Chapter 1500: Past Lessons Don

When the Crown Prince heard his imperial father personally admit that factional strife existed within the court, his heart grew even more alarmed.

"Since it is factional strife, then… then why did you not stop it at the time, Father? Is factionalism not the most forbidden thing at court? If one does not nip it in the bud, over time the ministers will split into cliques and constantly attack one another — how could that possibly end well?"

"What, you want to tell the ministers not to form factions?" The Emperor gave a somewhat sardonic smile. "Ministers will naturally band together according to their respective interests and form their own factions. You tell them not to associate in private, and they'll stop? Since ancient times, guiding has always been better than blocking — relying solely on blocking is useless. Besides, if the civil and military ministers did not divide into factions, could they be controlled by the emperor alone? I am an emperor who won the realm on horseback; I have prestige, no one dares disobey me, I am not afraid. But what about you? Once you ascend, will you be able to control them?"

This string of sharp questions from the Emperor left the Crown Prince momentarily speechless.

He had never thought this deeply before. Now, mulling it over carefully, he realized that what his father said might indeed hold some truth. If all the civil and military ministers united as one, then the emperor's administration would inevitably be obstructed from top to bottom, to the point of being deceived by those above and below. Moreover, compared to the former Ming, the new dynasty had not established special agencies like the Brocade Guard, nor did it have a vast inner-court eunuch apparatus to assist it. Faced with the enormous numbers of the outer court, it truly struggled to cope.

Drawing lessons from the former Ming, his teachers had taught him to make the ministers unite as one and not wallow in factional strife that delayed state affairs — yet his father was telling him that the disputes between civil and military ministers not only should not be entirely banned, but should actually be tacitly permitted, because it benefited the imperial house's governance of the realm.

These mutually contradictory yet each reasonable words left his mind somewhat muddled. Dazed and confused, he did not know what to say.

"Muddled, are you?" The Emperor saw the Crown Prince's state but remained thoroughly at ease. "Good that you're muddled. Governing the realm — how could it be so easy? If a country could be well governed just by teachers spouting a few grand principles, how would there be any dynasties in the world that perished? Some matters cannot be clearly explained simply by 'good' or 'bad.' You have to look at the specific circumstances, and only then can you handle them specifically. Since you have already sat in on one meeting, you will continue to sit in from now on. Study well — there is still a great deal you need to learn!"

"Then… then Father, may I ask, in your heart, which side's opinion do you actually find more reasonable?" After pondering for a while, the Crown Prince's mind was still somewhat chaotic, and he could not help asking again in a low voice. "Your son… when your son sat in on the meeting, he heard both sides speak with such sound reasoning that he did not know which side to believe…"

"Reason? This world is full of reasons. You are the Crown Prince, I am the Emperor. Whatever the ministers say to us, they will have thought out in advance how to make their case — and it will all be high-sounding reasoning. If you insist on judging everything by reason, will you ever get any real work done?" The Emperor patted the Crown Prince on the head and could not help laughing. "So, listen to the ministers' opinions and reasoning for reference, but when it comes time to decide, you need not mind what they say. Let them say what they will; you do what you must. What you need is to govern all under heaven, not to listen to how the ministers argue!"

Then, looking at the still-dazed Crown Prince, the Emperor continued, "However, if you truly want to talk about reason, the Grand Secretariat's argument is indeed more reasonable. Your Uncle Shi and the others are being somewhat reckless. Their words sound good — they want to divide the authority of the mission to Japan — but wanting to divide authority, wanting to seize Japan's gold and silver mines in their own hands, fine. But first, you must have people to manage it properly, yes? Where in the army can you find financial and accounting talent right now? If we really did as they say, wouldn't that just add pointless chaos?"

"Then… then why did you not voice these opinions in court, Father, but instead remain noncommittal and even put forward such a counter-proposal in the end?" the Crown Prince quickly asked.

"In court, if I say one word, others will hear it as ten. And the Marshal holds a special status. If I rebuked him in the assembly today, by tomorrow the court would be full of rumors everywhere — that would truly be adding chaos! Besides, the Great Han's institutions have only just been established; people's minds still carry some shadows of the old days. Since we want to set things right and restore a martial spirit to the realm, we must do our utmost not to dampen the morale of military men. Though it may risk overcorrection, some things simply must be done. For now, it does not matter if we show a little partiality to the army. After some years, when the idea of equal standing between civil and military has truly entered everyone's hearts, then we can come back and be perfectly impartial — wouldn't that be better?"

Because he keenly felt the lesson of the Great Ming, where civil officials were exalted and military men debased to the point that generals were unwilling to serve the state, the Emperor had deliberately implemented a system of civil-military separation in the new dynasty, strictly forbidding civil officials from commanding troops, and had also intentionally used various methods to elevate the status of soldiers. Unfortunately, the new dynasty had been established for too short a time, and in many instances the court still handled matters with the mindset of the former Ming, so intentionally or not, the interests and standing of military men would be harmed.

Although favoring the military might be unfair, considering that the soldiers' morale — so painstakingly cultivated — could not be lightly suppressed, the Emperor had always treated the army with great leniency and had also put a stop to any ideas, inside or outside the court, of limiting the army's size and power now that the realm had begun to stabilize.

Of course, this approach could not be sustained for too long, or else the military's morale would turn into arrogance and insolence. The Emperor knew that he was still in his vigorous prime and his prestige was exceedingly high, so he resolved to address the problem of the army's expanding power ten or twenty years later, lest the military bloc he himself had cultivated turn around and threaten the state's stability.

Of course, this tactic and strategy was something he could not disclose to anyone. Even to the Crown Prince, he could only offer vague hints and reveal a little; the rest would depend on the Crown Prince's own powers of comprehension. Still, he believed that with the Crown Prince's wisdom, though he might be somewhat bewildered at first, after a period of personal instruction and example, he would come to understand the many subtleties of governing the realm.

"Father's stratagems run deep. Your son… your son has received your teaching." The Crown Prince felt he had vaguely understood a little, yet could not articulate exactly what he had understood, and could only bow his head.

However, he had not expected that his father's admonishment was not yet over.

"Do you know where you disappointed me most yesterday?" The Emperor's expression suddenly turned somewhat stern. "It was in the small side hall, when I was talking with your four uncles, and you interrupted with those words of yours! They are your elders; they were arguing, and you tried to mediate — that is beyond reproach. But what you said was far too unbecoming. You begged them not to quarrel over petty emotions. Not only did you not sound like a Crown Prince, you also made them out to be reckless louts stirring up trouble over nothing… Ah, there is still so much you need to learn! You are the Crown Prince — remember that well!"

These words from the Emperor made the Crown Prince feel even more utterly ashamed. In his heart he did not know exactly what his mistakes were, but seeing his father so stern, he instinctively sensed that his father was in fact deeply dissatisfied with his performance that day. So he could only lower his head and accept his father's lecture.

"You spoke of benevolence and forbearance to your uncles — that is very good. But you are the Crown Prince, and the future emperor. When the emperor tells them to stop quarreling, must he speak so imploringly? When you tell them to stop quarreling, it means make them stop quarreling!" The Emperor sighed. "The weaker you appear before them, the more you harm them… Here with me, it is no problem; your uncles are all reasonable men. But I relied on your uncles to conquer the realm, and in the future you too will rely on your uncles' children to protect it. You must show strength — that is how you treat them well!"

"Father means… Father means that your son… that even if your son respects and admires his uncles, he must not be overly deferential toward them. He should present a strong and firm front before the ennobled merit officials, restrain them with laws and discipline, so that they understand the boundaries of law and propriety and do not develop arrogant and overbearing hearts that would bring harm upon themselves?" The Crown Prince grasped the meaning of the Emperor's reproach. "And your son understands. From now on, he will strictly follow Father's teaching…"

The Crown Prince had also learned a great deal from his teachers about the former Ming's founding emperor's wholesale slaughter of meritorious officials, and in his heart he thoroughly disapproved of that Hongwu Emperor — if every Ming emperor treated meritorious officials this way, who would be willing to become a meritorious official in the future? It was only when he saw how the later Chengzu, Zhu Di, treated every Jingnan merit official well that the Crown Prince felt genuine approval. He felt that the realm of their father and son had been won precisely by these meritorious officials, and naturally they should be brought along to share in it.

However, his father was right: for the ennobled merit officials, perhaps excessive leniency and gentleness would instead harm them, making them feel secure in impunity and go on to commit lawless and tyrannical acts.

"Yes, you must restrain them with laws and discipline, but that alone is not enough…" The Emperor shook his head slightly. "Beyond laws and discipline, you must also bind them with fame and profit. The realm of our Great Han still needs the ennobled merit officials to help the Zhao family sustain it…"

"So, Father deliberately intends to incorporate Japan's gold and silver into the Great Han Bank, and then specifically designate the ennobled merit officials to supervise it?" Prompted by his father to this point, the Crown Prince finally had a flash of understanding and asked, drawing inferences. "Father wishes, after abolishing the inner court and the eunuchs, to use the ennobled merit officials as the support of the imperial house, relying on them as an aid to govern the realm?"

His father did not answer, but the silence already said nearly everything.

The Crown Prince lowered his head and pondered. He understood that his father meant to enlighten him, to make him consider the problem on his own. From his father's words, it seemed he did not wish to emulate Han Gaozu or Ming Taizu in slaughtering the ennobled merit officials, nor did he even intend to follow Song Taizu's example of relieving them of military power with a cup of wine and marginalizing them, stuffing them into grand mansions and fertile fields to live out their retirement. On the contrary, he intended to continue relying on and heavily employing this cohort of ennobled merit officials in the future.

In the present court, because the Emperor had founded the realm together with a band of old brothers, among both civil and military officials, a great number of the very highest-ranking officials were ennobled merit officials. If the state continued to be governed along the lines of heavily employing ennobled merit officials in the future, then the situation would surely remain much the same as it was now.