Jiajing Chengming

Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji said nothing more.

Zhai Luan smiled and said to Xu Jie: "You still see things clearly."

"Mr. Zhai, you are too kind."

Xu Jie replied.

After meeting Xu Jie, Zhu Zaigui first had some tea with his two younger brothers in the inner hall.

When he and his two younger brothers came out, these Eastern Palace masters stopped talking.

Zhu Zaigui also took the initiative to say: "Masters, please start your lecture."

"Your Highness, the sermon is still in the cabinet, so you have to wait a little longer."

At this time, Zhai Luan hurriedly bowed to Zhu Zaigui and told him the new situation.

The second son, Zhu Zaihong, was only seven years old, and was at the age of having fun, so he asked happily, "Does that mean we can still play for a while longer?"

Zhai Luan just smiled slightly.

Xu Jie said, "Why not send someone to the cabinet to ask? We can't just stand in the main hall with your highnesses for nothing."

Zhao Zhenji volunteered and said, "I'll go."

Xu Jie nodded.

He told Gao Gong that he was the direct speaker of the Eastern Palace, but he actually had the obligation to run errands for Zhai Luan and Xu Jie, the two main masters of the Eastern Palace.

After Zhao Zhenji left, Gao Gong said, "Two officials, it is our duty to teach His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to be well-mannered and reasonable. It is also related to the safety of the world, so we cannot waste time. So since Jiang Zhang has not come, why don't we ask His Royal Highness to ask questions first and we will answer his questions first?"

"no!"

Zhai Luan suddenly frowned and shouted to reject Gao Gong's proposal.

Gao Gong was quite embarrassed.

Zhai Luan said: "Except for the lectures given by the cabinet, we cannot say anything to His Highness, so as not to mislead the prince! Misleading one's own children will only ruin the family, but if we mislead the prince, it will ruin the country. We must not do this!"

"Then we can record the answers later and submit them to the cabinet for review, right?"

Gao Gong suggested again.

Zhai Luan frowned and looked at Gao Gong: "We have to ask for permission first, how can we act first and then report it? This is related to the education of the Eastern Palace, we can't be careless."

Gao Gong took a deep breath.

Xu Jie smiled awkwardly and couldn't help but glance at the Crown Prince Zhu Zaigui and the two princes in the hall.

Zhu Zaigui also frowned, looked at Gao Gong, and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Xu Jie finally spoke up and said with a smile, "Please calm down, Lord Zhai. Su Qing is also doing this for the sake of the education of the Eastern Palace, so that Your Highnesses can learn some knowledge as soon as possible. And the idea you put forward is not unreasonable. It is too rigid to just follow the cabinet's instructions. It seems that without the cabinet's consent, we, the Eastern Palace's close officials, can't even communicate and discuss with Your Highnesses."

"That being said, young people should still be more modest and be careful with their words and actions. We can think of problems that the ministers in the cabinet cannot think of. If you have not done so, then there is no reason for you to do so."

"Isn't Lu Shen's lesson profound enough?"

"In any case, the cabinet is under the supervision of His Majesty. Even if the ministers in the cabinet are confused, is His Majesty also confused?"

Zhai Luan glanced at Gao Gong and said to Xu Jie.

Then, Zhai Luan bowed to the Crown Prince and the two princes and said, "Your Highnesses, please read your books and study on your own first."

Zhu Zaigui took his two younger brothers to the main hall to choose books from the bookshelf.

Gao Gong clenched his fists and at the same time, stole a glance at the books the princes were taking.

Xu Jie did not say anything more here. He knew that Zhai Luan's maintenance of the cabinet's power was meant to maintain the imperial power. It was obvious that he would rather delay the prince's studies than learn from Lu Shen and compete with the emperor for power and actively use himself as a tool. That's why he only followed the cabinet's lead and did not do anything in front of the prince behind the cabinet's back. He was going from one extreme to another.

Zhu Zaigui brought back a copy of "Qimin Yaoshu".

Zhai Luan couldn't help but frown when he saw this, but he didn't say much.

Seeing that Zhai Luan didn't say much, Xu Jie didn't say much either.

Gao Gong's eyes lit up.

At this time, Zhu Zaigui looked at it for a while and then took the initiative to ask: "Masters, I have a question, who can answer it?"

"Your Highness, please write down your doubts and questions first, and I will answer your Majesty after consulting the cabinet."

Zhai Luan bowed respectfully and replied. But Gao Gong took the initiative to step forward and said, "I am willing to answer your questions!"

Zhai Luan looked at Gao Gong in astonishment.

"Thank you, Master Gao."

Zhu Zaigui said with a smile.

Zhai Luan did not dare to stop Gao Gong by force.

After all, he is not Lu Shen, so he dare not embarrass the prince.

Then, Zhu Zaigui pointed to the Qi Min Yao Shu and asked Gao Gong: "It says here, in the Zuan Wen, 'The way to raise seedlings is that hoeing is not as good as weeding, and weeding is not as good as shoveling. The handle of the shovel is two feet long and the blade is two inches wide, and it is used to weed the ground.' I don't know what weeding is."

"Your Highness, Lüshi Chunqiu says: 'The handle of the hoe is one foot long, and this is its measure.' When this tool is used to grow seedlings, it can only be used with one hand while leaning over or squatting."

Gao Gong replied at this time.

Zhu Zaigui nodded after hearing this.

Then, Zhu Zaigui continued to ask about Gao Gong.

Gao Gong answered them one by one, and it seemed that there was nothing he did not understand.

But Zhai Luan’s expression became more and more ugly.

Xu Jie was quite calm.

Not long after, Zhao Zhenji brought the sermon back from the cabinet, and the prince stopped asking Gao Gong. At the same time, Zhai Luan and Xu Jie began to lecture on Confucian classics to the prince and the other two princes based on the sermon.

Before I knew it, the sun was setting.

The lecture was declared over.

The prince returned to the inner court.

However, Zhai Luan, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji left the palace.

On the way out of the palace, Gao Gong whispered to Zhao Zhenji:

"During the break between lectures today, I quietly saw that Minister Zhai was secretly making friends with the nobles. I don't know what they were talking about, but I'm afraid he was bribing them privately and trying to control the prince through the eunuchs around the prince. I thought that even if I made it public, the ten-year-old prince would not be able to distinguish right from wrong, and would only favor this gentle and humble Master Zhai, who he likes very much now! So I didn't speak up."

"How can this not be extended?"

"The civil official is secretly befriending the noble, and he is also the prince's eunuch. Now that we have discovered this, we should report it truthfully."

Zhao Zhenji disagreed with Gao Gong's approach, so he spoke seriously.

Gao Gong waved his hand and said, "Forget it. This Minister Zhai will not do anything to the Crown Prince."

"No, since you told me, I have to report it to the emperor! Otherwise, it would be disloyal to the emperor."

Zhao Zhenji said this and walked forward quickly.

Gao Gong smiled secretly.

Not long after, Zhao Zhenji actually submitted this memorial.

Zhu Houcong said to the ministers in the Imperial Study: "Go ask Zhai Luan what his purpose is in befriending the prince's eunuchs in private. I won't ask."

"Yes!"

Soon after, Xia Yan, who was close to Zhai Luan, met with Zhai Luan in private and asked him, "Have you made friends with the eunuchs?"

After hearing this, Zhai Luan lost most of his soul: "Is your Majesty's spy so powerful?"

"Zhao Zhenji's response to Mingben."

Xia Yan asked Zhai Luan, "Why weren't you more careful when doing this? Fortunately, His Majesty was willing to give you a chance and didn't ask you in person. Otherwise, this would have ended badly."

After hearing this, Zhai Luan frowned and said with a smile: "These two young ministers appointed by the emperor are really more evil than the other!"

"Today, in the main hall, Gao Gong didn't listen to me and answered questions for His Highness directly. Now, Zhao Zhenji is secretly watching my every move and reporting it to the emperor, as if he was afraid that others didn't know how fearless he was of the powerful!"

"These two people were chosen by His Majesty."

Xia Yan suddenly replied.

Zhai Luan was slightly startled after hearing this, then he sighed and said: "Your Majesty is indeed good at judging people!" (End of this chapter)