's requirements for the crown princess.
But Zheng Sen is still not at ease with Wu Ahuan...
"Your Majesty," Zheng Sen said, "there are many good women, why should the prince marry only one? Why not marry one to the other and have two concubines at the same time."
"No!" Zhu Cixi waved his hand, "It is enough for the prince to have a crown prince within five years...Five years later, the prince should have one or two legitimate sons, and the status of the crown prince has been stabilized. By then, It's not too late to accept the concubine." At this point, Emperor Zhu glanced at Zheng Sen again and said, "However, the one who has the highest test score is the crown prince, and the rest of the vassal princes and princes, including the principal concubine of the rich son They will be selected from among the women who have passed the re-examination, regardless of their test scores!"
