Chapter 1302: Relying on No One Is Better Than Relying on Yourself!

"Your Majesty, this subject believes that for the realm to be secure, we must maintain a balance of power between southerners and northerners. Let the southerners provide the money, let the northerners provide the troops, and together they will defend the court, so that our Great Ming realm may endure for ten thousand generations. Therefore, in the matter of installing the Crown Princess, it would be best to achieve a north-south balance as well, installing two consorts at once—one primary and one secondary. When three hearts are as one, their strength can cut through metal!"

Inside the eastern warm chamber of the Hall of Diligent Governance, the one currently pitching this "three hearts as one" Crown Princess installation plan to Zhu Cilang was none other than Senior Brother Zheng Sen. Today Zhu Cilang had once again not gone to court to handle state affairs, instead holed up in the palace grieving over Wu Sangui. So none of the other ministers could see him—but Zheng Sen was the exception. After all, he was the Zhu Emperor's senior brother! Though Zheng Sen no longer brought the matter up himself, Zhu Cilang kept this relationship on his lips, to show his regard and favor for Zheng Sen.

Wei Zaode's successor would most likely be this Senior Brother Zheng as well!

However, the Zhu Emperor could not agree with what Zheng Sen had said today.

"Senior Brother is mistaken!" Zhu Cilang shook his head, looking at Zheng Sen. "Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself. Only when one can rely on oneself can there then be others to rely upon. If one cannot even rely on oneself, then where would the southerners' money and the northerners' troops be? When the Retired Emperor held power, where were the southerners' money and the northerners' troops? The reason We devised this method of selecting a Crown Princess by examination is precisely because We fear that in the future the imperial house may again produce unreliable emperors and vassal kings. If the emperor and the kings cannot be relied upon, then the empress and the princess consorts must shoulder the responsibility. Senior Brother, what do you think is the most important virtue for the sovereign of a state?"

"Benevolence, of course," Zheng Sen said.

Zhu Cilang smiled. "That is the virtue that subjects most wish their sovereign to possess, is it not? But We know that for a sovereign, benevolence alone is not enough—and benevolence is not even the most important virtue. The most important is wisdom! Wisdom means knowing—knowing all things. To discern right from wrong, straight from crooked, evil from upright, truth from falsehood—that is, when a person's mind gives rise to the sense of right and wrong, and examines matters with thoroughness and discernment—that is wisdom.

For a sovereign governs the realm by his wisdom and strategy. If the sovereign is not wise, cannot distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, does not know how to govern the state and administer affairs, and cannot cope with internal troubles and external threats—then, like the Retired Emperor, benevolence has no place to begin."

Zheng Sen did not know what to say—that Retired Emperor seems to be your father! Aren't you saying your own father is a fool? Although it is the truth, a son cannot speak of his father that way—that is unfilial!

"Of course, the Retired Emperor's natural gifts were not dull. Even now, in his old age, he can still study mathematics, and he even learned Persian from a beauty presented by the Dzungar kingdom—which shows his natural intelligence. It was only that he became sovereign in his youth, with too little knowledge and learning, especially ignorant of finance, taxation, and law, and ignorant of military strategy and warfare. That is why he was repeatedly deceived by others, and his own decisions were utterly muddled. He wanted to be a benevolent sovereign but could not, and could only become a muddled ruler who nearly buried the splendid realm of Great Ming."

"Fortunately, Great Ming has Your Majesty!" Zheng Sen seized the opportunity and offered a flattering remark.

The Zhu Emperor nodded and said, "Much thanks to Us indeed! So We have absorbed the lessons of the Retired Emperor, and in these years We have expended no small effort in cultivating the princes. We established primary schools, middle schools, universities, and army and navy academies, with the intention of cultivating the princes. Having the princes study together with the sons of meritorious nobles and talented scholars gathered from all regions is also so that they may see more of the world outside the palace and the people outside the palace. Only by seeing much can one know much; only by knowing people can one employ them well. Only when the Crown Prince and the heir-princes have seen much and know much, know people and employ them well, can they then learn the way of kingship. A Crown Prince or heir-prince who is foolish and ignorant, even if he has stuffed himself full of the arts of emperorship, is still a muddled ruler!"

In Zhu Cilang's view, sovereigns were always raised deep within the palace, knew too little of the outside world, and were single-mindedly obsessed with so-called imperial statecraft—this was one of the main reasons feudal dynasties declined. And the reason the Great Ming led by Chongzhen repeatedly lost to the Great Qing led by Hong Taiji was, in large part, that Chongzhen's personal ability was far, far inferior to Hong Taiji's!

Hong Taiji was a second-generation founder who had built the enterprise alongside his father Nurhaci—what had he not seen? Whereas Chongzhen was merely a prince raised inside the palace, utterly ignorant of governing, warfare, and raising money. He was simply a muddled ruler!

"Your Majesty is sagacious." Zheng Sen thought to himself: weren't you also raised in the palace since childhood? How are you so sagacious then? Knowing everything—could it be that the Exalted Founder Emperor has truly descended to the mortal world?

Zhu Cilang continued, "But the virtue of wisdom cannot be cultivated by teaching and nurturing alone! People's natural talents are high or low, their experiences differ, and their perceptions of what they know and see also differ. The Crown Prince's natural gifts are acceptable, and he himself is diligent enough, but after all, he is a person high above others. He may not necessarily know the hardships of the common people, nor know how difficult the common folk are to govern!"

A sovereign must of course know the hardships of the people, but he also cannot have the heart of a saintly mother, indiscriminately dispensing benevolence. If Zhu Cilang had to choose between the indiscriminately benevolent "saintly mother's heart" and the cold and ruthless "heart of steel," he would certainly choose the latter. But a true sovereign should know when to show benevolence and when to be cold and ruthless—this is the wisdom of a sovereign!

And this wisdom of a sovereign must be built upon knowledge.

And this knowledge, in turn, requires observation from different angles.

A single matter, seen from above the clouds and seen from below the clouds, may well be different! The heirs of the Great Ming emperor will of course receive the most comprehensive education and cultivation in the future, but in the end, they still stand above the clouds.

Zhu Cilang sighed and said, "No matter how much the Crown Prince observes the people's condition, he is still a person high above. What he knows and sees is all arranged by those below! Therefore, We hope that the woman who will in the future accompany the Crown Prince, help him govern the state, bear and raise his children, will not be too noble."

Zheng Sen now understood the Zhu Emperor's intent!

The future Crown Princess—whether a daughter of the Zheng family, a daughter of the Wu family, or a daughter of the Shen family—none of them quite satisfied the Zhu Emperor.

"Your Majesty," Zheng Sen reminded him, "but the women who placed within the top hundred in the preliminary examination all come from great and powerful houses!"

"We know," Zhu Cilang nodded. "But how many women in Great Ming are attending school now? Never mind humble households—even in ordinary wealthy families, sons may be supported in their studies and advancement, but if a daughter can recognize some characters and do a little simple arithmetic, that is already considered good."

Zheng Sen said, "Your Majesty could select some palace maids of keen natural talent and have them raised and educated within the palace."

Zhu Cilang laughed. "How would We select them? Whether their natural talent is keen still has to be ranked by examination papers! And what difference would there be between those taught in the palace and the phoenix sons and dragon grandsons raised deep within the palace? So after weighing the matter repeatedly, We still feel that using examinations to select the Crown Princess is best. Apart from those women who cannot become Crown Princess, all the other candidates will compete fairly, ranked by examination scores. The one who takes first place, regardless of her background, shall be the Crown Prince's consort—the future mother of Great Ming!

As for what will be tested, We shall personally set the questions! And We shall personally proctor the examination. Moreover, this examination will include not only a written test and a martial arts competition, but also an oral interview! We will speak with each of them one by one, so it will be absolutely fair—cheating will be impossible!"

Zheng Sen breathed a sigh of relief. If it was to be decided by ability, then the Zheng family's daughter had great hope! Because the Zheng family had been preparing for this matter all along, and through Zheng Chagu and Princess Kunxing, the Zheng family roughly knew the Zhu Emperor's requirements for a Crown Princess.

But Zheng Sen was still not entirely at ease about Wu Ahuan.

"Your Majesty," Zheng Sen said, "there are many fine women. Why should the Crown Prince marry only one? Better to have one primary and one secondary, and take two consorts at once."

"Not permissible!" Zhu Cilang waved his hand. "For five years, one Crown Princess is sufficient for the Crown Prince. After five years, the Crown Prince should have one or two legitimate sons, and the Crown Princess's position will already be secure. By then, taking secondary consorts will not be too late." At this point, the Zhu Emperor glanced at Zheng Sen again and said, "However, the one chosen by the highest examination score is only the Crown Princess. The rest—the consorts of vassal kings and princes, including the principal consort of that Tuhao boy—will all be selected from the women who pass the second examination, without regard to their examination scores!"

(End of Chapter)