Chapter 3: The Crown Prince Is Truly a Child Prodigy

On his way to Qianqing Palace, Zhu Cilang pondered the agenda he would present today.

Suddenly, his eyes darted about, and he struck up a conversation with the young eunuch walking behind him: "I find your face quite unfamiliar. When were you transferred to serve at Qianqing Palace?"

"To answer Your Highness, this servant is Han San, transferred from Huangji Hall just six days ago, so Your Highness has no impression of me." The young eunuch replied respectfully.

Zhu Cilang nodded and said, "Then I must congratulate you, Eunuch, on your promotion to the imperial presence. I haven't prepared any gift for you, but here's a small token." Zhu Cilang imperceptibly slipped the young eunuch a ten-tael ingot of silver.

The young eunuch Han San hastily waved his hands, quite flustered, saying, "How could this servant dare to accept this?"

Zhu Cilang said, "This is my reward to you, so just take it with peace of mind. Surely you wouldn't have me take it back?"

The young eunuch repeatedly murmured that he dared not, then deftly tucked the silver away, thanking him profusely.

Ever since Wei Zhongxian's eunuch faction had been wiped out in one sweep by Chongzhen a few years prior, the status of these eunuchs had plummeted. Yet within these deep palace walls, eunuchs' minds were more agile than anyone's—their ambition, like wildfire that never dies out, would surge back at the slightest opportunity.

Zhu Cilang's purpose was this: he could not afford to offend people for no reason and make enemies for himself. As for those around the Emperor his father, whether useful or not, he would keep them fed and content first—who knew when they might prove useful at a critical moment? Besides, it cost him little.

Zhu Cilang continued, "Eunuch, do you know why His Majesty the Emperor has summoned me?"

The young eunuch glanced left and right, then said in a low voice, "From what His Majesty's intentions suggest, it should be to test Your Highness's learning."

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang felt reassured. His academic performance was outstanding—placed among all the crown princes and imperial princes of the entire Great Ming Dynasty, he was a record-breaking existence. Compared to those eccentric emperors in their youth, he was a hundred times better, and that wasn't even an exaggeration.

The Ming Dynasty's education and training system for the crown prince was originally established by Zhu Yuanzhang. Regarding the education of his successor, Zhu Yuanzhang had taken great pains, inviting renowned scholars from all over, and even building a library for his son—the Dabentang—which gathered the most famous classics and books of China at that time.

Unfortunately, plans could not keep pace with changes. By the mid-to-late Ming, the crown prince's education had become an eyesore. Some eunuchs who studied alongside the crown prince colluded with him, racking their brains to skip class. The most typical example was the Zhengde Emperor, Zhu Houzhao.

With Liu Jin's help, he would cause disruptions during lessons and frequently invent pretexts to cancel the day's lectures, so normal education could hardly be guaranteed.

Later, the Wanli reign was even worse. Wanli himself disliked studying, and because of his idea of deposing the eldest in favor of a younger son, he delayed for years in establishing his eldest son as crown prince, which caused the future crown prince Zhu Changluo to be neglected—after the age of eight, he went roughly five years without receiving much education.

Not only was his cultural level extremely low, but even his son—Wanli's grandson Zhu Youjiao—was dragged down as well.

Chongzhen himself had not read many books in his youth, so he placed tremendous importance on his legitimate son Zhu Cilang.

Last year, he ordered Minister of Rites Jiang Fengyuan, Chief Supervisor Yao Minggong, Deputy Chief Supervisor Wang Duo, Junior Compilers Wu Weiye and Yang Tinglin to lecture the crown prince on the classics, with Junior Compilers Hu Shiheng and Yang Shicong proofreading texts.

In Chongzhen's words, this faculty was very strong—all were eminent scholars, renowned ministers, and gifted talents of the time. You should listen attentively to your lessons.

But Zhu Cilang sneered at this. After the fall of the Ming, aside from Yang Tinglin, who drowned himself in martyrdom, the rest basically all surrendered to the Manchu Qing, answering the Jianzhou barbarians' summons to go north and serve as officials.

They weren't even as good as Qian Qianyi of "the water is too cold" fame. Qian Qianyi, fearing death, hadn't dared to drown himself, and he too surrendered—but at least he later rebelled against the Qing again, not truly serving the Manchus as a slave.

Once Zhu Cilang set his mind at ease, chatting idly with the young eunuch, they arrived at Qianqing Palace before long.

After Zhu Cilang had paid his respects to the Chongzhen Emperor, he stole a glance and observed that his imperial father seemed to be in a somewhat poor mood today.

The Later Jin ravaging the north and the roving bandits running rampant in the Central Plains had worn his heart to shreds. At just twenty-five years of age, several strands of white hair had already emerged, crow's feet deeper than Shen Teng's stretched from the corners of his eyes, and the man appeared rather haggard.

This last emperor in Ming history differed from the doom-ridden monarchs of other dynasties. After ascending the throne, he vigorously eradicated the eunuch faction, was diligent in state affairs, lived frugally, and had issued six edicts of self-blame—he could be considered a highly motivated emperor.

Unfortunately, by this time the Great Ming Dynasty was already too far gone to be saved. The extreme cold of the Little Ice Age caused grain yields to plummet sharply, and the bitter cold of the north shifted the rain belt southward, so that nearly every region of the Ming suffered disasters year after year, and peasant uprisings never ceased.

In the end, under internal turmoil and external threats, Chongzhen hanged himself from that southeastern branch, meeting an end of death and national ruin that made later generations sigh in lament.

Later ages judged him with mixed praise and blame. Some said he was impetuous and gullible, of meager ability, eager for quick success, obstinate and self-opinionated, and erratic in his dealings with others!

To this, Zhu Cilang was unwilling to add much commentary. Since he had come to the end of the Ming, he would just watch and see.

The Chongzhen Emperor looked at Zhu Cilang, and only then did his spirits lift somewhat. He asked, "My son, what have you been studying recently while reading at Wenhua Hall?"

Zhu Cilang replied, "To answer Your Majesty, your son has recently been reading the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance and The Art of War."

"Oh? You're already reading those books? Have you read the Analects and Mencius?" Chongzhen's weary expression suddenly showed some surprise.

"I have read them." Zhu Cilang nodded.

Chongzhen was stunned upon hearing this, thinking to himself: It's only been a year since the crown prince left the palace to study, and he's already read the Analects and Mencius?

When I was ten, I had only just finished the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic. As for the Comprehensive Mirror, I didn't start reading it until I was in my teens. I must test him—can't let him learn to lie and deceive at such a young age.

With this thought, the Chongzhen Emperor said, "Your father has a question. I wonder if my son can answer it for me."

"Please instruct me, Your Majesty."

"The ancients said, 'The gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen.' Yet why is there also the metaphor 'Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish'? Since the gentleman must stay away from the kitchen, how can governing a state be compared to cooking? Isn't that contradictory?" Chongzhen looked at Zhu Cilang with a smile, waiting to see how he would answer.

Zhu Cilang laughed inwardly—his imperial father was testing him.

"To answer Your Majesty, 'The gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen' does not mean the gentleman must stay far away from the kitchen. This saying comes from the Mencius: 'The gentleman, regarding animals, cannot bear to see them die once he has seen them live; cannot bear to eat their flesh once he has heard their cries. This is why the gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen.'

Its meaning is that one should not kill any creature that has blood and breath—it extols the heart of compassion, urging the gentleman not to commit the sin of killing. It was Mencius admonishing King Xuan of Qi to practice benevolent governance.

As for 'Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish,' that comes from the Daodejing, expressing the idea that governing a great state should not involve constant flipping and turning—one should not casually disturb the people, nor recklessly stir things up."

Zhu Cilang's explanation left Chongzhen dumbfounded. He had only tested Zhu Cilang on a whim, expecting that as long as the boy could say where these two sayings came from, it would prove he hadn't lied and had indeed read the Four Books and Five Classics.

But Chongzhen never imagined that the crown prince could express the meanings without error—and even understand so well a saying like 'Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish,' which came from the Daodejing and not from the Four Books and Five Classics?

This shocked Chongzhen deeply. His crown prince was truly a child prodigy!

Wang Cheng'en, standing nearby, also widened his eyes, momentarily forgetting decorum. He was a eunuch who had grown up alongside Chongzhen and knew Chongzhen's learning all too well—in his youth he had been fond of play and disliked study. Who would have thought the crown prince he sired would turn out to be a prodigy?

A proud smile spread across Chongzhen's face, and he laughed heartily: "Haha! 'Tang's Liu Yan, at age seven, was hailed a prodigy, appointed to the post of Correcting Character.' Liu Yan of the Tang Dynasty was celebrated as a child prodigy at seven, capable of writing essays. My son is also seven now, in no way inferior to Liu Yan!"

Seeing His Majesty greatly pleased, Zhu Cilang, though wearing a smile, remained composed and did not grow arrogant or complacent.

This made Chongzhen and Wang Cheng'en even more astonished—to achieve such composure at such a young age was truly no easy feat.

Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction, then asked, "My son, can you write characters yet?"

He reasoned that recognizing characters didn't mean one could write them, and understanding the meaning of essays wasn't difficult either. The crown prince had Grand Secretaries giving lectures every day—what if someone had already mentioned this question to the crown prince before?

It must be said, Chongzhen was overthinking—his suspicious nature had flared up!

"Naturally I can!" Zhu Cilang made no show of modesty. He needed to perform well, striving to obtain real power, especially military authority.

With two lifetimes combined, Zhu Cilang was over thirty years old—ten years older than Chongzhen himself. This little bit of elementary learning was hardly a challenge for him. Even writing traditional characters with a brush, though he had only recently begun practicing and his calligraphy was still somewhat immature, already showed a hint of vigor and strength.

At this moment, Chongzhen stared at these characters in shock, then burst into laughter again: "Good! Good! Excellent!"

Chongzhen shouted "good" three times in succession, and in his excitement scooped up Zhu Cilang, then asked further, "My son, how many characters do you recognize now?"

Being held in the arms of a man whose soul was ten years younger than his own made Zhu Cilang feel extremely uncomfortable all over. He answered offhandedly, "To answer Your Majesty, your son recognizes all characters."

This time Chongzhen's jaw nearly dropped. It took him a good while to recover his senses, and he said joyfully, "Good, good, good—truly my father's fine son."

Chongzhen was so excited he hardly knew what to say. He set Zhu Cilang down and continued, "Come, keep your father company in reviewing memorials."

Zhu Cilang's heart stirred at once—he hadn't expected to come into contact with such confidential matters so easily?

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Note: Regarding forms of address, the "Ancestral Instructions·Rituals" personally established by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang stipulates:

In all congratulatory memorials and letters, a prince enfeoffed as king shall address himself before the Son of Heaven as "Your son, the Nth son, Prince So-and-So," and address the Son of Heaven as "Imperial Father, Your Majesty," and the Empress as "Imperial Mother, Your Highness."

If a grandson, he shall address himself as "Your grandson, the Nth grandson, Prince So-and-So," address the Son of Heaven as "Grandfather Emperor, Your Majesty," and the Empress as "Grandmother Empress, Your Highness." If a younger brother, he shall address himself as "Your younger brother, the Nth brother, So-and-So of such rank," address the Son of Heaven as "Elder Brother Emperor, Your Majesty," and the Empress as "Respected Sister-in-Law Empress, Your Highness."

If a nephew, he shall address himself as "Your nephew, the Nth nephew, So-and-So of such rank," address the Son of Heaven as "Uncle Emperor, Your Majesty" or "Younger Uncle Emperor, Your Majesty," and the Empress as "Aunt Empress, Your Highness" or "Younger Aunt Empress, Your Highness."

If a senior relative, he shall address himself as "Your relative of such rank, your subject So-and-So," address the Son of Heaven as "Emperor, Your Majesty," and the Empress as "Empress, Your Highness."

If a grand-nephew or below, he shall address himself as "Grand-nephew, great-grand-nephew, or great-great-grand-nephew, So-and-So of such rank," and shall address the Emperor and Empress as "Grand-Uncle or Great-Grand-Uncle Emperor, Your Majesty," and "Grand-Aunt or Great-Grand-Aunt Empress, Your Highness."

Just arrived at Qidian, don't know what pose to strike, begging for collections!