"At the beginning of man, his nature is good. His nature is similar, but his habits are different. If he does not teach, his nature is to send. The way of teaching is to be specific. In the past, Mencius' mother chose a neighbor..."
Xiao Zhenbang stood in front of Xiao Ruxun, his head swaying as he recited the Three Character Classic. Xiao Ruxun had just stopped her discussion with the ministers, agreeing to continue the discussion in the afternoon. She was currently sitting in front of Xiao Zhenbang with a cup of tea, sipping it while staring at him as he recited.
Caiyun was about to give birth, so Xiao Ruxun ordered the palace maids to prepare for her birth. Naturally, she did not have the energy to educate Zhenbang and Yingying.
Zhenbang and Yingying were only six years old and were at the age where they were curious and mischievous. Xiao Ruxun did not believe that a six year old child would have the self-control to study seriously without their parents around.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun planned to let his father take care of Zhenbang and Yingying for a while. It just so happened that his father was lonely in the palace. In the end, Xiao Wenkui agreed to help take care of Yingying but was not willing to take Zhenbang.
"Back then, your mother and I raised you four brothers together. After your mother passed away, your father did not dare to relax. When you grew up and became officials, your father went to the capital to work. This was to watch over you and not let you learn bad things and not let you become unbearably mischievous.
Yingying is a daughter, so it is not a big deal. However, Zhenbang is the Crown Prince of Daqin, the future Emperor. If he does not learn well, not only will it hurt the people of the country, people will also say that you did not teach your children well. Are you willing to be said like this by future generations?
Your father knows that you are busy with state affairs, but no matter how busy you are, the Crown Prince is not someone you can ignore. These days, your father has been reading the history books of the past dynasties in the palace and found that since ancient times, emperors rarely handled the relationship between father and son well, and there were many tragedies that happened.
From the distant Emperor Wu of Han and the deposed Crown Prince Liu Zhi to the recent Emperor Taizong and the deposed Crown Prince Li Chengqian. Such a wise Emperor could not handle the relationship between father and son well, greatly damaging his reputation and leaving a legacy of regret. Your father does not wish for such a thing to happen in this dynasty. Do you understand what your father means? "
Xiao Wenkui pulled Xiao Ruxun's hand and gave her an example in a meaningful and heartfelt manner.
"Father, your son is really busy with state affairs. If I bring Zhenbang with me, it will be inconvenient. Zhenbang is too young."
Xiao Ruxun thought and felt that this was not right.
"No, Si 'er, it's necessary for you to raise Zhenbang by your side."
Xiao Wenkui sternly said, "Father has read many history books and discovered that the Crown Prince has been in power for too long, which is not a good thing for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is still young, but once he grows up, the eyes of the world will be focused on the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince will easily become the target of public criticism.
It would have been fine if you didn't choose a Crown Prince, but since you chose a Crown Prince and confirmed the legitimacy, as the Emperor, you had to protect him. You brought Zhenbang up by your side and raised him. This was the same as announcing to the world your expectations and feelings for Zhenbang. Naturally, others would understand your attitude.
Cai Yun is about to give birth. If it is a boy, you can dispel the thoughts of others and stabilize Zhenbang's position. You must know that sometimes, the fight for the throne is not a fight between the princes. Instead, it is driven by the people behind the princes who want to be the Emperor's subjects. "
Xiao Ruxun did not expect that his father, who had not spent lavishly to enjoy life and instead lived in seclusion in the palace to read history books and study the rise and fall of the dynasties since ancient times, could still warn him like this. He was really touched.
Thinking about it carefully, Xiao Ruxun felt that Xiao Wenkui's words were very reasonable. Choosing the Crown Prince so early was equivalent to putting Zhenbang under the eyes of the world. Zhenbang was still young. When he was of age, he would have to marry and study. Zhenbang would definitely receive attention from all sides.
His every word and action would be magnified limitlessly. If he could not provide him with enough support and protection, if Cai Yun gave birth to a boy, Zhenbang's position would be affected, and it would further affect his family.
The fight for the throne had never been a fight between princes. It was also driven by the forces behind the princes. Now that he was wholeheartedly focused on suppressing the world and strengthening the power of the central government, this yearning for the Crown Prince would become even more prominent.
Xiao Ruxun could not live for ten thousand years. He would die in the end. The throne must be passed to someone he could completely trust. He could not allow something like being tricked by some subjects to happen.
This kind of thing was not uncommon. It had happened in the Han Dynasty. The central government had also abolished the Mausoleum System, which caused the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty aristocratic families to be unable to get rid of them. This directly affected the direction of history.
The bigger the country, the more people, the more the centralization of power had to be maintained and strengthened. This point had been vividly reflected in the Ming Dynasty and the Republic of China.
Whether it was a small government in a unified state or a small government in a divided state, it would always bring about disintegration. He could not allow any attempt to weaken the centralization of power to occur.
He used the land reform to uproot the power of the local gentry and tyrants, planting the will of the central government in the local areas. There were also households of the military that had a closer relationship with the central government. There was also a government that went to the countryside, firmly controlling the local areas.
The local gentry and tyrants that could not be eliminated were all moved to the capital, cutting off their roots. Those that tried to resist were resolutely eradicated. The relationship between the local areas and the central government had never been so close since the Qin dynasty.
In order to prevent the resurgence of the local powers, Xiao Ruxun began to popularize education and implement the Mausoleum System. This two-pronged approach was to create a two-tier state of society: sovereign and commoner. The central government, representing the sovereign, could directly govern the local areas, and there would be no need for the local powers to deceive their subordinates.
Xiao Ruxun was strictly guarding against the reappearance of civil politics.
The so-called civil politics, the embryonic form of the so-called constitutional monarchy, was naturally wonderful in the eyes of some people, because it was very 'democratic'. Many people felt that as long as there was a constitutional monarchy, everything would be fine, and that a constitutional monarchy was omnipotent.
But no one had ever thought, was this a democracy that belonged to the commoners?
It was not. Ever since its birth in Athens, the word 'democracy' had always belonged to the rich and powerful. It was a compromise within the ruling class, not the commoners.
They had money, we had power, and by compromising with each other, democracy had appeared.
Thus, whether it was in the past or now, the commoners believed that they had obtained democracy, just like how they had been hypnotized into imagining themselves as nobles and carrying out the noble spirit.
The descendants of a group of peasants, just a few decades after their rise to power, were already imagining themselves as nobles, wantonly advocating the noble spirit. This was truly absurd.
The gentry of the imperial examinations were born in the local areas. After obtaining scholarly honors, they would obtain wealth, land, and the benefits of the local areas. They would represent the local areas, or perhaps it could be said that they were the local areas.
The seemingly righteous and awe-inspiring stories recorded in the history books would often show the decline of imperial authority when the local forces were too powerful. The imperial authority was the central authority, and when the central authority declined, the local areas would inevitably fall into chaos.
For example, when the Emperor of Wei, Cao Rui, wanted to inspect the work of the Imperial Secretariat, the emperor's carriage stopped at the entrance, only to be chased away by the officials of the secretariat. The officials said that the emperor did not trust him, so he could naturally dismiss him. But if he wanted to go in and inspect, he had to first dismiss him.
Cao Rui was so angry that his face turned green, but he had no choice but to leave. What was the reason?
Because the local officials were of the same breath and branch. Only they were literate, and only they had the ability to govern the country. The commoners were all illiterate, so how could they be counted on?
How could the ruler rule without the cooperation of the gentry?
No matter how many officials one replaced, it would still be them, and the emperor would still be one of them. The imperial authority had already become a mere figurehead, and the emperor was powerless.
It was the same in the Ming Dynasty. Under the call of the Confucian Sect and the protection of the imperial examinations, the scholars of the world were also of the same breath and branch. You could replace one official, and then another, but it was still the gentry who took the imperial examinations. No matter who you replaced, you couldn't replace them with an illiterate person, right?
They had land, resources, and manpower in the local areas. Without their cooperation, the central authority had already lost its influence over the local areas.
No matter how democratic or how constitutional the monarchy was, what did it have to do with the commoners?
That was a mutual compromise between the local and central authority, relying on power and money.
The local forces oppressed the commoners, and the upper forces opposed the central authority. They were the greatest threat to a country. In history, every powerful empire would eventually fall because of the local forces and the representatives of the local forces entering the central authority.
At present, the land reform was in full swing. The local forces had been wiped out, and the central officials had moved in. The local forces had temporarily disappeared, but they did not cease to exist. The enemies of the central authority and the emperor had never been the commoners who rebelled, but the people who represented the local areas and demanded power from the central authority.
Once they appeared, Xiao Ruxun would ruthlessly suppress them without mercy.
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