The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 474 The Emperor and the Crown Prince

More than ten eunuchs and palace maids led the way, and my little cousin Chen Yijin took her almost nine-year-old son Mosen and slowly walked towards Jingren Palace.

According to the Ming system, the harem of the Forbidden City was divided into the three rear palaces, the six eastern palaces and the six western palaces.

Among them, the three palaces at the back, namely the Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Hall and Kunning Palace, are the residences of the emperor and empress as well as the imperial garden.

The East Six Palaces and the West Six Palaces were where the concubines lived.

Traditionally, the East Six Palaces are slightly higher than the West Six Palaces, and Jingren Palace is the top of the East Six Palaces.

As they were almost at the gate of Jingren Palace, my cousin took Arsen's hand, looked at the big words "Jingren Palace" and asked:
"Asen, do you know why Mother gave Jingren Palace, the most important of the six eastern palaces, to Concubine Ye De to live in, and why, as a noble concubine, she had to settle for Chengqian Palace?"

Although Asen is less than nine years old, he is already 1.45 meters tall and weighs 71 kilograms.

This standard is still very outstanding even in the future. At this time, there are almost no children over eight years old who are as tall and strong as Arsen.

Moreover, Arsen is very mature and rarely reveals his childish innocence. If his voice had not changed, he would be no different from a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child.

Hearing his mother's question, Asen smiled and replied, "Mother, I know that Aunt Defei gave birth to three younger sisters in a row."

The little cousin couldn't help but smile. Ye Xiaomei gave birth to three daughters in a row. This not only meant that she could not compete for the throne now, but also dealt a heavy blow to Ye Xiaomei's self-confidence.

The very favored Concubine Ye De had begun to doubt her fate of giving birth to a son.

But it was okay to laugh now, but if he laughed in front of her, she would definitely make an enemy, so the little cousin pulled her son Asen's ear and continued:
"Also, the palace we live in now is called Chengqian Palace, which means inheriting the universe. What a wonderful meaning!"

Asen nodded and said, "I understand. I will definitely not let you down."

As they spoke, the mother and son walked into Jingren Palace.

Ye Xiaomei was a little dejected. Even when her little cousin Chen Yichen came in, she just changed into a casual piece of clothes. It was obvious that giving birth to three daughters in a row was a big blow to her.

"The Queen went to Suzhou Prefecture and heard that Prince Zheng had been refusing to come to Yingtian Prefecture to pay his respects to the Emperor and was even clamoring to become a monk at Hanshan Temple."

The little cousin ignored Ye Xiaomei's slight neglect, let Asen pay her respects, and then took the initiative to start a conversation.

Ye Xiaomei glanced at her younger cousin Chen Yizhen. Among Mo Zibu's first three women, Queen Zheng Shishi provided considerable help to Mo Zibu in the early days of his career.

You should know that in the first few years, one-third of Mo Zi Bu's military expenses were raised by himself, one-third were given by Ha Tien, and the remaining one-third were given by Zheng Xin.

More importantly, without his marriage to Zheng Shishi, Mo Zibu would not have been able to obtain the Andai region, which would have been cutting into the flesh of the Siamese.

Until the rebellion this year, Zheng Xin gave An Dai to Mo Zi Bu, which was still one of the most serious crimes among the crimes charged against Zheng Xin.

Therefore, Mo Zibu still has some feelings for Zheng Shishi, and because she is the queen but cannot have children, he feels more pity for her.

And my little cousin Chen Yizhen is the one Mo Zibu values the most in every aspect.

Because the Mo family's roots are the fellow villagers in western Guangdong and the Mingxiang people in Southeast Asia. It can even be said that the initial base is the Mo family and the Chen family.

The fact that my little cousin was urgently given to Mo Zibu as a concubine meant that before Mo Zibu started to do big things, the Chen family took the initiative to be humble and complete the unity of Mingxiang people, Mo and Chen.

At the same time, the Chen family suffered the most casualties when Mo Zibu started his business. Among Chen Yizhen's blood cousins with the same grandfather, seven died in the battle.

As for the Hakka people represented by Ye Xiaomei Ye Yizhen, they were not only the military pillar of Mo Zibu, but also the pillar of the initial Nanyang military farming.

It can be said that if the Hakka people had not come here to settle and cultivate for him during those years, Mo Zibu might not have been able to firmly occupy Andai.

From the perspective of aesthetics and personality, Ye Xiaomei, with her curvy figure and long white legs, is Mo Zibu's favorite type. Her impetuous and insightful personality also suits Mo Zibu's temperament best.

Each of these three people has a group of supporters behind them.

Behind Queen Zheng Shishi are Chaoshan people and most of the people from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in southern Fujian.

The people behind the imperial concubine's cousin Chen Yizhen are Cantonese people from western Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta. Simply put, those who speak Cantonese and Leiqiong dialect all support the little cousin.

Behind Concubine De Ye Xiaomei, there are naturally a large number of Hakka people.

These three ethnic groups constitute the basic base for Emperor Mo to control other ethnic groups.

In the current Dayu Dynasty, the emperor uses the Nanyang, Fujian and Guangdong bases behind him, which are capable of making money, cultivating land and fighting wars, to control the literati and wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River.

Finally, he used the large area of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangnan to control the ethnic groups in other places, so as to truly utilize China's vast land and resources to establish a great empire for future generations.

Therefore, the basic base of Fujian and Guangdong is the top priority. No matter from which perspective, the future prince can only be the child of these three women.

Hearing her cousin mention Zheng Xin, Ye Xiaomei slowly said, "Don't underestimate King Zheng. He is most likely retreating to advance. Becoming a monk at Hanshan Temple could also be a brilliant move."

Hearing what Ye Xiaomei said, her cousin Chen Yizhen immediately sat up straight. Because she was restricted by her background, she was really powerless in such political matters. Many things were a little complicated and she couldn't understand them.

Although Ye Xiaomei's father, Ye Sanshu, was only a scholar, his talent and knowledge were not low. It was just because his family was too poor to support him to continue taking the imperial examinations, so he stopped at the level of a scholar.
After having Ye Xiaomei, Uncle Ye San has always hoped that Ye Xiaomei could marry into a wealthy family and give birth to a grandson who could pass the imperial examination to fulfill his long-cherished wish.

So Ye Xiaomei received a lot of education since she was a child, including but not limited to the inner palace struggles and the operation of officialdom. Other girls studied the Four Books for Women, such as "Nujie", "Nei Xun" and "Nu Lunyu", but Ye Xiaomei not only studied these, but also studied "Zizhi Tongjian".

Uncle Ye couldn't afford it, so he went to his classmate's house and copied it word by word. He copied back about one-tenth of the content he thought was very important, which was almost 300,000 words, for Ye Xiaomei to study.

Therefore, in Mo Zibu's harem, Ye Xiaomei and Nguyen Yuxiu of the Nan Nguyen family are the only two who are good at palace fighting and have political vision.

"Please help me solve this doubt, sister." The little cousin acted very humbly and began to ask for advice. This was also the little cousin's strong point. For the sake of her son Asen, she could humble herself in any situation.

Ye Xiaomei didn't look at Chen Yizhen, but looked at Asen. There was a look of deep envy in her eyes, and then it disappeared.

“Although Siam has been renamed Thai Binh Province, it is still the territory of the Zheng family. Your Majesty’s rise to power was largely due to the Zheng family’s financial support. He was once the son-in-law of King Zheng and his top military commander.

According to moral ethics, the Zheng family suffered a disaster, and your majesty's army should be used to restore the Zheng family, rather than directly incorporating Siam into the Thai Binh Province. Therefore, morally speaking, it is flawed. "

At this point, Ye Xiaomei felt a little thirsty. Just as she was about to pick up the tea bowl, she saw a pair of chubby little hands, very servilely bringing the tea bowl over. "Auntie Ye, have some tea." Asen blinked his eyes, revealing his small mouth with a missing front tooth, and said sweetly.

"Not bad!" Ye Xiaomei said after taking a sip of tea. Upon hearing that, Asen immediately showed his big gap teeth even happier.

"I'm not saying you did a good job, but I'm saying you're such a big kid, and you still know how to use your child's status to act cute, and you do it pretty well."

As Ye Xiaomei spoke, she couldn't help but burst into laughter. She had been feeling extremely depressed for many days and she had to find a way to release it.

Arsen was exposed and felt like crying, but he still held on, grinning stiffly and pretending to smile along.

After laughing, Ye Xiaomei ignored Asen and continued to say to her cousin Chen Yizhen, "I just said that the process of establishing Taiping Province was flawed.

Your Majesty is the supreme emperor. He cannot and will not be flawed, so someone is needed to untie this knot.

This person was King Zheng. King Zheng refused to leave Guangzhou because he was afraid that people would think he still wanted to return to Siam, so he stayed in Jiangnan.

Don't worry, when Your Majesty arrives in Suzhou, Prince Zheng will definitely talk a lot about the past and the present, and then say that he has misused people and harmed many lives. He feels ashamed to face the people of the world, and finally asks the court to take back Siam.

Moreover, he would actually become a monk in Hanshan Temple, and would use his influence to call on a large number of monks originally from Siam, Cambodia and even Lower Burma to come to Jiangnan for exchanges.

Because Southern Buddhism had not yet undergone the Three Wars and One Zong, it still had a strong influence. King Taksin's ordination at Hanshan Temple would be of great benefit to the court's control over Southern Buddhism. Otherwise, King Taksin would not have chosen the world-renowned Hanshan Temple.

The little cousin was a little confused after hearing this. Her lack of education really put her at a disadvantage in the harem.

Fortunately, after so many years of training, she still has some political sense. After thinking for a while, she immediately asked:
"Brother Zheng Miao has already received His Majesty's promise to divide them into three kingdoms: Brunei and Nanzhang. Why is King Zheng working so hard now?"

Ye Xiaomei stood up and looked down at her cousin. "Why? I came here for you."

The Queen is innocent and naive, not very scheming, but Zheng Susu is different. She is a typical foxy girl, beautiful and young. She has great potential for the future!

"Do you know what Asen's biggest problem is?" Ye Xiaomei said, and then began to ask questions, "That's age. When Asen was thirty, His Majesty was only in his fifties.

This age is exactly the same as that of Prince Liu Ju of Wei and Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty, the Prince of Hengshan of the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty and the eldest prince Yinzhi.

The little cousin turned pale with fright, thinking of the experiences of these three famous eldest sons in history. They were all loved by their fathers, had a good reputation, and had great potential in the court and the country, but in the end they all failed because of their age, or because the emperor was unwilling to give up power.

This is so similar to Arsen!

The little cousin was worried and confused. She brought Arsen here because she felt threatened, so she came to find an ally. The two of them had tried to test each other several times before.

So after hearing Ye Xiaomei's analysis, she didn't care about being caught if she took the initiative. She said anxiously:

"Ah Zhen, since you can say all this, there must be a solution. You are the only one among us sisters who has studied. Please help us mother and daughter."

"Look how scared you are!" The little cousin was almost frightened, but Ye Xiaomei suddenly laughed.

"The ruling centers of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty were all in Guanzhong. If you can control Guanzhong, you can control the whole country.

If we use the present time as an analogy, to put it bluntly, the whole of China is a colony of Guanzhong.

As for the rebels against the Qing Dynasty, the rulers were no more than tens of thousands of bannermen. Therefore, power was highly concentrated at that time, and there were two kings in a small area. The father was not old, and the son was already strong, and conflicts arose.

But now, Your Majesty is a wise and capable ruler with great ambitions. The territory of Dayu is far greater than that of any previous dynasty. Your Majesty even wants to include the northern desert, march into Hezhong, compete with Britain and France for control of India in the west, cross the sea to the east to control Japan and eye North America.

How could such a huge foundation be managed by just one center?
Therefore, Your Majesty established Nanjing, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Beijing and other cities as capitals, and appointed a Prime Minister of Nanyang to assist in handling government affairs.

This is a brand new era. Asen's future does not lie in immediately seizing the position of crown prince, nor in always learning the art of being an emperor.

Instead, you must learn military affairs, law, and administration, and first understand how to govern a place. Only then can you adapt to the changes of heaven in the future and lead this unprecedented empire."

What a familiar tone! The little cousin was suddenly surprised. Why did the way of speaking sound so much like her cousin, Emperor Mo? Could it be?
She tasted the flavor, but couldn't point it out, so she immediately followed the instructions.

"Sister Ah Zhen, I'm too slow to teach Ah Sen. I want him to worship you as his godmother. Please teach him like your own son and let him be spanked and scolded as you please!"

For Cantonese people, it is very common to have godfathers and godmothers.

Of course, the more grand the ceremony, the closer the relationship. In the most advanced type, the godson even has the responsibility to provide for his godfather and godmother in their old age.

My little cousin now uses the word "bai", which is definitely the most solemn one, not just a casual shout.

Ye Xiaomei nodded slowly, "Let's pick a good day. From now on, Arsen will be my godson."

The little cousin was right. Ye Xiaomei almost took the initiative to come forward and teach Asen, and it was indeed Mo Zibu's instruction.

Because my cousin Chen Yizhen's teaching method was wrong. She kept instilling some imperial mentality and palace fighting ideas into the child, which is obviously not suitable for today's society.

For Mo Zibu, such a large empire was impossible for one person to manage, and he had always intended to limit the power of the royal family and delegate power to the main social classes through parliament.

Although it is not necessary to become a constitutional monarchy like England, it will never return to the peak of centralization like the Qing Dynasty.

In this way, the conflict between the emperor and the prince will not be as sharp as before.

Therefore, as long as Arsen does not go astray, he is still willing to make him the eldest son and let Arsen have some power to make up for his disadvantage of being unable to handle everything.

However, Mo Zibu was too busy to be by his son's side to teach him at all times, and his little cousin was not able to take on this responsibility due to her lack of education.

Then Ye Xiaomei, who has given birth to three daughters in a row, is a very suitable early instructor.

Ye Xiaomei also sighed in her heart. The Hakka people had too much power in the army. The Chen family was different. Except for a few like Chen Guangyao, most of them were in the navy.

The army controls the key points and is the target that the king must use and guard against. The navy is different. They cannot control the central core, and because it is too expensive, they are very dependent on central support, so they are naturally close to the emperor.

Mo Zibu told Ye Xiaomei in person that even if she gave birth to a son, it would be difficult for him to become the crown prince, so Ye Xiaomei was willing to teach Asen to consolidate her future position.

(End of this chapter)