Chapter 313 The Tenth Prince Zhu Wusi

"Your Highness, these books do have something to do with me!"

"How did you come up with the idea of ​​arranging bamboo like that? You are different from most scholars in observing everything..."

"Your Highness has given you too much praise!"

"Tell me about these books and your "Studying Things to Know"!"

"yes!"

The first meeting between Xu Xin and Zhu Youtang was generally smooth.

Zhu Youtang is a studious person, but at the same time he is not too old. He was born in the sixth year of Chenghua, so he is two years older than Xu Xin in this life. He has not yet reached the time to truly govern, and his childishness and innocence are all It's just suppressed, not gone.

Compared with the boring Four Books and Five Classics, simple "science" courses are easier to get started and more interesting.

In addition, Zhu Youtang also wanted to contact the civil servants of the "Zhejiang Department" through Zhang Min's suggestion, so the two of them could naturally chat together.

…

In late spring in March, the rain was pouring. Xu Xin rarely got up early, reluctantly got out of the warm and fragrant bed inlaid with gold and jade, dressed and washed under the service of the maid, and then came to the hall. , preparing to enter the imperial city with his father Wang Hua, the number one scholar.

He went to the palace yesterday to meet the Crown Prince Zhu Youtang. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was very satisfied with his companion.

Today was his first day at work. In order to make a good impression on the palace, of course, the earlier the better, so naturally he followed the carriage of his father Wang Hua, the number one scholar, into the imperial city. So Mr. Xu will start "nine-nine-seven" starting from today.

After the carriage entered the imperial city, Xu Xin and his father, Wang Hua, separated. Wang Hua was going to the Hanlin Academy as an errand, while Xu Xin followed Cao Zhengchun who suddenly appeared and went to the Wenhua Palace to study with the prince.

The study of the princes in the Ming Dynasty, including enlightenment learning and giving lectures, generally started at the age of eight. After the age of eight, the prince gave lectures in the Wenhua Hall in the east of the palace. After the morning court every day, the crown prince went to the Wenhua Hall to study. There were officials from the Hanlin Academy and ministers of the court as his lecturers.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

When Xu Xin arrived outside the Wenhua Hall, the prince's carriage had already arrived. Zhu Youtang walked out, still wearing apricot yellow court clothes, and nodded gently.

The Wenhua Hall, the palace books and the prince's reading are all located in this place. The Wenhua Hall is in the east, with the five elements belonging to wood and the four elements representing the green dragon.

Therefore, the tiles of the entire Wenhua Palace are all green, and the thunder beasts on the eaves and ridges are not the Chaofeng or Suan Ni that are common in the palace, but mainly green dragons.

Xu Xin walked slowly behind Zhu Youtang. The orange-red sun in the east was slightly exposed. The sun shone on his body, making him feel warm and comfortable. Xu Xin cheered up, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked ahead.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

When Xu Xin followed Zhu Youtang into the Wenhua Palace, there was a burst of greetings. In addition to the eunuchs and maids, there were... other princes.

Emperor Chenghua Zhu Jianshen, who suffered many hardships in his childhood, fell in love with Wan Zhen'er, who was seventeen years older than him and had shared the joys and sorrows. The relationship between the emperor and the imperial concubine was very deep, and Zhu Jianshen even abolished one of the empresses for the sake of imperial concubine Wan Guifei. From then on, Concubine Wan Gui became the only favorite in the palace.

Emperor Chenghua had a deep relationship with Concubine Wan Gui. Naturally, he wanted Concubine Wan Gui to give birth to an heir to the throne, so he favored Concubine Wan Gui exclusively during the early stage of his succession.

But since the eldest son that Concubine Wan Gui gave birth to to Emperor Chenghua died unfortunately, the qualified emperor also began to make preparations and began to visit other concubines and maids.

Prince Zhu Youtang was the third child of Emperor Chenghua. He was born in the sixth year of Chenghua. After the death of his two previous brothers, he became the eldest son of the emperor. Therefore, in the eleventh year of Chenghua, he will be established as the prince.

The eleventh year of Chenghua was a special time. After Zhu Youtang was established as the prince, Concubine Wan Guifei seemed to have recognized the reality. The princes and princesses born after that were all successfully enrolled in the clan and grew up healthily. Among them, the oldest His younger brother Zhu Youqi is also eight years old and has also reached the age of leaving the court to study.

From the sixth year of Chenghua to the eleventh year of Chenghua, in addition to Zhu Youtang, the emperor had several other children. It was just because of Concubine Wan Guifei's "special favor" during this period and their failure to succeed. The upper prince, so he had the misfortune to become an illegitimate prince.

The fate of these illegitimate princes was somewhat tragic. They were not included in the clan and their future future was uncertain. However, the emperor had some father-son affection and allowed them to study in the palace, so in the Wenhua Palace, in addition to the prince, there were also a number of illegitimate princes who were also studying.

"My dear brothers, there is no need to be polite!"

Zhu Youtang's attitude towards these younger brothers was very kind, probably because they were in the same boat.

He was also one of these illegitimate princes at the beginning, but in the end, he had the last laugh due to his age and some other reasons. He became a full-time official and successfully became the crown prince, becoming the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. From then on, the destiny of the future emperor was different.

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Crown Prince!"

Many princes are very polite, probably because they have experienced such things every day and have formed a habit.

Zhu Youtang was exchanging feelings with his younger brothers. Xu Xin stood behind him, observing the illegitimate princes calmly, trying to find out among them the "iron and courageous prince" in his impression.

It's a pity that these princes were probably still young and could not see their future appearance in their eyebrows, so they were not recognized.

Xu Xin's first day at work was a boring day spent reading with the prince. Reading in the true sense meant reciting and copying the Four Books and Five Classics, listening to the prince's lecturer explain the meaning of the scriptures, and completing homework.

These things still have some meaning to Zhu Youtang, but for Xu Xin, it is completely torture.

However, the path of accompanying the prince to study was chosen by himself, and he had to continue with tears.

In this way, day after day, Xu Xin gradually gained Zhu Youtang's trust and became more and more familiar with the princes in the palace.

The Forbidden City in early spring is still quite cold, especially after the rain, the cool wind is like a magic attack. Even if you are wrapped in cotton clothes, you can still shiver.

On this day, Xu Xin, who had initially gained Zhu Youtang's trust, gave him an idea to show "brotherly friendship and respect for younger brothers" and bring warmth to his younger brothers.

In a side hall on the east side of the palace, Zhu Wushi, the tenth son of Emperor Chenghua, walked out of the cold palace and came to the courtyard outside to set up his posture to practice boxing.

He is the emperor's tenth child, but because his father did not pay attention to him, he was casually named Zhu Wushi and was not recorded in the clan register, and his future was uncertain. Since the position of the crown prince gradually became stable, there were no more maids and eunuchs to take care of the cold stove, and life was just barely passing.

"Tenth prince!"

A sudden and familiar voice woke Zhu Wushi from his boxing practice. He looked up and saw his brother, the crown prince, and the crown prince's tutor.

There was also a group of eunuchs driving a carriage, bringing various things to keep warm. New cashmere bedding, silver charcoal that does not produce smoke... The little eunuchs came and went, moving things into the side hall one by one.

"Brother, brother..."

Zhu Wushi only felt warm in his heart. The long-lost care made him want to cry a little.

Xu Xin stood behind Zhu Youtang, looking at the tenth prince seriously, which was particularly meaningful.