Chapter 817 906 Is the Emperor Ill?

At that time, Emperor Yingzong had not yet taken power, so the morning time was arranged to study the Four Books and Five Classics and historical classics, and the afternoon time was required to practice riding and archery.

In the evening, he had to review the old and learn the new, reciting the knowledge texts learned during the day.

Practicing riding and archery, perhaps this is also the reason why Emperor Yingzong dared to lead the army in person.

At the same time, calligraphy practice should not be slack, "When writing, write a hundred words in spring, summer, autumn, and fifty words in winter."

The full schoolwork was day after day, and there was almost no vacation.

In addition, he had to take time out every day to listen to the Three Yang Cabinet explain government affairs to him. It can be said that there was no idle time all day long.

Perhaps when there was extreme weather such as thunderstorms and gale, he could be exempted from study and get a short rest time.

Although there were many absurd emperors in the Ming Dynasty, the emperors in the early and middle periods were still considered to be diligent in governing.

Especially in the education of their children, they were able to teach by example and play the role of model role models.

At that time, they often compiled their reading experience, governance experience and life experience into books so that they could be passed down and provide learning materials for future generations.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, compared Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty in the "Records of the First Emperor of the Ming Dynasty".

"Luxury and frugality are different, and the judgment of order and chaos hangs. You should remember my words and always be vigilant."

This is used to warn descendants to know how to cherish people and talents, and not to be extravagant and oppress the people.

In addition, Zhu Di, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, compiled the "Sage Learning Heart Method".

He taught the prince with his own ideas and political strategies for governing the country, hoping that he would continuously improve his political literacy.

Later, the "Imperial Instructions" formulated by Zhu Zhanji, the Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, and the "Cultural Treasure Instructions" compiled by Zhu Jianshen, the Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, were often used to teach the children of the royal family.

For this reason, reading a lot of books is the most basic literacy for the crown prince and the children of the royal family.

The royal library collected famous books from all over the world, creating a good learning and education atmosphere for the princes.

When Zhu Yuanzhang just conquered the Yuan Dynasty, he ordered people to take all the precious books left over from the Yuan Dynasty to Jinling.

Later, he often sent people to find posthumous books among the people, and kept the books he found in Wenyuan Pavilion.

In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered people to "build a big hall, take ancient and modern books to fill it, and recruit famous Confucian scholars from all directions to teach the princes and kings."

Every time the princes made meritorious contributions, in addition to rewarding gold, silver and land, they would also generously reward a large number of ancient and modern books.

But it is far from enough to talk about war on paper. In addition to theoretical teaching, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty also focused on cultivating the practical ability of the princes and royal children.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, there was a regulation that when the whole country held grand sacrificial activities in the suburbs, the crown prince must stay in the palace to handle various government affairs. The purpose is also to better cultivate the future crown prince's ability to govern the country and handle government affairs.

This system of studying in the imperial court, which combines theory with practice and applies what one has learned, has a positive impact on the improvement of the prince's ability, enabling him to "explain classics and history, promote virtue, be knowledgeable about the past and present, and be able to inherit the weight of the country".

In this way, the country will have a wise ruler in the future, and the stability and peace of the entire political situation will be maintained.

Unfortunately, after the Battle of Tumu, this ancestral system gradually deviated from its original direction.

In the late Ming Dynasty, various emperors began to deliberately delay the time for the prince to go out of the imperial court.

Zhu Jianshen, the crown prince of Ming Yingzong, was already 12 years old when he went out of the imperial court to study. Although Zhu Houzhao, the crown prince of Ming Xiaozong, did not deviate much from the time of his going out of the imperial court, he went out of the imperial court to study at the age of 9.

The current Emperor Longqing, at the beginning of his accession to the throne, rejected the compilation of the ritual notes for the prince to go out of the imperial court to study presented by the Ministry of Rites, and later repeatedly obstructed the eight-year-old crown prince Zhu Yijun from going out of the imperial court to study.

At that time, the Ministry of Rites advised on the grounds that "according to the old system of the country, the period for the East Palace to go out of the imperial court to study is not more than eight years old".

But Emperor Longqing was always firm in his attitude and set the time for the prince to marry after he was ten years old.

Of course, this was also due to Wei Guangde, because when he discussed the way of raising children with Emperor Longqing, Wei Guangde once lamented that it was too hard for children to start learning too early, so although his son would start learning early, he would never have too many lessons, and would study for at most one hour a day.

Children still need more time to play.

I don’t know if it was influenced by these words, but Emperor Longqing became less concerned about the prince’s education.

Because once the door was opened, the subsequent education would not be controlled by him as an emperor, it would be decided by the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites. In short, they could find various reasons to implement their own education.

The emperor hoped that the prince would be both civil and military, and both talented and virtuous, but the ministers tended to let the prince only study the Four Books and Five Classics, and exempt him from riding and shooting and other military and political studies.

This contradiction was caused by the fact that during the Battle of Tumu, Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen believed the slander of his favorite minister Wang Zhen and insisted on his own way and led the army in person.

In the end, he not only became a prisoner of the Wala army, but also caused the Ming Dynasty's military meritorious group to be destroyed on a large scale. Many civil officials and military generals died on the battlefield. Even the 500,000 troops left by Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di were annihilated in this battle. This directly led to the Ming Dynasty's shift from emphasizing both civil and military affairs to emphasizing civil affairs and suppressing military affairs.

The focus of the education of the princes also changed accordingly. The education of the princes became a formal educationism. The emperor and the ministers in the court no longer had the same expectations for the education of the princes.

Confucianism and the ancestral precepts and treasures of the emperors of various generations became empty studies. The princes only knew how to talk about self-cultivation, governing the country and pacifying the world, but knew nothing about the sufferings of the world, and lacked practical communication and governance capabilities.

"Seeking the way" and "saving the world" were separated, and they could not apply what they learned and explore the truth in practice.

In addition, in the late Ming Dynasty, the configuration of educational personnel also seemed to be conservative and mechanical.

The lecturers hired by the court were all old scholars with a broad mind. They strictly abided by the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects, and did not dare to "go beyond the line" in their educational methods.

In the process of teaching the young crown prince, there was almost no fun and interaction, and there was no two-way communication between teachers and students.

This educational method and concept made the royal children feel boring and uninterested in learning.

When Emperor Longqing was in Yu Ju, he chose Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde to teach the crown prince Zhu Yijun. He realized that the previous lecturers were all old men with big beards, so he wanted to make some changes.

Feng Bao accompanied the crown prince to wander around the palace, but every time he walked near the palace gate, he always stared at the palace gate without blinking.

Feng Bao knew what the crown prince was thinking, but the times were different. When Zhu Yijun was young, he didn't know anything. At that time, he was in the Prince Yu's Mansion, so it was natural for him to go out on the street.

But now it's not possible. This is the palace, and Zhu Yijun is already the prince, so naturally he dare not take him out.

"When do you think Master Wei will come back? He said he can take me out to play.

I've grown up so much, I don't even remember what the streets look like."

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but sigh at this time, looking like an old man.

He had asked his father, Emperor Longqing, to let Feng Bao take him out to stroll on the street, but was rejected.

After several times, he didn't expect it anymore.

On his birthday, Zhu Yijun talked about this in front of Wei Guangde who came to give him a gift. Wei Guangde also thought that he could let the little guy go out to see the outside world, so he promised to take him out of the palace to see the outside world when he was older.

"Prince, please be patient. Master Wei will be back in a year or so. He will be your teacher and will teach you. You can talk to him. He should be able to get the emperor to agree."

Feng Bao laughed softly, "Master Wei is really good to you. He even remembered your birthday when he returned home and sent someone to give you a gift."

"Let's go back to the palace to play with building blocks. I want to build a big palace."

Zhu Yijun didn't think there was anything fun to do. The palace was just like that. He was tired of playing after a few years.

After saying that, Zhu Yijun jumped on the sedan chair, and the four eunuchs carried the sedan chair back to the palace.

In fact, Zhu Yijun was not lazy at this time. He didn't like running and jumping. It was mainly due to his leg disease. He felt uncomfortable in his right leg after walking for a long time.

Zhu Yijun had a leg disease. In fact, it was discovered not long after he was born, and the Imperial Hospital had no way to treat it.

As for what leg disease it was, Zhu Yijun's right leg was somehow slightly shorter than his left leg. If the Imperial Hospital hadn't insisted on being careful during infancy, it would not have been discovered.

Therefore, whether standing or walking, the center of gravity of the body of young Zhu Yijun is habitually placed on the right leg, and the left leg is slightly bent, which looks no different from ordinary people.

If you don't look carefully, you can't see it if you run and jump for a short time, but if the right leg is too heavy for a long time, it will feel uncomfortable.

If he hadn't become a fat man later, perhaps this leg disease would not affect his walking.

As for how Zhu Yijun finally became a fat man, some say that he loves sweets, and some say it is a family disease. After all, Zhu Biao and Zhu Gaochi in the early Ming Dynasty seemed to be fat, and there were many fat princes in the Ming Dynasty.

In this day and age, there are actually many kinds of children's toys. In order to win Zhu Yijun's favor, Wei Guangde also took great pains to choose toys that are in line with the times from later generations, and sent people to make them carefully as gifts for him to play with.

The birthday gift sent by Wei Guangde this year is actually a set of Lego blocks that everyone is familiar with in later generations. It can be assembled into a palace, and the eunuch model carved from red sandalwood is also lifelike.

Even Emperor Longqing found this set of toys interesting. He played with Zhu Yijun for a long time before praising Wei Guangde's ingenious ideas.

The palace model was designed by Wei Guangde with reference to the style of the three main halls. It was fixed with grooves. When the roof is not put up, the palace can be decorated inside. It looks exactly like the real three main halls.

There are also thrones and other things in the hall, but no emperor-shaped figurines were carved, which is a bit taboo.

As for this year's gift, Wei Guangde actually had an idea long ago, which is a ship model. He has sent people to find craftsmen familiar with shipbuilding to make assembled toys according to a certain proportion, and also install cannons on the ship.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty did not lack such models, but most of the ones sent to the nobles were finished products, rather than things that were broken down into small pieces and asked them to assemble by themselves.

After the models of the three main halls were assembled, according to the "instructions for use" written by Wei Guangde, Zhu Yijun was now thinking about assembling a new hall. Wei Guangde also gave him a hint, saying that he could ask the imperial supervisor to make the required building blocks, and he didn't have to be limited to what he gave.

For other civil officials, they might like obedient emperors, but Wei Guangde didn't think so.

If the emperor was not good, the Ming Dynasty would be finished. The fall of the Ming Dynasty was actually related to the educational thought of civil officials.

Deliberately educating a dull emperor who could be fooled by them was just to maintain the transcendent status of civil officials, which directly damaged the interests of the country and the nation.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Zhu Yijun was still thinking about how to assemble a large palace he liked. Thinking of the missing materials, the little prince couldn't help scratching his head.

"Big companion, have you made the building blocks you asked me to build?"

Thinking of what was missing, Zhu Yijun directly asked Feng Bao who was waiting beside him.

"The Queen's Prison hasn't sent it over yet. How about I ask someone to come over and take a look and urge me."

Feng Bao said hurriedly.

"Ask someone to urge them. Only when you get those bricks will you know whether they are enough and whether you should continue making bricks."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Also, arrange for someone to keep an eye on the imperial prison. Don't let them drag their feet."

"They dare."

Hearing what Zhu Yijun said, Feng Bao immediately pretended to be furious and said, "Prince, don't worry, I will send someone over to keep an eye on them when I turn around. If they dare not do their best for the Crown Prince, I will whip them."

"Um."

Zhu Yijun hummed with satisfaction.

After walking for a while, Feng Bao took the initiative to speak again: "Prince, don't tell me, this building block that Mr. Wei Ge asked someone to send is really fun. Last time I saw the Tai Chi Hall where His Highness and the Emperor were fighting. That’s really what happened.”

"That's right, that's the gift my master asked someone to prepare for me. I just don't know if he will remember to prepare a new gift for me this year."

Zhu Yijun was happy at first, but then quickly became depressed.

After all, it turned out that when Wei Guangde was in court, he could always see him several times a year, especially on his birthday. Wei Guangde went to see him in person.

But I didn't see Wei Guangde this year. I just handed the things into Feng Bao's hands, and Feng Bao forwarded them to the palace on his behalf.

In the evening, Feng Bao helped Zhu Yijun to sleep, arranged for the eunuchs to be on duty outside the bedroom, and then he returned to his room in the palace to rest.

But along the way, Feng Bao was still thinking about the news he heard from Meng Chong today. Emperor Longqing wanted to take double the amount of the medicine.

Although the eunuch cannot walk on human roads, he still knows these things. Taking too much of that kind of medicine is not good.

After entering the room, Feng Bao asked the young chamberlain to make the bed for him, while he sat on the imperial chair aside and was still thinking about it.

"Um?"

In an instant, a flash of inspiration passed through Feng Bao's mind.

The Emperor needs double the amount of medicine. Doesn't that mean that His Majesty is no longer good in that area? It can even be extended to believe that there is something wrong with the Emperor's health.

Thinking of this, Feng Bao suddenly didn't dare to continue thinking anymore. If he continued to think about it, it would be a mess.

But now that he had this thought, Feng Bao could not suppress his thoughts.

"Father-in-law, the bed has been made, you can rest."

At this time, the waiter came over and said respectfully.

"You go down and rest."

Feng Bao waved his hand and asked him to go out. He got up and sat down in front of the bed, feeling a little dazed.