As a good elder brother, Zhu Xiong Ying was quite considerate; he allowed his fourth and fifth sons, Zhu Yunxuan and Zhu Yunxuan, to come to the Eastern Palace together. In fact, neither of them had reached the age to establish their own residences yet.
They have simply moved out of the palace, and their daily lives are naturally taken care of by Lady Lü. Although the First Zhu is no longer alive, his two illegitimate sons are still being well cared for. Neither the Old Zhu nor the Young Zhu clearly mistreated the First Zhu's offspring.
Zhu Yunxuan and Zhu Yunxuan both seemed very well-behaved, and they were indeed quite afraid of Zhu Xiong Ying. Especially after the death of their eldest brother, Zhu Yunxuan, the two became even more obedient, knowing that their future well-being depended entirely on their elder brother's mood.
Especially Lady Lü, who completely gave up any inappropriate thoughts and basically taught her three sons to please their eldest brother.
After Zhu Yunxuan and the fifth prince Zhu Yunxuan exchanged greetings, Zhu Xiong Ying asked, "Have you been studying lately?"
Zhu Yunxuan immediately replied, "Your younger brother is studying the Analects, and I have already begun my studies."
Zhu Xiong Ying nodded slightly, then said to Zhu Yunxuan, "Fourth brother, the words of the sages are naturally important. But you must also remember that blindly believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all. We should listen to the teachings of the sages, but we should not just believe their words; we should also think for ourselves."
Zhu Yunxuan nodded quickly and said, "Your subject obeys."
She used to be a very lively child, but now she has become cautious and timid. She is probably in her early teens, an age when she is quite thoughtful. She doesn't dare to overstep any boundaries in front of Zhu Xiong Ying and is very well-behaved.
Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "Besides studying, have you ever practiced riding and archery? Swordsmanship?"
It must be said that Zhu Xiong Ying was a good elder brother. If he were an irresponsible elder brother, he would basically just let his younger brothers study to death. As for Zhu Yunwen, it was one thing, but Lady Lü was wary of Zhu Xiong Ying, fearing that Zhu Xiong Ying would lead Zhu Yunwen astray. It was only occasionally that Zhu Yunwen was forcibly ordered around by Zhu Xiong Ying.
But the situation is different with the fourth and fifth sons now; Zhu Xiong Ying can now discipline them legitimately.
Zhu Yunxuan quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I spend half an hour every day riding horses and shooting arrows. A few days ago, Your Majesty ordered the heir of the Marquis of Wuding to teach us."
Zhu Xiong Ying was speechless. Old Zhu's actions were indeed a strong warning, and it was estimated that the Lü family would not be able to settle down.
When Da Zhu fell ill, Lady Lü thought she was being clever. As a result, her brother-in-law was punished. Guo Zhen, the heir of Marquis Wuding, was the one who oversaw the execution of Lady Lü's brother-in-law's entire family.
Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't say anything about this, but he encouraged them, saying, "This is a good thing. I don't expect you to master the Six Arts of a Gentleman. But you should still learn what you need to learn, so that you don't become lazy and ignorant of farming."
The 'traditional scholar' was not a weak, bookish student who couldn't even kill a chicken; he was someone who could ride a horse and wield a sword to fight the enemy. It was only through generations that many scholars began to despise sweating and started to think that a romantic and refined gentleman should only be engaged in poetry, books, wine, and painting.
Zhu Xiong Ying never considered fully restoring and promoting the Six Arts to properly change the prevailing attitudes among scholars. This was mainly due to cost; if the Six Arts were fully restored, the Ming Dynasty's current finances simply couldn't afford to cultivate so many scholars.
Furthermore, this meant that children from poor families had virtually no chance of rising to prominence. The Six Arts would essentially be monopolized by powerful and wealthy families, who had the resources to cultivate such scholars.
Although this makes it impossible to fully implement the Six Arts, it doesn't mean that the requirements for the sons of nobles or members of the imperial family are low.
Especially these younger brothers, apart from Zhu Yunwen who had long been corrupted by Lady Lü, there was also Yunwen, who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun and was never at home. These two younger brothers were indeed set in their ways and could not be changed.
However, the fourth and fifth sons still have a chance. Zhu Xiong Ying still thinks that these two boys are well-educated and are probably a little more 'model' than their second and third brothers, rather than 'problem princes'.
After testing the fourth and fifth sons' studies, Zhu Xiong Ying felt much more at ease. They were quite obedient and sensible, and had not slacked off in their studies.
Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor) always placed great importance on the education of the imperial clan members. Some of them were quite successful, but he couldn't deny that many of them were just like his own son, Yunzhi, or even worse.
After giving his fourth and fifth sons a good talking-to, Zhu Xiong Ying did not reward them with books, writing brushes, ink, paper, or inkstones. Instead, he gave each of them a royal horse, which could be considered a form of encouragement.
Xu Miaoqing began preparing dinner and said to Zhu Xiong Ying, "Husband, it's time to prepare for the Empress Dowager's birthday."
Zhu Xiong Ying nodded. This was an extremely important matter. "Well, you handle these matters. I'll be quite busy these days, so keep an eye on things in the harem."
In fact, Xu Miaoqing had heard some rumors recently, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't excited. However, she was, after all, just the Crown Prince's wife, and she didn't have the power to interfere in court affairs at the moment; she was only speculating about things.
Zhu Xiong Ying was well aware that there were indeed many things to deal with in the coming period, and that it would be difficult to relax.
Since that's the case, Xu Miaoqing probably won't be idle either. She also needs to help handle some things, and some matters in the palace cannot be ignored, otherwise these will also be quite troublesome.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yuanzhang believed they had considerable control over affairs in the court, they clearly wanted to prioritize stability at this time and did not want too many variables to occur.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
