Chapter 20 Snow on the Lakeside Pavilion (Part 4)
The Zhu siblings took Mother Song to Shunde for a few days and discovered that Xianzong was indeed quite famous in the local area.
If we talk about Xianzong's life, the place he had the least contact with must be Shunde, but the local people are quite devoted to this first female emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The brother and sister inquired carefully and found out that Xianzong had allowed the reduction of Shunde's local natural taxes and other policies, which are still being implemented as usual. This is because emperors of all dynasties have abided by the principle of "the laws of ancestors cannot be changed". No wonder these people are so grateful to Xianzong.
Zhu Changzhou couldn't help but feel deeply moved after hearing this, but Zhu Changtian felt it was a little strange.
In other words, the ancestral laws cannot be changed, which proves that although the Ming Dynasty has made progress in science and technology over the years, its systems and regulations are still the same old ones.
Such an ancient and huge imperial system, even if there have been slight changes in recent years, is probably already rotten.
This may be a good thing for these people, but for the entire country, it is an ominous sign.
Zhu Changtian had a plan in mind. Soon after returning to the capital, he discussed it with his sister and asked her to learn more from the teacher who drew equipment drawings in school. Zhu Changtian himself would learn smelting and other techniques. Although it was a bit hard, it was still a skill after all. Even if he did not enter the Academy of Sciences, he could still earn a considerable income.
After Zhu Changzhou returned from Shunde, she was indeed quite interested in these drawings and designs, and did not object to her brother's suggestion. She soon became an apprentice in the school. With this motivation, she studied attentively, and naturally achieved twice the result with half the effort.
His mother, Zhu Yijing, traveled around suppressing local rebellions or dealing with local corrupt officials. Although she held a position in the capital, she was always on the move.
Fortunately, the emperor noticed Zhu Yijing's achievements and always sent rewards to his residence. Therefore, the Zhu brothers and sisters were considered "popular" among the sons of officials in the capital. At least they would not be bullied by other children on a daily basis.
In addition, with Zhao Yucheng as their "backer", although their mother was not around, the brother and sister had a good time studying.
However, the following year, the good news that the emperor had given birth to a son and was safe and sound spread. This incident was just a bit of fun for others, but for some ministers in the court, it was indeed a good thing.
After all, there is only Zhu Cizhao in the current emperor's branch. If Zhu Cizhao has any accident during childbirth, the ministers can only choose someone else from his father Zhu Youbai's brothers and sisters to come to Beijing.
The current emperor is just trying to save face. Even if the entire country cannot be described as "as precarious as an egg", it is not optimistic either. Who would want to take over such a mess at this time?
It goes without saying that the descendants of the princes who inherited the title had their own property, some even had property in places like Pengzhou. Even those side branches had their own livelihoods. Some, like Zhu Yijing, became minor officials or clerks, and they could live a good life. Why would they risk this bad luck?
However, these things had nothing to do with the Zhu brothers and sisters. It was not until the twelfth year of Zhengshou that Zhu Yijing finally learned about the rebellion in Fujian. As an imperial envoy who traveled across half of the Ming Dynasty to quell the rebellion, and as a meritorious minister, Zhu Yijing was able to return to the capital smoothly.
Compared with his position as Left Vice Minister of Rites in the eighth year of Zhengshou, this time Zhu Yijing came to Beijing as a formal Minister of War, and was even named by the emperor to join the cabinet.
She is already 45 years old this year, so joining the cabinet at this time is not unusual. However, it is indeed rare for her to be promoted directly from a local official to a cabinet minister.
Naturally, everyone in the court quickly understood the emperor's attitude towards Zhu Yijing, and would not rush into him mindlessly and find fault with him, which would only bring trouble to themselves.
What's more, they had also heard a little about Zhu Yijing's style and methods of doing things. It could be said that he had offended all the officials and civilians. It would have been fine if it were ordinary people, but he even spared his colleagues. In addition, the emperor admired and promoted Zhu Yijing so much, so how could they not understand that he was the "glove" promoted by the emperor? Who dared to mess with this killer?
As long as Zhu Yijing doesn't come to them, there's no need for them to confront her head-on.
"Mom...is she back?"
Zhu Changtian was originally reading a tabloid when he heard his sister's voice. He looked up and gave a reassuring smile, saying, "It should be soon. I just asked someone to inquire about it."
In recent years, as people's morals became more open, some began to record court events on small pieces of paper, but they were soon arrested. Later, someone suggested to the emperor that the non-confidential parts of the court reports be excerpted and made public, which would also reassure the people. The emperor pondered for a long time and finally agreed.
In order to distinguish it from the court bulletin, it was called a "tabloid". Later, some people began to follow suit, but most of the stories written on it were about interesting stories of singing girls and dancers, and occasionally they would sing praises of the emperor's wisdom. Therefore, it was not banned by the court. However, over time, the people who ran the newspaper began to pretend to obey it, and occasionally published some state affairs, and the court also turned a blind eye to it.
In order to welcome their mother, the brother and sister changed into new clothes and took a day off from the factory and school, waiting for their mother to come home so that the family could be reunited.
"That's right... I heard from the teacher that the train from Shunde back to Beijing has been renovated. It was built by several senior brothers and sisters. Now it is getting faster and faster. It's not like before, when it took a whole day to reach the destination."
Zhu Changtian nodded slightly, revealing a hint of worry, and asked, "I remember you said some time ago that one of your fellow apprentices was injured in the explosion?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Changzhou's face also showed a bit of melancholy. He said, "There was a disturbance during the construction. Someone mixed in with the workers and buried gunpowder under the tracks. My senior brother happened to be conducting experiments on the train at the time... Fortunately, it's not serious. But I'm afraid he won't be able to make drawings in the future. The teacher asked him to return to the academy as an assistant. The higher-ups forbad us from talking about this matter. We only found out about it from my sister-in-law..."
Those who could get gunpowder to blow up the railroad tracks were certainly not ordinary workers causing trouble, but this incident did not seriously affect the construction of the railway. In addition, it was not something that happened in the capital, which was under the feet of the emperor. Naturally, officials at all levels tried to conceal it and tried to make a big thing small.
Zhu Changtian couldn't help but sigh inwardly, but he didn't show it on his face. He just said half-jokingly: "Don't worry, you are still a long way from leaving. By then, the world will surely be at peace."
Zhu Changzhou snorted, then said, "Brother, you should also be careful. I heard that the machines in the two factories had accidents some time ago..."
"Don't worry, your brother is no longer an apprentice. It's not my turn to do such a dangerous thing."
"That's good."
While the brother and sister were talking, the servant came running in and said, "Master, Second Madam, the Lord has arrived at the street corner!"
The brother and sister looked at each other, stood up together and went to the street corner to greet their long-lost mother, feeling a little nervous.
Their mother had been away from home for more than four years. Although they had been exchanging letters, they had no idea what she was like now.
With the emperor's instruction, Zhu Yijing's return to the capital was a grand event, with special officials welcoming him. Zhu Yijing wore a red suit with a brocade pheasant patch on it, a black gauze hat on his head, and a white jade horse at his crotch, looking quite majestic.
But the brother and sister could see that there were already silver threads in their mother's hair, not to mention the fine lines at the corners of her eyebrows and eyes.
It seems that these four years of suppressing the rebellion were not easy.
When Zhu Changtian saw such a magnificent team, his heart sank.
He knew very well that the emperor's clear display of his respect for his mother was a sign of his trust in her, but it was also an invisible act of creating enemies for Zhu Yijing.
My mother was only at the bottom of the cabinet and had little experience, but she acted with greater pomp than others, which was bound to arouse the jealousy of her colleagues.
There were quite a few officials who were transferred to the capital at the beginning, but those who were as trusted by the emperor as Zhu Yijing were almost extinct. Most of them had gradually integrated into the life of other colleagues in the capital. The emperor probably took this into consideration when doing this now, and wanted to distinguish Zhu Yijing from other officials through his own behavior.
This is a double-edged sword, but judging from the mother's appearance, it seems that she has decided to take over the fire bomb from the emperor's hand.
Zhu Changtian almost immediately thought of his life in Jiangxi, and felt sad.
His mother's hands were stained with the blood of many refugees, workers, officials, and rebels. He was very worried. He felt that if this continued, his mother would find it difficult to return to her normal life.
Zhu Yijing on horseback glanced down at his two children and said, "I still have to go to the palace to report on my work. You go home first." After that, without waiting for their response, he walked forward along the street towards the palace.
Zhu Changzhou watched her mother leave, the expectant expression on her face gradually dimming. She turned to look at her brother and whispered, "Brother, let's go back..."
Zhu Changtian just nodded lightly.
When Zhu Yijing came back, it was already night. Zhu Changzhou had to go to school the next day, so he went to bed early on Zhu Changtian's persuasion. When Zhu Yijing entered the room, only Zhu Changtian was waiting in the hall.
Seeing this, Zhu Yijing said, "I heard that you were involved in smelting work at the two factories. Why aren't you going to rest so late? What if something goes wrong tomorrow?"
Zhu Changtian single-handedly handled all the affairs of the brother and sister, acting first and reporting later. Although Zhu Yijing didn't want to agree, the matter had already been settled when the letter was delivered. She had no power to change the situation and could only go along with them.
No matter how powerful she is outside, she can never win over her two children when it comes to household matters.
Zhu Changtian stood up, bowed, and said, "Mother has finally returned home, and your son will always wait for you."
Zhu Yijing noticed that his son was in a bad mood and said, "Go to bed early."
Seeing that his mother was trying to avoid the conversation, Zhu Changtian immediately said, "I have something important to discuss with you."
Zhu Yijing knew exactly what his son wanted to say, and in a rare display of evasiveness, he said, "It's getting late, and I'm tired."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Zhu Changtian said, "Mother, I want Zhouzhou to study abroad." He saw Zhu Yijing stop and explain the previous incident of the workers' riot and the railway bombing. Then he said, "We can't stay in the mainland any longer. Mother, you should send Zhouzhou abroad as soon as possible. Even if His Majesty wants your child to be a hostage, I am here. At least Zhouzhou won't have to go through what happened in Jiangxi again."
Although his sister didn't dwell on the bullying and ostracism she'd endured in Jiangxi, Zhu Changtian knew full well that as he grew older and learned more, his understanding of the past deepened, making it harder to let go. Unlike their mother, they had only learned unorthodox teachings, lacking her mother's deeply ingrained loyalty to the imperial court.
If Zhu Yijing returns to Beijing this time to be the "sharp knife" in the emperor's hand pointing at the ministers, Zhu Changtian still hopes that his sister can stay away from such a vortex. It was just a "small fight" between classmates before, but now that the anger of these people is acting on them, it is bound to cause big trouble.
Zhu Yijing was silent for a while, then said, "Tian'er, you've grown up."
Zhu Changtian shook his head and said sadly, "Mother is too stubborn. The Ming Dynasty today is no longer the Ming Dynasty in the books. Why should Mother be so stubborn? Is there any dynasty in this world that will not perish? When I was a child, you taught me and my sister that the laws of nature are constant. They do not exist for the sake of Yao or Jie..."
"Tian'er, others can do it, but I can't."
"mother……"
Zhu Yijing looked at his son and said, "We all have the surname Zhu. If the dynasty really changes, how can we have a good life?"
Zhu Changtian caught his mother's words and immediately said, "Mom, our surname is not Zhu..."
"Your birth, growth, education, and work are all due to my position and status. Loyalty is the duty of the emperor, not to mention the irrefutable fact of blood ties."
Zhu Changtian understood his mother's meaning and said sadly, "Mother, haven't you contributed to this country with your knowledge and hard work? Why should we sacrifice everything for this country just for a surname and an official position? Loyalty to the emperor and patriotism are two different things..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhu Yijing interrupted him, saying, "That's enough! Stop talking!"
Zhu Changtian knew that his words were "extremely disrespectful". If there was no one else at home at this moment, he would not have said these words, but seeing his mother like this, he had to say it.
He didn't want his mother to go down a path of no return.
The hall was filled with silence. Zhu Changtian paused for a long moment before finally speaking in a low voice, "Mother, I know you can't turn back, but you alone can't change the world. Even with Your Majesty, how can you reverse this world's defeat? Your Majesty is the mother of the world, and all the people are Your Majesty's children. You are the mother of Zhou Zhou and me, and you should know better than I do that parents can't prevail against their children. Everything you've done is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot! There are so many corrupt officials, rebels, refugees, and workers in this world. Can you kill them all?"
Zhu Yijing's persistent back looked somewhat dejected.
"It is better to try to stop a chariot with a mantis arm than to do nothing."
Zhu Changtian finally lost his temper. He was silent for a while and said, "Yes, it's better than doing nothing. The overall situation and justice always take precedence over petty emotions..."
Zhu Yijing turned around and saw that her son had turned around and left the reception room. She felt a little sad in her heart, but she finally forced herself to hold it back.
She cannot let down His Majesty's trust, nor can she let down the Ming Dynasty.
But the situation will obviously not change because of a few people, or even a group of people.
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