My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 95 A Holy Lord Descends from Heaven?

Zhu Shi naturally dared not disobey Yongzheng's wishes.

He could only continue to be Hongli's teacher.

Therefore, Zhu Shi had no choice but to abandon his concern for his personal reputation and that of the literati, and instead continue on the path of respecting etiquette.

After making this decision, he couldn't help but feel excited.

What excited him was that he was going to raise a prince who was very insightful in matters of etiquette.

Most importantly, this prince is almost certain to be the next emperor!
This allowed Zhu Shi to imagine how much the rites and etiquette would be strengthened after this prince became emperor.

His ideas on respecting etiquette will also be thoroughly implemented.

As for the side effects of this, namely the further confinement and unfreedom of the gentry, he has decided not to consider them anymore.

He could only console himself with the old saying, "You can't have your cake and eat it too."

And next.

When Zhu Shi met with his colleagues and friends Zhang Tingyu and Fang Bao, he couldn't wait to tell them about the discussions on rites that he had heard from Emperor Qianlong while teaching at the Maoqin Hall.

Of the three, Zhang Tingyu was Fang Bao's tutor in the imperial examination, while Zhu Shi was able to enter the Emperor Yongzheng's sights and become Hongli's teacher because of Zhang Tingyu's recommendation.

Of the three, Fang Bao was the first to gain the emperor's favor, because he was a close friend of Kangxi from humble beginnings.

Secondly, there was Zhang Tingyu, because Emperor Kangxi personally reviewed and selected Zhang Tingyu's examination essay.

When Zhang Tingyu was taking the imperial examination, Emperor Kangxi appointed Zhang Tingyu's father, Zhang Ying, as the chief examiner. Zhang Ying declined the position to avoid suspicion, citing that his son had already registered to take the examination.

Emperor Kangxi rejected Zhang Ying's resignation and decided to personally review Zhang Tingyu's examination paper.

Therefore, Zhang Tingyu could say that both his mentor and his tutor were Emperor Kangxi.

Therefore, if we're talking about who Zhang Tingyu was a disciple of, then he could only be a disciple of Emperor Kangxi!
Because Zhang Tingyu's mentor and tutor were, strictly speaking, Emperor Kangxi, and Fang Bao was a close friend whom Emperor Kangxi personally treated as a friend, Zhang Tingyu did not follow the custom of the imperial examinations and had Fang Bao address him as his mentor. Instead, he treated Fang Bao as a friend among scholars.

Zhu Shi also treated Zhang Tingyu and Fang Bao as friends.

Because the three of them shared the same fundamental ideas and beliefs.

Zhang Tingyu and Fang Bao were both stunned after hearing Zhu Shi's account of Hongli's discussion on rites.

Although Fang Bao already knew that Hongli had a deep understanding of literature and had succinctly summarized his advocacy of "the unity of Tao and literature," he was still very surprised and delighted by this.

Zhang Tingyu picked up his teacup, but hesitated to take a sip. He murmured to himself, "Nothing is greater than benevolence within, and nothing is more urgent than propriety without."

"This perfectly explains the relationship between respecting etiquette and being based on benevolence!"

“Our fourth prince’s understanding of the classics is quite remarkable. Only someone who has devoted himself to studying the classics and truly respects etiquette could reach such a conclusion.”

Zhang Tingyu then looked up and spoke to Zhu Shi.

Fang Bao chimed in, "Just as Heng Chen said, if this Fourth Prince becomes the ruler of the world in the future, he will surely strengthen the rites and etiquette!"

Zhu Shi nodded in agreement and said very seriously, "I am not speaking presumptuously as a teacher, but if the Fourth Prince becomes the ruler of the world in the future, he will surely be a sage ruler sent from heaven!"

"And those scoundrels who call themselves scholars but are actually hypocrites and disrupt the proper etiquette will have nowhere to hide! Those who pursue fame and fortune and engage in pretentious and affected behavior will also be subject to the constraints of propriety!"

After speaking, Zhu Shi looked at Zhang Tingyu and Fang Bao.

He believed that the two men would understand his meaning: they knew that with Hongli's talent, once he became emperor, he would definitely use the laws and rites as a weapon to deal with the scholar-officials, rather than simply allowing them to be above the common people in order to uphold the rites.

Zhang Tingyu nodded at this point.

He was a staunch supporter of Yongzheng before Yongzheng became emperor, and he strongly supported the reforms that the fourth prince was currently implementing, such as abolishing the status of lowly people. Naturally, he could accept that the emperor would use etiquette and law to restrict his own scholar-officials.

"After the collapse of social order at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the world was devastated and littered with bones for decades. This shows that the rules of propriety cannot be enforced without strictness. For the sake of long-term stability, it is better to use propriety as a fence to restrain everyone than to disregard the world for the sake of personal whims."

"If the Fourth Prince is truly a divinely appointed ruler, it is a blessing for the nation, a blessing for the people, and a blessing for our scholars. Only those with treacherous hearts would think this is a misfortune for the world."

Zhang Tingyu then elaborated on his own views, stating that as long as Hongli was a divinely appointed emperor, he was willing to see Hongli imprison the scholars of the world, forcing them to obediently follow the emperor's will.

Fang Bao also said solemnly, "Although none of us experienced the period of Ming's fall and Qing's rise, we have all heard our ancestors talk about the horrors of that time. Even when the late emperor ascended the throne, some prefectures still had more tigers than people. In the Sichuan and Chongqing area, some people who fled to the deep mountains to escape the war lived like wild beasts, climbing rocks and living in caves, eating raw meat and drinking blood. When they saw people, they would run away and scream in terror, unable to speak human language!" "All of this was because the moral order had collapsed. Scholars were shameless, taking pride in extravagance and debauchery, even saying that this could bring prosperity to the country. As a result, the common people hated scholars, and when rebels came, they took pleasure in humiliating scholars and bullying officials!"

"This trend is starting to rise again. If a wise ruler doesn't come, things will probably continue like this."

As someone who also respected etiquette, valued order and adherence to rules, and therefore required his writings to be well-organized and logical, Fang Bao was naturally happy to see Hongli continue to strictly govern everyone in the world, including scholars.

To put it bluntly, these scholar-officials were terrified by the mass killings at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, and felt that peace and stability were the most important things.

Of course, tranquility was indeed an important need for the landlord class.

In particular, many spontaneous reformers among the landlord class were not primarily motivated by the desire for a more prosperous life for the people, nor by the wish for a dynasty to last forever. Rather, they feared that chaos would engulf the land, disrupt the production and living order of the agrarian society, and cause their privileges to vanish when that order was broken.

Therefore, Zhang Tingyu and Fang Bao were willing to see someone like Hongli, who might be exceptionally gifted, become the emperor.

Therefore, even though Zhu Shi was worried about the possibility of being detrimental to himself due to rumors, he still chose to set aside his concerns about personal gain and loss and support the strict use of etiquette to demand that everyone in the world be treated with respect.

"Speaking of which, the late emperor once brought the fourth prince to see me. At that time, I was ordered by the late emperor to ask the fourth prince what his insights were on literary creation."

The Fourth Prince replied that moral principles, textual research, and literary style should be given equal importance.

"I was amazed by this at the time. I was amazed that the Fourth Prince, at such a young age, showed such a steady and pragmatic attitude in writing. So when the late Emperor asked about the matter of establishing an heir, he said that the grandson of the emperor should be established."

Since Emperor Kangxi had passed away and Emperor Yongzheng had been appointed to rule the country, Fang Bao recounted his experience of seeing Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Hongli at his private residence.

After Fang Bao said this, Zhu Shi looked at Fang Bao with shining eyes again and asked, "So, back then, our Fourth Prince was already pursuing rigor in his writing?"

"Exactly!"

Fang Bao nodded solemnly.

"No wonder the late emperor was quite fond of the fourth prince in his later years, and when he was on his deathbed, he saw only the fourth prince among all his grandsons."

"Now it seems that it was not a coincidence. The late emperor also understood that the fourth prince's talent was incomparable to that of ordinary princes."

Zhang Tingyu also spoke up with a smile at this moment.

Fang Bao then spoke up again: "I have heard that Mr. Fuxuan (Wang Yan) also believes that the Fourth Prince is the reason why the late Emperor passed the throne to His Majesty. Therefore, he is planning with some Manchu and Han ministers to request an imperial decree to establish an heir."

Fang Bao then looked at Zhu Shi: "But Brother Ruozhan, you are the current Fourth Prince's teacher. It is probably inappropriate for Mr. Fuxuan and others to submit the memorial regarding the request to establish an heir."

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Shi said, "That's true. As the Fourth Prince's tutor, I should naturally help him secure the throne!"

"I will next petition for the establishment of an heir apparent, but I wonder if you two would be willing to submit the petition together?"

Zhu Shi looked at Fang Bao and Zhang Tingyu.

Zhang Tingyu then smiled and shook his head: "In my humble opinion, it is not appropriate to submit a memorial requesting the emperor to establish an heir at this time."

"Why?"

Zhang Tingyu looked at Zhu Shi: "Brother Ruozhan, it would be better to inform the Fourth Prince first. Since you are determined to recognize the Fourth Prince as the Crown Prince, there is a distinction between ruler and subject. Some things cannot be done behind the back of the emperor and father!"

Zhu Shi nodded, stood up, and bowed to Zhang Tingyu, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Hengchen!"

"Let me inform the Fourth Prince first, so that he knows that we intend to request the imperial decree to establish an heir."

……

……

"If Khan asks you about the succession, who would you support as the heir?"

After learning about this from Zhu Shi, Hongli asked him about it.

Zhu Shi then cupped his hands in greeting: "In terms of both virtue and talent, you, Fourth Prince, are the most outstanding!"

Since Zhu Shi spoke these words to Hongli outside of class time, he did not act as a teacher and naturally addressed Hongli as the Fourth Prince.

Hongli shook his head and said, "No! Please do not directly state that you want to make your disciple the heir apparent. You can only express your intention to secretly establish an heir apparent!"

(End of this chapter)