Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The royal hunting grounds of the Ming Dynasty were so small that the hunting activities lasted only two days.

For half a day, the army was still setting up and there was no actual hunting at all.

The field hunting is over and everything is business as usual.

Farmers whose crops were trampled received a compensation for their crops and began busy replanting grains and vegetables.

Envoys from certain countries left Luoyang with gifts in return.

However, more envoys chose to stay and continue to communicate with Ming officials. Foreign faces could often be seen on the streets of Luoyang.

When Prince Zhu Yang returned to the East Palace, he spontaneously strengthened his martial arts training.

When Ju Ming heard the news, he called his son over and asked, "I heard that you practice riding and shooting for an extra hour every day?"

Zhu Yang replied: "The child's performance was not satisfactory when hunting."

Ju Ming said: "Actually, it's not bad. After all, it's horseback archery, the target is a running animal, and you are still young and lack strength."

"We can't embarrass our father." Zhu Yang buried his head.

Ju Ming laughed: "If you are interested in this, you can continue. If you are not interested, then there is no need. It is better to learn more about military strategy and geography, and the emperor does not need to personally charge into battle."

"My child understands," Zhu Yang explained, "My child already roughly knows the geography of the Ming Dynasty and surrounding countries."

Ju Ming said: "It is probably enough to know, as long as you are not easily deceived by the officials."

Zhu Yang said: "Nowadays, the court is full of power, and the central government and local governments are all virtuous ministers. They will not deceive the emperor."

Ju Ming stopped smiling: "Do you really think so?"

"Is there something wrong?" Zhu Yang was confused.

He is too young and has too little experience.

Growing up, he was surrounded by "good people" and the people who taught him how to read were all great Confucian scholars, which led to his view of the world being too rosy.

Ju Ming warned: "Remember, people have selfish motives, and you can't completely trust anyone."

Zhu Yang asked: "Don't trust people when you employ them, and don't trust people when you are suspicious. If you can't trust anyone, how can you appoint officials to govern the country?"

Ju Ming sighed and said, "You misunderstood this sentence."

"Father, please clarify your doubts." Zhu Yang sat and waited to listen to the instructions.

Ju Ming said in detail: "People are complicated, and things are also complicated. Take Jiangxi's land administration as an example. Several years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi's land administration has been difficult to reform. Could it be that all Jiangxi officials colluded with the rich to deceive the court? ?”

Zhu Yang shook his head: "No. There is too much resistance to Jiangxi's land administration reform, and the court keeps urging it, so Jiangxi officials can only hide it from the court."

Zhu Ming asked in a persuasive manner: "Why did Wei Liangchen succeed in acquiring a land?"

Zhu Yang thought seriously and said: "Mr. Wei dares to do things and is capable of doing things, and is not afraid of offending the rich. And with the royal flag on his body, it is difficult for the local gentry to resist."

Ju Ming asked with a smile: "So, do you understand what it means to be trustless when employing people and not to be suspicious of people when you are not using them?"

Zhu Yang was thoughtful, but then shook his head blankly.

Ju Ming said: "The more important the matter, the more difficult it is for officials to handle it. The emperor needs consistent support and must not give up halfway."

"It is very important to choose the person to do the job. If you are worried about his character or ability, then don't use him from the beginning, because you don't know what to do. This is called suspecting and not using him."

"Once a person is chosen to do something, no matter how many rumors and objections there are, we must continue to firmly support him. This is called hiring without doubt."

Zhu Yang nodded subconsciously and then asked: "But what if this person really did something wrong? Do we still need to support him all the time?"

Zhu Ming asked: "Did the teacher tell you about Wang Anshi's reform?"

Zhu Yang replied: "Yes. The teacher said that Wang Anshi's reform intention was good, but the people were improperly employed and the laws were wrong, so the reform failed."

Ju Ming sighed: "The emperor at that time did not hesitate to employ those who violated the law, and did not use those who were suspicious. Of course, mistakes were inevitable during Wang Anshi's reform, but what the emperor had to do was to order him to make adjustments. Even if he made a mistake, he had to insist on it. Go ahead and make the mistake instead of compromising with the old parties.”

Zhu Yang was even more confused: "You still insist on making a mistake? Wouldn't that cause chaos in the world?"

"The essence of the reform is to redistribute interests. The reason why the reform is difficult is that people with vested interests join forces to prevent the reform," Ju Ming said. "The emperor is not a god. How can he understand what is really wrong during the reform? What is false and wrong? Where is someone deliberately turning right into wrong? The consequences of continuing to make mistakes are much lighter than looking forward and looking back. "

"This... this is too complicated, I really don't understand it." Zhu Yang was already a little dizzy.

Ju Ming said: "You have too little experience and have never suffered setbacks, so naturally you can't understand. This is normal. Don't doubt your ability. You just need to remember that nothing can be done perfectly. Everyone has his or her own limitations." Thoughts and interests. As long as people and things can improve as a whole, you don't have to be too demanding about perfection. But you have to draw a line in your heart, and you will never be lenient to anyone who dares to cross it. "

"Yes," Zhu Yang replied in a daze, and then asked, "Mr. Hu is an honorable man. Could it be that he would deceive the emperor because of his own selfish interests?"

Ju Ming smiled and said: "It is not a crime to deceive the emperor. Many capable people have great ambitions. Huan Guo's ambition is nothing more than to serve the emperor Yao and Shun and win a reputation after his death. He is a relatively pure person, but purity does not represent him. There is no selfish intention. He will also support his fellow villagers, relatives and friends, and people who are academically similar to him, and form his own small groups and cliques. How can he do anything if he does not cultivate close friends?

Zhu Yang understood this.

Ju Ming said: "If Huan Guo is in power, his cronies will become more and more numerous, even enough to be called cronies. At this time, if there is another minister who also has his own crony faction, it will be easy to follow him. There is a conflict in Huan. Maybe the leaders of the two factions are gentlemen, and they may even be friends with each other, but can they really stop the factions from fighting? When it gets to that point, the overall interests of the factions will push the faction leaders. Make a choice even if it harms the country.”

Zhu Yang nodded and said: "Wang Anshi and Sima Guang are like this."

Ju Ming said: "It's time to choose a princess for you. Meng Zhao's third daughter is very similar to her mother. Your grandfather and mother are very satisfied and choose a date to arrange a wedding for you. In addition, King Zhuluo donated three Maid, the youngest one, I will give it to you to take away.”

"The child is entirely up to the father." Zhu Yang knew his future wife and often played together when they were children. He had a good impression of the future crown princess.

As for Zhu Kang's official wife, Princess Yu, she was Huang Guinian's fourth daughter, and she was married last year.

Speaking of which, Ju Ming helped give the maiden name to the fourth daughter of Huang Yaoshi's family. Well, my name is Huang Rong...

The Chola king of South India was very interesting. Not only did he send three young girls, he also sent a senior monk of the Linga sect.

The eminent monk and the girl are matched and can teach Ju Ming a secret cultivation technique.

Just the kind of secret technique you have in your dirty heads!

Ju Ming happily accepted the three girls, but was too lazy to communicate with the eminent monk in depth.

The oldest girl, Ju Ming himself smiled.

The remaining two were given to Zhu Kang and Zhu Yang.

The skin is quite white, and the bloodline is extremely complicated. I don’t know how many generations of mixed blood it has been.

As a prince, Zhu Yang is still a virgin.

After he left his father's place, he returned to the East Palace to study seriously. There are also several companions around him, all of whom are outstanding students selected from Imperial College and military academies.

The accompanying student has to be replaced after two years, so that the prince can get in touch with more people.

The current five companion readers are: Wang Chongyang, Huang Wanqing, Shi Zhining, Yuan Ang, and Li Huanzhi.

Wang Chongyang is the oldest and will be replaced in half a year.

Shi Zhining was a Jurchen, whose original name was He Shilie Zhining. He helped organize the historical materials of the Jin Dynasty in the Hanlin Academy. Because of his rapid academic progress, he was recommended to study at Taixue.

Yuan Ang was the only military student. He only studied with the prince for three days every ten days, and most of his studies were related to military affairs.

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

The five companions who were chatting quickly heard the guards shouting and hurried to greet them.

Zhu Yang called them into the room and sat down: "I was summoned by His Majesty just now. There are some Hadith teachings that I don't quite understand. Let's discuss them together."

As soon as everyone heard that the emperor was educating the prince, they quickly sat upright.

Zhu Yang is not a fool. It is impossible for him to say such things not to completely trust any official. As for Huan Guo's cultivation of cronies, he did not tell his companions, but only roughly repeated Ju Ming's words.

"Why do you insist on making a mistake even though you know it is wrong? I am most confused here." Zhu Yang said.

Wang Chongyang said: "We dare not speculate on the holy will. We only express our own opinions. The reason for the rush for reform at that time was because the national treasury was empty. And the reason why the national treasury was empty was because of the exploitation and occupation by the powerful, gentry, and wealthy businessmen. The reason for the reform was The goal is nothing more than to return the invaded profits to the court and the people.”

"Among the reformists, there are many speculators who act haphazardly to seek personal gain. At critical moments, they may even be at odds with each other."

"But the conservative faction is more united. In order to protect their own interests, some people will even deliberately sabotage the reform, even if it endangers the world."

"If the reform is to be successful, the new party must completely suppress the old party. There is no room for relaxation between the two parties. Therefore, even if there are mistakes in the reform decree, even if there are reform officials seeking personal gain, the emperor must always firmly support it. Even if it is wrong, he must support it, and he cannot Let the old party use this topic to its advantage, otherwise the two parties will fight and the mistakes will become more and more serious!”

Zhu Yang thinks it makes sense.

Shi Zhining said: "Before the Jin Kingdom was founded, it had been reforming the law and system, and it was not completed until the country was destroyed. My teacher was from Wanyan Zonghan's school. The teacher once told me that the system of the Jin Kingdom was crude and crude when it was first established. It must be reformed. But how to reform, he and Wanyan Zongpan's group had many conflicts. In the end, the teacher knew that it was wrong, but he continued to make it. "

"Why?" Zhu Yang asked.

Shi Zhining said: "Because of my teacher and Wanyan Zonghan, their group is unwilling to let mermaids be their flesh."

Zhu Yang asked: "Even if it leads to the destruction of the Jin Kingdom, will they still make the mistake to the end?"

Shi Zhining said: "Because if we don't make mistakes to the end, the Kingdom of Jin will inevitably collapse faster. Their faction is the mainstay of the Jin Kingdom's army. If the reform harms their interests, all the most elite Jin soldiers will be demoralized. Even , it is possible to stir up rebellions in various ministries and break them apart without the Ming Dynasty killing them. The prerequisite for reform is after a certain faction takes complete power. "

Zhu Yang nodded and said, "That's it, I understand."

Yuan Ang glanced at the clock: "Your Highness, today we will learn about cavalry logistics and need to go to the Tiansijian Horse Farm. It's almost time."

Zhu Yang smiled and stood up: "You are all my mentors and friends, let's go feed the horses together."