My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 42: Imperial Lecture
Su Ze thought that even though he had such a virtuous wife at home, Shen Shixing still often went to brothels, so much so that his classmate and fellow villager Wang Xijue couldn't stand it and wrote a letter to persuade him to abstain from sex.

A young top scholar, with a happy family and a successful career, who is the protagonist?

Su Ze thought again that Shen Shixing lived to be eighty years old after retiring, so he got all the good things!
Damn it! If I become the ruler in the future, I will never let Shen Shixing have a good time in this life. I must exploit him ruthlessly!

Shen Shixing didn't know that handing the cake to Su Ze would lead to such a cause and effect.

A group of people from the Zhanshi Mansion came to the Eastern Palace, and then, led by Zhao Zhenji, the Zhanshi Mansion's Zhanshi Mansion, paid a visit to the Crown Prince Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun bowed to the ministers again, and then Zhao Zhenji called out a few names, including Su Ze and Shen Shixing.

Amid the jealous eyes of many colleagues, Zhao Zhenji glanced at Su Ze and performed the ceremony of the imperial lecture official.

The theoretical teacher of the crown prince was the crown prince's grand tutor, but this was an honorary position of the second rank in the Ming Dynasty and was rarely awarded to officials in the court.

However, the imperial lecturer of the Chancellery was responsible for giving lectures to the crown prince, so in theory he could also be considered a teacher.

So Zhu Yijun took half a step forward and called out "Master" to all the officials in the imperial lecture hall, which completed the ceremony of becoming a disciple.

Master, not Master, Su Ze secretly complained, you Daming know how to give names.

Of course, not everyone can be this master. Among the people who gave lectures in Prince Yu's Mansion at that time, Emperor Longqing only called Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng "Master Gao" and "Master Zhang", which is enough to show the special status of the two in Emperor Longqing's heart.

Now Su Ze has also become Zhu Yijun's "Master Su", well, the elements of the national master are also complete.

But Su Ze was not naive enough to think that he could teach Zhu Yijun well.

Zhang Juzheng taught Wanli for so many years, but as soon as Zhang Juzheng died, Wanli started to act like a spoiled child. Su Ze didn't think his methods were better than Zhang Juzheng's and that he could control Wanli.

This is different from Wanli who never appointed a crown prince and did not allow his son to go to school.

Emperor Longqing was very concerned about the education of the prince.

Zhao Zhenji, a great scholar of the School of Mind, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and Minister of Rites, is the Chancellor in charge of the overall education work, equivalent to the President of the Prince's Teaching Academy.

Longqing's two most respected "masters", Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, were also included in the team of the Prince's Imperial Lecture as specially appointed professors.

Su Ze's former boss's boss, the former president of the Hanlin Academy, Yin Shidan, failed to enter the cabinet this time and was transferred to the position of Minister of Rites. He also served as the Junior Secretary of the Chancellery, which was considered the director of the Prince's Training Academy.

Of course, the above-mentioned bigwigs are only figureheads. The ones who are mainly responsible for holding the imperial lectures for the prince are the ordinary officials in the Zhanshi Mansion who are "added to the imperial lectures". They are the actual teachers.

These are basically all learned scholars transferred from the Hanlin Academy, and they are all kings among kings who emerged from the imperial examination system.

However, Zhu Yijun's gaze still fell on Su Ze and Shen Shixing.

The six-year-old Zhu Yijun is at the age where he wants to have fun, but now he is under the pressure of his father and mother, so he can only pretend to be a good boy. But he certainly doesn't want to listen to lectures from a bunch of old men.

Among all the white-bearded old men, Su Ze and Shen Shixing, the two imperial lecturers, are the youngest.

Especially Su Ze. Zhu Yijun thought that he was an interesting person, unlike those old-fashioned ministers when he remembered that he suggested to his father that the king of U-Tsang should be decided by drawing lots.

When Zhu Yijun heard Su Ze's name among the officials in the imperial lecture today, he took a few more glances at him and prepared to summon Su Ze to give him an imperial lecture next time.

Shen Yiguan looked at Su Ze and Shen Shixing in the imperial lecture team, and his heart was filled with mixed feelings. As a good friend, he was naturally happy that Su Shen could become the prince's imperial lecture officer.

But seeing that his peers had achieved so much while he had just been appointed as an official, Shen Yikuan felt tremendous pressure again.

Shen Yikuan looked at Luo Wanhua beside him again. This brother seemed to be relaxed and even happy that he was not selected for the Prince's Imperial Lecture.

These days, Luo Wanhua has been staying in the National History Museum. The compilation of "The Illustrated Account of the Emperor" basically fell on his shoulders, and the initiator Su Ze became a hands-off boss.

Shen Yikuan had never expected that Luo Wanhua was willing to do the hard work of editing books that others avoided, and he spent every day looking up historical materials and compiling illustrations.

I'm afraid that in Luo Wanhua's mind, attending the imperial lecture for the prince would be a waste of his time in compiling the book.

Shen Yikuan looked at Zhu Dashou among the imperial lecture officials. Zhu Dashou was the Zuo Yude of the Zhanshi Mansion. This position was very important and was equivalent to the class teacher in charge of the prince's education.

Lectures on the classics to the prince were not given casually. The lesson plans before the lecture and the records of the lecture process had to be handed over to Zhu Dashou for review and backup.

Arranging a teaching plan for the crown prince was also the job of Zhu Dashou, the Left Yude.

Shen Yikuan knew that if he performed well, he would be able to join the team of the prince's imperial lecturers sooner or later.

After the ceremony, Gao Gong hurriedly left the East Palace and returned to the cabinet to deal with the busy government affairs.

Zhao Zhenji also returned to the Ministry of Rites to handle the remaining work of the ceremony.

Only Zhang Juzheng stayed in the Eastern Palace and held a small meeting with a group of imperial lecturers including Su Ze.

Seeing the familiar look of Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao beside the crown prince, Su Ze secretly sighed that it turned out that Zhang Juzheng had already started preparing for the Wanli Dynasty at this time.

Gao Gong's defeat was not unfair. Who would have thought that Emperor Longqing would have such a short life?
In the next few days, the imperial lecturers from the Chancellery were summoned to the Eastern Palace one after another to give lectures to the Crown Prince Zhu Yijun. Even Shen Shixing was summoned twice, but Su Ze did not move for a long time.

Su Ze was not in a hurry, nor was he interested in giving lectures to Da Jun. He stayed in the historian's office every day to edit books and study the official documents and memorials preserved in the Hanlin Academy.

By the end of the month, Su Ze was the only one who had not been summoned by the Crown Prince to attend the imperial lecture. All kinds of rumors spread quickly. Those officials who failed to be selected as imperial lecture officials gloated over Su Ze, while those officials who were summoned to attend the imperial lecture were complacent, thinking that they had surpassed Su Ze.

Shen Yi Guan could no longer sit still. He came to the History Museum again and saw Su Ze still reading the archived memorials. He pushed the memorials in front of Su Ze away and said:

"Brother Zilin! Are you really not anxious at all?"

Su Ze looked at Shen Yi Guan and asked doubtfully:
"What's the rush?"

"The Crown Prince is diligent in his studies and has been summoning officials to attend imperial lectures daily. Yet, you are the only one not summoned to the Imperial Household Department. Don't you want to know the reason?"

"Needless to say, someone must be unwilling for Su to hold an imperial lecture for the Crown Prince."

Shen Yiguan said, "Brother Zilin, you know all this? That's right, with your talent, how could you not know? But you just sit there and do nothing?"

Luo Wanhua, who was editing a book nearby, also looked up at Su Ze. Although he had no interest in giving lectures to the Crown Prince, he was still a little angry when he saw Su Ze being treated unfairly.

Seeing that Su Ze was still calm, Shen Yi Guan lost his temper and said:
"Actually, I heard that the Crown Prince wanted to summon Brother Zilin to the Imperial Lecture many times, but the Six Departments and Thirteen Provinces impeached you again, and Junior Secretary Yin Shidan used this as an excuse to prevent you from entering the Imperial Lecture."

(End of this chapter)