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"I thought the Left Prime Minister had already guessed it."
If she really wanted to publish the book, Qingyang would have to revise her manuscript, because some of the contents contained the princess's thoughts and ideas that took into account the overall situation of the court. Her father would agree with it, but some parts might offend ordinary literati or common people, and they might be used by people with ulterior motives to deliberately misinterpret her meaning and smear her reputation.
Travel notes do not need to be changed at all when they are kept for personal collection. If they are to be published and distributed to the world, it is best to focus on praising the beautiful scenery, vast territory, simple folk customs, and the peaceful and prosperous life of the people of the Great Qi Dynasty, and remove remarks that may easily cause controversy between officials and the public.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, she had to start work again. Qingyang had limited free time, so she arranged for Jie Yu to read the four manuscripts word by word to the four senior palace maids, Qin Fang and Fu Liu, and asked them to tell her about the parts they did not understand, the parts they thought might be inappropriate, or even the parts that made them feel uncomfortable after listening to them. She would decide whether to modify the wording or directly remove certain words when she had time.
Jie Yu was born into a scholarly family, Qin Fang was a rejected concubine in the previous dynasty but was retained as a palace maid, her father was a local official, and the four palace maids, Fu Liu, came from wealthy families, some from merchants, and some from poor families. These six people covered the identities of ordinary people from different backgrounds, and were also Qingyang's confidants that he could fully trust.
After many revisions, in the late second half of the first lunar month, Qingyang again handed over the four manuscripts that she believed had no hidden dangers and had been carefully polished to her father for review.
"There are some places in it that mention father, mother, second brother and some officials. If you think it is inappropriate, just cross it out." Qingyang reminded his father.
In addition to truthfully describing the scenery of mountains and rivers, the customs and products of the people, the little princess's travel notes also recorded some interesting things that the emperor and his entourage said and did during their southern tour. Some of them were removed by Qingyang, including deeds that might make the people laugh at her second brother's recklessness and stupidity. Some of them she thought were fine to keep, but the final decision would still be made by her father.
Emperor Xingwu nodded as he looked at it: "Father will pay attention to it."
Throughout history, there have been many men of letters and poets who have left behind travelogues, but few of them were written by members of the royal family. Firstly, they might not be able to endure the hardship of traveling and would only travel nearby; secondly, they might not have the leisure and interest to write books, including the literary talent.
His daughter worried that he might be too self-absorbed, like her father, but Emperor Xingwu was not so foolish. He truly admired his daughter's literary talent. Her descriptions of scenery were sometimes majestic and sometimes delicate, bringing one to life. Her accounts of royal anecdotes were both as authentic and reliable as historical records, yet possessed the wit and humor of unofficial history. Looking around the world, how many ordinary people had access to historical books? Instead, travelogues like these were more likely to circulate among the people.
The daughter has always cared about the people and paid attention to people's livelihood. Many of her thoughts in the travel notes are about how to enrich the people, such as water control and flood prevention, road and bridge construction, the establishment of official schools, silkworm breeding and tea planting, etc. When the people see these bits and pieces naturally integrated into the words of the emperor's southern tour travel notes, can they not feel the emperor and princess's kindness to the people, and can they not feel the true intention of the emperor's southern tour?
Emperor Xingwu was certain that once his daughter's travelogue was circulated among the people, it would be a million times more effective in rallying the people's hearts than if the government were to keep shouting about the Qin royal family.
Therefore, Emperor Xingwu reviewed the four manuscripts extremely carefully. After giving his daughter a final check, in early February, Emperor Xingwu summoned the two prime ministers, the six ministers, and several respected university secretaries from the Hanlin Academy to the imperial study and asked them to read the four articles of "Southern Tour" together.
The four manuscripts total more than 100,000 words. The little princess marked the order, so it was okay for the ministers to take a few pages and read them separately.
Prime Ministers Yan Xizheng and Dai Lun and the Minister of Personnel Yang Zhimin were the first to recognize the little princess's handwriting. Even though other officials were not familiar with the little princess's handwriting, they also saw the signature "Princess Qingyang Qin Lingwei" in the preface.
When the princes submitted memorials, they had to write down their titles and full names, and the little princess did the same when she went to court.
The ministers were puzzled for a moment as to what the emperor meant. Was he asking them to praise the little princess for her literary talent and diligence in writing travel notes during her southern tour, or to praise the little princess for her ideas of benefiting the people in her travel notes?
There were about ten ministers present, and not everyone wanted to guess the emperor's mind. When they saw something wonderful, they just praised it casually. Once one person praised it, the others followed suit. In order to prove that they were not deliberately flattering or pleasing the emperor, everyone spoke with substance.
Emperor Xingwu let them take turns viewing for more than half an hour before ordering the palace servants to serve tea.
While taking a break from tea, Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "I've seen that Lin'er's travelogues are excellent. They not only praise the vastness of Great Qi, but also faithfully record the hardships of my southern tour and the heart of the governor who serves the people. Therefore, I plan to have the Imperial College print them into books and distribute them to all regions, so that the people of the world can broaden their horizons and know that my southern tour was not just for sightseeing, nor did it mean that I wasted the national treasury and official grain."
Other people's travel notes mostly describe famous mountains and rivers, but my daughter mentioned the mountains and rivers she passed by on her southern tour. There are many famous mountains among them, but more are ordinary mountains and rivers that are unknown but closely related to the local people.
Several Grand Secretaries of the Hanlin Academy were the first to nod their heads. They were all clear-minded scholars. The little princess's travel notes were unique and of extraordinary significance, and were indeed worthy of being printed and circulated. Of course, if the little princess's writing was nonsense, they would also strongly oppose it. Otherwise, future generations would not only scold Emperor Xingwu and the little princess for being ignorant, but also scold them for being afraid of the imperial power and not daring to give advice.
As for whether women can publish books, in fact, there are some talented women in every dynasty who have become famous for their real talents and knowledge. As long as the little princess has talent, it will be much easier for her to be accepted by students all over the world if she writes a book than if she becomes an official in the court.
On the side of the powerful ministers, the six ministers all looked at the two prime ministers first. This is also a kind of etiquette in official circles.
Yan Xizheng has a lot of grievances that he cannot express.
The little princess's travelogue was well-written, and the emperor's reasons for publishing it were impeccable. Based on the travelogue itself, he should not and could not object.
Facing Emperor Xingwu's smiling gaze waiting for him to speak, Yan Xizheng fairly acknowledged the matter.
He agreed, and Dai Lun, Yang Zhimin and others would not spoil the emperor's fun. After all, there was really no reason to object.
Emperor Xingwu was still very humble and asked several university secretaries to take away his youngest daughter's manuscript to see if there was anything that needed improvement.
When the officials left, Emperor Xingwu kept Yan Xizheng.
"Come, play a few games with me." Emperor Xingwu moved to sit next to the Luohan bed with a chessboard on it and greeted Yan Xizhengdao.
Yan Xizheng bowed before taking his seat.
Emperor Xingwu glanced at the left prime minister's white hair, which seemed to have remained unchanged, and said with a smile, "The left prime minister is still less troublesome than me. Look, after just one year, my white hair is almost more than the left prime minister's."
Although the two were only eight years apart in age, Emperor Xingwu practiced martial arts all year round and looked much younger than the prime minister who sat still all day. Until this year, Emperor Xingwu's age had surpassed Yan Xizheng.
These words made Yan Xizheng feel distressed and sad. Emperor Xingwu was a wise ruler whom he sincerely assisted. If he had not appreciated Emperor Xingwu's talents, he would not have married his daughter to Emperor Xingwu as a concubine.
He said ashamedly, "Your Majesty is concerned about the people and has worked hard. I am just trying my best to help you. It is my incompetence that has caused you so much trouble."
Emperor Xingwu waved his hand and said, "Stop the polite talk. Without the Left Prime Minister's assistance, I would have been buried long ago."
Yan Xizheng: “…”
He was distressed to hear this, but Emperor Xingwu, on the other hand, found it amusing. He smiled and mentioned the Crown Prince, who had served as Regent for nine months last year: "I am old now, and there are things I have to think about even if I don't want to. It's difficult to bring it up with others, but I won't beat around the bush with the Left Prime Minister. Tell me, old man, is Hong'er really capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility I've entrusted to him?"
Two years ago, Yan Xizheng had confidently vouched for the Crown Prince. However, after witnessing the Crown Prince become so frightened by the state affairs that he developed a weak and sickly headache, Yan Xizheng's back was shaken. After a long pause, he said, "Your Highnesses, I still believe in the Crown Prince."
The prince is weak and lacks courage, but he can distinguish right from wrong. As long as he is surrounded by wise ministers, he can be a good king who maintains the status quo.
King Jing Qin Bing was his grandson, but this grandson was reckless and unstrategic. He had the shortcomings of being impulsive and doing bad things, and he also had the big taboo of a king, which was blindly self-confident and refusing to listen to advice. No matter how virtuous a minister was, he was afraid that the king would cover his ears and act on his own.
King Xian Qin Ren had no regard for the empire at all. If he really sat on the throne, Qin Ren would push all state affairs to his ministers. He would listen to whichever minister made sense. However, the ministers were all eloquent and good at arguing. If they really started arguing, Qin Ren would only try to mediate. By the time he made a final decision, state affairs would have been delayed.
If the Great Qi empire were a ship, the Crown Prince might be afraid of wind and rain, yet he rowed diligently forward. Prince Jing wasn't afraid of wind and rain, but he dared to sail directly into the storm. Prince Xian, on the other hand, would sleep on the ship, leaving it to his ministers. When they started arguing, he would intervene, only to capsize the boat.
Emperor Xingwu agreed with Yan Xizheng's comments on the second and third sons, but he felt that the prime minister was still soft-hearted and did not point out the crown prince's biggest problem: "It's just a minister's advice. I believe the crown prince can distinguish right from wrong. But when it comes to royal relatives, his brothers and sisters, uncles, and close friends, anyone who can use personal feelings to control him, the crown prince will be confused and put personal feelings above state affairs."
Just like when his own sister tried to get people into officialdom, the prince helped even though he knew it was wrong; just like when his uncle asked for a horse, the prince agreed after a moment of hesitation.
Even a founding hero like Yan Xizheng, if he wanted to fight for power, it would be easier to force the crown prince than to force his own grandson, Prince Jing.
Yan Xizheng was silent.
He saw this, but he was the crown prince after all. Emperor Xingwu could criticize his own son mercilessly. What if he spoke too harshly and the emperor suspected that he was intentionally supporting his own grandson?
The emperor and his ministers played chess in silence for a while, and finally Yan Xizheng asked, "Your Highnesses, the Emperor is dissatisfied with something. How does the Emperor plan to respond?"
Emperor Xingwu held the porcelain chess pot in his left hand, took out a black piece with his right hand and put it down, saying with a smile, "I thought the Left Prime Minister had already guessed it."
Yan Xizheng's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at the emperor opposite him: "Your Majesty wants to promote Princess Qingyang to assist the Crown Prince?"
Once the little princess's travel notes are sent to all the states in the world, she will gain a reputation that will last a lifetime and a good name that will be passed down through the ages. In this way, as long as the emperor gives the little princess the title of regent, the prince will ascend the throne. The little princess's dignity and power will be above that of Prince Yong, the eldest princess, Prince Jing, and Prince Xian. The little princess can suppress the royal relatives that the prince cannot suppress.
Emperor Xingwu smiled faintly and did not answer.
He has already felt out Yan Xizheng's attitude, so let the old prime minister continue to guess.
【Author’s words】
Here they come, 100 little red envelopes, see you around 11pm for the second update~
P.S. Although I can no longer update (besides the double update), I still want to ask for some nutrient solution for the little princess [clown]
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