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Emperor Deqing smiled at the story told by the storyteller and listened attentively. He even clapped along with the tea drinkers around him after the storyteller finished speaking.
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, 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 be in chaos. Is it possible that corrupt officials would be rampant? We common people, It’s even more dark!” Another tea guest said with a bitter 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 condoned corrupt officials, how could the imperial court have become as dim as it is now? 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. While speaking, he looked left and right. It seems that he expects recognition from those 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, with all the tea guests shaking their heads or sighing. It was completely different from the happy look they had when they were 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, stood up, then 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 to follow 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 believed 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, Prince Zhu Heyu's reputation was too good and his power was too strong. Many people even firmly believed that once Prince Zhu Heyu succeeded to the throne, he would be far better than Emperor Deqing. So Emperor Deqing, who had always been conceited, became jealous.
However. Under the calculations of Zhao Junchen and several powerful officials in the court, Prince Zhu Heyu has suffered many setbacks during this period. Even his reputation was not as virtuous as before. Emperor Deqing forgot his previous jealousy, 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 successful!
…………
This thought just passed by for a moment, and then Zhao Junchen hurried 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 patrons in this teahouse have all three religions and nine schools. Their thoughts are probably the common thoughts among the people, right? 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? Already? 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. The deeper truth, Your Majesty, your great saint, how can they understand it? 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. 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 on 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: "Huh, these people. They dare to question my employment and appointment of officials. Listen to what they want. It's like the corrupt officials of the Ming Dynasty. It’s because of 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 may not be because of His Highness the Crown Prince's virtuous reputation or his actions in killing corrupt officials, but just because the Crown Prince has brought down many court officials and made them see It’s just a fun! People always have a hatred of the rich and the nobles. Now they see many people who were far more fortunate than them, they will be happy in their hearts. 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 do all the evil things like that? Humph. Don’t I know that there are many corrupt officials in the court? But if we remove these greedy wolves who are already full, wouldn’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 else will help in the future? Do I rule the world?"
"What your Majesty said makes sense and speaks to the essence." Zhao Junchen nodded repeatedly. 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 is just to obtain fame and become officials, and the reason why they want to be officials is even more It's just to improve the lives of themselves and their tribesmen and enjoy wealth and wealth. Under such circumstances, if all the officials live in poverty and live cautiously, then the scholar's desire to serve the court will not be so strong. At that time, a large number of talents were lost among the people and were not used by the imperial court, which would inevitably lead to great chaos!"
Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen was really moved, and 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 things, you can only slowly Come, but it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Emperor Deqing was slightly startled when he heard Zhao Junchen's words.
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 smarter. The people are collected and used by the emperor! So even if there are some twists and turns, without the leadership of those smart people, it will be just a small chaos!
However, how can we make the world's smartest people be used by the emperor? Don’t you need to be lured with wealth? Therefore, I have always turned a blind eye when the officials of my dynasty amassed a little money, because only by making the lives of the officials more prosperous will the smart people among the people be obsessed with becoming officials. They should choose the path of imperial examination, and it will be easier for them to control it after they become officials.
On the contrary, if all the officials are poor, and because 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 adding fuel to the flames, I Only then will the country be truly in danger! "
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 the beginning of trouble - and the so-called imperial examination is essentially the practice of this concept. As for the confrontation between the pure 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 "dumb" 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. Walking towards 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 said nothing more and just called a carriage. And waited for Emperor Deqing to ride and return to the temporary palace.
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On the way back to the temporary palace. The atmosphere inside the carriage seemed a little 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 kind of emotion would break out at some point in the future. It will trigger a series of chain reactions!
And these chain reactions must be what Prince Zhu Heyu does not want to see!
only. 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 and calling Emperor Deqing the "Eternal Saint King", Emperor Deqing also knew very well that with his various achievements since he ascended the throne, he is still far from being evaluated as 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 and throughout the dynasties, the so-called 'saint kings' and 'wise kings' have been There are no more than three paths to take, one is to reform the bad government; the other 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 officialdom, 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. If you want to feed these 30,000 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 "prosperity", and creating a "prosperity" is not only laborious, but also not something that can 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 people's livelihood. What's more, no matter how hard they are in these years, Whether it is Mongolia or Jianzhou Jurchen, both are still at peace, and I have no excuse to start a war... Moreover, the national treasury is not rich in silver and grain, 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!
And the person who caused all this by accident was Zhao Junchen, who still thought he had a plan at this time!
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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...)
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