Chapter 49 Princess's Grace
With Empress Zhang around, even though Zhu Yuhuan had "annual leave", he did not rest. He could put aside his lessons for the time being, but being in charge of all the big and small affairs in a palace was not easy. Just a glance at the palace affairs book handed to him by Empress Zhang made Zhu Yuhuan feel overwhelmed.
She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she, like Empress Zhang, had to look after all the affairs of the Forbidden City. It would probably be like the famous line in a TV series, "My head hurts."
In order to facilitate teaching, the grandfather and grandson sat around a round table with several booklets stacked beside them, as well as an abacus, writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone.
Empress Zhang couldn't help but laugh when she saw Zhu Yuhuan frowning and looking worried. She said, "Great things in the world must be done with details; difficult things in the world must be accomplished with easy things. How does everyone in the Forbidden City eat and drink, and how much does it cost? As the head of the family, you should know this."
Zhu Yuhuan put down the book in her hand and placed one hand on the abacus. She scratched her head in confusion and said, "But what can these accounts prove?"
Empress Zhang pointed to the various details recorded in the book with her pen and said, "Don't treat these as trivial matters. Look, which palace did what today? As long as you have this, Grandma can guess it clearly."
Zhu Yuhuan was stunned, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He hurriedly flattered her, "As expected of grandma, you are so thoughtful that you even thought of this."
No wonder Concubine Guo couldn't defeat her own grandmother. While she was waiting for Zhu Gaochi to reward his family, Empress Zhang knew exactly how much she spent in her own palace, not to mention her little tricks.
Empress Zhang glanced at her, having long guessed that the little girl was trying to curry her favor. She jokingly said, "Huanhuan, you think these palace affairs are just the trivialities of the women in the harem, but think about it, from the Forbidden City to the provinces, prefectures, and counties of an entire country, they are all made up of these scattered matters that are most easily overlooked in the world. If a palace were replaced by a country, would these still be just palace affairs?"
Zhu Yuhuan was slightly stunned and fell into thought.
She really felt that there was no point in learning these things, after all, someone else would do it in the future, but Empress Zhang's words invisibly enlightened her.
——These are the traces of everyone's existence. Only from these details can we understand how the world really works.
For example, if you don’t know how logistics work when marching to war, how can you win the battle?
Seeing her thoughtful expression, Empress Zhang knew her words had paid off. She smiled and rubbed Zhu Yuhuan's head, saying, "Your mother is learning these things from me now. She can't always be stuck in your father's backyard. Naturally, she has to let go of some affairs. You can handle the loose parts yourself. That's why Grandma wants to teach you these things in advance."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded, but he was a little worried.
That being said, why did Empress Zhang need to go out of her way to say this? However, she could understand why Empress Zhang was called "the female Yao and Shun" - in a society where men were superior to women, she stood up and got things done, held supreme power, and finally waved her sleeves and left a virtuous reputation. This was truly not something that ordinary people could do.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed. Even though Zhu Yuhuan was reluctant, the last year of Yongle passed like this, and the new year was the first year of Hongxi.
Zhu Yuhuan studied briefly with Empress Zhang for a period of time. Although he could not be said to know everything about these matters, he was not too clueless about them either.
Empress Zhang looked at the booklet Zhu Yuhuan handed over, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Apart from anything else, your accounts are very clear."
Zhu Yuhuan said with a smile: "My great-grandfather asked someone to compile the Yongle Encyclopedia. Although he didn't bring the original copy to Shuntian, he did include a lot of books in his collection. I happened to have the Ding Ju Suanfa, so I just studied it briefly. It turned out to be very simple."
Empress Zhang tapped her forehead and said with a smile, "That's perfect. Since you have no problem managing things, it's time to manage people."
Zhu Yuhuan blinked. "Manage people?"
Empress Zhang instructed the female official beside her, "Bring here the maid I have selected for the princess."
"yes."
The female official quickly brought over eight people, four men and four women, who stood at the bottom with lowered brows and submissive looks. One of the eunuchs was holding a tray covered with red silk, and it was unknown what was on it.
Empress Zhang said with a smile, "You have too many vacancies around you. Bring these people back to your palace and train them. Don't forget what your grandmother taught you." When Zhu Yuhuan nodded, she said to one of the people below, "Bring up the things the princess wants."
The young eunuch holding the tray answered yes and then stepped forward.
Zhu Yuhuan was still wondering what was on the tray, but with just a glance, she immediately recognized who the person was. She pinched her palm hard, and Zhu Yuhuan did not let herself show too much surprise.
Empress Zhang said with a smile, "Except him, all of you can go down."
Upon hearing this, the palace maids withdrew one by one, leaving only Empress Zhang, Zhu Yuhuan and the young eunuch in the hall. The hall was completely silent.
Zhu Yuhuan finally recovered and turned to look at Empress Zhang, saying, "Grandma..."
Empress Zhang ignored Zhu Yuhuan's words and simply said, "Do you know why I didn't kill you?"
The young eunuch knelt on the ground and said, "I don't know."
The time of transfer of the throne was the most chaotic time in the palace, so even if a few people died at this time, it was "reasonable."
But Zhu Yuhuan was a little puzzled. Since Empress Zhang could directly and secretly get rid of this young eunuch without leaving any future troubles, why did she keep him?
"The princess still cherishes you in her heart and cannot bear to take your life. She is willing to risk her own life and ask me to spare your life." Empress Zhang said calmly, "If it weren't for the princess's plea and General Liu's favor, I would have secretly executed you when the new emperor ascended the throne."
Upon hearing this, the young eunuch immediately knelt on the ground and said, "I thank the Queen for her grace in not killing me, and I thank the Princess for her magnanimous and kind plea for mercy."
Zhu Yuhuan was slightly stunned, and then he finally understood the reason why Empress Zhang went around in such a big circle.
This was Empress Zhang's "combination of kindness and severity." After all, this young eunuch was Liu Yongcheng's man. If he were to be killed rashly, even if he was truly insignificant, it would leave Liu Yongcheng with a lingering feeling that the Crown Prince's family didn't trust him enough. After all, although Liu Yongcheng was only an eunuch, he was a skilled military officer, and even at that moment, he managed to send a message to Zhu Yuhuan in the palace. This undoubtedly showed his support for the Crown Prince's family, and his stance was more resolute than that of Duke Ying of Ying, Zhang Fu, and others.
Zhu Gaochi had been the crown prince for many years and had been involved in the promotion and election of many officials. Naturally, the civil officials were loyal to Zhu Gaochi as the emperor, but with the new emperor ascending the throne, and Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu eyeing him covetously, the emperor needed to win over the forces of the military generals, especially those from the "emperor faction" like Liu Yongcheng who had extended an olive branch in advance.
Therefore, it was not suitable to give this eunuch position to anyone else, and it could only be given to Zhu Yuhuan, after all, she was Liu Yongcheng's only student.
Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but look up at her grandmother, but saw that Empress Zhang's eyes were also on her and she blinked at her.
Zhu Yuhuan felt a chill on his back, and she cleared her throat and said, "Get up, and stay by my side from now on."
The young eunuch was still completely unaware and stood up and said, "Thank you, Princess, for taking me in."
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