Chapter 579: Farming with the Prince
Ever since he asked Xu Wei to send someone to deliver the two letters to Jiangnan and hand them over to Zhang Juzheng and Gao Hanwen.

Yan Shaoting also officially ended his rest time after returning to Beijing from the Northern Expedition.

Officials in Beijing were naturally reluctant to report to the government office.

Even if you are an official in Beijing, no one, whether ancient or modern, likes it if you are required to punch in and out on time every day to do your job.

This is common.

But Yan Shaoting seemed very happy.

At least, he no longer had to be silently mocked by Lu Wenyan's resentful eyes, nor did he have to work himself to pieces like an ox plowing the fields every day.

After entering Beijing from Changping, he moved back to Yanfu Lane.

Naturally, he would go to the Ministry of Personnel on the first day to assign tasks, then take over the task of the Ministry of Rites, and then go to the Ministry of Rites again to report for duty and announce publicly that the Ministry of Rites had replaced the new official in charge of the seal.

But things stopped here.

Yan Shaoting handed over all the tasks of the Ministry of Rites to the left and right vice ministers and the doctors of various departments.

He then submitted a memorial to the palace, stating that he was now officially able to join the daily lectures for the princes in the Wenhua Hall.

The officials in the Ministry of Rites were delighted that Yan Shaoting did not interfere in the affairs of the Ministry.

The Ministry of Rites has been plagued by disasters in recent years.

The former Minister of Rites, Gao Yi, was promoted to the cabinet not long after taking over the Ministry of Rites.

Before Gao Yi, the Minister of Rites was a clean and strict person.

Yan Ne stayed in the etiquette position for a long time.

But with the fall of Xu Jie and the dismissal of Yan Ne, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were in panic for a long time, fearing that they would be implicated because of the Qingliu and Xu Jie, Yan Ne and others.

Now Yan Shaoting has become the newest Minister of Rites, and it seems that he has no plans to make any major changes upon taking office, which is good news for everyone.

But for the other princes who had already been confirmed to be the daily lecturers when they went out to study, Yan Shaoting's joining the team of daily lecturers when the princes went out to study seemed to be a headache.

True.

Ever since Yan Shaoting wrote those two poems in Changping Academy, no one would think that he was unlearned. In addition, given the erudition he displayed when he debated the country in Wenhua Hall, no one would think that Yan Shaoting was not worthy of being a teacher.

But there have always been rules for princes to study.

After confirming that the prince would go out to study, the court had already discussed all matters.

In addition to a few cabinet ministers who would personally teach the art of statecraft to the princes from time to time, the learned and noble officials in the Hanlin Academy, the Zhanshi Palace and other places had already compiled the Four Books and Five Classics and various Confucian classics, waiting to teach them to the princes step by step.

Now Yan Shaoting joins in.

Then an obvious problem arises.

What should Yan Shaoting teach the prince?

Inside the Wenhua Hall.

According to the time.

After the emperor and his ministers finished their morning meeting, Prince Zhu Yijun entered the palace accompanied by eunuchs from the palace.

Wait until Zhu Yijun sat in the upper seat properly.

Yan Shaoting and others lined up according to their official ranks and bowed.

"Your subjects pay their respects to Prince Jun."

Zhu Yijun frowned slightly, and only when he saw the figure of his good brother's father did a look of surprise appear on his face.

But he still abided by his mother's instructions this morning, placed his hands on the table and nodded to everyone.

"Ministers, please excuse me."

Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Today is the first time that the prince comes to Wenhua Palace to study and attend classes.

They had all heard that the prince was quite naughty when he was in Changping. If he made any trouble today, they would be embarrassed.

Seeing Zhu Yijun being so obedient, everyone couldn't help but feel relieved.

Immediately everyone stood up.

The eunuch standing next to Zhu Yijun coughed softly.

Zhu Yijun then stood up, raised his arms, clasped his hands together, bent down properly, raised his hands above his head, and performed a disciple salute to Yan Shaoting and others.

"Hello gentlemen."

"I accept your greeting."

Yan Shaoting and others answered.

Only then did they sit down one by one.

But Zhu Yijun was still standing on top.

There was a eunuch from the palace sitting in a corner, holding an ink brush in his hand.

These eunuchs needed to record every daily lecture of the prince after he went out to study, including what books were read that day, what homework was left, how the prince performed, and any mistakes or omissions.

Everything is carried out according to the laws established by our ancestors.

Yan Shaoting, on the other hand, was calm and composed, sitting in the seat closest to Zhu Yijun.

He was the Prince's Guardian of the time and held the second rank of an official.

No one present had a higher official rank than him.

But he was not the first day lecturer to give lectures.

According to the established procedure, Zhu Yijun now has to receive elementary education first.

The Thousand Character Classic must be learned, and it is a required course for enlightenment. Textbooks such as the Hundred Family Names, Three Character Classic, Rules for Being a Good Pupil and Child, and Recognizing Characters through Dialects must also be learned.

There is only one requirement for these courses, that the prince must first learn to recognize words and then complete writing.

Only after enlightenment will one begin to study the Four Books and Five Classics and the Art of Rulership.

As for the book Zeng Guang Xian Wen, which Yan Shaoting is familiar with, it has not appeared yet. It will take a few more years for it to appear and be included in children's enlightenment education.

After the other daily lecturers had taught Zhu Yijun ten new characters, they ensured that the prince was familiar with these characters and could pronounce them correctly under guidance.

In fact, today’s lecture is complete.

After all, the prince is only four or five years old now, so the requirements cannot be too high.

The taboo of forcing things to grow is well known to all the scholars present.

Ever since.

When Zhu Yijun became dizzy from trying to recognize all ten new characters for today.

The daily lecturers in the hall all looked sideways at Yan Shaoting who was sitting in the upper seat.

Although I don't want to admit it.

But they all knew in their hearts that for the emperor, Yan Shaobao was the real teacher of the princes.

Although this matter seems very sad for them.

But there are some undeniable facts.

Therefore, when the get out of class would end became something that Yan Shaoting needed to confirm.

Yan Shaoting faced everyone's gaze and glanced sideways at the little kid who had become drowsy.

A smile appeared on his face.

This child is the same as I was when I was in school.

He couldn't help but cough lightly.

"You gentlemen are very knowledgeable and your lectures are wonderful. Thank you for your hard work."

Zhu Yijun, who was about to nod off, suddenly shuddered all over, raised his head, rubbed his blurry eyes, and looked at Master Yan. Then, under the gaze of Yan Shaoting, he raised his hands and bowed to the daily lecturers present.

"Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen."

Everyone immediately smiled and bowed in return.

Then, everyone looked at Yan Shaoting again. Zhu Yijun also stared at Yan Shaoting with his big eyes, blinking as if he was about to say something.

He really wanted to ask how his younger brother Yan Wuyou was doing recently and whether the bird nests on the Shuyuan Mountain were still there.

But he dared not forget the instructions of his mother and his companions.

If I don't follow the rules and the news gets to the harem, my mother will not give me any dessert.

Yan Shaoting glanced outside the palace and said, "It's still early today. Prince Jun and the other gentlemen, are you interested in going for a walk outside the palace with me?"

"Okay!"

Zhu Yijun cheered immediately, then quickly covered his mouth with his hands, but his eyes were already full of anticipation and he was no longer sleepy.

But the other Japanese lecturers were in a dilemma.

This is not part of the prince's schoolwork.

But since Shao Bao had spoken, and today was the first day they would lecture the prince, they couldn't refuse.

More importantly.

They also wanted to see how Yan Shaoting would teach the prince.

Immediately.

The crowd surrounded Zhu Yijun and Yan Shaoting as they walked out of the Wenhua Hall.

During this period, Zhu Yijun wanted to reach out several times and ask his good brother's father for a hug, but he held back every time.

After all, little desserts matter.

When everyone left the Wenhua Hall, they saw that the eunuch Feng Bao, the commander of the Imperial Stables, had already been waiting outside the hall with his men.

See Yan Shaoting bringing the prince out.

Feng Bao immediately came forward and said, "Prince Jun, Shao Bao Yan, and all the masters."

There was some confusion and hesitation on the face of the eunuch admiral.

Early this morning, when the emperor was still in court at the Wenhua Palace, Yan Shaoting submitted a memorial with some requests. He was a little surprised at first, but the emperor agreed to it without hesitation, and even said that how the prince's studies would be conducted in the future would all depend on Yan Shaobao's arrangements.

Feng Bao had no choice but to follow Yan Shaoting's request and prepare things in advance.

Yan Shaoting looked at Feng Bao with a smile: "Eunuch Feng, have you prepared everything?"

Feng Bao nodded quickly, then looked aside: "Everything has been arranged according to your request, Shao Bao."

He had already moved aside, and the young eunuchs behind him also moved aside.

Everyone looked over again.

Surprisingly, I discovered that just under the palace wall outside the Wenhua Palace, more than a dozen farm tools had already been stacked.

Everyone immediately looked puzzled.

Zhu Yijun finally reached out and held Yan Shaoting's hand, raised his head and asked curiously: "Shao Bao, what are we going to do?"

Yan Shaoting looked down at the little brat, then looked at the open space between Wenhua Hall and Wenyuan Pavilion.

He had long been unhappy with this vacant lot.

Restricted by the rules of the palace, there are basically no trees planted in the palace except for the Imperial Garden and the West Garden. There are not even flower beds. Large tracts of open space are either paved with bricks and stones or just empty.

Now I can make use of it.

He smiled and pointed to the unpaved dirt field outside the Wenhua Palace: "Farming, today I will dig up this piece of soil with the prince and plant something. When the harvest comes in autumn, we can eat it together, okay?"

When he revealed his true intention, everyone present was surprised.

These daily lecturers were carefully selected from the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Palace to be in charge of the princes' studies. All of them had been immersed in the writings of sages for many years.

Now he was going to farm with the prince, which was unheard of.

A scholar from the Hanlin Academy hesitated: "Shao Bao, this matter..."

Before Yan Shaoting could speak, Feng Bao raised his voice and said, "Your Majesty has already known about this matter. From now on, the arrangement of Prince Jun's studies will be entirely decided by the Junior Guard."

Seeing Feng Bao said this, and the farm tools already prepared in the corner, no one said anything.

Yan Shaoting glanced at these people calmly and said, "Of all things in the world, having enough food and farming come first. I am not as knowledgeable as you are, so you will take care of the prince's future studies. I will only teach the prince some minor things. Farming is the first thing."

When he divided up the daily power and explained his purpose.

Zhu Yijun had already rushed over. He didn't recognize the farm tools. He held a spiked rake in his hands and shouted, "Shao Bao, how do you use this thing? I want to farm! I want to farm!"

The Japanese officials present all looked as pale as wax.

Yan Shaoting walked forward, took the rake from the little kid's hand, and then picked up a bamboo basket and stuffed it into the little kid's hand.

"I and the other masters will throw this land out today. Prince Jun just needs to pick up those small stones and put them in the bamboo basket."

After finishing speaking, Yan Shaoting turned around and glanced at the noble officials from the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Palace.

Not only do I have to farm with the little kids, but I also have to get these people to farm together.

When everyone heard this, they knew the outcome was certain. Their thin arms could not beat the tall legs, so they could only step forward and pick up the farm tools by the wall.

Zhu Yijun, however, was in a playful mood.

Whatever you do, it's more fun than reading!

Feng Bao wanted to say something but hesitated, but thinking of the emperor's order, he could only stand aside.

Ever since.

Not long after.

Inside the Forbidden City, the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, a scene that had never happened before appeared.

The current Prince's Guardian, along with the prince and a group of noble officials from the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Palace, actually took farm tools and started plowing the ground in front of the Wenhua Palace in public.

The news spread throughout the palace in an instant.

Yan Shaoting, however, ignored it. Since he had decided not to interfere with Zhu Yijun's studies or the content of the books, he had to set an example himself in these matters.

He was digging the ground in front, and the Hanlin scholars were following behind him.

Originally, he was worried that the little kid would get impatient after picking up stones for too long.

But I didn't expect that no matter how much I dug, this little brat would follow me and pick up pebbles all the way.

gradually.

A figure also walked out of Wenyuan Pavilion in the south.

On the other side of Huangji Gate, people from Qianqing Palace and the harem were also secretly looking at this side.

The officials from various ministries who came from outside the palace to the cabinet to do business also forgot what they were going to do. They stood far away, standing on tiptoe to look at the area in front of Wenhua Hall.

Towards Wenyuan Pavilion.

Li Chunfang saw that Yan Shaoting was plowing the land with the prince, and his face turned pale. He looked at Gao Gong and others and said, "This...this...this...this is unheard of! How can you ignore the good talk and take the prince to dig the land and pick up stones? This...is outrageous! It's disgraceful!"

Yuan Wei, who was separated from Li Chunfang by a high arch, leaned forward and glanced at Li Chunfang indifferently.

"Master Li, please don't forget that when we were at the court meeting today, Feng Bao had a private conversation with the emperor. The emperor nodded and gave an oral order that the prince's studies would be arranged by Young Master Yan."

Li Chunfang was squeezed for a while, and his face became even uglier: "But when the prince was married, he never dug the ground."

Yuan Wei just curled his lips and said: "Two hundred years ago, there was no cabinet, no ministers!"

"You! This isn't the same thing!"

Li Chunfang didn't know how to defend himself for a moment and could only shake his sleeves angrily to express his dissatisfaction.

Gao Gong chuckled and squinted his eyes at Yan Shaoting, who was leading the digging of the ground and was already covered in dust and sweating profusely.

"Everyone."

"You said, in the future, after we have a meeting in Wenhua Hall, we will be able to see a field of crops when we come out..."

"Is it a funny thing?"

…………

Monthly PassMonthly Pass
(End of this chapter)