Chapter 182 The Prince Gives a Lesson
Everyone returned to their respective courtyards, and the little devil followed the prince upstairs. The two of them did not bring any servants with them, let alone Shunzi. Even the prince's guards did not go.
The teachers, professors, and students on the first floor were all extremely curious, but since it was about the Crown Prince, no one dared to ask aloud. They just tried to regain their composure and start teaching the key class as normal.
The second floor had been cleaned up long ago. In order to create a good study environment for them, Xu Wan placed a large desk that could accommodate five people sitting side by side, with pens, ink, paper, and inkstones. On the small table next to it, there was also tea and snacks. Everything was prepared.
The prince came up and saw this scene, raised his eyebrows and said: "She is really smart."
The little devil asked curiously, "Are you talking about my stepmother?"
The prince nodded with a smile: "Having her guide you will be of great help to your growth."
The little devil nodded honestly.
Anyway, there are no outsiders here, and the prince will not tell his little secret to others.
The prince patted his head and said with a smile, "Come here, I will teach you the new course."
"Eh? Your Highness, are you giving me a lecture?" the little devil asked in confusion, "Didn't you say we were just chatting?"
The prince smiled and said, "Well, you can also treat it as a chat, because you don't need to read or write."
When the little devil heard that they were still chatting, he instantly became happy again.
That is chat-style learning, which is much more interesting than boring memorization. He immediately sat up straight, looking like a good kid who was listening to the class attentively.
The prince said calmly: "Today, the first lesson I will teach you is: the appointment of officials."
The little devil's eyes widened.
He knows this!
The appointment of officials in the Great Chu was made by the emperor, but the crown prince, the prime minister, the six ministers and other heads of various departments had the right to make suggestions. Since the emperor was in a high position and could not fully understand the character of the people below him, he would usually make decisions based on their suggestions.
But these are at least second-rank officials of the Great Chu State...
The little devil asked uncertainly: "Your Highness, even if I pass the exam and become the top scholar, I will only be a sixth-rank official, which is still eight levels away from a second-rank official. Isn't it too early to learn this now?"
The prince smiled and said, "Not too early. I learned it a long time ago. And, learning doesn't mean you need to use it right away. Knowing how to judge people is helpful in many ways."
The little devil thought for a moment and said, "That's right. If I know how to employ people, I will definitely be more powerful than Xu...my mother in charge of the Marquisate in the future."
The prince smiled and nodded: "Yes, it is universal."
In the following time, the prince gave him a detailed overview of the officialdom of the Great Chu, and told him the types of people that are often found in the officialdom. He then gave examples to explain: "For officials who only flatter but do not do practical work, don't look at what they say, but look at what they do. If they talk about everything but don't get anything done, they are useless."
The little devil concluded: "He can only brag."
The prince smiled and nodded, "That's right, but everyone likes nice words and is easily deceived by sweet talk. This is a big taboo."
The little devil nodded, he understood this.
He is the best at saying nice things.
The prince continued, "The other type is an upright official. This type of person is usually arrogant and proud, and disdains to say nice things. Even if they do something good, they may be robbed of their credit. To identify who actually did the credit, you can ask the other person about his or her thinking and process. If there is still doubt, you can ask in more detail about what mistakes were made and why he or she wants to improve."
The little devil subconsciously added: "What if the person who takes the credit for him is someone close to him? He knows all his plans, good and bad, how can we tell?"
The prince smiled and said, "Then look at the light in his eyes."
"Light?" The little devil didn't understand.
The prince said: "When a person talks about his proudest achievements, there is a light in his eyes. That is the result of his hard work and ideals. It is something that a substitute cannot understand and will not possess."
The little devil tilted his head to think, then shook his head half-heartedly.
The prince smiled and patted his head, saying, "It's okay, just remember this. If you still don't understand when you encounter this kind of thing in the future, find someone you trust most to help you."
The little devil didn't know why, but when he heard this, Xu Wan's figure instantly appeared in his mind.
He shook his head quickly, thinking that it was impossible. Xu Wan would not be an official in the future, so he would not ask her.
"Why are you shaking your head?" asked the prince.
Zong Jincheng, who had been absent for a while, smiled awkwardly. He coughed and said, "It's okay, it's okay, Your Highness, please continue."
The prince then continued, "This kind of honest official is the hardest to find, but he also offends many people because of his outspokenness. The most tragic end was that of the former prime minister Yan Jun, who ended up with his family destroyed."
The little devil thought that Qin Ye was also such a person. Once Qin Ye entered the official career, he would definitely be attacked by people in the officialdom... But before he could finish his thought, he heard Yan Xiang's name.
The little devil suddenly looked up and saw that it was his brother's grandfather!
"Prime Minister Yan has the talent to govern a country, but he does things without mercy and even dares to contradict the emperor's words. For a thousand taels of embezzled silver, he was..." The prince was obviously heartbroken and regretful when he mentioned Prime Minister Yan.
The little devil asked subconsciously: "Then people like Yan Xiang are destined to be beyond salvation?"
The prince looked at him with praise in his eyes: "Jin Cheng also wants to save such a person?"
The little devil nodded repeatedly: "I think he is a good man, he shouldn't end up like this."
What's more, he is my brother's grandfather. If he were still alive and the Yan family was still there, my brother would not have suffered all these years.
The prince said, "If you want to save someone like Yan Xiang, there are three ways."
"So much?" The little devil widened his eyes and went up to listen to the class carefully.
The prince explained: "First, revise the overly harsh laws so that an honest official will not be easily kicked out of office; second, honest officials should change their temperament, not be too blunt, and do their jobs in a focused manner instead of making enemies everywhere; third, have someone in a higher position protect them."
The little devil thought: "It is difficult to change one's personality. Option 1 and option 3 are more feasible. But Your Highness, since you know these methods, why didn't you protect the minister at that time..."
The only people higher than the prime minister are the emperor and the crown prince, so the crown prince should be able to protect him, right? Zong Jincheng could see that the crown prince felt sorry for Prime Minister Yan's experience.
The prince smiled bitterly and said, "Because ten years ago, I was not the prince yet."
The little devil curled his lips and said unhappily, "It's too late for the emperor to appoint a crown prince. It has delayed Your Highness from doing many good things."
Otherwise, his brother would have had a wonderful childhood!
The prince chuckled and said, "You are the only one who thinks so. I have more than 20 brothers, and they all hope that I will be crowned as the crown prince later, or that I will die soon, so that they will have a chance."
The little devil immediately frowned in anger, and couldn't help but get angry on his behalf: "What kind of brothers are these? They are all bad guys hoping that something bad will happen to such a good prince."