Chapter 273

…

Zheng Xiansu was right; Zhao Yu still had a backup plan.

Zhao Yu knew full well that once the system of merit-based enfeoffment and hereditary rank reduction was implemented, strong princes like Zhu Di would inevitably emerge.

If Zhao Shou were a weak, foolish, and cowardly heir like Zhu Yunwen, then after Zhao Yu's death, the Zhao Song dynasty might well experience another "Jingnan Rebellion."

To prevent such fratricidal conflict, Zhao Yu prepared two backup plans.

The first backup plan was to send Zhao Shou out as well—first to the Imperial Academy, then, when older, to the Military Academy, followed by assignment to local posts and military training, and eventually deployment to the frontlines.

If Zhao Shou could excel in all these tasks, earning both administrative achievements and military merit, he would naturally intimidate all his brothers and nephews and be qualified to inherit Zhao Yu's throne.

If Zhao Shou failed to excel, then even if Zhao Yu later passed the throne to him, he would become a second "Zhu Yunwen."

In that case, there would be nothing to discuss—Zhao Yu would personally depose Zhao Shou and directly pass the throne to the "Zhu Di"—whoever was strongest and could suppress the other brothers.

Zhao Yu's second backup plan was that, after selecting the heir, he would enfeoff all princes who posed a threat to imperial power, denying them any chance to compete with the crown prince for the throne.

Since the Zhao Song dynasty developed Liuqiu, Zhao Yu had repeatedly dispatched merchant caravans and adventurers, using Liuqiu as a springboard to explore the entire Nanyang region.

Now, adventurers had even reached "Australia," and they brought back several kangaroos for Zhao Yu.

Even without looking farther, the Nanyang region alone was sufficient to enfeoff many imperial princes.

This time, Zhao Yu did not act first and report later; instead, he thoroughly communicated with Zheng Xiansu, explaining the stakes and his full strategy.

Zheng Xiansu was a woman of great reason and propriety. She understood that under the system of merit-based enfeoffment and hereditary rank reduction, strong princes and powerful clan members would inevitably arise; if Zhao Shou remained idle yet remained crown prince, he could never inherit Zhao Yu's throne, and even if he did, no one would submit to him—some would even rise in rebellion to overthrow his rule.

In other words, if Zhao Shou truly lacked the qualities of a crown prince, yet insisted on making him crown prince and forcing him to inherit Zhao Yu's throne, it would not be helping Zhao Shou—it would be harming him.

One must remember that political struggles throughout history have always been brutal, and the defeated rarely meet a good end.

Thus, Zheng Xiansu agreed to Zhao Yu's arrangement for Zhao Shou and prepared to have Zhao Shou leave the palace alongside the other imperial princes when they departed for the Imperial Academy.

In short, Zhao Shou would follow the path Zhao Yu had laid out for him.

Of course, as crown prince, Zhao Yu would grant Zhao Shou certain privileges—specifically, he allowed Zheng Xiansu to select several companions for Zhao Shou, even though Zhao Yu had already assigned Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong as his companions.

From Zhao Yu's arrangements, it was clear he still hoped Zhao Shou could fulfill the role of crown prince; otherwise, he would not have assigned Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong—two of the most renowned generals of the Southern Song dynasty—to Zhao Shou.

Zhao Yu told Zheng Xiansu: "I have met Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong. Though young, both possess the bearing of great generals and deeply understand loyalty and service to the state—they are pillars of the realm."

Zheng Xiansu said: "If Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong have earned such praise from Your Majesty, they must be prodigies of youth. It is a great fortune for the crown prince to have them by his side. I will personally select several loyal, capable, and learned individuals to accompany the crown prince to the Imperial Academy and Military Academy—not only as companions but also as supervisors, ensuring he truly acquires the ability to govern and pacify the realm."

Zhao Yu had always possessed keen insight into people and was adept at assigning them to suitable roles; all were eager to serve him.

Crucially, Zheng Xiansu knew Zhao Yu also wished his eldest legitimate son to become a worthy crown prince—so that Zhao Yu could save himself much trouble and ensure the stable succession of the Zhao Song dynasty.

Therefore, the Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong Zhao Yu assigned to Zhao Shou were certainly no ordinary men.

More crucially, Zheng Xiansu's confession to Zhao Yu was genuine—she truly believed in him, and if one day Zhao Yu deemed Zhao Shou unfit to be crown prince, she would indeed have the resolve to support Zhao Yu in replacing him.

After discussing Zhao Shou's arrangements, Zhao Yu said to Zheng Xiansu: "In truth, in this matter, the one I owe the most is not the crown prince. If Zhao Shou endures trials and truly demonstrates the talent to shoulder great responsibility, I will surely entrust him with this vast realm. If not, I will ensure he lives a life of comfort. In this matter, the ones I owe the most are my mediocre sons…"

To be honest, Zhao Yu was rather harsh on his own sons—all were required to start from the bottom; even those who were neither scholarly nor martial had no basic title, effectively reducing them to commoners.

This had never happened in any previous dynasty.

But Zhao Yu had no choice.

His fertility was simply too strong.

At only twenty-eight, he had already easily surpassed Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan of the Han dynasty.

At this rate, he might even surpass Sultan Moulay Ismail of Morocco to become the human in history with the most children—possibly even over a thousand sons.

If Zhao Yu did not implement merit-based enfeoffment and hereditary rank reduction, within a few generations, his descendants would become the heaviest burden on the Zhao Song dynasty.

At that time, whoever held power would cut the knife far more brutally than Zhao Yu.

Better that Zhao Yu do it himself.

In this way, Zhao Yu's sons could at least follow the Qing dynasty's model—those who took office would govern, those who took the military path would serve, and those who took commerce would trade.

Of course, the Zhao Song dynasty's rules strictly separated military and civil service: those in the military could not hold civil office, those in civil office could not serve in the military, and neither could engage in commerce.

The Zhao Song dynasty imposed strict regulations on the imperial clan (including imperial princes), emphasizing that princes and clan members must focus on "proper pursuits" (such as participating in military and civil affairs, maintaining clan order), and strictly forbade them from engaging in "trivial pursuits" like commerce, to prevent them from exploiting their privileges to compete with commoners and undermine the dynasty's foundation.

—Princes and clan members without titles were exempt; that is, if a prince or clan member had no title, he could engage in commerce if he wished.

However, the traditional Confucian hierarchy of "scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants" was deeply ingrained; as members of the imperial family, princes and clan members held exalted status and would likely regard commerce as a "base profession"—directly engaging in trade would be seen as beneath their dignity and contrary to ancestral rites, so they would despise commerce.

But on the other hand, most people cannot escape the "I thought I hated it, but actually I love it" rule—some princes and clan members might indirectly enter commerce, such as:

Entrusting servants or trusted aides to manage shops, pawnshops, etc., while profiting secretly behind the scenes; or monopolizing certain industries (such as salt or tea trade) through privilege; or acquiring profits through authorization or equity stakes.

But these actions were mostly covert, often prohibited by court decree, and not widespread phenomena.

Overall, direct engagement in commerce violated the status and institutional norms of princes and clan members; yet if they secretly profited from trade, the court would mostly turn a blind eye—just as it did with Qing dynasty princes and beile.

In short, the system of imperial clan management Zhao Yu implemented was essentially modeled after the Qing dynasty's princely and beile system—with the Qing model as primary and the Saudi princely system as secondary.

Someone might ask: with so many sons, Zhao Yu must have some who are neither scholarly nor martial—does he truly abandon them, leaving them as commoners?

How could that be.