My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 83 Dear Dear
Huang Ji walked in front of the lecturers. He glanced at Su Ze and Shen Shixing who were at the end of the team.

This was the first imperial lecture after the Crown Prince began to give lectures, and the Junior Secretary Yin Shidan asked him to prepare the speech in advance.

Daily lectures and imperial lectures are different.

Daily lectures are just daily lectures, while the imperial lectures are attended by all lecturers and are quite grand events.

Being able to be the main speaker at the imperial lecture also shows that the Junior Chancellor Yin Shidan valued him.

Moreover, Su Ze is also present at this imperial lecture, so this is a good opportunity to curb his arrogance!

When Su Ze sees himself lecturing the Crown Prince, he will understand what it means to be an old minister in the palace!
When the crown prince ascends the throne in the future, I, the "imperial teacher", will definitely have to join the cabinet!
Don't look at Su Ze's current glory. When I become a cabinet minister, I will find a reason to demote him and send him out of the capital.

Huang Ji couldn't help but hum softly when thinking about the glory he would have after becoming a cabinet minister.

If Yin Shidan had not coughed, Huang Ji would still be fantasizing. He quickly put on a serious look and recited the speech he had prepared.

A group of lecturers walked into the main hall of the Eastern Palace. The imperial lecture was held in the main hall, which was more grand than the daily lectures in the study. The eunuchs and clerks of the Eastern Palace were also standing in the hall, giving it a sense of court attendance.

Zhu Yijun, who was sitting on the dragon bed, lit up his eyes when he saw Su Ze entering the hall.

When the lecturers, led by Yin Shidan, saluted the crown prince, Zhu Yijun also stood up and returned the half-salute. Zhu Yijun said:

"Give all the masters a seat!"

A group of eunuchs came into the hall with round stools, and everyone sat down after declining them.

Yin Shidan cleared his throat and said to everyone:

"The topic of today's lecture is 'Love and Respect'."

Upon hearing this topic, Shen Shixing and Su Ze looked at each other. It was obvious that this was a topic that Yin Shidan had prepared long ago. By giving this topic, it was obvious that he was not going to let lecturers like Su Ze and Shen Shixing, who had not received the topic in advance, speak.

"Respect your elders and love your family" is one of the most basic principles of Confucianism. It is a proposition that you cannot explain clearly even if you write a paper for days and nights.

Those who could give lectures to the Crown Prince were all successful candidates in the imperial examinations. However, even when faced with such a topic, they had to think carefully for several days and consult a large number of Confucian classics before they could begin to lecture.

Several lecturers who were familiar with Yin Shidan on weekdays all looked eager to try. It was obvious that they had already obtained the topic and prepared the lesson plan.

Even someone as good-tempered as Shen Shixing had a slightly annoyed look on his face.

If you, Young Chancellor Yin Shidan, want to promote your own people, why do you have to drag yourself along to show off?

Shen Shixing glanced at Su Ze beside him, only to see that Su Ze was looking at his nose and his mind, looking as if he didn't care.

Shen Shixing secretly thought that Su Ze was very well-mannered and didn't get angry even in such a situation.

But in fact, Shen Shixing didn't know that Su Ze didn't care about teaching the prince at all.

He was dragged here just to go through the motions. If there wasn't a reward after the imperial lecture, Su Ze wouldn't have bothered to come.

But thinking of the reward money after the imperial lecture, Su Ze, who was short of money, still came.

If you just hang around for half a day, the East Palace will give you food and money. The royal family of the Ming Dynasty was still willing to spend money on the prince's education. Just think of it as a part-time tutor.

As for the "dear ones and respected ones", even if Yin Shidan told him in advance, Su Ze was not interested in these empty Confucian debates, and he would not prepare any lecture lessons for this topic.

But Su Ze didn't take it seriously, while other lecturers did. As expected, not long after Yin Shidan proposed the topic, Huang Ji was eager to step forward and give a lecture.

But Zhu Yijun on the dragon bed suddenly said:
"Master Su, what do you think of this question?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Su Ze.

What do I think?
Su Ze stood up under the gaze of everyone, bowed his head and said:
"Your Highness, I did not study the Book of Rites during the imperial examinations, nor did I delve deeply into the principles of respecting relatives and elders."

The scope of the imperial examination was the Four Books and the Five Classics, but the Four Books, "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius" were compulsory courses, while the Five Classics, "The Book of Songs", "The Book of History", "The Book of Rites", "The Book of Changes" and "The Spring and Autumn Annals" were elective courses. Candidates taking the imperial examination only needed to choose one course.

Respecting one's relatives and elders is the content of "Book of Rites" and "Spring and Autumn Annals". Su Ze studied "Book of Changes" in the imperial examination, so there is nothing wrong with his answer.

However, it was obvious that Zhu Yijun was not going to let him go, but continued:

"Master Su, the Emperor praised your talent, why are you so reluctant to speak during the imperial lecture?"

Since Xiao Pangjun said so, Su Ze had no choice but to say:

"In that case, I will speak freely."

Zhu Yijun on the dragon bed sat up straight, his eyes shining as he said:

"Master Su, please teach me!"

Huang Ji, who was standing by, had his teeth almost broken.

It was clearly Chancellor Yin who gave him the opportunity to show himself, but the Crown Prince asked Su Ze to speak first!
The prince asked you, Su Ze, to speak, but you, Su Ze, actually made excuses and refused!
Huang Ji hated Su Ze even more, and was thinking in his mind that he should first listen to what Su Ze said, and then find the loopholes in his speech and give Su Ze a good trick!
Su Ze thought for a while and then said:
"Mencius said: 'Love your relatives and be kind to the people; be kind to the people and love all things.'"

Huang Ji frowned and started with a Mencius, which was quite relevant.

"The Book of Rites says, 'Three relatives make five, and five make nine,' which means there are differences between close relatives and distant relatives. The Spring and Autumn Annals records that Duke Zheng defeated Duke Duan at Yan, which clearly shows that the principle of respecting one's elders must not be violated."

Kinship is the system of closeness and distance constructed by Confucianism.

The so-called "three makes five" means that one is close to one's father, then to one's son, then to one's grandfather, and finally to one's grandson. "Five makes nine" means that one is close to one's grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, grandson, great-great-grandson, and great-great-grandson.

Confucianism is derived from family ethics, and thus constructs the close and distant relationships in the entire society.

Besides kissing, there is also respect.

In addition to the kinship relationships established by blood, a set of social relationships is constructed based on hierarchy. This is the sum of social relationships under the Confucian worldview.

Duke Zheng killed his younger brother, which shows that respecting elders is more important than relatives.

These two sentences are common sayings. Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty had already discussed them. Although they are not new, Huang Ji had no way to refute them.

Huang Ji felt that Su Ze was hypocritical. He just said that he was not good at "Book of Rites", but he knew a lot about relatives and respecting elders!

At this moment, Su Ze changed the subject and said:
"Mencius said, 'The grace of a gentleman is cut off after five generations.' Today, members of the imperial family receive annual salaries after being born at ten months old, while soldiers on the frontiers fight bloody battles for years only to receive five taels of silver. If the vassal kings could empathize with the emperor's will and practice benevolent governance, they would voluntarily cut unnecessary expenses to fund the military. This would be a true sign of respect and honor."

After saying this, not only the lecturers who had been staring at Su Ze's flaws were dumbfounded, but even Shen Shixing was dumbfounded?

No, I asked you to talk about love and respect, Su Ze, look at what you are talking about?
Why did my dearest lord bring up the affairs of the vassal kings?

Can I tell this to the prince?
(End of this chapter)