Chapter 420 419 Prince Yu

Prince Yu stood aside and began to reflect on his words and deeds during this period, while Wei Guangde stood aside quietly and observed.

So far, Wei Guangde felt that Prince Yu's personality was really good and it was not difficult to get along with him.

But Prince Yu was now recalling the situation when he was still in the palace.

At that time, there were not only him and Prince Jing in the palace, but also his second brother, who was destined to be the crown prince.

Because his mother was not favored, Prince Yu had noticed since he could remember that the rewards he received were much worse than those of his brother Prince Jing, not to mention the second brother who was the crown prince.

At that time, almost everything in the palace revolved around the second brother, as if his father had only one son like him.

Perhaps it was at that time that Prince Yu developed a bit of inferiority complex.

When he entered the study hall, perhaps because he was really stupid, no matter what knowledge he learned, he was a step slower than his second brother and Prince Jing, and seemed very dull.

But it didn't matter. At that time, Prince Yu had already known from his mother that he would be a vassal king in the future. Since he was a vassal king, there was no need to know too much.

At that time, Prince Yu only hoped that such a carefree life could continue. When he came of age, his father would choose a fiefdom and he would live freely in the fiefdom.

However, all this changed until that night. Prince Yu still remembered that his second brother, who had been with them day and night, had not appeared in the study hall for several days in a row.

Because they had known before that the second brother was going to be officially named the crown prince, the crown prince could not study in the study hall, but had to go to the Wenhua Hall, which was the so-called "marriage", so they didn't care at first.

However, when they woke up and found that the palace was full of white curtains, they knew that their second brother was dead.

Although Prince Yu didn't dare to say a word outside those days after being taught by his mother, his young mind had already understood the fragility of life. Thinking about the lively and active second brother before, he was gone in just a few days.

After the death of his second brother, Prince Yu, as the oldest among the princes, originally thought that he would be valued by his father and receive the same treatment as his second brother, but in the end he thought too much.

Even though his mother tried her best to fight for him at that time, she failed because she was not favored. At that time, his mother pretended to be very happy in front of him, but she often cried silently behind his back.

Prince Yu saw all this and kept it in mind.

However, for him at that time, he could not do anything, as if he was destined to have no chance of that position.

His second brother died suddenly of illness, and he did not understand what the illness was, but since then he has developed a cautious character. With his inferiority complex, he seems even more dull and slow in the palace.

When he moved out of the palace and into Prince Yu's mansion, because his mother and himself were not favored, the items Prince Yu carried were relatively shabby compared to Prince Jing.

After that, after his mother died of illness, Prince Yu began to live in fear, not because he was afraid that someone would murder him, but because he was the eldest child of Emperor Jiajing.

At that time, although Prince Yu knew that he should inherit the throne according to the ancestral system, he lacked fatherly love since childhood, and the image of Emperor Jiajing in Prince Yu's mind was extremely vague, so he did not think too much about it. Perhaps when he was in the palace, he always thought that he would only become a vassal king in the future.

Moreover, Prince Yu was also extremely sensitive at that time. When rumors spread that Emperor Jiajing might intend to make Prince Jing the crown prince, he felt heartache and deep fear for a moment.

He was worried that because his existence hindered Prince Jing from being named the crown prince, he would be hated or even secretly murdered.

He did not want to compete for that position. When his father arranged Gao Gong to enter the palace as a lecturer and be responsible for all matters in the palace, Prince Yu chose to let go. He did not want to care about anything.

He handed over the affairs of the inner court of the palace to Li Fang, a trusted eunuch, to arrange, and all the affairs of the outer court of the palace were handed over to Gao Gong to handle.

He wanted to express in this way that he had no intention of competing for the throne, so that he could live well.

However, he did not expect that both Li Fang and Gao Gong had arranged the affairs of the palace in an orderly manner, and were working hard to expand his influence and develop his power, wanting to help him fight for the position of crown prince.

But at that time, Prince Yu did not want to fight for it, but just watched their efforts silently and completely delegated power to them.

At first, Prince Yu delegated power just to show his indifferent way of dealing with things, but he did not expect that such an approach would have such an effect. After delegating power, the palace was well managed by Li Fang and Gao Gong, and there was no chaos at all.

And Gao Gong's tossing outside seemed to make Prince Yu's Palace regain its presence in the capital. At least many officials in the court showed their closeness to Prince Yu's Palace to a certain extent.

At this time, Prince Yu began to realize that finding a capable and trustworthy minister who could do things better than him without having to do everything himself.

Although Prince Yu's Mansion had also experienced many hardships, especially because of the Ministry of Revenue, Prince Yu's Mansion was almost unable to make ends meet, which not only made Prince Yu deeply understand the importance of money, but also the importance of power.

Status, sometimes it is really not as good as a little real power and benefits.

However, it seems that recently, after knowing that his father had decided that his fourth brother, Prince Jing, would be enfeoffed in De'an Mansion, he suddenly became arrogant.

Even when the Prince Yu's Mansion and the Prince Jing's Mansion were fighting the most fiercely in the capital, Prince Yu actually didn't have much thought of competing for the throne in his heart, but just let them fight, because deep in his heart, he didn't feel the Emperor Jiajing's concern for him at all. Would such a father pass the throne to him?

Yes, Prince Yu, who had no intention of fighting at all, was hit on the head by a pie for no reason. As the only prince left in Beijing, he knew what his future would be.

And today, he felt fear again, which hadn't happened for many years.

At that time, because he was indifferent, he could remain calm no matter what storms he faced, but what about now?

Just because of a word from Emperor Jiajing, he became worried about gains and losses, worried about losing what was about to be in his hands.

Prince Yu looked at Wei Guangde at this time, "You are right, I have been a little obsessed during this period."

Speaking of this, Prince Yu was silent for a while, and then he continued: "To be honest with Guangde, before, I never thought that I could..."

Prince Yu's words made Wei Guangde feel a little depressed, but he still didn't understand. When he first came into contact with Prince Yu's Mansion, he didn't realize that Prince Yu had no intention of competing for the throne at that time. The entire Prince Yu's Mansion looked like a whole, and it was doing its best to protect Prince Yu in the fight for the position of the crown prince.

But the words Prince Yu just said and the feelings he showed did not seem to be false.

At this moment, Li Fang, who was beside Prince Yu, was not there. When Wei Guangde came over, Li Fang had already walked to the carriage to talk to Chen Ju.

Although Chen Ju had been helping Prince Yu's Mansion, he was still not in the way of rules. After all, this was near the West Garden, so he couldn't come directly to meet Prince Yu.

Only two people stood here and talked. Perhaps it was because Wei Guangde had not been in the palace for a long time and had not yet expressed a strong attitude to protect Prince Yu in the fight for the position of the crown prince, so Prince Yu could say these words in front of him.

Although there are some contradictions, Wei Guangde still understands that it seems that Gao Gong and others have been carrying Prince Yu forward all the way in Prince Yu's Mansion.

As a basic quality that a monarch must possess, great talent and strategy are not seen in Prince Yu. Perhaps he is a monarch who maintains the status quo.

Reading "Zizhi Tongjian", Wei Guangde knows the three basic qualities that a monarch should possess, namely the so-called "benevolence", "wisdom" and "martial arts".

Three basic qualities must be possessed, namely the so-called "benevolence", "wisdom" and "martial arts".

"Benevolence" is the benevolence of the emperor. This does not mean being gentle and kind or full of benevolence and morality on weekdays, but having great benevolence that is accepted by heaven and earth, and "promoting education, improving politics, supporting the people, and benefiting all things".

Does Prince Yu have this quality?

Prince Yu is a good person. As for whether he has great benevolence and righteousness, Wei Guangde thinks that as long as it does not harm his own interests, Prince Yu should accept it. At least when the interests are not greatly harmed, Prince Yu should be willing to show his "benevolence" to the world.

"Ming" does not mean "Ming" in the sense of "observing everything clearly", but means that the king can see the state of the country clearly, can distinguish the ability of his ministers, understand the way to govern the country, and have his own clear position.

In fact, this "Ming" is a bit vague, and Wei Guangde is not good at summarizing it, but he knows this general meaning.

Prince Yu has lived outside the palace for many years. Although he has walked among the people, he is outside the palace after all, and he knows a lot. As for the ability to judge people, at least the people to whom Prince Yu entrusted power have not disappointed him so far.

As for the way to govern the country, Wei Guangde feels that Prince Yu does not seem to think in that direction, or he does not have a specific goal. The word "Ming" used for Prince Yu seems a little obscure.

As for the last "Wu", it does not refer to martial arts, nor does it mean that the king should be aggressive and murderous, but it means that when encountering things, he should take advantage of the opportunity to deal with them, make accurate and firm decisions based on reason, and not be influenced by evil words.

Therefore, this "Wu" does not mean to act arbitrarily, but to be bold and responsible.

So does Prince Yu deserve the word "Wu"?

Obviously, judging from Prince Yu's previous anxiety about gains and losses, Prince Yu is not worthy of it.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but have the urge to hold his forehead with his hands. Prince Yu is really not a qualified monarch.

But then, Wei Guangde thought that perhaps it was precisely because Prince Yu was such a person, a relatively weak monarch, that he could give the talented ministers below room to display their means.

Of course, Prince Yu could not be compared with Emperor Jiajing. Not long after Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne, he dared to compete with ministers such as Yang Tinghe until he completely defeated them. Not only because he was an emperor, but also because he had a strong heart.

In fact, if Emperor Jiajing and Prince Yu were to neutralize each other, they would really be a perfect monarch in Sima Guang's eyes.

Emperor Jiajing has "Ming" and "Wu", and Prince Yu's "Ren" merges together.

In fact, judging from the political situation in the early Jiajing period, if Emperor Jiajing had not changed his nature and become a Taoist, the Jiajing Dynasty might have ushered in a revival. It was only because Emperor Jiajing became a Taoist that he only created the "Jiajing New Deal" situation.

Of course, this situation was not created by Emperor Jiajing. It can only be said that it was caused by a group of ministers who chose to side with Emperor Jiajing because of the "Great Ceremony". Most of them were destined to be unable to hold high positions because of their low rankings in the imperial examination, so they chose to speculate on the emperor. However, precisely because they have been in the middle and lower levels of official circles for a long time, they have a clear understanding of various problems existing in the Ming Dynasty and can come up with practical solutions.

Although it seems that many New Deals are not perfect and have many flaws, resulting in many New Deals actually being in a trial state, mostly implemented in a certain province and not promoted throughout the Ming Dynasty, they still changed the political climate of the Ming Dynasty to a great extent.

Of course, the fact that Emperor Jiajing would adopt these suggestions was largely related to the fact that he ascended the throne as a vassal king and inherited the throne. He needed to make some achievements to stabilize his position.

"Your Highness, it's not easy for us to get to this point. Please never say what you just said again in the future."

Wei Guangde bowed at this time and said to King Yu.

King Yu nodded, smiled casually and said, "It's my fault that made Guangde laugh."

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng, dressed in a green robe, was seen walking slowly from a distance, with a relaxed look on his face, obviously he had done something well.

"We should be done here."

King Yu saw it and said to Wei Guangde.

"Yes, it's done. Your Highness should go back to the palace quickly, otherwise it won't be good if others see you."

Wei Guangde reminded in a low voice.

King Yu was worried about what happened before, so he came here in person, which Wei Guangde could understand.

Now they have done everything they can. It seems that only the Minister of Rites has failed to do a good job. However, based on Wei Guangde's judgment, it should be harmless, so he began to think about the finishing touches.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, King Yu nodded and looked in the direction where Zhang Juzheng was walking.

Not long after, Zhang Juzheng had already walked over, and the eunuch beside him walked towards the carriage where Li Fang and Chen Ju were.

After Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng greeted each other, King Yu also handed Gao Gong's letter to Zhang Juzheng to read. Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly at first, then relaxed after a long time, and then said similar words to Wei Guangde to King Yu.

"Your Highness, there is no need to worry. Wu Shangshu only insists on the duties of the Ministry of Rites. If there are Qin Tianjian and those alchemists, your Majesty will not pay attention to what Wu Shangshu said."

Zhang Juzheng also understood that, as the Minister of Rites, he had the right intention to report the rescue after the solar eclipse. As for Emperor Jiajing's thoughts, he and Wei Guangde agreed. The people who knew the most about gods and ghosts all had the same opinion, which should dissuade Jiajing. The emperor's concerns are correct.

What's more, Wei Guangde's excuse is also impeccable, that is, the chaos in Fujian.

Previously, the court's handling seemed to be somewhat inappropriate, and Zhang Juzheng also believed that stronger means should be used to suppress it as soon as possible, otherwise Jiangnan might really cause major turmoil, which would be bad.