Chapter 290: The eve of the closing

In December, the northern country is full of ice and snow. Looking around, the earth is so white, hard and shopping. The weather is sunny on the day. The cloudless light blue sky covers the earth like a dome. The whole of Peking is immersed in the windless calmness and bright cold.

In the outskirts of Peking, King Yan Zhu Di was holding a brief ceremony to send his second son Gao Xi to Shanxi. All the officials of the royal palace came outside the city and participated in the farewell together. Even Prince Gao Chi followed him out.

Zhu Gaoxi was extremely sad and angry. A few months ago, his father said that he would be the prince, but in a blink of an eye he broke his promise and sent him to Shanxi, away from the political center of Peking. This obviously told him that he had no chance with the prince.

Hate accumulated little by little in Zhu Gaoxi's heart. He had a gloomy face and never said a word. At this time, the King of Yan walked forward. Of course, he knew the dissatisfaction of the second son, but he had no choice but to do anything. If the two tigers fight, one will be injured. Both are his sons. No matter who hurts whom, he cannot accept it. The only way is to separate them, one is in Peking and the other is in the foreign vassal. If the dispute between the two still cannot be settled, he can only abandon one of them.

Zhu Di said to his son with a serious expression: "My son is going to Shanxi now, and he should be kind to the soldiers and treat the people well. I hope that when I go to Shanxi in the future, I will hear a reputable general."

"I understand!" Zhu Gaoxi still had no smile on his face. He no longer wanted to hide his extreme disappointment.

Zhu Di glanced at him deeply, then said to Lu Siyuan: "I will leave my son to the teacher, I hope he will strictly control it sooner or later."

Lu Siyuan bowed and bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will do my best to assist the general."

At this time, Zhu Gaochi also came over and said to his brother: "The country is based on the people, just like the teachings of the father, I don't want to hear your infamy in Shanxi."

Zhu Gaoxi glanced at his brother with extreme hatred, ignored his brother, and turned over and bowed to his father, "I will make achievements when I go to Shanxi, so that my father can see who is the best!"

"Take care everyone!"

Zhu Gaoxi shouted, whipped the horse, and the war horse galloped away. Lu Siyuan and Qiu Fu saluted together and said, "Prince, Prince, we are leaving!"

They followed, and a team of soldiers set off, with flags waving and a huge momentum. Zhu Gaoxi led an army of 30,000 to Shanxi to replace Zhu Neng, the general who led the army in Shanxi.

Zhu Di looked at his son away. For some reason, he always felt a sense of uneasiness in his heart.

"Little Prince!"

Lu Siyuan caught up with Zhu Gaoxi from behind. He criticized Gaoxi and said, "You shouldn't have such a gloomy face in front of the prince and the prince just now. No matter how dissatisfied you are in your heart, you can't show it. Do you understand?"

The only person Zhu Gaoxi trusted was his master. In front of his master, he did not dare to be arrogant, so he sighed and said, "Master, I also want to pretend to be a smile, but it is really hard to suppress the grief and anger in my heart. Please forgive me!"

Seeing that he looked bleak, Lu Siyuan smiled and said, "You idiot, isn't it good to go to Shanxi? What I am worried about is that the prince seizes your military power and dismisses you as an idle person. The situation is better than I think."

Zhu Gaoxi was simple in mind, easy to be happy and angry. When he thought to himself, his master said good things, he scratched his head and smiled, "I thought it simple, thank you for your reminder."

"That's right, there's one thing you need to remember."

Seeing that the master's face was solemn, Zhu Gaoxi hurriedly said, "Please tell your disciple."

Lu Siyuan looked at both sides, and he lowered his voice: "The royal family has no affection. For power, even father and son will turn against each other ruthlessly, so the military power must not be relaxed. Losing military power is the day you will die."

Zhu Gaoxi nodded slowly, looked ahead with a cold look, "No poison is not a husband, so the master can rest assured."

"Okay, let's go to Shanxi quickly and build our own foundation as soon as possible."

In the study, Li Weizheng was reading a secret letter that Lu Siyuan had just sent. The letter said that the Yan King had divided into two factions, supporting the eldest son Gao Chi and the second son Gao Xi, and the second son Gao Xifeng was ordered to take control of Shanxi. The time was ripe. He asked Li Weizheng for instructions, could he take the last step now?

Li Wei couldn't help but feel excited. He stood up and walked to the window, pushed open it open, and a cold air came to his face. He silently stared at a wintersweet in the yard, and the small buds on the tree had already appeared.

A month ago, when the King of Yan asked for peace, many people did not understand why he agreed and why he didn't directly trap King Yan to death. Although he convinced everyone on the grounds that the King of Yan would not sit still and wait for death and would launch a large-scale attack on Henan in times of crisis, in fact, he had a deeper plan. For this day, he had planned for five years. Now the time is finally ripe. Yao Guangxiao, the King of Yan, was cut off, and Zhu Gaoxi began to grow up.

Li Weizheng couldn't help but remember the situation when Lu Siyuan came to find him when he was in his hometown. That year he was dismissed by Zhu Yuanzhang and farmed chickens in the countryside. Lu Siyuan came from Shandong thousands of miles away. His heart was filled with worries and confusion about his future.

'Although it's a bit difficult to speak, I still have to tell the truth. I just want to ask, do you have the intention to make a comeback? If so, I am willing to follow you again, but if you really see through the officialdom and become a rich man from now on, then I will say goodbye to you and I want to vote for a new owner.'

‘Originally, my plan was to make you surrender to the King of Yan. To be precise, it was not to surrender to the King of Yan himself, but to find a way to assist the King of Yan’s second son Zhu Gaoxu. He is twelve years old this year. This person is naughty and Kong Wu and has a bad mind. It is in line with his nature to assist him as a conspirator.’

‘Sir, you are far-sighted!’

A knowing smile appeared on the corner of Li Weizheng's mouth. Although many years have passed, the situation at that time is still vivid in my mind. Now, the seeds he planted back then have finally taken root and sprouted. There is also Shisanlang, and he has done what he promised him. Now it is time for him to fulfill his promise.

Thinking of this, Li Wei was walking back to the desk, unfolding a piece of letter paper, and writing two words: ‘It’s feasible!’

He ordered people to call in and hand the letter to him and said, "Go back immediately and hand this letter to Mr. Lu, no mistake."

"Abide by the order!"

Li Wei nodded and ordered someone to reward him with one hundred taels of silver. The messenger was so grateful that he went to kowtow.

After finishing this, the study room became quiet again. Li Wei was rubbing his temples gently, and his thoughts returned to a major decision today. In today's court, he proposed a proposal to encourage students to study, requiring local governments not to establish new offices within three years to use the saved money to encourage students to study. Schools are built across the country. All boys and girls over six years must be admitted, boys and girls for ten years, and girls for four years shall be borne by the government. Anyone who violates the violation and fails to comply with their parents will be doubled.

This proposal was widely supported by all officials of the court, but it caused great controversy about the admission of girls. Although it is necessary for women to study a little in the future, and it is feasible to establish a girl's school, Li Weizheng's original plan was that both men and women would have to study for ten years. This made most officials of the court opposed it, believing that girls' ten years of study were too long. After several consultations, everyone reached a compromise. The men and women's schools were separated and girls were studying for four years. If a very small number of people really intend to continue studying and their families allowed it, they could go to girls' secondary schools in various provinces to continue studying.

Although Li Weizheng did not have the original idea of ​​equality between men and women, he also knew that it was not easy to reach this compromise, and changing the concept is a long-term process.

The same is true for his constitutional monarchy. The key is not what measures and systems he has implemented. This is easy to do. The difficult thing is that the concept of constitutional monarchy is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In this way, even if Li Wei is gone, the constitutional monarchy will be passed down forever. Just as it takes one generation to add Goryeo to the Ming Dynasty, it takes one generation, or even two generations to make the concept of constitutional monarchy deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. From childhood, we must use this view to educate them and let the concept of constitutional monarchy grow up with them.

‘The people are noble and the king is light; all living beings are equal.’

He wants to make the concepts of equality, fraternity and freedom deeply rooted in everyone's heart, which will be the ideal he pursues throughout his life.

Li Wei couldn't help laughing. He was full of confidence in his ideals. Suddenly he felt a pair of warm hands on his neck, and a gentle voice sounded behind him, "Dalang, what are you laughing at?"

It was Zitong, Li Wei was holding his beloved wife's hand. It was a pair of warm and soft hands. Over the years, these hands have been silently supporting him behind his back, making him never bothered by family trivial matters. She was wandering with her all the way, from the capital to Fengyang, to Shandong, to Liaodong, and even Goryeo. She never complained about anything. She was not her own wife outside. She silently endured all this and supported this family for him.

At this moment, holding this hand, Li Wei felt extremely warm in his heart. He smiled and said, "I was thinking, if Zhiqiu and Ye Zi had been reading a book for ten years, would you agree?"

"Zhiqiu, you can't make her study for twenty years, but Ye Zi... You know if I don't say it."

Ye Zitong turned to Li Wei and sat down, and smiled and said, "Da Lang is considering enrolling the girls of Daming?"

Li Wei nodded, "Actually, most of you, like the ones, have the chance to study, but most of you have no chance. After all, it is still a family burden. Because I think that my daughter will get married sooner or later, most people are unwilling to spend money on girls. But if it is a burden on the government and I will be punished if I don't study, I think most of them will send their daughters to study."

"Dalang thought very well, but I guess in a remote village, some people still refuse to send their daughter to school."

"Of course I know it's impossible to do it all. As long as 70% of people are willing to send it, I will be satisfied."

Zi Tong lowered her head and thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Dalang, I have something else to ask you today."

"What's up?"

"It's about Gu Ying."

"Gu Ying?" Li Weizheng was stunned, "What's wrong with her?"

Zi Tong sighed, "Do you really don't know why she has not married until today?"

Li Weizheng didn't say anything. He might not have known it before, but he might not know about it when he had contact with Gu Ying in the past two months, his dodging eyes and hesitant words?

After a moment of silence, Li Weizheng whispered: "I always thought that letting her sail to do a big career is much better than putting her at home as a concubine."

Seeing that her husband understood, Ye Zitong sighed and said, "Although that being said, she is a woman after all. She may not feel it when she is young now, but when she is older, she will know how painful it is to not have a family of her own. I have also talked to her. Although she did not say it clearly, I know that she hopes that you can give her a name, but also let her continue to run her own business."

Li Weizheng smiled and shook his head, "Do you think the wife of the Ming Prime Minister is in charge of the world's number one business, is this appropriate?"

Zi Tong bit his lips and couldn't say a word. Li Weizheng said again: "I am also building my own ideal country. For this reason, I have made all the property in my family public. If my concubine holds a huge business kingdom, what will other officials think? This will undoubtedly stimulate many officials to let their families do business and use their power to gain profits. How dark will the Ming Dynasty become at that time? Have you ever thought about it? So my rule is to not be an official when you want to go business. No matter who is in the family, maybe this rule cannot be covered, but at least I can't take the lead, otherwise, how can I convince people?"

Zi Tong sat quietly for a while before nodding gently and said, "I understand. I will tell her what you said and give her a choice. Dalang, do you think this is OK?"
Chapter completed!