Chapter 173: Take a break from the busy schedule, the sun is warm and the breeze is peaceful

It is half dawn and half not yet dawn. I can smell the fragrance of flowers when drunk and the fragrance of orioles when sleepy.

This kind of lazy state is rarely seen in an emperor after the New Year.

Zhu Yijun fell asleep in the second half of the Xu hour last night, but did not get up on time before the Mao hour.

Instead, he remained in a daze until it was almost dawn, and then he reluctantly rubbed his shoulders and sat up.

"What time is it?"

He moved his shoulders which were a little sore from lying on his side, and called Zhang Hong over to ask about the time.

Although I have to start preparing to rule the country myself, I definitely cannot work non-stop.

I sleep in occasionally and relax in moderation, so no one will say anything.

"Your Majesty, it will be noon in a quarter."

Zhang Hong hurriedly called the eunuchs and female officials to come forward and help the emperor dress and wash.

Zhu Yijun rubbed his face to wake himself up, then he began to rinse his mouth and wipe his face: "Nothing to do today, right?"

The schedule was full in the past few days.

Held court meetings, performed sacrifices at the ancestral temple, visited deceased ministers, and debated scriptures outside the palace. Now, most of the things that needed to be dealt with had finally been dealt with.

Zhang Hong naturally did his homework on the emperor's schedule.

He held the wash basin beside him and replied softly, "Your Majesty, apart from the memorials sent by the two palaces this morning, there are no other arrangements."

Zhu Yijun nodded: "There is nothing urgent, let's put the memorial aside and deal with it in the afternoon."

That's okay.

Although there are quite a few memorials, it is still okay to set aside some time in the morning for rest.

There is nothing important to discuss in the court meeting, so I will not go today.

As for the imperial lecture, it was of course postponed - not because the emperor was lazy, but because the imperial lecture officials unanimously requested to reorganize the course materials and hold the lecture on another day.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun asked casually, "What is the reaction of the scholars to the discussion three days ago?"

Zhang Hong pondered for a moment and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, a large number of scholars have gathered in Yanshan Villa to review the event of that day."

"The official of Yanzhou led a group of scholars to annotate the words one by one, hoping to compile them into a book as soon as possible."

"All the students in the Imperial College are discussing what happened that day. I heard that... there is already a vague rumor that a 'sage king has been born.'"

"The title of 'Seven Sages' has begun to circulate among the people, and His Majesty is always placed first."

Zhu Yijun listened with his arms open, allowing the female official to dress him.

The reaction Zhang Hong described was obviously limited to the capital.

After all, the territory of the Ming Dynasty is here, so things will definitely not develop too quickly.

Moreover, it will certainly take some time for people to shift their focus from the gimmick of the "Emperor's Debate" to the content of the debate.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun did not rush into it, and simply instructed: "Let the Tongzhengsi act quickly and get it published in the newspaper as soon as possible."

Zhang Hong responded quickly.

After the little emperor gave the order, he couldn't help but shake his head.

The bureaucracy is aging, so don't expect the propaganda department to continue to function normally.

It's already the fourth day, and it hasn't been reported in the newspaper yet - Wang Shizhen worked alone, and yesterday he added a volume to "Yanshantang Bieji" and published what happened that day.

It seems that we still need to separate the Tongzhengsi Dibao and Xinbao businesses from the news edition office and entrust them to professionals.

Zhang Hong pulled out a chair and respectfully invited the emperor to sit down for breakfast: "Your Majesty is very busy and hasn't gone fishing for a long time. It's a rare opportunity to rest this morning. Would you like to relax for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun subconsciously clenched his right hand, and it was obvious that he was moved.

He hesitated for a moment, but still said implicitly, "I will go to pay my respects to the two palaces first."

Zhang Hong immediately understood and winked at the young eunuch beside him, asking him to go down and prepare.

Seeing this, Zhu Yijun coughed lightly and said, "It's fine to make a nest, don't release the fish on purpose. I'm just sitting there to train my mind, whether I catch fish or not is secondary."

He fished a lot last year, and the eunuchs had more tricks.

According to the Jinyiwei, the fishermen in the Jinshui River privately lamented that there were many more giant fish in the river.

Zhang Hong said timidly: "I understand."

He said this to show that he understood, and kept making gestures behind him, signaling the young eunuch to hurry up and take care of it.

The latter obviously understood the emperor's temperament and fishing skills. He ignored the opportunity prepared by the emperor for him and slowly retreated.

Zhu Yijun rubbed his neck and started to eat breakfast.

"Has the Ministry of Rites decided on Mr. Tao's funeral arrangements?"

Tao Dalin’s posthumous title certainly cannot be “Xi” as it was in history.

After all, he was a daily lecturer from the Eastern Palace. If he had no merits or faults and was given a bad posthumous title, what would everyone think of him as a student?

Zhang Hong recalled for a moment before speaking: "The Ministry of Rites has already finished its discussion and decided to follow the ratio of writings set by your Majesty and choose the best one."

"We should hold court today."

Zhu Yijun nodded.

Ma Ziqiang is a sensible person. As long as his desire for fame, wealth and power is met, he can be a good worker.

After Zhu Yijun swallowed the food in his mouth, he said slowly, "How is the preparation for the new pavilion going?"

The Weixin Pavilion he mentioned refers to the Lingyan Pavilion which belonged to the Wanli Dynasty.

It is taken from the well-known allusion "Although Zhou is an old country, its destiny is to reform", and it is also taken from the emperor's private name. It can be said that it simply and straightforwardly reveals the emperor's three major ambitions.

ZTE.

ZTE.

Still ZTE.

When Zhang Hong heard the emperor ask about this, he quickly replied: "Your Majesty, most of the things on paper have been drafted."

"The Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites had already done some geomancy and selected a few locations and dates for construction. The Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury were competing to provide funding for the construction of the palace. However, the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites have some disagreements regarding the specific location."

"The inner court's intention is to follow the example of Lingyan Pavilion and build it in the palace to facilitate your majesty's sacrifices."

"The Ministry of Rites wants to build it outside the palace, near the Imperial Ancestral Temple, to make it convenient for officials and common people to pay their respects."

Zhu Yijun listened carefully and shook his head: "Then build it outside the palace. I just need to walk a few more steps."

Buildings of this nature become more precious the more people come to admire them.

It would not be a good idea to keep outsiders out of the palace.

As for the sacrifice...it sounds as if the emperor would conscientiously perform the sacrifice himself.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong bowed in agreement.

Zhu Yijun glanced at Zhang Hong and said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "If you are interested, there is still a chance for you to be among them."

Zhang Hong was startled and couldn't help but look up at the emperor.

But the emperor was concentrating on drinking porridge and had no intention of continuing the topic.

Zhang Hong lowered his head silently, wondering whether the Emperor was criticizing him or encouraging him, and he felt a little confused for a moment.

Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Hong about things happening inside and outside the palace.

Breakfast was finished quickly.

In this short while, the morning light has become bright.

At the same time, this also symbolizes the beginning of the emperor's rare day of leisure.

After breakfast, Zhu Yijun would take a walk or jog as usual to exercise his body.

After running and walking all the way, I arrived at the Yuanxi Yannian Hall.

Paying respects to the Empress Dowager Li is a very healing thing - mainly reflected in the Empress Dowager Li's current attitude towards the Emperor, which is very emotionally satisfying.

Zhu Yijun vividly repeated the scene of the debate to Empress Dowager Li.

The latter were sometimes surprised, sometimes praised, and occasionally repeated the ladies' comments.

Zhu Yijun also took his audience into consideration. He did not mention the content of that day at all, but he wrote in great detail about the Confucian scholars' reactions.

Not only was Empress Dowager Li listening attentively, even her younger brothers and sisters, who had just begun to learn, opened their mouths wide and looked at the emperor in adoration.

He also spent half an hour chatting with Empress Dowager Li about family matters.

Zhu Yijun then stood up and left.

Afterwards, he walked all the way to Qianguang Hall to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Chen.

Empress Dowager Chen has always been gloomy and resentful, and Zhu Yijun couldn't get lively when he met her.

She refused to go fishing when asked, and just smiled at the emperor when he told her about interesting things.

Zhu Yijun had no choice but to chat aimlessly with Empress Dowager Chen.

He also instructed Princess Yanqing and taught her how to fight with foxes and cats.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Zhu Yijun stood up and took his leave.

Then, of course, comes the popular leisure fishing session.

Zhang Hong, who was following behind the emperor, obviously felt the emperor's pace quicken. He quickly wiped the sweat off his face and quickly caught up.

Zhu Yijun could not wait to rush to Taiye Lake. Suddenly, he turned around and said, "Go ask Consort Li if she wants to sit in Taiye Lake and practice meditation."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong immediately stopped and responded.

……

The emperor said that there was obviously no problem in sitting still to train the mind.

After all, the morning was almost over and he still hadn't caught a single fish.

But for Li Xuanshi, it wasn't so boring.

Zhu Yijun watched Li Baiyang frantically playing there. After a while, the fishing float jumped and he even stood up from time to time to play tug-of-war.

He secretly wondered in his heart, is there really such a thing as a novice protection period?

Zhang Hong was wiping his sweat beside him and winking at the young eunuch from time to time, but it was unclear what he was telling the eunuch.

The emperor was thinking.

The eunuch is making a nest.

It seemed that only Lady Li was fishing.

Everyone is busy with their own affairs.

Li Baiyang pulled a big fish onto the shore and exclaimed excitedly: "Your Majesty, look! Look!"

Zhu Yijun hummed twice perfunctorily and curled his lips. The more he looked at the struggling fish on the shore, the more upset he felt.

Fortunately, it is not only the eunuchs who are considerate of the emperor’s will, but also the destiny.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Justice Zhang Han and the Minister of the Supreme Court Chen Dong request to see you." The eunuch came hurriedly. Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun turned around suddenly.

He was as if he had been pardoned: "Please come quickly."

After saying that, he threw the fishing rod to the ground and walked straight to the pavilion to rest and wait.

Stand with your hands behind your back to ease the embarrassment.

Not long after.

Zhang Han and Chen Dong came together.

When the two men came closer, they saw the emperor looking into the distance, as if he was thinking about something important, and they didn't know whether they should disturb him.

Zhu Yijun heard the noise and slowly turned his head.

"His Majesty."

"His Majesty."

Zhang Han and Chen Dong saluted quickly.

Zhu Yijun nodded: "You two ministers have come together, is it about judicial matters?"

After holding their annual meetings last year, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple reflected upon their mistakes and began to rectify their operations.

The effect may be limited, but at least the attitude has been shown.

Zhang Han and Chen Dong looked at each other.

The former bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, there are several cases that require your holy judgment."

Seeing the emperor looking at him quietly, he got straight to the point: "First, the Xixi demon Qi Fang was executed by the emperor, but because the governor had different opinions, the execution has not been seen so far."

Zhu Yijun was stunned. These death penalty cases were all approved by the emperor. He had never seen the case, but he remembered the name.

This all happened on the Wuyin day of December in the sixth year of the Longqing reign.

The former governor of Xiaxi, Cao Jin, recommended the execution of Cao Jin, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple proposed to approve the execution, the Cabinet drafted the vote, and he personally approved it.

It's been more than two years, and the punishment hasn't been announced yet?
Zhu Yijun was puzzled: "Do you have different opinions on the case? Is there any injustice?"

Chen Dong hesitated for a moment and explained, "Your Majesty, the governor of Xiaxi, Deputy Chief Censor Gao Guangxian, submitted a memorial, saying that Cao Jin had originally reported that the evil criminals Qi Fang and Liu Ru had colluded with thousands of people to gather a crowd to rebel, but in fact, they were just the people who lost their land and mistakenly believed in Bai Lian. They gathered seven or eight people from the same village and begged for food in the city."

"Now our company and the Ministry of Justice are re-examining the case files..."

Chen Dong stopped talking.

After hearing this, Zhu Yijun also understood why Chen Dong and Zhang Han came together.

Gao Guangxian, the current incumbent, wants to overturn the case of his predecessor, which is actually an act against the rules.

Because the case was handled by the three judicial departments and the cabinet, the execution was decided by the emperor.

Even if it was indeed a wrongful case handled by Cao Jin, there was also suspicion of slapping the emperor and the three judicial officials in the face.

But the emperor had just instructed at last year's annual meeting to clean up the prisons, so if the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice encountered such a thing, they could only blame the emperor.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but sigh: "In the future, such matters should be directly reported to the emperor for a thorough investigation. I am not omniscient and omnipotent, and I don't have the time to look into the whole story of the cases I have chosen. You all know this."

He waved his hand and said, "Let's send the case back for a new investigation. Even though the lives of ordinary people are insignificant, we won't kill them unjustly just for our sake."

The two ignored the emperor's second threatening words and breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhang Han then talked about the next matter: "Your Majesty, the case of Chen Zhen, a captain of the Hangzhou Guard, beating the envoy to death, Shen Wei, has been investigated."

Shen Wei was a scholar-official in the second year of Longqing's reign and a member of the cabinet.

In the fifth year of Longqing's reign, he was sent as an envoy to confer the title of Prince Su. In March of the following year, when he was returning to the court, his boat passed through Suining County. He argued for the way with Chen Zhen, a captain of the Hangzhou Guard, and was beaten to death by Chen Zhen's infantry.

The fact that a Shujishi was beaten to death by a Qianhu was naturally a major case that shocked the world at the time.

Seeing that Zhang Han was only halfway through his words, Chen Dong was forced to continue, "Your Majesty, Chen Zhen beat Shen Wei to death because when the two of them clashed that day, Shen Wei insulted Chen Zhen and his generals' backgrounds, which aroused the public's excitement and led to this tragic incident."

"The Ministry of Justice is planning to execute all 42 people involved in the case, but the Dali Temple thinks this is not appropriate. Please make your decision, Your Majesty."

He roughly summarized the process into one sentence, pointing out the biggest problem.

This is not a simple criminal case, but a political case. If we are not careful, it may provoke a dispute between civil and military officials.

The matter was of great importance, and the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice had a disagreement, so the power of adjudication was thrown to the emperor.

Zhu Yijun also felt a headache when he heard this.

Of course he knew about this.

Zhang Han from the Ministry of Justice took care of the feelings of the civil officials. After all, the consensus in the court on this case was that it should not be tolerated.

They even used the Datong Zhenwu incident as an example: "In the past, the Datong Zhenwu incident was a result of the incomplete governance, so the powerful officials and fierce soldiers were violent and violent, and when an incident occurred, they were rampant."

But there is no problem with the execution of the principal offender, but the sentence for the accomplice is too heavy.

So the Dali Temple did not agree.

Especially since there were reasons for this case, if dozens of people were to be beheaded at the same time, it was also something that had to be considered how the military officials would feel.

Zhu Yijun thought for a long time, and had to use his old skill of making paste, and compromised: "Then... Chen Zhen will be executed as the first, and the descendants of Huang will not be allowed to inherit the throne. Yang Zhong, Ge Liangyou, Song Qiao, Qiu Zhaojian and others will be sent to the border guards as exiles."

Zhang Han looked dissatisfied.

Chen Dong bowed down: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Then came some legislative matters.

For example, Sun Dai, the Sichuan Provincial Inspector, submitted a memorial requesting the judicial authorities to prohibit "marrying a posthumous husband", that is, marrying a husband into the family after the husband's death.

Of course, the reason is also direct - "giving away the house, land, children, maids, and everything left by the ex-husband to the next husband is very different from prostitution, because they have no sense of shame and bring disaster upon themselves."

Zhu Yijun was already impatient after listening to this. Although his words always reflected his will, he himself did not understand this thing.

After the two of them finished talking.

Zhu Yijun said earnestly: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Chen, Zhu Zi said that the study of things leads to knowledge, the prince said that knowledge and action are one, and I say cause and effect and practice."

"I think the judicial department should pay more attention to the knowledge and cause and effect of this law. They should explore the theoretical cause and effect, instead of always making castles in the air and letting me make decisions for you on the spur of the moment."

When the two heard this, they looked at each other.

I have never seen an emperor showing off his imperial power, but this is the first time I have seen an emperor acting like a master.

It is different after all.

The two were inexplicably scolded and driven away, so they had no choice but to bow and leave: "Your Majesty is teaching us, and we will sort out the cause and effect of the law when we go down."

Zhu Yijun nodded and signaled the two to walk slowly.

The two of them had just left.

Li Xianshi started shouting again.

Zhu Yijun subconsciously looked back and suddenly closed his eyes.

He turned his head and waved his hands repeatedly: "No more fishing, no more fishing, time to go back for lunch!"

After saying this, without waiting for Lady Li to pull the fish up, he confiscated her fishing rod and dragged the fish directly back to Wanshou Palace.

……

Rest time is always short.

Time quietly came to March 15th.

The emperor's schedule was once again full.

Early in the morning, the Ministry of Rites came to the Western Garden to invite Zhu Yijun to the Huangji Palace and to invite 403 tribute students from the Ministry of Rites to the court.

That’s right, today is the time for the palace examination.

A total of 402 people were selected in this examination, including two sons of officials, and the last one was Hai Rui, who was specially granted the qualification to take the palace examination.

The palace examination only considers the ranking but does not remove candidates, so the 403 people today will all be the emperor’s disciples.

Zhu Yijun must set the questions.

Of course, although it is said that the emperor sets the questions, in fact, whether it is the essays for the palace examination or the selection of the Imperial Academy, in essence, it is the Ministry of Rites and the Cabinet that sets the questions, and the emperor selects and decides.

The fundamental function is to declare its existence and to determine the teacher-student relationship.

Even if they encountered a lazy personality like the late emperor, they would not even bother to show up and would just issue an oral order.

But it’s different for the hardworking student Xiao Zhu.

He knew how to work diligently - it took him half an hour just to pick out the topic for the policy proposed by the Ministry of Rites.

"The guards passed on meals, sweat soaked through the imperial robes, worked day and night without getting tired. It's not that the government was not diligent, but the effectiveness of the government management, how can the only one who claims to be self-cultivating and quiet, pure and quiet, and inaction... This question is not well-chosen."

Zhu Yijun directly denied the question.

He looked at Ma Ziqiang and said unhappily, "What do you mean that although some monarchs are diligent in government affairs, the best governance results are achieved by those monarchs who advocate tranquility and inaction?"

“Ask if first, then ask why.”

"Is it because Emperor Taizu worked so hard that his administration failed? Or is it because my grandfather was quiet and inactive that the country prospered?"

This was the original test question in history, but it did not stop Zhu Yijun from shaking his head.

He couldn't pass this kind of test question that required a preconceived stance.

Since we have to pre-set our stance, why not pre-set his?
Upon hearing this, Ma Ziqiang said that the emperor was difficult to serve, while respectfully admitting his mistake: "It was my oversight. Your Majesty, please look at other topics."

Naturally there was more than one essay question, otherwise Zhu Yijun would not have been allowed to choose randomly before the exam.

Unfortunately, the little emperor seemed to dislike any of the questions.

Zhu Yijun picked up another scroll and said, "... However, in terms of morality and governance, I am still not as good as Ji Si, let alone Tang and Yu..."

"Ma Qing, the governance of the Three Dynasties is undoubtedly unprecedented, but the times are different. Can the territory of the Three Dynasties be compared to today? Can the people of the Three Dynasties be even a fraction of what they are today?"

"The situations are different, the difficulty of governance is different, how can we generalize and ask the students to give a strong answer?"

Ma Ziqiang couldn't help but wipe the sweat off his face.

The emperor no longer concealed his shortcomings and showed off his knowledge of classics unscrupulously a few days ago. It is obvious that he has become bolder.

He actually dared to point fingers at the rule of three generations.

If another emperor had said something like this, it would be strange if the Confucian scholars did not criticize him to death.

As for now...it's not something Ma Ziqiang can stop anyway.

The Grand Master of the Imperial Clan smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites only has these few essay questions. Your Majesty, please choose one of them reluctantly, otherwise you will delay the palace examination."

He could guess what the emperor wanted to do just by using his toes.

as predicted.

The emperor just sighed.

Patting his shoulder, he said, "Forget it, I'll do it myself."

After the emperor said this, he did not give him a chance to refute. He threw down the test question and went straight to the Huangji Palace.

Ma Ziqiang followed quickly.

Only the doctors and officials in the Ministry of Rites were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

(End of this chapter)