Chapter 12 The Nightmare of Being Ruled by History in Court
On his first day of court, Jiang Chen was awakened by a strange dream.
He dreamt that he was standing in the imperial court, and sitting at the head of the table was Shen Yujiao, dressed in a dragon robe. She sat on the dragon throne and asked with a serious expression, "How did Qin Shi Huang unify the centralized rule?"
Jiang Chen spoke up timidly: "The patriarchal clan system—"
The next second, a memorial flew towards his face, "I'm asking you how to establish a centralized political regime!"
Jiang Chen nervously crossed his hands: "The feudal system?"
"That's a matter between the Zhou emperor and the feudal lords! How many times do I have to tell you such a simple point? I've been teaching you this every day, why don't you just absorb it?"
Jiang Chen gripped the Crown Prince's bright yellow robes tightly with both hands: "That... he, he called himself emperor and established a supreme position."
Emperor Chen Yujiao remained silent, signaling him to continue.
"And then there are the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers."
"Anything else?"
"Oh, and also, that..."
"You're so stupid! We're implementing the prefecture-county system in the localities! You better remember that!"
"Okay." Jiang Chen felt incredibly wronged.
Shen Yujiao suddenly found a history book in her hand. "What about the Song Dynasty? How did they strengthen centralized power?"
Song? What's this about the Song Dynasty? Weren't they in the Great Xia Dynasty?
"I'm asking you!!" Emperor Chen Yujiao was angry.
“Song! Song…” Jiang Chen thought quickly, “Ah, right, the Song Dynasty used the ‘banquet to release military power’ policy, valued civil officials over military ones, and centrally controlled taxes.”
What impact did this have?
"Strengthened...strengthened central authority?" Jiang Chen wasn't entirely sure, but seeing that Shen Yujiao was about to erupt in fury, he immediately knelt down: "Strengthened central control over local areas, weakened the phenomenon of regional warlordism, but also created redundant officials, redundant soldiers, redundant..."
"What's redundant?"
"redundant......"
Shen Yujiao flew into a rage, "Guards! Drag the Crown Prince away and give him a hundred lashes!"
"No!" Jiang Chen opened his eyes with a start, staring at the pitch-black ceiling and gasping for breath.
Hearing the sound, Shen Yujiao rubbed her eyes and asked groggily, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Jiang Chen finally came to his senses, tucked the blanket around her, and said in a low voice, "You're having a nightmare. Go back to sleep."
Even though it wasn't time to get up yet, Jiang Chen couldn't fall back asleep after closing his eyes again, so he simply closed his eyes and silently recited the knowledge points that Shen Yujiao had emphasized.
Just as Jiang Chen was sorting out the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties, a palace maid called out. At Shen Yujiao's request, Mu Jin picked out a reliable maid from among the palace maids to accompany her. Her biggest task every day was to wake her master up in the morning.
"Should I get up?" Shen Yujiao buried her face in the pillow, avoiding the candlelight that had come on in the outer room.
"Yes." The one who responded was a newly promoted palace maid, whom Shen Yujiao named Mu Nan. She had recently started working alongside Mu Jin.
Jiang Chen pressed his index finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet, then turned his head and said softly, "Don't get up, sleep a little longer."
Shen Yu buried her head in the quilt and mumbled, "Mu Jin, get the Crown Prince a thick cloak. It snowed heavily yesterday, and it will probably be cold before the sun comes out."
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin respectfully replied, "Yes." Then, there was a rustling sound of someone washing and dressing. Jiang Chen changed into his court robes with the help of a young eunuch. When he returned to the inner palace and saw that Shen Yujiao had fallen asleep again, he felt relieved and quietly left.
Carriages were already prepared at the entrance of the East Palace. Before getting into the carriage, Jiang Chen instructed, "The Crown Princess does not need to come to the palace to pay her respects today. Unless it is something important, do not disturb her rest."
Seeing that everyone agreed, he stepped into the carriage, which headed towards the palace. Jiang Chen sat in the carriage, feeling a sense of calm.
He was a little nervous last night, but when it came time to go on stage, he relaxed completely. Shen Yujiao had already explained most of the important points to him and prepared a bunch of lines for responding to emperors and politics. As long as he could adapt to the situation in court, he wouldn't make any mistakes.
Moreover... ever since he transmigrated, based on the information he gathered, it seems that the original Crown Prince was not as talented as Zhu Yu had said. Shen Yujiao was worried that he was not outstanding enough in this regard, but he did not think so.
The more he says, the more mistakes he makes; all he needs to do today is not to mess things up.
Thinking this, the carriage came to a steady stop at the palace gate. As soon as Jiang Chen got off the carriage, Zhu Yu draped a fox fur cloak over him. He felt it was in the way and was about to take it off when he heard Zhu Yu advise, "Sister Mu Jin instructed that this was ordered by Her Highness the Crown Princess."
Jiang Chen glared at him upon hearing this. Now he knew to threaten him with Shen Yujiao. But despite this, he still made him wear the cloak into the palace. He walked all the way to the main hall for the morning court session, where he took off the cloak and handed it to the eunuch who was serving him.
The morning court session officially began at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM). In the main hall, the three dukes were in the first position, with civil officials on the left and military officials on the right, standing in order of rank. Dukes, marquises, earls, and members of the imperial family, with the princes at the head, formed their own line, positioned slightly ahead of the military officials.
Jiang Chen's position was rather special; he stood to the side between the emperor and his officials, acting as both ruler and subject, thus being a semi-ruler.
Just a few feet away from him stood King Huan, only a few steps apart.
"kneel--"
"rise--"
After the official in charge of rites finished reading, he first announced the official proclamation of the start of the new year's court session. Then came the presentation of memorials and reports. From beginning to end, according to their official rank, the officials reported on the major and minor matters before and after the New Year. Afterwards, officials from the Ministry of Justice presented important matters from various provinces. In this way, it took an hour to finish reporting.
Jiang Chen listened attentively at first, noting the heavy snow in Liaodong, the opening of ports in Zhejiang and Fujian, and the turmoil on the border. However, after hearing so much, he couldn't remember everything. So, in the latter half, he couldn't help but drift off into a daze, only snapping back to reality when the emperor began his audience.
Throughout the morning court session, there were numerous matters discussed, mostly by the emperor and his civil and military officials. The princes had limited opportunities to participate. When Jiang Chen was occasionally asked about it, he would simply say, "Your Majesty is wise, I agree with the Three Dukes, and I, your son, will reiterate."
When Jiang Chen returned to the East Palace for breakfast and was asked by Shen Yujiao, he gave the same answer: "If the emperor has made a decision, I will agree; if the three dukes have discussed it, I will second it; and if most people are on the same side, I will agree."
"Well..." Shen Yujiao choked for a moment, then looked pale: "Are you going to court, or to be someone's straight man?"
Jiang Chen couldn't really empathize with Shen Yujiao's disappointment. He felt that he had been standing in the main hall for more than two hours and was already starving. In addition, it was cold today, and he just wanted to eat and then go back to sleep.
"Your Highness." Zhu Yu peeked in from the outer room. Jiang Chen glanced at him and continued drinking his porridge: "What is it?"
"A high-ranking official just arrived at the palace with some memorials. He said it was His Majesty's decree to have you assist in reviewing and approving these memorials. I have already sent someone to deliver them to the study."
"Memorials to the throne?" Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao asked in unison.
Zhu Yu looked up in surprise, but immediately lowered her head again after just one glance. The scene was too bizarre: His Highness the Crown Prince looked dejected, as if a great disaster was about to befall him, while His Highness the Crown Princess's eyes were shining, as if she had picked up a big pie.
Upon learning that the emperor had sent Jiang Chen a stack of memorials, Shen Yujiao quickly finished her breakfast and dragged Jiang Chen into the study.
As soon as the two entered the study, they saw the pile of memorials on the desk. Jiang Chen looked at the small mountain of documents stacked in several piles and felt even more exhausted. He leaned against the door frame and breathed heavily.
Shen Yujiao ignored his show, quickly walked around to the desk and sat down, picking up a memorial and reading it carefully.
"It is hereby reported that in recent days, Liaodong and other areas have experienced continuous heavy snowfall, affecting all prefectures and counties..."
Unlike Jiang Chen, Shen Yujiao was genuinely interested in these memorials. Jiang Chen, seeing her expression, didn't disturb her. He moved a chair from the window and sat down next to her, then picked up a specially made red inkstone and began grinding it. The sunlight outside slanted across the window, filling the study with a warm and inviting atmosphere.
After reading the memorial, Shen Yujiao dipped her brush in vermilion ink and carefully wrote the Crown Prince's comments at the back of the memorial. Jiang Chen waited for her to finish writing before asking, "What did you say?"
Shen Yujiao put down her pen, blew on the still-wet ink, and explained to him, "This is a memorial from the Governor-General of Liaodong. He said that there is a snow disaster in the north. Since the beginning of the year, there has been continuous heavy snow for several days. This is a matter of great importance to people's livelihood. You should not delay. Send it to the Emperor this afternoon to avoid any delays."
Jiang Chen leaned forward and asked, "What about this one?"
Just then, Shen Yujiao finished annotating one of the letters, glanced at it, and replied, "This one is not very informative. Several letters in a row are just wishing His Majesty good health and a happy new year."
"Huh?" Jiang Chen laughed unexpectedly.
"Look, this letter is from Dong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. It's about the security arrangements in the capital. The Lantern Festival is coming soon, so we need to be careful about the safety of the people."
Seeing that she was in high spirits, Jiang Chen ground ink while listening to her muttering the contents of the memorial, just to get an impression of it, so that if the emperor asked him about the contents of the memorial in the future, he wouldn't be unable to explain the Crown Prince's reply clearly on it.
Shen Yujiao's calligraphy is different from the small regular script that most young ladies of Daxia study. The two of them have been studying calligraphy together since childhood. They not only have the same teacher, but also have been classmates for more than ten years. Therefore, not only are their penmanship habits similar, but their handwriting is also roughly similar. If you don't compare them carefully, you really can't see the difference between their handwriting. This is why Shen Yujiao dares to write directly, and Jiang Chen does not stop her.
After noon, Shen Yujiao finally put down her pen, and Jiang Chen also tossed the ink stick aside. The two leaned back in their chairs, shaking their heads and twisting their wrists. After sitting for most of the day, they both felt a little tired. Just as they were about to discuss what to have for lunch, Zhu Yu's voice came from outside.
"Your Highness, the gatekeeper has come to report that the Prince Huan's residence has sent an invitation to Prince Huan's birthday celebration. He invites you all to come and celebrate his birthday together on the second day of next month."
On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head.
Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao exchanged a glance, wondering how skilled Huan Wang's mother was at giving birth to him on such a special day. Moreover, he was the eldest son. No wonder that after the late Crown Prince passed away, everyone followed his lead. Even Jiang Chen, the Crown Prince, was only half a step ahead of him.
"Let's leave it there. We can talk about it next month if I have time." Upon hearing that it was this person's birthday, Jiang Chen really didn't have any intention of celebrating it for them.
From their very first meeting, he and his princess had been rather unfriendly towards Shen Yujiao. He recalled the emperor's questioning in the imperial study that day; at that time, he hadn't quite gotten into character. Now, having been to the court, he was beginning to grasp the nuances of court politics.
King Huan was trying to take the job from him.
The emperor said that he had just gotten married and should take a break this time, which shows that in the past, such a task would have been assigned to him, as it was respectable, easy, and would have won him popular support.
As for the remaining princes, he couldn't discern anything about them yet, but he figured they wouldn't compete with the Crown Prince for the top spot. It seemed that Prince Huan had indeed given him a warning soon after his arrival.
Unfortunately, he only realized it now, but though it was a bit late, he was certain that he had not misunderstood. This was an unspoken rivalry and hostility between men. Between King Huan and the Crown Prince... was it all for the throne?
Jiang Chen unconsciously rubbed the ring on his finger until it came off his finger. He turned his head and saw that Shen Yujiao was still looking at the invitation. He reached out and snatched the invitation from her hand and tossed it aside.
"Let's go eat."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
