Shen Xi's second lesson to Zhu Houzhao, in general, was quite smooth, but it was not very successful, because he really didn't talk too much, but just told the history of the Sui and Tang dynasties in general, Zhu Houzhao can remember it now, but when he asked him back, he didn't dare to guarantee that he could still remember it.

Zhu Houzhao has been a good student for a day, and the most important thing is to know how to play Keju.

Teaching Zhu Houzhao to play with Keju is actually more harmful than teaching him to play with crickets, because Keju is a thing that is easy for people to indulge in and can't extricate themselves.

was known by Wang Wei and other old scholars, and he must go to Emperor Hongzhi to complain again.

Shen Xi finished a day's class, and had five days to prepare for a class, which was very easy for him, to say that Shen Xi basically didn't feel tired since he became an official, and when he was transferred from the Hanlin Academy to Zhan Shifu, his workload was sharply reduced, and he even had the urge to engage in a side business.

On the 20th of September, there was a small feast in the palace.

This banquet is not a festival banquet, nor is it a birthday festival or the queen's birthday, but a small banquet, in fact, it is a commemoration of the 12th anniversary of Emperor Hongzhi's accession to the throne.

Twelve years ago, Zhu Youjiao, who was the crown prince, just breathed a sigh of relief for the death of Wan Guifei, who would have thought that only a few months later, Emperor Chenghua, he was hurriedly pushed to the throne, at that time he didn't know what kind of world he was facing.

Now, Zhu Youzhang has been on the throne for 12 years, and the national strength has been significantly improved, especially Ma Wensheng's conquest of Western Xinjiang, which made the Ming Dynasty's imperial prestige cover all over the world. Wenzhi martial arts, Zhu Youzhu felt that he had it, although it was not as good as the Qin Emperor, Han Wu, Tang Zong, Song Zu and other kings, he was finally worthy of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty.

This banquet, the invited people are all relatives of the emperor and famous ministers in the court, similar to the chrysanthemum banquet at the beginning of the month, Emperor Hongzhi invited Empress Zhang and the crown prince Zhu Houzhao together.

Emperor Hongzhi felt that his body was getting worse day by day, and he wanted the prince to see more ministers outside, and he had a long experience, especially after the prince was seriously ill and almost died, and now that he has regained his health, he cherishes this only remaining son more and more.

In order to prevent the prince from making any more jokes, Zhu Youzhi specially explained to the chamberlain, asking them to pay special attention to tidying up the prince's clothes, and no longer such as a bird suddenly flying out of the prince's sleeve during the chrysanthemum banquet.

Zhu Youzhi pays the most attention to etiquette and decency, the crown prince will definitely inherit his throne in the future, no one fights with him, he wants his son to be respected by the courtiers, rather than let the courtiers feel how nonsense this son is.

Empress Zhang also called the prince to her bedroom, explained a lot to her son, and the most important thing was not to let Zhu Houzhao talk nonsense during the banquet.

“…… As a prince, you must have the majesty of a prince, sit there, listen to what your father and the ministers say, if your father asks you, answer what you can, if you don't know, don't be reckless, just say, the son asks his father to teach you......"

Empress Zhang is just this one son, she is not the daughter of a wealthy family, her father is just a prisoner of the country, she didn't even know what the outside world was like before she married Zhu Youji.

Over the years, she gave birth to two sons and a daughter to Zhu Youzhang, but unfortunately except for Zhu Houzhao, the other children died early. Fortunately, she doesn't have to worry about competing for favor, let alone her son's status as the crown prince, she only knows that she can teach her husband and children well, and she has high hopes for her son.

After Zhu Houzhao heard it, he agreed, but he was thinking about how to kick the juju well.

There is Shen Xi design, and then there are craftsmen in the palace to build, a small juju does not take half an hour to make, Zhu Houzhao just played for a while when he was called over, only to know what banquet to participate in the evening, he himself was not interested in this, and wanted to go back after eating to call the eunuch and the palace maid to play with him.

"It's boring to look at, but it's fun to play. Since he knows Keju, he must play well, and I will try to compete with him when I go back. ”

Zhu Houzhao is most lacking in playmates of the same age, although Shen Xi is a few years older than him, he looks more like a child, plus Shen Xi has the arrogance of Mr., he will not follow him in everything like those attendants, which makes Zhu Houzhao feel that the relationship with Shen Xi is equal.

Empress Zhang helped her son pack his clothes and accompanied him to the Huagai Hall where the banquet was held.

Because it is not a formal feast, the banquet is much simpler, just like a family banquet, without so much red tape, but it is not appropriate to let the Son of Heaven and other guests, all officials must come in advance, but do not need to take into account the etiquette, sit directly in their seats, wait for the emperor's family to come, make a salute, and sit down to eat.

Of course, this kind of banquet is indispensable for discussing things.

There are many emperors who are inconvenient to ask in the court, and they will ask in this kind of banquet, such as how Liu is fit, how can he be the first assistant for a few years, and what is the panacea for you if I am not in good health...... And so on, basically has nothing to do with state affairs, and it involves personal issues, which is inconvenient to talk about at other times.

In order to show his closeness to Empress Zhang, Zhu Youzhu accompanied his wife and children out, and when the three appeared, all the ministers got up, went to the desk, knelt down respectfully, and greeted him.

Zhu Youzhu waved his hand and said: "You Aiqing is flat, you don't have to be too restrained to give a banquet today." ”

The ministers will not slack off because this is a banquet, in the end it is a banquet in the palace, when the emperor is destined to be alone, he wants to treat the courtiers as his good friends and confidants, but the ministers dare not treat the emperor as a confidant, Cheng Minzheng is an example, yesterday he also called Mr., you will go to prison when you turn around, and even your life will not be guaranteed after torture.

Zhu Youji's face suddenly became a little sad: "I just got the news that Old Lady Xu passed away nine days ago, and I am deeply saddened. ”

The news of Xu Pu's death has just reached the capital, and now the courtiers do not know about it, and when they hear the news, all the people who are at the banquet are sad.

How to say that Xu Pu is also a former first auxiliary university scholar, even Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others are his subordinates, Xu Pu is upright, honest and honest, caring for talents, before his death, he also transferred his collection of "Qingming Riverside Map" to Li Dongyang, a good story, such a noble minister passed away, and the courtier's sorrow came from the heart.

Zhu Youzhu said again: "I have ordered the six departments of Nanjing to send people to the sacrifice, and today's first cup of wine, I will first pay tribute to Mrs. Xu." ”

But whenever a high-ranking official dies, the emperor will send someone to mourn, called the "oracle sacrifice", not only the high-ranking official, even the immediate family members of the high-ranking official have passed away, especially the death of the father and widowed mother, the emperor also needs to send someone to condole, but this requires the minister to personally write to the court.

When Xie Qian's mother passed away a few years ago, Zhu Youzhi sent Fang Sheng, the political envoy of Zhejiang, to pay tribute to show the emperor's grace.

The emperor wanted to sacrifice Xu Pu from afar, and all the ministers naturally had to get up and follow him.

The crown prince Zhu Houzhao is still young and doesn't understand this, but with Empress Zhang pulling him, he can also follow the example, but Zhu Houzhao is holding a teacup instead of a wine glass, and after the remote sacrifice, the emperor and the people who are feasting sit down, and the banquet can be regarded as the official beginning.

Different from the big banquet, there was no music and singing and dancing in this banquet, it was completely a pure narrative banquet, of course, there should still be a toast, which would be responsible for the officials from Hanlin, as for some compliments, most of them came from the emperor's relatives, especially the two brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling.

Zhang Yanling's compliments came as scheduled, a large paragraph of the congratulatory speech was not written by him himself, but found someone to write it in advance, and after he recited it, he read it out in front of the ministers, indicating that he was outstanding in learning, but how could a minister who knew the bottom not know what kind of character he was? But no one has uncovered it.

Empress Zhang was quite satisfied with her younger brother's performance, after all, what she said was good, praising the Ming Dynasty's peace and security, and the submission of foreign Yi, these are the favorite words of Emperor Hongzhi.

After Zhang Yanling finished speaking, Zhu Youzhu nodded, but suddenly sighed: "Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Waiyi have entered the Central Plains many times, and finally they have all been expelled. ”

Ma Wensheng heard that the emperor compared him to Emperor Taizong Zhu Di, and hurriedly got up and saluted: "Your Majesty is too famous, but the minister is just Longen and dutiful...... Besides, in the northwest, the only one to worry about is the Tulu Fan Department, and the whole country is trying to ask for it, how can it be invincible? How dare you compare it with the great cause of Emperor Taizong? ”

Ma Wensheng is humble, but others have to praise him, whether it is to echo Emperor Hongzhi, or to compliment Ma Wensheng for a good fate, anyway, there is no harm in saying a few words.

Zhang Heling said with a smile at this time: "Since Your Majesty took power, the country and the people have been peaceful, the four seas have been peaceful, and the prosperous era can be compared to the prosperous Tang Dynasty." ”

Comparing the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty with the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, even if the ministers present were very confident, they still felt a little insufficient.

When Zhenguan ruled and the prosperous era of Kaiyuan, that was the real wealth of the people, and whoever dared to offend the border would have a result, send troops to fight until you fled in embarrassment, or destroyed the country and surrendered.

Now the people of the Ming Dynasty are just to maintain a stable and happy home, there are still border troubles in the north, not to mention, just a few decades ago Warat had invaded the Central Plains, and finally although the Warat people retreated, but now they are still rampant in the grassland, the Ming court has no way to take it.

Zhu Youzhu shook his head helplessly and said, "I am conscientious and conscientious, but I am afraid of disappointing the expectations of my ancestors and ancestors. Now with the assistance of Zhong Aiqing, fortunately, the people's livelihood is stable, but the Yellow River has been flooded for a long time, and the southwest and northwest borders are constantly troubled, and I dare not slack off......"

Zhu Youzhu is a self-aware emperor, he knows that even if he has civil and martial arts, there is still a certain gap between him and those Ming monarchs, and he was not blinded by Zhang Heling's eulogy.

The civil officials present suddenly felt that it was an incomparable honor to be able to assist such a saint, and even famous ministers like Ma Wensheng and Liu Daxia were also very relieved.

Zhu Youji's face looked good, but he seemed to suddenly remember something, sighed and said: "The capital is a strong man, a prosperous Tang Dynasty, and a weak Song Dynasty, but for some reason, the spirit of the Tang Dynasty, inheriting the Song Dynasty, has become a depression. The Song Dynasty was rich and strong, but it was not good at soldiers, and the battle with Waiyi was repeatedly defeated, first sending half of the country and the Jin people, and later it was overturned in the hands of the Mongolian people. Ministers, may you relieve the doubts in my heart? ”

It is not uncommon for the emperor to ask questions at the banquet, after all, it is a family banquet, and it is okay to sit together and talk about the past and the present, and the banquet always has to find a topic to talk about.

But this question is inevitably heavy.

It is recognized that the Tang Dynasty was weak and the Song Dynasty was weak, but why the two Song Dynasty were so weak in the war after the Tang Dynasty is really difficult to explain, and there has always been no public opinion in history. (To be continued.) )