Chapter 124 They Want to Improve Too Much

Deng Qianqiu soon discovered that these three sons of Zhu Yuanzhang were extremely evil.

They are well-informed and have strong learning abilities.

But if you think about it carefully, one of these three people is Emperor Yongle, who led dozens of trusted men to quell the rebellion and eventually established his rule over the world.

Another one is Zhu Gang, who is said to be even stronger than Zhu Di.

As for the youngest one, Zhu Su, who compiled many medical books just because of his love for medicine, and took away the jobs of many doctors.

No matter which of these three people, as long as they become interested in something, have a learning atmosphere, and are at the peak of their memory and learning ability, their strength will definitely surpass their peers.

At this time, Deng Qianqiu had to believe that there really was such a thing as talent in this world.

Let them study "Spring and Autumn Annals", "Book of History", "Book of Han" and "Zizhi Tongjian" first. On the one hand, Deng Qianqiu has not yet figured out what he should teach, so he uses these things as a foundation.

On the other hand, most of the content of these studies is the history of our ancestors, which is not a bad way to lay a foundation for people.

For any kind of learning, basic knowledge is extremely important. It is just like there are always people in later generations complaining that after they go to college, the knowledge they learned in junior high school and high school is useless for the professional knowledge after college. However, they do not know that some basic knowledge itself is ineffective.

Of course, for many universities, learning by relying on basic knowledge is actually the same for professional courses in junior colleges and prestigious universities, regardless of the school. And professional knowledge is actually at the same starting line.

But why are there such huge differences in professional abilities among different universities?

The problem lies with the college entrance examination. The essence of the college entrance examination is to test basic knowledge. Its essence is to distinguish a person's learning ability and willingness to learn through examination.

A person who has the ability and willingness to learn can basically be admitted to a good university, unless there are unexpected events. This means that as long as they maintain this ability in their future professional studies, the people they will eventually train will not be too bad.

On the other hand, many people who fail the exams are still far behind others in their learning ability and willingness. To be frank, if you are still wasting your time at the age of taking the college entrance exam, it is basically difficult to reshape yourself.

Deng Qianqiu asked them to study hard in order to cultivate this ability. As long as they were in this high-intensity learning atmosphere and had a solid foundation, they would not be too bad at learning anything in the future.

Zhu Gang got up early every morning and began his morning reading.

He is too curly.

Zhu Di couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted to make progress more than Zhu Gang, so he had to get up at the same time.

What was even more tragic was that he discovered that his fifth brother, like a weasel, always stared at him with a pair of strange eyes, and then quickly and secretly took a small charcoal pencil to write something on a notepad he carried with him.

Even Shen Zhiye was infected. In fact, Shen Zhiye was not a good person either. He was born in a wealthy merchant family and was spoiled by his grandfather. He had a lot of bad habits.

On weekdays, he would not get up until the sun was high in the sky, and would party with idle people all night long. He had some culture, but not much.

When he came here, he thought he was here to play with the princes, but who would have expected... these princes, who came from much better backgrounds than him, were much more rebellious than him.

So he was terrified. After all, the princes were studying, how could he dare to slack off? Zhu Gang and Zhu Su kept an eye on him all the time, and if he slacked off for a moment, they would have a cordial and friendly conversation with him.

Shen Zhiye had no choice but to say that he must work hard, change his bad habits, and study hard from then on.

What’s even more frightening is that Deng Qianqiu has to take surprise tests almost every three to five days.

Even though Deng Qianqiu doesn't manage much on weekdays, he tests you a lot. Today you have to memorize this, and tomorrow he will ask you to explain the meaning of that sentence.

All the tests had to be compared with scores, and Zhu Gang almost always ranked among the top.

This Prince Jin was really mad, and he didn't know what was wrong with him. He would take a copy of the "Book of Han" with him even when he went to the toilet. The most admirable thing was that he didn't even tear up the "Book of Han" to wipe his butt.

This made Zhu Di grit his teeth. He was a man who would not admit defeat and was thinking about making progress every day, so he began to work harder than Zhu Gang.

Shen Zhiye always felt that he was overwhelmed, but in this atmosphere where one seemed to be on the alert at all times, he actually began to completely adapt to this kind of life.

Of course, as a mentor, Deng Qianqiu still had to give some explanations. But what he explained was very strange, always with a wonderful angle, which gave people a refreshing feeling.

Over time, during the boring reading and writing process, everyone actually looked forward to Deng Qianqiu's lectures.

After all, this is their only entertainment here.

…………

The three major central governments of the Ming Dynasty were actually the Secretariat, which was in charge of administrative affairs throughout the country, the Grand Council, which was in charge of military affairs, and the Censorate, which was responsible for supervising, impeaching officials, and enforcing discipline.

These three centers were parallel, but compared to the powerful Secretariat and the Grand Military Governor's Office, the Censorate was comparable in rank, but in reality, it was far inferior to the former in terms of administrative system. The reason for this was that the Censorate, which was responsible for enforcing discipline, was much more extreme than the emperor.

You discovered a corrupt minister and just collected evidence to impeach him. You were even thinking about how to cite the law and formulate a punishment for him. But before the impeachment memorial arrived, the palace had already issued an order to exterminate his family.

Then you find that the person you are working for has suddenly disappeared completely from the face of the earth.

Moreover, the emperor is more meticulous than you in his work. When you are still reporting on the matter, the emperor has already begun to wonder how this person got promoted. This person must have an accomplice! Kill them all. This is a conspiracy. No one should be spared.

So... the censors in the Censorate were all numb. They were even thinking, who are they and what are they doing in the Censorate?

What about the people I work for? Their whole family was fine yesterday.

However, Liu Ji seemed to be very happy with the current situation. His Majesty had done most of the work of the Censorate, so what? He was happy to have some free time.

The Chief Censor was the head of the Censorate, but most of his time he spent practicing calligraphy or collecting books to read.

"Mr. Liu, Mr. Liu..."

Today, someone came to visit, it was Liu Zhi from the Zhanshi Mansion.

As a professor at the main hall, Liu Zhi seems to be in a bad state these days, because he is responsible for the studies of the kings.

Liu Ji was sitting in his office reading a book. He looked at the person coming and slowly put the book down with a calm expression, as if he knew the other person's intention.

Liu Zhi said with a bitter face: "Lord Liu, this is not a solution! The princes are still young, but now... they are wasting their best years following Deng Qianqiu who doesn't study. Now the ministers are discussing it privately, saying that if this continues, it will cause endless troubles. If these princes can't discern the principles of saints, how can they become wise kings in the future? Lord Liu, you are the Chief Censor, you can't sit idly by and do nothing."

Liu Ji sighed. He knew someone would come knocking on his door. The ministers could not accept the decision made by His Majesty.

In other words, they may dislike the current emperor, thinking that he kills people without restraint and has no rules at all. You may even laugh at him for being a rough man, for coming from a farmer's family and having worked as a beggar and a monk.

However, everyone is still willing to accept this situation, because, although the emperor is hopeless, at least the crown prince and the princes will be able to become talents in the future with careful training! By then... they will definitely be a benevolent ruler.

Although the edict from His Majesty did not involve the Crown Prince's studies, it was already a dig at everyone's roots.

Nowadays, people are discussing this matter in private every day.

Many people have visited Liu Ji, the Chief Censor, hoping that he, as the Chief Censor, could come forward to persuade and impeach the emperor.

Liu Ji had been pretending to be dead, and he didn't want to bother with these trivial matters. Compared with other ministers, he did not despise Zhu Yuanzhang at all, but instead had an indescribable awe. He thought that His Majesty must have his reasons for doing this.

However, as a famous scholar in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and as the Chief Censor, people were eagerly looking forward to his achievements. As a result, Liu Ji felt uncomfortable because he was caught in the middle, neither of them was a good person.

"Ah..." Liu Ji sighed faintly, "I understand. You can go back."

Liu Zhi was anxious and refused to leave, saying, "Let's go. Do you think that what Your Majesty is doing is right?"

Liu Ji was a little bit overwhelmed. If he said that Your Majesty did a good job, he was absolutely sure that within three days, this word would spread all over the world. After all, he came from a noble family, and saying this was equivalent to immediate social death. From then on, the scholars of the world would laugh at him for a hundred years, and his descendants would not be able to hold their heads up.

Liu Ji felt helpless and could only say slowly, "Maybe that's not right."

Liu Zhi was obviously not satisfied with this answer, so he said angrily with a stern face: "The state supports scholars. Mr. Liu is in a high position and has received the emperor's grace. He shoulders the expectations of scholars all over the world. How can you still be deaf and dumb at this time? Now everyone hopes that Mr. Liu can do something. Mr. Liu... please write a letter to impeach him."

Liu Ji said: "You can also write."

Liu Zhi said: "I am a nobody and my words don't count..."

Liu Ji said, "Then you write it, and I will present it on your behalf."

Liu Zhi looked at Liu Ji in bewilderment: "You can file a joint petition."

Liu Ji sighed: "Okay, okay..."

In fact, he knew that after hiding for so long, he couldn't hide anymore. The more he hid, the more angry everyone would become and the more unwilling they would be to give up.

So that day.

An urgent letter from the Censorate was sent directly to the palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened the letter and read it, squinting his eyes slightly with a meaningful look in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)