Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1214 Epilogue : The Future Ming Dynasty’s Flatterers

Chui Gong Hall.

Empress Dowager Ye asked, "The Southern Yu Kingdom has been in rebellion for nearly half a year, and has been defeated by the rebels. Why did they report it to the court only now?"

Honglu Temple Minister Lu Dan stood up and bowed: "Reporting to the Saint, the King of Nanyu believed that he could quell the rebellion, so he did not want the court to intervene at first. Now that the chaos can no longer be suppressed, he hurriedly sent envoys to ask for help."

"He has muskets and cannons, as well as strong cities. How can he let the rebels capture cities along the way?" Empress Dowager Ye asked again.

Deng Gongwu said: "The current King of Nanyu succeeded to the throne six years ago. He is arrogant, extravagant, ambitious, and aggressive. The year he succeeded to the throne, he sent out a large army to forcibly destroy the Kingdom of Queen Hariphunchai. Before the new occupied territory was stable, he sent troops to attack and destroy the Kingdom of Siam (Sukhothai) the following year."

"As a result, his territory expanded rapidly, and the King of Nanyu became complacent and even more stubborn. He began to build a lot of civil engineering, especially Buddhist temples, and spent a lot of money to hire monks from Luoyang and Kaifeng to preach. He also liked luxurious things in the Central Plains, and often asked the nobles in Luoyang how to dress and play, and even... when he rebuilt the Nanyu Palace, he built it according to the Luoyang Imperial City."

"After years of heavy taxes and levies, not only did the foreign tribes in Nanyu rebel, but even some Han people in Nanyu began to rebel. The nobles of the destroyed Siam rebelled last year. Although the king of Nanyu successfully suppressed the rebellion, due to the high mountains and long roads and the hot weather, many Nanyu soldiers were killed and wounded, and local forces in the country took the opportunity to rebel again."

"Because of unclear rewards and punishments and withholding of military pay, the soldiers of Nanyu Kingdom have lost their will to fight. Now they are always passive and avoid fighting. Some generals even choose to join the rebels. The various rebels gradually merged, and the King of Nanyu has lost most of his territory."

Empress Dowager Ye asked: "Should the court send troops to rescue them?"

"Nanyu Kingdom is the country of the descendants of the Ming Dynasty. It is reasonable and moral to send reinforcements." Privy Councilor Wu Shenfu said.

Han Chong, the Minister of War, also said: "Some of the rebels in the vassal states can be easily captured."

Queen Mother Ye questioned: "The King of Nanyu is so cruel and merciless. This time he has incited his subjects to revolt. If we send troops to rescue him, won't he be more fearless in the future? Anyway, no matter how cruel he is, he has the support of the court. If the Ming Dynasty rescues him once, there will be a second and third time. Do we have to use the money and lives of the Ming Dynasty soldiers to satisfy the greed of such a small country's tyrant?"

Wu Jiying, the Minister of Rites, said: "The country of our descendants must be saved, otherwise the majesty of the Ming Dynasty will not exist. But saving the Southern Yu Kingdom does not mean saving the tyrant of the Southern Yu Kingdom. This person imitated the Imperial City of the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt his Southern Yu King City, which is a big violation of the rules. He is also warlike, exploitative, cruel and inhumane. He should be deposed and a new king should be appointed!"

Queen Mother Ye then nodded to show her satisfaction and asked, "Who in the royal family of Southern Yu can be made the new king?"

Lü Dan replied, "The sons of the King of Nanyu are all young and may not be able to handle the rebellion. The King of Nanyu's third brother, Zhu Fengrou, studied at the Imperial College in Luoyang for four years. He is said to be quite wise, polite and kind."

"Then let Zhu Fengrou be the new king of Southern Yu Kingdom," said Empress Dowager Ye.

The ministers in the cabinet and the ministries will discuss how to implement it specifically, so there is no need for Empress Dowager Ye to worry about it.

It is certainly not possible to directly announce the dethronement. The Ming reinforcements must first take over the Nanyuwang City and then capture the tyrant without bloodshed.

Moreover, summer is not the time to send troops because it is too hot in Southeast Asia.

The important ministers of the cabinet bowed and took their leave.

Xie Yan and Zhu Tangxi, who had been waiting outside, were finally summoned in.

The ministers who had just left met the couple outside the hall and greeted each other with bows.

Although Xie Yan does not have any real power now, in theory he is on the same level as the six ministers, and his status and treatment are half a level higher than those of the six ministers.

"Another big news?" Zhu Tangxi ran to Empress Dowager Ye.

Queen Mother Ye sighed, "Alas, a tyrant has emerged in the Southern Yu Kingdom. If we don't send troops to rescue them, the country will soon be destroyed."

The aunt and sister-in-law stopped at that point and did not discuss political affairs in depth.

Xie Yan stepped forward to pay his respects, and the empress dowager smiled and offered him a seat.

Queen Mother Ye joked, "You look so radiant. Your married life must be very comfortable."

Zhu Tangxi smiled happily: "It's just that the weather is too hot, so I can't take Liu Lang's family out for a walk."

Empress Dowager Ye said to Xie Yan: "Since Liu Lang has become a royal consort, it is inconvenient for him to study in the Imperial College. What are your plans for the future?"

Xie Yan replied: "Just study at home."

Empress Dowager Ye said: "Although the prince consort cannot participate in politics, he has four options. One is to serve in the Hanlin Academy, the second is to serve in the Zongzheng Temple, the third is to serve in the Imperial Academy, and the fourth is to be a teacher in Luoyang Imperial College."

In the Song Dynasty, the doctors, professors, lecturers, and teaching assistants of the Imperial College were all Jinshi officials with certain ranks.

This was also the case when the Ming Dynasty was first established, but it was changed during the reign of Emperor Taizong.

From the central government to the local governments, administrative posts in schools at all levels were mainly held by Jinshi officials. Usually, promotion within the education system would be as high as the Minister of Rites. But in theory, the highest position one could reach was the third-ranked cabinet minister.

Teaching positions in schools at all levels are given priority to royal scholars.

But the number of bachelors was definitely insufficient, and many of the last Jinshi candidates were appointed as teachers at universities (high schools) and above. As for elementary and middle school (junior high school) teachers, they were usually appointed as Juren candidates, which was a way out for those who failed the exam.

As a Furong scholar, Xie Yan could have been a teacher at Luoyang Imperial College, but he could only teach and not interfere in the school's administration.

"You don't have to reply now. You can go home and think about it slowly." said Empress Dowager Ye.

Xie Yan said: "I would like to teach at Luoyang Imperial College."

Empress Dowager Ye reminded: "You are too inexperienced and young, so for now you can only teach the students from the outer dormitories."

Xie Yan said: "Just do something."

The little emperor had finished his homework and came running over skipping.

Queen Mother Ye said to her son, "A gentleman's promise is worth a thousand gold. Since you are competing with your uncle in reading, the winner must be decided today."

"Oh." The little emperor was dejected.

He was very interested in the bet at first, but the names of many Middle Eastern countries, people and places made the little emperor's head swollen. After only two or three days of hard work, the little emperor lost interest and was forced to study by the queen mother for the rest of the time.

Xie Yan smiled and took out a stack of manuscript paper. He unfolded them one by one, and the little emperor was stunned.

Xie Yan explained: "These are maps of the various kingdoms of the Mecca, arranged according to the Yellow Emperor's era, with one map drawn every twenty years."

He then took out a few articles and said, "These are the political and religious systems of the various kingdoms of Mecca, as well as the successes and failures of the policies of several important monarchs."

"The above maps and articles are mainly based on the Records of the Kingdoms of Arabia and the papers on the Kingdoms of Arabia published in journals. I have only been studying the Kingdoms of Arabia for a short time, so I can only summarize the general contents like this."

Queen Mother Ye carefully read the article and the map, nodded and said: "Although it is not in-depth, it is rare to have such a high-level view. Liu Lang has the potential to study classics."

Zhu Tangxi's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and he even felt a little uneasy.

What does it mean to have the potential to study classics?

The masters of Confucian classics in the Ming Dynasty were either great scholars among the people or important officials of the imperial court!
This meant that Xie Yan had the talent to be an important official, and Zhu Tangxi instantly felt that she had delayed her husband.

Queen Mother Ye asked her son, "Do you know why my uncle-in-law is so powerful?"

"Grasp the main contradiction and distinguish the primary from the secondary. I remember what Taizu taught." The little emperor muttered.

This is not some royal secret.

In his later years, Zhu Guoxiang had already proposed epistemology, methodology, theory of contradiction, theory of practice, etc. This discipline now also belongs to the category of classics and is a compulsory course for many people who study classics.

At this moment, Xie Yan was feeling emotional: The senior time traveler has done everything.

Queen Mother Ye said to her son, "You are studying the Zizhi Tongjian, and you should follow your uncle's method to roughly draw the pre-Qin states. There were many vassal states at that time, so you only need to draw the important ones. You can also ask the teacher for help, but you can't leave everything to the teacher."

"Oh." The little emperor wilted like an eggplant hit by frost.

My uncle-in-law is so abominable. I will never bet with him again!

Empress Dowager Ye said, "Go and have fun."

The little emperor said: "The weather is very hot, I want to go swimming."

Empress Dowager Ye told Tao Jinfeng: "Send a few more people to keep an eye on them."

During the reign of Emperor Zhu Ming, two royal swimming pools were dug, and the bottom and walls of the pools were paved with ceramic tiles.

The swimming pool has one deep and one shallow, the shallow one is for children to play.

Xie Yan said: "I am a good swimmer and I can teach Your Majesty how to swim."

"Go." Empress Dowager Ye nodded.

The little emperor ran away excitedly.

Previously, because the crown princes had died one after another, the little emperor was not allowed to go swimming. It was only in the past two years, when he had grown up a little and was no longer sick, that he was allowed to swim for a while in the summer.

The swimming pool is dry at the moment. The water was drained a few days ago, and it was disinfected with lime and cleaned repeatedly.

The little emperor brought Xie Yan to the swimming pool, where the eunuchs and palace maids were washing themselves again, and then opened the sluice gates to fill the pool with water.

Xie Yan jumped in first, and the water level was only up to his waist.

Several more eunuchs jumped into the swimming pool, ready to guard against any accidents that might happen to the little emperor.

There were guards standing on the shore, watching the little emperor and supervising the eunuchs.

"Oh oh oh~~~"

The little emperor happily jumped into the swimming pool and paddled around like a dog.

After struggling for a long time, the little emperor said with admiration: "Wow, uncle, you can swim while lying down. You can lie on the water without sinking!"

"This saves energy and I can also get some sun." Xie Yanzhen just lay in the water without moving.

It doesn't require any great skills, just keep your balance.

The little emperor pushed his feet on the bottom of the pool and walked over with his hands doggy-paddling: "Teach me, teach me!"

"You have to learn to swim straight first." Xie Yan began to teach the essentials.

Soon, Empress Dowager Ye and Zhu Tangxi also came over for a walk.

Zhu Tangxi took a quick look and was afraid that the Queen Mother would be angry, so she pretended to be angry first: "How could this bad guy take off his shirt completely? He doesn't care about the etiquette of the palace at all!"

Queen Mother Ye said with a smile: "I can't believe he's quite strong."

"Sister-in-law, let's go somewhere else." Zhu Tangxi said.

Empress Dowager Ye instructed the guards: "Let your majesty get up after half an hour. Don't let him soak in the water for too long."

"Yes!" The guards obeyed.

Xie Yan is still teaching the little emperor to swim.

He has no system or golden fingers. If he wants to live a life of luxury for the rest of his life, he has to make the little emperor happy.

Not only do I want to be the Newton of the Ming Dynasty, I also want to be the number one flatterer of the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)