I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 272 Zhang Chun is causing trouble again.
...

Zheng Xiansu was right; Zhao Yu did indeed have a backup plan.

Zhao Yu was well aware that implementing the system of merit-based enfeoffment and descending hereditary titles would inevitably select powerful kings like Zhu Di.

If Zhao Shou had been a weak, foolish, and cowardly crown prince like Zhu Yunwen, there's no guarantee that the Song Dynasty wouldn't suffer a "Jingnan Campaign" after his death.

To avoid such fratricide, Zhao Yu prepared two backup plans.

The first backup plan was to release Zhao Shou as well, first to the Imperial Academy, then to the Martial Arts Academy when he was older, and then to a local post, to be trained in the army, or even to be sent to the front lines to fight in the future.

If Zhao Shouquan can complete his tasks well, with his political achievements and military merits, he will naturally be able to intimidate all his brothers and nephews and be qualified to inherit Zhao Yu's throne.

If Zhao Shou fails to complete the task well, then even if Zhao Yu passes the throne to him in the future, he will be the second "Zhu Yunwen".

In that case, there's nothing more to say. Zhao Yu would definitely depose Zhao Shou himself and pass his throne directly to "Zhu Di." In other words, whoever is stronger and can suppress his other brothers will inherit his throne.

Zhao Yu's second contingency plan was that after selecting an heir, he would enfeoff all the princes who posed a threat to the imperial power, thus preventing them from having the opportunity to compete with the crown prince for the throne.

Since the Song Dynasty developed Ryukyu, Emperor Zhao Yu repeatedly sent caravans and adventurers to explore the entire Southeast Asia region, using Ryukyu as a springboard.

Today, adventurers have even reached "Australia," and they have brought back several kangaroos for Zhao Yu.

Not to mention anything far away, the Nanyang region alone was enough for Zhao Yu to enfeoff many princes.

This time, Zhao Yu did not "act first and report later," but instead fully communicated with Zheng Xiansu, explaining the pros and cons and his overall plan to her.

Zheng Xiansu was truly a very sensible and understanding woman. She knew very well that under the system of merit-based enfeoffment and descending succession of titles, powerful kings and powerful members of the royal family would inevitably emerge. Even if Zhao Shou was mediocre and still the crown prince, he would certainly not be able to inherit Zhao Yu's throne. Even if Zhao Shou did inherit Zhao Yu's throne, others would never submit to him and might even raise an army to overthrow Zhao Shou's rule.

In other words, if Zhao Shou is truly not cut out to be the crown prince, yet someone insists on making him the crown prince and allowing him to inherit Zhao Yu's throne, then that is not helping Zhao Shou, but harming him.

It is important to know that political struggles throughout history have been extremely fierce, and the losers usually do not have a good ending.

Therefore, Zheng Xiansu agreed to Zhao Yu's arrangement for Zhao Shou and made preparations to have Zhao Shou leave the palace together with the other princes when they came of age, so that they could go to the Imperial Academy to study together.

In short, the idea was to have Zhao Shou undergo training according to the route planned for him by Zhao Yu.

Of course, as the crown prince, Zhao Yu had to give Zhao Shou some preferential treatment. Specifically, Zhao Yu allowed Zheng Xiansu to find several tutors for Zhao Shou, even though Zhao Yu had already found Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong to be tutors for Zhao Shou.

It's not hard to see from Zhao Yu's arrangements that he still hoped Zhao Shou could be competent for the position of Crown Prince. Otherwise, he wouldn't have assigned Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong, two of the most outstanding generals in the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, to Zhao Shou.

Zhao Yu said to Zheng Xiansu: "I have met Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong. Although they are not old, they both have the bearing of great generals and are deeply committed to serving the country. They are both pillars of the state."

Zheng Xiansu said, "Since Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong have received such praise from Your Majesty, they must be young talents. It is truly a blessing for the Crown Prince to have them by his side. Your Majesty will also carefully select several loyal, reliable, and talented individuals to accompany the Crown Prince to the Imperial Academy and the Military Academy, both as companions and supervisors, to ensure that the Crown Prince truly learns the skills to govern the country and bring peace to the world."

Zhao Yu was always good at recognizing talent and knew how to appoint people to positions of authority, which made people happy to use him.

Crucially, Zheng Xiansu knew that Zhao Yu also hoped his eldest son could become a qualified crown prince. In that case, Zhao Yu would be spared a lot of trouble, and the Song Dynasty could be passed down smoothly.

Therefore, Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong, whom Zhao Yu assigned to Zhao Shou, must have been quite capable.

More importantly, Zheng Xiansu's confession to Zhao Yu was genuine; she truly believed in Zhao Yu. If one day Zhao Yu felt that Zhao Shou was unsuitable to be the crown prince, she would truly be willing to support Zhao Yu in replacing Zhao Shou.

After discussing the arrangements for Zhao Shou, Zhao Yu said to Zheng Xiansu, "Actually, in this matter, the one I owe the most is not the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince, after undergoing trials, truly demonstrates the talent to shoulder great responsibilities, I will certainly entrust this vast empire to him. Otherwise, I will ensure he lives a carefree life. In this matter, the one I owe the most to are my mediocre sons..."

To be honest, Zhao Yu was quite harsh on his sons. They all started from the bottom, and those princes who were neither good at literature nor martial arts didn't even have the most basic titles, which meant they were essentially reduced to commoners.

This has never happened before in any dynasty.

But Zhao Yu also had his own unavoidable difficulties.

His fertility is incredibly high.

He is only twenty-eight years old, yet he has already easily defeated Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan of Han.

Based on the current situation, he may eventually defeat Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail to become the person with the most children in human history, and may even have thousands of sons.

If Zhao Yu had not implemented the system of rewarding merit and granting titles through succession, his descendants would have become the heaviest burden on the Song Dynasty within a few generations.

When that time comes, those in power will certainly be much more ruthless in their actions than Zhao Yu.

Rather than doing that, it would be better for Zhao Yu to take matters into his own hands.

In this way, Zhao Yu's sons could at least follow the example of the princes, dukes, and beile of the Qing Dynasty, choosing to pursue careers in politics, the military, or business.

Of course, the rules of the Zhao Song Dynasty stipulated that the military and the government were separate. Those who served in the military could not serve in the government, and those who served in the government could not serve in the military. Furthermore, those who served in the military and those who served in the government could not engage in business.

The Zhao Song Dynasty had strict regulations on the behavior of the imperial family (including princes), emphasizing that princes and members of the imperial family should focus on "proper duties" (such as participating in military and political affairs and maintaining clan order), and strictly prohibiting them from engaging in "minor occupations" such as commerce, in order to prevent them from using their privileges to compete with the people for profit and damage the foundation of the Zhao Song Dynasty's rule.

—Princes and members of the imperial clan without titles are not included. In other words, princes and members of the imperial clan who do not have titles can still engage in commerce if they want to.

However, in traditional Confucianism, the hierarchical concept of "scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants" is deeply rooted. As members of the royal family, princes and members of the imperial clan have a noble status and may regard commerce as a "lowly profession." Directly engaging in commerce would be considered beneath their status and a violation of patriarchal etiquette. Therefore, they would dislike doing business.

However, on the other hand, most people can't escape the "it smells so good" phenomenon, and some princes and members of the royal family may also indirectly get involved in business, for example:
They might entrust their servants or trusted confidants to manage shops or pawnshops, profiting behind the scenes; or they might use their privileges to monopolize certain industries (such as the salt industry or tea trade); or they might obtain profits through authorization, equity participation, or other means.

However, these actions were mostly carried out in private and were often prohibited by the imperial court, so they were not a common phenomenon.

Generally speaking, engaging in commerce directly is not in line with the status and institutional norms of princes and members of the imperial family. However, if they were to secretly engage in commerce to make money, the court would mostly turn a blind eye, just like the princes and beile of the Qing Dynasty.

In short, the system of managing princes and members of the imperial clan implemented by Zhao Yu was basically created by Zhang Chun by referring to the management system of princes and nobles in the Qing Dynasty and the management system of princes in Saudi Arabia—the former as the main system and the latter as a supplement.

Some might ask, with so many sons, surely some of them were neither good at literature nor martial arts, did Zhao Yu really not care about their lives and let them live like ordinary commoners?
How could that be? First of all, any son of Zhao Yu could easily obtain a noble title with a little effort, since they received the most elite education when they were young—Zhao Yu didn't care about their education, but which of their mothers didn't hope their sons would become successful?
Even if some of Zhao Yu's sons didn't receive titles in either the civil or military fields, they certainly wouldn't fare too badly—they were princes, with countless resources behind them, and whatever they did, they were sure to be wealthy for life.

Furthermore, while Zhao Yu said he didn't want the court to take care of his good-for-nothing sons, he didn't say he wouldn't take care of them.

With so many profitable projects at his disposal, Zhao Yu could easily provide his sons with enough shares to ensure their livelihood for generations to come.

To be honest, Zhao Yu was quite helpless. He had to be a good emperor and consider the stability and succession of the Zhao Song Dynasty, but he also had to be responsible for what he had done—after all, he was also a father.

Moreover, Zhao Yu had already thought it through. If this still couldn't solve all the problems, then he would expand outwards, enfeoff his sons, and let them leave the Zhao Song Dynasty to establish their own vassal states. Surely that would solve the problem?
However, even if Zhao Yu were to establish a vassal state, he couldn't send his useless sons out; otherwise, he would be doing all the work for someone else.

Therefore, even for Zhao Yu's sons, their future depended on their own efforts and ambitions.

In short, shortly after Zhao Yu and his ministers agreed on the new method of managing the princes and members of the imperial clan, Zhao Yu's first batch of thirty-odd sons (including Crown Prince Zhao Shou) were born.

……

The day after the princes were married, the five women gathered together again.

Before the five women could even sit down, Li Lin couldn't help but ask Zhang Chun, "Did you get Yue Fei to be your son's study companion?"

Upon hearing Li Lin's words, Ye Shiyun, Ma Xiaojiao, and Yuan Qingcheng all stared at Zhang Chun in shock! They never expected that Zhang Chun would cheat like this.

Zhang Chun chuckled and said, "So what if it is? Is that not allowed?"

Ye Shiyun retorted, "This isn't a question of whether it's allowed or not, it's that you're cheating!"

Zhang Chun said, "Watch your words. The Emperor has agreed that each prince who is about to marry will have two tutors. What I'm doing is completely in accordance with the Emperor's regulations. If you talk nonsense, I will sue you for defamation!"

Even Ma Xiaojiao couldn't stand Zhang Chun's unseemly eating habits. She said, "Sister Chun, this is what happens when you're not fair. We agreed to compete fairly, but you cheated. Can we still have fun together?"

Seeing that Ma Xiaojiao was criticizing her, Zhang Chuncai said, "Oh dear, Yue Fei is only an eight-year-old child now. Whether he can become the Marshal Yue who makes the Jin army flee in terror in the future is still uncertain. The reason I picked him out from the commoners is mainly because I was afraid that my Great Song would lose an important talent. Letting him assist my son is just a side effect."

Yuan Qingcheng said leisurely, "Since that's the case, why don't you give Yue Fei to me?"

Zhang Chun immediately retorted: "A gentleman doesn't take what others love, don't you understand!"

Yuan Qingcheng snorted: "Double standard dog!"

Zhang Chun didn't care at all. She said, "I'm just being flexible within the rules. Besides, I didn't tie your hands and stop you from going to find Yue Fei. If you don't go, is that my fault?"

Ye Shiyun looked at Li Lin: "I want to know, who is her other study companion?"

Li Lin didn't help Zhang Chun keep it a secret and said, "Uncle Chen Kang."

Completely ignorant of history, Ma Xiaojiao asked, "Who is this Chen Kangbo?"

Li Lin, Ye Shiyun, and Yuan Qingcheng all shook their heads, indicating that they did not know what Chen Kangbo did.

Only Zhang Chun's lips curled slightly as he thought, 'I won't tell you that he was a famous prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. When Wanyan Liang invaded the south, he strongly advocated resisting the Jin. In times of crisis, he welcomed his family to Lin'an and recommended Yu Yunwen as a military advisor. Yu Yunwen then decisively defeated the Jin army at Caishi. Zhao Gou once praised him as "calm, composed, and insightful, never uttering a word rashly; a true prime minister." He rose through the ranks to become Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, concurrently serving as Chancellor and Privy Councilor, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Lu. He was one of the twenty-four meritorious officials of the Zhaoxun Pavilion, along with Lü Yihao, Zhao Ding, Han Shizhong, and Zhang Jun.'

Zhang Chun thought to himself, "With Yue Fei protecting my son in military matters and Chen Kangbo advising him in civil matters, if the crown prince is deemed incompetent and deposed, perhaps my son can become the crown prince."

That's right.

Zhang Chun is stirring up trouble again.

When she offered Zhao Yu her strategy of rewarding merit and granting titles through succession while gradually demoting the previous one, she was betting that Zhao Shou was not cut out to be the crown prince.

Zhang Chun knew very well that if Zhao Shou was a useless person under these circumstances, he would definitely be deposed by Zhao Yu, and then her son would have the opportunity to become the crown prince.

If her son becomes the crown prince, even if she doesn't become empress, she will definitely be the second most powerful woman in the harem.

What if Zhao Yu were to die before her someday? Wouldn't she then become Empress Dowager Cixi?

Of course, this was just one of Zhang Chun's ideas.

Zhang Chun also knew that Zhao Yu's health was much better than hers, and she might not necessarily outlive him.

But that's okay.

Zhang Chun also knew that Zhao Yu had the idea of ​​enfeoffing his sons.

If her son behaves well, even if he doesn't become the crown prince, he will definitely become a prince. She can then rise in status through her son and become the empress dowager in her son's kingdom, which would be a small consolation for her dream of becoming empress dowager.

Seeing that Zhang Chun was trying to outsmart them again, Ye Shiyun said, "You'd better find some good tutors for our sons, otherwise, I think our friendship is about to end."

Even Ma Xiaojiao said, "Sister Chun, you really have to find one or two good fighters for my son. Otherwise, after he goes to the battlefield, let alone whether he can make meritorious contributions, it will be a problem whether he can come back."

Yuan Qingcheng said decisively, "I want one too."

Li Lin said, "Forget about military generals, find two strategists for my son instead."

Zhang Chun wanted to say, 'Why?! Have you forgotten how you used your skills to crush me?'

But when Zhang Chun saw the unfriendly expressions on the four women's faces, she swallowed her words and said instead, "Fine, fine, you're all my best friends, I owe you, okay..."

……

(End of this chapter)