Chapter 11 Section Eleven

Time: Unitary hour, the first engraving (according to today's time, it should be 6:15 in the afternoon). Location: Inside the imperial palace, above Suhu Lake. The sun is gone, and the long sky is like a gray curtain, with some faint starlight faintly revealing.The lights in the city of Hangzhou are just beginning to come on. Looking from Suhu Lake, the lights in the city seem to float from a deep well, filling the gap between heaven and earth warmly.The evening wind gently blows the water waves of Suhu Lake, rippling and chasing, which is incomparable to the young man a thousand years later.The in-depth discussion between Gaozong and Xiaozong shifted from discussing the general trend of the world to Zhao's family affairs.However, for the emperor, how can family affairs and state affairs be separated?Family affairs are state affairs.

Gao Zongdao: "Prince Gong Zhao must have come back from Yunnan." Emperor Xiaozong said: "On the day after my son passed away, my minister sent people to Yunnan and Xiangyang to call my son and Kaier back to Beijing. Kaier returned to the capital on the ninth day of January this year. Er must return to the capital from Yunnan. It is a long journey. , It was difficult and dangerous, so I delayed my arrival in the capital until the day before yesterday." "Since Zhao has returned to Beijing, why didn't he come to greet me? Did he forget about me as an old man? On the day Kaier returned to the capital, he went to Deoksugung Palace to greet me. The two brothers Comparing people is enough to show Zhao's ruthlessness and lack of love. Today he doesn't think highly of me, the Supreme Emperor, and in the future, if you also step back and pass the throne to him, I'm afraid he won't think highly of you any more."

"Father is serious. I think it's because my son is tired from the journey and is in poor health. He is recuperating at home. That's why he never came to Deoksugung Palace to kowtow to Father." "You are still protecting him. Even if he is tired physically, he still has the strength to greet me. From Prince Gong's Mansion to Deoksugung Palace, it is only five or six miles away, and there are horses and chariots to serve him, so he doesn't need to walk. He is obviously too lazy to come here. I am so disappointed that he is so careless." "Father, please calm down. This matter is indeed my son's fault, and my son cannot escape the responsibility of lax discipline. Tomorrow I will send Eunuch Gao to Prince Gong's mansion, and order him to come to the door to plead guilty to the father, and let the father punish him. "

"Why bother? Since he has already forgotten me as a useless old man, let him continue to forget it. If you send an order for him to come to Deoksugung Palace to greet me, it seems that I am too small-minded and rarely see him coming. Please take care of me. The courtesies you ask for make me feel very uncomfortable, so it's better not to." "Father, my son was just confused for a moment and didn't care about it. I hope that my father will forgive his mistakes this time with a loving heart, and give him a chance to plead guilty, so that he can go through the punishment and lessons of his father. To be able to return from the wrong way and regain the favor of the father, my son went out of the town to Yunnan, and he went there for three years. Yunnan is a remote and uneducated place. The bad habits of the savages and barbarians there. This time when I return to Beijing, my minister is asking some good scholars from the academy to supervise him to study hard, relearn the etiquette of Confucius and Mencius, and learn the way of sages."

"Among my four grandsons, Ke'er died the earliest. Of the remaining three, my favorite is King Qing Zhao Kai. Your mother also loves him very much. He loves to accompany me since he was a child, talking with me to relieve boredom. Make me happy. As for Prince Gong Zhao, he is withdrawn by nature, taciturn, unsmiling, without the slightest innocence that young people should have, and I don’t know what he is thinking all day long. Every time I see him, I feel very sad. I'm uncomfortable, I really don't understand why you are so fond of such a child, and even have the idea of ​​building a reserve for him."

"Although my son doesn't talk much and doesn't like to play, he is diligent in learning and has a very beautiful appearance. Compared with the previous generation when he was talking about officials and businessmen, he was always unexpected, and the officials thought he was inferior. His heroic spirit always made my son and minister Thinking back to the past when the son was young. The father could love the son more deeply, why couldn't he be happy?" "Back when you entered the palace of heirs, I occasionally treated you too harshly, and even punished you unfairly. You could bear it calmly without any anger, and you could still accompany me day and night, with a friendly face and a tireless face all day long. Confucius Words: Sex is hard. Sincere words. But you can practice it with actions. It is also a great blessing in my life to have a son like you. "

"It's only natural for a child to serve the emperor. Although the child was raised by his uncle King Xiu, he was raised and taught by the father. The son can be what he is today, thanks to the gift of the father." "On this point, Er is really far from you. If you want to succeed in the Datong in the future and ascend to the rank of Ninth Five-Year, you must have both talents and virtues, and both are indispensable. Only talents can govern the country and resist foreign aggression. He can deter all ministers and set an example for the whole world. No matter how high or low the talent of King Gong is, his virtue really worries me. When he stayed in the capital and had not yet left the town, he rarely visited Deoksugung Palace. Hey. He probably has a grudge against me, but even if he has resentment against me, he can't abandon etiquette, disregard human relations, and have no tolerance for others, how can he obey others."

"How dare I hold grudges against my father? It's simply treason." "My son has his own reasons for resenting me. The only reason is that I misunderstood the words of the imperial physician Huangfu Tan. Before Huangfu Tan entered the palace, he used to be a Taoist priest who traveled all over the world. Seeing Li Dao's daughter, called Fengniang, she was astonished as a heavenly man at first sight, and sighed: "This is the real mother of all people in the world. Empress Huangfu entered the palace frankly, and spoke highly of this woman's beauty and virtue in front of me several times. Partial belief, so she asked to be hired as a concubine for Prince Gong. As everyone knows, this Li Fengniang is hot-tempered, jealous, moody, and controls Prince Gong very strictly. The couple are like natural enemies, quarreling frequently, and even fighting each other, making the palace uneasy. Ning, it is rumored to be the laughing stock of the government and the public. Prince Gong was naturally displeased because he married such an unlucky marriage, so he blamed me, a nosy matchmaker."

Gaozong continued: "Although I, the matchmaker, is indeed suspected of messing up the mandarin ducks, women are women after all. How can a husband be so weak and let a woman ride on his head and do his best? If If a wife dares to make trouble unreasonably, she should pick up a whip and beat her severely, and she will naturally become obedient. A husband who has no virtue will naturally not be respected by his wife. He is the first one in the royal family with the surname Zhao to be arrogant and domineering in front of him, so timid and fearful. Although, this is a matter between their young couple, it is inconvenient for you and me to intervene. If things can't be handled well, how can we safely hand over the foundation built by our ancestors through untold hardships to him. No way, Li Fengniang may be the next Lu Zhi and the next Jananfeng. Soldiers cross the river to take it, but they also destroy themselves in the hands of foreign relatives and courtiers."

Xiaozong Zhao's face was solemn, and Gaozong's words were earnest and thoughtful, which made him unable to refute, and he couldn't help feeling a little shaken: Could it be that Zhao really shouldn't be established as the crown prince?Is it really a mistake to build reserves more and more?The Supreme Emperor is so clearly opposed to making Zhao the crown prince, should I go my own way?Fortunately, there is no need to worry too much about establishing the Crown Prince, it is a big matter, and it is better to wait for a year than to rush for a day.Xiaozong Zhao decided to wait and see the changes, give Qing Wang Zhao Kai and Gong Wang Zhao some more time, listen to their words and watch their actions, and then make a decision.Gaozong also knew that Xiaozong would not change his mind easily.I think that when I was deciding who was the crown prince between Xiaozong and Enping County King Zhao, I hesitated for twenty-five years.Therefore, in the face of Xiaozong's dilemma and difficulty in making choices, it is inconvenient for him to say more.

The night gradually opened, revealing twinkling stars, like pearls falling on the night god's skirt, singing in harmony.The evening wind is dewy, bringing a chilly feeling, the distant mountains have merged with the night, and the servants standing on the promenade of the water and sky realm with lanterns are looking forward to it, but they dare not ask the two saints Driving back, for fear of disturbing the elegance of the two saints swimming in the lake.Several wild geese flew over the imperial city with a low cry. Xiaozong said: "Father, the night is turning cold and the wind is cold on the lake. It is better to go back to the boat. If the father's dragon body is slightly ill, the son will be punished by death." Gao Zongdao: "Alright, go back to the boat and go ashore." So, Xiaozong picked up the oars again, and silent waves overflowed the water, and a dragon boat sailed slowly towards the dimly lit water and sky realm under the vast night.The two emperors on the dragon boat were both thinking about their own concerns, and neither of them spoke.