Chapter 179: The Emperor and Empress in Deep Affection (Begging for Full Subscription and Premium Support!)

Zhu Youxiao's generous treatment of Shen Tingyun naturally spread beyond the palace walls very quickly.

This matter could not be hidden from people anyway, and besides, Zhu Youxiao had no intention of hiding it.

Officials throughout the court all came to recognize one thing: Shen Tingyun enjoyed His Majesty's deep trust.

At the same time, some knew that it was something Shen Tingyun had presented that pleased His Majesty, and so countless people began inquiring into what exactly that thing was.

This matter was already extremely sensitive to begin with, and now with a situation like this developing, it was naturally pushed to the forefront of the storm.

Although not everyone was qualified to obtain this information, bits and pieces still leaked out here and there.

The greatest controversy arose over the aspect of teaching scholarship and learning.

The point the opponents attacked was actually something Zhu Youxiao had long anticipated — namely, that Shen Tingyun's academy was not primarily focused on teaching Confucianism.

In Shen Tingyun's conception, the academy taught many subjects, even including law, which meant that elements of Legalism existed within it.

Although it was no longer appropriate to talk about the Hundred Schools of Thought these days — they no longer existed in this world — one could still use this to pin a label on someone.

And so countless people directed their efforts against Shen Tingyun, for they knew this big label could crush a man to death, and at the same time could unite the literati against Shen Tingyun in a common hatred, and even in the future, everyone who stood with Shen Tingyun could have this label slapped on them as well.

Some also prepared to pin this label onto the academy's students.

In short, whether in officialdom or in academic circles, the goal was to exclude Shen Tingyun and his kind from the mainstream, leaving them not a single shred of soil to survive on.

As for the opponents' tactics, Zhu Youxiao did not bother to intervene, because someone else would deal with them.

Playing this kind of game was not something Zhu Youxiao excelled at; rather, Xu Guangqi and the others were far better at it.

Sure enough, Xu Guangqi and his associates quickly began to counterattack — countless people submitted routine memorials and launched debates in academic circles over "what is Confucianism."

Some even played with the question, "What kind of Confucianism is the Confucianism that people today need to study?"

Someone raised the banner crying out: "There are so many writings under heaven, all authored by people of their respective dynasties. But we are the Great Ming — we must learn selectively; it is impossible to take everything from everyone and study it all, because within it there is good and bad. Take the essence, discard the dross!"

After receiving this news, Zhu Youxiao roughly understood in his heart what Xu Guangqi and the others intended to do.

It was plain as day that Xu Guangqi and his group wanted to compile their own teaching materials — it should be something they had put together among themselves.

Zhu Youxiao himself had not raised this matter, but Xu Guangqi and the others had still thought of it.

However, regarding the compilation of teaching materials, Zhu Youxiao was still very concerned, because he could not allow Xu Guangqi and the others to simply pour their own personal ideologies into the academy.

Neither Li Zhi's thought nor Xu Guangqi's Catholic thought would do.

The Great Ming needed to have its own ideology — an ideology that was entirely new, distilled from a certain foundation.

But Zhu Youxiao also knew that this was not yet the time for him to step in; let them squabble with each other for now — in the end, nothing would come of it anyway.

When the matter finally stirred its way up to his doorstep, it would still not be too late for him to make his move.

Just as Zhu Youxiao was sitting at his desk, chewing on candied fruit and pondering these questions, Chen Hong quietly approached his side, bowed, and said in a soft voice: "Your Majesty, the Empress has come."

The Empress?

This gave Zhu Youxiao a start — he had not expected Empress Zhang to come here.

But Zhu Youxiao could roughly understand a young girl's feelings. Newly married, in the honeymoon period — the time when couples stick together like glue.

Come to think of it, he hadn't visited Empress Zhang for two days now; the young lady was probably feeling lonely.

"Let the Empress come in." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile in his eyes.

Soon Empress Zhang walked in from outside.

One could tell she was a little excited, and seemed a little nervous as well.

Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, Empress Zhang quickly bent forward and said softly: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

Zhu Youxiao smiled as he stepped down from the dragon throne, walked straight over to Empress Zhang's side, gently took her soft, tender little hand, and said in a warm tone: "Baozhu, why have you come over?"

Hearing him call her by her childhood name, two patches of pink flushed instantly across Empress Zhang's cheeks.

She shot a shy glance at her sovereign, then bit her lip and said: "I came to see... to see Your Majesty. Your Majesty has been busy these past two days, and I was a little worried about you."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Empress Zhang's bashful appearance, smiled, then took her hand and led her outside the great hall.

He looked up at the clear weather outside, then turned to Empress Zhang and said: "The weather is fine today. Since Baozhu has come, you might as well accompany me for a stroll."

Empress Zhang naturally had no objection to this proposal of Zhu Youxiao's.

Originally she should not have come — coming over like this carried a hint of presumption. But now that everyone had just entered the palace, the competition for favor and the consolidation of position had already begun, and as Empress, she naturally had more worries.

Zhu Youxiao was aware of Empress Zhang's worries and concerns, so he chose to lead her out for a turn around the grounds, to let everyone see.

At this moment Chen Hong walked over from the side and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, as for the Hundred Crafts Institute, this servant will go give the word and tell them Your Majesty will not be coming today."

As he spoke, Chen Hong cast an apologetic look at Empress Zhang.

These words really should not have been said — now was precisely the time when the Emperor and Empress were in their loving embrace. For him to chime in with this was truly spoiling the mood, and most critically, it was far too easy to earn the Empress's resentment.

If he earned the Empress's resentment in this palace, there would be no good fruit for him to eat.

Empress Zhang, however, did not take it to heart — she had simply come too suddenly — so she gave Chen Hong a slight smile.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said: "Enough, what's there to postpone? I'll take the Empress along with me. Go tell them that I and the Empress will come together."

With that, Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Empress Zhang and asked: "I'm going to the Hundred Crafts Workshop to take a look. Would the Empress be willing to come with me?"

Raising her head to look at Zhu Youxiao, Empress Zhang said with a slightly flushed face: "As long as I am with Your Majesty, I am willing to go anywhere."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Empress Zhang's appearance, a flicker of surprise passing over his face, and at the same time he genuinely felt a stirring in his heart, so he reached out and embraced Empress Zhang.

This made Empress Zhang's face grow even redder, and she said in a murmuring voice: "Your Majesty, people are still watching."

He looked around, and finally Zhu Youxiao's gaze landed on Chen Hong. "Did you see anything?"

Chen Hong was momentarily speechless.

You two lovebirds showing off your affection — I, a eunuch, have already been slapped in the face with it, and now you still want me to answer a question like that?

But Chen Hong still put on a smiling face and said: "Your Majesty, the wind was strong just now; this servant got something in his eyes and can't see anything at the moment."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao ask such a question, Empress Zhang grew even more shy and spoke softly: "Your Majesty..."

Seeing Empress Zhang's appearance at this moment, Zhu Youxiao had the urge to take her straight back to the bedchamber.

At a time like this, who still wants to go to the Hundred Crafts Institute?

But Zhu Youxiao himself knew he absolutely could not do that—if he really did, it would become the Emperor and Empress indulging in intimacy in broad daylight.

A good Empress needed to have a good reputation.

If he himself bore the reputation of a fatuous ruler, then the Empress's reputation should be all the better—it would give the ministers hope, letting them have somewhere to turn to the Empress.

This could serve as a mediator between himself and his ministers, just like Empress Zhangsun of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.

"Alright, let's go." Zhu Youxiao released Empress Zhang, but still reached out and took her hand.

Empress Zhang tried to pull her hand free, but did not succeed.

Zhu Youxiao held Empress Zhang's hand, looked at her, and said with a smile: "This is the deep affection between Emperor and Empress—setting an example for them, letting the whole world see."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao say this, Empress Zhang stopped struggling. Though she was a bit embarrassed and her face flushed slightly red, she still let His Majesty hold her hand.

The Emperor brought the Empress to the Hundred Crafts Institute, and this was a major event for everyone there.

No one had expected the Emperor to bring the Empress along, but everyone also realized one thing—that the Emperor truly doted on the Empress. After all, this was a place where ordinary people could not just come and go.

"Why would His Majesty bring the Empress along?" Bi Maokang's face was full of confusion. He asked Xu Guangqi beside him with some hesitation, wanting Xu Guangqi to give him an explanation.

Glancing at Bi Maokang, Xu Guangqi only shook his head and said nothing.

How could he explain it to him?

He didn't know anything himself.

But seeing that he was still staring at him, Xu Guangqi had no choice but to say with some helplessness: "The deep affection between His Majesty and the Empress is the blessing of us ministers."

Bi Maokang turned his head back. He also knew that Xu Guangqi was talking nonsense.

As the Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, Xu Guangqi should logically be very busy, and ordinarily he had no free time to come here.

But Xu Guangqi simply could not rest easy, so whenever he had a spare moment, he would find time to come here.

Today His Majesty was coming over, so Xu Guangqi had followed along as well.

Xu Guangqi also currently oversaw the Ministry of Revenue, and recently he had been researching how to cultivate seeds. He had already selected several imperial estates and had people level the land, preparing to begin cultivating crop seeds before promoting them.

In Xu Guangqi's view, the first thing to promote was the sweet potato. It was a wonderful thing—if trial planting succeeded this year, then next year he would promote it on a large scale.

Additionally, Xu Guangqi had also obtained several new planting techniques from Zhu Youxiao, such as selective breeding and hybridization.

Though he did not know whether they would work, they had at least opened a new door for Xu Guangqi.

It was just that the season was not right now—otherwise Xu Guangqi would have devoted himself entirely to this matter.

To use Zhu Youxiao's words: no matter how vast heaven and earth are, eating is the greatest matter.

Whether it was the common people of the realm, the army, or the officials—only after eating their fill would they have the heart to do things.

Even if it was cursing in the streets, one needed to eat their fill to have the strength to curse.

Xu Guangqi particularly agreed with this point, and at the same time he also kept an eye on the Hundred Crafts Institute.

To use Xu Guangqi's words: once the grain was prepared, the army was prepared, and the equipment was prepared, then they could go to war.

Xu Guangqi—he looked like a kindly old man, but he was quite ruthless.