My father is Jiajing

Chapter 199 Zhang Juzheng's Bad Performance
Xu's house.

Many days had passed since the defense of the suburbs of Beijing, and Xu Jie and other upright civil officials had also been actively following the various changes after the war.

Among them, the change that attracted the most attention of Xu Jie and others was the change in Emperor Jiajing's attitude towards Prince Yu.

Before, Prince Yu was like a transparent existence to Emperor Jiajing, and was hardly ever mentioned or thought of.

But after the defense of the suburbs of Beijing, the invisible Prince Yu unexpectedly became important.

Not only did Prince Yu go to the Guanjun Marquis' Mansion on behalf of the emperor to pay tribute to the young general Zhu Wuji, who died young and whose achievements were comparable to those of Huo Qubing, but he also got the task of representing the emperor to host a banquet for meritorious officials in the Wuying Hall.

In the eyes of Xu Jie and others, these subtle changes are undoubtedly dazzling signals!

That means that His Majesty the Emperor finally figured it out and realized that the crown prince is the foundation of the country, and he finally values ​​Prince Yu.

So at this delicate moment, Xu Jie, as the leader of the Qingliu, naturally took up the banner of morality and discussed with his good student Zhang Juzheng how to submit a petition to Emperor Jiajing to request the establishment of a national capital.

"Ju Zheng, can you help me check if there is anything missing from this memorial?"

As soon as Xu Jie finished writing the draft of the memorial requesting the establishment of a national capital, he gave it to Zhang Juzheng and asked him to take a look at it as well.

Zhang Juzheng respectfully took the draft of the memorial handed over by Xu Jie. He read it carefully, then bowed to Xu Jie and said, "Master, this memorial is well-organized and the wording is exquisite. I think it is a perfect memorial."

Xu Jie chuckled, asked Zhang Juzheng to sit aside, then took a sip of tea and said, "There is no such thing as a perfect letter in this world. Only when things can be explained and handled clearly can it be considered perfect. Our emperor's ambition is even higher than before. No one can guess what he is thinking in his heart."

"This time, I am just following the current momentum to submit such a memorial, and my purpose is just to fulfill my duty as a minister. As for whether Your Majesty will accept my suggestion, it is still unknown. But I must submit this memorial, and this is my attitude, do you understand?"

Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng with a smile. He was teaching Zhang Juzheng how to be an official. He wanted Zhang Juzheng to understand that for some things, it is not important to worry about whether they can be accomplished or not, what is important is attitude.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng obviously did not understand Xu Jie's good intentions. He was still immersed in the "Memorial on Current Affairs" he had submitted before. In that memorial, he was full of passion and wanted to eliminate the ills of the Ming Dynasty. He wanted to make a deafening voice to wake up His Majesty the Emperor and make him re-examine the major ills of the world.

As a result, after the ditch was put up, it was like a float sinking in a pond, without even a ripple.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng became discouraged during this period and showed a tendency to give up. He didn't want to spend any more time and effort to make suggestions for the country.

Therefore, he naturally did not comprehend the deep meaning of Xu Jie's teachings, and just sat aside and agreed, "Student understands."

Xu Jie had been in the officialdom for decades and was even disliked by Emperor Jiajing to the extent that "Xu Jie is a villain and will never be employed again." However, he still made a comeback to the center and not only disproved Emperor Jiajing's evaluation, but also became the Minister of Rites, and was given the title of Prince Taibao, and was also used by the cabinet.

With these abilities, Xu Jie's ability as an official has reached a level that ordinary people can hardly reach!

After listening to Zhang Juzheng's answer, Xu Jie also knew what Zhang Juzheng's concern was, but this concern could only be understood and thought about by Zhang Juzheng himself. Once he figured it out, these questions would naturally have answers.

So Xu Jie did not blame Zhang Juzheng for being perfunctory. Xu Jie continued, "The road ahead is still long, and you will have many opportunities to experience and feel. I called you here this time because of another event." Zhang Juzheng immediately said respectfully, "Teacher, please speak."

Xu Jie stroked his beard and said, "Before submitting this memorial, I intend to suggest to His Majesty that you also serve as a tutor in Prince Yu's mansion and teach Prince Yu the thoughts of ancient philosophers and the principles of saints. I hope you can seize this opportunity and forge a deep friendship with Prince Yu, which is very important for your future."

After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. He stood up and bowed deeply to Xu Jie, "Thank you, Master!"

Xu Jie laughed and said, "Don't be in a hurry to thank him. Whether His Majesty approves or not is another matter. Besides, Prince Yu's Mansion already has a tutor. If you also enter Prince Yu's Mansion, you and the other tutor will inevitably have some friction in concepts and ideas. I hope you are mentally prepared for this, don't make enemies easily, and don't anger Prince Yu."

"And as far as I know, Prince Yu thinks highly of that tutor and treats him as a disciple. If you really enter Prince Yu's mansion, you must be careful about your words and actions. Before you gain Prince Yu's favor, you must not have any conflict with that tutor."

Zhang Juzheng bowed and said, "I will remember your teachings."

Seeing the students regain their spirits, Xu Jie couldn't help but feel satisfied. At this time, Xu Jie said, "There's nothing to do now. You should go back earlier."

Zhang Juzheng bowed again and said, "I'll take my leave."

After leaving Xu's house, Zhang Juzheng was extremely excited. Being able to work as a tutor in Prince Yu's mansion would definitely mean a bright future.

Because in the eyes of these upright officials and scholars of the world, Prince Yu's identity meant that he was the irreplaceable ruler of the future Ming Dynasty.

As for King Jing, he was not even within their consideration.

Because they believed that King Jing was the second son, and according to the rules since ancient times, how could the second son be the head of the family?

Besides, isn't it for this rule that they study and gain knowledge?
As for those stories about illegitimate sons being in charge, they are nothing more than some cool stories that are not presentable enough to be published on the public.

In the real ethical order: hierarchy, legitimate and illegitimate children, elders and the younger, etc., these are all inviolable rules. Anyone who dares to break these rules will inevitably pay a heavy price, even a wise ruler like Emperor Taizong of Tang is no exception!
Because in the eyes of these rule-abiding scholars, it is true that Emperor Taizong of Tang was a model of a wise ruler, but the bad precedent he set also led to one bloody coup after another for the Tang Dynasty. Not only did there occur tragedies of fathers killing sons, sons betraying fathers, and brothers killing each other, but there was also an absurd drama of "hens crowing at dawn", which allowed a woman to become emperor.

Therefore, scholars thereafter all took these stories from previous dynasties as a warning and used them to advise emperors not to make foolish decisions to depose the eldest and enthrone the youngest, so as to avoid endless harm.

Therefore, no matter how outstanding King Jing was, he could not be the destined son that all officials and scholars in the world hoped for.

Besides, the current Prince Jing is not outstanding, so there is even less reason to support Prince Yu, who is the "eldest son", and instead support Prince Jing, who is the "youngest son".

But nothing is absolute. For example, Yan Shifan, who is extremely smart, is very optimistic about King Jing. He thinks that with his intelligence and talent, he can definitely push King Jing out and shatter his father and a bunch of stubborn and corrupt scholars who only cling to the so-called rules and claim to be incorruptible!

So when everyone thought that Prince Yu was the head of the country, Yan Shifan unabashedly trembled with excitement and placed all his treasures on Prince Jing, preparing to give his father a big surprise and let his father see how capable he was!

(End of this chapter)