Jiuxi

Chapter 877 875 [The Way of the Saint]

The father and son came to the octagonal pavilion by the Taihua Lake. Emperor Jing sat on the rattan chair prepared in advance by the palace servants, while Wu Yan stood beside them respectfully listening to his instructions.

He seemed to have not yet recovered from his previous agitated emotions.

It was no wonder that he lost his composure. After all, for more than 20 years, the status of Emperor Jing in his heart was higher than a mountain. His awe outweighed everything, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was as frightened as a cicada.

When Wu Yan suddenly heard Emperor Jing's words of encouragement full of hope today, he almost burst into tears on the spot.

Emperor Jing looked at the ripples on the water under the autumn sun for a while, and said calmly: "You have worked very hard in the past six months, and I have seen it all. Although your methods of handling things are a little immature at times, at least you have the desire to make progress, which is your merit, so I have high hopes for you. Now that you are about to become regent, I will test you on how to become a promising monarch."

Wu Yan's mood, which had just calmed down, suddenly became tense again, because the question was too big, and asking him to comment on the emperor's way in person was obviously a bit beyond his authority.

Seeing this, Emperor Jing smiled faintly, raised his hand to dismiss the palace servants around him, and said: "Say whatever you think, I will not blame you."

Wu Yan thought anxiously and said carefully, "Father, I think if you can make the court politically clear and the people live and work in peace and contentment, you should be a capable ruler."

"What you said is correct, but there is a premise."

Emperor Jing held his hands in front of him and said slowly, "You must be able to control the power in your hands in order to make your subjects do things according to your ideas. If the government is corrupt and officials pretend to obey but secretly disobey, how will you deal with it? If the people are starving and living in poverty, how will you comfort them?"

Wu Yan was silent.

Emperor Jing turned to look at him and said with a half-smile: "If the ministers don't obey, we will kill them. If the people dare to rebel, we will send troops to suppress them. Is that right?"

If governing a country were really that simple, there wouldn't be so many kings who lost their country in history books.

Wu Yan understood this truth, so he said sincerely: "Please enlighten me, Father."

"In fact, there is nothing wrong with these methods themselves, but as an emperor, you have to stand higher."

Emperor Jing raised his right hand above his forehead and said patiently, "The corruption of the officials in the court is due to their rapid corruption, or because you, as the emperor, are unfair in rewarding and punishing people and are partial to one side. The people are raising the flag of rebellion, is it because someone is inciting the people's resentment, or is it because the officials and nobles are colluding to harm the people. You must first understand the reasons for these situations, rather than making arbitrary judgments immediately. As a monarch, the worst thing to do is to be led by emotions, which will make you stupid and short-sighted."

Wu Yan suddenly understood and said respectfully, "I understand."

Emperor Jing nodded and said, "Knowing the source and prescribing the right remedy is the right way to deal with things."

"Yes, Father."

"I know you have a lot of advisers around you. I think they have given you advice and taught you a lot of political tactics over the past six months. Why don't you tell me what you have learned?"

Wu Yan hesitated a little, and seeing the encouraging look in Emperor Jing's eyes, he said honestly: "They did say a lot, and I summarized a few of them in my spare time."

Emperor Jing smiled and said, "Tell me what you want to hear. Don't be afraid."

If it weren't for the previous harmonious atmosphere, Wu Yan would not have dared to tell the truth. However, he also knew that there must be people arranged by his father among his staff, so he mustered up the courage to tell the truth.

"The first is the balance. Officials and nobles in the court will inevitably form cliques due to various relationships. This cannot be prohibited in any dynasty. Therefore, the emperor must not allow a certain interest group to dominate, otherwise it will inevitably threaten the safety of the imperial power."

"The second is to be decisive in killing. As the saying goes, a merciful person cannot command an army, nor a righteous person can manage finances. This is even more true when it comes to power. Being merciful and soft-handed will only lead to endless hidden dangers. Especially for those who dare to covet the imperial power, we must use blood and killing to deter all villains."

"The third is that the power is unpredictable. Although guessing the emperor's intentions is something that most ministers will do, people and things that are hard to understand are the most terrifying, and they will make those people feel afraid. If the emperor's mind can be easily guessed by his ministers, then it will be difficult for him to truly control the court."

"The fourth is to distinguish between right and wrong. There are both shrewd and experienced treacherous ministers and pedantic and foolish loyal ministers in this world. Treacherous ministers do not mean stupidity, and loyal ministers do not mean intelligence. Character and ability are not necessarily completely equal. Therefore, when employing people, we should not only look at their loyalty and treachery, but also pay attention to whether they can play a role in a reasonable position, and have the means to dismiss them at any time."

Wu Yan spoke more and more fluently. He noticed that Emperor Jing's expression was always calm, so he said respectfully: "Father, this is my general idea."

In fact, he had another idea in his mind that these methods could be found in the corresponding examples of Emperor Jing's governance, but he did not dare to criticize his emperor and father after all.

Emperor Jing pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "The scholars around you are not superficial. These schemes are the so-called imperial mind. Wu Yan, although your talent is indeed slightly inferior to Nalan, you are diligent and studious and good at summarizing. With time, you will become more proficient. As long as you can make your words and deeds consistent, it will be enough to deal with most of the ministers."

Wu Yan was delighted but did not dare to show it on his face.

Emperor Jing took a sip of the tea on the table and said calmly, "But I want to tell you that these imperial schemes are not worth mentioning."

Wu Yan was stunned.

Emperor Jing continued, "The four points you just mentioned can actually be summarized in eight words, which are unkindness, unkindness, untrustworthiness, and unrespectability. This is the real origin of claiming to be alone. Extending from this, the emperor's mentality is the art of controlling his subordinates, which can be roughly summarized into seven points, namely, observing everyone, punishing to show power, rewarding everyone with trust, blaming subordinates as soon as they hear them, using suspicious edicts and trickery, asking questions with knowledge, and saying the opposite of what they actually said." Wu Yan hurriedly memorized it carefully, for fear of missing a word.

Emperor Jing did not stop him, but said sternly: "However, these means are just tricks, and they are also small ways. As the regent prince, you will inherit my throne in the future. From the beginning, you cannot only focus on small ways. If you are obsessed with them, you may become a very powerful emperor, but it will not benefit the country and the people."

After saying this, he was silent for a while, giving Wu Yan enough time to think.

After Wu Yan's expression gradually calmed down, Emperor Jing continued, "If an emperor only knows how to manipulate power, even if you can manipulate the entire court, and make all the officials in the temple become puppets and clay sculptures in your hands, and everyone is in awe and humble, then you are just the biggest statue sitting in the palace. Because in the long-term power struggle, you have long forgotten the common people of Dajing, and all you see and hear are flattery and intrigue."

Wu Yan said solemnly: "Yes."

Emperor Jing asked, "When that time comes, if the Jing River floods, the people on both sides are displaced, and hundreds of thousands of victims appear overnight, can those political tactics help you provide relief to the victims? If there is a severe drought, can those political tactics help you bring rain? Or, if Southern Qi works hard to strengthen its army and horses, and hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers go north, can those political tactics help you conjure up elite soldiers, strong generals, food, and weapons?"

Wu Yan said in panic, "Father, I can't."

Emperor Jing slowed down his tone and said gently: "Let me ask you again, is my current prestige only due to these political tactics?"

"No."

Wu Yan had come to his senses by now, and after thinking for a while he said, "My father has expanded the territory and helped the people, allowing the people of Dajing to live a better life than before, so everyone in the court and the country respects him."

"I am not as good as you say, otherwise Southern Qi would have surrendered long ago. Of course, this is influenced by the strength of the southern monarch and his ministers, but I made some mistakes and underestimated my opponents, otherwise the situation in the south would not have come to this."

He suddenly started coughing. Wu Yan was shocked when he saw this and asked quickly, "Father, do you want to call the imperial physician?"

Emperor Jing waved his hand and said calmly, "No need."

He reached out his hand to pick up the teacup and took a sip, suppressing the pain in his chest and abdomen. Then he looked up at the clear blue sky and said slowly: "I am not saying that the emperor's mind is completely useless. On the contrary, if you want to subdue those cunning people in the court, you must learn those methods. Therefore, I did not interfere with the staff and scholars around you, and let you participate in politics and supervise the country in advance. But I hope you remember that as the son of Dajing, you can't stick to small things. Only by keeping the suffering of the people in your heart can you truly accomplish a career that will go down in history."

At this moment Wu Yan couldn't help but think a lot.

He thought of the State of Zhao and the State of Yan which had been incorporated into the territory of Dajing, the State of Dai which had lost half of its territory under the steady attack of the army led by Wuyan Shu, and the State of Qi in the south which had unexpectedly risen again.

Of course, the most important thing is the people under Dajing’s rule today.

"For nearly twenty years, I have been trying my best to promote the Qiren system. I have built many Tongwenguan in Dadu and called on all officials and nobles to learn Qiren culture. It is not because I look down on the things passed down by my ancestors, but because in order to maintain such a huge country, I must learn from the strengths of others."

Emperor Jing had a look of fatigue in his eyes, and then he said, "You have read many history books left by the dynasties in the Central Plains. You should know that it is difficult for any dynasty to last long. The national life span is at most two or three hundred years. Why is this?"

Wu Yan listened carefully.

Emperor Jing said solemnly: "All dynasties have risen at the beginning and fallen at the end, all because they valued the art of controlling the world and neglected the way of governing the country. Therefore, the accumulated problems are difficult to reverse and the national fortune declines. Therefore, I want you to remember the difference between the small ways of political conspiracy and the big ways of governing the country. This is also the reason why I want you to raise your horizons and have a longer-term vision."

Wu Yan was filled with mixed feelings, and said with sincere admiration and respect: "Father, I will remember your teachings and reflect on myself from time to time."

Emperor Jing looked up at him with a trace of regret in his eyes, and said softly: "You are still very young, and you still have a lot of time to understand and comprehend. It's a pity that my life span is running out."

Wu Yan said hastily: "Father, you must not think like this!"

"Fate is determined by heaven, how can it be forced?"

Emperor Jing smiled, and the regret disappeared. He looked at the shimmering Taihua Pond, and a proud look appeared on his face: "But before I die, I must help you solve the biggest problem. Now Wu Yanshu is making good progress, and the Dai Kingdom is already at the end of its strength. No matter how unwilling Ge Shukui is, it will be useless. Next year, I will personally lead hundreds of thousands of troops to the south and settle the overall situation in one fell swoop."

"Father, son and minister..."

Tears welled up in Wu Yan's eyes, a mixture of emotion and grief.

Emperor Jing slowly stood up and walked to the railing, standing with his hands behind his back, and said leisurely: "And your duty is to protect the vast land and mountains that I leave to you."

Wu Yan knelt on his knees and kowtowed repeatedly.

"My son obeys the order!"

(End of this chapter)