Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Zhang Shikang was stunned for a moment.

"No, Your Majesty, I have nothing to teach Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

He was not much of a reader, and he could not even recite the classics as fluently as this kid, and his calligraphy was even worse.

Most importantly, he doesn't like children very much, especially naughty kids around 11 or 12 years old.

The most important thing is that Zhu Cilang is not even a naughty kid. At such a young age, he is like a little adult and has no vitality.

"You don't need to teach him anything specifically. Just let him stay by your side and he will naturally understand." Emperor Chongzhen said meaningfully.

He has been with Zhang Shikang for almost two years and thinks he has learned a lot from this guy.

But these things are not found in the classics, history, and collections.

Emperor Chongzhen has been thinking a lot recently. He believes that the classics, history, and literature are important, but those things are more important.

And this thing is called thought.

When faced with the same difficulties, Zhang Shikang can always quickly find the core of the problem and solve it in a way he had never thought of.

Therefore, he wanted Crown Prince Zhu Cilang to learn Zhang Shikang's ideas, and he firmly believed that if he could achieve something, it would be of great benefit to the crown prince.

"Ah this..."

When Emperor Chongzhen said this, Zhang Shikang didn't know how to refute it.

Zhang Zhiji, who was standing by, kicked his son under the table, reminding him not to disobey the emperor's words.

In the eyes of ordinary people, being able to become the prince's master is a great honor, something that many people would love to have.

Moreover, once he becomes the prince's master, his future prospects will be very stable. This is a good thing both for his son himself and for the lineage of the Duke of England.

Zhang Zhiji is still brooding over the letter from Emperor Chongzhen reprimanding him two days ago, and is afraid that the emperor will really distance himself from him from then on.

The current Duke may seem to have a glorious life, but if he loses the trust of the emperor, his life will definitely be difficult.

Zhang Shikang was still hesitating whether to agree or not, but Emperor Chongzhen did not give him any room to refute and simply gave Zhu Cilang a look.

Zhu Cilang immediately stood up and respectfully saluted Zhang Shikang as a disciple.

"Master Zhang."

Zhang Shikang had no choice but to agree, thinking that this guy really knew how to be a leader. The salary of several hundred yuan would take away the time he had set aside every day to slack off.

Zhu Cilang picked up a cup of tea and handed it over respectfully.

"Master Zhang, please have some tea."

"Yeah." Zhang Shikang took the tea helplessly.

He felt that calling him Master Zhang made him sound too old, and wanted Zhu Cilang to call him something else.

For example, calling him elder brother or something, after all, he is only eight or nine years older than Zhu Cilang, but the idea didn't work.

If called that, he and this kid would be of the same generation, and Brother Chongzhen would be his uncle.

It's really not worth it to add a super generational member.

"Master Zhang, Cilang thought about Master Zhang's question last year for a long time and felt that what Master Zhang said was right.

Cilang learned about many scandals of court officials through Eunuch Fang, including several of Cilang's masters.

They told me to be benevolent to the people, but they themselves did things that hurt the people.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty had internal and external troubles. "

After Zhu Cilang sat down, he said to his new teacher.

Although he was only eleven or twelve years old, his thinking was still logical. He no longer believed everything he heard, but verified it personally through Fang Zhenghua, the director of the East Factory.

"Well, you even knew to verify it yourself. You are a teachable person." Zhang Shikang nodded like an old scholar.

"But Cilang still disagrees with Master's way of handling the matter. It is wrong to massacre all the scholars in the world."

Zhu Cilang seemed a little afraid of Zhang Shikang, but still insisted on expressing his thoughts.

"Oh? Then what do you think we should do?" Zhang Shikang was not angry, but asked with a smile.

"Ci Lang believes that they should be punished and made to reflect in the prison of the Ministry of Justice."

Zhu Cilang put a lot of effort into this and even looked up the Ming Dynasty laws. He felt that although most of the scholars were guilty, their crimes did not deserve the death penalty.

"Well, that makes sense, but Your Highness, have you ever thought about this?

How many cells are there in the Ministry of Justice Prison?" Zhang Shikang asked with a smile.

"This..." Zhu Cilang had no idea about this and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"That's the second thing, let me ask you again.

If we really do as you said and verify them one by one, how long will it take?

Will those guys who have committed crimes and are well-informed destroy the evidence before he is caught?

How much time and manpower would it take to check so many people at the same time?

What should you do if you know that a person is guilty but you cannot find any evidence?

If the progress is too slow, the guilty people will unite, just like why I went to the south to quell the rebellion.

If you encounter this situation, would you continue to investigate them or kill them directly?

If this process is going to drag on for several years, go and ask the people who are starving to death all over the world, and ask them if they can refrain from rebelling first?

Or, you can also ask Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, or Huang Taiji, and ask them, the situation of our Ming Dynasty has been a bit bad in the past two years, can you ask them to stop making trouble for the time being?

There are also hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court cannot afford to pay them. You have to ask them if they can work first and then be paid later when there is money?

and also……

Oh, never mind. I won’t say any more.

I feel like my words have touched your soul once again."

Zhang Shikang asked more than a dozen questions in a very calm manner. He wanted to continue talking, but when he looked at Zhu Cilang's little face, his brows were furrowed into knots.

He felt that Chongzhen and his son were quite similar in this respect. Whenever they encountered problems beyond their capabilities, they would frown.

"Well, you'd better stop thinking about it and eat first." Seeing that Zhu Cilang couldn't figure it out and was still trying hard to figure it out, Zhang Shikang advised him.

But Zhu Cilang seemed a bit stubborn. Although he obediently picked up the dishes, his brows were still unwilling to relax.

Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen also took this opportunity to teach a lesson:

“Prince, you should remember that there may be many solutions to a problem.

However, you must choose the most efficient method, even if it will have adverse effects.

As the crown prince, you should understand that compared to scholars, the majority of people in this world are still ordinary people.

If you get close to these people, you will offend them.

When you inherit the great cause one day, you will understand that even as the Son of Heaven, it is impossible to be perfect in everything."

Emperor Chongzhen's words were inspired by his feelings, but even though he had done so many stupid things before, what he cared about most in his heart was still the people of the world.

He knew that even if he wanted to let his people live a good life, he would be powerless with his own abilities alone.

Therefore, he placed all his hopes on Zhang Shikang.

It is important for people to know themselves.

Only when you know yourself can you know others.

"Your Majesty, Master, I have remembered it." Zhu Cilang seemed to have realized something and bowed his head very respectfully.

"Eat first, and then you will learn from your master." Emperor Chongzhen showed a rare kind smile to his son.

Just at this moment, Princess Kunyi came over from the Queen's side.

"Father, Kunyi also wants to ask Guanjun Hou to be his master."

……